July 27th  - 3 days til lift off!!!  Hope you all comment on our blog so we can correspond with you all when we are away.  You do  not have to keep joining the site  - just click on comment under any of the posts.  Can whoever has joined three times, can you eliminate two of those to make room for others - you do not need to join more than once. Thank you. Have a blessed day and again thank you for all your prayers and donations to help these orphans. Our bags are packed with most of the space going for items we are bringing to the orphans, mamas, translators and our team.  We are excited to experience what the Lord has in store for us and we will take you all with us in our hearts and minds and return to tell you all about what the Lord is doing here on earth before our very eyes. This is James Tai and he is the young man we are sponsoring and we are so excited to meet him. We get to spend the day with
him and meet his family in My Fathers House #2 in Chongwe. What a blessing and a privilege to be with him.  Blessings to you all, Shann and Les

JUST TWO WEEKS AWAY FROM LIFT OFF - AN 18 HOUR FLIGHT!!!!

Teleconference changed to tonight, July 17th Our daughter, Holly, read from "Valley of Vision". Sovereign God, Thy cause, not my own, engages my heart, and I appeal to thee with greatest freedom to set up thy kingdom in every place where Satan reigns, Glorify thyself and I shall rejoice, for to bring honour to thy name is my sole desire. I adore thee that thou art God, and long that others should know it, feel it, and rejoice in it.  O that all men might love and praise thee, that thou mightest have all glory from the intelligent world! Let sinners be brought to thee for thy dear name! To the eye of reason everything respecting the conversion of others is as dark as midnight, But thou canst accomplish great things, the cause is thine, and it is to thy glory that men should be saved. Lord, use me as thou wilt, but, O, promote they cause, let thy kingdom come, let thy blessed interest be advanced in this world!O do thou bring in great numbers to Jesus! let me see that glorious day, and give me to grasp for multitudes of souls;let me be willing to die to the end and while I live let me labour for thee to the utmost of my strength, spending time profitably in his work, both in health and in weakness. It is thy cause and kingdom I long for, not my own.  O , answer, thou my request.!

 Will talked about Matthew 11;25-30, this is a message on rest for the weary and that in preparation for this mission trip we should rest at Jesus's feet. There are many things that can stress us when it is just two weeks away from leaving on such an important mission.  Jesus invites us to come rest in him. Jesus said, " father you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children for this was your good pleasure. We must be like children as humble followers of Jesus.

 We reviewed the AfricaTrek Code of Honor which we were to sign. We were also given good tips for traveling the long distance such as making sure to hydrate ourselves often and get plenty of rest.We received song sheets of African songs which we will be singing with the children. I recognize some as my Saili, youngest granddaughter, taught the first one to us.  She has quite the memory for a 6 year old.

We were told we needed to have clean bills newer than 2,000 in Africa. Travelers Checks are not allowed. When trading, we are to barter and pay no more than 20% of asking price and then give items to them after that we brought along such a pencils and sharpeners, little flash lights. Our culture walk in the morning on Saturday will include our interpreter going with us. In the afternoon we will have a field day with My Fathers House Children. Will and Holly collected 150 kites for the children and there will be kite flying on that day. What fun!!!!

We were also told no cameras Monday thru Thursday but Friday we can. We were also told that we could not wear watches or sunglasses when we are with the children.  If they cannot see our eyes, they get fearful.  Wearing watch signifys American - always worrying about the time.

We are staying at The Abundant Life Guesthouse - part of a church in Lusaka. 180 Roan Road, Lusaka,

Again, the focus is on their needs and not ours. We are there to serve!!!

It is July 16th

Update on our need for bibles and blankets -  the Lord has provided thru wonderful people like you enough bibles now and almost enough blankets - we are getting close to having enough blankets to keep these children warm at night.  Thank you, thank you ---

So far, in preparation now I have made 150 book marks for their bibles, some for the translators and team members and mamas and I have memorized the scriptures the children are expected to learn - teachers should be expected to do what the children are asked to do, right? I have gone through the lesson plans and written a few devotionals and my testimony. I have purchased candy for the kids and Les and I are each packing 6 bibles in each suitcase - paying extra to bring two a piece - for a total of 24 bibles. We found a website where you can purchase in bulk - 24 to a case and so there were enough people to do that and we had all we needed in a short time.  We purchased compression bags so we can get as much in the suitcase as possible for these kids.  We are bringing stickers, craft items and lots of kleenex for us at night. I believe after reading the lesson plans once again, I see that we need prayers for dealing with leaving these children - at the end we wash each ones feet just as Jesus washed his disciples feet and they will know that we will always be a part of them and that Jesus is with them always.  More in a few days as our next teleconference is this Wednesday.

Thank you angels on earth, again, for all  your prayers and donations.

26 DAYS TO LIFT OFF!!!

Its July 4th . Our last teleconference was June 27th and I forgot to blog. Now my notes don't make sense. See - this is a lesson for all you bloggers - get your notes posted right away while thoughts are fresh in your mind.   Yes, you heard it right!! Our daughter Holly and her husband Will are the team leaders for our August group.  We parents will be taking direction from our children.  How quickly the tables turn.  Will opened our conference with a prayer and devotional on James 1 :19-27 about listening to the Lord God and doing. Living out our faith, to be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger. To listen what the Word says and then do it, live it out. Will referred to a book , Missionary Methods which sounds like a book I will want to find and read.

 Since we are the last group into the camp for the year they have run out of a few things for the children so THIS IS AN URGENT REQUEST - blankets at $5 each for 150, bibles for 150.  We have 26 days to get all of this.  We found a website that ships NIV bibles in bulk at $2.67 each - 24 in a case.  We also have  an area in Zambia where we can purchase the blankets for the children at $5 each. So, if your heart leads you to help make a check out asap to Every Orphans Hope and designate for August team and what it is for.  You can also put our short term missionary names also in the memo but be sure to say what the money is for. Les and I have already purchased a case of bibles (24) and it ends up to be $65. We must carry them in our suitcases as we cannot ship to this third world country. We are told we would never see our shipment but do not have that confirmed. We have all made this huge commitment and now we are praying that God would open a few doors to get us these very important items to make it worth our commitment to go.  .

We have been busy memorizing scripture - 8 verses to be exact.  It get harder to memorize the older one gets but it is coming slowly but surely.  We have received our lesson plans for the week and have been busy studying them.  We were told to make another copy for our translator which we have done and have been busy getting gifts ready to give to our translator, our sponsored child and his mama, our leaders. Shann has also been busy making 150 book marks for the children and some for the translators.
We received our packing list and then another revised one from Will and Holly with very helpful ideas.
It is interesting to note that we need compression bags to pack clothes and we need to spray them down with permethrin to element getting malaria before we pack them in our suitcase..  We need to take the cardboard rolls out of toilet paper , compress them and put them all around our suitcase because we will need it in areas we go to.  We were told to pack pens, tooth brushes, granola bars, etc. to use to trade at the market place and also snacks for the 13 days in mission as the food they will give us is good but we will need extra during the day to keep our strength up. We were also asked to prepare two 5 minute devotionals to present to our team to help out with our morning and evening devotionals for the team.

During our teleconference we were given websites to view. One was about leading children to Christ. It was about "Can a young child understand the meaning of salvation?"  It said we are misled into thinking that a child must "understand" rather than "believe" the message of salvation.  Where does it say in the bible that we must "understand" in order to be saved? It does say, however, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved."  Salvation is Gods gift to us and children accept gifts much quicker than adults do.   Children never wonder what it is  they need to do to earn it.  This information was very encouraging to us who will only have a week to present this to our group of children.

Our amazing Cheryl Greif shared a story about a child named Grace whom she refers to  as Amazing Grace and every time she sings that song she thinks of her.   Her message to us was we plant the seed, Jesus is the harvest. We are  to pray for the child's heart to be open. That circumstances will come again that triggers memory of the seed we planted.   We are just to be the Lords instrument.  This was helpful to us especially if some of our children choose not to receive Christ during our week.

We were told to start a prayer journal for ourselves and others and to reread them later and thank God for those that are answered and recommit to prayers that are ongoing. We are to record words of encouragement, a vision or prophecy from someone else and to reread them to see how God is moving in my life and those around me.  Reflect on bible verses.

We are to pray for our interns that have gone ahead of us to prepare - Christina Cates, Elise Rowsell, Kate Colwill, Shelbie Ney, and Michelle and Jake Jackson. Michelle is our director of sponsorships.

Our next teleconference is July 17th.  Please keep us in your prayers. Blessings Shann and Les

TELECONFERENCE May 23

The May 17th conference was moved to May 23.  Gary Schneider  opened with prayer and scripture references from Psalm 68:5 "A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows is God in his holy dwelling.
John 14:2 "In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you.  I am going there to prepare a place for you." John 14:18 "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you."

(Jesus is talking to his disciples before going to the cross and reassuring them. This is an example of a Father's Heart.  Gary tells us that while we love and share the gospel with these children we will see Jesus's finger prints as our hands and feet are used in His ministry.

Updates from Zambia were given: 1)  a new mama Sarah and 8 children were selected for My Fathers House #7. 2) 5 children were selected for  MFH #6 - they added 4 girls and 1 boy so now they have 8.
3)Funds for MFH #8 have been raised , $43,000,, site prep and material acquisiton to begin June 1.
4) Funds are still needed for maintenance, furniture and appliance replacement still needed ($6,000). This is all happening in Chongwe and we celebrate this achievement! In Lusaka where our other MFH village is, repairs and replacements are underway costing $4,500 for House #4. The office administrator , Mareta M.  lost her sister this week.  Please pray for her comfort. There is a new staff member in Chongwe named Abigail, the MFH coordinator.



Update on our plans for our August team:  We need more people!!  If you are reading this blog please consider this amazing experience to go with us - there is still time. Go to our website and fill out application to go with the mission team in August.  Because of the smaller team, we are having to modify Camp Hope into fewer days. Our construction team will work 3-5 days and Camp Hope will run 1-3 days.  We may be doing community service/outreach with the mamas and children in Chongwe.
We will have a Field Day with the 88 children from the 11 MFH homes.

Gary told us about two children - one with a happy ending and the other undergoing very disturbing situations.  The one with the happy ending is in My Fathers House and is doing well. The other is  not in MFH and yet the staff is ministering to her.  There are so many on the waiting list to go into a house.

Gary continued by discussing the Zambia culture:

He explained the difference between an African Christian and a Western Christian;

African Christian views the Holy Spirit as power - ( because of witchcraft they desire the power of the HS)The Holy Spirit  gives them gifts of the spirit, Tongues, Healing,Prophesy,deliverance,and counsel.
The people worship for longer periods of time than we do and open services praying out loud and in tongues. Their prayers are longer with fasting. Their preaching is loud and long with much enthusiasm and it is extremely edifying.

Western Christian on the other hand see the Holy Spirit as truth and counselor and it becomes more inward. The gifts only exist if the person experiences them.

On a personal note, we raised $1,034 for EOH at our garage sale.  Thank you to everyone who donated items, and shopped there. Les and I have both completed our shots and are that much closer now to stepping on that plane.
Please pray that God will use us in a mighty way while we are in Zambia even though we are now experiencing these obstacles.  Please pray that many will answer Gods call to join us in this August venture to make our team  that much more productive.  Thank you  Lord - how you constantly love us and care for our needs.  Prepare us all for what lies ahead.
Next teleconference - June 20th.

TELECONFERENCE  APRIL 19TH

We started with devotions and prayer from Ephesians 4:2  . "Be completely humble and gentle, be patient, bearing with one another in love" Cheryl expanded on this by saying  that we are not to think of ourselves highly or boast but to bare with other people's faults standing with one another. In other words, don't be confrontational.

We learned that some of our team will be people that are coming from outside of the US and Canada. All communications are also to go strictly through Cheryl Greif, our program manager with Every Orphans Hope - and what a great one she is!!!!~  We also learned that our August team's leaders are going to be Will and Holly Gruver. Wow!! John Mizarek will be our construction leader. John shared with us a typical day on the construction team.  He said, " first day is a bit chaotic while getting the lay of the land. He said important to be flexible and that we need to keep in mind that God will show up and everything happens in His time. He will meet us there." This comment was for all from the United States as we are so time oriented and everything is so tightly scheduled.  In Zambia time it is not important but rather they are event oriented.  Will and Holly have sponsored six orphans that are living in My Fathers Houses built by our construction team. Those children do not consider time lapse from when they saw them last - they only concentrate on the times they do see them.  Zambians emphasis is on present experiences rather than the past or future.  In other words, we in the United States live by the clock - we are concerned with punctuality, time expended, allocations of time to achieve the maximum within set time limits, tightly scheduled, goal directed activities, emphasis on dates,planning and the future. Rewards are given for efficient use of time.  In Zambia there is more concern for details of the event regardless of time required. They don't care how long it takes to fix a problem. They stop and wait upon the Lord , consider everything until problem is solved.  Zambians have a "let come what may" outlook not tied to any precise schedule. They focus on completing the event as a reward in itself and they do not necessarily need to see the fruits of their labors.  They live in the moment.

What is so exciting about this program is that we are working along side  these wonderful African people and we WE will learn much!!!

Sharon Hoover from the Centerville Presbyterian Church spoke on humility in a servant's heart using Mark 5:1-20.  After the Sermon on the Mount while Jesus and his disciples were heading east crossing the sea of Galilee upon reaching the banks Jesus observed a man who had been bound in chains coming from a tomb with evil spirits in him, a pitiful man who would cut himself with stones. Jesus removed the demons and the man sat humbly at His feet and begged to go with Jesus but Jesus said no but rather  go tell your family about me and what I have done.  So the man went telling all the people.  ( Sharon shared that it occurred to her that this was really the first missionary - a poor and lowly man  who left with a huge heart for what Jesus had done for Him.  Therefore, we certainly should be able to do the same - simply to be Jesus's hands and feet and to sit with the children and tell them what and how much Jesus has done for us humbling ourselves .   OUR HOMEWORK is to journal now -- she asked do we have humility and reverence to spend time at the feet of Jesus and how do we view the concept of humility. We were challenged to daily find ways to humble ourselves in different ways and how we can do the same in Zambia. We are to ask ourselves where we are in humbling ourselves and allowing God to be in control.

We are to look forward to our next teleconference as we will receive our curriculum that we will be sharing with the children . Cheryl is hopeful that we will have 20 pictures to share with the children this time along with the curriculum.  We also will go over packing lists, and learn Zambian phrases and maybe some songs.  Thank you Cheryl, John and Sharon for a great Teleconference.

Next conference - May 17th, 7 pm  wow its the day of our garage sale !!

TELECONFERENCE APRIL 12

Thank you Lord.   We are now officially on the August Team which means enough people got their applications in to create two different mission groups going to Camp Hope to minister to the orphans in Zambia. Therefore, we now have our specific dates so we can start planning our trip.   This is the schedule:

Les and I will probably leave the mainland July 27^th or 28^th to arrive in Johannesburg and then take a flight to Lusaka. We will probably be staying at the International Hotel near the airport in Lusaka  and then will meet the team at the airport in the evening on August 3^rd, On Saturday the following morning we will be taking a culture walk through the villages and surrounding area. On Sunday, the 5^th we will be attending the local churches and worshiping with the African people that helped to put this together and make it all possible. In the afternoon we will be shopping in the  market place and then go through a time of training.  FROM AUGUST 6-10 will be my most life changing days as we will be at Camp Hope all that week and Les and I will have a group of children and in one week please pray that we can bring them hope,  that they will all come to know who Jesus is and that they can develop a personal relationship with Him no matter how young they are.  We have been told that with all that they give these children, the one thing that really changes their outlook on what they have to go back to, is what is permanent and can never be taken away from them – Jesus Christ. It is the only way I will be able to leave these children – knowing they have a Big Daddy they can turn to. AFTER Camp Hope the following day, August 11^th we will be touring “My Father’s Houses” and Construction Day. We are now working on our 12^th house.  Each house is 800 square feet with three bedrooms – 4 boys in one room, 4 girls in one room, and a room for the Mama.

Every house has solar panels for electric, has running water and bathrooms. Every house has a kitchen but they still teach the children the tribal way with their outside adobe ovens so that they never forget their ways.  On August 12^th we will be going on a safari with the team and on August 13^th we will be saying goodbye to our amazing fellow team members as they head back to the mainland. We will then be continuing on in Africa with Will and Holly and the grandchildren to other parts of Africa. Stay tune to what we will  be planning. 

Soon we will have another teleconference  Thursday, April  19th

Please note that if you decide to donate to  Every Orphans Hope in any way, please make your check out to Every Orphans Hope and in the memo put our names so we get credit toward the children we provide for during the week we are in the Camp. This will not go to fund our trip but to help defray the costs for everything we are doing for the orphans, medical , clothing, crafts they keep, bibles , their food three times a day. You can also donate by contributing to our garage sale May 17^th, 18^th and 19^th at 7670 Queensland Lane North in Maple Grove – bring items a week before and we are looking to borrow some tables as we expect to have a lot of items. Remember if you shop while here make your checks to Every Orphans Hope and you get  a tax deduction.  Email me to let me know :  shann2854@gmail.com