It's tough being a woman

10 weeks ago I embarked upon a study of the book of Esther with two other missionary friends of mine here in Zambia. We have just completed this study and are overwhelmed with all that we have learned. Beth Moore is the one that wrote this study. She is one of my favorite teachers. Because of the distance between the three of us each week we would listen to the CD and do our weekly study ourselves. Then at the end of the week we would write each other an email with our comments about that weeks study and what God had taught us. It's one thing to do a study on your own but sure is a lot more fun to do it with others and be able to hear their insights. Thanks Amy and Lee for sharing your hearts each week.

I learned a lot in this study and I certainly won't write everything down here. I enjoyed watching Esther grow into the woman God wanted/called her to be. Esther was found faithful and I pray I would be too. I really liked these two quotes near the end of the book:
1-"Every time He shifts us here or moves us there on this earthbound chessboard, He's not just fulfilling His own pleasure regardless of its impact on you. He's also working every detail-even the dreadful ones-to your and my good." This especially meant a lot to me as the IMB is going through so many changes now. God is in control of every detail of our life and that brings me much comfort.

2-"When, because of your faith, your life too becomes perceptibly different; when your reactions are quite opposite to what the situation seems to call for and your activities can no longer be explained in terms of your personality; that is when your neighborhood will sit up and take notice. In the eyes of the world, it is not our relationship with Jesus Christ that counts; it is our resemblance to Him." Please pray that I would resemble Christ.





About the bible study:

Beth Moore’s newest Bible study is Esther: It’s Tough Being a Woman. Going up against heavyweights bent on her destruction, Esther trusted God and landed a blow that saved her people. The Old Testament story of Esther is a profile in courage and contains many modern parallels for today's woman. Esther's destiny can be yours as you know more deeply the God who is in your corner.
This is an in-depth and very personal examination of this great story of threat and deliverance. If you've ever felt inadequate, threatened, or pushed into situations that seemed overpowering, thisis the study for you. Just as it was tough being a woman in Esther's day, it's tough today. Beth peels back the layers of history and shows how very contemporary and applicable the story of Esther is to us. This portion of God's Word contains treasures to aid us in our hurried, harried, and pressured lives.

Pray, Give, and GO

People all over the world pray for missions and give to missions. However, they don't always Go on missions. This past week Byron Roberts and Les Neely decided to GO! As I wrote previously, both of these men have spent much time in Zambia. We are so thankful that they answered God's Call to Go. They had a great week ministering among the Nsenga-Luzi along the Lunsemfwa River. As a result of their obedience many were saved, discipled, encouraged, loved, and challenged. We are now praying that a new church will begin there as a result of their efforts. Below are some pictures of their trip.

Off they go....

Les with his new friends.

During the days they would walk many kilometers to do hut to hut evangelism.

They even took dug out canoes across the water in order to reach more people.

Yes, this is a snake they come upon.

They waded through water at some points to get to where people were.

They were willing to go and do whatever it took to spread the gospel in this area.

At night Les and Byron took turns preaching to whoever came to visit.

Martin Zulu went along also to help translate. He also did some teaching.



Byron teaching to the crowd.

This is one of the villages they visited.

This is the woman that cooked for them during the week. Her help allowed them to spend more time teaching and witnessing.

This man is building a nkhokwe which is a place they will store their maize when it is ready.

Sweet Reunion

Yesterday two of our very good friends, Les Neely and Byron Roberts, arrived from America to come on a volunteer team together. Les and his family served here in Zambia and was a part of our team for several years before returning to the states. Byron has been coming as a volunteer for about the last 7 years. On several of his trips here he has been a part of the work along the river. In fact, he was on the first team that helped start the work in that area. This week they will hopefully help start a church that will complete the work needed in this area. Byron has worked with us and then he also worked with Les when he was here. Now, they are here once again as a team. The people are very excited that Les and Byron are coming to help them. They left this morning to head out to the area along the Lunsemfwa River to work until this Friday. They will be doing hut to hut evangelism and teaching during the days and will hold nightly crusades. Please pray the following for them this week:
-that God would work in/through them for His Glory.
-that many would truly be born again this week.
-that those who are saved would be encouraged in their walk with God and challenged to work for Him.
-that God would protect them as they cross the river in canoes so that they can reach more people.

Yesterday was Les' birthday so we had a big choc. chip cookie waiting for him when he arrived at 10:00pm last night. It is never too late to eat a choc. chip cookie!
Happy Birthday Les!

This morning they had to get all packed up.

On the way........

Special Day of Prayer

Please join us in prayer today for the Eastern Harvest Team and the work in Zambia. To help you in your prayers you can get guidance from the blog below. Thank you for your prayers.

The website for you to use during our day of prayer is www.ehtprayer2009.blogspot.com

A Changed Life

Last Friday when Kevin went out on the boat to Lisongwe Baptist Church he went alone. When returning he had some passengers with him that needed a ride to the bridge. It is hard work to put the boat together and take it apart by yourself. So, after putting it together by himself he was glad he would at least have some help taking it apart. When Kevin got out of the boat he stepped into a lot of mud so his sandals were quite muddy. He took them off and set them aside. He continued taking the boat apart, washing it, and packing it up. On one of the trips up the hill he noticed one of the passengers off to the side scrubbing something in the water. It was his shoes!!! Remember a couple of weeks ago, I wrote about a woman who was a prostitute and she became a Christian and was baptized? This is the very woman who now wanted to do something nice for the missionary. She couldn't help very well with the boat so she saw his dirty, muddy, and probably smelly shoes and washed them in the water. This is such a beautiful picture to me of a changed life. It also reminds me of a story in the Bible-does it you too?

A Great Learning Opportunity

Have you ever wanted to be able to learn some Masai? Have you ever wondered how hunters survive in the deep forest? Do you love to eat roast meat around campfires? Our son, Zach, answered "yes" to these questions and is now going on his interim trip into the Mau Forest. He will leave this Thursday and come back to RVA next Thursday. He will not have his cell phone so we will not be able to communicate with him while he is gone. He will just take a back pack and a sleeping bag. They will establish a base camp after hiking through the Mau forest. Each day they will hike through the forest to different villages, being taught the Dorobo skills of hunting, honey harvesting, and finding medicinal plants on the way. The trip will end with a night in Nakuru game park. Please pray for God's protection for these students and sponsers who will be going on this trip. Pray for good health and that they will stay warm at night. Pray that this will be a great learning experience for them all.

**If you read this on Tues. or Wed. please pray for Zach as he has to take 3 exams on Wed. Pray he will just do his best and leave the results up to God.
**After he arrives back to the school next Thursday he will clean up his dorm, pack up, and head home on the 28th of March. We are so excited he is coming home. This has been a tough term for him. Pray we will have great communication and quality time while he is home.

Because of love

This week the whole family went out with Kevin on the Lunsemfwa River. We drove two hours to the Luangwa bridge, put the boat together, and down the river we went for about 45 min. We were met on the land by lots of curious faces. We followed them up to the meeting point, Lisongwe Baptist Church. They were so excited to see that Kevin actually had a wife and kids and that we would come too. We had a great visit with them. Kevin taught a lesson on overcoming Satan. Then they took us to a small little hut and fed us nshima and fish. On our way back we saw a pod of 10 hippos which was pretty cool. This was Hannah's first real time to go out on the boat. She loved it!! When we got back to where the truck was we had to take the boat apart again, wash it, and pack it all up. Let me tell you, it was a job!!! It is very hot in Luangwa so we were all dripping sweat. We were dehydrated and sunburned too. This boat is not very light either. As I was walking up the hill about the 10th time I thought that my husband must really love Jesus and love these people to do this twice a week. Sometimes he has one other person go with him who is a really big help but other times(like yesterday) he did it all by himself. I just don't think I could do that. Please continue to pray for these people to soak in everything they are learning and share it with others. Kevin has one more week there and then a week with a volunteer team in the same general area and then he will be finished for a while because the water will be too low to travel by boat.

Putting the boat together and pumping it up.

This is still on the Luangwa River. Up a little bit we run into the Lunsemfwa River.

A small village along the way.

Hannah and her Dad.

Lisongwe Baptist Church

Some of the hippos we saw.

The Luangwa Bridge

Bon Appétit!

I found this recipe on the internet and tried it yesterday. It turned out good so I thought I would share it with all of you.

Coffee Banana Bread

1 1/2 cups flour
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinn.
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
2 eggs, beaten
2 Tblsp. melted butter
2 Tblsp. milk
1/4 cup expresso or very strong coffee
2-3 very ripe bananas-mashed well

Mix dry ingred. first. In a separate bowl mix remaining ingred. Add wet to dry and stir until flour disappears-but not longer. Pour into non-stick loaf pan. Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees for 35 min. (mine took longer) Take out of oven. Remove from pan. cool completely. Store in airtight container or ziplock bag. Freezes well.

Women

Yesterday, I tried to go to a women's meeting at Kanakantapa but no one showed up, probably because of the rain. I could have just gone home but I decided to try another church. It was just one of those days when I needed to be around women. I went to Chainda II(where I use to teach) and found 9 women. It was so good to be able to visit with my friends again. Below are some of my favorite things about Zambian women.

1-Their beautiful smiles.
2-Their acceptance of me even though I'm different from them.
3-Their colorful clothes.
4-they always ask about how my family is doing.
5-they are very relational(and so am I)
6-the way they are shy/respectful/reserved around men but when it is just the women they really have fun.
7-their good attitudes even in the midst of their struggles.
8-the way they slap hands with one another when something funny has been said especially when they do that with me.
9-the way they just reach over and start holding my hand as we walk-just because we are friends.
10-how they believe in me

Monday is a holiday here in Zambia -Women's Day(which is really on the 8th). All across the world on 8 March, thousands of events are held to inspire women and celebrate achievements. A global web of rich and diverse local activity connects women from all around the world ranging from political rallies, business conferences, government activities and networking events through to local women's craft markets, theatric performances, fashion parades, and church events. It sounds like how we as Americans celebrate Mothers Day. So on Sunday and/or Monday pray for the women all across the nations who don't have rights, who are beaten, who think they are nothing, who live day by day sometimes not knowing where their next meal will come from, who have to share their husbands with another wife, who have to do all the chores at home while their husbands lounge under a tree or are off drinking beer. Then at the same time thank God for the husband God gave you and how he treats you.

Rabbit Project

We have been raising rabbits for the last couple of years. We have had our ups and downs in numbers. Our dogs have gotten in the cage and killed some and then some have just gotten sick and died. At the beginning of 2009 we had about 55-60 rabbits. (You know it is hard to count them because they just won't sit still all at the same time.) During these couple of years we have given some away and sold some too. Back in January before our friends the Cooks left we had the idea that we could give these rabbits to some of our pastors and widows. A church in SC had given some money to the Cooks and then they bought 50 of our rabbits for this project. The plan is that we give 2 rabbits(male and female) to a pastor or widow and then they will raise them so that they will have meat to eat or can sell to make some money. I don't think any have had babies yet that we given away but when they do they sure will multiply. Pray for these pastors/widows to have wisdom on how to make money from this project. Pray that these rabbits would multiply so that it may give some support to their families. We have almost given them all away. Thank you to the Cooks and their home church who helped with this project. Below are just a few pics. of the many we have been able to help.

Pastor Martin Zulu from Chimusanya Baptist church with his two very white rabbits.

This is the rabbit cage he built.

Amai Mwachamota built a small place right outside of her door.

Pastor M'piripiri from Chainda II with his two rabbits.

Pastor Banda from Kakoma Baptist Church with some of his family. He is keeping his rabbits on the porch until the end of the rainy season. When I went by his house to check on his rabbits he told me to make sure I gave a message to the church that provided these rabbits. He said, "Thank you so much for these rabbits you have given to me. I am going to have a lot of rabbits soon and will make lots of extra money that will help my family. We really appreciate."

Following in his footsteps

Tito Mulenga has been working in our yard since we moved to Chongwe in 2001. He is more than just a gardener to us, he is family, and one of Kevin's best friends. Tito has 3 precious children that are found in our yard most of the time. Their youngest son, Mapalo, is almost 2 and is saying a few words. Mainly he likes to hollar Han nah wanting her to come out and play. The other day I looked out the window when I was doing school with Hannah and the picture below is what I saw. I just had to run get the camera. Normally, if Tito is here so is Mapalo, and he is following his daddy around.

Today I made brownies and let Mapalo have one of the beaters. He really enjoyed it as you can tell. It was so funny when Hannah tried to take it away from him so we could wash it. Hannah was pulling up with all her strength and Mapalo was pulling down with all of his strength. Finally, he was on his tip toes holding on. He did not want to let go of that beater. We all got a good laugh at that.

The sound of a motor

This past week when Kevin went to teach at Lisongwe they also had a baptism. Before the baptism he had each of the people share their testimony. One lady shared that one day she was just working at her home and she heard the sound of a motor and felt drawn to go and see what it was. She saw this white man coming in a boat. He was speaking in her language but about something she had never heard about before- having a relationship with Jesus and how Jesus can change your life. She knew that there had never been a time in her life when she had repented of her sins for she was a pros.(a woman of the night-my computer won't let me write the p. word). That day a few weeks ago she prayed to receive Christ. This past week she was among the 12 that were baptized. Pray for this group to continue to grow in their relationship with Christ. Pray they would reach out to others and share all that they are learning. Pray for this woman in particular and the others to break free from the strongholds in their lives.