Dear Ministry Family,

Words fail me in describing my own feelings at the arrival of, and ceremony for receiving the First family and coffin of President, Patrick Levy Mwanawassa back home to Zambian soil after he died in France on Tuesday. The president was reported as having died in Egypt in June where he was attending a session to try to help resolve the struggles in Zimbabwe. That report was in error. It was later learned that he was transported to France where he remained in ICU on life support. I admired this president for his stand against corruption and saw growth and development during his 7 years in office. He was a strong man of Christian faith.

Throughout the proceedings the name of Jesus Christ was lifted up in word and song. The first president, Kenneth Kaunda reminded the nation that we are Christians and need to behave as Christ would want us to as we mourn, and then move on with electing our next president.

When the procession left the airport, I walked outside to watch as it passed by the House of Moses where thousands of people were waiting.

He will lie in state until next week when the First family and the body will travel to each of the 9 Provinces allowing the rest of the nation to mourn and pay its last respects. He will be buried in his home village on September 3rd, the date of his 60th birthday.

The Zambian Constitution is very clear about the process of electing a new President; however, there are 12 political parties each vying for the chance to put forth a candidate within the stipulated 90 day period. The next president will serve for 3 years, completing the term of office of the late president. Thankfully, everything is as it should be; orderly and peaceful.

This is a very critical time for Zambia. The most important role for those of us that love this nation is to join with our friends in prayer for a competent, righteous and just, next president.

Sandra – An Adopted Zambia

Posted by ACE Staff at 10:09 AM | Comments (0)

Dear Ministry Family,

The excitement, joy and pride at Monday’s official opening of the Helen DeVos Christian School is hard to describe. From early in the morning (around 7 AM) the students and teachers and guardians of the children were getting the school grounds and refreshments ready. Every wall was scrubbed clean, and every one of the 500 chairs were set in place on the open grounds in front of the classrooms. White chalk lines were drawn in the sand outside of the main gate for the vehicles to park. In the compounds there are not even street signs, let alone vehicles! The school library had new maroon window blinds, and the science lab showed off its beakers and flasks.

One young boy held a banner to lead us to the property. (I knew where I was going, but we were not sure the Vice President could find his way through the maze!) When we walked through the main gate, each of the 200+ pupils were dressed in shirts donated by a visiting team member, whose colors were as the Zambian flag. RED for the blood of the martyrs….ORANGE for the mineral wealth….BLACK for the African people…and GREEN for the verdant land.

SINGING!!! Uncle G. had the Helen DeVos Choir (in orange shirts) sing a round of songs as the guests were arriving. Then the sad message came…the Vice President, Rupiah Banda, lost his mother at 93 years of age the day before and was not able to attend. He would instead send his Deputy… however the Deputy, was to be 2 hours late!! So what to do? We went ahead and said if he came we would re-group and listen to his speech (which we wrote) that honored Mrs. DeVos as a woman in her later years who believes that all children everywhere should get an education, and toward that end, she was willing to help the most vulnerable orphan get that education.

When the new school flag was raised, a hundred balloons (same Zambian colors) were released into the howling wind. The pupils went wild with singing and cheering and applause. The school plaque was set into a pillar of red brick and said “The Helen DeVos Christian School was officially opened by His Honor Rupiah Banda, (MP) the Vice President of the Republic of Zambia, June 23rd. 2008. James 1:27.”

It was a great day, and a blessing to have had a part in making the prayers, hopes and dreams of so many children come true.

Blesssings,
Sandra

Posted by ACE Staff at 12:25 PM | Comments (1)

Dear Friends Everywhere!!

Yours, and our, prayers have been answered!! After more than a year of seeking the Lord and beseeching the cement company for favor with them in a national shortage crisis...we finally have cement!!!

Today was my 62nd birthday and I was blessed to find that even though we ordered and paid for 600 sacks of cement, we got 727 sacks. Although the US dollar declined, the Zambian Kwacha gained strength, and so we got an extra bonus of 127 sacks!!

We have been thanking God all day, and now the builders will work extra hard to see to it that the House of Martha building project will go ahead with full force so can move the children into their new home.

Thanks for praying and giving! The photo attached is cool...dust covered men unloading a truck full of cement. :-)

Blessing you!
Sandra

Posted by ACE Staff at 8:29 AM | Comments (1)

Apr. 15, 2008

Dear Family and Friends:

I first want to thank everyone for their prayers and support in the time leading up to my departure, through my travels and during my stay in Zambia. I arrived in Zambia Thursday, April 3 and other than being extremely tired I was excited that I had finally returned. Ever since I left in the middle of January I have felt called to come back, not only to help the people of Zambia but also to reunite with the friends that I had made during my short stay. Although there are some similarities to this time and my trip in January, the trip as a whole feels completely different. The place where I spend my evenings is actually an orphanage called House of Moses, for kids aged anywhere from 1 day to 3 years. I could not have asked for a more amazing place to stay because everyday I am reminded of why I am here. Although I spend my days helping out with construction of the new House of Martha orphanage, I try to spend as much time as possible in the nursery at House of Moses with the children. The kids are just amazing and everyday I am becoming more and more attached to them.

The construction that is taking place right now is the renovation of a house into an orphanage so that the children in the current House of Martha will have a larger and safer place to stay. This past rainy season the current House of Martha was in serious danger of being completely flooded. So that threat, along with the lack of space is the reason for the new building. As of now construction has been slowed by a few problems. A major issue in Zambia right now is the lack of concrete. Most of the smaller companies that were able to get concrete are charging outrages prices because they know that the demand is so high. Although we are trying to find other companies who are still at cheaper prices we may have to resort to the increased prices because, as of this Thursday we will have run out of concrete completely. We are also currently having a difficult time obtaining the bricks that we had ordered. This is causing us to stop work at the orphanage for the time being and is forcing us to go to other properties doing minor repairs while we wait.

Christian Alliance for Children in Zambia currently operates 3 orphanages and has set up many schools which they continue to monitor. It is a nonprofit organization which relies solely on donations for the day to day running costs of the orphanages as well as construction costs. Please consider helping this organization in showing children God's amazing love. Your prayers as well as your financial support will go a long way in building up the future of Zambia. Thank you from all of us in Zambia.

If you wish to contribute to this worthwhile cause, donations can be forwarded to my home church for a tax receipt. Please make cheques payable to Fleetwood Christian Reformed Church (9165 160 Street, Surrey, BC V4N 2X7 or passed on through my parents, Nick and Joyce Van Ravenstein) and mark on the memo line—Zambia project—Kevin Van Ravenstein. They will then wire the funds to us here in Zambia. Thank you for your amazing support.
God bless!
Kevin Van Ravenstein

Posted by ACE Staff at 3:46 PM | Comments (0)

We had all the kids here today from the three homes. Imagine over 52 children from ages 3 months to 12 years covering the lawn at House of Moses with nshim'a, soccer balls, watermelon rind, chicken leg bones and empty baby bottles.

Such was the scene today when the team from Union Presbyterian Church, Seattle WA. invited the children from the Bill and Bette Bryant home, and the older children from the House of Martha to House of Moses for a play day. They did play all day. We adults were worn out after a few hours, but the children were jumping and singing and playing soccer, jump ball and silly games since 10 this morning. They never did wear out. I was humbled that so many of them would be dead or still on the streets if not for the love and care in these homes.

Neither the Kanyama House of Martha nor the Bill and Bette Bryant home have areas to play on. Coming to House of Moses is a real treat for them, and for the staff as well. The new House of Martha will have lots of space and place to play, but until then, hopefully next month, House of Moses is the place to be!!

Wish you could have joined us, and so a photo will have to do!

Posted by ACE Staff at 10:30 AM | Comments (0)

Dear Mrs. De Vos,

My name is Daria Charlesworth and I am the Director of Guidance and
College Counseling at the Purnell School, an all-girls boarding school for
grades 9 through 12 in Pottersville, NJ. I have had the good fortune to be
a chaperone on a community service trip our school has sponsored to
Zambia, and so I helped supervise nine junior and senior students while
they stayed at the House of Moses in Lusaka. We visited the Helen De Vos
Christian School in the Kanyama section on March 11, 2008. I wanted to let
you know how impressed we have been by the school building, by the faculty
and students, and by the incredible progress that has been made there.

We arrived at the school in two four-wheel drive vehicles, carrying a
total of 15 people- nine students, my colleague William Warlick and me,
and administrators from CACZ. It is difficult to describe how rugged the
trip to the school was. Once we entered the Kanyama compound the road
became a dirt path strewn with jagged rocks, which made the trip very slow
and bumpy. Pools of standing water from recent rains were also part of the
roadway. We stopped in front of the cement wall that encloses the school
and we were greeted by many children in dark blue uniforms with “Helen De
Vos Christian School” on the backs of the sweaters. We entered the school
and it was like being in a different world- fresh concrete walls, new
windows, an open courtyard, and beautiful wooden doors were evident as we
walked into the compound. In the Library we were surrounded by cartons of
books and cardboard boxes containing brand-new desks as well as food
supplies for the children. The physical plant is unlike anything we have
seen in Zambia, and we toured at least four community schools in the two
weeks we spent in Lusaka and Siavonga. But more important is the
excitement and brightness we saw in the eyes of the students as they
settled into their beautiful new classrooms. They are so eager to learn!

One of the requirements for our nine students from Purnell was for them to
plan a lesson to be taught to Zambian 5th and 6th graders. Our students
split into two groups and taught two classes at he the Helen De Vos
School, one for 5th grade and one for 6th grade. Our students expected
the Zambian students to be disinterested and blasé, as American students
might be. Nothing could be further from the truth. The students were
polite, engaged, and so excited to be learning something new. We were
impressed by the high level of attention from the Helen De Vos students,
as well as the enthusiasm and interest of their teachers. In fact, one of
the teachers said to me, “I wish you were here for three weeks, I could
learn so much from your students!” The Purnell students had prepared
posters, worksheets, art projects, and songs related to the lesson on the
water cycle, in an effort to use all sensory modalities- visual, auditory,
experiential- to explain the concepts. The students and faculty at Helen
De Vos were so welcoming and eager to learn from us.

Your gift of this school is extraordinary, and I wanted to let you know
how important it is in the overall context of education in Zambia. In our
travels we have met so many wonderful children who are motivated to learn,
yet have such poor facilities that we wonder how they can possibly
concentrate on their lessons. At the Helen De Vos School they are safe,
well fed, have desks and materials, and have a peerless opportunity to
succeed. It is an experiment in Zambian education that must continue,
because it has so much potential to change the lives of Zambia’s future
leaders. Though I am not affiliated with a church denomination (Purnell
School is non-sectarian) I am so impressed with the work of the Christian
Alliance for Children in Zambia as well as your magnificent high school. I
see this school as an enormous contribution to the future of Zambia, and I
hope you will continue to support it.

Sincerely,
Daria Charlesworth, RN, MS
Director of Guidance and College Counseling
Purnell School

Posted by ACE Staff at 11:07 AM | Comments (0)

The following is a letter we received from a young lady who came with a team to Zambia in 2004. We'll let her speak for herself:

Hello Sandra,
It's been such a long time but i am hoping with everything in me that you remember me. My name is Lindsay, I was the 18 year old that stayed there in the summer of 2004. I must say that summer changed my life. I remember the last words that Uncle G said to me before i left for the plane back to America he said, "I just know that some day by the time you are 35 you will be a missionary somewhere in Africa." And sure enough that's where God is taking me! I have always hoped and waited for the opportunity to return. And lately God has really been putting the house of Moses on my heart. A little bit of an update on my life. I am married now. I got married last summer actually to an amazing christian man that has the same hopes of being a missionary as well. Right now we want to travel around to different places and see where God takes us. I am hoping and continually praying that you will have the room for us to come and visit this summer for a few weeks. Along with us will be my best friend who is also wanting to be a missionary wants to come. Her name is Christy. So there would be three of us wanting to come. And we are completely flexible. I would love to stay in the house of Moses again, but i am open to staying with natives as well. My husband and i do not have to room together. We are fine with sleeping separately. We are extremely flexible in terms of accommodations. I just wish you could understand how excited i am. I have been waiting for almost four years now for God to call me back to Zambia and i am so excited that he finally is! Please pray your hardest about us coming because we want to be there more than anything. Hurray!!!! God is finally calling me back to AFRICA!
I know you are busy, but if you wouldn't mind please contact me as soon as possible as i will be awaiting your response extremely anxious. In case I never got the chance to thank you, thank you for helping me grow and seeing our world in a different way. The gifts and blessings that you and Africa and more importantly God gave me that summer I will never be able to forget!
Blessing,
Lindsay

Posted by ACE Staff at 1:28 PM | Comments (1)

In Zambia extreme demand for electricity has created havoc in the country. The power company ZESCO has issued a nation-wide schedule for what they call load-shedding, where entire areas are cut off for hours each day, or in some cases days at a time. The nation is both selling power to South Africa to raise support for new generators, and at the same time, building new generating capacity on Lake Kariba.

This will go on till 2010 at the earliest. Here in Chelston, where House of Moses is located, we were made aware of our schedule yesterday. We will be without power on Mondays and Thursdays from 5AM till 9PM. The power will come on for 2 hours only at mid-day. With the CACZ offices located on the property and all of our babies needing water from our well which is electric driven, we are left with no option but to try to look for the funds to buy a generator that will run everything except the stoves. In faith we are going to purchase one on Monday. The other homes will be OK as there are fewer children and they have a city water supply.

If your church family is looking for a project, this would be an excellent way for them to invest in children in Zambia. The cost will be $2,000. Even with the generator, we won't be able to use the stoves, so we will be doing quite a lot of barbecuing—at least every Monday and Thursday.

Posted by ACE Staff at 9:33 AM | Comments (0)

I could not pass up the opportunity to send this photo of me and my Pajero trying to get to the Kanyama House of Martha and the De Vos school. It has been raining non stop and there are complete villages and towns washed away. Kanyama has been especially hard hit, but the children are safe.

Posted by ACE Staff at 2:20 PM | Comments (0)

The new Helen DeVos Christian school is now open, has 227 students, and is operating smoothly. Both teachers and students are glowing with pride at being able to study in such a quality school and everyone is working hard, even under the budget constraints.

We are lacking some furnishings, such as stools in the lab and shelves in the closets. We will need more shelves in the library and are looking forward to a large stove in the container being sent in March from Seattle. We will need to spend at least another $2,000 on furnishings in the next month. Several other items such as refrigerator, laboratory fume hood and other incidentals will be on hold for now.

If you would like to help with these needs, please visit our secure online donation page.

Many thanks to all who have contributed to this project, especially for Annette Baldwin's oversight and constant pursuit of excellence in bringing this dream to reality.

Posted by ACE Staff at 2:03 PM | Comments (0)

The reality of being back in the United States after 6 months in Zambia has finally sunk in. Just this week-end I realized that I no longer was waiting for a knock on my back room door at House of Moses with news—some good, some not—and living with the constant challenges of being in a land where resources are scarce. I admit, the constant strain of death and abandoned children took a toll, and for the first time in many months I feel relaxed.

Here in America there is a different tension. The realization that God has blessed the ministry so much with the new Helen DeVos middle school being built and a larger new property for the House of Martha leaves me in awe of the goodness and provision of God. I am humbled, and I admit very excited by the honor to serve Him and steward those things He has provided through His people.

Looking ahead now means taking just one step at a time. I am always wanting to run, but have found I have just enough light to take the next step. Please pray that the burden of caring for so many children and families in the rescue homes and schools does not become mine—but rather that He sustain and care for what He Himself has established.

I'll be in the USA till April, when I will return for another 5 months, where this year we already have 63 short term visitors signed up and ready to come to see what God is doing in Zambia. We will celebrate our 10th year Anniversary in June, and so there will be many wonderful events planned and WOW, is it really 10 years???

Thank you for your continued prayers and support.

In service to the Master, Jesus,
Sandra

Posted by ACE Staff at 8:59 AM |