Every weekday morning I...

Every weekday morning, I pray for the school students'day.

I ask the Lord how I can be the influence that He wants me to be, 

on these precious children.

I ask Him to give me wisdom in knowing how to deal 

with things as they come up.

I ask Him to show me how to assist these children 

in their individualized learning.

 I ask Him if He could give them the desire to learn new things.

I ask Him to bring joy to our classroom.

I ask Him to prepare their hearts for the Scripture 

from each subject, 

that they will be confronted with.

I ask Him for souls to be saved,

the saved to be discipled, 

and for these children to be the next generation at out church.

A Bumpy start to the 2020 School Year

BUMP - In the beginning of December 2019, one of our Zambian school teachers left our church and school.  Later the next week, our missionary pastor and his family left Zambia.

BUMP -That meant that our school went from having 4 full time teachers, to one.

Just me.

It also meant that we had to find a way to make school still available 

to the students we had invested in.

Months earlier, our pastor had decided to downsize from 4 classes, to 2 classes.

How can this be done with only 1 full time teacher?

I prayed and prayed and pleaded with the Lord to give me wisdom.  

BUMP- I could not see how He would allow me to make

 5 children that we had invested in leave.

4 of which, do not come to  our church, so I have been witnessing to their families for years.

After a week of interceeding about the solution to this problem,

God told me what to do. 

Those children would stay in our school.

I had a plan! (which I will share with you in a future post) 

Now that we knew our direction, it was time to plan for school. 

With only 2 of the 4 classrooms needed, we dismantled ALL of the classrooms,

sorted everything, and put everything into the two rooms we would be using.

Luckson and I did all the necessary paper work.

We wanted to make sure that all of our permits were up to date.

Luckson working on permits.

Day after day, we went in to the school preparing for the day when we could finally open.

Miss Jennipher sorting PACES

It was so exciting going in each day.

Alot was getting done and the people worked together as a team to lighten my load.

BUMP - I had so much work that needed to be done.

There were curriculum orders to place.

(FYI- school in Zambia starts in January.  We were a little behind, 

as we did not get permission to start school till January first.)

Files needed to be organized and updated.

PACEs needed to be sorted.

Tea and work make a nice combo

The church became an army of cleaners, organizers, and encouragers

(I honestly do not know how it would have all got done, if it wasnt for them).

Older students painting the desks

After weeks of work, I can say that I truly learned alot about God being my strength, giving me wisdom from above, and the encouragement of serving together as believers.

Classrooms ready for the first day of school.

Praise the Lord that we get to train these children in academics, 

as well as, the things of God!

BUMP - We started school on the first Monday in February, 

but without our school curriculum. It still hasn't arrived.

UPDATE: the school curriculum arrived 2 weeks later.

Little Lumps of Clay

School this year had an amazing start.

It is hard to prepare for the unknown.

I say unknown, because each child is differant. 

Its not like I can find out how the children are from thier past teachers.

No, they are fresh clay, ready to be molded and made for the Master's use.

William and I with some of my students

This year I have twelve students.

(Not all are pictured above.)

They come from differant homes and differant backgrounds.

Some even come from differant countries.

Every day is a new adventure in learning.

With each day, I learn more about thier personalities

and each day I learn more about myself.

We are almost half way through our school year here.

(Zambia schools start in January and run till December,

 unlike American schools that start in September and end in May/June).

Each day is filled with smiles and sillyness.

They learn to do the fun things,

as well as the challenging things.

We are molding young lives,

training them for the future.

This Little One

As a missionary, you wish you had time to really do 

everything you would like to do.

There are so many people with so many needs.

So many talents and experiences that the Lord has given you, 

but not ever enough time to share them with others.

Every day, week, month, year we are faced with choices.

Since I can't do everything (after all, I am not wonder woman),

I have to decide what I can do that will make the most impact for the Lord.

Where is HE leading me?

What does HE want me to do or not do?

In reality, it takes many precious years to work with someone,

and in the end, it is just a small impact,

YET, A BIG IMPACT TO GOD!!!!

Recently, I have noticed that this little boy has been struggling in school.

         He is a very clever boy, but yet struggles

 to get all of his work done in class.

I hardly have extra time for anything.

My schedule is so jam-packed with school, visiting, ministries, 

house cleaning, laundry, dishes,....

 but the Lord prompted me to take a little time twice a week

 to help this little one regain his confidence back.

I tutor him twice a week.

it is just a short time,

BUT

a great joy!

Every week I go home blessed.

First of all, because when you obey 

what the Lord is telling you to do,

then He blesses you.

You know,

 when we have our little times together,

it seems like time stands still.

I never feel like I am 'sacrificing' my time,

I never have an anxious spirit (what I mean by that, 

is when you feel like you just want to get to the next thing),

I feel totally at peace during these times. 

All I can say, is that it is because of obeying the Lord.

Another thing I love about my times with this little boy,

is to hear him pray.

He still speaks in broken English, 

but when he prays it is with a heart to please God.

He prays for his teachers, that God would help him with his work 

and that God would help him be kind to others.

Precious, precious, precious!

My time with this little one may not change the world,

BUT IT COULD!!!

Isaiah 60:22

A little one shall become a thousand, 

and a small one a strong nation: 

I the Lord will hasten it in his time.

Our Preschool PTF Presentation

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}

Independent Baptist School Presentation

My class: PRESCHOOL

Mrs. Rich's Class: KINDERGARTEN

We have one more semester to go after this. 

 Please pray for us as we teach these children with a focus on God.