This past week, we returned unexpectedly back to Michigan. Allison's grandfather passed away on Friday evening. We decided on Saturday that we would fly back for the funeral. Our plane left Sunday afternoon and we landed in Grand Rapids Monday at 11:00 AM. Visitation was Monday night and the funeral was Tuesday morning.
So we are currently stateside and spending time with family that we were not planning on. We will head back to Zambia on February 2nd. Thank you for the prayers!
Thursday, January 26, 2017
Tuesday, January 10, 2017
Daily Life
Here is what a typical week currently looks like for the Attema's in Singanga village:
Sunday: We have church in the village. Then the members of the team that live in town pack up and head back to Livingstone. In the afternoon, we usually rest, work on projects around the base, or go to a football game in one of the neighboring villages. The football team is made up of young men from the surrounding villages. Benjamin occasionally plays or helps coach. Lately, Benjamin has been working on different projects regarding the pigs and we have done a little bit of gardening.
Monday: This is our day off. We typically stay in the village and it is quiet and peaceful. The team has all gone to town except for 1 other couple. Our mornings are filled with rest and quiet time. We sometimes play games, do some cooking, wash clothes, or work on a project that's happening on the base.
Tuesday: We head to town on Tuesday's. We have team meetings all morning. The meetings start with team church where we worship and share with one another. Then we move into process group where we process different things that are going on individually or as a team so that we can all remain healthy. After process group, we are assigned different team tasks for the week, some of which are done in the early afternoon while we are still in town. We usually grab lunch in town (which means we eat some meat!), and we do all of our shopping for the week before heading back to the village in the evening.
Wednesday - Friday: In the mornings we do language learning, Allison tutors and Benjamin sometimes takes this time for devotions or working on his pig project. In the afternoons, we meet with our church groups. There are always many children around so we spend a fair amount of time playing games and hanging out with the kids. Benjamin also does some work with the four Zambian men who work on the base and we visit people in the villages and purchase different items such as fish and buns.
Saturday: In the morning we do some language learning and then we have required tutoring for all of the sponsored kids. All hands are needed on deck to make this program run smoothly. We both have tutoring groups that we meet with for an hour. After that, we have discipleship time for an hour that is open to all children. We typically work with the 12 and under kids teaching Bible stories and life skills. The afternoons are currently left open to help with any team things, work on projects, play football, build relationships with the kids and adults, or to meet with groups we weren't able to meet with during the week. At night the children from the children's home come over for a worship night. We sometimes have these hosted in different villages rather than doing them on the base.
Sunday: We have church in the village. Then the members of the team that live in town pack up and head back to Livingstone. In the afternoon, we usually rest, work on projects around the base, or go to a football game in one of the neighboring villages. The football team is made up of young men from the surrounding villages. Benjamin occasionally plays or helps coach. Lately, Benjamin has been working on different projects regarding the pigs and we have done a little bit of gardening.
Monday: This is our day off. We typically stay in the village and it is quiet and peaceful. The team has all gone to town except for 1 other couple. Our mornings are filled with rest and quiet time. We sometimes play games, do some cooking, wash clothes, or work on a project that's happening on the base.
Tuesday: We head to town on Tuesday's. We have team meetings all morning. The meetings start with team church where we worship and share with one another. Then we move into process group where we process different things that are going on individually or as a team so that we can all remain healthy. After process group, we are assigned different team tasks for the week, some of which are done in the early afternoon while we are still in town. We usually grab lunch in town (which means we eat some meat!), and we do all of our shopping for the week before heading back to the village in the evening.
Wednesday - Friday: In the mornings we do language learning, Allison tutors and Benjamin sometimes takes this time for devotions or working on his pig project. In the afternoons, we meet with our church groups. There are always many children around so we spend a fair amount of time playing games and hanging out with the kids. Benjamin also does some work with the four Zambian men who work on the base and we visit people in the villages and purchase different items such as fish and buns.
Saturday: In the morning we do some language learning and then we have required tutoring for all of the sponsored kids. All hands are needed on deck to make this program run smoothly. We both have tutoring groups that we meet with for an hour. After that, we have discipleship time for an hour that is open to all children. We typically work with the 12 and under kids teaching Bible stories and life skills. The afternoons are currently left open to help with any team things, work on projects, play football, build relationships with the kids and adults, or to meet with groups we weren't able to meet with during the week. At night the children from the children's home come over for a worship night. We sometimes have these hosted in different villages rather than doing them on the base.
Friday, January 6, 2017
Mouse Problem
So we have a mouse problem! Some of you know that back in Michigan we had an ongoing battle with mice in our house... well, the battle is not finished.
We have caught ten mice so far and also have had some of our mouse poison eaten. The issue with these mice is that some of them are clothes eaters. We call them squirrel-tailed-mice because they have the body of a mouse but the tail of a squirrel. Three of the ten mice that we have caught have been this type. A number of our clothes have holes in them now, specifically, underwear and shirts. We have a trap, poison, sticky traps, and moth balls. We are waging war!
We have caught ten mice so far and also have had some of our mouse poison eaten. The issue with these mice is that some of them are clothes eaters. We call them squirrel-tailed-mice because they have the body of a mouse but the tail of a squirrel. Three of the ten mice that we have caught have been this type. A number of our clothes have holes in them now, specifically, underwear and shirts. We have a trap, poison, sticky traps, and moth balls. We are waging war!
The holes in our clothes from the mice.
The squirrel-tailed mouse.
Monday, January 2, 2017
A Year in Review
This past year has been amazing! We are now on a journey that we never thought we would be on a year ago. So this is a post where we are just looking back on the last year and giving thanks to God for how he has been faithful.
January
We took in our first child through Safe Families. His name is Jacob and we had him over several weekends from January all the way through April. We also began our journey of looking at organizations to work with overseas, specifically in Haiti.
February
Dan and Regina, from Love's Door, visited us at our home for dinner and we first started thinking about Zambia after that visit. Benjamin's grandmother passed away from cancer so we made a visit to Iowa to celebrate her life.
March
JJ (8 years old) and Jovoni (7 years old) moved into our house through Safe Families. They lived with us for a month and changed our lives.
April
The month of April was mainly consumed with having JJ and Jovoni, especially over spring break. We raced in a small relay triathlon in Holland and we took first place! We also officially decided to commit to serving with Love's Door in Zambia.
May
We flew down to Florida to surprise Allison's sister, Lindsay, for her college graduation.
June
We celebrated our one year anniversary on the 5th. Allison finished her job at Holland Christian. And we went to Israel for two weeks on an amazing trip with Ray VanderLaan.
July
We were able to celebrate the wedding of our good friends, Hayley and DeMyron. Allison taught Vacation Bible School and jumped back into summer tutoring.
August
We raced in the Fremont sprint triathlon. The Allison's parents took us on one last family trip to Mackinac Island (Benjamin's first time up north!). On the 25th, Carsen (9 months), Ethan (9 months), and Jayven (1 year and 10 months) came to live with us for a month through Safe Families. We loved these adorable little boys and had our own little family!
September
This was a busy and bittersweet month for us. We were parents for much of the month with three boys but then we had to say goodbye with lots of tears. Benjamin finished working at Industrial Control, and we packed up all of our belongings and said goodbye to our first house that we were renting. Calvary Church also commissioned us during a Sunday service.
October
We headed to Kansas City for three weeks of church planting training through All Nations. At the end of our time, we stopped in Iowa for three nights to visit family and then we spent a night in Chicago with friends.
November
On November 1, we said our goodbyes and flew off to Zambia. A week later we moved out to the village full time. We had our first holiday in Zambia, Thanksgiving, and started calling this place home!
December
This past month has been a combination of settling into routines, beginning outreach and projects, picking up a little local vocabulary, celebrating during the holidays, and thanking God for where he has brought us in 2016!
Thank you to everyone for your support and love! We are amazed at what all has happened in this year and expectant of what will come. It is always an adventure to let God take us wherever He wants!
Happy New Year's!
January
We took in our first child through Safe Families. His name is Jacob and we had him over several weekends from January all the way through April. We also began our journey of looking at organizations to work with overseas, specifically in Haiti.
February
Dan and Regina, from Love's Door, visited us at our home for dinner and we first started thinking about Zambia after that visit. Benjamin's grandmother passed away from cancer so we made a visit to Iowa to celebrate her life.
March
JJ (8 years old) and Jovoni (7 years old) moved into our house through Safe Families. They lived with us for a month and changed our lives.
April
The month of April was mainly consumed with having JJ and Jovoni, especially over spring break. We raced in a small relay triathlon in Holland and we took first place! We also officially decided to commit to serving with Love's Door in Zambia.
May
We flew down to Florida to surprise Allison's sister, Lindsay, for her college graduation.
June
We celebrated our one year anniversary on the 5th. Allison finished her job at Holland Christian. And we went to Israel for two weeks on an amazing trip with Ray VanderLaan.
July
We were able to celebrate the wedding of our good friends, Hayley and DeMyron. Allison taught Vacation Bible School and jumped back into summer tutoring.
August
We raced in the Fremont sprint triathlon. The Allison's parents took us on one last family trip to Mackinac Island (Benjamin's first time up north!). On the 25th, Carsen (9 months), Ethan (9 months), and Jayven (1 year and 10 months) came to live with us for a month through Safe Families. We loved these adorable little boys and had our own little family!
September
This was a busy and bittersweet month for us. We were parents for much of the month with three boys but then we had to say goodbye with lots of tears. Benjamin finished working at Industrial Control, and we packed up all of our belongings and said goodbye to our first house that we were renting. Calvary Church also commissioned us during a Sunday service.
October
We headed to Kansas City for three weeks of church planting training through All Nations. At the end of our time, we stopped in Iowa for three nights to visit family and then we spent a night in Chicago with friends.
November
On November 1, we said our goodbyes and flew off to Zambia. A week later we moved out to the village full time. We had our first holiday in Zambia, Thanksgiving, and started calling this place home!
December
This past month has been a combination of settling into routines, beginning outreach and projects, picking up a little local vocabulary, celebrating during the holidays, and thanking God for where he has brought us in 2016!
Thank you to everyone for your support and love! We are amazed at what all has happened in this year and expectant of what will come. It is always an adventure to let God take us wherever He wants!
Happy New Year's!
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