Hi Everyone:

Thank you for your prayers and comments, as I mentioned before, we feel your prayers and read your comments when we do our devotions each evening.  Please keep writing and praying.

Our morning started with devotions with all of the World Hope International Zambia staff.  The Guest House we are staying in is in the same compound as their headquarters so it was nice to have a short commute.

There were 48 all together counting the Daybreak team.   We had a great time of worship and then we were all introduced.  We then had a chance to perform ‘Amazing Grace’ on our kazoos.  In case you hadn’t heard we presented kazoos to the entire Maambo community a few days ago.  Several of the World Hope staff who were in Maambo also assisted in performing.

After worship we were given the grand tour of the offices.  We were able to meet with the national  director, the director for Reach4Life (more on that tommorrow), and all the key people we work with here in Maambo.  It was encouraging and eye opening to see what it takes to have an impact here.

After lunch we did some shopping for our loved ones and picked up some supplies.  Tom, Harve and Tim helped our host Dave Watters make crutches for the people of Zambia.  Kris and Kyle were able to meet with the national director one and one and updated the plans for the future.  We are so excited about them!  A medical post(clinic) and another money making project are planned.  We will share more later.

As I sign off we are preparing to present several topics to High School students tommorrow.  Pray for Tom as he will take the lead on teaching young  leaders for several hours and the rest of team will be role playing and teaching as well.

8

Hello Everyone:

It is so good to hear your responses from back home we get them all and read them as a group when we do our devotions.

We had another great day in Maambo.  We arrived this morning to find the people of Maambo already hard at work on the teachers house and the broken desks from the school.  Most of the money for the materials came from the ‘Teach A Man to Fish” concert.  We had just delivered the materials the previous day and here they were hard at work.

The work on the teachers house is almost complete.  The work had stopped because of a lack of materials and money.  God has perfect timing!  They have hired a teacher already but she cannot come until the building is complete.  This afternoon they notified her to come on June 1.  What a miracle.

After that Kris Dekker and Kyle Clausen met with the Maambo Trust Committee.  There are 9 men and 1 woman.  They shared their dreams and showed us the land given for a Medical Post (Clinic).

Yesterday we heard that a big goal was to give the Caregivers (these are the people who check on the sick people and orphan children) bicycles because they often travel 10-20 miles a day on foot to see their clients.  This morning we (Harve Westmaas) gave them 2 new bicycles.  Those were presented in a ceremony in the church.  What a celebration!  There was not a dry eye in the church.  They broke out in a song of praise to God for what he has given them.

Later we visited the headmaster of the school where Tom Meyer donated a large suitcase full of books to start a school library.  We also gave him some personal gifts, pencils, globes and soccer balls.  Needless to say it was well received.

Later we went on 2 home visits.  One was for a 29 year old women with HIV/Aids.  We prayed that she would live to see her two children finish school.  We prayed with her and presented her with gifts of mealie meal, oil, sugar, sandals and shirts.  Our second visit was with an orphan boy who is 11 years old.  They are waiting on the results of HIV/Aids tests.  He is an orphan living with his aunt who also has another orphan child living with her.  Previously he was living with a grandmother but she passed away last fall.  We prayed with him and left the family our gifts.

During the day Mary Merrill taught the women of the village how to bake a cake.  They dug a hole in the side of a hill, built a fire in the hole.  Then they pulled the logs out of the hole and put the cake in the heated earth to bake.  It seemed like the whole village was there when we pulled the cake out.  Then they all gave it a taste test.  It was great fun and true community!

8

Hello Everyone!

We feel your prayers.  What an incredible last few days.  Sunday, Kris Dekker delivered an amazing message of salvation to us and the church in Maambo.  We were treated like royalty because of Daybreak’s generousity to this village.  The partnership of Daybreak, the Maambo village, and World Hope International Zambia is working well.  It is so exciting to see what has happened already and what is planned for the future.

Last night Kyle and Kris had a chance to meet with the Director of World Hope International Zambia.  He shared the future plans but also told us of the dignity it has given his people.  The trust for Maambo is run by the people of Maambo, managed by World Hope and helped financially by Daybreak.  The priorities of the trust are first to care for its children, especially its’ orphans, then for the health of its’ people by providing medication and care givers and then to make sure every child that wants to go to school can.  They have suceeded!  Every child is going and the school is growing!

Today we brought supplies to complete the teacher’s house and worked on the piggery.  Then we went and did some home visits.  First we visited with Veronica, she is in her late 40″s and has HIV/Aids.  She is taking medication and getting care from the trust.  She is taking care of 6 children.  One of them is her grand daughter who is 2 years old.  Her mother passed away 2 months ago.  Her children have to do odd jobs to get food for the family, most days they get only one meal a day.  She is very sick and worried about her family.  We prayed for her and cried.  She  allowed us to lay hands on her and was very open about her life.  We presented her with corn meal, a Zambia staple, oil to cook and sugar.

Later we were able to give the children who are sponsored by Daybreak, a gift we brought.  They were well received.  Each child was prayed over and encouraged.  The most touching moments were when Kris and Mary Merrill presented their gifts to the girls they sponsored.  There were many tears and great joy.

We are overwhelmed by the people of Maambo.  They are a beautiful, humble people.  We have received much more than we have given.

5

Hello Everyone:

We all are doing well and miss you all.  We spent the morning going to the market in Choma.  We bought vegetables and other food for our lunch in Maambo tommorrow after church.  We also bought a few gifts for our family.

The people of Choma are beautiful.  They have so little but their faith is so strong.    We have also had time to spend with our hosts, David and Beth Waters.  They are from the SE part of Michigan.  They went on 17 short term mission trips prior to answering God’s call for them to come here.

The guest house is perfect for us all.  It is very clean and comfortable.  The men are all learning how to was dishes.  Keep praying for Kris as she prepares for her message, it is also her birthday tommorrow! (a big one, I might add) 

6

Hi Everyone:

Thank  for your prayers!  48 hours after we took of from Grand Rapids we have arrived at Guest House at the offices of World Hope International-Zambia.  This is where we will stay evenings for the duration of our trip.

We had an uneventful flight from Johannesberg, SA to Livingstone, Zambia.  Dave Waters picked us up for the 2 hour drive to Guest House.  As we were crossing a railroad track about  a quarter of the way there, we blew out our transmission on our mini-van.   This gave us an opportunity to meet many local children, give them suckers, and talk with them.  Soon a vehicle arrived to tow us to Nimbia, a nearby city.  From there we grabbed another van to Guest House.

A great dinner was ready when we arrived, where Dave and his wife Beth briefed us on our upcoming week.  We have unpacked and spent some time in prayer and devotion.

Pray for our team as we gather building materials tommorrow to roof the teachers home in Maambo and make our plans to finish the project started several years ago.  Pray for Kris as she finalizes her Sunday message.  Pray for Tom and Regan as they prepare to teach the Sunday school class this Sunday.

We see our mission more clearly now.  It is to share God’s hope and love to a beautiful people who have suffered greatly.

3

Greetings To All of You:

We have completed the first and longest leg of our journey.  We are staying the night in Johannesburg, South Africa.  Tommorrow morning we fly out to Livingstone, Zambia.

Pray for Kris Dekker as she prepares to deliver the message at the main service Sunday morning in Maambo.  It is a very personal message that will end with her giving an invitation for villagers to come forward and accept Christ as their Saviour.

Pray for the people of Maambo for their hearts to be open to receive Christ.

In addition to the Daybreak team, Tim Young (appropriate, since he is half the age of everyone else.)  has joined us  He is  studying to go into the ministry at South Wesleyan University.

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The Africa Team is on their way to Africa as I type this. They were flying out of Grand Rapids today (Wednesday, May 20) around noon. Check back soon to hear how they are doing and updates on their trip.

PRAYER REQUESTS

Pray for 456 orphans in Maambo who desperately need food, shelter and someone to love them

Pray that God will use this team to reach out to Zambia

Pray for the health and safety of the team while gone

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Sunday, April 26th – All small groups will be off campus. Contact your small group leader for details.