Of Woes, Strikes and Discontent!

(Maggie loves babies!)

Hello friends,


We hope this finds you enjoying some measure of peace and solitude. In our little corner of the world, we have being experiencing some rather disturbing upheavals the likes of mass strikes involving teachers, doctors, nurses including the social workers and others in the mining sectors. The discontent is fueled by demands for better wages and working conditions.


At one point, the media stated that the fuel in the country’s major reserves was going to last for only eight to nine days and that the government had no funds to import more fuel. As you can imagine this caused a mad rush and panic to the gas stations to buy and stock up on fuel but thankfully, nine days later, we have not experienced any shortages.


The hardest hit have been the sick and the infirm since the physicians have laid down their tools and refused to attend to the sick and threatening violence to those who do help them. Many of the sick who were admitted into hospitals have been discharged and asked to go home since the staff was not available to attend to them. It has been reported that many people have died as a result. Thousands of school children are still at home 2 1/2 months since the school term began because the teachers are on strike.


Last week, a nine year old boy in a neighboring farm was bitten by a snake and taken to the local district hospital. The nurses refused to attend to him because, “they were on strike” and their union reps had instructed them not to work. His poor mother did not know what to do and returned home hoping her son would get better but fearing the worst. By the time the child was taken to a private doctor two days later, the leg had swollen a lot and there was the added complication of not knowing what kind of medication to prescribe since none knew what kind of snake had bitten the child. According to the doctor, the good news was that the snake which had bitten him was probably not very poisonous since he was still alive two days after the snake bite, the bad news was that certain kinds of snake venom is slow acting but at the same time very dangerous since the venom can eat away the tissue and tendons in the leg muscles and the foot may need to be amputated. Nonetheless, the doctor prescribed some medication and last Sunday, Kimberly and I stopped to visit with him and not only was he alive, but the swelling had completely disappeared and he looked to be alright!


The strike by the civil servants has really slowed down whatever little progress we had achieved regarding the transition of the children from Livingstone to the Village of Hope. The social workers who have been doing the paperwork have told us that everything is at a standstill until their grievances have been addressed by the government.


However, we are taking this new unexpected development in stride and using this time to continue with the building of the houses in preparation for receiving the children when the whole strike mess is sorted out. Two of the houses are almost complete and the construction of another building which will become a clinic is well in progress.

How Can You Pray?

**Pray that there will be a quick resolution to the various strikes that are going on throughout the country.

**Pray that we would see some progress in obtaining the children from Livingstone.

**Next month we will have several teams visit the Village of Hope. Please pray for their ministry to the children, surrounding villages and to us.

** Praise God for the two missionary families that will be joining us as staff. The Patty family has already arrived and is now getting settled. Pray for the Hamelryck family who will be arriving in mid- July. Pray that they can wrap up the remaining details concerning their move and for safety in traveling.

A Joyful Welcome, An Unpleasant welcome & an Interesting Lesson on a Sunday Afternoon

(Matilda, enjoying a snack in her new wheelchair)

Dear Ones,

We are very pleased to welcome a new arrival to the Village of Hope! Her name is Matilda Figo and she is nine-years old. We first met Matilda in 2007 when the Schwartzes were staying at another location before they moved to the village. One of our volunteers from Maryland visited Matilda’s village and was immediately affected by her condition. She is a special needs child who at that time was unable to walk and was wasting away.

She was diagnosed with Spinal Tuberculosis which caused her paralysis. This meeting led to a series of visits to an orthopedic hospital in Lusaka, medicine to treat the disease and surgery to see if the paralysis could be corrected. It did help some and she is now able to get around with her walker and wheelchair.

A few weeks ago, Kathleen was contacted by the head teachers at Okada School and they asked her to please come and take a look at a burn that Matilda had suffered. When Kathleen and Julie, one of our volunteers, arrived, they were astonished at the severity of the burn on her leg and immediately sought to aid Matilda’s mother in getting medical treatment. It was decided that maybe Matilda should stay at the guesthouse with the Schwartzes until the burn healed because it was difficult to bathe it and dress the wound where she was living with her single mother and siblings.

Our other children at the Village of Hope welcomed her right away! It was truly a joy to see them pushing her around in the wheel chair, carrying her on their backs and playing with her. We had a sense that God was leading us to give an offer to Matilda's mother to let Matilda reside at the Village of Hope because of the hardship that she was experiencing in caring for her and her other siblings. When we approached her about it she said that she was very grateful for all that has been done for Matilda because she had been unable to manage her needs. She said yes to our offer and now Matilda has become a part of our growing family.

(This boisterous group practically ran the whole mile to the community center where church services are being held)

As we began walking to the community center on May 3rd, Sunday morning, we were filled with excitement because this was going to be the first of regularly scheduled church services at the center. Finally, we were all going to be able to worship together as a family. All of the children took off running with happy squeals, anxious to get to there before anyone else.
When we arrived at the community center, we were delighted step into a cool room that had been newly painted, with new chairs, and there was a lovely altar arrangement with lit candles and a simple but striking cross that Dion had made of the tall grasses growing all around us. Gospel songs in the language of Bemba were playing in the background as the children were chattering excitedly waiting for the service to begin.During the singing portion of worship there was a real sense of joy and enthusiasm from both adults and children as we clapped and danced and the theme of joy continued into the sermon delivered by Kamau

(This group decided to take a leisurely walk to church instead!)

(Waiting for others to arrive so that we could begin the service)

After the service was over, we decided to try a short cut that we commonly use during the dry season. It is not used during the rainy season because the grass is very high and it becomes swampy in certain places. Isaac, Brighton & Paul assured us that the path was clear and that most of the water was dried up and that all we had to do was walk around it. As we followed them, pretty soon we noticed that the path was not so clear and the thick grass all around was taller than all of us. Kamau and I were both hoping that snakes would hear us coming and decide to move away. I tried to just look straight ahead and not look around too much because I was certain I would see something that would cause my mind to break down! I also tried not to think about the fact that I was wearing sandals and my feet were pretty much exposed.
When we came to the part where there was the most water, we really had to step carefully because the path was non-existent and without proper footwear it was slippery. Finally, to our relief, we reached the main road to the village without incident or bites and vowed not come that way again until the grass had been cut and all of the water had dried.

(The varmit!!)

Just as we were walking to our house the children who had run ahead, including Malaika, ran up to us shouting that there was a snake on our veranda. We arrived to see that the snake had been removed to the grass and was in its death throes from where one of the carpenters had struck it on the head. It was over two feet long and when we turned it over; it was a shiny silver color (quite pretty actually!) with a black ring around its neck. The general consensus was that it was a cobra! Malaika said that when she arrived at the veranda she surprised it and it hissed at her and spread its hood.

(It is a good day for a snake burning!)

We decided to have a burning ceremony and this became a great source of entertainment for the children as they watched it cook in the fire. They pointed out its teeth and joked about eating it with nshima (cornmeal mush).

As I was thinking about what had just occurred, I thought, here we were feeling pretty anxious about walking in thick, tall grasses because of the fear of snakes and whatever else that might have been lurking there. There was a sense of yearning to reach “safer” places like the road or the veranda in front of our house. And upon reaching the refuge of our veranda, the danger was there waiting to greet us!

I couldn’t help but reflect on how we often try to create so-called “safe places” in our lives, such as financial security, owning a house, medical insurance, getting and keeping the right job, etc. It varies from person to person. Sometimes there is a reluctance to venture out into what is unknown or untried because of the fear of danger to our security or comfort. This is of course very natural because we want to look after the well-being of ourselves and our family.

It becomes a drawback to our spiritual growth however, when we beg to be excused from anything that might challenge the safe places that we have constructed in our lives, even when it is the Lord issuing us the challenge and encouraging us to trust Him and obey. If we are seeking to take refuge in anything other than the shelter that only the Lord can provide, in time we will find that the refuge and safety measures of our own making are just an illusion and that they are subject to real dangers just like our veranda. Moreover, the places and circumstances that that we consider a threat to our security and comfort like the high, scary grasses that we were trekking through, become areas of safety. If we will just trust and rest in the loving care of our Lord, we will find that we have a strong fortification around us while we are walking into the unknown, uncomfortable places.

How wonderful is the wisdom and humor of God to provide a vivid object lesson through the visit of a cobra on a Sunday afternoon!

May God's peace & grace rest upon you,

The Kamaus

The Lord Stirs Hearts for Orphan Rescue

(The result of some of the diligent work that has been going on at the village to prepare for new arrivals)

The construction of homes and furniture is going on briskly at the Village of Hope in preparation for the coming of about forty children from Livingstone. The social welfare offices in both the Southern and Central provinces of Zambia have already begun the paper work needed in order to implement the transition.

We have also been hosting a team from a church in Australia that has been visiting for two weeks.

(Our Australian brother, Dion, spending the day with Kamau to gather information about the role of Village Administrator)

This is the second visit from the Australians, they stopped briefly last year and decided that they wanted to return to for an extended visit and experience the day to day running of the Village of Hope. The team helped paint one of the houses and the community center which we have been using as our school and beginning May 3rd, we will began to use the same facility for church on Sundays.

(Easter Service was held in our front yard as Kamau gave the message and the children performed a special presentation)

In the past we have been ferrying the mothers and children to the local churches in

the few vehicles we have, but as we continue grow, this is becoming increasingly harder to do because of the numbers involved. Mothers and children have often missed church since we did not have enough space to take everyone. Pastor Emmanuel, Pastor Zulu, Kamau and later on Paul Hamelryck, a missionary who will arrive with his family in June this year, will take turns filling the pulpit at the Village of Hope Church.

It has been an interesting observation that the team from Australia as well as other visitors that have come recently, have been seeking the Lord and praying about involvement in orphan rescue and the trips to Villages of Hope have been sort of an exploration venture.

This particular team is hoping to start a children’s home in Zambia in the near future. It appears that orphan rescue is something that is close and near to the heart of the Lord. He is moving people from across the globe with a deep passion and desire to create a safe refuge for these children as well as disciples of Jesus Christ.

Others just cannot help it; case in point, last year, just out of the blue, we received a call from the social welfare to go to their offices to collect some donations, upon arrival; we were given about ten large boxes packed with all kinds of foodstuff such as rice, sugar, flour etc. The logo on the boxes stated that this was a donation to the people of Zambia from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, a Muslim country! Truly God knows how to take care of His people!!

(Malaika & Kimani admiring the harvest of newly picked tomatoes)

We are in the process of harvesting our maize and are hoping to receive a bountiful harvest this year. We planted lots of maize before the rainy season in the new fields which we cleared. Last year we harvested over 100 50kg bags, I am curious to see how many we will gross this year. We have also grown many tomatoes that we have been able to sell to people coming from Lusaka, Zambia’s main business hub and the capital center which is about an hour away. We have sold about one ton of tomatoes so far. We are very encouraged about this since one of our goals is to develop businesses which will enable our children’s home to become economically sustainable locally.

Praises & Prayer Requests

• Much wisdom & grace will be needed as the children from Livingstone arrive and transition into life here at the Villages of Hope. They speak the language of Tonga, which is not frequently spoken in our district. However, we think that they have been exposed to more English than our children who are currently living here, were when they first arrived.
• Pray for the family of some friends that run the Ibis Gardens Conference Center across from our property. The husband of one of the owners died last week. They are not Christians but they have many Christian friends who have encouraged them to seek a relationship with the Lord.
• Pray for the Delaware team that is preparing to come sometime in July
• Pray for the team that is working on getting the container together that will be leaving sometime in May.
• Continue to pray for unity among staff especially as we are preparing to grow considerably.

Peace & Grace

The Kamaus

March Village Happenings

( Rose Chipoya & her children)

Bwanji Everyone,

One of our great joys this month is welcome Rose Chipoya; one of the House mothers back to the Village of Hope. Rose had been away for three months after she came down with a severe case of appendicitis.

She was rushed into the hospital which is an hour away from the Villages of Hope, it took awhile for the doctors to figure out what was wrong with her but, after she was diagnosed as suffering from appendicitis, for whatever reason, the decision was made to do the surgery early the next morning. Rose stomach swelled up during the night and by the time the doctors made the incision, the appendicitis had ruptured and as a result, there was concern of blood poisoning. The recovery took longer than usual, but she has now returned to her family at the village.

(Some of the children at the Sons of Thunder Orphanage)

Another one of my highlights was a week spent in Livingstone at the Sons of Thunder farm and orphanage. A team of seven left the Village of Hope on March the 9th, this team consisted of Pastor Zulu, Benedict and Kathleen, their daughter Sena and two visitors, Julie and Rose both visiting from the Midwest. I first visited the Sons of Thunder orphanage in October 2005 when Benedict and I visited Zambia for a week to scope out the land. We also spent that time praying and seeking guidance and direction pertaining to possible future ministry involvement in the country.

The purpose of our recent visit was to explore and discern the possibility of taking in the 44 children currently living there. To our delight we were encouraged by the management and the government Social Welfare Officers to pursue the steps necessary to begin the process of admission into the Village of Hope.

When I first visited the orphanage in 2005, I found a lot of babies who were crawling all over the place and others feeding on bottles, these babies have now grown and most of them are now three and four years old. The wonder of it all is that providentially, they may become part of the Village of Hope family soon. Admitting the children will be gradual as we will only be able to take in eight children at a time as each house is completed. This process will continue over the coming months as the Lord provides the resources needed.

We are asking that you join us in prayer for the following:

• The housing for the new children that will be arriving will be completed on time.
• Pray that the transition will go well.
• Pray that God will send the right housemothers to care of the next group of children to arrive.
• Continue to pray for unity among all of those serving at the Village of hope.
• Please pray that we will be successful in getting Kimberly's mother to Zambia for a visit.

God's Blessings to you all!

The Kamaus

Blessings

…From Kamau

Greetings,

We hope this finds you doing well, It has been raining heavily on and off since our return in January. Not far from the Village of Hope, some grass and mud huts have collapsed as a result of the ground being saturated and submerged in water. The crops are doing great though, we are praying that the Lord will give us just the right amount of rainfall we need. Too little and the crops will not mature properly, too much and the water will flood the fields and completely wipe out the crops. We trust that the Lord knows our needs and He knows also how to take care of His own.

We are rejoicing at the arrival of three children who arrived on Friday, February 6th, the children are 11yr old Paul, his sister, 6yr old Precious and a cousin, 9yr old Prudence who has lived with them since she was 4yrs. Their journey to the Village of Hope started on the morning of February 2^nd. I received a call from a farmer who informed us that a woman who was his house help and lived at his farm had died suddenly the previous day and left 7 orphaned children ranging from a two week old baby to a 15yr old.

(Prudence, three days after the death of her Aunt. She lost her own mother when she was four, she has been orphaned twice.)


The woman's husband passed away in 2003. The farmer stated that these children had nowhere to go and that the father of the two week old baby who was a guard at nearby farm, had disappeared when he found out that the woman had became very sick soon after the birth of the baby.

(Baby Blessings just before being taken to the infant rescue ministry)

We took two week old Blessings, their little sister, to an infant rescue ministry in Lusaka. The plan was for Blessings to be reunited with her siblings at the Village of Hope after she was weaned for 6-12 months unfortunately, she died two weeks later on February 18th due to complications related to acute pneumonia.

The children's 13yr old sister and 15 year old brother were taken in by an Aunt and uncle, who suddenly found themselves overwhelmed with the latest death of their sister and were wondering how they were going to provide for the seven newly orphaned nieces and nephews since, in addition to their own children, they were already taking care of other orphans belonging to two of their other siblings who have also passed away.

(Prudence, being welcomed by Joyce, Terence & the other children)

(Paul's introduction to Legos by Sharpi)

(Front from Left: Paul, Precious & Prudence; Back from Left: family friend, Uncle & Aunt when they brought the children to their new home at the Village of Hope)

…From Kimberly

Our time visiting friends and family was wonderful for us and we are very grateful to the Lord for allowing it to come to pass. We are happy to be back in Zambia and settling into our routine of ministry and homeschooling.

(Saturday morning at Hope Club)

It was great to get back to Hope Club as well. In school, the teaching theme for part of the year is "Who Am I?" They have been learning various things about themselves, their bodies, etc. In Hope Club we have be learning about the ways that Jesus grew during His time on earth; growing in stature, wisdom, favor with God and with men and that we need to grow in the same ways. Right now we are learning about what it means to grow in wisdom and in the different ways we can be wise. So far, we have talked about the wisdom of obedience, receiving counsel and in the use of our tongue.

(Returning to their homes after Hope Club)

Two weeks ago, we held our first church service in the community center. It truly was a day of blessing as we hosted members from Pastor Emmanuel Lusumpa's church and neighbors in the community. It was a very joyful time of singing and celebrating what the Lord has done over the past two years.

(Malaika and Sharon after the church service at the community center)

Prayer Requests

• The opportunity to return to Okada School to hold Bible Clubs there has opened up again, so Mary Zulu and Kimberly have begun this new time of ministry with the children in the surrounding communities. Pray for the Lord to prepare the soil of the hearts of the children to receive His Word. Praise also for the excitement and receptiveness that was shown by the children as the Bible Club began again.
• Due to the growth of the Village of Hope and need for everyone to receive regular spiritual nourishment, we will be starting church services at the community center beginning on the 15th of March. Please pray for God's direction as we begin.


• We have some discipline issues with two of the children who are showing some defiance and disobedience toward their house mother and their teachers at school. We are asking for wisdom to address the problem and that God will work to change their hearts.
  


• Pray for continued unity in our ministry and for strong interpersonal relationships.
  


• We are currently in need of born-again, godly housemothers and aunties. Please pray that God will lead us to them.
  


• Pray that Kimani & Malaika will continue to receive all that they need to thrive in home school as Kimberly instructs them.
  


• Pray that Kimberly's mother will be strong enough to travel for a visit this year and that the finances for her ticket will be available when it comes time to purchase her ticket.

With Gratitude,

The Kamaus

Travelers

Greetings!

Hello friends, I hope this finds you doing well, we are presently making our preparations for our return to Zambia after visiting in Wilmington, Delaware for about two months. Our journey began in Zambia on September 26th when we bounded a train for a trip to Kenya through Tanzania.

The train trip from Zambia to Tanzania took two days and then from there we took a bus ride into Kenya which lasted about ten hrs. The cost of the train trip was U.S. $206 for a first class cabin with bunk beds; the bus ride from Tanzania to Kenya cost U.S. $100, this brought the total cost to U.S. $306 dollars. Prior to our train trip, we had inquired from the airline how much it would cost to fly to Kenya which is only a two hour flight from Zambia, but we quickly settled for the train when we found out that it was going to cost the four us U.S. $2400, so I guess you can say that we saved $2094 not bad ha! In the course of our travel, we saw some awesome scenery as we traveled through tunnels and jungles and over high bridges and rivers. When planning the trip, we were wondering how Kimani & Malaika were going to handle it, thankfully, they did very well and did not complain.

Upon arrival in Kenya, we had a wonderful home coming; we visited with Kamau’s relatives and friends. This was the first time in our eleven years of marriage that Kimberly and our children had visited the place where Kamau was born. Kimani and Malaika were able to visit with their Kenyan cousins for the first time. We were in Kenya for two weeks and it was truly a very special time. However Kamau’s relatives put him to task and wanted to know why he had not taught the Kids and Kimberly Swahili. They told him to make sure that he teaches Kimberly and the children Kikuyu or Swahili so that they can be able to communicate with them next time we visit. They even threatened to hold Kimberly hostage for two months and teach her themselves as they did not believe that Kamau will do it since he had not done it during the eleventh years of marriage. How utterly unfair! Seems like these people have no confidence in me! Please click on this link to view a brief slide show of our travels.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qi3yRvWUA2o

We are enjoying visiting with Kimberly’s mum and sister, Nikki; Kimani and Malaika are having tons of fun with their grandmother whom they haven’t seen for two years. We are very grateful to God to find Kimberly’s mum doing well and able to get about without much problems, she went through two hip replacements surgery recently which has greatly alleviated the pain and discomforted she has suffered for some time. Nikki's wedding was the highlight of our family during our stay.

Malaika turned eight on November 28th, she celebrated her birthday bowling and playing arcade games with her friends.

We have also visited with friends and churches that support our work in Zambia including a few other churches to help raise awareness of the orphan crisis. This time that we have spent them have been full of laughter and encouragement and it strengthens us as we go forward in our ministry. Thank you & Many blessings to all those who have made the last three months so very special to us through giving, practical helps, hospitality, prayers and many other kindnesses! We will miss you!

For His Glory,

The Kamaus

Two Years Already?!

(Malaika & Sharon, best pals)

Muli Bwanji Everyone,

From Kimberly....

Where has the time gone? Forgive us for starting off with a cliche, but we are truly asking that question. We can hardly believe that it has been two years since we arrived in Zambia. I can still remember wondering what it would feel like to finally set eyes on the face of the first child that would come to live at the Village of Hope. Now we have 21 faces that have become very dear to us living at the village!

Kimani just recently celebrated his 10th birthday, his second in Zambia. Everyone stopped by for some cake and fellowship. Malaika will be celebrating her 8th birthday in the States. Yes, we are going to be returning home to Delaware for a visit from October 21st to January 3rd. We are actually leaving Zambia on Friday, September 26th on a train bound for Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and then onto Kenya by bus. We will be visiting with Kamau's family for the first time in the 11 years that we have been married. Shortly after we arrive in the U.S., we will be participating in the wedding of my sister. As you can imagine, this is a very exciting time for us. We are looking forward to seeing many of you, so please be on the look out for us!

(Future carpenters?)

August, we enjoyed the company of a family from Michigan that came to visit the Village of Hope after hearing about it on the Family Life Today radio program. Mark used his carpentry skills to help with some projects and to take time to instruct some very eager students! The children could not wait to get their chores done so that they could come over to the work area to hang out with Mark and work on their projects such as, benches, crosses, little tables, etc.



As you can see from the above picture, Isaac and Brighton were absolutely fascinated by the drill and could not wait to try it out for themselves. Maureen, who is a teacher, was of great help to us as we were preparing to resume school in September. She helped us put together a teacher training program and provided us with a wealth of ideas for our school. Kristopher, gave art instruction and taught the children how to play checkers. We were sad to see them go and we really miss them!


(Selita, Isaac, & Brighton hard at work)


(Selita making a bench)

From Kamau...

This is the time of year when it is very dry, windy, and hot! It is also the time of year for fires that just spring up suddenly and hungrily eat up the dry grasses of the bush. This fire that you are looking at was right on our property and actually came into the village and came very close to the houses. It burned all of the grass on the 97 hectares of land that belong to All Kids Can Learn Zambia. Amazingly, whenever this happens the trees do not burn, they are very resistant to fire and seem to thrive in this type of environment. Fortunately, no one was hurt in this fire but just about a week later there was another fire right across from us at Ibis Gardens and a man lost his life. He had been drinking and decided to lay down in the tall grasses of the bush in order to sleep, and the fire surrounded him. It was very sad. In a similar fire, Pastor Zulu, our pastor, lost his elderly mother in a bush fire just like this one.

( This photo was taken not far from one of the houses in the village)

(Benedict came out with the skid loader to put out some flames that were getting too close to the hose pipe connected to the water tank.)

(Kathleen and the children outside of the community center which is currently being used for school)

On the first day of the new school term, the children were very excited to be attending school at the community center instead of in the houses at the village.

Kathleen and one of the teachers welcomed the students and gave an encouragement from God's Word.

We have begun to upack the many boxes of books that arrived on the container and we are pleased that we can have our very own library! What a huge blessing!

(The children have a look around at the classrooms that they will be using)

(Exlidah, Sharpie, and Gift looking at the many books)

Prayer Requests

• Pray for safe travel for our family
• There have been many illnesses at the village lately. Please pray for healing and protection.
• Please pray that God will send to us godly, experienced teachers for the next term in January 2009. This is an urgent request.
• There was an attempted robbery at the community center a few days ago. They were after computers and sewing machines. Again, please pray for protection of our guards who are the ones who would come in contact with the thieves. Pray that God will change the covetous hearts of those in the surrounding community, it is a real problem.

Hope to see many of you very soon,

The Kamaus