Catherine and Justina Zimba arrived at their Father’s Heart Christmas party in tears.  The night before the party the two sisters’ house had been broken into by thieves.  These thieves stabbed their parents and robbed their family of all their household possessions.  Father’s Heart was able to assist the family by providing clothes, blankets, and towels.  These gifts were in addition to the clothes the girls received as gifts at the Christmas party.  Father’s Heart also provided the family with additional food and monetary support.  The discipleship leaders will continue checking up on the family and praying for them.

Sonile's New Uniform

Hey everyone!  I wanted to encourage you by sharing some of the things God accomplished here in Zambia through our Father’s Heart sponsors last week.

Our Zambian Father’s Heart Team has been working on paying school fees for our sponsored children for weeks.  On Friday, they withdrew 115,000,000 Zambian Kwacha (a little more than $23,000 at the current exchange rate) from the bank and made payments to the individual schools on behalf of individual sponsored children.  Exam fees were paid for the children taking required nationwide exams in grades 7, 9 and 12.  Exam fees are critical and must be paid for a child or else the child is ineligible for taking the end of year exam in December to pass to go to the next grade.  For the schools requiring uniforms, uniforms were purchased.

Sonile Zulu, a sponsored girl from Kanyama, who now attends Toronto Community School here in Lusaka was singing about God’s goodness all the way home with her Discipleship Leader Vera Banda when she found out that she was getting a BRAND NEW UNIFORM!  These kids feel official and accepted when they are wearing what the other kids at school are wearing.  Our Father’s Heart Team made up of zone leaders and discipleship leaders went to every school to make a large payment of school fees.

The results of Father’s Heart efforts and your faithful sponsorship was that in just this one day 802 sponsored children had their school fees paid.  The discipleship leaders immediately started sending in reports of what happened.  Children were screaming with joy!  Parents were so happy that they were literally dancing in their houses.  The discipleship leaders were so excited for their kids and the school directors kept calling the office to thank us.  All over Lusaka the Lord’s mighty name was being raised up and glorified!

802 Kids Worth of School Fees: ZMK115,000,000 (Over $23,000) Largest bill equivalent to $10 USD!

Thank you so much for making this happen.  Just this year we have already paid over 150,000,000 Kwacha in school fees.  Please know that every month you pay your $36 it is making a major impact in the lives of the kids you sponsor.

Little Clara is in second grade and is part of our Father’s Heart Program.  Clara lives with her grandmother, her sister, and three other grandchildren.  Clara and her sister will be soon be living at the Tree of Life Children’s Village in “Lindsay’s House”.  Lindsay was a precious girl who lived and breathed Zambia and prayed for her kids continuously.  Tragically, Lindsay died in a car accident just weeks before she was scheduled to come to Zambia this summer.  Amazingly, Lindsay’s dearest friends and the whole Lerohl family who were all so close to Lindsay still made the trip over to Zambia this summer just a week after her funeral because they knew how much passion Lindsay had to see these Zambian orphans restored.  Lindsay’s friend’s father generously donated the money to build Lindsay’s House at the Tree of Life Children’s Village, and my sweet husband Randy is honored to be a part of overseeing the construction of Lindsay’s House on a daily basis.

Little Clara is loved SO much by her American Ambassador and Father’s Heart Sponsor (Stephanie Lerohl) that she is well-known in the states to all who know the Lerohl Family as “Clara Lerohl”!   Our Father’s Heart staff recently went to visit Clara in order to bless her family with some food and clothing, and thankfully they were able to capture the visit on video and with pictures…too precious!

This is another example of the benefits a child receives from your sponsorship.  We hope to one day be able to catch every instance of this on video so that you can see your child benefiting from their sponsorship.

The picture above of Clara was painted by Lindsay’s best friend since 5th grade, Treanne…there is hope for tomorrow…just look up to Him!

This past week schools have closed for the final term of the year and all the children in Zambia are having a month long holiday. Schools will start up again in January. This meant that the children at the LifeWay Vision Homes were ready to go back home for a visit to see their friends and relatives, if only for a short visit. Emma was soooooo excited to go see her step sisters; Bupe and Esther. She has such a big heart for her two little sisters. She had packed some gifts for them including bringing each of them a New Testament Bible as well. Please realize that the gifts that she brought them were some of her ONLY toys that she received while at the LifeWay Vision Homes (what a sweet heart she has to give her sisters the only things she has ever received). Little does she know, we’re going to have a special Christmas day with Emma (new toys and clothes are awaiting her under the tree)!

As the Father’s Heart Coordinator here in Zambia, I enjoyed the wonderful privilege of escorting Emma on her visit to her home. I knew this could be quite emotional and I was glad that I would be the one escorting Emma on her outing. I decided that we’d make a day out of the experience. I first took Emma with me to get lunch and then buy groceries for her family. While we were eating lunch we couldn’t help but get Emma’s face painted as there was a face painter near the shop where we ate a delicious lunch of chicken and chips (a.k.a. french fries!). After we got her face painted we also enjoyed an ice cream cone with our driver before heading to her old home in Kamanga (one of the compounds in Lusaka, Zambia).

Emma was so excited going through the groceries that the Father’s Heart program had purchased for her family (eggs, chicken, 25kg of mealie-meal (used to make the traditional Zambian food nshima), fruit juice, bread, cooking oil, sweets for her sisters, and apples). The smile on her face was from ear to ear! She was practically jumping up and down in the car waiting to see her family. Upon arriving in Kamanga, we first ran into her grandmother. Emma leaped over me and ran into her grandmother’s arms. Emma quickly presented her grandmother with some fruit juice and a loaf of bread. The next stop on our outing was a few more streets into the community of Kamanga. I think the emotion of the visit got to Emma, when she saw her sisters she couldn’t take it any longer and started crying. In the middle of our visit, she told me that she “couldn’t believe that she used to live like this.” She even brought a red and white checked dress for her sister Bupe that didn’t fit Emma any longer. While we were there she quickly presented her little sisters with the toys, clothes, food, and most importantly Bibles with letters to her sisters that she had prepared. I read the letters she had written to her sisters out loud. Then Emma read John 3:16 to her little sisters (it was soooo darling)!

Up to this point her mom had not shown up. However, at the end of the visit, as we were getting into the van to leave, her mother finally arrived. When she saw Emma, she didn’t even give her own daughter a hug. Her Mom began giving her a hard time and making her feel bad for not staying with her family for the holidays. She also told Emma that if she stayed home that she would beat her. Imagine being treated that way by your own mother who you haven’t seen in months. Emma didn’t smile until we were leaving. However, our back tire had punctured and we were stranded in Kamanga, sweating in our hot mini bus with 60 kids surrounding us while pointing at me, the muzungu (white person). Luckily, we were close to the Tree of Life Children’s Village (TOLCV) and I was able to call in a backup ride from my husband’s team. In less than 30 minutes, one of the trucks from the village picked us up and God had a special blessing in store for Emma.

You see, none of the kids have actually seen the TOLCV yet until Emma’s visit. We had to pick up Randy and his team from the village as it was at the end of the day and we couldn’t take Emma home. She had never seen mountains before and as we drove to the land she kept asking if we would see Elephants or Lions. I told her to keep her eyes open. The TOLCV is about 15 minutes outside of Lusaka with lots of trees and hills. Our driver kept telling her we’d go up the mountain so as we entered Emma couldn’t believe that she would actually be on a mountain. She borrowed my camera and kept taking pictures. Here is a picture that she took from the hilltop in the TOLCV. She said a prayer on and commented on how fun it would be to read the Bible up there.

Little did she know that she will be living in that very village in less than 6 months! She just thinks that this is where Uncle Randy, my husband, works. We then went down the “mountain” and she got a chance to play on some amazing playground equipment that has been donated to the TOLCV. She also wanted to see Uncle Randy’s office, which is actually in the house that she will be living in. It was so exciting watching her walk in the door of her future home and she didn’t have a clue!

Randy and I are planning to take her to Munda Wanga, the zoo here in Lusaka, along with some other orphans and vulnerable children in the Father’s Heart Program next week.  It is truly a blessing to spend time visiting the orphans here in Zambia!