Dear Friends and Family:

            I am very excited to share with you’ll that I will be moving to Ndola, Zambia for a longer commitment to work with Wiphan USA.  This has been quite the process and I will be returning to America (in March) for just three weeks after doing my first round with Hope Community School throughout the last seven months.

            My time at Hope Community School was exciting and life changing.  Because they go to school all year around, I taught grade five for their last term and then moved up to grade six for their first term of the New Year.  I was left to teach on my own for two months and it was both challenging and encouraging.  I have been able to build a relationship with all 45 of my students that would not have been possible in any other situation.

            I am very sad to leave Hope School and my amazing students but so excited to be transitioning to an organization like Wiphan.  Wiphan strives to live out James 1:27 in such a realistic way!  Wiphan has two schools that care for 400 double orphans, a skill training program for 100 widows, a medical clinic, and 4 orphanages that currently house 15 children.  On top of these things, they strive to live boldly and show Jesus in everything they do.

Look at my Ruth read!!!!

            In Ndola, Zambia 86% of the population lives below the poverty line and 45% are below the age of 14.  The average life expectancy is 38 years primarily due to the HIV/AIDS epidemic as well as Malaria.  With the struggles of everyday life, we long for all who come in contact with Wiphan to be able to encounter the Lord and the hope HE has promised to us!

(Check out Wiphan.org for more information)

            When full time with Wiphan, I will specifically be working with several different programs such as: working hand in hand with all our teachers through organizing curriculum and programming, working with the sponsorship program, and I will also be running a follow-up program for our children who have pass their National Exams.  A small group of us have also started a not for profit called ZAMTeach.  I will be heading up ZAMTeach with another American girl named Kristin, as we strive to encourage, equip, and develop the skills of teachers all over Ndola.  These workshops are open to any school in the city and run every few months.

            With all this said, I am extremely excited to be going back to do life with these people.  We have high hopes and great expectation for what God is going to do through us in the next leg of this journey.  I would love your support and partnership in this project, if not financially, through prayer and encouragement.  If you feel in a place to financially give, you can do so online at: http://www.wiphan.org/donate/donate-one-time/ (one time donation) and http://www.wiphan.org/donate/donate-recurring/ (to support monthly).  Please make sure you put Stacey Ernvall in the memo line and all donations are tax deductible.  My total support needed is $1200 a month for the duration of my time in Zambia.

Thank You For Your Love and Support!

Do Someone Say 10 DAYS...

My my how times is flying.  For some reason I feel like it is going even faster now that I only have 10 days left.  The last couple of weeks have been so busy with Ms. Hannah Moore coming back from Wales and the events with Hope.  The last two Sunday's I preached at Hope and it went well.  I realized that I enjoy the prep time of preparing a sermon as long as I have nothing else to do! haha.

Zambia WINS... Zambia WINS!

On top of that excited, Zambia brought back the Africa Cup for Soccer.  We had celebrated all day and all night for a day or two and that was an experience in itself!  Last weekend Kristin and I ran ZAMTeach's second training for the teachers on Ndola.  It was hard to do with just the two of us but we managed.  We had a decent turn out and we taught on Subject Specifications: English (Phonics) and Math and then Kristin did a section on Classroom Management!  Kristin sent Hope back with some dry erase boards and copies and the kids LOVE THEM!  They stay after... or ask if they can stay after and do work with them everyday!  THANK YOU KRISTIN!

This next week we have sponsors and a board member from Wiphan USA coming.  I am excited to meet with them and get to know them a little better.  This last week I will be celebrating my time with Hope and enjoying the last few days with my class!  They have been singing me a good-bye song the last few days and I am not sure if they are just practicing or if they are ready for me to go! haha.  They are great thought!

The boys got to erase the board and then they dusted their faces!  Silly Boys!

Good-bye



Joanna



The inevitable has finally happened; it is the end of my time here in Zambia. I wish I could adequately write down all of my feelings and the multitude of blessings these past 6 months have showered upon me, but I know I will just come up short. Firstly, I would like to thank all of you at home for the prayers and support. I know I have said it before, but it is so true that without you this time would not have been possible. I feel so selfish having been given this opportunity. If anyone out there has the smallest inkling to serve God, take it. Don’t question it, just go. He will bless whatever you do. In spite of how flawed and insignificant you are He will bless it, cause trust me, I am very flawed and never feel worthy enough to be here surrounded by these amazing people. It has been six months and I am STILL blown away that I am here. It has not been all laughter and smiles, but it still feels like an amazing dream that in no way can actually be reality.

Okay, now I will try to describe how richly I have been blessed in my last week here. It will probably be short because the longer I write the higher the chances I will bawl all over the laptop and just ruin it so how about I keep it short? The good-byes really started on Sunday (though the tears started days before) with church saying their final good-byes and collecting kwacha for me and mine! Let me tell you, it is an EXTREMELY humbling experience to have some of the poorest of the poor give from their purse to you. I was brought up to dance with the congregation which helped ebb the flow of tears that were falling freely down my face. The next day it was good-bye to both school and Hope House. That was a rough day. It all began with seeing Jane from Hope House, hugging her, feeling her cry underneath my hug, starting to cry myself, and knowing I was done for the entire day. The gifts kept coming, the tears kept coming, and more dancing was forced upon me to try and make me smile instead of cry. At Hope House there was a feast fit for a king laid out, and after I sobbed like a baby while they sang good-bye to me, and was forced to dance some more, they pulled me to the center of the room and all of the kids from the orphanage sang and prayed over me. These children, well actually more like young adults, are too amazing to put into words, and the power of their prayers is incredible. How I wish I could still possess child-like faith. The good-byes with my family ended just as it began, with dancing, singing, laughter, and many pictures. To my other abusungu’s, I have not forgotten about you. Clara Marie and Peter, Jay and Josh, Marci, Bill, and Aiden, and most importantly Stacey, Kristin, and Kristi, ya’ll have made my time here so much richer than I could have imagined. Your support and understanding, laughter and blunt truth, and basically just being you, has made my time more wonderful than I thought possible. I have been too much blessed. I know you at home may not want to hear this, but it has been hard to leave. I feel as if a huge chunk of my heart has been left with Zambia and am not quite sure what to do without it. It is just another home for me, and I have to tell myself that someday I will be back and see my African family again.



Hope House

Shalinepo (spelling Stac?) Zambia. I love you and will miss you dearly,

Sara Anne Blumenshine

“Although mementos can be preserved or displayed behind glass, memories live on in the heart, where they deepen and resonate over the years, providing strength and comfort in times of need.”                     –Unknown Author





Family (minus Humphrey who is never around for pictures. Sorry brother)



Holiday....Celebrate!

That's right; Stacey and I finally took a holiday. Our destination was the beautiful, serene, ever so lovely Lake Malawi. Bright and early Monday, December 26th, Stacey, myself, and our two friends Kristi and Jay began our long journey. Thanks to some amazing missionary friends, The Pedersons, we were able to hitch a ride with them in Lusaka, making the 11+ hr drive much more pleasant than expected.

I won't bore you with the details, but instead let the pictures do the talking today. Every morning (even the rainy ones) were just gorgeous, the water was warm and refreshing, the sun perfect for tanning/burning me to a crisp, and outside of a life threatening snorkeling adventure (which was quite pretty until the current decided to steal my snorkel), it was an extremely relaxing and rejuvenating week.

View from our porch

Biting it while tubing :)

We are now back to school, and I am trying to cram in as many hugs and memories in before I leave. However, I still have this week left so we aren't talking about that whole ugly departure thing yet.

Loves to all,

Sara Anne

P.S. Hope received a 100% passing rate for their seventh graders' final exams. Praise Him!

It's a Christmas Miracle!

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM ZAMBIA!

Christmas Eve with the Hoover's!

Hangin out with Santa in Lusaka!

On Christmas Ever we went over to a Missionary Families house, The Hoover's, and hung out.  We played a few games, did White Elephant, and ate.... A LOT!  It was such a great night.  After that, we spent the night with Kristi and got up early to make breakfast together while watching classic "ELF".  I got to talk to my wonderful mother and sister this morning and take my first "REAL" shower since being if Africa!  SO NICE.

Happy Birthday Pic from Sara's night on the town!  Thank you guys for hangin out with us.  It was a great day of Celebrating the birth of Sara Blumeshine!

Last week we did preventative maintenance with the Grade 5 and Grade 6 students.  They worked so hard on the following projects that Friday was simply a movie day with their teachers!  ;o)  After a long week of work, we watched "The Lion King" and "The Incredibles"!  Gosh, we have some of the best students in Zambia!  Check out their work below...

Project One:
We painted all the way around the based of the school black

Project Two:
We painted all the chalk boards in the classrooms and the walls that surround them!

Project Three:
See that beautiful fence... who would have thought that we had the skills to do such a thing!
It was a horrible job and we have the pains to prove it, but it is complete!

Project Four:
Two classrooms got the awesome Alphabet painted!
These kids are going to be so stinkin` smart!  Too bad Lawrence tried taking our paint... urgh...

Just Whistle While you Work!

I thought this month off of school would be a very restful one. Boy was I wrong! Just to give you a taste of how wrong I was, let me fill you in on last week.

It was Stacey and my classes preventative maintenance week, meaning our kids and us were to come to school and clean up the grounds. This term, Stacey and I decided to be a little ambitious and do more than just typical maintenance. What does that mean you ask? Oh, just tearing down a broken fence, rebuilding it, repainting the blackboards, classrooms, and baseboards, and weeding the garden just for a little extra measure. I was exhausted every night, but loved it. Also, it was just wonderful to hang out with some of my students again. George, one of my favorites, showed up, and I am happy to announce his English still knocks my socks off. We also hired someone to paint the alphabet and letters in two of the primary classrooms. If I do say so myself, they look pretty bomb diggity.

It was then all of a sudden my birthday, and Zambia/Stacey treated me good let me tell you. Good food, good friends, and lots of laughs. What more could a girl ask for? Maybe a inbox full of emails from home? Oh yeah, got that too! Sunday, Marci and Bill (an amazing missionary couple that have basically saved the holidays for me this year) invited us to a church for a carol service. If you don’t know, I LOVE singing, and Christmas carols are probably my favorite, so being without this year was starting to drain on me. Sunday helped to fill up my tank a bit. In short, Zambia has been very good to me these past few weeks.

Whelp, that’s all for now I think.
Loves to you all!
Sara Anne

Photo Update!

Last week we went to Wiphan's Mapalo site to help out with a painting project.  It was so fun!  All the children at the school got one hand painted, then Kristin and Frank helped them put their print on the tree!  It's an American Fall in Zambia!

HERE THEY ARE!  You're ballin players of the Ndola Woosters.  

Do you like the uniforms?

Good ole Thanksgiving with the Americans of Zambia.  We took a half day of school and went to Kristin to bake.  We made green bean casserole, mashed cheesy potatoes, banana chocolate chip bread, and Kristin made Chocolate Chip Pie that we ate for breakfast and lunch days after!  SO GOOD!

Holiday after Holiday...  This is the extent of our Christmas here in Zambia.  These trees were put up at a local mall where we go to get internet and have dinner.  It is so cool and makes me just want to sit there day in and day out.  Sara and I were talking last night about how sad we are that there is no snow but then again...  people in California or even some places in the South, ya'll don't always have snow either? NUTS!  But...  at least one of us will be tan in our Holiday Greeting Pictures!  ;o)

P.S. Kristin, you are going to have to start all over on your tan!  Sad day for you... ha.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!  

Love,   SLE