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

July 2010

From The Kitchen Table

~ The Desk of Lynne Schaefer ~

July 2010

“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the Glory of God.”

1 Corinthians 10:31

Dear Family and Friends

They Came, They Played, And They Painted!

For nearly two weeks we hosted an amazing team from Hilton Baptist. Five amazing people filled our home with laughter and joy as they sanded and painted our rather dilapidated house. It was hard work, and there were some rather funny paint “incidents”. They ran a 5 day Bible club at the Luse Orphanage; the children were so blessed to have them. Our children had so much fun accompanying them to the orphanage and playing with the team in our yard. These were 5 very gifted people, with hearts that serve the Lord in all that they do.

 

The Early Birds Show the Soccer

The World Cup did not go by unnoticed in Mbala. Grant and our missionary friend Steve teamed up and decided to show the soccer World Cup evening games on 2 big screens for the local Zambian folks. Few people have TV’s and would miss the games. Zambians love soccer so they decided to show every evening game in the location area where most folks live. The only down-side being, that both Grant and Steve are very early nighters and get up very early to run together  and get other chores done. But, they did it and survived a month of late nights and it was very much appreciated by the locals. They used the 15 minute half time as an outreach, where various people preached a short message or gave their testimony. On average there were about 300 -500 people watching and hearing the testimonies.

The Lodge...

A couple days after the team left, we got a desperate phone call from our friend Rone who runs the Lodge on Lake Tanganyika. She had to rush to South Africa with her husband, Sean, as her mother was very, very sick. Sean also needed some urgent medical attention. They asked if we would be able to run the lodge while they are away. It is a very busy time at the lodge with many guests. The children and I are busy running things for her while Grant continues with ministry in Mbala. We brought all our school books and are enjoying a different perspective to our usual Mbala life.

Praise God For:

· The work done by the team from Hilton Baptist, and for their safe travel

· For the Bible messages and prayer given by the team at the orphanage

· For the World Cup Soccer outreach

· For his protection daily

Please Pray for:

· The Bible school grant is running this week on the college land

· For our continued protection as a family

· For the Lord to continue to provide for the Luse Orphanage

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

 

 

From The Kitchen Table May

From The Kitchen Table

~ The Desk of Lynne Schaefer ~

May 2010

“Whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two.” Matthew 5:41      

Dear Family and Friends

Twazwane

A couple of weeks ago I was able to deliver a load of goods to the Luse Orphanage from the community of Mbala through the Twazwane project. We have initiated the project to try and involve the community in the orphanages. Too often they are supported by well meaning folks overseas, but too often those well meaning folks withdraw their support leaving vulnerable, hungry children who have been dependent on their support. This is exactly what has happened to Luse Orphanage. Now the orphanage has no food or means to support the children. Through Twazwane, business men and individuals can give to the orphanage knowing that what they give is definitely going to the children. It is Zambian tradition that the community look after children in their community. That everyone is responsible for the children not just the parents. It is on this tradition that we feel the community is also responsible for the orphans, not just well meaning foreigners.

Snake Skinning Boys

We got home from a really great lunch at our missionary friends the Schwarz’s house, only to find the man who looks after our cows had killed a huge Puff Adder just by our pig sty. We had two extra boys, Tobias and Matthew who are both very good friends of Joel. Tobias had just got his first pocket knife ever for his Birthday. The boys were all very interested in the snake, but I was rather upset about it. The kids are often out by the pig sty and this was a huge, dangerous snake. I recalled a friend who grew up on the mission field telling us one day how his mother made him and his brother get to know snakes well, because they were always out catching them etc. She made them read a lot about them, and get to know the different kinds. I thought what a better way for these 3 boys to get some snake experience than to skin it and see its fangs, insides and so on. I gave them the challenge and in a short while they had the snaked skinned with their pocket knives, researched how to cure the skin, and had it curing in a jar!

Flat Out!

A really strange looking mosquito bit me at a friend’s place out by her gate one afternoon. Exactly 10 days later I came down with a really bad dose of malaria, and was literally knocked flat by it. I shivered and shook for a few days and when I was feeling better I went outside and tripped and sprained my ankle. We thought it was broken from the loud cracking sound it made. But, we thankfully discovered it was not after having to drive 160km to the nearest working x-ray machine.

The Team

A team of 5 will be coming this month from the Hilton Baptist Church in Natal, South Africa. They will be going to the Luse Orphanage to play games and do various activities, and to encourage the staff there. They are also giving us a tremendous gift – they will be painting the inside of our house! They are bringing the paint and supplies. Our house is in a serious need of a paint – with the ceiling paint falling off, the mud walls showing through etc. Please pray for them as they prepare for the trip up, they will be driving.

We also praise God for a donation from a church in SA for us to be able to purchase ministry materials, to be able to finish fixing the boat, and to be able to build a small guest house here to accommodate all our visitors.

Missionary Diary:   Grant has started a blog diary. He will be recording the events of his days and his ministry, you can check it out at: grantschaefer.blogspot.com

Praise God For:

· The donations for the guesthouse, boat and materials

· For my recovery

· For the team that is coming

· For His protection daily

Please Pray for:

· The Team to travel safely

· For our continued protection as a family

· For the Twazwane project to really take off and the community to take full responsibility of the orphanages

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

From The Kitchen Table March 2010

From The Kitchen Table

~ The Desk of Lynne Schaefer ~

March 2010

 

Living the Dream!

As a child all I wanted to be was a wife and a mother.  I knew that someday I would live on the mission field. Not a grand thing really. Not a Scientist or Doctor, or a professor of this or that.  Nope, just a wife and mom, with a house full of kids.  A nightmare to some, but a dream to me!

 

We just got back from a long hard trip down to South Africa. We broke down on the way down in the desert in Namibia.  Our good friends convoying with us had to tow us for 300km. It took us the whole day. We then left our car in Namibia and took the bus to Cape Town where we continued with our deputation trip around South Africa.  We were so blessed and encouraged at the different churches we visited.  We then spent a long time in Cape Town trying to get our vehicle back in shape. And after some weeks we headed back up here to Mbala.

Seven days on the road in the heat of Namibia with the kids trying to keep busy in the car. With a sucker sweet stuck to the shoulder of my shirt. A huge heat headache and a piece of sandwich stuck to my shoe, I remind myself that, actually, I am just living my dream! It certainly is not an easy road, but “I took the road less travelled by.” We have had our hills and valleys, thunderstorms and sunshine.  After 8 days on the road we arrived home to no electricity, but missionary friends had left bread and biscuits in the kitchen for us and welcome home notes and signs were everywhere. It’s good to be back, and with God’s help I will continue to live the dream!

 

This trip we brought a young man back with us.  His name is Robert Martin and he is here with us for 5 weeks and will be making a DVD for us of our ministry here.  He is a very talented young man, but his health has not been good the past few years, please pray for him.

 

Praise God For:

·         Our vehicle that is running well again

·         For a safe trip

·         For his provision while in South Africa

·         For the encouragement and support from our supporting churches

 

Please pray for:

·         Us as a family as we adjust to being back in Mbala and get ready to start ministry and school again next week.

·         For our vehicle to continue to run well

·         For Robert’s health and for him as he helps us here for the next month

 

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

Blog spot: grantandlynneschaefer.blogspot.com

From The Kitchen Table November 2009

From The Kitchen Table

~ The Desk of Lynne Schaefer ~

November 2009

“Ask and you will receive and your joy will be complete.”

John 16:24

Dear Family and Friends

Something...was ... Stolen...from me!

Have you ever felt like something is missing, but you don’t quite know what it is. You know it is gone, you can feel it! I have known that feeling for some months now. It became my friend, reminding me each new day that I have been robbed of something. It took me a while to discover what it was. And then it dawned on me, it was my joy - and it was completely gone! The past year has been so stressful, so painful, and so terrible that I stopped enjoying our children. Stopped appreciating what I have and the wonderful place where we live. I took my eyes off the Lord during a flood of difficulties and felt myself drowning under the strain. Where I usually loved life and looked forwards to each new day – I felt myself getting annoyed and irritated at the smallest of things. A friend advised me to get some time-out, basically to have a break – and get some good time in with the Lord. That is not easy as a full time mom, living where we do, not having anywhere to go to get some much needed time alone. Our home is a very busy place with loads of visitors and activities continually happening in a constant stream. Then God provided us with a solution, a place where our family could go and recover from a difficult year. Our children needed their happy mom back; Grant needed his cheerful wife to surface out of the storm. We needed time as a family, to just laugh, play and enjoy each other. Eleven years on the mission field with many ups and downs, many hardships and stresses, we needed a time-out! Not to do deputation, not to speak at churches, not to do ministry or fix the car or do admin etc. Just some time to recover.

God has given us this time. A friend, who runs a lodge here on Lake Tanganyika in Zambia, asked us if we wanted to babysit the Lodge for her while she goes on leave. There are no guests here, no bookings for November. Our mission board agreed and we have had the time of rest that has been so needed. While we still do school with the kids, we have a cook to do all the cooking, a cleaner who refuses to let us clean up, she even complains if we make the beds. God is wonderful. He has provided for us in a way we never dreamed of. We can relax, spend time with Him and enjoy our children and each other. What a special time – we are not taking it for Granted.

A Time to Live... A Time to die

Towards the end of September, we got news that my dad was very sick and in hospital, and that we should come to Cape Town if we wanted to see him again. He was diagnosed with Asbestos Disease and was getting worse daily. We raced down to Cape Town hoping to see him, only to discover that he had died two days before we arrived while we were still on the road. It was a record 5 day drive down – but still not fast enough. It was heartbreaking to discover that we did not make it to see him one last time. It was thrilling, however, to hear that my mom lead him to Christ 10 minutes before he died. She had no idea he was going to die that day.

While in Cape Town, Grant was able to redo the engine on our vehicle. It was in bad need of an overhaul and the long 5 day drive to Cape Town put the engine on its last legs. Praise the Lord for a practical husband, who saves us so much money with his practical abilities. By redoing the engine himself, he saved so much money. God provided a wonderful workshop through a farmer in Grabouw, who also financially helped with the costs of engineering work that needed doing on the engine.

We lose our Life Jackets

Part of Grants ministry is teaching in a village right next to the Lodge we are staying in. The people asked him to come teach there. We are still trying to get the boat going again after discovering a problem with the gear box. We have a bag of life jackets we use when on the boat as the lake can be rough at times and because Grant has a strict policy of all on the water must wear life jackets. Unfortunately, the bag fell off the roof on a trip to the lake and we lost them all. We did not know they were missing till we got to the dock. As soon as we discovered it we decided to drive back up the mountain to see if we could find them, but I had locked the keys in the car!! It took 40 minutes to break into our car, and by that time the bag was gone. So, if you know anyone with any life jackets that they don’t use please let us know. We lost eight of them. At the moment our friend here at the lodge fetches us in their boat and we just pay the fuel costs for Grant’s once a month trip across to the village to teach.

Thanks for your encouragement, your prayers and support of our  ministry here. We pray God’s blessing on you as we get to the end of the year and look forward to a new year ahead. Please continue to pray for us for:

Prayer Needs:

· New Life jackets

· For the spares needed on the boat

· For God’s strength for us as a family

· For renewed joy in the Lord

· For Lorna at Bible College

· School books for next year

Praise the Lord for:

· My Dad’s salvation

· For a time of rest

· That our vehicle is going well again

· His faithfulness to us during a difficult year

God bless.

Lynne Schaefer and Family

Grant, Joel, Hope, Charley, Olivia, Luke

PO Box, 420032, Mbala, Zambia

From The Kitchen Table.

From The Kitchen Table
~ The Desk of Lynne Schaefer ~
August/September

“God’s call to a task includes His strength to complete it.”

Dear Family and Friends

I am sometimes overwhelmed by the amount of tasks we have to get done in a day. The above quote is really what gives me strength to continue in our work here for the Lord. He has called us here and knowing that gives us the strength to continue in what he has called us to do – that is what keeps us going.

We have had a month full of wonderful visitors. John and Nikki Bowmer from Cape Town came and spent the month of August with us. John’s days were full of ministry while Nikki spent her days washing dishes, doing pre-school with Olivia, helping the girls with their music and making bread etc. She was a huge help to me and great fellowship. Although I am sure our noisy family was a huge adjustment for her. We are so grateful they made the effort to come visit us.

(Note the snake Joel is holding in the picture on the left- don’t worry - it was dead – it was killed on the college land near the kitchen)

At the moment, we have Greg Phillips here from Cape Town. He will be the guest speaker at our college graduation on Saturday and will also be preaching at our local Baptist Church. We are really privileged to have him here with us.

New Friends – Great Fellowship!

A new Southern Baptist Missionary family has also moved into Mbala. They are a truly wonderful family and it is so great for our children to have new friends. The Schwarz’s have four children, three boys and a girl. The bonds of friendship have already been tied. Steve and Rita are wonderful fellowship for both Grant and I. They have come with many talents that we do not have, and we can already see that they are going to do a great work here in Mbala.

Steve, Rita and kids joined us at the Baptist Convention Conference. It is held out in the bush where they set up a temporary camp and have days full of fellowship and meetings. John and Grant preached at the conference, while we all went out just for the Sunday service. We all sat on a grass mat and ate the food that they had prepared for us for lunch. It was a long day for the kids as we only ate around 3pm – but a good time was had by all.

It is great seeing our lives through the eyes of others. We often find ourselves with a live pig or chicken in our car. We no longer find the roads bad or are disturbed by things that happen around us. We are so used to the way of life here now. So when others come and laugh at things we do or have to go through it is always funny to take a fresh view of our lives here.

Dog Bites, Raw Ankles and a Stuck Calf

I was so blessed to have Nikki here when we had some medical emergencies to deal with. Our neighbour’s little boy got his ankle stuck in a bicycle’s spokes which left it with a large, raw gash. It was bleeding heavily and as usual we were called upon to help. Thankfully Nikki is unfazed by such things and helped me to deal with it. While Joseph was being nursed, our dog bit a young lady, Ruth, who is helping me by “plucking” our broiler chickens that we grew and are selling for the college fund. She got bitten right on her shin and did not want to go to the hospital, so she got in the cue for doctoring! Nikki took the little boy down to our hospital and got to spend some time there as they helped fix him up. Both Joseph and Ruth are doing fine.

Our prize cow, Lucy, went into Labour and did not seem to get anywhere. The calf’s hoofs stuck out for hours and she never got any further. We soon realised that we had a challenge on our hands. Steve Schwartz has quite a bit of vet training so he came out and delivered the calf. He had to get his whole arm inside the cow to turn the calf’s head into the correct position. Grant helped “catch” the calf as she came out. We praise the Lord for Steve’s talents and for bringing such a humble, gentle man of God to work for Him right here in Mbala. Both cow and calf are doing well. We named the calf “Miracle”. If not for Steve’s expertise we might have lost both mom and baby!

The Kids

The kids are all doing great. While most in Zambia are on School Holidays, we are still doing school. They are always busy with lots of activities. The girls have made an “outside” kitchen behind the pagoda in my garden. They cook and clean and play there for hours. Luke also enjoys it out there, playing in the mud with all their bottles and stuff! He is definitely going to be an over-stimulated kid with all the attention he gets from his siblings. He is usually in the thick of things and is chuffed to now be able to sit by himself on the bench at the kitchen table and eat his food with the “big kids”!

While Dad’s Away...

While Grant went down to Lusaka to take John and Nikki back to the airport and fetch Greg – it all began to happen here! It always does when Grant is not around. I got very sick and had 7 kids to look after as I also had another missionary family’s boy here for the weekend and Friday! Fortunately, our kids took over and cooked and did the necessary and basically had a free reign of the house!! (Scary actually) Joel, who had just sharpened his penknife, had to cut something he was making and the knife slipped and he slit his wrist in the process. He came in my room with it all cleaned and bandaged up. I told him to show me the wound so he unravelled the bandage and I saw a gaping wound that needed stitches. I was so grateful that he had not cut a main vein! We closed it with “Aunty Di’s” supply of stitch plaster (I did have the super glue close by...) and it has healed well.

Later that evening, Hope also had an accident and managed to get a wood board fling up and smack her in the face (like as “punch” as Joel put it!) She ran into my room screaming; with blood pouring out everywhere! Well, just another day in the Schaefer house while dad was away...

Praise God For:
· John and Nikki Bowmer and the work they were able to do while up here
· For the various conferences and Bible school Grant and John were able to teach at this past month
· For God’s continuous provision
· For protecting Joel from what could have be a very bad accident
· For the Schwarz family

Please Pray for:
· Grant as we prepare for another graduation of students on the 5th of September.
· For Greg Phillips from Cape Town who is with us and will travel to Zimbabwe from here to do further teaching
· For the protection of our children and ourselves from disease etc.
· For the Swartz family as they adjust to life here in Mbala (they are from America)

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