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

FROM THE KITCHEN TABLE

From The Kitchen Table

~ The Desk of Lynne Schaefer ~

“In his heart a man plots his course,

But the Lord determines his steps.”

July 2013

In Myself Nothing – In God Everything

I have been learning a lot over the past years. Someone once gave me a key ring and on it, it said, “May only good things come your way!”  At the time they gave it to me, I thought, “That doesn’t sound right. If we only have good things come our way, we won’t actually learn anything!”  And at the time, life was actually good for me. I saw life in Mbala as easy.  Homeschooling at the time was a breeze.  I really was enjoying myself! Life could just have not been better! And then my little world started to fall apart. And life got pretty tuff.  And I remembered that key ring and thought, “Oh dear, maybe it would have been better if only good things had come my way!”

But, now as my storm has passed, and the lessons I needed to learn have been learnt, and I can see God’s gracious hand in it all, I am grateful for the hard times. In spite of the pain, the grieving, I am closer to the Lord. I trust Him more.  My faith is stronger. And I feel his forgiveness even more real than ever.  I am very grateful to my friends who went through this with me. Who stayed with me through this hurricane.  You know who you are.

Visitors

Our house has been a train station for the past few weeks.  We have had so many visitors passing through, for a night, a day or a few days, or even a week. We have had Irish (who were a blast), Germans, an American, South Africans, British, and next week we will get some more German and a few Austrian visitors. God continues to stretch the food to feed them all.  There are many days I think, “Oh Dear, what am I going to cook for all these folks” but God always provides. And the farm produces many of our needs.

We also have a young German girl volunteer, Melly, here for the next few months.  Pray that we will be a blessing to her.

Please pray for:

·         Grant, Joel and the younger kids, as they travel this weekend to a Bike race Joel has entered.

·         For the safety of Hope, Melly and myself as we remain behind

·         For Grants weekly classes in town. And his ministry here in Mbala.

·         For me, as I try to cook, entertain, home school, clean, and make everything from scratch (without a supermarket nearby to run to), that I will have the patience needed to accomplish it all.

·         For God’s continued provision

Praise the Lord that Luke’s health has really improved and he seems to be doing really well.

And we praise the Lord for the amazing gift of a dishwasher! It has really helped lighten the load.

Thanks for your prayers, and for your support shown to us during this time. Pray for us, please, that we may have the strength to fulfil the task and call that God has for us.

Many blessings,

Lynne Schaefer

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

Please note my new email: mbalamama@gmail.com

PO Box 420032, Mbala, ZAMBIA

FROM THE KITCHEN TABLE

From The Kitchen Table

~ The Desk of Lynne Schaefer ~

June 2013

The Schaefers with our Opi Joe, who we stayed with in Cape Town!

Life As We Know It!

 

After a 13 day trip, with hours of driving, breakdowns and sickness, we are finally home.  It was a long, tiresome trip for the adults and a blast for the kids!  They love the camping. I loved the road food all made with love and frozen by our dear friend Fransie.  She made life so easy. The only problem was the 7 day trip turned into a 13 day one!  So we ran out of her awesome food. But, as usual, a plan was always made.

But now, back to reality! The easy Cape Town life is over.  And it’s back to our usual life. It’s Saturday morning, and I got woken up by Joel’s alarm clock going off at 5:30am.  Only to find he was not even in bed but was off on a cycle. Hope is busy moping and cleaning the house with her headphones on, singing at the top of her voice.  You know, that droning sound a person does when they can’t hear themselves singing and don’t actually know all the words! Then I nearly jump out of my skin at the sound of 3 gun shots! Boom, Boom, Boom! Ah, yes, I remember now! It’s that dreaded slaughter day. And grant has shot a young bull, with Olivia and Luke close at his heals. And so the skinning process begins with the poor thing being hoisted up a tree!  Olivia, standing with a huge bowie knife in her hand. My awesome dog Sniper, sitting watching, waiting, with slobber hanging from his jowls, hoping for just a little piece.

Meanwhile, Charley is busy kneading bread dough in the kitchen, while rocking a baby doll cradle with her foot!  But, there is no doll inside the cradle, but Emmy and Stevie’s new baby lying there as happy as ever! And me, well, I am in my usual spot, the kitchen, making muffin mix, mayonnaise and grinding the garlic cloves to store in the fridge while listening to Hope’s “droning” singing.  And trying to not think about the Boom, Boom, Boom, and the young bull hanging in the tree outside. 

On Tuesday, school will start.  As Monday will be the cutting and mincing and packing of the meat. That bull needs to hang there for a few days. Then, Grant will sort his office out, fix the car again, and do a whole load of other household maintenance. Like fix the washing machine I blew up 2 days ago. And then it’s back to ministry, where Grant is at his best, teaching and training local Pastors and laymen. Yes, it’s back to life. As we know it!

So, how am I doing?  How am I feeling about being back?  Not sure yet. But so far, so good.

Keep praying for us, and if you have prayer requests send them onto us so we can pray for you. Our Luke is a serious prayer warrior!

God bless. In Him.

 

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 ~

“And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the Name

of the Lord shall be delivered.” Joel 2:32

April 2013

Our home with Joe while in South Africa.

God is in Control

I guess one thing I have learned over the years, is that the Name of Jesus has some serious power in it. I have called on that Name to help me in some desperate times, some extremely fearful situations and He has come through every time. Last night I drove home from visiting my friend Liz and a handful of small rocks were thrown at the car, thankfully no windows or lights were smashed and I just kept driving. It makes me wonder just how many times God has spared or saved me from some danger that I just don’t know about.  Or how he has saved me from what could have been a huge disaster, but He intervened.  I have many stories of how God has helped me though some very scary things, and I can say that they would have been much worse had I not called on Him for help. I guess, the point I am making is, that God really is in control! Even though we may have times of doubt, and we may not hear His voice as clearly.  He is still there, clearing our path before we walk it.

God Uses Me, In Spite of Me Being Me

In the first weeks of May we will be heading back up to Mbala. It’s hard to think of going back, as yes; it is quite tough for me there. But, I know that is God’s will for us at the moment, and I know he will give me the grace and strength to continue in His will up there, until he chooses to move us. He has never let me down yet, there are days I have felt like He has, but I know He has never left me. Always been there, making sure I don’t veer too far off His course!

So pray for us as we prepare to return, after a great time of rest here in Cape Town.  We have done so much, and been so blessed during our time here by our church, our friends and our time spent with family. We are grateful for this time and see God’s hand in our being here for these months.

We obviously have lots to do before we return.  The old faithful vehicle needs some work, which Grant is doing himself where he can. And we need to get some supplies to take back for school etc.  What are our needs? Well, here is a list:

·         2 new tires for the vehicle

·         We need to replace the windscreen on the vehicle which is cracked

·         A new fuel pump for the vehicle, as the old is worn

·         The vehicle chassis needs welding again

·         Money for fuel to get home to Mbala

·         School supplies like glue, paper, pencils

Thanks for your prayers, and for your support shown to us during this time. Pray for us, please, that we may have the strength to fulfil the task and call that God has for us.

Many blessings,

Lynne Schaefer

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

Please note my new email: mbalamama@gmail.com

PO Box 420032, Mbala, ZAMBIA

 

FROM THE KITCHEN TABLE

From the

Kitchen

Table

Schaefer Update

March 2013

We are still in Cape Town. The break has been very good for us all. Grant made it back up to Zambia and back down to Cape Town safely. We will Lord willing return as a family around the 25^th April. This decision, however, lies with our mission board. And we are happy to have the backing and accountability of this board, who have been very supportive of us during this time in Cape Town.

We celebrated Luke’s 5^th birthday and Olivia’s 8^th this month! Joel was able to do the Argus Cycle race (109km) and enjoyed every minute of it. He rode with my brother-in-law Richard and both had a really great day. We were also blessed to be given a weekend timeshare at a lovely place in Hermanus.  We had a very relaxing weekend and the kids loved it! We are hoping to be able to take a trip to Port Elizabeth (Grant’s home town) to visit a few family and friends.

 

We can definitely see God’s hand in us being here for this period of time.  And have experienced his miraculous provision and protection.  We continue to trust him for our future and know that He has it all under control! He has been with us through the good and the bad. And we can still stand and say, “How Great is our God!”

 

We have been so blessed to be able to go to our own church on Sundays. They have been extremely supportive of us, providing groceries and emotional support.  The kids have enjoyed Sunday school and being part of a youth and we have enjoyed being a part of our own culture. We are very grateful to our good friend Joe, who has opened his home to us all these months, putting up with a family of 7 who have completely taken over his awesome house!

Pray for us as we seek the Lord at this time. For His guidance.  For his provision and that we as a family will keep our eyes focused on Him and His will for us. We are very grateful to all of you that have given over and above to help us during this time, with all the extra expenses that we have had.

God bless,

Lynne Schaefer and Family

December 2012

From The Kitchen Table

December 2012

Wishing you a blessed Christmas from all the Schaefer's

 

Dear Family and friends,

We are currently in Cape Town, South Africa, having a much needed rest. We have been able to spend some great family time and Grant and I were able to get away on a cruise. It has been wonderful to just relax and see family and friends.

We will be heading back to Zambia, Lord willing, in the latter half of January. We believe that the Lord still wants us to continue the work there. We want to thank you for all your prayers and support over the past 14 years of ministry in Mbala. Please continue to remember to pray for us.

God bless you all, and have a blessed Christmas.

With Love,

Grant, Lynne, Joel, Hope, Charley, Olivia and Luke Schaefer

August 2012

From The Kitchen Table

~ The Desk of Lynne Schaefer ~

August 2012

“If you can’t trust the one who died for you, who can you trust?”

 

Dear Family and Friends

 

I haven’t put out a Kitchen Table for a while, because, well, I haven’t had much to say.  Which is actually very unusual for me who always seems to have a lot to rattle on about.

 

It is not that nothing has happened in the past months, because, a lot has.  It is just that we have had a lot going on in our hearts that we have had to deal with, and quite frankly some of it has been quite painful.

 

The almost fourteen years of ministry here in Mbala has taken its toll and we feel as a family we could use some time to rest, where we don’t have to do any ministry for a time. Also, the past few years have been tough ones, with a lot of things happening that have affected us as a family and we have grown quite weary.

 

We will be going down to Cape Town in November/December to have 2 months break and rest.  Grant and I will hopefully be going on a Cruise Ship for a few nights to have some time alone as a couple.  We have had only 2 nights alone in 14 years.  We could sure use some “couple” time. It is impossible here to have anytime alone together, and there is no chance for us to even go out on a “date”.

 

As the kids get older, they feel more isolated and lonely, and are desperate to have friends that they can relate to. So, we have been struggling with staying in the Lord’s will, as we know He still wants us to be here, he has not told us to move. We have also had to juggle the issues that arise with living out here with five children, who also have needs, the loneliness and being away from family and friends, and the constant reminder of having to be culturally sensitive all the time.

 

So pray for us, that we may continue to do the Lords will, and continue to serve him with joyful hearts. That we will always seek Him first and trust Him for supplying all our needs, both physically and spiritually.

 

Thanks so much for your prayers. We can sure use them as we continue to seek to do the Lord’s will.

 

God bless.

 

Lynne Schaefer and Family

Grant, Joel, Hope, Charley, Olivia, Luke

PO Box, 420032, Mbala, Zambia