More pictures from Isanga Bay

This picture is taken from the dock!

Tobias jumping off the dock.  You have to jump out far so as not to land on rocks.

A while ago I posted a little ditty about Lane and Olivia.  I promised to post a picture.  I’m not sure I ever did.  So here it is.  This is on the ramp up from the boat dock.

Another view: our vehicle in their little parking lot.  Actually, there is many more places to park.

Grapefruit, oranges, and lemons grow here.

Fish caught that morning in the lake.

Road Cleaning crew!  Home we go.

God bless, Rita

My Adventure–part 2

I didn’t tell you in the last post that when I got to the creek, I really wanted to turn around and go back home. But after 2 hours and 15 minutes of driving I was tired and had a headache.  Seven loud children in one vehicle does that to your head.  Plus the lodge was closer.  Then there was three year old Luke who asked questioningly, “Auntie Rita can drive to the lodge?”  Of course I couldn’t let him down. 

So we arrived at a beautiful green Isanga Bay.  They water the grass.  Maybe you noticed in the last post how brown everything is.  Two months of no rain turns things brown quick.

Lane, Seth and I stayed in this rondavel.  Tobias and Heather said in with the Schaefer’s in the above house.

This lovely porch overlooks the lake.  This is were we took our meals.

From the above porch you can walk down some stairs and then down to the lake.  This is where Lynn and I went swimming.  The next day a croc was seen swimming here.  Usually there are no crocs here, but someone was keeping them and they got away!

This is the beach side.  You can kayak, snorkel, and lots more.

Isn’t that the most beautiful beach you have ever seen?

More later. Rita

I Went on an Adventure!

OK, for those of you who don’t know me, I am not very adventurous.  I don’t do zip lines, bungee jumps, or roller coasters.  I don’t like to ride in the car when the road in not level.  I definitely don’t like to do very short and steep hills into and then out of a creek!!!!!!!

We never drive to Isanga Bay because the road was so so very bad.  The wear and tear on your vehicle isn’t even worth it.  Last November (I’m guessing) the chief drove up to the Isanga Bay Lodge to say the road is fixed.  Last Christmas Schaefer’s did drive the road, but one bridge was out.  Lynn was quite glad that I (Rita) didn’t come.  She is right I probably wouldn’t have made it.  She had walked across and then couldn’t even watch Grant as he drove across.

At the end of May, the manager of the Lodge called Lynn to tell here three land cruisers with trailers are parked here.  They made it on the road.  Well, if they can make it with trailers, than surely we can go with out a trailer.  So plans were made to visit the Schaefer’s while they were taking care of the Lodge.  In the mean time Steve decided he is just too busy to go.  He has two classes to prepare for for the August Bible School in Kasama.  One is on a subject he hasn’t taught before and so he has reading to do.  So that means I, Rita will be doing the driving!!  I did the driving and survived.  I actually think it was better for me because I was driving and in control. 

Tobias and Joel rode their bikes on that Thursday.  I drove our vehicle on Friday with Heather, Lane, Seth, Hope, Charlie, Olivia, and Luke.  Plus our bags and the supplies that Grant had gotten for the lodge when he was in Kasama on Thursday.  We had stuff tied down on top and the inside was full.  So here are a few pictures of our trip.

While driving you felt like you were on top of the world.  Mbala is at 5300 feet.  I wish I knew how high we were at this point.

Still up on top of the world.  Lake Tanganyika is in view.  Since it is the dry season it is hazy, mainly because of fires burning and dust.

The plank bridge that is no longer there.

Creek that we had to drive through.  The sides are over 6 feet tall.

Picture from down in the creek.  They say a picture is worth a thousand words.  Well, when I got home and saw the pictures, my thoughts were – “That don’t look so bad.”  So if you want to see how bad it really looks, you need to come visit us and we will take a little drive.   Come after the next rainy season and it will be worse.  It took us 2 1/2 hours to drive 49 K.  More pictures coming in the next blog, as our internet can’t handle lots of pictures.

God bless, Rita for the gang.

A Long Bike Ride

Back in the Beginning of June our friends the Schaefer’s were asked to run the Isanga Bay Lodge while the managers went on holiday.  Joel came up with this plan to bike to the Lodge with Tobias.

This mother was not too excited about this idea.  Then Tobias kept getting sick about every five days.  So the trip was put off one week.  Grant came back from the lodge with all the kids on a Tuesday giving Lynn some free time all to herself.  On Wednesday Joel stayed over night with us, so that they could get an early start in the morning.

They left our house in Mbala at 7:30 AM with lots of water and chlorine, just in case they ran out of water.  They biked 49K to Isanga Bay in 4 hours and 7 minutes.  They did admit to walking up a few hills.

These two pictures are of them ready to go.  They made it safely with no problems.   Way to go guys!! 

God bless, Rita

May/June Newsletter-Page 3

 

Football anyone?

When I (Steve) head out to one of the local  schools  every  Saturday for Bible study, there is no shortage of kids. They
see my Land Cruiser coming and appear like early morning mushrooms. Early on, these kids were quite disruptive
during Bible study. If I let them in the room, they were constantly moving and talking. If I kept them outside, they stood at the windows heckling and knocking. What to do? We tried to have
a Bible teaching time with the kids but this only kept their attention for 30 minutes or so. It was a good start but

we needed something more. That something more turned out to be the Schwarz boys and a football (soccer ball). Seth and Tobias have been coming to Bible study and when they are there the distractions are few. As the word gets out what we are doing, more kids show up. Please pray that we have wisdom in how to best handle the growing crowd of children. If they are
going to come, they should be learning something about God. If they only play a game, we are failing. But if they learn about the love of Christ and seeds of the gospel are planted, who knows what they will be one day!

 

School Is Out!!! School is Out!!!

About the middle of May we finally finished our school year. May is a good time to finish, but by then we all are about sick of school and ready for a change. I save all of their quiz and test papers for the proof I need that I actually did homeschool my

children.  So what do you do with all of the other papers they did during the year? We decided a burning party would be fun. We sat around our burn pit and wadded up the papers. This took quit a bit of time. Then the kids had fun lighting the pit.

 

How about that!

Recently, while speaking the gospel to a husband and wife, a
drunk man stumbled into the yard and came to me. In a slurred voice the asked for money. I learned long ago not to carry money with me on evangelistic outings so I can respond honestly to men like this. I simply told him in his own language, “I do not have any
money”. To my surprise he accepted this answer and staggered away. We all had a grin on our faces and I continued sharing with the couple. About 30 minutes later the drunk man returned and gave me the shock of my life. He came up and kneeled in front of me, reached into his pocket, and gave me 500 kwacha (about 10 cents). He then rose and disappeared between the houses.  I  looked with surprise at my evangelism partner and he had
the strangest look on his face.  “What?”, I asked. He said, “Well
you told the poor drunk man that you didn’t have any money. He
must have felt sorry for you and wanted to help.” What I meant
was that I didn’t have any money with me not that I was destitute.
I suppose I need to choose my words more carefully especially
when talking to the intoxicated.  At this point there was nothing
else to do but proclaim the money as a gift and give it to the family we were visiting. Maybe the day will come when we meet this man again while he is sober and tell him about the One who is worth more than all the money in the world...Jesus Christ.

 

 

OK, This all of the Newsletter that Steve wrote.

God bless, Rita

May/June Newsletter–Page 2

Kalambo Falls Hike

One of our favorite places near our home is Kalambo Falls. We
have driven there many times to gaze at the beauty of God’s creation. Recently we had an opportunity to experience the falls in a new way. A visitor from America came to see the sights of

Zambia and we agreed to show him our little slice of the country. The Schwarz men thought that it would be fun to hike up to the
falls instead of driving. After a boat ride on Lake Tanganyika to
a village on the shore, we began the two hour ascent to the falls. As we neared the top of the first major hill, a glance back
revealed the stunning view of the village and lake. After navigating more rigorous terrain, we were rewarded with an absolutely beautiful view of Kalambo Falls.

The only downside to the day was that we didn’t bring enough water with us. At the falls we were so thirsty that we decided to drink a little not so pure mountain water. The following days
brought some stomach and intestinal unrest but we will survive.
Will we ever do this hike again?

I hope so...but next time we’ll carry a portable water filter.

Even though their legs are considerably shorter, Lane and Seth hiked without problem or complaint. Way to go guys!!

Our guest, Matthew, and the Kalambo Falls Park Ranger, Abraham

 

Persevere: Be Steadfast and Immovable

The last few months of ministry has definitely had its highs and lows. The Maround Compound of Mbala is proving to be a challenging place to witness. The enormous ‘village’ is a melting pot of people from near and far. Apathy and false security abound. Most people are polite and accommodating but response to the gospel had been limited. When I think about the weeks, months and years ahead, the word PERSEVERE runs through my mind. This is not a short term endeavor and God is faithful!

 

“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your
toil is not in vain in the Lord.”   1 Corinthians 15:58