#8-14 part 1: Nations and Generations
Posted by: homenews <homenews@...>
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Hope Chest Home School News
with Virginia Knowles
November 4, 2005
#8-14: Nations and Generations
Part 1
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Dear Hope Chest friends,
This issue has been a long time in the making! It started out rather simple, but then it grew and grew and grew Ive had to split it up into two parts, and I still didn't include all that I would have like to do. Please read all the way through and ask God to speak to you!
In this issue, you will find .
Part 1:
Nations and Generations! -- Home Schooling to Make a Difference in the World
And Triplets Make Ten: A Heart for the Children of Liberia by Kimberly Forder
In His Own Words: Pastor Headson Makazinga
Part 2:
Bolivia Journal by Mary Knowles
A Love for Bolivia by Julia Knowles
Web Links for Learning About the World
A Final Note from Virginia
In His Sovereign Grace,
Virginia Knowles
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Nations and Generations!
Home Schooling to Make a Difference in the World
By Virginia Knowles
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In all my years of home schooling, one of my goals has been to inspire my children to see how they can make a difference in this world for Gods glory. Nations and generations! has been the cry of my heart, echoing the cry of Gods own heart. Weve studied cultural geography to learn about how people live and what they believe, and weve talked about missions, but sometimes reading a biography about a missionary who lived a hundred years ago is too remote. We need to know that is going on the world right now and how we can participate! Learning about global current events (such as the Pakistan earthquake) via the Internet, newspapers and TV news has also been quite fruitful, though we have to fight the tendency to be armchair spectators. Just knowing about a crisis around the globe does nothing to alleviate it.
I realize that the most important lesson will be personal example. What do they see me doing, and what can we do together? Weve always made a point to send both money and tangible items towards missions. Please understand that as I write the following examples, I am not trying to brag. Instead, I write to share a testimony of the Lords faithfulness to our family as we are trying to serve him globally, as well as offer some practical ideas for your own families.
When the kids were young, they had so much fun stuffing shoeboxes with small items for needy children around the world, and then delivering them to a Samaritans Purse (http://www.SamaritansPurse.org) drop-off point. This is a worthy ministry organization that I highly recommend.
One year, the girls collected blankets from our friends and neighbors to be sent to Sudan for Voice of the Martyrs Blankets of Love program (http://www.persecution.com). VOM has been a terrific resource to us. Weve read their magazine articles about the persecuted church around the world, watched their excellence childrens video (Stephens Test of Faith), and subscribed to their childrens quarterly, LINK magazine. On the topic of persecution, also be sure to check out International Christian Concern web site at http://www.persecution.org for information on the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church, which occurs November 13!
The children have helped pack care boxes for pastors in the Ukraine and children in Mexico, to be personally delivered by friends. In 2001, we assembled gift baskets for Indian and Chinese students at UCF, followed up by a traditional American Thanksgiving dinner for them at our house.
For Christmas the year I was pregnant with Ben, my daughter Mary (then 16) gave me the gift of prenatal care -- for a woman in Africa! She ordered this gift in my honor through Harvest of Hope, an outreach ministry of Partners International. You can send such unusual gifts as goats for milk and breeding, native language Bibles, bicycles for church planters, school supplies, sewing machines for cottage businesses, emergency medical kits, well-building supplies and more! Call 1-888-887-2786 or visit http://www.harvestofhope.org to see a catalog of gifts in different price ranges.
One spring, we hosted a whole bunch of missionary kids for a party at our home while their mothers enjoyed an elegant tea at a friends house.
This past summer, Mary and Julia crammed their suitcases with balloons, candy and other small gifts for the children of Bolivia whom they would meet on their mission trips. They will share their own stories about this later in this issue.
I want to share one more very recent story of Gods mercy
As many of you know, the $200 profits from this summers sale of the Learners Journal lesson planners were set aside to support the ministry of Pastor Headson Makazinga in Malawi. I knew he needed more Chichewa language tracts, so I had 500 of them printed and shipped in time to distribute to the many village pastors attending an annual conference last month. I also wanted to send money for Bibles, conference expenses, and the orphans in the care of Headson and his wife Regina. I could see that $200, while it could do a lot, would go only so far. I wanted to do more. About this time, we were also preparing for the birth of our tenth child, Melody. We have no regular health insurance. Instead we have limited medical coverage with Samaritan Ministries (http://www.SamaritanMinistries.org) which would pay for about half of our maternity expenses based on how long we had been members. I looked forward to having an epidural, as I had done last time, but we found this would cost us an extra $1,600! I knew that money could be put to better use than short-term pain relief, so I asked Thad if we could donate a portion of our savings to Pastor Makazinga if I could go without the epidural. He agreed to my unusual incentive plan. Unfortunately, as labor progressed, the pain greatly intensified, and I was only 5 cm dilated. I knew it could be several hours until delivery, so I reluctantly (and desperately) requested the epidural. My midwife, Cathy Rudolph, went out to the nurses station to request the anesthesiologist, but just 20 minutes later, before he could even come, I knew it was time to push. Cathy walked back into the room, and Melody was born just a few minutes later! So we were able to send the money to Pastor Makazinga after all! (More on this later in the issue ) God is so merciful.
But you know, this is really nothing compared to the story of the Forder family -- and their ten children! Kim Forder saw my reference to Liberian adoptions on my blog, and wrote to tell me that she is the adoptive mother of the triplets mentioned in the Above Rubies (http://www.aboverubies.org) magazine article that I had mentioned. I asked her to share her story with all of us .
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And Triplets Make Ten: A Heart for the Children of Liberia
By Kimberly Forder
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In our journey as Christians, my husband's and my desire has been to have a deeper, more intimate relationship with Christ. Over the last couple of years this hunger has grown, and we have been asking questions about our purpose, why we are here, and wondering how He wants us to serve Him.
Early last year, we received an e-mail asking for people to be praying for a set of triplets in Liberia. We felt such a quickening in our spirits that I e-mailed back saying that we were willing to be their family if the Lord was willing. This was June 22. Whew!! By the next morning, I had four e-mails in my in-box! The West African Children Support Network (WACSN) had, upon receiving our message, gone out to the village where the babies were living, and found them in a cubby hole in the ground with no food and very little clothing. They had already brought them back into the orphanage and started our paperwork! Our adoption was final in Liberia on July 23, but through a series of events, our babies' homecoming was divinely delayed. During this time, the Lord was at work in my husband's heart, drawing both our hearts to the people of Liberia. It wasnt too long before Bob shared that he was traveling to Liberia to pick up our children -- and to see how we could serve the Lord over there!
Our babies -- Nathan, David and Grace -- arrived home on March 10. I was blessed to be able to fly into Washington DC to meet them, and continue home to Seattle. The flight was late from Brussels, and it didn't look like they were going to make it onto the flight to Seattle. Needless to say, I was quite stressed! What should I do -- wait or get on the plane? I was told by the airlines that if I intentionally missed the flight, my ticket would be no good. I kept going from the spot where they would come up out of immigration, to the gate we were to fly out of. They were getting ready to shut the doors when I saw the other couple who had traveled with my husband to pick up their daughter. I ran to meet them, and said, "You have to hurry! They are closing the gate! Where's Bob?!?" He was still down in immigration with ALL 3 babies!!! I ran back to my gate, and said, "Please wait, I know he will be coming!" They of course said they couldn't do that. I was ready to cry! By this time (5:30) it was packed with people in the DC airport. So I could hardly see through the crowds, when all of a sudden I saw a baseball cap that looked like my husband's....I started yelling "I SEE HIM! I SEE HIM!" to the attendant. Then I RAN to see if it really was my husband. Sure enough, there he was with our three babies! I yelled, "You have to hurry, they have shut the gate!" So he started to run, as I caught up to him trying to take in everyone at once! It was suddenly REAL! My children were here! Bob had two in the stroller, and one in his arms. As we were running, he hollered over to me, "Do you want to hold him??" ARE YOU KIDDING??? ABSOLUTELY!! So, as we were running, he handed me my new son. We ran up to the gate, and onto the plane! WHEW! It was close! They were starting to pull things away. The children did very well on the flight home, and I kept trying to hold them ALL!
Since the triplets have been home, they have gone from 15-17 lbs each at 12 months old to 28-30 lbs at 19 months old, and progressed from combat crawling to running and climbing. They are doing wonderfully! Our other children at home are Nicholas (10), Benjamin (5), Sarah (3) and James (3). Our three older children are Jennifer (24) a nanny in Oregon, Micheal (23) in the Marines, and Rebecca (22) serving the Lord in the WACSN orphanage in Liberia.
Liberia is a country devastated financially, and spiritually. Most people have no electricity, no sanitation system, no running water, no medical care, and no income to purchase foods for their families. God has placed the desire in our hearts to help the Liberians re-build. The Liberian people look to America as their savior, when they really need to see Jesus as their Savior.
As we began our journey to adopt from Liberia, we knew God was calling us to a deeper involvement. We were just not sure what it would be. My husband was convinced we were NEVER leaving US soil! So much so, that he thought we would be moving to Michigan. God had other plans though. We started our adoption with no funds, and no idea how we would be able to pay for the adoption, let alone for Bob to take 10 days off from work to go to Liberia and still have employment on his return. Through all of this we have come to know God as more than able to equip those He calls! While Bob was in Liberia, he was asked to share his heart with the people there. The Lord showed Bob the great need of the Liberian people for the love of His son, for the need to have Christians come and live side by side shining the love of Christ in everyday ways. However, our hearts long to be there, and as soon as our home sells we will be leaving for Liberia. We are going there to help in any way we can, such as farming, goats, cheese making, gardening, natural medicines, health care, midwifery -- sharing the knowledge God has blessed us with as we have learned to be more God dependent, as opposed to depending on man to meet our needs. We want to live and work side by side with the people, and share the love of Christ in real tangible ways.
We are going to Liberia independently of any organization. The wonderful people of WACSN are our friends, but we are not affiliated with them in a professional way. If you wish to help WACSN, you can contact them through their website http://www.wacsn.org.
Anyone interested in knowing more about what God is calling us to do can reach us at [email protected]. There are so many ways people can help -- mostly simple things, like home school curriculum, simple gardening tools, seeds, grains, cement, and well drilling equipment. We will be filling several containers to take with us when we leave.
My husband, who is an industrial painter, is doing field work in Alaska until our home sells or until January, whichever comes first. I am at home with the seven youngest. Some days are a challenge, but I know the Lord is using this to equip us for Him! Our daily prayer is that we would bring glory to Him!
Thank you for allowing us to share with you!
Blessings!
Bob and Kimberly Forder
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In His Own Words: Pastor Headson Makazinga
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[Virginias note: These are excerpts from the letter that Pastor Headson Makazinga sent me in October. It arrived a few days ago. Please pray that the box of 500 Chichewa language tracts which I sent in September will arrive intact. I have had trouble shipping packages into Malawi before, and would hate for them to go to waste if they dont get there.]
Dear precious and beloved sister and brother,
With rich love I greet you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. AMEN. Thank you so much for your letter and some articles of magazines I received recently with much appreciation. It has been blessing to hear from you. Today I am encouraged with the good news you sent to me. And also let me thank you for the check. It has come in the needy time of annual convention and pastors conference. It is a great help in the way of buying Bibles and also food. This year we are in the big problem of hungry. It is my first time since I was born I didnt see this kind of hungry. It is worse than all the years past. We are in the tough time, everyone had been affected Malawi as the whole. We are running up and fro looking for food and it is too expensive. Because of this reason, many orphans are in trouble Of course, it is very hard to find food for them because of the expenses. Some people had already died and still people are dying. It is our duty to pray to God that orphans and widows should survive. We are in need of aid of food and it is our daily prayer. I would like to ask you and the good wishers to join hands with us and pray for the suffering people.
I thank God for the annual and pastors conference. It was so good and the hand of the Lord was with us. We received new babies in Christ and we baptized 63 men and women. And many were receiving their healing miracle and some wondrous has been happening on this occasion. And the work of God is always growing up in both countries, Malawi and Mozambique. The hungry of Bibles is still going on and it is a great need in every area. Christians are failing to buy Bibles because of too expensive. In Malawi we have a hard time because our money is not up, so it is always in the high amount. This month of October we are in the hotness time up to February. Yes, I have orphans. They are close with me, and we are trying to assist them with some food. Many of them are in the home villages because I can not afford to help them because I am also poor. I am doing this because God has given me a compassion heart. I feel war in my heart if I see a widow or orphans who is suffering .
Thank you again for thinking to send some of the tracts. It is good and we are looking forward for them. I hope it will be a great help to some of our churches. By now we have plenty of churches planted in so many areas.
On August 6th, I was in Uganda and Kenya for preaching the gospel. I was invited with my fellow Malawian who is working in Nairobi. I thank God because of his anointing. I was in these two countries for three weeks and four days. God led me with his powerful hand. The glory of God was shown to the ungodly people. I have seen many people receiving our Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour.
Wish you all the best while we are waiting Christmas time. Regards from my wife Regina to you, your husband and children. Yours in the love of our Lord and Master Jesus Christ Headson Makazinga
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There is much more that he said, but this is all I am able to include right now. Shortly after his letter arrived, my daughter Mary sent me a New York Times web link for an article about the famine in Malawi. Apparently, even Hurricane Katrina has affected Malawi. Japan could not get its shipments of corn from the USA when the port of New Orleans was closed, so they bought it from South Africa instead. This, in turn, made the price of corn in Africa skyrocket. Here is the web link: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/02/international/africa/02malawi.html?emc=eta1
Dear friends, my heart is burdened for the poor of Africa, especially the widows and orphans, and for those who do not know Jesus. As I mentioned earlier, it is very easy to hear about something and go our way without doing something.
Let us be spurred on by James 1:22 & 27 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
Or by James 2:15-17 -- Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, Go, I wish you well; keep warm and fed, but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
If you would like to send a letter of encouragement or a cashiers check to Pastor Headson Makazinga, his address is P.O. Box 187, Nsanje, Malawi, Africa.
This past summer, World Magazine published an excellent series on missions in Africa, highlighting the unique role of individuals and churches, rather than large mission boards. Here are the links to several of the articles, though I may be missing a few. These would make great current events discussion points for your family!
The Other Venue http://www.worldmag.com/displayarticle.cfm?id=10818
One Church, One Orphanage http://www.worldmag.com/displayarticle.cfm?id=10846
Extreme Games http://www.worldmag.com/displayarticle.cfm?id=10868
Go East, Young Man http://www.worldmag.com/displayarticle.cfm?id=10888
Livingstones Prayer http://www.worldmag.com/displayarticle.cfm?id=10894
From the Ground Up http://www.worldmag.com/displayarticle.cfm?id=10873
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This is the end of part 1. Be sure to read part 2!
Blessings,
Virginia
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