Blesssings,
Sandra

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

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

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!

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

Anne has spent a lot of time building the site documenting her visit to Zambia and we here at ACE are truly blessed by her effort. We highly recommend visiting zambiakids.org and spending the time to explore the photos and read Anne's comments and impressions of Zambia, Zambian kids, and the work that Alliance for Children Everywhere does in Zambia and in the U.S. Kudos to you Anne for a fine job!

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.