From The Kitchen Table Aug/Sept 2014

From the Kitchen Table

-The Desk of Lynne Schaefer –

“But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Saviour;

My God will hear me.” Micah 7:7

August/September 2014

The heat is on! As October approaches, the mercury keeps rising, and our iron sheet roof turns our house into a furnace! It’s incredibly hot!!! But actually, I love it! Every day is sunny skies and sunshine, bare feet and happy kids!

At the moment it is only us 7 Schaefer’s in our home. A rare occurrence! Feels very quiet, and cooking only for 7 seems so easy. We have had a year of many visitors, filling our home with laughter and diversity. We have said goodbye to Christine who is safely back in Cape Town. She was an enormous help, especially with Olivia’s schooling. We all miss her.

Grant has been busy out in the villages. He returns home covered in dust from head to toe, his hair a dull dusty colour! The roads he travels are very interesting and with the windows wound right down, he sometimes feels that he should be wearing a surgical mask to keep from inhaling the dust into his lungs. He would look like the Chinese you see here in town, with their surgical masks on as they shop in town, protecting themselves from the Ebola Virus. Which I might add is not even here!

Grant has also started to make ham and sausages from the many pigs in our sty. As the costs of living rises, we are desperately trying to supplement our income by selling some homemade pork goodies. His sausages are fantastic! But it means a lot of extra work for him as he juggles ministry, doing the kids math, the farm, and being the Mr. Fix It, etc. So pray for him as he tries to make life here easier for the kids and me.

A Trip Ahead… We will Lord willing be heading down to Cape Town at the end of October. We will be visiting the various churches that support us around South Africa and then be spending Christmas with family, and will head back up to Zambia just after Christmas. We are looking forwards to seeing family and friends again, and ask you to cover us with your prayers as we drive the 4500km to Cape Town.

Praise for:

· Christine and the amazing work she has done with Olivia. Olivia has some learning issues and the one-on-one attention given by Christine has helped a lot.

· For the new ministry Grant has started out at Kakozya Village.

· For the work Grant continues doing out in various other villages.

· For our continued safety as a family.

· A humidifier (for Luke) that was bought and delivered to us by some good friends living in Tanzania.

Please pray for:

· For our trip down to Cape Town and the deputation around SA at the end of October.

· For the continuation of ministry out in the villages till the end of October.

· For our vehicle, Grant is going to have to take out the engine in the next few weeks to fix a leaking seal in preparation for our trip down to SA.

· For me, as I continue to run the home and school the kids.

Thank you, for your prayers and support. We are so grateful. God bless.

Lynne and family.

Grant, Joel, Hope, Charley, Olivia and Luke

PO Box 420032, Mbala, Zambia

+260966152412

From The Kitchen Table July 2014

 

From the Kitchen Table

The Desk of Lynne Schaefer

‘But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, “You are my God.”

Psalm 31:14

July 2014

Dear Family and Friends

The Bad…and the Good

Have you ever had one of those months when you feel like a “Country and Western” song? This has been one of those months for me. The kids have been sick on and off for weeks now. Luke’s asthma has flared up now during the dry, cold season and he has been suffering a lot. Grant got a huge abscess on his finger which swelled up like a sausage. I dropped a heavy cast iron pot lid on my finger, splitting the nail which then got badly infected. Hope got treated for malaria. My dog’s back legs have started to go and cause him a lot of pain. And my computer completely crashed and died on me – forever!! Yep, add some music to that and you got yourself a classic country song! Hopefully tomorrow will bring better days…

But with the bad has also come some good. We have Christine here, who has been a tremendous help to me. She has almost been here for a month already! And I am so not looking forward to her having to leave at the end of September. She has taken over Olivia’s school and Olivia is loving it. She helps a ton in the kitchen and does all sorts with the kids.

Growing up Fast...

The thing with medical issues out here is that it’s not always an easy thing to deal with. Especially for someone like me who really can’t cope well with blood and such. Grant’s finger became quite a thing for us. Thankfully, we have a missionary friend who is a nurse and she was able to help out. But, she had to go away during the time it was at its worst. It meant our 16 year old son, Joel, had to give his dad 2 injections and even lance the abscess. There was no other option. I know I am a wimp, but I just can’t do those kinds of things. Kids here have to grow up fast! And Joel is brilliant when it comes to that kind of thing. Often helping out where his mom would have fainted! For him it was no trouble at all, since he has been injecting and slaughtering cows for years!

But, through it all we praise the Lord for His faithfulness to us and that He always makes a plan for us to get through these times, as hard as they may be. Life certainly does not always go as we expect it too, but we continue to trust Him to lead us in His path. It has been a somewhat rough year for us so far, it has not quite gone the way we expected it would. But we can still stand and say, “God is Faithful!”

Praise the Lord:

· That Grant and my fingers have almost healed up.

· That Hope is back on her feet.

· For friends up here who step in and help when we are down.

· For the huge blessing of having Christine here.

· For God’s continued faithfulness to us.

· For the blessing of visitors that pass through our home.

Please pray for:

· Luke’s health. We will need to get a humidifier for him when we are next in South Africa. At the moment we are hanging wet towels next to his bed at night to help him breathe easier.

· For Christine, she too has come down with a cold and sore throat.

· For the kids health.

· For strength to be able to continue the work here the Lord has for us.

· For us as we travel over the weekend to a bike race some of the kids are taking part in.

 

God bless, and thanks again for your prayers and support.

Lynne Schaefer

And Family: Grant, Joel, Hope, Charley, Olivia and Luke

PO BOX 420032 Mbala ZAMBIA