WELCOME !

Welcome friends, old and new, known and unknown! It has been my desire to share with you how the Lord is working in my life as I serve the Lord on the mission field of Kabwe, Zambia. There is an old black and white movie called The African Queen. It is about a boat that travels down river. This blog is not about a boat. It is however, about my travels on the mission field of Kabwe, Zambia. By the way, did you know that my name means queen. For many years I have been burdened for souls in Africa. That is why some of my friends call me African Queen.



Friday, July 8, 2016

Faces


Children, 
they drive us crazy,
 but they also bring such joy to our lives.

How is that?
How can they be so cute one moment and so terrible the next?


Let me tell you that working in a class of 2-4 year olds everyday,
 sometimes makes me feel like I am aging quickly 
and like they suck the life right out of me.

Like every mother of toddlers,
I wish I could harness that energy for myself and use it to wear them out.
Our days in preschool are filled with ups and downs.

Even on days when someone is being VERY naughty all day,
another one is terribly sick,
noses are ALL running ALL the time,
someone has an accident,
and it just feels like they are not getting what I am teaching -
- I go home saying that it was a "GOOD" day.

Why???
Because of those sweet little faces.
Those faces are what carry me through on days
 when I don't really want to be on my toes and wasting my breath.

The faces are little reminders that behind each face is a soul.
A little soul that I hope will belong to Jesus one day.
A person that we want God to use and bless.


So tomorrow, when I do it all over again -
wiping noses, 
repeating the same instructions,
singing the same song for the bazillionth time,
- it will only take one look at those little faces 
to be reminded of the precious job God has placed before me.


And again, I sigh in remembrance 
and know that the exhaustion I feel most days 
is worth it all!!!

{The Bemba woman in the pictures with my class is a faithful lady from our church.  She helps me a few days a week.  Please pray for her and others who help.   Also pray that the Lord would provide more teachers and helpers}




Thursday, June 30, 2016

Many Hands

As our special weeks for Bible Clubs were approaching,
I wanted to do something different to make our classroom feel special 
(especially because it is the same room 
we always use for our large childrens' classes).

I had grand plans of making all kinds of decorations,
but knew that it would be too time consuming with teaching everyday.
Plus, where would I get all of the supplies to make nice things
 and where would I store the stuff after?

I decided to "keep it simple stupid".
So, on the way home from school one day I popped into the local thrift shop (which I love to go to, 
but because of school I think I only go twice a year.  
Which is probably a good thing.)
I found 2 white sheets almost the same size 
and almost the same shade of white.

Now, to make what is in my head go onto the sheets.
I cut the one down to the same as the other one.
Then had the idea to paint the scene on,
but because there is no place in Kabwe or anywhere that I know of here in Zambia to get those nice Apple Barrel Acrylic Paints, 
I tried using crayons.
They worked great!!!
Probably even better than paints because I already had them at church,
plus we never had to wait for paint to dry.

The work began. 
At first I drew out a bit of a sketch 
of the little lost and found puzzle I wanted to make.


After I began, another lady from church pitched in to help.

Lady from church made these beautiful houses
Then her daughters (10 and 12 yrs old) came along and did their little parts too.

10 yr old's work
12 yr old's work
After a few hours it was really coming together,
but there were just a few things that still needed to be added.
So, one evening I decided to finish it.

Adding animals and trees.
On my hands and knees in the living room,
I began to color in more trees, houses and animals.
The young lady who is staying with me (Brenda),
came in and asked if she could also help.

Brenda added a few little shops
It was such a blessing to work together to get such a project done.
We are so pleased with the way it turned out.  It really made our Bible Clubs special because we used it every week for our theme in the Bible Lessons.

Finished and ready for Bible Club!
Every week, I drew a few new animals that the kids had to find 
(going along with our Lost and Found theme).


I praise the Lord for the many hands that helped to make this possible.
The memories we all made together working on this backdrop for ministry really made it even more special.
I will definetly use the idea again for the next time we do something like this.










Monday, June 27, 2016

Lost and Found: the Search for Truth

We look forward to having a chance 
to have special Bible Clubs 
to share the Gospel with the children of Kabwe.

During the month of June, 
God brought 2 young ladies from the States
 to help us with our school and church ministries.
It is always a blessing to have more help.
So we decided it was the perfect opportunity to have
3 weeks of special Saturday Bible Clubs.

The American gals listening to memory verses
Boys working on learning their Bible memory verse 

A few of our Teens helped in this ministry

Our theme this time was -
Lost and Found: the Search for Truth


We took turns teaching.


Every week a different Bible teacher,
memory verse teacher, 
song leader,...
I am teaching the missionary story.
...new group games,
fun review games,
and missionary story.

Group Game Time
During those three weeks we had 
an average of 75 children in attendance.
We praise the Lord for the faithful Sunday School children who attended 
and for the visitors that they brought.
The Gospel seed has been planted and watered 
and now we wait on God for the increase.  

I have to say that I have seen wonderful continuous growth
 in the children who are faithful to our church.
Praise the Lord and thanks for praying!