"just wait"

Hello all!!

Time is going by so so so quickly! I’m so thankful for all of the ways God has used this first term of school to help make me a better teacher, to stretch me to try new things in reaching out to my students, but most importantly I’m thankful for what He is teaching me about Himself. Many of you have been asking and praying about my current work visa situation. I was hoping to have all of the answers and some of you know how badly I wanted to just know what the outcome would be, yet God has seen fit to not give me all of the answers. He’s asking that I just wait. He’s asking me to trust

It’s funny, sometimes we feel as though we know what the answer should be or what the answer shouldn’t be and there are only two answers in our head. Then, God gives you an answer but it’s right in the middle of the two with a postscript of “just wait.” In my mind there were two answers to the visa situation: either they approve our amendment to my first application submission or they don’t. Simple. Then God showed me answer “just wait.” Today (Tuesday) I got a message from our Doctor’s wife Brandi saying their worker had checked with the office of immigration in Lusaka and that they said that I needed to completely resubmit everything. (This coming after they told us we merely needed to write an amendment to the original submission). Because of my tourist visa days expiring April 5^th, I most probably won’t have an answer about the work visa when I leave for the States for school holiday on April 1^st.

“just wait”

I might be able to come back. I might not. I might get to come back for term 2 or maybe just for term 3 or maybe not at all. I may be saying goodbye to all of my kiddos who don’t understand why I can’t come back. I might be saying hello again come mid-May.

“just wait”

But God! You might think that those words sound like a whiny child 😊 asking why God would ask her to wait. But let me explain. I’m so thankful for these two little words! Many times when they are used in Scripture it talks about how God has saved us even when we were the worst of sinners! My favorite is in Ephesians 2:1-7 (I know it’s long, but bear with me!)

And you were dead in trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience – among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved – and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

But God! God has saved me!! Think back to the time when you came to the end of yourself. You were fed up with your sin, realized that you couldn’t do anything about it on your own, and that you needed someone to do something. You called out to Jesus that you were done running, that you wanted what He had to offer, salvation. His love had been pursuing you. The Holy Spirit had been working on your soul, and He now resides there.

We serve a God who cares about souls. We also serve a God who cares about the little details in our lives. The Spirit whispered this thought to my heart earlier today as I was thinking about and trying not to worry about the whole situation, “Abbie, I already know the outcome of this. I’m not bound by time.” What an assurance! His timetable is so different from mine. I could tell you what I want the outcome to be, but does that really matter? Is it more important that I know and understand everything about what God is trying to do in my life? Or is it more important that I beg for His will to be done, not my own? And plead that He would align my desires to fulfill that will?

I wonder how many of us are waiting on God’s timing. We feel like He’s forgotten because we haven’t gotten the answer we wanted. Instead we got the “just wait.” To any of you reading this who feel that, I understand. Maybe not your situation but the feeling and apprehension of having to wait. And I can tell you that it is possible to have peace in the midst of it.

A couple weeks back in Wed night Bible study we were talking about the significance of when God asked Abraham to sacrifice his only son. (have you ever studied the parallels to Christ in this chapter?!? Amazing!) Abraham could have questioned God’s timing, maybe he did, but he acted. He obeyed. BC summarized it perfectly this afternoon as we were talking about the situation when he said, “Now’s when the faith comes in.”

Do I say that I had faith to trust Him to save me from my sins? Then how is it that I don’t want to trust Him for an issue of timing? My God is in control! What an amazing God we serve. So do I know what the future holds? Nope. But my God does! And He has asked me to patiently wait.

Psalm 37:7a – Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for Him;

Psalm 72:18 – Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things.

Thank you all for your continued prayers! I’m looking forward to seeing many of you when I’m home in April and sharing pictures and stories of the hard work and success of our students here at Amano Academy! 

It's March?!?

Seriously, where did the time go? It's not only March but also the 15th of March.... Also Happy Pi Day to all of you math people out there. I got to come into town a day early to get some computer work done and try to get some of the work visa/plane ticket thing sorted. When I come into town I stay with Rachel Johnson, the administrative secretary for CABC. I'm so thankful for her friendship! We went to the gym... yeah, there was a gym... just like any store front gym in the States and spent some time talking to some of the regulars that Rachel's been building relationships with... and we worked out some too ;) Then we grabbed a bite to eat and came home to make some pie for pi day!!

This morning I've been researching plane ticket prices and looking into visa requirements. What I didn't realize is for a tourist visa, you're only allowed to be in country on a tourist visa for 90 days in a year. Meaning once I leave in April, I've used up my tourist days and can only return once the work permit is for sure completed. Maybe this is no surprise to some of you, but I guess I was under the impression that it would be something like you just had to stay out of country for so many days before returning, but that's not the case.

So praying that God would grant the work permit in His timing.

The term is winding down and I'm thankful for the evident progress in many of the students. It's very different teaching a primarily second nature. Assignment grades in the States that I would freak out over and reteach everything, are fairly normal for term 1 of a new school year. It's taken some time to get used to, but it has been so rewarding to see the grades slowly improving as we are spiraling the content we've taught. I'll share one quick story. So some of you may remember my mentioning that one of our students battled cerebral malaria several years back and since then school and remembering has been very difficult where it once came naturally. It's discouraging when you can no longer keep up like you could and even when you try, you still struggle. One blessing of having so many teachers in and out of our classroom (BC, Mr. Kamfua, Pastor Royce, Pastor Edward, myself and Mumba even) is that we are able to pull kids out, almost like a resource teacher does in the public schools. Some of our kids that really struggle we've been able to spend extra time with and experiment with what works for them and how they learn. We've found with Medias that reading is the biggest struggle. So if you can read him the questions on the test, or have him point to all of the continents, seas, oceans, or give an oral quiz he can answer the questions and manage the material. Seeing a 90% at the top of his reading comprehension quiz was a moment of joy! He hasn't seen it yet, but I'm so thankful for the ability to make a difference simply by adding one more person to the staff so that there is more time to individualize instruction for those who need it. Please continue to pray for him!

Thank you again for all of your prayers! God is good and is working!!

I look forward to seeing many of you in April!

Adventures in Art

Today is a Monday, but here I am in town! It's a little after noon and I'm utilizing the internet at CABC after a trip to the immigration offices. Thankfully there was no hassle and I am legally allowed to be here until April 5th! Which is perfect timing with a buffer, because my plane flies out of Zambia on April 1st... no really, not a joke ;) Thank you to all who have prayed regarding the work VISA, I still haven't heard an answer back, but I will let you know as soon as I hear something.

These next two weeks will fly by, or at least I have a feeling they will. This week we have Wednesday off for Mother's Day and next week we have Monday off for Youth Day. Apparently they have quite a few one day holidays here in Zambia. This is actually a welcome break though since normally there's a midterm break for a week that we can't take because we started school late.

This past Saturday, I invited any of our class who wanted to come to help put up our "ocean"... basically what would be the mix of a bulletin board and a mural in the States. It turned out quite well. We had different stations for different art projects including making a pufferfish by painting the prongs of forks, stippling assorted sea creatures using acrylic paint, sponge painting assorted sea creatures using tempur paint, cutting and tracing sea shells out of sand paper, and helping put up the fish they had already completed in prior art lessons!! Needless to say it was an afternoon spent under the sea! :D

We had a great turnout including some of our village kiddos who had to come a little distance! I'm so thankful for the usefulness of art. That may seem odd, but it has given me a common ground with some of my students who are extremely gifted in art or in working with their hands but struggle a little bit on the academic side of things. Helping them see that they have a gift and an ability, even if it's not necessarily school has been fun. We have one student especially who his face just lights up whenever you ask him to draw or do anything with art. I almost couldn't get him to leave school on Saturday.

Please pray for wisdom for the FCV management as they have some decisions coming up. Pray that God would grant them the wisdom from above talked about in James and that they would be diligent in seeking His face for guidance!

Thank you for all your prayers! God is good!

Wanted: Help with Books

Helping with Books!

So before I came many were asking what they could send with me to help the school. Right now we have a shortage of books and much of that is due to the fact that there hasn’t been anywhere to keep them. However, extra classrooms and an office are in the process of being built and BC is starting to think of ways to build a library for students and teachers to utilize. He will be back in the States in April and is shipping a container over of books. And we could use some help.

If you’re willing to help there are two parts:

1.    Purchasing 25 copies of a Great American Classic book and shipping it (it would need to arrive at this address before April 17) to:

Brian Cameon

5309 Stoneybrook Dr.

Charleston, WV 25313

2.    Helping out with the shipping cost for books up to $200.

This might be helpful for a group to get together and do. Email me if you’re interested in helping! J byhisgrace555@gmail.com

Also, one big struggle to teach here is vocab. When I was writing lesson plans in college each one had to start with what we called APK (accessing prior knowledge) and we got docked points if we didn’t have one or if it was weak. The struggle here is exposure. In the States even if a child doesn’t have any idea of what you’re talking about experientially, they’ve probably seen it in a movie, or they’ve heard about it from a book…. Exposure. Many kids here haven’t been exposed to many things so when I come home in April I’ll be keeping my eyes open for any picture vocab cards. And while I know many of us teachers like cutsey things, I’m specifically looking for real life pictures i.e. for lion an actual picture of a real lion, not a cartoon. So if anyone comes across anything like that feel free to give me a heads up!! It’d be a big help!

If we think of anything else I’ll pass it along.

Life in Kakolo

Hey!! It’s been awhile!

Sorry for the delay in posting, but just like in the States, life happens and since I’m kinda new to this whole blog thing, it takes some getting used to. Much has been happening and it’s a joy to be a part of! Last week on Friday two girls and three guys moved from houses to the dorms. While coming of age is a big deal in African culture, the orphanage here wants to use this time to point the guys and girls in a path that follows Christ and what the Bible says about manhood and womenhood. So we had a ceremony for them, which went quite late J (I didn’t make it to the end and ended up going to bed before it was completely over). The next day was what we call birthdays. The last Saturday of each month is when any birthday from that month is celebrated! It’s always a good time of fellowship with all the houses and much of the staff! (see Facebook for some pictures!!)

I want to say a big thank you to all those who have been praying for my work permit! I still don’t know what will happen, but I am confident that God knows what He is doing! Whether I stay for Term 2 or have to return to the States for a time, I’m thankful that He is in control and the one making the decision!

School has been going well and this week especially is quite crazy! We have a little kiddo spending the week with us! Wilson is grade 1 and consequently doesn’t speak much English yet; however, he is one of the ones I had in Reception (k5) when I was here in September, so it’s nice to have that connection at least. Also, I have the opportunity to lead the dorm girls devotion time in the evenings this week!! It’s like cabin devos at camp all over again… only I get a little bit more time!! :D It’s such a blessing to read through God’s Word with them and share what we are learning. Some nights are a shy start, but I’m thankful for the friendships with these sisters in Christ. Many of them are close to my age and it’s been a joy to get to know them!

I know I’ve referred to Facebook for pictures, one of these days I might figure out how to add them on here J but until that day… I do post quite a bit about what’s going on here! You can also search the hashtag #teachingatAmano to find all of my posts about teaching or living here!

I’ve mentioned before that we’re doing an ocean theme for Term 1 and I’m excited to announce that this Saturday we will be putting up the beginning of our work on the walls of our classroom complete with blue trashbags as water and a long long long tan cleaning cloth as sand! I’m excited to see how it turns out. Stay tuned for pictures on Facebook… sorry, there I go again! ;)

Thanks again for all of your prayers! There are tough days when I think if I hear another Bemba word I’m going to cry, and some days where I have, but God gives grace and gives more each day to focus my wandring heart back on Him.

One song that has given me such encouragement recently is a rendition of Lord, I Need You. Here are the lyrics:

Lord, I come. I confess

Bowing here I find my rest

Without You I fall apart

You’re the One that guides my heart.

Lord, I need You

Oh, I need You

Every hour I need You

My one defense,

My righteousness,

O God, how I need You.

Where sin runs deep Your grace is more

Where grace is found is where You are.

And where You are, Lord, I am free

Holiness is Christ in me.

I am nothing without God! When I remember this and lean on Him both His Word and in prayer, He gives me the strength I need for each day! Thank you for your prayers!