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Masters' Newsletter The past months have passed like a gust of wind. In the spring, when we last shared with you, Mark had accepted the position of Director/Consultant at MEF. I was eagerly awaiting the first group of international candidates for the new GBGM program: Missioners of Hope for the Children of Africa, Christian was about to depart for summer in Tennessee, and Matthew was finishing primary school. If I had known I would have been too weary to begin! Mark has finished his first eight months as Director/Consultant at Mindolo Ecumenical Foundation. It has been a monumental task that has consumed much energy. Keep MEF in your prayers as the management team work to re-establish relationships with people who have generously enabled Mindolo to become the institution that it is, a resource for all persons from the South. We currently have members of our community from nineteen countries, including Costa Rica, Italy, and Kiribati! Next year we anticipate having two participants from Myanmar (Burma)! I have just returned from Lusaka, where I put Mark and Mindolo's Registrar, on a plane to Stockholm, Sweden, where they will visit two adult education schools. They then travel above the Arctic Circle to Trondheim Norway, where they will visit Queen Maud's College, to cultivate a network of South African and Norwegian pre-school educators, then on to Geneva to meet with World Council of Church staff involved in education and providing African scholarships. He will get to visit with our dear friends, the Wilson's who hail from Trondheim (whoever would have thought it would be on the way?) and also Jaap and Dorine, our Solomon friends, who have just moved to Geneva, Switzerland. I was offered a breath of fresh air when fifty-five candidates arrived here in Kitwe (of course, that is a story in itself, complete with planes circling the Lusaka airport for hours because Muammar Khaddafi was arriving oh, why can't I seem to plan comprehensively?) Fifty-one of the missioners were Pan-African, and four were from the US. Their ages and experience ranged from a young student at Zimbabwe University and a recent graduate from Africa University, to a gentleman with forty-six years primary school teaching experience! From great-grandmothers to youngsters! You can imagine the challenges of developing a training program for such a varied group as these! It was personally and professionally demanding, and quite rewarding. As you might imagine, there are many areas of concern for all persons working to provide hope for children in Africa, and the wealth of experience and energy amongst the candidates made for a very stimulating Christian community. Life experiences were so vastly different, group discussions were provocative, and everyone learned a great deal. The week of field experience at several of the peri-urban compounds surrounding Kitwe provided a highlight for us all, as we were able to touch the lives of many as we grew in so many ways. Of course, the four-hour commissioning service was another amazing highlight. My current tasks include getting immigration documents to send and receive these first missioners. It is always a surprise when the complex African immigration policies rise up. Please keep us in your prayers as we embrace the surprises such changes cause. In August I visited several of the sites in Mozambique, and became so excited to see what other Annual Conferences are doing. What an inspiring visit. I particularly benefited from traveling to Matsinhe (I should have had a hint when a friend who lives in Mozambique claimed he never heard of it!), a two-hour adventure through fine red sand halfway up our wheels. When we arrived, I looked around, to see clusters of children sitting under coconut palms, and the post and chicken wire shell of a two-room building. The local pastor and government rep. said: "This place used to be bush, and we decided we could change that!" The community's goal is to be totally independent within a decade, and I believe God will work with them to insure that goal! They have three untrained teachers who work with the students in grades one, two, and three. They are roofing the two-room school to be ready for the rains, and they have cleared a site for the clinic. They are most enthusiastic about receiving a Missioner of Hope to assist with agriculture projects for income generation and improved nutrition. My visit truly showed me how real our dream is of working together to offer hope for the children of Africa. The children had walked ten kilometers for water for their homes, they had no clinic closer than forty km.. There is no transportation unless they walked the first five km.. Ninety-nine percent of the adult women are non-literate, and this is the first year the children have been able to attend school. The community, with assistance from international funders, were able to dig a borehole to provide clean water to the neighborhood. Children as old as fourteen are enrolled in the community school, and they are hoping to send at least one of the teachers for further study. Matshinhe is truly a place where dreams come true. Please pray for the leaders in Mozambique as they work hard together to serve their children/our children. Of course, all this is in addition to my responsibilities in the Northwest and Copperbelt Districts of Zambia. We are holding our second tutor's course in October, this time in the Northwest. This course will enable the pastor's to have a firm foundation upon which they can conduct Bible studies, and will be an attempt to standardize the education of local pastors, as well, as well as support and encourage them in their work. It is conducted under the auspices of Theological Education by Extension in Zambia, who has been involved in such work for two decades. Although our project provides transportation (over one thousand USD), the local pastors will provide food, which is sacrificial for most of them. We are blessed that another UMC missionary, Rev. J. Enright is in the process of constructing a site where pastor's education can continue in Zambia. Christian returned last month from his wild summer adventure in Memphis. He earned a scholarship to attend the Young Writers and Scholars Camp at Rhodes College in Memphis. His two weeks there were a wonderful experience, and he is earned an A! He truly has been blessed with the gift of communicating in the written word, and we are so pleased he is working hard to develop his gift. This is the only university he wants to apply to, as he will be close to family and friends. He also completed his Drivers Education course and went on the choir tour. A nice American summer. He has just begun rehearsals for GREASE, the school production this year. Christian won the role made famous by John Travolta, and he is practicing his moves all the time now!!! We will get a video of the performance that takes place in February, not that we are proud!!! He is excited that Tschmala Hupprich, another missionary kid who lives here at Mindolo, also has a major role, so he has lots of company. Matthew is adjusting well to secondary school, even handles the uniform necktie ritual as he is half-asleep. He now sports a head of (bottled) blond hair! Having him in the house is as exciting as being part of Noah's family. We now have an owl, Princess Clack. (I am not certain about the gender, does anyone know how to tell a male owl from a female owl?she hasn't laid eggs, and I guess we could always change her name to the owl previously known as Princess) She is gorgeous, having been pushed out of her nest before she could fly. Traditional Zambian culture regards owls as witches, so it has been a challenge to share how we regard them as wise creatures. Matt is also our expert in the garden, which is quite helpful. Our only problem has to do with the amount of strawberries he harvests, seems many go missing before they reach the kitchen. The saddest thing is that he seems to be rapidly becoming more interested in stylish clothes, could it being he is changing from a dirtball to a dude? I think that about brings our news to a close, we continue to thank God for each of you. We are confident that your prayerful support continues, and feel enabled by your participation in God's work here in Zambia. We are hoping to be in touch before year's end with photos, as there is a new full color printing company in town with reasonable costs. As of now, Mark and I intend to pursue extending through June, 2001. This will offer Mark an opportunity to make a firm contribution at MEF, identify and cultivate solid leadership, and begin to make the change from director to consultant. I hope to be able to contribute to the Pan-African programs and enable the church here in Zambia to become a stronger community of Christians. We would then qualify for a year home leave, which would give us adequate time to visit and share with all of you. Until then, please know you continue to be in our prayers, and we thank God for your prayerful support. Agape, Kathleen Masters, for the boys |
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