Hello everyone,

Thanksgiving is my favorite time of year! I love the power that thankfulness brings into every situation. This year at Seeds of Hope we are finding our hearts divided. On the one hand we have had an incredible hard time in the past few months. On the other hand the opportunities and the intervention of God’s hand have really surprised and blessed us.

The hard times, Stress…. When bringing hope into a desperate situation you do not normally find the easy road. In the past months we have had two major thefts: A roofing supply company took our money and then went bankrupt; and then therewas a break-in at our Lusaka offices. It comes in the time when money is extremely tight already. It equals thousands of dollars. We have two drill rigs (our biggest 2) both with blown engines that need to be repaired, at the cost of thousands of dollars.  Our stress was multiplied when one of our funders (CIDA, the Canadian government) has approved a large grant but has delayed signing it, possibly until March of next year.  This will delay about 30% of our monthly budget, resulting in the layoff of quite a few people. A large foundation, that has supported us for the last five years, will be cutting their 2012 funding because of funding shortfalls. We also recently had a terrible drilling accident where a driller, Simon, was hit in the head by a large piece of pipe, fracturing his skull and creating a medical emergency. It has been a hard few months….

On the other hand, Thankfulness…God has brought, in incredible ways, amazing volunteers who have brought talents andpassion to help us. This yearwe saw amazing short-term teams come and take Seeds of Hope miles down the road in their short time with us. Additionally, we have had the privilege to have some amazing long-term volunteers and interns. Their sacrificial love and hard work has brought great depth to our programs and touched lives. We have seen agriculture grow, literally. We are now growing on a couple of acres and blessing many people with our produce every day. We are also learning to grow and teach growing vegetables in the African heat. We have watched as our sewing shop produces amazing bags and other items, filling our staff with hope. Even our computer class is beginning come to online. The shipment of “Sohipo bicycles”, being repaired and sold, has brought joy to the staff and community. Zambians love and appreciate their bikes!

We are so thankful for the quality of individuals we are seeing our Zambian staff become. They are really making a difference in so many communities. Many of them are now training other organizations. It is really fun and we are so thankful to see them flourish. We are so blessed to have just surpassed the milestone of half a million people getting clean water from Seeds of Hope’s ministry. Remember Simon, our driller? He has been declared a miracle by the doctors and was sent home from the hospital after only a week in observation. He never lost a single function of his mind or body even though he has a 17 mm depression in his scull. Thank you God!

When the battle is hardest, the victory’s the sweetest!

You are part of this story! Thank you for all your support through the years! It is a lot of “drops of rain” that make a flood… 500,000 people with clean water every day! Our guard, Joseph says, “Sir, they are bathing in the communities because of you! They are washing their blankets!” That means an abundance of water! That translates to health and to hope! One community leader in Mackenzie (a community of 8,000) said to me, “We no longer have a problem with water… Can you help us in agriculture?” I was so thankful to hear that! NO PROBLEM WITH WATER!

We know times are rough everywhere, but we are facing our hardest season. If you are able to help, would you consider giving a donation now to help us through this time? Would you consider joining our small group of monthly supporters? It would sure help to know we could count on steady funding. Also, can you please tell others who you know that might want to help a small but effective group change lives in Africa? We would appreciate it. We appreciate you!

God Bless you,

 Kirk

Kirk Schauer, Executive Director

P.S. Thank you and thank you Lord… Happy Thanksgiving!

“Crush poverty, and release the smell of the perfume of worship to Jesus”