The Beauty of His Creation

Victoria Falls is situation just about 10 miles from where we stayed in Livingstone.  It is one of the the 7 natural wonders of the world, so of course we took the opportunity to go and see the handiwork of our Creator.

Despite what it looks like, it was a beautifully sunny day.  The 'rain' you see is just the mist from the Falls.

Next week I will give you an update on where we are and what we are planning to do next.

Michelle

Rejoice with those who rejoice

This week we rejoice at the news that two precious girls have been rescued from a Ukraine orphanage and are now in Colorado with their parents and 5 siblings.

As we watched the news clip of the girls' arrival (HERE) our whole family was overjoyed because we have prayed for Hailee and Harper and their parents as they journeyed through struggles of international adoption.  There's is an amazing story of God's leading and provision

Anthony and Adeye are an incredible couple who love the Lord and have truly shown what it means to take care of 'the least of these'.  If you would like to follow their story you can do so at Adeye's blog. 

Please join us in praying for them as the girls (who both have down syndrome) adjust to their new environment and for the whole family as they prepare to move to the East Coast next week.

Michelle

Jeremiah's Dream Come True

Long before we ever arrived in Zambia, Jeremiah had a dream.  His dream was to give candy to the orphans and we were determined to allow him to fulfill his dream before we had to leave.  

During our time in Livingstone we had met Mrs Chara who ran the Ebenezer homes and school.  She is a wonderful Christian lady who has done a lot to help the orphans over the last 9 years.  She currently runs a school which is the only one in the area which is totally free.  She also oversees homes for 30 orphans.  So we decided to call her and ask if Jeremiah could give some candy to the orphans that she knew.  She happily agreed so the day before we left Zambia we took the long trek to the orphanage.   And it was a long trek.  We had been there once before in a car but had forgotten quite how far it was.  After walking about 5km (approx 3miles) in 90 + temperatures we finally arrived - hot, tired and thirsty.  We had run out of water by now, so when the Lord brought a thunderstorm Elaina and Naomi took advantage of the rain.

Once Mrs Chara arrived she took us in to meet the children.  The children sang some beautiful songs for us and showed us around their home.  We were so humbled by how warmly they accepted us, total strangers - and made us feel so welcome.

Then Jeremiah got to fulfill his dream.  I was so excited for him as I watched him (and our other kids) hand out the candy to the children.

It really was the perfect way to end our time in Zambia, giving (albeit only a very little) to those in need.

Michelle

Reaching the children for Christ

One of the members at the church we attended ran a school in Livingstone. It started with only 3 children, but in the last 6 years has grown and now educates over 200 children and has others on a waiting list.

All education in Zambia has to be paid for by the parents. What makes this school special is that it is aiming to give 10% of their places to orphans and vulnerable children, without charging them a penny. It is also Christian school, one where Christ is freely spoken about and passionately taught.

We were invited to visit the school one morning and share at devotions with the children. What a privilege that was! Once we arrived the children filled out into the courtyard and they began singing praises to the Lord. You can only imagine the beautiful sound that filled the air.

After devotions we were shown around the school, which began in a 3 bedroom house - and is still there. Two extra schoolrooms have been built in the yard, but even with that extra space the children are crowded into every room and closet.

The government is requiring the school to move to a larger facility.  So the school is in the process of building.  The picture below shows the first 3 classrooms which will hold the older children.  Progress is slow as they can only build as they have the funds but they hope to have this first stage complete by the summer.

Once the school is fully built, it should hold up to 600 children, including living accommodation for children who have to travel in from the bush for their education.

Please keep this school in your prayers as they have the opportunity to reach so many of the next generation for Christ, as well as meet the physical needs of some of the orphans in Livingstone.


Michelle

He answered prayers

The first few days in Livingstone were challenging as we felt lost, not knowing anything about life in Zambia. The only person we knew was the manager of the Guest House in which we were staying, but she was busy and unable to show us around for several days.  We had taken a walk into the town center the day after we had arrived and had found a grocery store, but we felt like we were lost - which I guess we were :)

We also felt trapped, as we had no vehicle, but even if we had one I don't know how much difference it would have made because we still didn't know where to go.

So on the first Tuesday morning we sat down as a family and prayed.  We asked the Lord to provide us with someone who could show us around, show us where to buy food and large quantities of drinking water. 

After praying I decided to try and fix our problems myself.  On a previous walk we had found a Catholic Church, so I took the girls and headed over there, looking for someone who would be willing to take us under their wing and help us out a little.  I found no one at the church, but spotted a local clinic which was run by British and Zambians.   I did ask someone if they could help me and she informed me of where I could buy our drinking water, but that's all she could help me with.

I went back to the guest house a little discouraged.  But I should have never have doubted the Lord, I should have just waited patiently on Him because just 2 days later He began to answer our prayers.

On the Thursday our host had some time in her schedule and took us to a local children's village.  We spent some time with the Director asking questions about how we need to go about setting up our orphan work etc.  During the conversation he made a comment about how they received some equipment for their school and I responded with "The Lord always provides".  At this, his face lit up and he asked if we were Christians.  We told him we were, and he continued to ask where we went to church.  We hadn't found one yet, so he recommended his church.  He told us it was a reformed baptist church (which was the same type of church we had been attending).  We enquired as to the name of the Pastor.  When he told us, we were amazed.  You see, before we left England we asked someone in the church in Leeds if they knew of any reformed baptist churches in Livingstone, they did a little homework and came back with the name of one  - the only one in Livingstone - the one who the director had just mentioned.   What was even more amazing is that as we attended this Baptist Church we found it was only a 10 minute walk from the guest house.

We really were beginning to feel the Lord was directing our steps so we continued to pray that he would find us someone to help us with the culture etc.  We specifically asked if He would bring us westerners to help us find our way around, someone who knew what the culture was like where we came from and help us translate what we found in Zambia.  He answered our prayers that Sunday.

We attended Trinity Baptist Church and thoroughly enjoyed the teaching and people there.  We were the only white faces in the congregation, until about 15 minutes into the service, when some other people walked in.  We were curious as to who they might be but didn't think too much of it at the time.  After the service they approached us and we discovered they were two brothers and their families.  Not only were they Americans, but they grew up in the same area as Gary!!  They had lived in Zambia for a year and were working to reach the Lozi people in the Western province. (You can read about their work here)

We spoke with them for a few minutes, then they offered us a ride home - all 17 of us piled into the truck!!! 

Later that week they took me shopping, helped explain the culture to us and lent us books that the children could read.  They were such a blessing and encouragement to us. We are grateful that the Lord brought them our way.

Moving Mountains

I know it's been a while since I've posted anything.   It has been a time of living in a new house, getting into a new routine and a time of searching as to what the Lord would have us do next.  But, before I continue with what is going on in our lives right now I know that I need to tell you about the Lord's goodness and faithfulness during our time in Zambia.

The first story (that I had promised to tell you) was about how the Lord allowed us to get there.

I have to admit that I was a little disappointed when we had to arrive at Heathrow airport 5 hours before our flight was due to leave because of a scheduling conflict with the mini bus that took us there, but the Lord was in the details and He knew it would take just about all of that time to sort out the issues we had.

The first issue was that there was a problem with Deanna's ticket, that alone took an hour or so to correct.  The kids were great during this time of waiting, most of them waited patiently until someone (I think it was Daniel) had the idea of using the waiting area as a race track with the small suitcases!!

We were excited when the ticket was sorted and we thought it would be easy going from there - we were wrong!!  As the lady was processing our tickets a notice came up on her computer screen asking if we had return flights or valid visas.  You see, we had purchased one way flights.  We thought we would be in Zambia for well over a year before going anywhere and because we were told we could get our visa in the country we didn't think it would be an issue.  A couple of weeks before we left England someone had raised the concern that we may not be able to get in on one way tickets, so I had called the Zambian High Commission, explained what we were going to Zambia to do and asked if one way tickets would be okay.  I was assured that we would be just fine and could get our visas once we were in the country.  Why should I doubt what the High Commission told me?

So anyway, here we were at the check-in counter with another problem the message on the computer screen said that we had to have return or onward tickets or a valid visa before British Airways would allow us on the plane.  The reason being is that the Zambian government had the right to fine British Airways $7500 (5,000 pounds) per person if they allowed someone to come to Zambia without the return flight or proper visa.  I explained to the lady that I had spoken to the High Commission and was assured we would be okay.  But British Airways wasn't going to budge on their policy for us - and we certainly understood why.  Allowing this family of 8 to fly could potentially bring them a $60,000 fine!

So what were we to do?  The lady recommended we purchase return flights that were fully refundable.  She called the ticket desk and found out the cheapest would be $3,000 (2,000 pounds) a person.  WHAT!!!  She suggested that we put it on a credit card until we got to Zambia then get the full refund.  One problem - we don't own a credit card.

Several years ago the Lord told us to get out of debt, we did and also got rid of our credit cards.  If we truly believe that He will provide for our needs then we don't need a credit card which would only tempt us to rely of credit instead of Him.

I have to admit that now I started to cry, then I prayed "Lord, you didn't bring us this far to have us turn around and go home.  I am looking to You to move the mountains that stand in our way.  Please Lord let me see a miracle here."

Gary stayed at the check-in desk with the kids while the lady to took me to the ticket counter to see if we could find any cheaper flights.

She explained to the ticket agent that were going to Zambia to help the orphans and that we needed the cheapest refundable onward ticket that she could find.  They started looking.  The cheapest they could find was a flight to Johannesburg, but that would still cost us $400 (250 pounds) each which would have been all the money we had to buy food and set up life in Zambia.  I asked them to look again to see if there were any other options.  After about 10 minutes of searching the ticket agent looked up at me and said very seriously "If you tell anyone that we have had this conversation I will deny it - I will say I have never met you before"  "Okay?" I replied.  Then she went on to inform me (very quietly) that all we needed to satisfy British Airways was an itinerary of a flight on which we would leave Zambia so she would print us off an itinerary and - here's the best part - it wouldn't cost us a penny!! Wow!!  My jaw dropped and I realized that God had just moved a mountain for us.


The two ladies left me to find a place where they could print the itinerary and I walked back to Gary and the kids with tears in my eyes.  When I reached Gary I told him that God had just done the impossible and informed him of what the ticket agent was planning to do for us.


We waited for about 20 minutes before the first lady came back to us.  She apologized for taking so long and told us that they had to find another code to use on the computer so what they did wouldn't be traced back to them.  Also, during the time they were working on the itinerary a manager came in and asked them if they were having trouble.  She jokingly replied to him "You have no idea!!" Thankfully he never looked at what they were doing otherwise their jobs could have been in jeopardy.


Five minutes later the ticket agent came back out to us and gave us the itinerary which showed we had onward flights to Johannesburg in the beginning of April.  She handed it to me and again emphasised that she had not done this for us or spoken to us before.  At times like that a simple 'thank you' did not seem enough but that was all I could give her.  Then she moved back to her desk.

Amazed at what the Lord had done, we then gathered ourselves together and moved on to the departure lounge.

We have had people say things to us like 'you should never have gone to Zambia', 'it couldn't have been His will because you had to come home' but we know that the Lord is in control of all things.  If He didn't want us in Zambia at that time He never would have moved the ticket agent's heart to print us an itinerary, or make the eyes of the manager blind to what they were doing.  God, only God is in control of all things and He wanted us in Zambia for that time, so He moved the mountains. 



Michelle

Quote of the Day

"I don't daydream - I just get lost in my imagination!"

Jeremiah - age 6

Thank You!

We cannot tell you how much we have appreciated receiving all of your comments and emails.   You have blessed us so much with your kind, encouraging words.  We also appreciate your prayers as we continue to seek the Lord for what we should do next.

Thanks again for all your support.

Much Love

Gary and Michelle

Death of a Dream

It has been almost 3 weeks since I have put up a post.  Partly because we have had very limited internet access in Zambia and also because there has been so much that has gone on;  much to challenge us and much to confuse us.

Unfortunately the result of all that has happened is that we had to return to England.

I don't even know where to begin to try and explain everything and I know I would bore you with all the details, but the summary is that we found ourselves in a position where we could not trust the person who was the director of the charity we were working with.  We have no hard evidence that would allow us to know for sure that this man couldn't be trusted, but once we arrived in Livingstone, we found many 'coincidences' that led to suspicions.  We were also given warnings by several godly people and consequently were unable to go forward with this man.

To say it was a hard decision, is truely an understatement.  The kids and I shed many tears over this decision and still our hearts ache when we realize we are not in Zambia living the dream we had hoped and longed for; to help children in need, a dream that we believed the Lord had placed in our hearts. We prayed and prayed that the Lord would show us a way in which we could stay, but He never did.

It really broke our hearts to have to come back to England, but without work permits we were unable to stay.  We could have extended our visitor visas but we would have been without accomodation, which obviously we could not do. 

So we arrived home on Saturday, emotionally hurt, confused and asking many questions such as "Lord why did you make it so clear that we were supposed to go, only to bring us back 1 month later?"  "Why Lord did you make us walk the path of giving up everything, if we were only to be gone for such a short time?"   As of now we have no answers to these questions, and we may never get them.

I know the trip has not been a wasted one as it has solidified in our children, (and us) the desperate need for the support of the orphan and vunerable children in Africa.  Every one of our kids wanted to stay and take care of some of these needy children.  Elaina has had an especially hard time with leaving.  The night after we had made the decision to return, she came to me in tears.  When I asked her what was wrong, she told me that in her mind she could hear the sound of the babies crying and asked why we have to leave them here.

Also, Jeremiah asked if we could just adopt a couple of orphans before we got back on the plane.  If only it was that simple!!!

To hear the sweet hearts of my children has encouraged me to ask the Lord to keep their hearts tender toward the needy, maybe this dream of ours will be fulfilled through them.

To explain my own feelings is hard.   My arms were so ready to hold more children and my heart so eager to love them - yet we had to leave them behind.  If you know me at all, you can imagine how I struggle with this.  I continue to cry for them, and selfishly for me as I long to be a mother to more.  If there were no children in need I would be more than satisfied with what the Lord has given me, but there are so many children desperately needing a home and I can't give it to any of them - it hurts!!!


So what now, what is next for the Northcutts - we have NO idea.  Right now we are back in England, living with my parents.  This is a short term arrangement while we look for something permanent.

This is hard, I don't think we have ever been in a situation before where we have no clue what to do.  We need to live somewhere, but where? The States is not an option at the moment as we have to reapply for my residency visa (as I have been gone too long) and that costs money.  So for now, at least, we will be in England, but where?  To stay down south, close to my family or return to Leeds so Gary can volunteer at WEC again (where they desperately need help)?

Does Gary look for work or do we start a family business?  If so what type of business/work?  So many questions with no answers.  We feel desperately lost.  We are seeking the Lord for His guidance and trying to wait patiently for answers.

We want to thank those who understand our pain and are supporting us through it as we grieve this death of a dream.

Michelle

Settling in

Well we have been in Livingstone for two weeks now and slowly becoming familiar with our surroundings. 

We are still without internet (I am writing from an internet cafe in town) but have managed to get a cell phone with which we can check our email - so we don't feel quite so far away.

There is so much that has happened in the last two weeks, I just wish I had the time to tell you all of it, but know that our God continues to be faithful.  He has led us to a wonderful bible believing church and has allowed us to find some missionaries who can help us understand some of the cultural differences here in Zambia.  The amazing thing is that these missionaries are from St Louis Missouri!!!   You know the Lord has a sense of humor when he allows us to meet us with people from home when we are half way around the world!!

We have also met with the directors of two local orphanages who are wonderful Christian people and have offered to help us in any way possible

We still have not been able to file our applications for work permits but hope to get a lot closer to getting this accomplished this next week.  We also hope to meet with the welfare department who will inform us of what we need to do to be able to take care of some of these orphans. 

The need is great - as we walk or drive around town we see children just digging through the trash looking for food.  We cannot wait to be able to help them in a bigger way than just giving them food.

This week we will be travelling to Kazangula which is a town about 40 miles west of Livingstone in hopes of finding a home to rent.  We are considering moving so far from Livingstone as we hear the situation of the children is even more desperate there.

Please continue to pray for us as we seek the Lord for guidance in all of the decisions we have make over the next few weeks. 

Thanks

Michelle

Arrived

We arrived in Livingstone yesterday about noon.   We are all well and trying to get used to the heat (although they tell me it's cool right now!!)

We do not have internet access at the guest house where we are staying, so I am posting this from an internet cafe in town.  I'm still learning the money and am not sure how much this is costing ?!  so I will update future in a couple of days when I get a grasp on things.

Thanks for your prayers.  Please continue as we adjust to life here in Zambia. 

Thank you

Michelle

Next stop - Zambia

Please pray for us today as we fly.

I'll write next from Zambia :)


I Left Everything to Follow You    by Michael Card

Though sometimes I grow weary when the road’s getting long
At each point of my weakness You make me strong
And when doubts take over I remember it’s true
I left everything to follow You

To stay safe or to follow You asked me to choose
But how could I fail when I’ve got nothing left to lose?
Without Your Call I couldn’t make it
It’d be impossible to do
To leave everything and follow you.

What is my petty offering
Compared to your sacrifice?
I gave up my home
You left paradise
What you called me to offer
Has really set me free
Cause You left everything to be with me

So with joy I embrace a faith that calls me from home
And I will cling to your promise that I am never alone
And with each passing moment I’ll keep hoping it’s true I left everything to follow you

The Journey Begins

Today, we start our journey to Zambia

We leave Leeds around lunchtime and travel south to London where we will spend the night.  Tomorrow we catch our flight from Heathrow around 5pm (11am CST) for an 11 hour flight to South Africa. 

After a 4 hour layover we will board a plane to Livingstone, Zambia and should arrive around 1pm (5am CST) on Friday.

We would really appreciate your prayers during this time of travel, especially as we have a few that are anxious and a few that are sick with colds. 

Thank you

Michelle

One Million Arrows

 

I don't often write book reviews on this blog, but today I have to because I want to encourage all parents and grandparents - in fact all Christians to read this book.

The subtitle is 'Raising your children to change the world' and Julie Ferwerda does an excellent job of showing how important our role as parents really is.  Too often in this culture we have handed the raising of our children over to the church and school, but One Million Arrows demonstrates clearly how we need to step up to the plate and take back the role which God designed for us.

Julie doesn't leave you hanging on wondering how to do this, but gives wonderful examples from many families who have raised children that are now making a difference in the world. 

She also highlights the work of Dr. M.A. Thomas in India who has started homes for thousands of orphaned children and is now seeing them change their world for Christ.

This book has been a great encouragement to us and has helped to mold our vision for the children in Zambia  (as well as our own).  With the Lord's help we plan to take these children from poverty and raise them not to a normal life, but to a higher level, to a life that is totally dedicated to Christ.

We are joining the challenge of raising One Million Arrows.

We highly recommend this book and encourage all to read it.  All profits from the book go towards orphan work. 

Michelle

Hiccup

I wondered if plans for our move were going too smoothly ... well yesterday we encountered a large 'hiccup'.

We had checked thoroughly about visas etc to get into Zambia and had it all worked out.  We were informed by the Zambian High Commission in London that we can enter the country with a letter from the charity inviting us to work in the country.  Once in Zambia we would then apply for our volunteer worker visas.  With this we were satisfied.

Well, yesterday we were advised not to send any of our belongings into the country until we had received our worker visas.  This is because if our things arrive before we receive the visas (which will give us permission to stay long term) then we would have to pay duty on all of our household goods!!! And you just know that's not in the budget!!!

The visa could take 8 weeks to be issued (assuming there are no delays).  So in theory, if we send our shipping in just a couple of weeks, and after a journey of about 50 days it should arrive after our visas have been received.  BUT what happens if our visas are delayed for some reason?  We would still end up paying duty on everything.  So we have decided to wait until our visas have been approved until we ship our things.

The consequences of this are that after we move out of the guest house in a month, we will then probably be living in an unfurnished house and therefore will be without kitchen equipment, beds, etc for 3 months or longer.

I have to be honest and tell you I have struggled with this.  In fact as I write this at 6am I have already been awake for a few hours, wrestling with the Lord over this 'hiccup'.  Asking Him questions like, what are we going to do?  What will I cook with?  What about the children's education?  What about their toys and personal things?  Is it fair for us to live for so long with just what we can carry in 1 suitcase?

Then the Lord so gently corrected me.  'Michelle, you will have a roof over your head.  You will have food.  You will have clothes.  You will have the people around you that you love.  You will have so much more than any of the children that you will be there trying to help. 

With that, the Lord left me repentant.  How can I complain when I have so much?!

Michelle