Letters

It always lovely to receive a letter isn't it? Especially when it's coming from thousands of miles away. Thank you to all the Kerith women who wrote letters for us to take to Serenje. We handed out the letters during a community meeting and it was great to see the women's names called out and them enthusiastically come forward to receive their letter-some of them even did a little dance as you can see in the photo! They ripped the letters open straight away and read them.

This weekend at our women's conference REAL there will be the opportunity to register your interest in being a pen-pal to a lady in Serenje. It's a great opportunity to connect with some of the amazing women in Serenje, to bless and encourage them. And then you can look forward to receiving a letter back :-)

Zoe

Inspiring stories

One day Leah and I were chatting and she shared the inspiring story of a girl called Kunda. Kunda was at teacher training college. However she was asked to leave when the course requirements changed and her maths grade wasn't high enough. Leah explained how upset Kunda was to leave college and cried for some time. Things got worse when Kunda's mum died, followed by her father. Kunda then moved to stay with her aunt, but she also died. Kunda moved to another aunt's house, but she died too. Then she went to stay with her grandfather, but he died. Finally Kunda lived with the brother of the grandfather. She needed to support herself, so she got a job. She needed to help support the family she was staying with so she wasn't able to save much for her education. Whilst she was working she got some private tuition and passed her maths exam. As a result she got reaccepted at teacher training college. Kunda is now being supported by the project to finish her teacher training.

What incredible perseverance. Please pray for Kunda, that she would complete her training and go on to become a successful teacher. Pray that she would know God's blessing on her life.

What a week

We arrived back from Serenje on Saturday night, after an amazing week. The day we go home is always strange - seeing the sun rising in Africa and then arriving in Bracknell by 7pm. It makes you realise how small the world really is.

We had an incredible time and it's hard to know how to where to begin, but over the next few weeks Catrina and I will be sharing some of the highlights and photos. But here are a few to get us started:

- being part of a fantastic team who embraced everything with enthusiasm and interest.
- seeing how the team of volunteers doing community visits has grown and has become such a key aspect of all that is happening.
- seeing children who are loving being in school,proudly wearing their school uniform and shoes.
- meeting headteachers who have a passion and a vision for their school.
- being a handed a live chicken!
- seeing the new operating theatre and medical equipment sent over by Howard Reece-Smith and hearing how this will save lives.
- the generosity of the volunteers who gave so little themselves, sharing their lives and all they have with those who have even less.
- seeing the goats and their kids running around.

Thank you for all your prayers while we were away. It was a truly a privilege to be there and see all God is doing.

Zoe

Thursday, a visit to a Community

Today we visited one of the communities that we're supporting. They sang 'Come and see what the Lord has done' and said they used to depend on wild fruits but now their children eat breakfast, lunch and dinner. We sang and danced with the amazing volunteers. They really are making such a huge difference supporting families. This afternoon we visited the new operating theatre and saw the equipment Howard Rees-Smith has sent. This really will save lives; so exciting! Tomorrow we head back to Lusaka and fly home on Saturday.

Tuesday Kankoso School Visit

Today we visited Kankoso school, which Sandy Lane are partnered with. It was great to see one of our team members Liz Norris and the head of Kankoso meet for the first time. Later we visited some of the childrens homes and saw firsthand the impact of the volunteers who support them and the goats they've received. The team was really encouraged to see how lives are being changed.