EW Update #6 Print E-mail
Hi Everyone!

Well the Australian building team are back from Zambia and have lots of great memories of a very fulfilling and worthwhile few weeks in Ndola helping out at the Eagles Wings Children?s Centre.

In this Update we?ll give you a short interview with Mark as well as a report from one of the team members ? Shelley Hartland ? giving her perspective on the experience. Thanks for your insights Shelley.

Back here in Australia, things are moving quickly with our donation program with Baptist World Aid Australia, a promotional video and Mark?s next CD.  Please check out the rest of the website which has been updated. The permanent Australian team members have all been given official titles to make things a bit easier:
  • Mark Holstein - Promotions/Fund Raising Co-ordinator
  • Reid Anderton - Projects Co-ordinator
  • Karen Winterbourn - Administration Co-ordinator
Mark Holstein reports back from Zambia

What did you do there?

I spent most of my time with Lackson and Reid discussing the future of Eagles Wings Children?s Centre.  Also, while the building team did a fantastic job and completed the two accommodation units, Lackson, Reid and I spent a lot of time talking with local street children (and any family members/guardians) discussing the possibility of them joining the project i.e. living on the farm and attending school.

As a result, we?ve enrolled a further 7 boys into the street children arm of the project (making a total of 9 boys) and they now live in the new accommodation units on the farm.  They all helped with the building work as well as harvesting the 2 hectares of maize.  These 7 boys will also be joining the others at school.

What was the highlight of this trip?

Playing soccer with the street children at the farm and knowing that they are now doing something productive with their lives instead of begging in the streets.

What are you missing already?

The relationships with the kids and seeing the new sense of hope they have in their lives.

What did God teach you?

God showed me again very clearly that it?s all about loving the people and showing them that they are as important as anyone else in the world.

What happens now?

Please continue to pray for the Zambian team and the ongoing running of the project there.

Back here, our first priority is to move forward with the donation partnership with Baptist World Aid Australia (as mentioned in our last update).

And of course, please continue to remember the children in your prayers ? they are the reason for Eagles Wings Children?s Centre.
 
Shelley Hartland reports back from Zambia
(A Team Member?s Perspective)

We started out as a group of people leaving Brisbane Airport.  Some of us knew each other, others were meeting for the first time ? but we all felt that God had called us to be in just that place.  We had carpenters, painters, mechanics, a nurse, a pastor ... then the pharmacy assistant, office worker, TAFE student, creative writer and designer ? who weren?t so sure how they?d be used!

Our task as a team was to build two extra units, paint the buildings and install a water tank at Eagles Wings Children?s Centre.  The two extra units would allow another 32 street children to be accommodated on the property.  Whether it be painting, building, cooking, doing the washing and ironing (which was very necessary to keep out the putzi flies), or just providing comic relief ? we each found ways to help.

As time progressed we found lots more jobs that needed to be done - including fixing the water supply for a whole small community, teaching classes at the community school, fixing missionaries? cars and afternoon soccer matches with the football-mad local kids.

While we were ultimately able to help the Zambian people by successfully completing these jobs, I think each of us feels that we were the ones who were blessed by this experience. Meeting these beautiful people, who we now count as our close friends, our eyes were opened to the reality of life for a Zambian.  We were confronted by just how fortunate we are in Australia, inspiring each of us to keep trying to help in whatever capacity God calls us.  It was hard to say goodbye at Brisbane Airport.  We started out as a group of people.  We left as a team.
Thanks for the memories,
Love Shell.
 
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