Off to Serenje!

Tonight (Weds) Simon and Catrina, Val Cottee, Sola Osinoiki, Rob Plant, Colin Boyle and Alan Lander fly out to Serenje and they’ll land in Lusuka early tomorrow morning. Then they’ll head up to Serenje during the day (it’s a 4-5 hour drive).

Whilst the team are in Serenje they’ll be doing a number of things:

- Visiting the 4 communities that we’re partnering with in Serenje and seeing how the project has progressed.
- Meeting with families affected by HIV/AIDS who have benefitted from being given goats, seed and educational support for their children.
- Visiting the plot for the girls’ dormitory and the area where the girls currently stay (and are very vulnerable)-Zambia compound.
- Running leadership training for the Pastor’s Fellowship (around 26 pastors)
- Catrina and Val are doing a women’s conference with the local women.

Please pray for the team while they are away, for safety in travel, for good health, for a great time of sharing with the pastors and the people of Serenje, for mutual strengthening and encouragement, for wisdom and God’s guidance as they run the leadership training and women’s conference.

The team return on Saturday 16th October and the Serenje Gift Days are on Sunday 17th October and Sunday 24th October. We’ll be aiming to raise another £100,000. It will be great to hear from the team the impact that last year’s money has made and be inspired about the lives that will be touched and changed in the year to come.

Exciting news

I'm really excited to be able to share that Leah Mutala, who heads up what we're doing in Serenje, is coming to visit us! She arrives tomorrow and will be here until the 14th July. She is coming over especially to see us which is a huge privilege. She truly is an incredible woman of God, who impacts everyone she meets. She will be sharing at REAL, our women's conference and also on Sunday at church. We're hoping that she may also spend some time in the local schools that are partnering with Serenje. She'll also be spending time with friends she has in the UK and taking some well deserved time out. Every time we visit Serenje Leah does an amazing job of looking after us, so it's great to be able to return the favour. Please come and say hi to Leah while she is with us and pray that she is really blessed while she is here.

Howard and Elizabeth Reece-Smith, Ralph Allan and Mo Davies have recently returned from Serenje. Ralph spoke recently at church and shared about the developments with the plans for the girls dormitory. I know Leah and the team in Serenje found Ralph's input really helpful. Howard emailed me this week to share his reflections on the trip:

'I was there a year ago, so was delighted to see a big change in the response of the farmers. "We all have enough to eat now,and we have so much to eat that we can sell our excess", was the universal response as we sat with families and communities. We visited a school that had used the school fee money to build more classrooms,and expand their intake,gave out shoes to many barefoot children (very cold in the morning at present)and went to see the hospital again. The building to house the operating theatre was nearly finished, funded by a grant from the USA, so now Elizabeth and I can start to equip it for action. We will cycle from Nairobi to Serenje next year on a sponsored cycle. No back up to save funds, but had many questions about our trip. One evening ,driving back to our guesthouse,we came across two cyclists on the main road. They had spent 7 months cycling in Africa and could answer all our queries and more. How well God prepares the way!!

Elizabeth said this about her visit 'For me ,the trip to Serenje was like being the little boy with 5 loaves and 2 small fishes-we apparently had so little to give this community with their huge problems of HIV and poverty but God was working mightily there making the impossible possible and I look forward to seeing his hand in the future work there.The visit was truely a great privilege.'

It's so good to keep getting such encouraging news of all God is doing. I can't wait to hear more from Leah this weekend.

Encouraging signs

I met with Lindsey today and heard more about her recent visit to Serenje. Our passion is that what we're doing in Serenje is sustainable and empowering. I was really encouraged by what Lindsey shared. People in the villages where we're partnering told her how things have changed since the start of the project. One man shared how he sold his produce (grown from the seeds he was given by the project) for profit and put his children into school. He said ‘I have the means to control my destiny.’ Another woman is thinking about building a fish farm and said ‘before the project we were only eating one meal a day and now we’re eating three’. All her children are now in school.

These stories are just so exciting.

Lindsey also met the new project officer Ian David (based in Serenje) and said that he is very good. He is very keen on not creating dependency, but looking for stories of transformation. He seems to be building good relationships with the local pastors and the local communities.

It's brilliant to hear great news of what's happening in Serenje. Lindsey is heading off to Haiti this Friday and will be there for 6 weeks. Please remember her in your prayers. You can follow her blog at http://www.lindseyhaiti.blogspot.com/

News from Serenje

I loved reading Lindsey's blog and hearing all that is happening in Serenje. Such a fantastic reminder that it is more blessed to give than to receive. The money you gave means that people aren't going hungry. More than 890 children are in school, because some people sent their children to school with profit from the sale of crops grown in 2008 distribution. It's amazing what can happen when the body of Christ, in the UK and Zambia, work together.

I've also heard from Lindsey that a new field officer for Serenje has been appointed and is a great guy 'with the capacity to really make a difference on the ground with a view to sustainability and empowerment.' That's a real answer to prayer-thank you God.

Would you like to go to Serenje and see what is happening yourself? Why not join us on this year's Kerith trip? The dates are around Mon 4th Oct-15th Oct 2010. The cost of the trip will be between £1500-£2000, depending on flights. The trip will be an opportunity to to go and see what has been happening, build relationships and then come and share with church, family and friends. There is unlikely to be practical work and most of the time will be spent visiting communities, to hear and see how the project is progressing and to spend time with them. Simon and a few other leaders will also be part of the team, to share with the Serenje pastors. If you're interested in coming please let me, Zoe Hayes, know as soon as possible.

Update from Lindsey

Lindsey Reece-Smith is currently in Serenje and she has written a detailed report of her visit on her blog. Click here to view.

Latest news from Serenje

The money we raised at our Gift Days last November and through Kerith relief came to a final total of £116,415. That's incredible! Thank you so much for your generosity. We recently received an update from Leah and her team in Zambia and it's fantastic to hear what's been happening.

This year 890 orphans and vulnerable children are being supported to go to school. How exciting is that! For those of you interested in the breakdown of the figures: 410 children at primary school, 480 at secondary and 383 are girls,
507 are boys. Here are some photos of the children your money is helping.




The photo above is of Patricia Mumba, who got the highest results in Serenje District to go to grade 8!

Let's remember all these children in our prayers. Leah said that many of the orphans and vulnerable children from outlying villages and communities looked stunted in their growth due to scarcity of food. They eat one meal a day especially during rainy season from December – March. Some of them are withdrawn and emotional as they had recently lost their fathers.

James 1:27 says 'Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.'

Please pray for children who have lost their fathers and wives who have lost their husbands. Pray for health and a good harvest so these families can eat well. Let's also pray for the amazing church volunteers who visit the children and their families and bring love and hope.

If you are interested in visiting Serenje we are taking a team out this October (probably 4th-15th). It will cost roughly £1500-1700 (depending on flights). It will be an opportunity to see what has been happening, build relationships and then come back and share with church, family and friends. If you're interested in coming please speak to me- Zoe Hayes or Simon Benham.

Skipping for Serenje

It's been really encouraging to hear how some of local schools have been connecting with what we're doing in Serenje. Helen Cottee went and spoke at Ruth Jackson and Amanda Wolfram's schools. Ruth emailed me recently to let me know what the children at her school (Crowthorne C of E Primary school) have been doing:

'So far, we have collected 'Small change for a big change' - we asked parents, staff and children to give any 1p, 2p and 5p coins as part of our money week. We raised £112 this way and plan to repeat it later in the year.

As part of our 'Money Week' each House was asked to set up a business, with all profits going to Serenje. They were given a £10 business loan to get their business up and running! Sandringham House decided to base their business on the Poppy idea, selling a flower to raise money for Serenje. They looked for a flower that grew in Serenje and game up with the Soy Bean flower! We are selling the flowers this week, before and after school.




We also had a skip to be fit day where the children were inspired to skip! Then we made this our sponsored event for the year. The week before we took each class to the hall and gave them a set time to skip. We then made a timetable for the day with each class having 3 sessions. The children had to set themselves a target for how many skips they thought they would do and then they were asked to collect sponsors.'





Thank you to Ruth and all the children at her school for all the money they've raised. It's exciting to see children here making a difference to the lives of school children in Serenje. Whether you're from Crowthorne or Serenje, it's fun to skip :-)