Back on the Ground
What an Absolute whirlwind these last number of months have been. For us (the Vowell family) we’ve travelled across the world, added little Miss Alissa to our family, and have now made it back home safe and soundly to Zambia. Now that our bags are finally unpacked, and you’ll believe me that it took awhile if you saw how many we had, we wanted to say hello and let you know about all that’s been happening here at Project Samuel Zambia while we’ve been away!!!
First and always most importantly…the kids. Well, I guess they actually are almost all teenagers now and ones that we are all pretty proud of. When we arrived back, I think Oliver was the biggest surprise! He must have grown three inches while we were gone! The boy we left has morphed into a handsome young man and his friends are right behind him. Everyone is doing well and seems to have continued to thrive in our absence.
Most of you probably heard the news while we were away, but in case you missed it, a milestone event took place…. Our first graduates, brother and sister Kennedy and Lizzie, got accepted to University to pursue medicine! We are so incredibly thrilled for them. Check out this little video where they share more about this themselves.
The rains have come early this year in Zambia which is lovely for us in that it cools down the weather. It does mean that planting will need to happen earlier than usual though. Last year we were able to clear about 10 additional hectares of land that can now be used for planting and we are in need of funds to cover the expansion of the fields. The harvest is used to feed our children and poultry.
We are excited to share that we received a significant donation recently from the Missions Fund of North Shore Alliance Church in Canada, designated towards the building project of the Missions Flats! Thank you NSAC!!! These three flats (each one is a two-bedroom unit) will house both short and long-term missionaries. This donation will enable us to take the next steps of completing the electrical work and ceilings as well as tiling the floors.
From there we are looking to paint, fit out the bathrooms and kitchens with cabinets and large appliances, and purchase basic household furnishings. It’s exciting for us to see an end in sight on this huge project. The flats completion opens up a world of opportunities for us at Project Samuel.
As always, we want to say a big thank you for journeying with us. We are so thankful for your support and belief in the children, our family, and Project Samuel.
Sending our Love,
The Vowell’s and all of us at Project Samuel Zambia