Thursday, July 30, 2020

LIVING WELL Letter AUGUST 2020

When we sent our last letter in April, we had no idea that the COVID virus spread would be worse now than it was then. We had the attitude of many, “we can do this for a while; it will all be better soon.” We are now 4 ½ months into it! Now what?!

As stated in a previous letter, we are not taking new counseling appointments. We have had some appointments by phone and by Facetime during our work-from-home time.

Being confined at home for an extended time can strain a marriage. See this blog post to find ways to make the most of these times.

We have been very busy with the Zambia mission – at home. We ordered and prepared 20 computers for the new computer lab at WISDOM Christian School. We use the Raspberry Pi setup (if you are interested in computers, it's worth checking out). They come in a kit. Ed assembled them. Donna programmed them. The operating system and software all run from a micro SD card (used in many cameras). 


Because of generous donors, we were able to buy all the computers, keyboards, monitors, etc. that were needed. Then, Ed carefully packed them into three containers. We added some microscopes for the science lab. A shipping company picked them up on July 12. They leave the east coast on a ship soon and arrive in Ndola in late October! [see photos and info about the computers on this page]

We had hoped to go to Zambia in early December to set up the computer lab and science lab, but that looks doubtful at this time. We sent detailed instructions for setting up the computers in case we don’t make it. The COVID virus seems to taken hold recently in Zambia. Please pray for protection of the children and staff.

Part of our June mission (that was cancelled) was to build the science lab with sinks and high, fire-proof counters. Since we were unable to do that project, we hired our Zambia contractor to do the work instead. He is hard at work on it!

The 7th graders started back to school on June 1st. The 52 students are divided into three classrooms right now with three teachers for each group. Normally, they are all in one classroom together. They wear masks, have their temps taken daily, and use hand sanitizer. They have exams at the end of the year to determine if they will pass to the 8th grade next year. Grades K-6 will not return to school until January 2021. This is nationwide and mandated by the government. [see more photos here]

On a more personal note, our daughter, Jacquelyn was married on July 4th to Sam Eagleson! We are very excited about their future together. Their original plan was to have the wedding in Santa Fe with lots of friends and family. Instead they had it in OKC, outdoors, with a small group of friends and family. Ed had the privilege of officiating the ceremony and it was a day full of joy for all of us!

 


And we added a puppy to our home – a Corgi named Molly!


Please let us know how you are doing. Our office is closed but you can email us at info@livingwellokc.org. THANK YOU again for your continued prayers, support, and encouragement. We could not do what we do without YOU!

Our love in Christ,

Donna and Ed Edwards

P.S. Please pray for us as we go through this unusual situation in our world and for continued support for the ministry.
The water that I will give him will
become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life. 
John 4:14b 
LIVING WELL is a life source, not a life style.