Chipata Compound

We have been working out in Chipata compound for the last several months. Each Sunday we will visit a different church in this huge area. This particular church is without a pastor at this time. This past week there were about 250 people there! This is also the place where Kevin meets one Saturday a month to train church leaders and pastors.

Chipata Baptist Church

This is the area beside the church, within the property.

These ladies fixed our lunch after church.  We had chicken, nshima, cabbage, and kapenta.  Kapenta are small whole dried fish.  This is one of Kevin's favorites.  So glad he could enjoy that by himself.

You'll find little girls carrying babies on their back all the time.

The road in this compound is just chaotic. Cars, minibuses, trucks fill the road along with lots and lots of people. These 3 guys were pushing their car right in front of us. They were just smiling at people as they pushed like they were in a parade. As you can imagine it took us a while to get around them in this traffic.

All along the side of the road are many shops and stands where people are selling food, charcoal, and just about anything else you may need. This woman had been selling roasted corn.

Above and below are pictures right in front of the church.

We have a volunteer team coming to work in this area the first week of April. Please pray that God will be preparing the hearts of these people between now and then to hear the gospel and respond.

Since we had a bit of time before church started I went across the street and talked to some of the women in the market.

Kitwe

 This past weekend we went to visit Daniel and Grace Kim in Kitwe.  Kitwe is a pretty large city in the Copperbelt Province of Zambia.  The Kims have been serving there since 2000.  They have mostly been focusing on the rural areas around Kitwe all these years but this year they are trying to focus some on the city.  While we were visiting them Daniel taught at his first bible school in Kitwe on Saturday.  He was only expecting 10 to come but there were 21 instead.  Pray for Daniel as he continues to meet with these people in bible school every other week throughout the year.  Pray for the students to be teachable and that they would take all that they learn and apply it to their lives.

Kevin met with the leaders of the churches on Saturday.  It was a great time for Kevin to hear from them and get to know them better.

 Grace and Daniel

Please pray for Grace as she ministers to women and as she goes out with Daniel doing personal evangelism and training.  She is a great helpmate to Daniel and a very godly woman. Their two sons are both in California finished with school and working at this time.  Pray for this family as they are apart from one another.  It can be very difficult to not see each other for several years.  So thankful for skype!

 We were able to go to Kitwe Central Baptist Church while we were there.  It was a beautiful time of worship with several choirs!

 Kevin preached

This picture was taken after the service as people were shaking hands leaving the church.

We are so thankful for the Kims and their ministry in this huge area for all these years.  There have been a couple of other families which have also served there several years ago.  Now, the Kims are the only imb family there.  Please pray for someone to be able to go and join them in this work.

Kindle

When we first came to Zambia back in 1997 one of the first things we became aware of was the lack of bookstores or libraries.  Where were we going to buy our books from for those two years?  This was a big problem since we all like to read.  The solution at that time was that whenever we would go to South Africa we could visit lots of bookstores, buy used books, or go to a Christian bookstore which was my favorite.  Over the past 14 years, Lusaka has become a bit more modern and has several bookstores now.  Still waiting on some Christian bookstores though.  The problem is that the books are just expensive since they come from SA.  Sometimes books may be at least double what they would be in the US so as you can imagine we don't buy many new books here.  For Christmas, Kevin got me a Kindle Fire.  Let me just say that the one who invented the kindle really came up with something great.  I'm sure in America where there are a lot of bookstores or libraries in every city or the fact that you can order from Amazon or other places and have it sent directly to your home it may not seem so great.  However, in a third world country where there are a lack of books or they are expensive and companies from the US will not ship to you, a kindle is a great invention.  Of course, internet is not as fast here as in the US either but so far we haven't had a problem downloading anything.  So, on behalf of missionaries and others who love to read who live in far off places I just want to thank Amazon for inventing the Kindle.

Great Books

The Hunger Games, written by Suzanne Collins, is fiction in the young adult genre.  I know I don't exactly fit into that category but it wasn't until after I read the book that I heard which genre it was geared towards. I did however,  find myself unable to put it down. Then when I got to the end of it was upset at my friend who loaned it to me because she had let someone else borrow the second book and it would be a couple of weeks before I would be able to get it.  So thankful for a husband who bought me a kindle for Christmas and I could get it quicker!   The books combination of nerve-racking tension, thrilling action, and love story kept me wanting to read more and not wanting to put the book down.
"When the book opens, North America as we know it has been destroyed and is now divided into 12 districts, ruled by an oppressive government located at the Capitol. Katniss Everdeen, a 16-year-old girl from District 12, takes her younger sister’s place as one of 24 “tributes” selected every year to participate in the Hunger Games at the Capitol.
The Games pit children from ages 12 to 18 against each other in a fight to the death in a giant, treacherous arena. Everything is televised and highly publicized all over the country. Katniss must not only survive the Games, but deal with a romance between her and another tribute from District 12, all the while deciding if she is willing to kill strangers her own age as a pawn of an oppressive government."

The Hunger Games is the first book in the trilogy, and it was released in 2008. Catching Fire was the second book to be released in 2009 which I really enjoyed as much as the first one.  However, the third book, Mockingjay, released in 2010, was not as good as the first two in my opinion. I guess most of the book was good but it just wasn't up to par with the other two.  I really did not like the end of it either because it wasn't how I thought it should end-but hey, I'm not the writer! I guess I shouldn't say too much about it because I don't want to spoil it for you if you have not read these books.  I would highly recommend these 3 books especially since there is a movie coming out in March about it.  I am happy that I was able to read these books all at once and not wait a year between each one!

Teaching

 Hannah and I have been going to Ng'ombe compound every other week to teach these last couple of months.  It has been so neat to see Hannah teach the children herself.  This week she had about 22 kids who came.  She told them the bible story of Noah, they colored a picture, and then acted out the story.  Hannah said the kids all had a good time acting out the story especially when they all got off the ark.  They began dancing around and were happy.  

 They played a game.

 The camera was not on the right setting so this picture didn't turn out too well but I still wanted you to see a couple of pics. of the ladies I am teaching.  I had 12 ladies come this week.  It has been a little difficult because each week there are several who have not been before and then some who have been coming will be missing.  I just have to make sure I review really well all that we have been talking about.  This week I taught on Gen. 3 and told the story of Adam and Eve disobeying God.  We talked about how we all have the choice to obey or disobey and that there are always consequences to each and how our sin not only effects ourselves but out families and friends as well.  Please pray for these ladies as they are being challenged to examine their lives to see if there is anything that they are doing that is not pleasing to God.  Also, pray for their salvation if there are any who don't know Jesus.

MK Camp

 Missionary Kids from all over Southern Africa gather together once a year for camp the last few days of Dec. and the first couple of days in Jan.  They look forward to this all year long.  For many of them they only see each other this one time a year but they still remain close.  We are so thankful as parents that the imb offers this for our children aged 12 and up.  It gives our children the opportunity to be with their friends who understand them and know where they come from.  There are volunteers who come from the states to lead in worship and bible study too so it gives our children the opportunity to grow in their relationship with Christ along with other youth believers.  I just have a few pictures that I got off of Fb from friends so I thought I would share a few here.  Thanks to all who helped make this years camp a big success!

Dr. Rodgers

 I finally got all the pictures from Kevin's graduation so I thought I would go ahead and post them.  For those who do not know, Kevin just finished his PhD in missions and graduated December 16th.  He has worked really hard on this degree which he started on back in 2005 on one of our furloughs and then finished up in the last 3 years in a Cohort program with Southeastern Seminary.  We are so proud of him!

We are so glad that Kevin got to spend time with Zach while he was in the states.

 Kevin was also able to spend time with his family.  The above picture is with his mom and below is of his mom, dad, and sister.

I am special!

Yesterday I had the privilege of teaching on Jeremiah 1:5-12 and Psalm 139:1-18 to some women in Ng'ombe compound.  These verses have always meant a lot to me so I was excited to share them with these women who oftentimes because of their culture and circumstances are devalued in society.  Women here in Zambia have a hard life in my opinion.  They are often beat by their husbands and treated like children.  They work hard in the home and in the field.  Then after a hard day of work they receive little appreciation.  Even in the church women often times feel like they don't have the ability to do a certain task because they may not be able to read or write.  They fear stepping out of what they know as comfortable which I guess we all do from time to time.  I shared with these women that God appointed Jeremiah for his time to be a prophet.  Jeremiah did not feel like he had the ability to be a prophet. He was afraid but God encouraged Jeremiah by saying, "do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you."  I told them "the Bible says that God knew YOU before you were formed in the womb, and  has set you apart for a purpose.  You may not feel like you have the ability to fulfill any purpose.  You may feel unimportant or even afraid like Jeremiah did.  God just wants us to be available to Him so that He can work in our lives and transform us or change us into who He wants us to be."  After I taught I asked the women what they had learned from this lesson.  One lady shared that because of the things I had taught that day she realized that she was special to God and that no matter what she felt like in her life she knew that God loved her and had a purpose for her.  Another lady said that she had learned from verse 14 in Psalm 139 that she needed to praise God because she was fearfully and wonderfully made. Another lady said that now she knew why she was here on this earth after coming out of a terrible sickness where she almost died-God had a purpose for her life!  Then when I asked how it made them feel to know that God knew them before they were even born they all said it made them feel special!  I don't think I can communicate to you how important this lesson was for these women.  For them to come away feeling like they are special and loved and have a purpose in life is BIG!  Please pray for these women as they come every other week to learn what God's Word has to say to them that they would have wisdom and understanding as they learn.  Pray for any who don't know Jesus to come to know Him in a very real way.
As I was teaching the women Hannah was teaching the children who had come for the day.  Hannah's good friend Evie who lives several hours away was in town so she spent the day with Hannah and also came along to help with the kids.  They did such a great job teaching these kids.  They got started before I did so I kept looking over at them watching to see what they did.  They both looked very comfortable like they had been teaching up in front of others for a very long time.  Hannah read them the story of Adam and Eve and then they both asked the kids questions.  The kids made a name tag again and they got to color a picture about the story too.  After their lesson they sang lots of songs and played games.  I'm not sure how long Hannah will want to go out with me and do this but for now I'm just so happy at how I see God working in her life and how He is using her all on her own without me.