Emmanuel is proud to support the missionary work of Rachel VanGent who serves in Zambia, Africa as a head teacher at The Esther School. Their mission is:
to provide a holistic, Christian education that develops the passion and skills students need to become servant leaders in the Kingdom of God.
In June 2017 a group of Emmanuel staff and members visited the school to help run a camp for the students. Another group will be returning to help the school in March of this year.
This post is the first of a series of stories we will share about the June 2017 trip. Perhaps in these words and pictures you will find yourself considering a call to join us in the upcoming March trip. If finances are a barrier, some assistance may be available. For more information please email hello@emmanuelto.org to get connected, or talk with Dan VanGent or Carol O’Keefe directly.
Check out the other posts in the series:
“Why Go to Zambia” by Debbie Barber
“Why I am Going to Zambia” by Danny Chulack
“Exploring Purpose in Zambia” by Kate Paulis
God Has Given Me a Love for Africa! by Carol O’Keefe
I first travelled to Kenya in 1998 on an investigative mission trip to see where my church’s support would best be used. It was there that I was bitten by the “Africa bug” as so many people say. What followed was a 10 year period when I travelled to Uganda almost every year as a health team teacher, teaching in very rural parts of western Uganda.
When I joined Emmanuel in 2016, I knew that I wanted to continue to travel to Africa in some missionary capacity and I kept hearing about Zambia, the Esther School and Rachel VanGent.
I had seen a facebook post from Craig Williams, one of the pastors at Emmanuel, with a picture of a classroom at the Esther school. I marveled at how each child had her own desk and they looked new and the room looked so clean and organized (not like usual classrooms I had seen on previous trips) I met Tina VanGent, Rachel’s mother and member of Emmanuel, and pestered her about going to see the school and Rachel.
Finally, in June 2017, I was blessed to be on a plane to Zambia with about 8 other Emmanuel members.
I had no expectations since this was a new part of Africa, and I was looking forward to just seeing the school and helping in some small way with the Summer Camp we were holding for the students.
Driving to the school from the airport in Lusaka, I saw the familiar small towns with tin-roofed one-story buildings by the side of the road selling everything from soap to cellphone minutes and people walking to and fro on the mud-packed edges of the road.
I was so excited to be back in Africa!
We were greeted by Rachel’s parents, and I met Rachel and her daughter Moriah for the first time. We stayed in the teacher’s quarters which were very comfortable, and had the privilege of watching the chickens every morning looking for scraps in the front yard and watching the students walk to school waving to us! The teacher’s houses where we stayed sit on a slight hill overlooking the school and the beautiful countryside where we could see beautiful sunsets.
We were joined by two groups of women from Michigan and Washington to help with the camp. In total there were about 20 of us, 18 women, Rachel’s father Dan, and our pastor Craig!
I was amazed at how God worked among us during that time.
Everyone got along and we worked together so well in everything, from working during the day with the students to cooking together at night with a limited supply of water. We learned how to get by with only showering twice a week, boiling water to do dishes and laundry and recycling our water for the plants around the house.
Each morning of the camp we would gather in a large room.
In the library we would sing praise songs accompanied by Craig on the guitar and some of the students on drums and hear the plans for the day. I was struck by how the students – from pre-K to 4th grade- all joined in the songs with such joy.
I was assigned to escort the pre-K children to the different classes we were holding and make sure everyone stayed together. Those little ones were so adorable and so attentive and well-behaved during the classes and seemed so glad to be there!
They always had smiles on their faces!
I later learned that some of them travelled miles with their mothers or fathers on foot to get to the school and that the parents were required to help in some capacity at the school. Some mothers prepared snacks for the kids and some of the fathers helped with maintenance.
The teachers who came from Michigan and Washington taught English, Math, and Science. Debbie Barber, Emmanuel’s Family and Children’s Ministry Director, taught Bible with one of the Esther School teachers and Emmanuel’s Childcare Coordinator Kate Paulson taught Art with an Esther school teacher. The classrooms were just as clean and organized as I remembered in the Facebook photo. The last day of the camp there was a celebration and presentation for the parents who eagerly applauded their children’s efforts!
We had a chance to visit the small town next to the school, Nyangwena, and see the government school and the orphanage, My Father’s House.
I was so glad to get to know Rachel and Moriah better and to be at the school and realize the sacrifice she has made in living in Zambia as a teacher and single mother. Although she has had a lot of difficulty in the adoption process with Moriah, she has persevered and depended on God’s provision during this process. She always had a smile on her face.
On Sunday some of us worshipped at the church in Nyangwena and some worshipped with the staff in the library.
The library worship was led by Mr Isaac, a local farmer, and jack of all trades whose wonderful farm we visited. We were amazed at the joy and praise exhibited by the people in the congregations we visited.
I couldn’t help but be moved by their exuberance.
It is my hope to return to Zambia in March while the Esther School is in session and do some health teaching with the students. The Esther School is a wonderful place where students are learning about God and the world around them. They are taught in clean, organized classrooms and nurtured physically with meals and spiritually with prayer and praise time and Christian teaching.
I am sure that it is the school’s intention that these students go on to do great things with their lives with God’s blessing.
