Ministry Update

Friends!

It is with joy that I write to update you on the plans for Zambia!

I am approximately a month away from embarking, and I have already seen the grace of God active in the planning and implementation of the trip. From receiving checks for sponsorship from complete strangers to encouragement, prayer, and support from my closest friends and family, I am beginning to think that everyone should have the opportunity to prepare for such a trip in their lifetime! What a journey in faith!

I want to share with you one particular experience that has me excited. Back in October I was visiting my former college roommate, Kristin Folkerts, now a first year teacher at Imaly City Christian School [ICCS]. On Sunday morning we attended church at the small CRC in town, and I was introduced to many of the families who attended (Dutch bingo at its finest!). It did not take long for connections to start flying, and the families (who turned out to be some of Kristin’s co-workers at the school) began to ask ‘what I was up to’ post-graduation. Kristin jumped in and explained about my upcoming trip…and all chaos broke loose. Apparently, ICCS’s theme for the year is ‘Prayer’ and, as such, the faculty has been looking for an opportunity to get their elementary students invested in prayer.

To make a long story short, I was asked to come to their school to present a chapel on the orphans of Zambia. Therefore, three weeks ago, I revisited Imaly City… this time as a chapel speaker. After experiencing the best and worst of WCS chapels, I admit I was somewhat scared about presenting. How do I speak to children in preschool up through 8^th grade all at once…and keep them interested? And how do I tell them about an AIDS pandemic of all things?! However, with the help of a few juggling balls and super(bouncy)balls, I was able to tell them about the power of prayer. We can try SO hard to keep everything going on our own (juggling)…. but its gets a lot easier to keep things in the air when we turn it over to God and allow Him to put the ‘super’ in our efforts, because then things still bounce back even when we’ve dropped the ball (the super-ball). Working off of this theme, I shared with the students about the orphans of Zambia—who are the same age as them—but who are trying to feed, clothe, go to school and live on

their own… while being hammered by a deadly disease. By the end of the chapel, the students agreed that the orphans of Zambia needed a little bit of ‘super’ in their lives in order to keep everything from falling apart. As result of the chapel, all of the students committed to praying for the orphans of Zambia, as well as for my trip. I was able to send super-balls home with all the students (don’t worry, I gave them out at the END of the school day…), and the teachers all stuck super-balls to their chalkboards as well, reminding the students to pray, because we are the ones that need to put the super-ball into motion. As an additional project, the ICCS students are going to make cards for the children at Every Orphan’s Hope, and I hope to pass on videos of the Zambian children to ICCS. Praise God!

In addition to the prayer support, I was also amazed to see God work in another way that day. At the end of the day, the principal from the school greeted me and chatted about my upcoming trip. He then handed me a crisp $100 bill, and asked me to use it to buy school supplies for the orphans of Zambia. That act particularly shocked me (though I suppose it shouldn’t considering how our God works!), because I had been praying about the fact that I was going to Zambia where there was so much need, but EOH hadn’t budgeted into my support raising any money to buy supplies for the children there. And now, all of a sudden, here was more than enough money to fill one of my suitcases with 50lbs of coloring books, stickers, pencils and socks for the children living in the orphan homes!

Isn’t it amazing how our God works? And isn’t it humbling to see through whom He works?

Thus, I just wanted to say thank you again for your continued support and encouragement. With a month left until my departure, I am two/thirds of the way to my needed goal. However, with the mighty things God has already done, I trust that all needs will be supplied in His time.

Thank you all again for everything, I am blessed to be a part of this family!

By His Grace,

Annika Krygsman