From the Kitchen Table

The Desk of Lynne Schaefer
January 2009

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself"

Matthew 6:34

Dear Family and Friends

Tornados, Fireworks, Accidents

and

Mama Mechanic

The Tornado!

Christmas! A day most people are feasting and celebrating. We as a family went out to the Coffee Estate to have Christmas lunch with good friends. But, for others here in Mbala, the day turned out to be a day they will remember forever. At 3:30pm a tornado swept through a new housing area here in Mbala. Ripping the roof off a church and demolishing many houses. A widow lost almost everything she owned, but was happy that her children were safe and unhurt. Her house was ruined, but through the generosity of her church, they have tried to rebuild a small section of her house. It was like a funeral for those who had just finished building their houses. They sat, looking at their demolished home, crying. It was heartbreaking. The government has provided some tents for shelter and World Vision provided blankets and food. Our Mbala Baptist Church that we attend has just finished putting the roof on their newly built building. The tornado missed by metres! We praise the Lord, as the church has saved and struggled for many years to build this new building. Unfortunately, the church just next door lost its entire roof! There is no record of there ever being a tornado here in Mbala in the past!

The Fireworks!

We were invited out to a farm for new-years eve. Our friends there were going to have a fireworks evening for the kids. They invited all the children of a nearby village. Our children were so excited and were not let down when it started. The display was magnificent. The village children were clapping and shouting with glee. They would have never seen such a display ever before. It was wonderful.

The Accident!

Grant had to go down to Lusaka just after Christmas. We were left holding fort here. Boy, did everything go wrong once he left! We had no power for a few days! My dryer broke and with the amount of rain we get a dryer is very useful! We would also have to iron absolutely everything if we never had a dryer as we get Putsi Fly here. It's a fly that lays eggs in your wet clothes and then when you wear them the egg hatches a maggot which burrows under you skin and basically stays there feeding of you! It is very painful! I also broke down in my little Trooper on a day that I was extremely busy. And then, one of our calves's died. I was thinking it could not get worse, and then, it happened. The awful accident.

It happened on the 2nd of Jan. Steven, a young man that works here on weekends to pay for his school fees, fell off the pigsty roof. His arm caught on the broken glass on top of the surrounding wall. His arm was very badly cut, severing main veins and ripping the flesh into an open, jagged gash! There was blood everywhere. It was the worst accident I have had to deal with. I bandaged him up and took him to the hospital, not knowing if they were going to be able to stitch him up. But they did, and they did a very fine job of it! It has actually restored my faith in our hospital here. His arm seems to be healing well, and he has now returned to school doing his last year. He has worked hard to pay for his school fees, books, uniforms etc. We are very proud of this hard working young man.

Mama Mechanic!

While Grant was still away, my oven also broke and the breaks on the Nissan Patrol failed on our way to church. Lorna was driving and when she tried to brake at the junction, there were absolutely no brakes. She had to swerve to avoid hitting an on coming car. We had to drive the rest of the way to church very, very slowly. The roads are also very slippery and muddy because of excessive rain! After church, we decided that it was not a good idea that we would now have no transport. The Isuzu Trooper was out of action after breaking down and we had towed it back home. We decided that we needed to fix it as at least it had brakes. I sat thinking about it all, and decided that it must just have a blocked fuel filter. How hard can it be to change a filter, surely not that hard? The battery was also dodgy. So, we slowly drove to town in the car with no breaks, and I bought a new fuel filter. I fitted the new filter, we took the battery out the Nissan and put it into the Isuzu and it started first time! No problem! We now had transport. Well, Grant came back and everything is now fixed. He fixed the leaking seal on the patrol that caused the break fluid to leak out. Fixed the oven, the dryer, and boy are we happy to have him back!

Praise God that:

- Steven's arm has healed with out any infection

- He has continued to provide for us

- We have had good health

- Hope has now started Bible school too on a Wednesday night

Please pray for:

- Our continued protection and good health

- For Grant as his ministry grows and expands to more remote villages

- For me as a mother to have patience and wisdom in dealing with the children and family issues

Thank you for your prayers and support. God bless you all.

For more photo's please go to our blog spot: grantandlynneschaefer@blogspot.com

With Love,

Lynne Schaefer and Family

Grant, Joel, Hope, Charley, Olivia and Luke

PO Box 420032, Mbala, ZAMBIA