We were finally able to deliver a container of goods to the Helen DeVos Christian School that was sent by Operation Outreach in Washington Courthouse, OH. We say finally because it took Customs nearly a month to release the goods to us. They were on strike! How thrilled we were to finally see 149 brand new desks, donated by Goad International, Orlando, FL. You cannot imagine how much excitement could be generated by new desks! The ones the students were using were kept together with "sticks and glue."

Classes were completely disrupted when the loaded truck pulled into the school yard. Boys and girls ran outside to the truck jumping and shouting. They had all the new desks unloaded and in the classrooms in minutes. No longer would they have to sit squeezed three to a bench. They each would have a brand new desk, one of their very own!

January 2008, the Helen DeVos Christian School is targeted to open with a new structure for over 350 pupils. Students who have been attending our Faith Works primary schools in the community of Kanyama will be enrolled. These young people are all either orphans, or come from very vulnerable households. Until the Faith Works schools opened, they were not able to attend school at all, but now they are part of a school system that aspires to excellence. Knowing that their future life depends on their studies today, Faith Works pupils work hard to take every advantage of the opportunity to learn. Each of them realize that together, you the friends that give and pray, and they, the ones getting good grades are glorifying God—and it is good.

Gifts for the DeVos matching fund are coming in, but we still have a ways to go. You can give by choosing the DeVos matching fund option at Support ACE.

Posted by ACE Staff at 9:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Earlier this year forty people, most of them women, were chosen to participate in a micro-enterprise program designed to help them start a small, but sustainable business. Many of the participants are guardians of children at House of Moses or our other Crisis Nurseries. With the help of this program, called Heaven's Blessing, these guardians will be able to provide a home and food for the children of relatives who have died.

Heaven's Blessing is a two and a half pound plastic package of ground corn, or "mealie meal", the staple food for Zambian families. Maize is ground and packaged at our hammer mill in the center of Kanyama, a Lusaka shantytown. Participants are grouped into cells, with five in each group. Ten packages of meal, each called a pamela, are given to each participant each day for six weeks. As they sell, they pay back the "loan" at the wholesale price of the mealie meal. In six weeks the new business people can have their loan paid and own enough mealie meal to keep the business moving at a level that will give them support for their families. We are extremely proud of all the participants, and we pray for their success as they work to care for their own children.

The Saturday before the first pamelas were to be distributed, students from our 8th grade showed up to volunteer with the packing and weighing. Having been helped themselves, they were quick to offer their help to others.

Posted by ACE Staff at 3:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hello USA!

Sandy, Machelle and Jennie are leaving in the morning. Please pray for strength, good connections and a safe journey home.

Thanks for praying for our visit (Machelle and I) with Dr. Kaunda. What a great story this will be in the years to come. :-)

Just as we were leaving KK's office, (we met for about 15 minutes with his aide, His Excellency was quite late), KK just happened to bump into us in the car park. Having recognized me, he gave us another full 30 minutes! KK, an educator himself, was so taken with Machelle's dissertation topic and her understanding of the teaching culture and challenges being faced, he not only agreed to write the preface, but also allow her to publish their photo along with it. Attached

Then little bold me, :-) asked if he were planning a trip to the USA, and he said "as a matter of fact we are." I turned to his Excellency and the man who I have known as his aide (Godwin Mfula) and asked if it were at all possible while he was in the USA could he possibly come to some of our USA cities of support?

He said, "Sandra, I am in my last years, I would be honored to help you with the education of our children in your schools even as I helped with House of Moses." I nearly fainted, but instead took both of his hands and prayed that his strength would not falter, his mind not fail, and his eye not dim until he realized the promise of the education of the children. He then said, "As you were praying I asked God to hear and honor your prayer." I believe God did.

KK has also said if he were in Zambia in January, he would be honored to be at the opening of the DeVos School. (Hutzpah!)

Sandra

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For those of you who don't know who Dr. Kaunda is, the following story from May, 2006 will fill you in:

Dr. Kenneth David Kaunda is the most revered and respected man in Zambia.

During the same decade that Rosa Parks refused to relinquish her seat on the bus, Kenneth Kaunda (affectionately called KK), refused to buy meat through a window at the back of the store, while white colonialists entered through the front door.

When imprisoned for advocating independence for the country that was then Northern Rhodesia, he would reach up to the tiny, barred window of his jail cell and wave his white handkerchief to admirers standing below.

On October 24, 1964, he became the first president of the newly independent Zambia, the position he held until October 31, 1991.

KK has always been a pioneer. In the late 1980s, while the medical community in Zambia refused to acknowledge the existence of HIV/AIDS for shame of sexuality, KK broke the silence by confessing that the death of his son, David, was caused by AIDS.

KK is a natural father, with seven sons (one adopted), and two daughters. He is a national father, who prevailed in the birthing of Zambia. He is a spiritual father, continuing to urge Zambian men not to forsake their God-given responsibility as fathers.

On October 1, 2005, KK, this spry, healthy 82-year-old statesman who speaks all over the world, spoke to a large crowd of Zambians, Americans and the national media from House of Moses. His theme was, “The Significance of Fathers.” His message was that a man cannot condemn a woman for abandoning her baby when men all over the country are abandoning women – and their babies.

After his speech, a large donated cake, shaped like the nation of Zambia, was brought out. With hands joined KK, an African patriot, and Sandra, an American Jew, cut the first slice.

While guests enjoyed their cake, KK toured the House of Moses nurseries. With eyes filled with tears, he reached into his coat pocket and brought out the famous white handkerchief and blessed each baby, one by one. “I had no idea such a wonderful work existed in Zambia until I saw it for myself,” he said to the reporters.

Sandra was asked to give the closing prayer. She prayed that the hearts of fathers would truly be turned to their children, families would return to their Godly heritage, and every good thing God has planned for Zambia and her people would be accomplished.

Posted by ACE Staff at 4:46 PM | Permalink

Dear Ministry Family,
I never knew four months could pass by so quickly. The Lord has been so good to me, and to the ministry here in Zambia. Knowing that all of you are very busy, even as we are, I at least wanted to highlight some of the wonderful news from this side of the world before traveling home on July 26th. Jennie has been with us since May 22nd (my 61st Birthday). She leaves on July 12th.

Child Rescue

We are working hard to keep up with the numbers of children in our three homes. Each is at capacity. The poor are getting poorer and children are dying in the compounds at a faster rate than in previous years. House of Moses is caring for 21 infants, House of Martha has 17 children and the Bill and Bette Bryant Nursery has 16. Several, especially the older ones, are ready for adoption so pass the word along. We are also continuing to work toward, and pray for, good adoption laws and procedures.

House of Martha will have a new location! The Goad Family, an internationally known evangelistic and singing family (been around as a family since the 1960's) raised the funds to buy a wonderful property just 5 minutes from House of Moses. Much has changed since the Outreach Foundation purchased the House of Martha property in 1998. The roads have deteriorated, the utilities became very unreliable and the area is cholera prone. The Goad's lost their mother many years ago and wanted a place to care for orphans and vulnerable children in her honor and memory. Her name? MARTHA!! The family was in Zambia last week and had several mission outreaches and also did a ribbon cutting and dedication of the new home. We will have to do work on the property before the children are moved, but they were with us for the dedication and everyone was smiling, singing and even climbing the trees in the big front yard. When the children move we will sell the Kanyama property and use the assets to continue to upgrade the new location. We rejoice as God brings many new partners together for children.

Education

Faith Works Schools continue to get better and better each year. There are over 2,500 pupils in Grades 1-7 and 58 in Grade 8 which opened in January. Grades 9 and 10, 11 and 12 also have our children who are now in Government schools with scholarships we are providing. We broke ground for the new Helen DeVos Christian School and the plan is to open in January 2008 for Grades 7, 8, and 9. The school will be one of the first in Zambia to offer a first rate education to orphans and children with no financial means. We are grateful to Helen DeVos for her faith in us and the $428,000 matching grant (we are about 25% along to matching that goal) that she gave Alliance for Children Everywhere which allows us to continue to raise the support needed to provide this kind of an education to eager children with hungry minds.

Empowerment of Guardians and Women

With a grant from a German organization, we have trained 40 guardians of orphans (men and women) in our community projects. We are providing them with a means of supporting themselves and their families. We are using our hammer mill to grind maize (corn) and package it in sealed bags with a consistent 1Kg. weight. Ground maize is eaten by every Zambian. The maize when ground is called mealie meal and this is boiled in water to make the staple food, nshima. The program is called a "Commodity Lending Scheme" This strategy is radically different from the existing way mealie meal is sold. The weights are typically not consistent, the bags are not sealed and the prices are not the same for the weight of the bag. People know they are being cheated, but that is how the market was—until now. We are being deluged by folks wanting to get in on the sales side of Heaven's Blessing Mealie Meal, but we are in a pilot mode and so are limiting ourselves to the first 40. If all goes as planned we may expand the operation to include more of the needy people we are here to serve.

Summer Teams

With 9 visitors left to come to Zambia during this next month, we have had over 30 visitors that have blessed us and been blessed in return. The teams were very well prepared by their respective team leaders, and each person had a chance to teach and to learn at the same time. We are already talking about 2008!

With love and thanks for making the lives of little children matter,
Sandra

Posted by ACE Staff at 9:03 AM | Permalink

Greetings,

SIMU, the contractor, is on the property. Tuesday Chris and Evaristo visited the property and found they were breaking out the slab and preparing the ground. The plans call for only a 2 meter space between the wall and the building, but this space will have to be increased to 3 meters for security reasons. With only 2 meters of space it would be too easy for thieves to span the space from the top of the wall to the overhang on the roof. (The overhang on the roof reduces the space.)

Sandra and Fackson found a vendor who will sell us excellent quality blocks and cement for the wall-fence. The blocks are 2,500 kwacha ($.70) each delivered and the cement 38,000 kwacha ($10.00). This is good news because cement is very hard to get and the street price has jumped to 60,000 kwacha ($15.80). When we went around to various cement dealers and called the factory we were told that there will not be new supply until October. We will get 600 bags at that price and see what we need to do about other projects, but for now we can at at least start the wall. The trench has already been dug. We were happy to have Claud on site as the trench was being dug.

We have 26 women signed up to work on the road and hope to start work late next week. Evaristo will return to the site on Friday.

Evaristo and Matildah were in Kanyama today for a meeting of pastors, PCSC committee members and teachers there. They had 25 in attendance and all the churches were represented.

This term will end August 9. On August 10 a meeting will be held at Helen DeVos Christian School for all teachers, PCSC committee members and church leadership.

We have had every team and visitor this summer visit the Grade 8 class. The children are really doing very well and when asked what they like most about their school they said 1). Our books 2). Our teachers 3). The fact we are made to speak English and 4). The good food.

Two weeks ago the desks from the Goad's arrived and they are splendid. These youth know that although they are poor, they are SPECIAL!

Sandra just returned from the grocery store. She was delayed as all traffic was stopped for a huge motorcade—Barbara Bush arriving from the airport! Sandra has already called the US Embassy Ambassador's Office to give Barbara a special invitation to visit House of Moses. Now, that would be cool!

Love and Blessing to each one of you!
Jennie

Posted by ACE Staff at 7:45 AM | Permalink

We are getting ready to depart for Tucson on Tuesday morning. Sandra and I have been working on different projects and so we have accomplished much in five weeks. We know your prayers have smoothed the way. Thanks to all of you.

At the request of the Minister of Community Development, Frank Block, the director of Love Basket, and I laid out a national policy for international adoption. We have given it to the new CACZ board chair, Barbara who will take it into the Minister next week.

Yesterday we went with the CACZ board to visit some of our projects. Fred Mbango (he is the man who provides our vehicles at a discount) provided a bus, all expenses paid. We first went to the Kanyama school property and the hammer-mill. There was a line of women with corn to grind and the new operator was busy. Fackson has gutted the house which will serve as Grade 8 and he put in new trusses for roof reinforcement. The facility will be ready for 80 students the end of January. There is still a lot of work to be done between now and the opening of school for next year, but we are on target. The men have also dug the trenches for the toilet (ablution) block and the grant from Rotary should be in Zambia in time for the major building activity on that project. Right now we have over 5,000 blocks on site and continue to make ~250 a day.

Then we moved on to the House of Martha. The 13 children sang for us and gave us pictures and cards they had made. The new teacher is wonderful. Nellie shared some of their stories. All of the children are wonderful and the quality care they are receiving shines in their eyes. We were especially moved for one little girl about 12 years old who was found 6 years ago in the bush, alone. Since she was found she had lived in an orphanage, but she still made only guttural sounds and rarely uttered a word. That home was closed recently because of the poor care the children were receiving and this child was sent to us. Yesterday she clearly spoke her name for the first time in front of people and sang confidently with the other children.

Then we headed for Garden Compound where we visited the Garden Hill school and then the Bryant Nursery. We arrived back at House of Moses very hot and very tired. It was well above100 degrees. Over a traditional meal, there was a high level of enthusiasm for the growth and development of CACZ.

Thanks for your continued prayers,
Virginia Woods

Posted by ACE Staff at 10:05 AM | Permalink

Dear Wonderful Friends,

It is with great pleasure that we send you a graduation photo of the first graduates who completed their college degrees in Early Childhood Education. Last week 13 of our volunteer Faith Works teachers completed their college training and graduated as Government Certified Teachers. Finally, after four years of attending school during their month long semester breaks they are wearing the traditional cap and gown.

There is a song we have tried to teach our Zambian friends over the years. Many of you may remember it. "Dream the impossible dream." Well, they never really got the song tune down, but they are living the dream!

Thanks to a grant from The Mustard Seed Foundation, First Fruit and the many individual donors who helped buy books, provided transportation and other expenses, the dream has become a reality.

Share the joy!

Posted by ACE Staff at 2:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The children's VBS at St. Andrew's Presbyterian in Tucson, AZ raised $2,700 to purchase paper for the Faith Works Schools in Zambia, Africa. WOW! A team from St. Andrew's took the money and purchased the paper in Zambia during their summer missions trip. More details and a picture of the team delivering the paper to the children will be posted soon.

Thank you to the children of St. Andrew's. You are all God's shining stars!!

Posted by ACE Staff at 2:31 PM | Permalink