Pray for Planting

Right now, Marlin Rice is on his way to Zambia. Marlin is the leader of the Z8 Project at the Hope Center, which is the agriculture program designed to help grow food to feed the children. Marlin has done so much work studying, planning, teaching, and implementing this program. And right now he's on his way to teach and oversee the second planting season.
(Here's a picture of Marlin teaching planting methods last year)
The rainy season starts in November in Zambia and this is when the large crops, such as corn (maize), sweet potatoes, and beans are planted. (The gardens are kept year around growing tomatoes, sweet corn, onions, cabbage, spinach, and many more things.) So Marlin's task in the next week is HUGE! The Hope Center was laid out very intentionally to take advantage of the wonderfully furtile land. And now God has blessed the Hope Center with a NEW hector of land (about 2.5 acres) in addition to the 5 hectors we had before.

Here are some ways you can be praying for the Z8 part of the Hope Center Project:

• Pray for Marlin - for safe travel, for energy and health, and for continued wisdom as he leads and teaches the Zambians new and more productive methods of farming
• Pray that Marlin and Joshua (the full-time farmer at HCC) will be able to find all the supplies, seeds, fertilizer, etc. that they need
  
• Pray for our Zambian friends - First, we need them to volunteer to make this happen! Second, pray that they would have a heart for all that is happening at the Hope Center and desire to be involved. Finally, pray that God would bless their efforts and give them understanding of the new things they will learn. They can then take these skills home and apply them to the food they grow for their own families.
• Pray for good weather

I'll post more from Marlin as I get word about how the trip is going.

HCC Profile: Joseph Mwila

It's hard not to fall in love with all of the children at the Hope Center. But last summer, I really connected with three little boys: Joseph, Kenny, and Andrew.
But last year we had two translators for 50 kids and no real opportunities to talk with them one on one. On our trip in early October, I had a chance to sit down with a couple kids and hear a little more of their stories. Joseph told me more about his life.
Joseph is about 12 years old (birthdays and ages aren't nearly as important there as here, and many people don't know how old they are). He is in grade 5 at the Boma Basic school in Serenje. Right now, he lives with his aunt who works in the market in town. His older brother and mom have both left to try to find work elsewhere, and his father died several years ag0. (Joseph said he died because the blood dried up in his body. Not sure what that means.)

Like most boys his age, Joseph loves to play soccer and basketball. And he also really loves school and takes it very seriously. He stays at school late each day to study because he wants to be a doctor when he grows up. He especially likes science and math.

Joseph use to get aid from the local government agency in Serenje, but because of the abundant number of orphans in town, they were past the limits and he was kicked out of the program. His aunt brought him to Pastor Navice. He was receiving help from Cornerstone with food distributions even before HCC was built , but now he gets a hot meal every day at the Hope Center. He said he really likes coming to HCC every day because he is being helped.
During my interview with Joseph, I could tell he was being quite shy because the other kids were listening, too. But later, he took me aside and tried very hard to tell me something in English. He couldn't come up with the right words, so I asked if he wanted me to get someone to translate. He said, No, he wanted to find the right words so he would tell me the next day.

I was curious what Joseph would say. And I was sad when he didn't come at his regular time the next day. But just as we were closing up the kitchen he arrived and I sat with him while he ate. He had thought very hard about what he wanted to say. And in very careful English, he told me, "When I go away and finish school, I pray God will bless this place because they gave me food." My heart melted to see the genuine gratitude in this young boy. He wasn't coached into saying this, it came from his heart.
Pray for Joseph and the other 49 children being fed daily at the Hope Center. They all come from very difficult backgrounds and yet they have hope. This hope is not just because we are feeding them, but because they have the chance to hear the gospel and come to know the God of Hope who has a plan for each of their lives.

HCC Profile: Joshua and Gift

(The next few blogs will introduce you to some of our wonderful Zambian brothers and sisters in Christ.)

No matter what time of year you visit the Hope Children Center (and I do hope you can all visit and share in the labor there one day) you'll see gardens growing. Right now, even though its the end of the dry season, the gardens are flourishing with corn, tomatoes, onions, green beans, cabbage, spinach, pumpkins, and more.

God has blessed the Hope Center with a great care-taker of all this produce! His name is Joshua, and he lives in a small brick house on the Hope Center property with his wife Gift and their 4 children (Rachel, Ines, Webby, and Joshua), plus one nephew (Karen) who's mother died when he was 3 or 4. Both Joshua and Gift are very hard workers with quiet, humble spirits and great smiles!
Joshua has worked for HCC since September of 2008. Before that, he farmed in the Teta area, a remote area past Kamena which is where Pastor Navice is from and has started many churches.

Joshua's job is not only to plant, weed, and harvest the gardens year-round; he is also in charge of getting the fields ready before the rainy season. That's when the large plots of maize, kasava, sweet potatoes, and other vegetables will be planted. He lives right by the garden and often spends his nights on patrol making sure the crops aren't stolen (a future fence will help with this). The metal roof of his house has even been commissioned as the place to dry the groundnuts (peanuts) grown there. (Here is Joshua with some of the groundnuts).
Gift helps in the kitchen and in over-seeing the orphans. Some days you'll find her washing dishes late into the afternoon or corralling the kids and getting them to the bathhouse for a shower. She brings joy to those around her and an enthusiasm that is contagious.
We thank God that he's brought this couple to the Hope Center and ask that he would provide and protect them as they serve the orphans of Serenje.

Up and Running

The Hope Center is up and running!


Starting July 1st, the Hope Center in Serenje, Zambia started feed orphans from the surrounding community. Right now, about 50 are in the program, and about 45 come each day for a mid-day meal. (Many more who live too far from the center are being helped with regular food distributions.)

While things are still in the beginning phases, and there is much to be figured out, the basics are in place. Volunteer ladies from the community (most of whom are care-takers for the kids) are taking turns coming to HCC each day and cooking for the children.

The facility is incredible, thanks to God's provision, your giving, and the sacrificial work of some Cornerstone & Zambian men. It truly is a light to the community, and the kids are so excited to spend time there each day. (More posts in the next couple weeks will tell stories about a few of these kids specifically... so check back!)

A small team, consisting of Mark & Betsy Meyer and Rachel Wise just returned from a check-up trip to the Hope Center on Oct. 9th. They were able to see how the feedings were going, check over the gardens and facilities, and spend time with the local leadership figuring out how Cornerstone help in the future.

There will be more posts soon - but for now, here's a couple pictures from this last trip. Enjoy!

Betsy gets plates ready while the children pray and thank God for the food they are about to receive.
David fills up on nshima (the national dish), cabbage from the garden, and beans.
The ladies who cooked for the day are enjoying a meal with the kids.

Hope Children's Center Grand Opening Update

A Zambian Pastor's Perspective

A friend sent me a link to this interview by Mark Dever (a pastor in Washington D.C.) with Pastor Conrad Mbewe from Lusaka. It is a bit long, but he does a great job of describing the Zambian church. It is worth a listen. Click here to get to it.

Back from Zambia

Here are some highlights from our time in Zambia. As we gave the soccer goals to the three government schools (Kamena, Teta, and Serenje) the whole community would come out to play and celebrate. These gifts were a huge success and were a huge bridge-builder among the people that we are ministering to.
This is one of our Hope kids out in Kamena. You've perhaps seen his face as he is in some of our printed material. I was saddened to see him quite ill this time, notice his very apparent distended belly...And here is a couple of trips back...The Ribbon-cutting was phenomenal! See the District Commissioner do the honors. He is the equivalent of a "governor" in the US. He stopped one of his lower ranking officials and asked why the Hope Center was not given MORE land! He is enthusiastically behind our efforts and that gives us a lot of freedom as we minister. God has given us faor with the most important governmant official in the land!

They even found a lady who could bake us a cake for the ceremony. Everyone got a taste, too!
Our Hope kids looked great in their new duds we brought them. And they each got a Fanta to drink. Life is beautiful!The last week there, Tim Day joined us as we had training for the church-plamters and many of their wives. Seeing their growth and maturity over the last couple of years has been one of the most rewarding aspects of being invovled with the Hope Center. These men will graduate in the fall and a new batch of men will begin training in 2010 for three years. God keeps growing His church in Zambia!These are the men who helped create the vision for the Hope Center. Navice, the director, and Geoffrey Malwita who came from Kitwe to see the realization of this dream!