Sitting on a mat.....

Today, I found myself sitting on a mat under the trees sharing the gospel with a group of 11 women from Silver Rest Baptist Church. About 6 weeks ago our family went to this church to worship on Sunday. On that day the pastors wife announced that her husbands job was transferring him to Lusaka so they would no longer be attending or helping this church. She arranged with me to start coming and teaching the women after we finished with 40/40. So now on Thursdays I will go to Silver Rest and then on to Chainda II Baptist church. It makes for kind of long day but it is so fulfilling. I started with Creation to Christ which is a method of sharing the gospel using stories from the Bible. I was so excited to see so many women attend. Please pray for Amai Tembo who said she had been having strange dreams. She says she is born again but I'm not so sure. Next week we will be talking about Assurance of Salvation so pray that all of these women will know for sure.
At Chainda II, I was met by 6 women whom I had not seen in a little over a month. It was so good to meet with them again and hear what they had been learning in my absence and to also hear the bible verses they had memorized. Today I taught them about being multiplying disciples. It was exciting to see their faces light up when they realized that they too could teach and train others just as they had been trained. God is so good! Please pray for one of the babies on her mothers back named Loveness. She had blisters and a rash on the side of her face which was cracking and becoming like sores. Her mother took her to the clinic on Sunday and he gave her Tylenol and an antibiotic. The baby has finished the medicine and she is not better but worse. She said she would take her back to the clinic tomorrow. Pray that this child will get the medical attention that she needs and be healed.

Where has the time gone....

May 20th, Zach celebrated his 16th birthday. This was his first birthday that we were not together as a family and it was very difficult for his mom and dad. Zach had a fun day though! He had a volleyball match that RVA won! Then that night his dorm parents had him and two of his friends over for pizza and ice cream. My mom sent some old pictures so I thought I would share a few with you too so you can see how my babies are all growing up. Time really does fly! Enjoy your children!
Zach's midterm break is this weekend and so since my birthday is on Friday and we missed his last week, and we really are missing him, we are flying him home for the short break. We can hardly wait to see him. Pray we will make the most of every moment together!

Zach between the age of 1-2 learning to shave from his Papa.

Zach is about 3 in this picture. Is he cute or what?

8 and loving the beach!

I believe Zach is about 11 or 12 in this picture.

This picture was taking this past week. Zach's volleyball team decided to all fix their hair like a mohawk.

Growing up-Justin

This past year Justin and Kevin saw this huge rock while they were traveling and decided that during 40/40 they would try to slip away one day and go climb it. They had to go see the villiage headman to get his permission and get it all set up. An older man went along with Kevin and Justin as a guide since he knew this rock so well. This rock is a lot bigger than it appears in the picture and there were several places where they were just free climbing. They got to one point and this man who is just a little taller than Justin told him, "just imagine." Justin let go and this man just lifted him over this one tough spot. Kevin got to this same point but when he said, "just imagine," Kevin had to say that he just couldn't imagine this little man lifting him up over the rock. Kevin told the man to go ahead with Justin and that he would wait for them. Justin said this was the most exciting experience that he has ever had but at the same time it was the most afraid that he had ever been. I sure am glad that I didn't know how dangerous this exhibition was really going to be because I may have put a stop to it. I think Justin really grew up through this whole experience and passed from a boy to becoming a man.

Believe it or not, this is Justin when he was two years old. He sure has grown up over the last 11 years.

Here is Justin again at two with our puppy at that time. I can't believe he just turned 13 in April.

From left to right: Zach, Bruce(neighbor in Lusaka), and Justin.

What an accomplishment to reach the top!

View from on top of the rock.

40/40 Ends

These are the 40/40 Survivors! We may all look pretty much the same as we did a month ago but God has worked in each of our lives and taught us so much about ourselves. We have recognized strengths in our lives that maybe we didn't realize we had and also seen some weaknesses that we need to allow God to work on. Today these participants will be traveling back to their own countries-South Africa, Malawi, Madagascar, Uganda, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Kenya, and Botswana. Please pray for each of these people as they go back to their new homes and begin to learn language and minister to the people that God has called them to.

Heading out for Homestays

This past Friday morning all 41 participants, including children, headed out for their homestays. The homestay part of 40/40 is when one of our families go and live with a Zambian family for 3 nights in the villiage or in the boma(town). It was exciting to meet back up with them at Ibis Gardens which is a nice lodge North of Lusaka for our final part of 40/40. Our first evening together they shared their experiences living with another family from another culture. It was really neat to hear the things that they learned and experienced in just a short time.

Teagan is 7 years old and she was loaded down with her things that she needed to carry about 1 km away. Is she a trooper or what?

Jamie is carrying her things African style.

The Menser family is all loaded up and ready to go. They all returned with happy faces too!

Janice Keeton handing out some of their supplies that they would need for the 3 days.

Andreas packing up.

Could you eat a mouse?

One afternoon the kids had some free time and what does our son go and do?? He went and asked John Francis Tembo, our Zambian helper in Petauke, to show him how Zambians go out and catch mice and then cook them. He was busy at the time so he got his nephew to take Justin and several other mk's. They had a great time going out hunting for mice and then preparing them to eat. Most of the kids tried this too. I don't think I could have done this one.

Could you eat a caterpillar?

Mopani worms, or caterpillars, are one of the foods that some Zambians enjoy eating. Our 3 oldest mk boys were giving the assignment to come up with a lesson plan for the younger children about bugs. They did an excellent job with this and even had some of these caterpillars prepared for all to try. Whoever tried one got a certificate saying that they had eaten a caterpillar. These were cooked with tomato and onions to help give it some flavor. Believe it or not, I even ate one! I think I will frame my certificate!

Zach, Tucker, and Justin teaching the other mk's.

M. man prays to receive Christ

I. lives in Zimbabwe but has been coming to be our head cook for several years at 40/40. Different ones have been sharing with him each time that he has been here. Finally, during our last few days in Petauke he came to a point where he decided he wanted to leave the Muslim religion and pray to receive Christ. Please pray for I. as he travels back to Zim. that he will be able to get plugged into a Baptist Church there and begin to be discipled.

Jack Sprayberry baptizes Imran in the very spot where he prayed to receive Christ.

They put a marker in this spot as a memorial. Ultimately, this is what 40/40 is all about!

Bush Camp

Almost two weeks ago we all set out for Petauke for the bush camp part of 40/40. It has been a very rewarding experience for us and the participants. Many of you know that I'm not much of a camper and I'll admit the first couple of days were tough but after getting into a routine we had a great time. We did have some hardships during our time there though. Our nurse, Nancy Carley got sick and had to leave and go back to Malawi to see the doctor. She is better now but did not return to the camp. Thankfully, our staff stepped up and did a wonderful job and even one of our own participants was a nurse in the states before coming to the field so we kept her a little busy also. We had two in our group get so sick that they got dehydrated and needed IV's. Thankfully, we were able to take care of that right there at camp and they did not have to go back to Lusaka. I know that below is a lot of pictures and believe me I have a lot more but just wanted to put on the blog some of my favorites. Hope you enjoy!

It is hard to keep your feet clean while living in the bush!

These were our 3 showers that all the women shared. After heating our own water we would lower the bucket in the shower and fill it with our water and then raise our bucket and take a shower.

These were our toilets.

Some of the girls heading out into the villiages.

Jack and John Sapp sitting around talking.

Anna carrying her water on her head like Africans do.

Janice Keeton filling in for our nurse who had to leave because of sickness. Thanks so much Janice!

Each afternoon we would pump water into our kettle and then heat it over the fire so we could have warm water to take a shower with.

Hannah and Anna

The children found a chamelion one day and loved letting it crawl on their arms. Zambians are afraid of these creatures as you can tell in this picture that Anna Zulu is not even letting it touch her skin.

Esther playing with Elliot and Grant during school.

Our camp.

Judy and some of the kitchen staff.

David Hooten and his two children visiting from the states, Anna and Nathanial.

This is Mark Hatfield telling the participants about Baptist Global Response. The participants also went out into the villages to ask the people what they thought were some of their physical needs.

The night before the participants left for their home stays this puff adder was found and killed. It sure is a big one! It was found where a lot of the children played during school. Thankfully, we were all finished with school at this time.

One day Jack killed a pig and roasted it over the fire for dinner.

Anna Hooten came and joined us this past week to help with the children. Here she is helping Emily with her math.

Stephan and Kay Carson who will be serving in Uganda.

From front to back these are some of our Journey girls: Johanna, Kim, Lesley, Tracey, Whitnee, and Becky.

Andreas will be serving in Sudan.

This is a picture of Mwaka having to wash her own clothes after a long day of cooking for all of us.

Each morning the participants had a devotional time in small groups.

Jack Sprayberry teaching a knot tying class.

A lot of the women got together several times during 40/40 and had a bible study on the book of Joshua.

Esther with preschoolers and Tucker waiting for lunch one day.

The boys were hunting for just the right sticks to make spears out of.

John Francis Tembo and Kevin debriefing the participants after they had gone out to the villiages.

Some people washed their own clothes by hand but then some of us paid one of the local women to wash our clothes for us.

Some of the tents that people lived in for two weeks.