February 2011

From The Kitchen Table

~ The Desk of Lynne Schaefer ~

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

February 2010

A Really Interesting Move...

The past 2 months have been spent trying to get the move done. We first had to help Mrs Silungwe whose farm we have moved onto, to move out.  Then we had to fix up the new farm house, and move us, our stuff and all our animals.  We had to catch our chickens at night, while they were half asleep.  The pigs got loaded into the back of the truck, and getting them out into their new sty was very interesting!  The cows are still at the old farm, while we continue to prepare a kraal for them.  They will be walked here.

We have had many challenges, but at least we now have water coming into the house as Grant managed to rig a pump up to the well. The well gives really good clean water.  We need not even boil it for drinking.  It tastes so good!

The house is huge and there is so much space.  We have a guest room and a school room and a laundry room. 

The kitchen has a separate scullery.  The yard is very muddy, we have got stuck a number of times in the driveway.  The road to the farm is a bit of a mud bath, but only a km long.  We are still fixing things and finding a place for everything.   The windows still need to have mosquito screens fitted to them and we still need to find curtains for a few windows.

 

We don’t have a landline, only cell phone.  The cell phone signal is very bad on this new farm.  The best place to get just a low signal is in the kitchen.  So doing email etc is quite a challenge at the moment. The best signal is actually on top of the huge anthill outside the kitchen. Grant says I should change the name of this newsletter from “From the Kitchen Table” to “From the Anthill!”

Why the move to another farm?

 

People have asked why we moved to another farm and not back into town.  The reason is that the farm supplies so many of our needs.  We get almost all our vegetables from our garden; it provides a lot of our meat and other needs.  Our cows provide all our milk, butter and some cheese.  We have a huge strawberry patch (which we have planted here too) that provides jam.  When we first moved to Mbala we had some very tough times where we ran out of food and money.  It was then decided that we should live on a farm where a lot of our needs could be provided for. 

More Snakes

We are grateful to our friends who came to help us paint.  While painting one day, our friend, Mike, spotted two huge Boomslang snakes in the tree just outside the kitchen.  He managed to kill one, but one escaped. They are a very poisonous snake.  Grant also almost stepped on a small Cobra just near where the gate now is.

Praise God For:

· For providing a great new farm for us

· For all the help we received during the move

· For his protection and provision

 

Please Pray for:

·         Us to settle in well

·         For our safety

·         For continual provision for us as a family

·         Grant and I as we really try to tackle learning the language this year

 

 

 

Grant is blogging his daily life as a missionary – A Missionary Diary at the web address: grantschaefer.blogspot.com.

 

Thanks for your encouragement, your prayers and support of our ministry here.

 

God bless.

 

Lynne Schaefer and Family

Grant, Joel, Hope, Charley, Olivia, Luke

PO Box, 420032, Mbala, Zambia

December 2010

From The Kitchen Table

~ The Desk of Lynne Schaefer ~

December 2010

“Christmas – When God gave us Jesus!!”  

 

Dear Family and Friends

 

We’re Moving...

Those of you who have visited us know that we are very settled here on our farm.  So, it came as a shock to all of us when our landlord phoned us and said he wishes to move back on the farm – giving us 3 months to move.  Moving a house is hard, but moving a farm, well, that is a bit of a challenge.

 

Part of the shock was that Grant had spoken to our landlord before we started to build our guest house, and he told us that he never plans to move back on the farm.  Basically, telling us we can stay on here long term.   We know that God must be in it all, so we got over the shock, and we found another farm to move to only a few days after we heard we had to move.  It is only a few kilometres from this farm. It is much bigger and has a well, and the house has enough space for us to have a guest room. We will move in the middle of February, cows, pigs, chickens, ducks, rabbits, kids and all!

I just want to ride!!

Grant has had a really busy year of ministry.  He felt the need to get some spiritual input for himself.  He needed to refresh himself after a busy year of ministry.  He travelled on his motorbike to Fiwale where he was the guest speaker at a graduation service. Then he rode on to Lusaka and flew to the REAP conference in South Africa where he was able to sit under some excellent teaching and get spiritually refreshed.  Travelling on his motorbike was also a time for him to relax and have some much needed time-out and away.

 

Power Problems          

Every time the rainy season begins it brings electrical black-outs.  Since the rain started, the power has been terrible.  It has gone for days at a time.  While Grant was away, it went for 4 days.  Grant is the one who makes sure that the generator works to keeps the fridge and freezer cold for a few hours at a time.  Whenever Grant goes away, things go wrong.  But, as Joel has got older, he has developed into a Mr. Fix-it himself.  And has proved to be a very capable substitute for when Grant is out.  He fixed my car, fixed the generator, lit the wood stove, and made sure that any problems got solved.  He is only 13, but I am so thankful to the Lord for giving me a son who is a very capable and hard working.  He never complains about all the extra work loaded onto him.  

 

Merry Christmas

We pray you have a wonderful Christmas, remembering what Christ’s birth means to us.  We pray you have a joyous time with family and friends celebrating His birth.

 

Praise God For:

·         For Grant’s safe travels.

·         For providing another farm for us to move

·         For his protection daily

Please Pray for:

·         Us as we prepare to move

·         For us to continue to be a witness her in Mbala

·         For continual provision for us as a family

Grant is blogging his daily life as a missionary – A Missionary Diary at the web address: grantschaefer.blogspot.com.

 

Thanks for your encouragement, your prayers and support of our ministry here.

 

God bless.

 

Lynne Schaefer and Family

Grant, Joel, Hope, Charley, Olivia, Luke

PO Box, 420032, Mbala, Zambia

October 2010

From The Kitchen Table

~ The Desk of Lynne Schaefer ~

October 2010

“Do not worry about your life...” Matthew 6:25

Dear Family and Friends

Funerals!

One of the most important events in the Zambian culture is a funeral.  We have attended many in the years that we have been here.  But, the last month we had to organise one. Sadly, we had to bury the old white man Chris.  He had been part of our lives for many years, and died on September.  He had no family that he knew of, lived alone on a farm here in Mbala and Grant was basically “his family”.  For years Grant looked after his needs and we had a trustworthy young man live with him to care for him the past year.  He went blind, lame, and was very ill at the end.  His wish was to die on the farm and be buried there.  He got his wish.

A few days later, one of the chiefs died in a village where Grant does ministry and Grant was asked to preach at the funeral.  It was a huge cultural eye opener, with many traditional practices taking place at the burial.

Zanzibar

With the past year being rather hectic, and with all the responsibilities that I try to keep track of, I came to the point where I really needed a break as a mom.  My good friend Renate and I had the opportunity to go by train to Dar es Salam and then on to Zanzibar for a few days.  We had an amazing time, meeting wonderful people and just reading, relaxing and site seeing gave me energy to continue to be here, school the kids and be a hostess to many, many people passing through our home.  It was a break I really needed and thank the Lord for providing it.

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On the Home Front...

Grant has been very busy with various ministry opportunities.  He has preached many Sundays at our local Baptist church, shown the Jesus film in the village, taught at seminars and continued with his evening classes.  He is also training to run an Ultra-marathon with our missionary friend, Steve.  They run early in the morning, trying to fit it into their busy day.

The children are all well.  School is going great, but difficult to do in this incredible October heat.  Here in Zambia, October is known as suicide month, because it gets really hot from early morning!  It becomes difficult to achieve anything!

We have started to build our guest house where we will be able to accommodate all our visitors. We have started to pour the foundations.  We still have not finished the house painting – but really hope to do so....sometime soon! 

We thank the Lord that I was able to sell some vegetables from our garden today, to help with the many financial needs we have.  We are grateful to the Lord for always supplying our needs and more.  We have fresh organic veggies, milk, eggs and meat just from the farm.  Our children are happy and have a life that they enjoy.  We have lots to be thankful for. 

Praise God For:

· Good health

· For the various ministry opportunities Grant has had the past months.

· For my R & R trip to Zanzibar

· For his protection daily

Please Pray for:

· Our financial needs

· Protection against sickness

· Grant’s  students

Grant is blogging his daily life as a missionary – A Missionary Diary at the web address: grantschaefer.blogspot.com.

See more great pictures at grantandlynneschaefer.blogspot.com

Thanks for your encouragement, your prayers and support of our ministry here.

God bless.

Lynne Schaefer and Family

Grant, Joel, Hope, Charley, Olivia, Luke

PO Box, 420032, Mbala, Zambia