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New Wells at the Village of Hope

by Minda Squadroni, Global Missions Committee

Two months ago, those at our global mission partner, All Kids Can Learn International/Village of Hope, were shocked to wake up without water in the Village of Hope in Zambia, Africa. They re-routed water pipes from the veggie gardens to provide water for the Village. At the same time, they learned that two of the Irrigation wells were pumping mud; they too were going dry. What a sinking feeling!! Naturally, they need water for drinking, cooking, bathing, and for irrigation to grow crops providing food.

Their previous wells were drying up. Years of drought have taken their toll. Larger and deeper wells were needed.

They had a hydro-engineering specialist come out from Lusaka, the capital of Zambia. He advised that they drill five new wells up to 100 meters deep, each with a diameter of 8 inches. Two for the Village, two for the agricultural irrigation, and one for the road-front and the restaurant (the current wells average 60 meters deep, and average 6 inches in diameter).

Then the drillers came. Two of the sites that were drilled were dry, even after they drilled down 300 feet. A third site yielded 2.5 liters a second, good for domestic uses. But it kept collapsing! It took five days for the drillers to stabilize it with steel casing.

But then came the huge blessing! The drillers hit a location that yielded 6 gallons a second; over 360 gallons a minute. This is just what we need and prayed for, for our irrigation. Praise God! Once again, He poured out His Grace and Blessings providing just what we need!

We thank God, and we thank you for coming to our rescue. We make a great team together in Christ to save and serve the children He has given us to love and care for.

As the year ends, and the giving season comes, please continue to remember us as we care for our rural children in Zambia.

Thank you to all of you who contributed to the project with your prayers and donations. It couldn’t have happened without you.

Kathleen Schwartz, Village of Hope

Minda
by Minda Squadroni, Global Missions Committee

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Fall 2022 at Zion!

Our mission is to partner with families for faith formation and connection.  We are always looking for ways to connect with you and to be helpful to families as they seek to raise their children in the faith. There is nothing like fall in Minnesota!  But, there is also nothing like the busyness that accompanies it.  Registrations, new schedules, new routines, new forms to fill out and keep track of, new school supplies to find and purchase, and new anxieties to calm.  We started asking: what if the church found a way to curb some of that, instead of participating in it?

We started asking parents:  “Would it be helpful if we moved the start of Sunday School and Confirmation to October?”  And, overwhelmingly, parents told us that would be AWESOME and helpful. So, Sunday School (both at 8:30 & 10:30 this year!) will begin Sunday, October 2nd, and Confirmation will begin Wednesday, October 5th.

September will be focused on connecting your family to the joy of Sabbath.  We hope you will be connecting back to worship if you’ve taken some time away. To help you focus on Sabbath and worship this Fall, the 10:30am outdoor worship service is continuing into September.  Children love the chance to dance, run, and worship under the trees, and Zion has the perfect set-up. It is casual, low-key, a little bit shorter, and filled with music. Bring chairs or a blanket and worship outside the first two Sundays in September.  Then, be ready for Z-Fest on the 18th!  Food trucks! Games! Fun!

Each Sunday in September will have extra special ways of connecting with children & youth in worship (beyond our ever-popular children’s sermon time. Enjoy the breather and grace this new start date will provide and connect with friends old and new at worship this September. After all, God has commanded Sabbath rest, because we need it!

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