CEM 'Zambia News' Newsletter - May 2009

Dear all,

From 15^th April to 2^nd May I visited Zambia for the eighth time. The main purposes of the trip being the Covenant College AGM and helping the work with schools. It was another encouraging trip, with the work of both the college and the schools making good progress in the right direction.

To save confusion, firstly I must report a name change. One of our struggles has been to remove the dependency mentality among the teachers, which simply wants to be given resources, instead of to take responsibility. Marjanne pointed out that the name “Christian Education Fund” does not help us in this, and so we have changed the name to “Christian Education Ministry” to more accurately reflect our emphasis.

It is worth briefly tracing how God has provided for us over the years. We have gone from being a society that hadn’t even managed to register with the government; to a fund employing a travelling secretary (Solomon), and me trying to co-ordinate work from the UK and do some hands-on work in Zambia once or twice a year; to a ministry with an experienced teacher from the Netherlands (Marjanne) based in Zambia full-time running the work; to now also employing a Zambian trained teacher (Dorica) to assist with teacher-training. Along with this, God has provided prayerful supporters who contribute to an income which is now in thousands of pounds per year.

Another very helpful addition to our staff is that Lovemore Banda has become a trustee of Covenant College with particular responsibility for the CEM. Lovemore is a pastor in Petauke (the town 15km from the college), who is a very experienced and able man, is Vice-Chairman of the District Education Board, and is married to a retired deputy-headteacher. Having local Zambians on both the management and the staff of the CEM is both a help to our work and something we should be aiming for in principle.

Marjanne is continuing to concentrate on training the teachers of the community schools. Her main focus has been on the local pre-school. The teachers there are eager to learn, and the school is being transformed. Teachers from the nearby state school were invited to visit, and were overheard saying that it was unbelievable what the children at the pre-school could do, they also said it has made a very significant difference to their latest intake from the pre-school. Evidence from successful community schools in Zambia indicates that the key lies in effective pre-school education.

Dorica is concentrating on the training of teachers at three of our schools. While Solomon continues to visit schools to distribute materials, and to observe lessons – a skill which Marjanne is training him in.

In December 2008 a number of headteachers of our schools were returning from a conference when their minibus had an accident. Two of our teachers were killed, and three injured. We were reminded of our dependence on God, as we saw teachers whom we had worked with and invested time into for years, removed so quickly. We are also reminded that we cannot rest content with so many of our teachers possibly being only nominal Christians.

Therefore it was fitting that our latest teacher-training conference had a strong gospel-emphasis. This took place on the 22^nd and 23^rd of April, with contributions from Marjanne, Dorica, Solomon and me. Among other things the teachers learnt about the character required in a teacher; how to teach the gospel to children (also an opportunity to both remind them of some teaching skills and to urge them to examine themselves whether they are in Christ) and understanding children with different abilities.

Please continue to pray:

• For the staff of the CEM to keep motivated, encouraged and competent in their work.
• For Marjanne as she leads the team of workers and seeks to bring the best out of them.
• For God to save those teachers who are not truly born-again.
• For ability to travel regularly to the schools, and so provide consistent and effective training of the teachers.
• For wisdom to give resources to the schools appropriately.

I have attached a copy of this newsletter, in case that is of any help to you.

Thank you for your support.

Joseph