SoMacha.com

This past week we received a box from the Christian & Missionary Alliance Church in Menomonie, Wisconsin. It could not have come at a better time. The contents of the box were amazing and greatly appreciated! The reminder that there are people back home supporting us and remembering us in their prayers was even more important. The past few weeks have been pretty stressful and extremely busy for us. Things in Africa are not the same as they are in the US (by that, I mean that it takes alot more work and patience to accomplish some of the things that we would normally take for granted in the US). It is easy for us to get bogged down with the problems of what isn't happening here and to forget all that is happening here. Everything happens in Gods timing. We just need to keep trusting and allow Him to do what He needs to do. This box of goodies really was a wonderful reminder to us that God is in control and that we have many special people back in the states who are praying for us and supporting us and the MICS project.
We will definitely enjoy all these special treats that we are unable to buy over here!
Thank You Very Much!!!!

We had the opportunity to have a weekend getaway. On the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe, lake Kariba is formed from the damming of the Zambezi river. Through some contacts that we have made, we found out there is an island with lodging and wild animals.
We spent the weekend with 2 other couples that are currently doing short term work (3 months) in Macha. Lee and Ruth are a couple from Canada, and Lee and Les are from the US.The island did not have that many wild animals, but we didn't mind. We have had many other opportunities to see animals, so we were really looking forward to relaxing with some friends and taking a break from our busy schedules in Macha. We even had the opportunity to take a sailboat for a spin around the lake! What a wonderful weekend!

Just wanted to give you an update you on the progress with the seeds that were sent by the people of First Baptist Church in New Hampton, Iowa.
Here is a picture of Mrs Esther sorting the seeds. This past week, she visited 26 families that are having maize (corn) crop failure due to the rains coming so late. These families will now have the opportunity to grow an alternate produce crop, which will play a major roll in helping to feed their families. It has truly been a blessing.

A wonderful package arrived this week!
Our friends from First Baptist Church in New Hampton, Iowa (we lived there 25 years ago) wanted to help out the farmers in Macha. Many of the people in New Hampton are farmers themselves, so they wanted to help in a way that was very personal. They sent a large box of seeds. There are all different types of vegetable seeds. We were not sure which ones would grow best here in Africa, so they sent many different varieties as a test to see which ones would do well.
We have been talking to people here, and the maze ( corn) crop will not be good this upcoming year. Although the most recent harvest is ok, it has become of evident that there will be a shortage of maize with the next (current) growing season. The rains came late, altering the growing season, so most of the people will not have a sufficient harvest. They eat maize 2 times a day, once as porridge and then as nshima (it looks like grits or mashed potatos) for the main meal with a soup of some sort. We have enlisted the help of our friend Mrs. Esther who is a local resident of Macha. She said the seeds will really help, as it will give the people an alternative to maze, to plant and then eat. She and Mrs. Grace will go to the surrounding local villages and pass them out to the poor and non working people. She will show them how to plant them and then go back for check ups to see how they are doing and even help them save the seeds to replant. Mrs. Esther will also go to the churches and ask the pastors for names of people that are not working and need help.
It never ceases to amaze us how God works through such a wide range of people. Who would have thought that people that we haven't seen for more than 20 years would be so generous and helpful toward the people of Macha. We are blessed to have such wonderful faithful friends. Thank you very much!...from us and the people of Macha!

One of the goals of MICS is to have 30% of our students come from the local population of orphans. This semester, we would like to introduce you to a 12 year old boy named Christopher.Christopher's father died about a year ago and his mom abandoned him a long time ago. He currently lives with some relatives. He has never been to school. The mission school and the local government school said that he had missed his chance (he was too old) and they would not take him in at school. Everyone pretty much had written him off.
An American that lives here in Macha collected donations to sponsor a scholarship for him at MICS. We put him in grade one the first few weeks then moved him to grade two. He is now reading one vowels words and is picking things up pretty fast even with limited English and experiences. He has trouble doing some of the work as he does not know what some of the things in the pictures on the work sheets are. We hope to advance him to another level by second term when Deb comes (Deb and Doug Hammes are Flying Mission missionaries from Iowa, we worked with them at Dayspring School in Botswana) and Mid can tutor him more. We are very proud of Christopher and the rapid progress he has been making.
The other day was surely a Kodak moment...Christopher came to school with a pink sweat shirt and a pair of bright orange shorts! New and clean takes priority over color coordination when it comes to clothing here in Macha. Colors are not specific to boys or girls. Often, the brighter, the better. He loved his outfit and thought it was great that he had on nice new clothing to wear to school...and we could not be happier to have him as a student!

Menomonie Alliance Christian School (MACS) has done it again!
We want to thank them so much for their generous support of MICS (Macha Innovative Christian School)! The students held a fund raiser to help with the building of the new school in Macha. The student council also matched the money that was raised. This event brought in more than $200 for MICS, bringing the total amount that they have donated to $550!!
Thank you, to all the students and staff, for your willingness to support this amazing project in Africa. We are continuously blessed by your financial support, your words of encouragement, and your prayers.
We wanted to post a picture of the students from Menomonie, but unfortunately we do not have one. If you have a picture of the students that we could use, please email it to us!
Thank you again!!!!

Well, as many of you may or may not know, the Macha Bed and Breakfast (otherwise known as our home) had to close one of its bedrooms due to a problem caused by pesky bats in the attic. The picture below shows the big gap between the walls and the roof, where they were flying in. Can you believe it...Ronda lived in a home with bats???? This problem was getting progressively worse and worse as time went on.
With the help of Lee and a couple of our brave Macha friends, they went up into the attic and cleared the bats out (believe it or not...there were hundreds of them!). We then sealed up the gaps as much as possible to prevent them from retuning. The bats had caused quite a bit of damage to the ceiling in the bedroom, so we needed to come up with a clever way to fix the problem.
Ruth, Lee's wife, helped us hang some Zambian chetengies (sheets of printed traditional fabric) to help redecorate the room.
You can see that the guys (Gil and Lee) even got involved. All those hours of watching TLC and HGTV decorating shows while in Wisconsin sure helped out! We are happy and thankful to say that the bedroom is in great shape and open for guests!

Just how many bricks does it take to build a school? Well, I don't have the exact answer for you right off the top of my head...but I can tell you that it sure takes alot!Ronda, along with Greg Smith are surrounded by about 1/2 of the needed bricks. Thank you to all who have so generously contributed toward this project. The rains of rainy season have put the brick making and construction on hold, as the weather is a very important part of the brick making and drying/curing process. We are also trying to raise some additional funds to continue with the building. We hope to resume the brick making and construction in the very near future. Thank you again for all your support and prayers.

A couple of weeks back, we were blessed by a visit from our Wisconsin friends, Greg and Kathy Smith. They were in Zambia on a mission trip. During their travels, they made the time to stop and see us and to see the wonderful things that are happening in Macha.The Smith's generously brought an extra suitcase packed with items that are not available in Macha or Zambia. It was just like Christmas...Thank You!
We are always excited to have visitors! There are so many things to see in this tiny Zambian village. There is always something new happening. If you are interested in stopping by the Macha Bed and Breakfast (otherwise known as our home!), we would love to have you!

The start of the second school year of MICS, means that we have a new class of students. It also means that we have out grown our temporary classroom that we were using last year. We have moved to a new temporary setting in the Macha Vision Community Center Complex. The new set up is large enough to have 2 separate class rooms for teaching both grade levels. This will be the home for MICS until we are able to complete the school campus...which hopefully will be sometime later this year.

We wanted to let you see how things are progressing at the new school campus site. The foundations have been poured for the school building and the staff housing. About 1/2 the needed bricks have been made. This process has been slow due to the heavy rains of rainy season. Things are moving along and we are excited with every step forward that is taken. If you would like to get involved in this amazing project, please contact us or take a look at the "buy a brick" program that has been set up at SoMacha.com. To those that have already gotten involved, Thank you for all the support toward the school and the building project. This is a major undertaking that would not be happening without both your prayer support and financial support. Thank You! Thank You!

Driving down the highway in southern Africa there are many hazards to avoid. It isn't just the potholes or other drivers that you have to worry about!We have been having problems with both electricity and internet access since our return to Zambia. With the power being out most of the time, we have been cooking on our camping stove and charging the computer batteries in the car with the car charger. One of the internet connection relay boxes was struck by lightning, leaving our home without a connection. Gil has created a make-shift office for checking email that puts him in range of the closest wireless connection. Sometimes you just have to make the best of a situation and follow the "African method". Hopefully we can get all this fixed soon!

The second school year for MICS (Macha Innovative Christian/Community School) began 2 weeks ago. The original class from last year has advanced to "standard 2" and we have started with new class of "standard 1" students. We are still accepting new students and it looks like we will have over 20 students enrolled for this school year!
With the additional new students, we have out grown the temporary classroom that we were using. We have moved to a new temporary setting that is divided to allow teaching of the separate classes. Everything was packed up and moved over the weekend. With the construction of the new school underway, we hope this is the last move we have to make before we get to move into the new building!
We needed plenty of help moving all the furniture and constructing new desk and shelves for the new space. It is finally starting to take shape. We will post pictures soon with everything completely set up.

A quick update from Greg:
Just wanted to let everyone know that my parents (Gil and Ronda) made is safely to Macha last week. It is rainy season right now, so that means that there are many problems with the electricity and internet connection. They have not been able to update the website recently due to these problems.
The new school year has begun, they have moved to a larger classroom to handle all of the new students. The government of Zambia came out to inspect the school and was very impressed. The new school building is starting to progress. They have started construction of staff housing and the classroom structure. Pictures and details will be posted soon, when they get a reliable internet connection.
One additional bit of info is that Macha now has cell phone service! Up until now, there was no phone service at all in the village of Macha. The only way to communicate with Gil and Ronda was to use the internet. I am happy to report, that I spoke with them on their cell phone for about 15 minutes the other day...with crystal clear reception! They are doing well and excited about all the new things that continue to happen in Macha.
Please check back for updates on Gil and Ronda all the new progress!

We have packed the car in Botswana, and then offloaded and repacked the car to make room for things with higher priority. And then done it again as other priorities appear. Then, to top it off after grocery shopping the rain came and further delayed the final (??) pack prior to leaving for Zambia. We do hope to leave Gaborone sometime on Wednesday or Thursday at the latest.


But our delays have been overshadowed by the great news that the container from Arizona is loaded and has left the port of LA. Best estimate of an ETA is mid-March in Lusaka. Very Special Thank You, to all of you who made this possible. We understand that about 1/3 of the container contents are for Macha. Again, THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!!!!

Upon our arrival at Dayspring School in Botswana, we were sad to find out that our good friend Agnes was not feeling well at all. Those of you that have met Agnes know what a hard worker and industrious person she has been, but her illness is making it difficult for her to function normally. We are requesting prayer on her behalf for her to regain strength and vitality. At this point, her brother has been contacted to come and visit her to determine if it is in her best interests to return to her home in Zimbabwe. She does have a house there and her mother and sister are available to assist her.

Gil and Ronda left this morning to head back to Africa. They drove from Milwaukee to Chicago, where they caught a flight that will take them on a 30 hour journey with stops in Atlanta, South Africa and on to Botswana. Their first destination will be Dayspring School in Botswana. While there, Ronda will help with teacher training and Gil will work to get the computer lab is shape for the new school year. Next week they will return to Macha, Zambia to begin the second year of MICS.
Thank you all for your prayers, support and encouragement during our time is the US. We are so grateful for your willingness to help and get involved with this new school in Macha.
We will keep you posted on what is happening with us and the school. Internet and power connections in Macha are sometimes unreliable, but we will try to do updates on a regular basis. Please check SoMacha.com often and feel free to email or even call us. We have a Milwaukee, WI phone number that is routed through the internet to Macha, so you don't have to pay international long distance rates. See the "Contact Us" page for details.
We are excited to be heading back to Macha. We can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for us during this new school year. Please keep us in your prayers.

Sunday, Jan.7, we had the privilege of attending and sharing with a Sunday School class at Salem United Methodist Church in Fond du lac, WI. Ronda spoke using our power point presentation about what God is doing in Macha. We were invited by our very good friends, Harry and Bonnie Classen, who had visited Macha for a short time in 2005.
The visit also gave us an opportunity to meet both the parents and grandparents of Kim Brook who is planning to spend some time in Macha this June and July. Kim is hoping to work with the school and help with an after school sports programs in Macha. Kim's grandfather even tasted some of the Mopane worms we had brought from Botswana.
We had a very good visit, with considerable interest in Macha, indicated by the numerous questions regarding what was being done and how they could help.
A big thank you to Bonnie and Harry and all those that attended!

We wanted to say “Thank You!” to everyone that helped support us and the school project over the past year. We also want to thank you for all your prayer support. Without your generosity, none of the amazing things that happened in Macha would have been possible.

We wanted to take a minute to thank a few of you specifically.

Harry and Bonnie Classen
Doug and Debbie Wesson
Fred and Ruth Menz
Gary and Joy Blechacz
Dennis and Donna Carroll
Ron and Rita Jansen
Brent and Cheryl Timmermann
Darla Jansen
Dean and Judy Knoll
Abby Lentz
Phil, Bethany, and Lily Blechacz
Bonnie Keller
Larry and Aggie Wagner
Nathaniel Sabin
Nora Bartlels
Mary Judge
Lee and Ruth Dittmer
Kathy Brown
Dave, Amy and Sammy Arenson
John, Mary and Johnny Stocking
Edith Miller
Bill and Linda Lentz
Barb Stansfield
Cathy Mathwick
Kathy Blechacz
Jessie Channer
Ike and Jean Bell
Mel and Jan Bochman
Ephriam and Joy Mutepfa
Dwayne and Berdetta Byers
Doug and Deb Hammes
Jeff Mashke
Jill and Jim Maxwell
Jill Krause and Scott Stickney
Grace Wairimu
Lydiah Ngiri
Rosemary Akandi
Kent and Judy Wonders
Flying Mission
Bryan and Di Wilson
Greg and Kathy Smith
Yvonne MacDonald
Menomonie Alliance Christian School
First Baptist Church, New Hampton, IA
Neighborhood Church, Modesto, CA
United Methodist Church, Fondulac, WI

Many of you also shipped items to the cargo container. The container is still in transit and will hopefully arrive in Macha by early March. We can’t wait for it to arrive! It will be a true blessing to open all the wonderful things for the school and to share the items with people in the community. If you sent items to the container, we want to thank you as well. When the container arrives, we will have a whole new list of people to thank!

If we forgot anyone on this list, we are truly sorry. So many people have helped in so many different ways, that it is hard to make a comprehensive list. Your support is very much appreciated!

We are less than one week away from heading back to Macha. It has been wonderful spending time with family and friends. Our time here always seems to go by too fast!

This next year looks to be very exciting with the start of construction on the new school campus, the addition of a new class of students and the many other adventures that living in a remote African village brings.

We want to invite you all to come to Macha to see the school, the people and what the Lord is doing.

Thanks again!