We are Still in Zambia!

Well, what do you know?! The Smiths are alive and back on their blog!
This is our new home. We enjoyed living in the Washer's home for ten months and in the Hafler's home for nine months, but this is OUR home!

The Lord has been very gracious in allowing us to rent this home from another mission group. The previous tenants were veteran missionaries of 30+ years who retired in December 2008. The house has 3 bedrooms, 1 and a half baths, and even an office besides the living/dining room and kitchen. We use an enclosed porch for our school room. It is the smallest of the three houses we have lived in, but it is sufficient for our family.




The yard is the major plus factor! Most of the year, it is very comfortable to play outside, so it is wonderful to have a yard suitable for our children. There are mature fruit trees and flowering trees to climb, plenty of grass to run and ride bikes, established flower beds and garden plots. Some of the fruit growing in our yard include: bananas, mango, quava, grapes, strawberries, papaya, lemons, oranges, pineapple, avocado and some that are still unidentified. This picture is part of the backyard. Our property backs up to high tension power lines, so it is undeveloped land. The yellow flowers towering over our back wall grow wild all over the place here. They are pretty unless they are in the lawn.

After moving to our new home in January, we learned that our internet system wouldn't work at the new location. We also learned that it would cost about $1000 to purchase the needed equipment and to have it installed. Thus, we have not been online at home for a while.


It was a time of relying on the Lord for strength and endurance. Amazing how dependent we get on technology. Even the children were feeling the effects of a "simpler" life. In April, the boys had their birthday and each were given a dollar from one of their friends. Joshua wanted to give us his dollar to help us pay for new internet. That very day, we found out that someone anonymously gave us $1000 for a computer upgrade. Josh got to keep his dollar (though he can't spend it here) and we thanked the Lord that we could start the process of getting internet hooked up again. And here we are finally!