Newsletter

July 2008

Dear partners,

Mummy the best is yet to come!!!!!!!!!!. Thumbs up.
These were the parting words of Caleb when yesterday morning 12 of the bigger children went to the Game Park for two nights. Not much work had been done at school for the last few days because they were so excited. We as missionaries got all our back packs out. Each one of the kids got their own and we had sunglasses for each one. Some glasses far to big but that did not matter at all, it was one big adventure. I so remembered the feeling of my own school trips and rejoiced with them.
One of the owners of the park, she is Dutch, has organised a program for them and I am sure it will be a trip not easily forgotten. They also gave us a very special price.
10 days ago, an other 12 children went for 2 nights to the lake. The crocs will not to be forgotten, but what touched them most were the village children. While there, they had the opportunity to spent time in the villages surrounding the lake and had time to talk to children, in very different circumstances When they go into the villages here it is time to play, but there it was time to play and talk. It is not easy for them to understand that some get one meal a day and have only one tattered dress or shorts and no shoes at all. They now want to go back and share what they have, with those children, that is so precious. Their little godly hearts are very sensitive to the needs of others.
I heard an 18 year old testify in church a few Sundays ago. She said: My definitions of success is what I am able to do for others. I want our children to say that when they are 18.

Patricia, what a blessing she is but, she has decided that God has called her to be a singer and school work does not fit into the scheme. She sits at her desk singing almost the whole day and writing down scripture verses, make a tune and sing again. There was no other way but for me to have a talk with her. Sometimes it is not so easy to make a child see sense without causing them to feel demotivated. But I managed to make her understand that to become a singer she will have to go for training at a special school and she can only go there when she has finished Kondanani school with very good marks. She is still singing at the top of her voice everywhere else, but not in class any more and is proud that she will go to a special school.
133 children to deal with, do we need wisdom? Thank God for His Wisdom He imparts to us.

There is a lot happening here at Kondanani. Someone came to visit the other day and not having been for about two years his comment was that, this is no longer a village it is now Kondanani city.

Our new learning centre is finished, it looks great, we are awaiting the furniture some of which we have already received. This is the start of the new school, next year we hope to add an other learning centre.

“Caring Hands“ is at last in the process of being build. The children up to the age of three have been in the clinic for the babies and we have been unable to have more babies because there was no place to put them. It will be a beautiful building of 610 square meters and should be finished in October. The next challenge is the furniture that will be needed.
It is not going to be an easy task to build it with the budget we have though, it has taken two years to get the money from the sale of the old building and as we all know prices are going haywire world wide.

For the passed three months we have had a builder from South Africa to help for 6 months. He has done a great job and there are now 2 completed pigsties and one that needs roofing only. Enough space for 164 pigs, of course not big enough, but at least we can now house 216 pigs including the one we have, the plan is a 1000 pigs. We talk about rabbits multiplying, but belief me the pigs do a better job.
We have 103 pigs at present, all the chicken houses have pigs in them, what a dirty business.

Our cows are doing well but I am not impressed with the birth of so many bulls, I wonder if someone can’t figure out what is what before hand. The other problem is that for two months we have not been able to serve the cows because there is no semen in the country (Have a good giggle).

We are believing God for a farmer, he is not the answer to the above problem though (an other giggle).
There is someone in South Africa who is interested. We would love to have him here with us. He has to sell his house and business and in this present economic climate not so easy.
But then God is bigger than this worlds economic problems. Cherie and myself would like to put aside our Wellington boots, we definitely don’t look very glamorous in them.

I have recently been to the Netherlands for 3 weeks. The Kondanani team in Holland is a great team, they are result orientated and the trip was successful.
One of the wonderful things that happened was that, we received a donation of a cheese making installation of 200 litres. Kondanani Holland is organising a container and as soon as it arrives and get installed we will have someone come from Holland to teach us how to make cheese, this will be an other income generating effort on our behalf.

Every month for the last 4 month we have invited one of the village headman to come with the poor from his village for a meal at Kondanani. We love it and so do the ones who are coming, they just about eat their fingers with the food, we give them clothing and a tour of the campus.
We are surrounded by villages and it is good to get to know the neighbours.

A few months ago we appealed for finances to take Meriah to Nigeria to be prayed for by T B Joshua.
We had seen many miracles taking place on TV and at last a preacher from Nigeria who did not ask for money but was giving it away to the needy. Meriah who still is HIV positive had developed cancer and was no longer responding to Anti Retroviral Treatment. The response was great, she went and God has done a miracle, she is a different child. She has had various tests done and she continues to improve.

We are rejoicing, yes we have every reasons to feast every day, your support is and has been our reason, as you have been an instruments in the Masters Hand to help us to care for the widows, the poor and the orphans.
A big thank you. Love from all of us at Kondanani.

Annie Chikhwaza.