Store Update

I just wanted to give an update on our guard Charles' new business.  As I wrote about a few weeks ago, he started a "Katemba" which is a small neighborhood grocery stand in hopes of providing a more stable income and less labor intensive job for his wife.  The other day, he took the time to do a count of his inventory and then we sat down and calculated his profits.  Through three weeks he has sold over 500,000 kwacha worth of groceries (approximately $150) and profited over 130,000 kwacha (approximately $40).  If his wife had been breaking brick for local cement mixers, she would have had to work 4 & 1/2 - 5 weeks to make the same amount of money!

Since opening the store, Charles has slowly been learning how to keep records for his business.  Each morning, we meet for a few minutes.  He prepares the books the night before and I check them for errors.  When we first started, he couldn't even get through one sheet without making several mistakes.  The past three days, he has made no mistakes and has finally grasped how to track inventory and calculate his profits.  I wish you could have seen the smile on his face when we reviewed the books today and found no errors!

Please continue to pray for this family.  Pray that the business would be a means of providing for this family.  Pray also for Charles.  He has learned how to use about half of the sheets that he was given for monitoring his new business.  Pray that he will be able to learn the other half.  Pray also for me, that I would be an encouragement to him both physically and spiritually as we learn together.