Wow...there are just days where I feel like God is hitting me upside the head with His presence. Some times this comes through quiet time with Him, some times a moment of patience with my kids when I thought I had none left, some times when a friend writes a text at just the right moment, but this time it came on throughout a whole entire crazy, busy day.
This past Friday, we welcomed a team from our hometown. A few guys from our church, as well as a former member of our church, and a member of a nearby church came to visit our home bright and early. I can't really explain how nice it was to see familiar faces and be able to show them where we are living right now. They arrived early and we showed them our awesome home with termites in our cabinets and how our water from our laundry empties out into our shower drain. Yes, this is true. They got to see just how close we live to the Smiths-hard to explain without seeing it. Heidi and I literally can shout and talk to each other while doing dishes. :)
After a bit of just hanging out and catching up and a little trip out to Chishiko Village to see the Give Life school out there, Mickey and I met up with them at Nyezima Preschool, the school I have been helping at during my time here The kids prepared a welcome and a poem, and I sang songs with them as well as Doreen, the teacher. My homeschool group, REACH, from back in Ankeny, put together 2 suitcases full of supplies for the preschool. Two of the men here from the church just happen to be married to two ladies from this group so this was a great opportunity for them to drop off the supplies and meet Doreen and all of the students. Doreen and the kids were over the moon to see all the goods. Especially scissors! Kind of puts things in perspective when you see kids screaming about scissors! :) They also especially loved the tambourines. Music time will sure be fun now. There were many other goodies, including books, baby dolls, Twister, construction paper, googly eyes, beads, etc. Everything will be put to good use and is so appreciated. Thank you to my dear sisters in Christ who worked hard to buy, gather, and collect all this wonderful stuff. The other awesome event was Doreen getting her very own computer from Matt Cubit and his family. They are starting a non-profit to get computers to people who otherwise couldn't afford it. Matt kind of just put it on her counter in the classroom, so when we were leaving, she said, "whose is this?" I said, "Doreen, it's yours!" Imagine a huge grin and excited laugh. So fun to see her so happy. She will be able to use that to create things for her classroom and to play cds/dvds for the kids, and for her personal use as a teacher. Jeff will be helping her get it all set up and organized, and she will join James and Moses for typing lessons with me. We totally take for granted in the states that we learn to type in school!
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| Doreen leading the class in the welcome |
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| Oh these kids have a little piece of my heart! |
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| Jeff Goerndt and Matt Cubit showing all the supplies! |
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| The Give Life Nyezima Preschool playground, isn't it so pretty? (I had nothing to do with this, this is Stephen and Aby and the local artist they hire-he does an awesome job!) |
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| Jim Poyzer helping kids across the monkey bars |
After the preschool, we headed back to our house (and the Smith's house) for lunch. Heidi made chicken noodle soup and I made vegetable rice soup. We also had rolls, apple slices, and cake.
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| Some of the men, Bill Price, Jim Poyzer, Stephen Nelms, Matt Cubit, and Jeff Goerndt |
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| Mickey's parents are here in town visiting, so this is Opa and Jeff eating! |
And this was only the 1st half of the day! After lunch, we headed out to Kalungula Orphanage/School. This is the same place many people from our church (present and past attendees) have raised money for us to do work out there and help them. A few months ago, we used some of the money to plant a maize field. Next on the agenda was a garden so they could have vegetables for the students, but we were at a point with little money left to buy what was needed to do it right. But lo and behold, the Lord said, "I got this". We got an email from Don Ewing, a former member of our church, who discovered this place while on a trip here, that said he was able to raise a good chunk of change for this specific cause. Woohoo!!! He sent the money with our Pastor and off we went to get fencing, posts, and seeds!!! The afternoon was spent putting the posts in for the fence, quite the task when you are mixing concrete by hand. :) While the men were working on that, Heidi and I weighed all the kids who were around, took their picture, wrote down their information, and gave them deworming medicine. Everyone took time to just play with these kids too. They loved it and so did we.
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| Mickey and Heidi talking to the school headmaster, Bishop Prince Musopelo |
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| Some of the students from the school |
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| Our friends and helpers for the afternoon carrying the fence posts |
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| Mickey explaining to Heidi about getting the kids information |
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| Jeff Goerndt and Matt Cubit strategizing |
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| One of the sweet faces we photographed and weighed, she is 3 and weighed 23 pounds, pretty sad |
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| Playing with the kids, balloons and stickers were a big hit |
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| They loved getting their picture taken too and seeing it! |
Again, what a day. Tiring, but worth it all. It was awesome to see everyone come together, support each other, and work together all for the same reason: we love Jesus and want to spread His love to all. I felt Jesus right alongside us all day. Who could ask for anything better than that???
Thanks to my mother in law too for watching my kiddos all day!
Matthew 18:20
"For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them."
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