From The Kitchen Table.

From the Kitchen Table
The Desk of Lynne Schaefer
PO Box 420032 Mbala, Zambia

November 2008

Dear Family and Friends

The end of the year is closing in fast. Where does the time go? I can remember as a kid how the days would drag by. Time seemed to be in no hurry at all. But now, as the years add up - it rushes past leaving me wondering where I will find the hours to get everything I need to do, done!

It's birthday month this month, with Joel and Hope celebrating their 11th and 9th birthdays. My, how they have grown! Joel has become a very hard working lad. Getting up early to first have his devotions and then head out to the garden with his Dad. Hope is rather like her mother who would prefer to stay up late and get up late. But, in the Schaefer house there is certainly no sleeping in. Some of us struggle with that rule - but others like Charley and Luke are happy to get up at 5am and start the day! With the on-set of the rains, the veggie garden needs more hands to keep the weeds out! It looks like we may all be getting out there before breakfast to do a bit of weeding before we begin the rest of the day's chores and school.

Music

Our home is usually filled with music. Sometimes it's the sounds of the kids practicing on their instruments or one of them playing music on the family computer. Charley particularly likes music. She is the one who will usually put music on to listen too. I try to exercise early in the morning when Grant and Joel are in the garden. The girls like to exercise with me. This morning, Charley was sitting next on the bed and Olivia asked if she was going to exercise too. "No", she replied, "I am only here for the music!” Joel is doing well on the guitar considering he has to teach himself. Hope and Charley are coming along nicely on the violin. Hope has a real passion for the violin and is doing very well. She prayed and prayed for a violin for a long time. Joel made her a "pretend" one out of a tennis racket and she would put violin music on and pretend to play for months that way. When she finally got a real one she was so excited, it has become a very important part of her life. We are blessed to have another missionary lady right here in Mbala that is teaching them to play.

Mega Mushrooms

With the rains comes the food. It's the season for growing crops. Most folks are busy preparing their lands to grow their maize, beans, groundnuts and sweet potatoes. It is also the season for gathering wild mushrooms. The first rains bring huge, delicious mushrooms that have a meaty texture and taste. Later in the season more varieties appear and are gathered and sold at the markets. I was given a gift of a very big mushroom, which I just had to take a photo of! It was delicious. Sorry that you never got to taste it.

Grant's Groundnuts

This year we will be growing groundnuts. We will press them for the oil to make our own diesel. We have been plowing our land in the late afternoons using our little Isuzu Trooper. It is such a great little car and does the job so well. Either Joel or I drive down the rows while Grant holds the plough behind. I have to watch that I don't go too fast. Sometimes I forget he is behind, but then I hear him shouting for me to slow down. There he is puffing and panting, running behind the car while I am inside thinking about all sorts of other things instead of concentrating of the job at hand! I do apologize of course for going to fast - with a little grin on my face!

Puppy Power - One More Blow for Evolution!

This month we found ourselves looking after 3-orphaned puppies. We soon discovered that it is an incredible amount of work and a very tiring thing to do. Their mother was unfortunately poisoned when they were only a few days old. We volunteered to try keep them alive by feeding them with baby bottles we bought in town. Every 2 - 3 hours we would all takes turns in feeding them and wiping their bottoms with a damp piece of cotton wool - to simulate the mothers licking - necessary to aid in .... Well you get the picture! After two days and a sleepless night, Grant decided that we needed another plan!! He called in our female dog, which had had puppies a year before, and showed the pups to her. After a short time, she lay down, and the puppies eagerly found her teats and started suckling. And guess what? She produced milk and has been feeding them and licking their bottoms ever since!! They are now fat, active, mischievous little 5 week olds. Isn't God amazing - just by watching and looking at nature we can prove him as Creator. Things like this don't just happen due to a big bang! Nope, only God could create such an amazing world!

Big Boat in Action...

Finally, after a few years of fixing, finding parts and redoing the engine - the ministry boat is on the water. It was a great day for us all to be able to go speeding across the great Lake Tanganyika to a remote village where Grant has started teaching. The people in the village asked him to come and start a Bible study once a month. There are men and women from a wide range of denominations. Grant will continue to go once a month. We as a family only went with him this time to test the boat and spend the weekend camping at a lodge near the village. We had a good time and the children enjoyed swimming and playing on the sandy beach. The boat is running well. We just need to purchase a bigger prop and it will be all set to do further ministry on the lake. The only down side is the cost of the fuel! Here in Zambia, one liter will set you back just over R20.

Other News...

Mbala Baptist Church, the church we attend here in Mbala, have finally finished their new building. I am so proud of them as the have constructed a huge new church building without much outside support. They as a church have given from their own pockets and raised the funds themselves. It is great to be able to go to church without an umbrella to protect you when it rains during the service, and to have space between your legs and the pew in front of you. They have demolished the old building, which was practically falling down and had a threadbare grass roof. They completed the new building just in time. Our rains have started in full swing! Grant has been preaching at the services for the past few weeks. Mbala Baptist does not have a Pastor at this time, but often ask Grant to preach on Sundays.

Lorna is working on setting up the resource center. Annel, a young man from Mbala Baptist Church, will be helping her with all the necessary arrangements to get it up and running.

Luke is growing fast! He has decided he is in no rush to crawl or walk. Why should he be when he has so many willing hands to carry him around? He does have a rather mighty scream that comes out of such a little person, but he will soon learn that it will have a serious negative affect to use it!

We are very grateful to the Lord for his continuous provision through some rough financial times. We know that everyone is struggling with the recession and pray that the Lord will also continue to provide for you all as he continues to provide for us.

Praise God For:

* Good health at this time
* For the cooling rains
* For our boat that is now complete for further ministry into remote areas
* For his continual provision

Please Pray for:

* Us to have a malaria free rainy reason
* For our financial support
* For our Children to grow strong in the Lord
* For Grant as he continues with many ministry opportunities
* For Mbala Baptist, that they will remain strong in the Lord and be a witness to the Mbala community

Thank you for yours prays and support. God bless you all.

With Love,

Lynne Schaefer and Family

Grant, Joel, Hope, Charley, Olivia and Luke

PO Box 420032
Mbala
ZAMBIA

From The Kitchen Table

SCHAEFER FAMILY NEWS
From The Kitchen Table
The Desk of Lynne Schaefer
October 2008

Charley (6) , Joel (10), Luke (7 months), Hope (8) and Olivia (3)

" And they that know thy Name will put their trust in Thee: for thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek thee. "
Psalm 9:10

Dear Family and Friends

With the heat and the dust wearing us all out, we wait expectantly for the rains to start in the next few months. It has been so hot we almost feel like we could melt!
We have just recovered from a tummy bug which had us all vomiting! We were wiped out for a few days as we all tried to recover our strength and regain a bit of lost sleep. Fortunately, not all the adults were down at the same time. Poor Lorna was the last one standing and then the last down of course! Luke escaped the whole ordeal - we are all very grateful to the Lord for that.

Motherhood is So Worth It!


The children are all doing well. Luke is just growing so fast and is getting to be a very busy and active little boy! Soon, when he starts walking, life as we know it will be over! Fortunately there are lots of eyes to watch him. He is a very sweet and a very happy, smiley boy.
Olivia is a very sweet little 3 years old. We were cooking in the kitchen and it was just the 2 of us, for a change, there is usually a kitchen full of girls wanting to cook. Everyone else was busy with other things. She was cutting up tomatoes and I was busy telling her how clever and helpful she is, and thanking her for helping me and keeping me company. She then said, "Do you know why you I do it?". I asked why and she said, "Because I love you." Motherhood is so worth it!

Bible School

Grant is busy running a mini Bible School on the college land. There are 7 Pastors that have come in from rural churches to receive teaching for a few days. Grant, Jonas and Pastor Musonda are doing the teaching and we have some Zambian ladies doing the cooking. It is an event that everyone seems to enjoy and the Pastors are always asking when the next one will be.

Weekly Classes

Grant's weekly Bible classes are doing well. Many students or past students bring their children (over 10 years) to study with them. It started when Joel began attending class with Grant. His students then realised what a benefit it would be to their own children, and so his Wednesday evening class has a number of children in it too. The children are all connected to a parent who is currently studying or has done the classes in the past. It is wonderful to see just how much our son Joel has grown in his faith from attending the classes. He is even determined to pay for the books himself with money that he has worked for. Sam is a young boy who is using his late father's books. His father did the courses a number of years ago but sadly passed away. Sam began coming to the classes with another friend whose father was Grant's top student.

Art Classes

Lorna and the kids have started going to art classes held by a renowned Zambian artist here in Mbala. Mr Zulu is quite famous for his artwork and has started giving free art lessons to whomever wishes to attend. At the moment I have not had the time to go, but Lorna has been taking the children on a Saturday morning and they are really enjoying it. Hope seems to be the one that loves it the most and is doing very well.

Orphinia

Last week a friend of ours drove through our gate with a newborn calf! The mother had rejected the calf and they did not have milk to feed it. So they decided to give her to us as they knew that we always have a calf or two living in our yard that is bottle fed by one of the kids. She is very sweet, we have named her Orphinia! She is Charley's calf to feed.

Lorna

It has been a huge help having Lorna here to teach the children math. It has taken a load off Grant who used to do it with them. She is busy trying to work out the logistics of the resource centre. We need to find a shop or place in town where we can start the library, but at the moment we are getting all the resources together and looking at getting everything catalogued. She has got to find her feet in a different culture and to get herself adjusted to life here first though. She seems to be adjusting very well considering she has lived alone for many years and now lives in a very lively, noisy, busy household!

Zambia...and South Africa

With the death of the Zambian President, we are not sure of who will be the next man to run the country. Please pray for Zambia and that the right man will be elected. Zambia has been doing so well and the economy has grown so much in the 10 years we have been here.
Please pray for our home country of South Africa too. We now have a new president after our previous president was forced to resign. South Africa needs our prayers. People are suffering due to the rise in the costs of food and fuel etc. Many people are going through some hard times.

Please keep us all in your prayers and we remember you in ours. Thank you for your support and for your prayers.

Praise God For:
- His Continual Provision
- - For our wonderful children
- - For Lorna coming to serve here
- - For the Growth in Grant's students

Please pray for:
- Zambia
- - South Africa
- - Our Safety
- - For our Support
- - For us as parents to raise our children right before the Lord

With Love,
Lynne Schaefer and Family

From The Kitchen Table

SCHAEFER FAMILY NEWS
From The Kitchen Table
The Desk of Lynne Schaefer

September 2008

Lorna and Luke

" Draw near to God and He will draw near to you."
James 4:8

Dear Family and Friends

The Joy of Being in Our Own Home

We are so glad to be back into our normal routine and in our own home. It makes a big difference for me as a mom to be back into our school routine and the usual routine of running a home. The children are much more settled and happy in their own environment. We enjoy all the hard work and effort it takes to keep life going here. Grant and Joel are up at 6 am every morning, working in the garden before breakfast to keep the veggie's coming into the kitchen, and we girls keep the meals on the table. We are so blessed to be able to live on this little farm. When times are hard, there is always something to eat. We have pigs in the pen, ducks, cows and chickens for eggs. If there is no money in the purse there is always food in the yard or garden. Last month we ate our turkey. He tasted terrible, rather like eating an old leather boot! But it was food. We lose so much of our support in the exchange rate - but we realize that the Lord still provides for us through the farm.

Aunty Lorna comes to Stay....For Good!

My sister Lorna has come to Zambia on a long term basis. She will start a resource centre in town. Grant and I have had it on our hearts to start one for years but have never had the time to do it. We prayed for someone to come and help us by starting one and the Lord did not just send anyone - he sent my sister who is also my best friend! Our kids adore her and we stand amazed at how the Lord works. Lorna was a very successful financial administrator of a high-tech engineering company but felt called by God into the ministry. She gave up her very "cushy" life to come up here to work for the Lord. We continue to see how God changes lives and uses them for His Glory! She is also helping me with the home schooling by teaching the children maths. I of course welcome the help!! We are looking for donations of books, Christian literature, or sound biblical teachings on CD, tapes or DVD's to use in the resource centre. The centre will be based in town and available to anyone to come and read, listen to sermons or watch Christian DVD's on various issues.

Luke and His Three Smothers... I mean Mothers

Our little Luke is growing like a weed! We all adore him and his sisters can't get enough of him. Nothing like having a live doll to play with!! They dress him, bath him, change him and pour love on him. The poor boy hardly has space to breathe sometimes! He gets smothered! The other day, someone lent us an ancient heat gun type of contraption. It looks rather similar to a genie lamp! We were mucking around saying if we rubbed it and a genie popped out, what would we wish for? Some of the answers were quite funny but Charley said she would wish for mom to have another baby! The kids love having a baby around; they are so much fun. Luke is such a smiley baby - bringing lots of joy to us all.

Working Hard....

We have been working hard redoing our flower garden. It involves shoveling manure and lots of digging. A friend here in Mbala is helping me to plan out a new garden and plant new flowers and plants etc. It is really going to look great when it is finished. We started when Grant was down in South Africa for his mom's memorial service. We were left here, unable to go and feeling rather lousy about it. So we decided to get stuck in and do some hard graft! Well it sure made the time fly by quicker and wore us all out. By evening the kids were begging to go to bed!! I even got to have the evenings all to myself with just the distant snores of the kids to comfort me. We also harvested the onions which was a huge job! The kids worked so hard - we all had blisters on our hands. Yesterday Charley filled a 90kg bag with manure all by herself! Joel and I had a cow dung flinging competition! What fun!

Missing Granny...

We are all missing Grant's Mom so much. She used to regularly keep in touch by email, so the silence is felt. The children and I also had a hard time in the fact that we were not able to attend the service held for her. It was a very difficult thing for us to have to stay here and not be able to honor her at her memorial service. She was a wonderful lady and was loved by all. We miss her.

Enjoying Visitors...

We recently had a team of visitors up from South Africa. Joel was so blessed to have his friend, Joshua, come up with the team. It was such a treat for him. He and his best friend , Friday, enjoyed Josh so much. We never saw the boys until feed time, they were so busy with all kinds of "boys" stuff! Like making bows and arrows and shooting Joel's pellet gun and the like. Josh even helped in the garden each morning before breakfast. My friend Di also came and was such a huge help with the kids and cooking. It's always such a blessing having visitors. Pastor Jonathan and Henlo went with Grant to a conference in the bush and were well received. They were given gifts and Pastor Jonathan was asked to preach more than he had planned on!

We continue to thank God for His provision and help in our our work here. Grant continues to get new students and he has become a real member of the community here. He has become accepted and loved by the people. We had so many visitors come and pay respects to us at the loss of Helen. Fourteen pastors came, church leaders and twenty five ladies came all to grieve with us. They brought funeral gifts and money which is part of their custom. We were amazed. They knew Helen as she had been up here twice to visit us and they felt the need to mourn her too.

Please keep us all in your prayers and we remember you in ours.

Please pray for:

* Us as we continue to grieve the loss of Grant's mom
* For Lorna to settle in well and for guidance as she begins planning the resource centre
* For God's continual provision during the increase in cost of living etc.
* For the safety of us as a family.

With Love,

Lynne Schaefer and Family

From The Field

From the Field
News Update
July 2008

"The clock of life is wound but once
And no man has the power
To tell just when the hands will stop,
At late or early hour."
Anonymous


" Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom."
Psalm 90:12

Dear Friends

We greet you all in the precious Name of Jesus. Wow it has been a while since I last wrote. So much has happened both exciting and tragic that I would probably need to write a book to share all our experiences. This year so far has been a very unsettling and challenging year for us in so many ways. It started out by me driving the family down to Cape Town at the beginning of January. Lynne was expecting our 5th child in March and we felt that it was wise for her to be out of a malaria area during the last few months of her pregnancy. After the 6 day drive (4500Km, 2600miles) we arrived safely in Cape Town.

The Lord provided a wonderful place for us to stay and we thank Christine so much for letting us stay in her home while she was a way. After 3 days settling the family in, I returned to Mbala, by flying to Lusaka, Zambia and then catching the bus to Mbala. I believe that so much can be learnt about a country and its people when you use their transport system. It is both challenging and enlightening. While back in Mbala I was able to leave some work for the Bible Students for while I was away in Cape Town for the birth of Luke. Around mid February I then made my way back to Cape Town to be reunited with my family. On the 6th of March Luke Daniel was born to us and what a gift. We thank the Lord that a wonderful friend of ours from Kasama in Zambia was with us holidaying in Cape Town. She is a midwife in a Rural Clinic near us and often has to give our children their immunizations. It was such a delight for Lynne to have her there when Luke was born. We opted for a home birth and it really worked out so well.

During this time my Mom had a black out due to her blood pressure and smashed her ankle in the process. As many of you are aware she is fighting cancer and has been for the last two and a half years. She has been very brave and has been such an inspiration to me as she leans on God for her daily strength. As a family our plans were that we would be returning to Zambia around April, but due to my Mom's condition Lynne and I felt that it might be best that we spend some time with her. Besides breaking her ankle and having to move into a Frail Care Facility she was also informed that there was no more treatment available to treat her Cancer. Her body was rejecting the Chemo and the Oncologist advised that it may be time to cease the treatment. And so towards the end of April we headed off to Port Elizabeth to spend some time with my Mom. As a family we thought that this may be the last quality time that we have with her. As it turned out it was a wonderful time although mixed with a lot of emotion. Towards the end of June we decided that we had to return to Mbala and so we once again took the long road North. The trip went well and we praise the Lord for no break downs even though we were quite heavily laden. We arrived home to find that our staff had taken good care of the place, but despite this we had a dog and a cat that had died. One of our cows was bitten by a snake, but they managed to save that.

Returning again we were faced with the accounts of a number of folks who had passed away while we had been gone. When you leave they seem so healthy and then all of a sudden after a short illness they die. Every time we return we discover this and it is quite emotional as life just seems to come and go. As a family we took some time out just to settle and readjust. There was lots of unpacking and rearranging to be done. We spent a number of days in our vegetable garden to get it cleaned up nicely. So at the moment we have some vegetables, mainly lettuce and carrots coming in now. We also have a big field of onions which we transplanted before I left in February. Although we lost a number of seedlings due to the heavy rains we should harvest enough for the year.

On the ministry front we are about to get going again. Ba Jonas, our evangelist, went to evangelize in a village about 30Km from us and was accused of being Satanists. This is quite common up here when folks enter and area and are not known in the area. It really is all about relationships. They were told once they are known they will be heard. Other exciting ministry opportunities are becoming available in the rural areas. The struggle that we face is that these areas are not close and require fuel for the vehicle to reach. Our current cost of diesel per liter is R 20.00 per liter or US$ 12.85 per gallon. I want to make some more diesel but my oil source has dried up so I need to find other alternatives. We do pray that we can find a solution to this challenge. The classes are about to resume in the next few weeks. I have just been informed that I need to return to South Africa again to spend the last few days with my mom. As soon as I return to Mbala the classes will begin.

We are still awaiting the result of a project proposal we were asked to submit regarding a poverty alleviation scheme using Soya Beans and manufacturing Bio Diesel. We have had a very positive response from the government, but now just await a formal reply. Fuel has become worth more than gold in these parts. I am sure that all of you are also having to adjust your finances due to the increase in fuels. The challenge out here is that your distances are so vast.

Another wonderful answer to pray is that Lorna Bucklow, Lynne's sister, will be joining us at the end of August on a permanent basis to start a reading and tape Library in Mbala. We have felt that this would be a wonderful resource for the believers here, but have just not had the time to get it going. She has also offered to help us with some of our schooling of the children. Do pray for her as she settles up things in South Africa and begins a new life here in Mbala.

Lastly, while we were down in Cape Town we were introduced to blogging. We have set up a blog site where we will post the newsletters with more pictures. We are restricted in our emails due to our very slow and costly connection speed. So if you would like to see more pictures then please see the link at the bottom of the page.

We must take this opportunity to thank each one of you for your prayer and financial support. We realize that under the current economic climate we are all having to readjust our priorities on where our hard earned money should be going. We thank you that you still consider us on that list. May the Lord bless you as you bless others.

Praise God for you!!!

Praise Items:

Praise God for the safe birth of our son Luke.
Praise God for the wonderful time we had with family and friends while in South Africa.
Praise the Lord that we covered so many kilometers without any incident.
Thank the Lord that the ministry continued in some areas while we are away.
Thank the Lord that we were able to spend a month with my Mom before she weakened too much..
We praise the Lord Jonas continues to minister faithfully in the villages.
We praise the Lord that we have good health.
We thank the Lord for each of you who encourage us, pray for us and help us financially, despite also having to face the struggles of daily life.

Prayer items:

Please do pray that the Lord may protect Lynne and the children while I return to be with my Mom.

We do ask you to pray that we may be able to find a solution to the ongoing increasing cost of fuel.
Please pray for Ba Jonas as he continues to reach out to villages with the Gospel.
Please also do pray that in some way we will be able to get to some remote villages on a regular bases for teaching.
Please do pray for Lorna, Lynne's sister as she comes up to join us at the end of August.
We ask you to pray for the new students that the Lord would give them a love for His Word.
Do pray that God may enable us to continue to be a light for Him in Mbala. May our actions and attitudes speak louder than our words.

"Witness for Christ with your life
As well as your lips."

In His service

Grant Schaefer


PS .Please note our new Cell number.

email: mbala5@yahoo.co.uk

blog: http://www.grantandlynneschaefer.blogspot.com/

homepage: http://www.taila.org.za/

Cell: +260976152411

From The Kitchen Table May 2008

SCHAEFER FAMILY NEWS
From The Kitchen Table
The Desk of Lynne Schaefer

May 2008


"Holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of

Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain."
Philippians 2:16

Dear Family and Friends

What are the Schaefer's up to?

Well, at the moment we are in transit back up to Zambia via Port Elizabeth. Grant's mother, Helen, broke her ankle after a fall from passing out. She has been in and out of hospital a few times the last few months and we are here to spend some time with her. She will no longer have any chemotherapy as it is no longer helping her. She was in a lot of pain from the cancer but the doctor has now put her on morphine, so she no longer feels pain. She is now in a frail care facility where she will most likely stay. We will head back up to Zambia as soon as we feel she is well cared for. It is a difficult time for us as we are both desperate to get back home - and also very concerned for the well being of our mom. We both feel that it is our responsibility to care for our parents when they are unable to care for themselves. But, our situation as missionaries in another country makes this very difficult for us to do. It has been a very stressful time for Grant as he is very concerned for his mother. We will most likely head back home in the next week or two.

We had such a great time while in Cape Town. Before we left we stayed with some very good friends of ours. It was such a joy to stay with them and be a part of their family for a few weeks. We learned so much from them in the short time we were with them. We are now really missing all our friends and family. We are also missing our church and the input from our pastor. We will miss the excellent sermons and the fellowship we got each Sunday.

Motherhood

At the moment motherhood is rather overwhelming for me. We are staying in Grant's mother's little house. It is very small for a family of our size. The kids are all sleeping on a sleeper couch like four soldiers in a row. They are not at all bothered by it as they are used to sleeping anywhere. But, they are also not used to staying in a very small house. The house is in a complex and there are lots of other kids around. Some of the children are rather mean. One boy was rather nasty to Charley and threatened to puncture her bicycle tyre. At least she had the sense to just ride off and ignore him. Joel went out and put a tract in their post box. He also asked them if they go to church. But, now they have got to know the kids and all the kids seem to hang out around our little house. They are no longer nasty to our children. They all seem to come from bad homes. We seem to attract kids and cats. The neighbours cats seems to think he would rather live with us. It can been quite stressful not being in your own home and always being in an "on the move" mode. I am trying to fit school in and keep some kind of routine. It is obvious that the kids are missing their own home and routine. However, we both feel that we need to be here in Port Elizabeth at this time. I know that God will give me the patience and strength as we remain in this transit mode.

Luke

Luke has been a very fussy baby to breast feed. That is something I am not used to as I fed all the others with no problem. I am persevering in the feeding though, as I know it is what best for him and is weight is fine. He is definitely growing. He is now smiling and cooing. He has all his sibling oooing and aaaahing all over him all the time. Poor chap, I am sure he will survive it. He wakes up quite a few times at night. We all love him so much and are so thankful to have him.

What Smells Like That?

Grant has desperately been trying to save us money by making bio-diesel. It has been a noose around his neck since he started. He is now buying used oil here in PE, filtering it, adding some paraffin and throwing it into our tank. It seems to be working and it is saving us money. It costs half the price to fuel. We are driving around here on it. The fuel in South Africa just keeps on going up in price. But it is not nearly as expensive as it is in Zambia. In Zambia it is nearly R20 a liter. Whenever we start the car in the morning it smells like fish and chips! Yum!

Please keep us all in your prayers and we remember you in ours.

Please pray for:

* Grant's mother Helen and her health
* For our long trip ahead in the next few weeks
* For God's continual provision during the increase in cost of living etc.
* For the safety of us as a family.


With Love,

Lynne Schaefer and Family

Grant, Joel, Hope, Charley, Olivia and Luke.


mbala5@yahoo.co.uk

P.O.Box 420032MbalaZambia.

Tel +260 9778 69880

From The Kitchen Table

SCHAEFER FAMILY NEWS

The Desk of Lynne Schaefer

April 2008

"The Future is in God's Hands"

Greetings to you all!

This newsletter is well overdue! I was going to feel guilty and beat myself up over not writing it sooner - but I have decided to give myself a break and just happily write it even though it's late!

It has been a rather busy few months for us Schaefer's. We are still in Cape Town trying desperately to get everything done that needs to get done whilst here. Time just seems to be running away from us and we find ourselves with a back-log of things to do. We are, however, very proud to be parents of 5 wonderful children. We are so grateful for the safe arrival of our little Luke! He is such a sweetie and is getting a serious overdose of love and attention. I am convinced that he pretends to be asleep most of the time just to have a little peace from his siblings who all adore him.

The Birth of Luke

The birth went well. Luke came a few days early which was wonderful. He was born on 6th March and weighed only 2.9kg, a skinny little boy with legs that looked like chicken bones! He is so sweet. He hardly moved when he was in my tummy, he was a very laid back boy while in there. Now that he is out he is just the same. Laid back like his dad! I had a home-birth in the wonderful home we have been staying in. Ester, our German missionary midwife friend, came down from Zambia for a 2 week break in Cape Town. We were so hoping that Luke would be born while she was here - she had done all my ante-natal care while I was still in Zambia. She was with me the whole day I was in labor and Luke was born the day before she was due to leave! God answered our prayers and she got to be at the birth. (She then had problems with her flights back to Zambia and got to stay for a few extra days). It was great. My sister Lorna was also there and we had a wonderful midwife who did the delivery with Ester to assist her. I had another waterbirth and it all went smoothly. The only downside to having a baby at home is that it is difficult to rest with 4 other kids running around and wanting to see the new baby. Olivia walked in the morning after the birth and saw Luke and said, "What's that baby doing in Luke's clothes?". She did not realize that the baby was actually Luke. She had helped pack all the baby clothes in the drawers days before Luke arrived.

Our Stay in Cape Town

We have had a wonderful time whilst here in Cape Town. Grant came down from Zambia on the 14th February. The kids and I have at least had a holiday but he has been so busy since he came down that he has not been able to have much of a break. We have been able to visit with friends and family and attend our own church! The children and I spent many days on the beach when the weather was fine. Joel has been learning to surf and was even given a wet-suit. The girls have enjoyed collecting shells on the beach and building sand castles. We went to a variety of beaches and the children would play while I just sat on my deck chair with my bulging belly! We have so enjoyed having a library to go to, having other moms to visit and friends popping in for coffee. Now that Luke has arrived the beach days are few and far between. Grant had to go up to a church in Johannesburg for a few days and we will soon be heading off to Port Elizabeth to see Grant's mom. We will be in Cape Town for a few more weeks and then we will head back up to Zambia. It's a long drive - with 5 children now!

Happy Birthdays!

Olivia just had her 3rd birthday and Charley will soon be turning 6. Olivia is really talking nicely now. Charley is still very shy and not much of a peoples person. She warms up once she knows you but she is not as outgoing as her siblings. Grant and I just celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary.














How am I Coping?


So, how am I coping? That is a question that so many have asked me. Well, at the moment I am feeling the stress of not being in my own home. The kids not having their toys and all the space around to ride their bikes and just run! Being here is a different kinds of busy that we are not used to. I am also feeling very tired and emotional - a normal state of having a new baby! The children are all missing their Zambian home and looking forwards to going back. I am anxious about the long drive to get there and the rising diesel costs! But, we know that God is in control. He has always provided for us and we know that he will never let us down. Each day I pray for his protection and provision for our little family.


A Big Thank You

A big thank you to all of you for your prayers and gifts for little Luke. We have been so blessed with so many baby clothes, nappies and gifts for him. Thank you everyone! I have not had time to write emails the past few weeks. But, thanks to all those who sent us emails!


Prayers and Praise:

Praise God for:

* The safe arrival of Luke
* God's provision and safely while we traveled to Cape Town and while Grant traveled
* God's provision of baby things and needs while in Cape Town
* For the wonderful House of Christine, Ethel and John, that we were able to stay in while in Cape Town
* For the spiritual input from our Church and Pastor while down here
* For the help from family and friends while Grant was away and while we have been here

Please pray for:

* A safe trip back to Zambia
* For God to continue to provide with the rising costs and depreciating Rand. As the Rand gets lower it affects us greatly in Zambia as we get much less when we change it into Kwatch.
* For the safety of all the children as we go back into a malaria area.
* For Grant's mom, Helen, who has not been well.
* For me as a mother to have patience and joy as well travel and camp all the way back to Zambia

God bless you all.

With Love,

Lynne Schaefer and Family

Grant, Joel, Hope, Charley, Olivia and Luke

mbalamama@yahoo.co.uk
mbala5@yahoo.co.uk

P.O.Box 420032MbalaZambia.

Tel +260 9778 69880