October 2008 Update:

We want to start out by saying that everything that has been accomplished is not in our strength and power but only through Him that strengthens us and that is Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. We also can not do what we do with out your prayers, support and finances you give to us, so thank you for all that you do for us and the Kingdom of our Heavenly Father.

Family Reinforcement
Since we last wrote one of our biggest excitements was having Jill and Terry (Amber’s mom and oldest brother) arrive here to help us. We could not wait to see them once again. We were especially looking forward to having Terry here being that it would be his first time to Zambia and second time to the African continent. The morning early after their arrival in Mukamba I had Terry on the roof with me nailing and building the roof rafters so that we can finish the roof before they go back home. With Terry having a natural fear of heights he wasn’t the most comfortable with standing on planks laid between the rafters but he faced the challenge head on and from day one never looked back. The first day was a bit difficult for Terry for his stomach was not good and he had to run from time to time but thank God for the next day he was as strong as an ox’s. Every day we started to work at 6:00 in the morning and wouldn’t stop until 14:00 for lunch. Being then in the high heat of the day (upper 30’s C and near 100 F) Terry and I would rest for an hour or so and then work on some more things around the camp till dark.

Terry was a big blessing to me for even though we worked together most of the time I could also spend time with the builders and on other things that demanded my attention. It was so nice to have Terry and the helpers be able to go on with the roof when I needed to spend time explaining the details of the orphanage kitchen to the builders. In this way things really started to get done fast. One and a half weeks later we had the toilets, bathrooms and kitchen done building and now they only need their roofs. We also got all the iron sheets on the orphanage house roof! While we had hoped to finish the roof completely things didn’t work out quite as planned and now only the gables of the roof are needed to finish it. It is starting to look like a house now.

And that is not all – apart from the roof work, loading bricks and more sand, in the afternoon we completed a lot of projects at the camp as well. Many that had been waiting for a year to get done but that we have just not had the time for. Things like raising the middle section of our shade net off our tent (allowing wind to pass underneath and lower the temperature inside), patching up the crack it the donkey, putting mesh in the bathroom and shower windows and cementing around it so that the hornets stop making it their permanent home, and re-cementing around the kitchen panty to end the rat and mice escapades that had been going on in there lately. Amber and her mom were especially happy about that. We are very happy with the progress that we are making with everything and are thank full to God for all of it.

Amber’s mom helped a lot as well but even more importantly brought lots of encouragement and company to Amber. Since the work that Amber has here in Zambia is a different than mine (ie. Cooking, cleaning, dishes, accounting, correspondence, watering the orchard, etc) she has less opportunities to interact with the community as I do and with the women normally having less access to education, much less of them speak English as to the guys. Although we are trying to learn the local language Amber doesn’t have as much opportunity for creating deep friendships here as I do so Jill’s visit to us was an especially big blessing to her. They chatted up a storm as the watered the orchard, sewed screen into our kitchen, painted poles, planted more plants and made new plant beds, cooked, cleaned, pumped water, and did all the every day tasks that are required out here in the bush. Jill also brought a small hand held mini sewing machine which she taught Amber to use. Amber is now looking forward to try her skills with mending and hemming with this rather than just by hand.

Church
At church it is going very good and some of the church members have started to make bricks for the new church that they are planning on building. The roof and structure of the old one is busy falling in on them because of last years heavy rains. The bible study’s that God has allowed me to lead every Sunday morning seems to be fruitful. A couple of months ago when I started I was very sad for only 3 men and Amber came to the Bible study but now these last few weeks there are between 20 to 40 people coming and most of them are men. This is especially special as often times in these village settings it is the women who are the most involved in church so we thank God for the work that He is doing in the men’s lives in Mukamba.

Jill and Terry were able to experience two Sundays with the church there. Not only did they enjoy getting to meet Terry, they were especially blessed to see Jill there after all those months of praying for her. Roster, the pastor’s wife even led a heartfelt joyous song of celebration in her honor for God’s goodness in her life. It was a touching moment seeing the two of them leading the church in singing and dancing in praise and honor to God for All that He had done in their lives.

Heading Back South
After our time of hard work in Mukamba, we packed up and headed South to come and visit my mother and some friends that Jill wanted to see as well. We drove through Botswana and had some good family time in South Africa before Jill and Terry flew back to America on the 28th of October. After spending all that time with them it was hard to see them go but at least we still had time to spend with my mom since we were staying at her place. Since it had been 6 months since we had last been there we were able to connect with friends, families, and supporters as well as get needed items for us, the ministry, and the orphanage. God also blessed us by giving us opportunities to speak and share about the ministry in 3 different churches there and two different Bible Studies. It has been so humbling for us to see God raise up encouragement and support from people and churches in so many different places. This can truly only be a God thing.

Back Home Again
Now as we write this update we are back in Zambia, lodging in Livingstone for the night before we had back to Mukamba tomorrow. The drive up from South Africa was so beautiful with all the rain but it reminds us that our time for building and continuing on with the work here is short before the full force of rainy season is upon us. As the rain is beginning to bring new growth to life, we pray that God will do the same in our lives and in the lives of those we are here to serve in the local village area.

Please pray for:

For the work that we still need to do before the rain fall is too much to work.
Pray that we would have a balance between work and ministering.
Pray for out witness to the workers at the building project as we strive to strike a balance between quality control in their work and showing grace and mercy in their lives.
Pray for our health and attitudes.
Pray that God would guide and direct us in the women He want to have in the orphanage house as mothers.

For more pictures please go to www.picasaweb.google.com/missionoflovezambia

To contact us you can write to amberandjako@hotmail.com
For financial contributions please contact us and we would direct you where to give to, thank you.

Thank you for your continued support to us and the ministry.

Jako and Amber Joubert
Mission of Love Community Orphanage
Zambia

Let me start off this entry by saying that right now I (Jako), look like a brick, feel like sand, and roll like stones. This is basically the three things that I have been digging and loading to get the building going these past two months.

On August 15th I twisted and tore the ligaments in my left ankle. Even though I had to use crutches for a few days I thank God that I was able to continue working. Though the ankle is still sensitive and a bit weak it continues to improve every day. We are thankful it has healed as quickly as it has and wasn’t injured more seriously.

Orphange House Progress
Even though we have hired local builders for the orphanage house, it has still been my responsibility to dig and bring them all the sand, stones, and bricks that they need for the building. Since we last wrote, the concrete floor of the house has been poured and the plastering is done in the whole orphanage house. This is huge and we are happy to see the progress.

Physical help from the villages has been decreasing so I decided that it would be a good idea for me to hire a small crew of 3 to 4 local guys to help me 6 days a week. Praise God for providing the financial funds to not only make this happen but for also providing me with dependable, hard working guys who I have known for a while. With all of us working hard from early in the mornings (6am) until late we have gotten lots done. We thank God for the energy and will power to get up every day and work in the heat. The temperature is now reaching 35 degrees C (95 F) and it is not even summer yet. At least the business and discomfort of the heat distracts us from missing all of our foreign helpers and friends from the past few months.

We have dug the hole for the orphanage toilet septic tank (3 x 3 x 2 meters, length, height, and depth respectively). We wanted to dig a bit deeper but after digging half a meter through barach we figured it would be easier to just go wider. We also dug the foundation and poured the footers for the kitchen, toilets, and showers for the orphanage house. Because of quality standards we hired the builders and to date they have finished all the brick work on the toilet and bathroom building and are now working on the kitchen. Thanks to Fanuel (our foreman/ security guard) the brick work is completed on the library as well. With all of the practice he is getting to perfect his brick laying skills, and soon he will be considered a master builder as well. It is very rewarding to see the end in sight for all the brick work.

The crew and I have been able to continue with the roof of the orphanage house. With the wood having lied in the sun for so long (unexpectedly) the planks ended up drying out and warping quite a bit. It’s taken us som muscle power to make them work but I am happy to say that to date we have finished the A frames on the roof . Now we just need to purchase more wood planks and tin roof sheets to finish it all by the middle/ end of October. This is the time that we will be heading back to South Africa with Amber’s mom and brother, Terry but also the time that the rain can start. The roof needs to be on before then because the top smooth layer of floor can only be laid once the roof is completed because of all the dirt and tree pods being blow around by the hard wind this time of year.

Headmen, Senior Headmen, and 2 hour late meetings
As I said earlier, help from the local villages had started to diminish. We also discovered several people cutting trees down on the property so we decided to call a meeting with the various headmen, senior headmen, and orphanage committee. After waiting over 2 hours for about 10 of the 28 headmen to show up we decided to start. These meetings are rarely fun as often it just becomes a blame game of who is not doing their job. This meeting however turned out quite productive. After working out some issues and clarifying some things, each headmen there agreed to send at least 2 people a week to help with sand and stone and anything else needed for the orphanage. We decided on days of Tuesdays and Thursday and so far most of the help has shown up. This is a big help not only to me but also an answer to prayer in making and keeping this truly a community orphanage. Thank you God for chairing this meeting for us.

Our KitchenAmber is very happy that the roof of the kitchen is basically done and the floor completed. She has already moved in and is oh so happy about her much improved cooking quarters and especially her built in pantry. After over a year of sharing shelves with tools, sleeping bags, and our personal storage items, she is now very happy that everything now has it’s own place.

First Fruits and Fences
The fruit orchard continues to do well and some of the trees are growing like weeds. Amber is very happy to have a fence around the entire thing that the “crew” and I put up in August. This fence will keep the local cattle from feasting on the young banana trees. It is sad to think that we probably would have had fruit from them last year had the cattle not eaten them to stubs but at least this year they have been outsmarted.

We have enjoyed our first few strawberries and think we might be able to harvest some gooseberries this year as well. And this is only a sampling of all the different fruits that we hope will come to bear in the next few years. Amber has been happy to have the local ladies coming by occasionally to help with the watering. She is also very thankful to have the assistance of our newly acquired “used” 4 x 4 quad/ATV that came up with a friend in July. This makes hauling the 220 liters of water needed everyday just for the orchard much easier. She has also devised a great system of reusing our grey water to limit the amount of hand pumping we have to do for watering.

Quad Power
Not only is the quad it very light on fuel (giving us at least double what we get with the Hilux and the Landy) we can use it to haul water, wood, logs and even some stones, and especially to get around in the rainy season when all the standing water and clay mud makes it difficult if not impossible to drive with our heavier vehicles. We truly thank God for this long prayer of more than two years.

Technical Difficulties
We had hoped that our multiple technical difficulties had ceased back in July but since then we have had several more things stop working. The first thing that broke was our small generator. Somehow it ended up leaking petrol on to the generator and basically blew some of our electronics and almost all of our appliances power supplies (including our computers). This forced us to leave for Livingstone to have our things fixed . While there we were blessed to find a good diesel generator that is bigger and can give power to both us and the orphanage house in the raining season (short term) for then our solar panel obviously won’t work.

With the generator came a free 180 liter electric refrigerator. We didn’t know exactly what we would do with it but figured now that we had the power to run it we would use it for the house and orphanage somehow. Obviously God knew what we needed before we did because we when got back home our fridge that works with LP gas stopped working. Try as I did I could not get it right so we had to put everything in the new refrigerator and start the generator 2- 3 times a day to keep everything cold. After trips to town and finding out that South Africa was the only place allowed to work on these fridges I upped my efforts. With over 2 weeks of praying and working on it, the fridge started to work again. We are so thankful to God that it is working and also for the money we are now saving on fuel for the generator since diesel is now at $2.64 a litter ($ 10 a gallon) here.

In between all of this the Land Rovers electric fan packed up. It took me some time to look for the right part in town but I came up empty handed. In the end I asked one of the village men than is known to fix engines if he happened to have a fan with a pulley that a belt can fit to and also a bearing to run out. To my amazement he had the exact piece. With metal we had lying around here I built a bracket for it. God gave me wisdom and after two days of planning and three days of building it is now working very well. Now I do not have to worry about the fan breaking or the battery dying. This is a huge weight off of my shoulders.

Our Late Night Visitor
In August we had a southern file snake visiting us for a couple nights and he was about 1 meter long. With all the poisonous snakes around here – this type is a good snake. They are not aggressive and are the only snake that will kill and eat black mambas and puff adders two of the most dangerous snakes and know for the death of lots of people. But for the last 3 weeks we have not seen him around at night. We don’t know if he is keeping a low profile or if the dogs have scared him to a new location

Us the Local Ambulance?Lately we had lots of patients; - from rocks falling on toes that burst open, dog bites, and burn victims our medical supplies and vehicle have definitely been called on and put to good use. And now there appears to be a local chicken pox epidemic going round! The two burn victims were severe and both needed hospitalization. The first was a girl who in the midst of an epileptic fit fell face first into the fire. We heard about her after she had been one week at the local clinic when they said that they could do nothing more for her. We helped transport her to a hospital that could help her. The second was a man that showed up at 23:30 one night. His whole back was burnt with no skin on it. He explained that they had been sleeping in a grass hut when it set alight. He and his wife instinctively ran out before they realized that the baby was still in the hut. He quickly ran back in but that was when he got burnt. Thank God that the baby was fine with no burns only little coughing. As severe as his burns were we hear that he is now doing better.

Our first Zambian Wedding
In August we had the privilege of being invited to our first traditional Tonga wedding in the village. Since the groom was the son of our local friend and village pastor Petrus they wanted the wedding to be traditionally Christian and I was honored to be asked to give scripture and a wedding message. It was a neat experience and we enjoyed seeing all the joyous dancing and traditions. The community made us feel like honored guests.

Tractor engine, customs, waiting, waiting and more waiting
After a week of waiting for customs and clearance in Livingstone, we now finally have our new tractor engine and parts. When we got it back home I eagerly assembled it all together and had fun testing it out. We praise God for the provision of this so that we can try to get our land ready for crops before the rains come. We are also thankful that God intervened in such a way to protect us from bribe fees and corruption in the importation process. While it is definitely different driving a vehicle I am having fun acquiring a new skill and trying out my farming abilities.

Help and Family on the Way
With the race to beat the rain well on it’s way we are ever so thankful to have Amber’s mom and older brother Terry planning to visit us from October 9th – the 28th. The plan is to spend a few weeks here in Zambia, then drive back to South Africa to spend a few days there before they fly home. Amber and I can then take care of some business in South Africa, spend some time with my mom and our supporters as well before we head back to Zambia sometime in November.

Thanks for your prayers for Amber’s mom. It is truly by God’s grace that she is able to come at all with her cancer. For those wanting more info on her story visit www.caringbridge.org/visit/jillfinklea .This will be Terry’s first time here and we are excited to have him as well, not only for his height and muscles but also just to make some good memories as well. Please pray for their continued good health and safe travels and also that we would get everything done in time before they come, before we have to leave for South Africa, and before the rains come.

Politics and Presidents
All three of the countries that we call home are undergoing presidential changes at the moment. In August President Manawasa of Zambia unexpectedly passed away and emergency elections are scheduled to be held the end of this month. In South Africa President Mbeki was asked to resign and a new President was appointed. The U.S. Presidential elections are scheduled for November. Please keep these three countries and leaders in your prayers – that they will listen to God’s leading and lead the countries in an upright and honorable manner.

Thanks for your continued prayers, encouragement, support, and for the role you play in helping to make all this possible. Thank you God and to you, God bless.

Oh and don’t forget to check out new photos at www.picasaweb.google.com/missionoflovezambia
In the first 2 new folders

Thank you

Jako and Amber Joubert

We were blessed with all the visitors

The four of us got back to Mukamba on the 8th of July 2008. Whitney and Kalen hit the ground running with a lot of work where they started out by loading bricks in the mornings for the orphanage house that we are building. They painted our toilet and bathroom and the floors. They also helped Amber clear fields to plant fruit trees that we bought and helped with preparing everything for the team from Virginia. They were a big blessing and proved to be extremely hard workers while the team was here. They left Zambia on the 4th of August 2008 to go back home we were sad to see them leave and pray that God bless them in everything that they do. Thank you Whitney and Kalen!!!!!!!!!!!!

After all the preperation we eagerly picked up the American team from Virginia on the 17th of July2008 and drove to Mukamba. We arived at 22:oo and they were happy to see that we had there tents already up for them. They had a good night rest (except for getting used to our rooseters all night crow fest) and the next morning we had them do hard physical work by digging "barach" which is like breaking up very hard concrete (but not by hammer but by pick axs). It took 8 hard working days for them to finish digging barach enough to fill the floor of the orphanage and by that time we noticed that the pick axes were all much shorter than when they started. I don't know what was more tough - the barach itself or the team that dug it. Boy did this team work!!! Do not think for one second that it is easy and if you do please come and visit. They defininitely gave it 110% each day which we are so thankful for - who knows how long it would have taken me and Amber alone. For food we were able to kill a goat for the team for meat and Ryan, Richard and Ed did the deed and prepared it nicely for us.

The second day(Saturday) we got up early to work with different teams and then the hardware shop phoned and told us that they couldn't deliver the timber for the roof of the orphanage because the truck had broken down. They thought that maybe it would be ready some time the next week. Praise God that it came on Monday. Although the goal for the team was to start off on the orphanage roof apart from the delivery schedule difficulty we ran into some other difficulties as well like the orphanage house not being finished to roof height. Despite all best efforts the timber that was to be delivered was needed to build the boxes over the windows and door frames to pour concrete for strenth and now that the timber was comming later it was holding us back. Also on Saturday the Land Rovers gearbox broke again (after only running a week) and that had my spirit in a hole and I was down as a man can be. To top it all off as we were driving behind the trailer we saw that the wheels were not running like they were supposed to. After a thorough inspection we found that the bearings were loose so one more thing broken. It took Ryan, Ed, Steve, Bill and Tim a very long and hard time to fix so I was and still am thankfull for them fixing it, thanks. And then the hot water donkey broke as well! Praise God for the reinforcement he sent me with the men on the team and they were a big help and encouragement to me during this very trying time.

The next day we had a very good service at church where I did the bible study before church service. That went very well because once again God taught me something about Himself. Richard did the message in the serive and everyone enjoyed it. Sunday night we went and showed the Jesus Film and that was cold. We got there in time to get everything set up to start the film at 19:00 and after being treated to a wonderful meal of goat and nshima the data projector did not want to start up - not even one light wanted to come on so we decided to take it apart (knowing that the globe is very sensative and can break) and we took the chance to open it. By now I was ready to pack my bags and go home to South Africa but also knew that God was in the midst of all of this. An hour and half later nothing wanted to work. After praying I did one last thing with the globe and praise God it worked and we got to show the film. Praise God for the people that came foreward after the film show. Johan (our old friend and Ministry mentor from South Africa) went back the next day to do a follow up with the people that showed up.

On Monday we started to take the gearbox out but we had to send the picture to a friend in South Africa to go and buy the bearing that broke. Thankfully Johan's wife Wanda was comming on the 25th to visit so she brought it with her. After a full days work and a lot of patience we got it fixed and even the nut that got loose that caused the bearing to brake. We praise God for Wanda that she came and for all the wonderful help and encouragement that God surrounded us with in the team.

Eventually, more than halfway through their time here, the team started on the roof of the house. They termite painted all the planks we had ordered (and enjoyed the after affects of the fumes) and got alot of key planks in so that I can go on with out too much truble. The whole team had a chance to go and minister to the local school where the children were excited to see them come back and play and teach them new and more things. We pray that God may bless ehtier efforts in building on the next generation of the area.

We were also blessed that the team brought with them a big amount of medical supplies for us donated through Crosslink Internations (over $2500 dollars worth). Thanks Sheryl and whoever else helped with that contact. We are finding the medical supplies to be a huge blessing here as people often come to us for medicine and minor medical treatment. Even just while the team was here Sheryl (a nurse) had to asist me in taking a five inch stick out of a locals foot ofter he stept in it. It was nasty and very deep almost poking out through the top of his foot and what is even more amazing is that he let us pull it without any anestesia (I want to see that happen in a 1st world country). We thank God that his foot has healed and is doing good. Every time people come we are able to pray for them and it has become a wonderful ministry in and of itself.

I wish we had time to say of all the other many things that the team blessed us with while here - like gathering and chopping tons of firewood, clearing our big orchard by hand by swinging L shaped machetes, painting (and waterproofing) all our various door frames and doors that we had been meaning to get to for the last 6 months, planting a herb garden in front of Amber's kitchen, cleaning and organizing both of our crazy store rooms, showing of the Jesus Film at two different locations, raking leaves from around the property (making it much easier to spot those pesky snakes), fetching loads of river sand and stones, and participating in two worship services, doing the preaching and childrens service in each, and watering over 100 + baby fruit trees by hand every day just to name a few.... And last but not least was something that was especially important to Amber was Kelly (age 18) painting an absolutely awesome outdoor theme in our new toilet and bathroom, complete with grass, tree, lion, chamellion, and birds. It is truely a site to see and one of our favorite rooms now. Thank you Kelly and team.

After all the teams hard work it was a real blessing to be able to spend a few days with them relaxing in Livingstone and Chobe, Botswana before the team departed to leave us alone again on August 1st. At least Whitney and Kalen stayed a few more days to help us with the transition. Now we are all alone again but busy as ever. But if you want to know what we have been up to lately you will have to wait until the next posting so stay tuned...... So to Va team, Johan, Wanda, and Whitney and Kalen - thanks for all your hard work and encouragement during this special special time. You made our jobs now much easier and we pray that God will greatly reward and bless you as you have blessed us.

Check out additional photos at www.picasaweb.google.com/missionoflovezambia

Until next time......

Jako and Amber Joubert

Hello friends,

Praise God, the Virginia team has arrived in Mukamba! Their travels went well with no customs or transfer difficulties. We put them to work right away, digging rocks for the floor of the first orphanage house. They are enjoying their first few days in the bush of Zambia. We have had the pleasure of worshipping with the Mukamba church and had the honor of listening to Pastor Petros. They have been a huge blessing and we are enjoying sharing old memories and making new ones. A lot of hands make much work much lighter- especially watering the 100 or so baby fruit trees in Amber’s orchard. Along with hauling sand, digging barach (rock similar to cement consistency), chopping firewood, fixing broken trailers, and our Landy which once again is experiencing difficulties we have been sharing lots of laughs as well.

Please pray for the delivery of lumber for the orphanage roof. A broken down truck has delayed the delivery once already, so we are anxious to get the supplies that will allow us to get busy. Also please pray for the Land Rover –that God will give us wisdom, strength and encouragement to be able to fix it as it is necessary transport for the team. Praise God that the two Toyotas are still working (Johan’s condor and our Hilux).


Now a note from our “special” friends Ryan and Ed-

A hello to Kirkwood Presbyterian. Your two missionaries are safe and sound and working hard. They are sure to have a lot of stories to share upon their return.

A quick note to the Ervin girls: Hello my girls love you guys Amanda, Sarah, Erika and a BIG LOVE YOU to my # 1 Candi :o) Ryan

Windhausen girls a love note to you guys too. Briana, Lindsey and to my Love Kris
Love you all, Ed

Ed Windhausen and Ryan Ervin toast to an African morning with their
Little Utica United Methodist Church mugs.

Greeting to all of you.

So much has been happening that I do not know where to start. One things is that while in Livingstone on “business” we met four young ladies from the Nederland’s that said that they want to experience a real village and what it looks like, so we invited them along to come and visit us in Mukamba. They are really hard workers and ended up spending 2 days and 2 nights with us. In this time they helped dig the foundation for the library and poured the concrete for the footing of the library. They broke old bricks up with hammers to fill in the side of the septic tank and also helped Amber clear and clean a peace of land to plant 13 different fruit trees. On top of this they also helped us drive the 1 hour to go and load sand. We were really impressed with them for they worked hard and did not sit still. We thank you four ladies for helping us and working so hard.

While they were here we were in a hurry to get Lombie (the local master builder) to start with building the orphanage house but then we got word that his father was really sick and no one knew when he would be back from visiting him. We were quite concerned knowing that all the brick building had to be completed in a month so that the American team from Va could put the roof on when they come on July 17th. Praise God that only a week and a half later Lombie showed up and started to build on the 20th of June 08. I must say that we had our times but he has proved himself to be a fast and beautiful builder. The door frames are in and are at window height and at this week we are expecting them to finish putting the windows in by the end of this week. It is really looking nice.

On a sad and somewhat frustrating note, in the midst of our business with all the different projects, the Land Rover’s lay shaft in the gearbox snapped in half and I had to take the gearbox out. When I took the piece to Livingstone to see if I could get a replacement there was none to be found because the Land Rover is a 1964 make and a bit old : ) This was the vehicle that we were planning on picking up the 7 South Africans with so with 9 people (including Amber and me) we had to make a plan for us with the Hilux. In the end four people had to ride with a public bus to Kalomo and the rest of the 2 hour off road in the back of the Hilux. It was definitely cramped and dusty but a truly African experience. Sorry guys.

The group of 7 people from South Africa that arrived on the 21st of July 08 were a big blessing. They came to start to build a library and hoped that they would finish it in 5 days but when they got there and had to load sand, bricks and other things they realized that maybe they were being a bit too ambitious : ) They were a big help though and had a good time fellowshipping with the local people. The time that they had to build on the library they really did good and got far with it they are hard workers. My mother was one of them and she impressed me with how hard she worked. They spend time with children and taught them the wordless bible with colors that they painted their nails. They helped load about 8000 bricks in the short time that they were there.

On the last day as we were busy packing up to leave for Livingstone our little puppy dog ran in to the wire reinforcement and ripped a big piece open on her side. It wouldn’t have been such a big deal had we been in the city but hours from the nearest vet and with Amber in tears out of worry for her (she wouldn’t have made it if just left to her own) I had to give her stitches. Thankfully we had stitching kits donated in a box of medical supplies (thanks Marcie) and about 7 months ago, Michelle a 5th year medical student had taught me how to give them (just in case I needed it). Now I was forced to put what I learned into practice on Beloved our little dog and I must she was a very good patient. I must have succeeded as she is doing very good now and Amber is very happy and thankful that God helped me to “save” her life. And now I have a bit more confidence if I ever need to give stitches to a person. A dog makes a much easier first time patient I have learned. They are much easier to hold down and still love you afterwards.

It was definitely different this time having the team leave and us return back to Mukamba instead of leaving with them. With all the people gone we definitely felt a sense of aloneness. Well that did not last long as there was lots to do and tons of work that needed done. I was able to get our toilet and bathroom working so now we have a flushing toilet and a warm water and cold water tap that we can take good showers. Even though we still have to hand pump all the water we need to the tank, I thank God that we are blessed like that. After all these years of “roughing it” in outdoor bush facilities, what a luxury it is now to have working taps. Amber was able to get caught up with some of the orphanage admin and me and the local guys were able to get started with the thatching of our kitchen roof. With this being my first attempt I am very happy with how it is looking so far.

And our newest development is the arrival of Whitney and Kalen- two college students from North Carolina, that are here to help us out for a month. We just picked them up from the airport today and we are already really blessed by their presence. We are also eager to put them to work with all the prep work needed before the Virginia team arrives on July 17th, moving more bricks, hauling sand, finishing the kitchen roof, adding more trees to Amber’s orchard, finishing our bush toilets and showers, and painting our bathroom. We truly thank God for their energetic and fun loving spirits and for the helping hands they bring as well. I only hope they know what they have gotten themselves into…. Stay tuned for the rest of the adventure : )

For more pictures please go to www.picasaweb.google.com/missionoflovezambia

With much love and appreciation.

****Big praise is that the Land Rover is fixed as from the 12th of Jully so thank you God.

****More praise is the safe arrival of Whitney and Kalen and for good progress of the orphanage house building for they will be in a weeks time at roof height God willing

**Please pray that God helps us with the fuel price for now we are paying $11 a gallon.

**Pray For Whitney for she is not feeling well.

**Pray for us that we will get things done and bring Glory to God.

**Pray for the team that is comming that they would get here safe with all their belongings.

Thank you

Jako and Amber Joubert

Mission of Love Community Orphanage

Po Box 620170

Kalomo

Zambia

amberandjako@hotmail.com

Home sweet Home in Zambia

Greetings to all in Our Lord Jesus Christ and do pray that all of you are well. Amber and I arrived in Zambia save on the 21st of Mei 2008 and had to spend a couple of days in Livingstone to get our 1964 Land Rover cleared and registered in Zambia. We thank you for all your prayers and thank God that it is registered, cleared, and working in Mukamba. Amber had to drive the Toyota Hilux off road and she did very good and even had to go through a river with water still in it. After only driving automatics in the States and 5 years of relatively little driving with a manual stick shift, I am very proud of her. 5 hours of difficult off road driving was definitely being thrown into the fire.

Work here in Mukamba is progressing slowly but is moving. Some of the villages have started to make their bricks and to date there are about 50 000 mud bricks molded. Community involvement has been excelent and now the next task is to get them burned so that the builder can start to build the first orphanage house! We have also been and still are working on getting our kitchen, toilet and bathroom finished which is also going slower than what we would like it to go. Out "updated" flush toilet is working but you still have to pour the water in the bowl manually. We are in the process of putting up a water tank to have some flowing water. Next we want to complete the bathing room so that our days of bucket bathing in the cool winter air will be lessened Brrrrr! We also had a snake for a visitor one night at our temporary kitchen, and boy was he long and strong but we did not kill it for we knew what snake it was. While we are known for killing both black mamba's and puffaders two of the most venomous snakes out here, this visitor was a Southern File snake for those of you who would like to know and are not poisonous. Because burning bricks take a lot of wood to burn we are starting to cut trees down in the farmers fields where they are planting so in this way we are helping some people in the area with clearing their fields. Amber and I both were a bit sick but must thank God that we are well and strong again with God's help. Another fun event is that we happened to find some baby fruit trees in Livingstone that Amber planted and has been tending like children. Our dogs continue to grow (along with the puppies - one of which has graduated to goat/cow herder at the animal property) but are still as naughty and active and wonderful as always.

It is both exciting and a bit overwhelming at times as we adjust and go through the whole range of emotions of living here now permanently. We are very excited about the two upcomming teams that will be visiting us in June and July (including two college age ladies who will be visiting us for a month) but are now feeling the time crunch of getting things ready and completed in time for them. Soo much work to do and yet so little time - but in this all - we know that God is the one in control and as we do our part, He will do his. One added blessing of this is that we have REALLY come to appreciate Sundays as a true day of rest. During this busy transition time in our lives, I don't know how we would get through the week without God and his wonderfully ordained day of rest.

For pictures of what it look like and what we were up to this far please go to: www.picasaweb.google.com/missionoflovezambia

Thank you again for your ongoing prayers and financial support. Thanks for partnering with us in this exciting phase of the ministry.

Jako and Amber
amberandjako@hotmail.com

Mission of Love Comminuty Orphanage

Zambia