Dear friends and supporters of Kindle,
I’d like to start with thanksgiving and a note that God is good! Last month I shared that we were unable to pay October salaries. I am happy to report that after many special gifts and the arrival of some expected funding, all of our staff has now been paid not only for October but for November as well!
November is a time of preparation here. For Kindle, it is a time of evaluating 2011 and planning for 2012, looking at budgets, submitting proposals to current and potential donors, completing staff evaluations, and signing new contracts. For the local community it is a time of getting ready for the rains. We’ve had a couple of showers, but the rains should start in earnest soon.
For one thing, that means that any construction projects need to be finished, or at least at a point that they will survive the rain. Kindle’s big construction project this year has been a staff house for one of the clinical officers at Katawa clinic. Right now, his family lives 80 km away in Lilongwe and during the week he stays at a rented house 20 km away in Salima town. We still need to install solar lighting and kitchen fixtures, and lay a gravel path on the soft dirt that will soon be thick mud.
For another thing, that means preparing fields for planting. At this time of year, attendance at youth groups and family life groups drops, people stop coming to the clinic for minor ailments, and whole families dedicate hours every day to hoeing. A video of a couple of 11-year-old girls hoeing in the family field near Kindle can be found here. It is no coincidence that the schools take a one-month holiday in December!
And speaking of holidays in December, may your Advent season be a time of remembering not only the first Advent of Christ’s birth as a baby but also of remembering that His second Advent is coming. In that day God Himself will be with His people and be our God (Revelation 21:3). One day there will be no more orphans, as we will remain forever in the presence of our Father.
Thank you for your interest, your prayers,
and your partnership!
Dean Stocker
Director of Kindle
