Please feed the orphans

WOW ! What a joyful, life-changing experience!

Look at these lovely children.

Our hearts were touched by their persistent hopefulness and ability to be joyful in a world where struggling to survive is a daily routine.

What was really inspirational is how the kids love to sing, dance and praise the Lord for all His Blessings.

Although there are 95 orphans who need food, shoes, class fees and care, only a small fraction of the costs are covered by regular monthly donations. Volunteers cook daily meals for the children, three teachers tutor the children so they can stay in school and church members help with spiritual support.

Please look into your hearts and consider being a regular donor through AfnetAid - Santa Cruz Cares, Zambia Orphan Center.

For $35 a month, you can help a child survive in a world where FAITH and HOPE are the keys to daily peace.

Coming Home

We have survived our whirlwind of sightseeing activities at Victoria Falls and Chobe National Park. Many amazing sights and fun adventures. Norm, Lisa, Sam, and Rachel took a walk across the falls (with a guide)! We saw beautiful animals at Chobe - giraffe, many elephants, gazelles, a few zebra and (best of all) a pride of female lions and their cubs. We slept in tents in the park and after a suspenseful night we woke to a giraffe and two elephants right next to the camp.
Now we are in Lusaka preparing to return home. As I was listening to the beautiful singing in the church across the street a marching band suddenly emerged from the church and is going around the block! What a way to say goodbye to Africa!

Going Out with a Bang!

Today was our last day in Mansa and we enjoyed every minute with the children. After we entertained the children with our reprise of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" (complete with costumes and dance moves), we had many activities for the kids to enjoy:

• Water balloon toss and water balloon slingshots and outdoor games (Lisa, Norm, John, Pam, and Tom)
• Dancing and singing with Terry Turner, Rob and Rachel (and the teenagers taught them some moves too)
• Crafts with Amy, Terry Townsend and Sam

We also finished distributing the last pair of shoes - Huuray! At lunch each child got a cookie and we had exactly enough for all 95! After lunch we distributed the goodie bags that we brought that had sunglasses, visors, bubble, a beach ball, soap and candy. You cannot imagine how excited all of the kids were (even the teenagers) to get toys that most US kids would turn up their noses at. They were jumping up and down and had smiles from ear to ear.

We quickly went from joy to sadness as we had to say goodbye to our new friends. Each of the team has connected with several of the kids on an individual basis and it was hard to say goodbye. I will miss their joyous spirits that are expressed in heartfelt song and dance, I will miss their shy smiles, I will miss their sincere gratitude for the smallest of kindnesses, I will miss the simplicity and purity of their faith, and I will miss the love and acceptance that they have given all of us.

Group Picture

Greeting to all from Mansa. I have tried attached some larger pictures in front of our Church away from home. No luck..connections are too slow for full size files. Great church service yesterday. More to come from Amy. I can tell you all is well and we are having as much fun as the kids are. Yesterday, we walked through the burbs of Mansa. We had a group of 60 kids following us on our walk. It was interesting how people were just going about their Sunday...Washing, bathing kids, cooking dinner or just talking with neighbors. They have so much joy with so little. We drove to a lake on Sunday and saw some kids by the roadside working playing on the brick they had loaded..



One of the event today was a tooth brushing clinic. I think they just liked spitting the toothpaste on the ground.

I sat down and was studying my Bemba phrases and got a better lesson from the 20 kids which surrounded me. It was so much fun. I read them a phrase in Bemba and asked them to translate to English. Their English was much better than my Bemba.

Heres a picture of Tom and I with our new friends..








Here's a picture of Rachel with one of the kids. Sorry for the randomness of the pictures but I am picking smaller pictures...







More to come... John signing off from Zambia!

News from Tom

From Tom Townsend

First opportunity to a computer on day seven.  Where to start?

Everything is so different.  I knew God was with us on the fourth plane trip when the plane emptied at Hrare, Zimbabwe.  Those left on the plane were obviously from all over the world.  Then the plane had a continual line of new faces from all over the world.  I was to find that about 80% were missionaries -> faces from Bhutan, Korea, China, the middle East, etc.  I knew now that we a few of those that the Lord had brought to be with our brothers and sisters of Africa.  Powerful witness!

On the evening of the forth day we arrived at Mansa, Zambia - our home here.  Though road weary, when you have fifty children screaming from joy to meet us, your heart comes alive in a way you will always remember.  Then to find that a year ago they had not guidance, teaching, holding, feeding (it goes on), and now had met the Lord and had smiles and radiated true joy in the simplest and purest form.

One of the boys, Alec, who attended the Children's Center had perished the day before.  Yes - from AIDS.  Immediately it was clear why we were here.  The children lead our team to the home of the grandmother.  She had taken in probably 12 other children and had all in her care.  Have you ever met a Saint?  The children began their beautiful singing before we arrived at the house.  As we arrived, chairs and couches were given to us.

We consoled and prayed with the grandmother and sat to reflect and be with her.

Thereafter, it has been uplifted and a harmonious team.  The children with nothing do have a deep beauty in their smiles, handshakes and hugs.  This is the simple belief of children that inspires us. 

That must conclude for now.

Love,  Thomas Townsend reporting from Mansa, Zambia

Isubilo

Isubilo means hope in Bemba - and it is also appropriately part of the name of the orphan center. Hope is also what is being created within the kids that participate in the orphan program here in Mansa. By having adults to love them, teach them needed skills, promote their education, give them basic resources, they are being given hope.

There are two paid teachers that receive a very small stipend (Prosper & Delia) and several other volunteer teachers. These humble and selfless people are making a mighty impact on the lives of the 95 orphans. It has been an honor to get to know them. They have helped us so much when working with the kids and also to tell us the histories of many of the children. They have been our guides and translators.

On Friday the children put on a traditional song and dance show for us. Kids from age 4 to 18 danced for us in the traditional Zambian way - which was kind of like extreme Zumba. They are gifted with amazing rhythm and resonating melodic voices. (They sing ALL the time - it is beautiful). They even got each of the team up to dance (this video is now under lock and key). Then they gave each of us a name in Bemba. We were all touched.

On Saturday we did some work in the morning (translates into painting and more shopping for shoes for Amy & Lisa). In the afternoon we had some time on the shores of Lake Bangwelu at Samfya (2 hour drive each way) with the elders from the church that is affiliated with the orphan center. We enjoyed games (tug of war and volleyball) with the Zambians and some of us enjoyed the water. We also got the chance to do paddleboarding in dug out canoes. I defintely need some lessons!

This afternoon we are taking a walk out of town to see where some of the orphans live and attend school. Stay tuned for more of our continued adventures.....

Zambia on Sunday

Greetings from Mansa

Yesterday spent at Lake Bangwelu for R & R with the church elders. Amazing place. We paddled dugout canoes which was a sight to behold. Went to church in Mansa this morning. 3 hours of singing, dancing and the message. To my surprise, it went very quickly. The longest thing was a reception line where we met everyone in the church. Very cool. People were very welcoming. We will be back to the orphan center to work tomorrow morning. I believe I will be teaching teeth brushing...Hope my dental skills are up to snuff. This is an amazing place. I may be able to upload some photos...so stay tuned. Amy is providing more detail. We are going to try and find an internet cafe with wireless so we can upload some pictures if possible. They have lost the password to the wireless router so we will be searching for another option. Everything is very fluid here so we will see. Your support and prayers are of great help and warmly appreciated.

Warmest regards-

John