A Blessing!

 Saturday morning we had a time of orientation for the team at the guest house.  Afterwards we went to eat lunch.  Most of us ate at Wimpy's which is a local hamburger restaurant.  It's not McDonalds but it will do!  After lunch Kevin had to run some errands and pack up the trailer.  I took most of the team to a local market  so they could buy a few things.  They got to try out their bargaining skills too!  Then I dropped the team back at the guest house so they could rest some while I went and cooked dinner for that evening for the team.  What a blessing to have the team in our home!  We had Mexican food and then sat around and talked.  We had each one go around and tell how God had led them to come to Zambia and how He had provided for them to get here.  God is so amazing!!  I love to hear stories of how God provides in situations like this.  God has each of these 9 team members on a very special journey this week.  I can not wait to hear all about it when they get back. 

Above: Les, Mason, and Krista

 Hannah was pretty excited that they did the dishes since it was her night.

How in the world David fell asleep with everyone around him talking I'll never know!

We have been so impressed with this whole team but especially the youth that are on this trip.  There are four young people on the team with a definite heart for missions.  I guess we normally have teams with mainly adults so it has been really neat to have these young people around.  May God work in and through them all this week!

Volunteer Team

We are so excited that a volunteer team from Garner, NC have come to Zambia.  We are especially excited because they are from our home church in Garner where we stay during our furloughs.  This will be the first time for Highland Baptist Church to send a team to work along side of us.  They arrived today and will be here until the 25th of July.  I have put some prayer requests below if you would take the time to pray for them this next week as they minister among the Soli people.  I'll try to update along the way if I can.

Prayer Requests for the team:

-Friday-July 15th-Arrival day.  Pray for a good nights rest.  Praise God for a good trip and that all their luggage arrived with them.
-Sat. July 16th- Orientation day-Pray for the team to be able to listen and learn from the orientation so that they will be better prepared for their week of ministry.
-Sun. July 17th-We will be traveling about 45 min. outside of Lusaka to the Chongwe area where we used to live and work.  We will worship with Kanakantapa Baptist Church and have lunch with the pastor and his family.  After lunch we will travel to Kanakantapa D village and set up camp, go out and invite people to come see the Jesus film, and show the Jesus film that night.  Please pray  for good heath, good attitudes, Jesus film equipment to work, and many people to come and watch the Jesus film and give their lives to Christ.  Pray for the one who will be preaching and that the translator will understand what he is saying and accurately translate the message to the people.  Sometimes when going into new areas we will find more witchcraft and demon possession.  Pray that people will break free from the bondage of both of these and that the team will handle these situations well.  Since the team will be sleeping in tents each night pray they will stay warm since this is our cold season.
-Mon. July 18th-Tues. July 19th-The day will begin with follow up with the ones the night before who prayed to receive Christ.  Pray for the ones who will be doing discipleship to clearly articulate the truth of God's Word.  Part of the team will go out hut to hut witnessing and the other part will stay at the school and do ministry there with the students.  Sometimes when you get a lot of kids together with some people from the states it can be a little chaotic.  Pray for the children to be good and to really listen.  Pray for the team to shine the light of Jesus so that others may want what they have-a relationship with Christ.  Pray they would be challenged with the Word of God to follow Christ.   Pray for hearts to be prepared and ears to listen as the team witnesses each day.  Pray for another good crowd of people to come and watch the Jesus film.  Sometimes large crowds also draw drunk people.  Pray there will not be any disruptive people during the film, preaching, or invitation.
Tues. July 19th-around 2:00 the team will have packed up their tents and will be moving to another location called  Mphango.  They will set up camp again and start the same program as before until the evening of the 21st.  Pray just like you have on the days before this.
Friday July 22nd the team will pack up and head to Livingston to see Victoria Falls and some animals.  Please pray for safe travel and a good trip.
Sunday July 24th the team travels back to Lusaka.  Again pray for safe travel.  Pray for a restful night.
Monday July 25th around lunch time they will head to the airport and begin their travels back to America.  Pray their hearts will be full and that they will have time to reflect on all that God has done in the past week in their lives and in the lives of Zambians.

A busy day

This past Sunday was a very busy and long day for us.  We started off at 10:00am and didn't get back home until 6:00pm.  A very good friend of ours has gone to Korea to go to seminary so Kevin is preaching at Matero Baptist Church once per month for a while to help out.  We always enjoy going to Matero when we have the opportunity.

 This is the pastors wife and family.

 Outside at Matero Baptist Church

 After leaving Matero we headed to Agape Baptist Church for an ordination service for their pastor.  This past week Kevin was asked to serve on the ordination council which he really enjoyed.

 We had to wait a bit before we got started so I took a quick pic. of Kevin.  

 The ordained men came and layed hands on this young pastor and prayed for him.

 Here he is proudly holding up his ordination certificate.

Towards the end of the program the church had a time of giving gifts to the pastor and his wife.  People would sing and dance to the front and either put money in the bucket or put the gift in front of them.  I'm sure they were very blessed that day.  After the ceremony the church had prepared food for everyone.  They had fixed chicken, rice, potatoes, cabbage, and cake.  They even had soft drinks for everyone.  There were at least 125 people there.  This was a huge sacrifice for this small church.  

Even though this was a long day it was a very good day!  We are so blessed to be serving here in Zambia!

Life in Lusaka

 Many people might think that since Lusaka is the capital city of Zambia that it is really nice.  It is true that there are parts of Lusaka that are quite nice but there is another part of Lusaka called Compounds that many people never see.  Lusaka is a huge city with many different compounds.  It seems that the Lord is directing us to work among some of the churches in these compounds to help encourage them and do leadership training with them.  Some are even without pastors and could really use some help.  Recently, we were in what is called Chipata compound and I took some pictures as we were driving through.  

 For most of this compound there was an actual road which is very uncommon.  Normally, as you drive through a compound there are many pot holes and not much of a road.  You can see there is lot of activity in the compound.  These are mini buses in the above picture which is one mode of transportation in Lusaka.

 There are several people in the compound that sell charcoal for a living as you can see in several of the  pics.  

 The small houses are very close to one another.

 This time of year many people are buying charcoal because it is so cool.  They use it for cooking and to keep warm. 

 Throughout the market area you will find lots of people trying to sell things.  In the above pic. they are selling popcorn.

 The compound is very different from the village where we worked before.  A village is very clean but as you can see the compound has a lot of trash just lying around.

Hope you have enjoyed this little tour of a compound.  Please pray for these people who live in the compounds of Lusaka.  Pray for good health, safety, that they would stay warm at night, and especially for their salvation.  Pray for us as we discern exactly what God would have us to do among the compounds.

Our Crate Arrived!

 If you will remember back at the beginning of March we packed up our crate and sent it on its way to Zambia.  I believe it actually didn't leave the states until after we arrived in Zambia on March 21st.  It traveled all the way across the ocean to South Africa and then by truck to Zambia and finally to our house this past Sat.

 Hannah and Evie watching as the door was taken off.  

Nothing broke but we did have a couple of liquid things leak.  Nothing was ruined though so that is good.  

It was so much fun to unpack everything although a bit overwhelming as to where to put everything.  Now, almost a week later almost everything has finally found a spot.

We learned how to pack many years ago when we first came to Zambia.  All this in this picture was stuffed in a queen size box spring.  Amazing!

It is so nice to have some things from America!

Coming and Going

As missionaries we see a lot of people come and go in and out of Zambia.  Some are volunteers that come for a couple of weeks and then leave.  Other times we have people come for a couple of years and then when their term is up they head back to the states.  Then we have those who come and invest there lives here in Zambia and stay a long time.  So there is quite the spectrum of people coming and going.  Without fail we always get attached to these people so it is always difficult when they have to leave.  So as you can imagine we don't always enjoy going to the airport because a lot of times it is to say good-bye.  Especially when our boys were leaving to go to Kenya for school-those were the worst days!  Anyway, I wanted to write about a particular time that is especially special for missionaries and one that I got to experience recently at the airport.  We were at the airport welcoming back some of our friends/missionaries who had been on their stateside assignment and were returning to Zambia.  Before they came through the doors some other friends of ours were having their families from the states come on the same flight.  As we are all waiting outside the door you can feel the excitement grow as you know their family is about to walk through the door.  They haven't seen their family in almost two years.  Our friends child was about 11 months when they first came and is now almost 3.  So these grandparents had not seen their grandchild in two years.  Can you imagine??  I'll never forget seeing my friends mother come through that door and her and her daughter hugging and crying for a long time not wanting to let go of each other.  It was simply beautiful.  For those who know me know that I was crying right along with them.  I could feel all the emotion in that moment.  Many people think that as missionaries we sacrifice a lot by living in another country.  We love where we live and feel blessed to have the opportunity to live in another country.  The biggest sacrifice on us is that we do not get to see our families much.  We are so thankful for skype and good enough internet that we can at least talk to them and see them from time to time that way.  But to be able to be face to face and be able to hug and reconnect has got to be amazing.  It is also a sacrifice for our families back in the states to not see us or be a part of their grandkids lives like I know they would like to.  Today would you please pray for missionaries all over the world who are separated from their families in the states for long periods of time. 

II Chronicles 16:9 LB “the eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him.”

Friends

 Some of you may recognize these kids from when we lived in Chongwe.  The back two girls are Dorcas and Deborah who are good friends of our daughter Hannah.  This week Hannah had the opportunity to go and spend two different days in Chongwe while Kevin did some preparation work for a volunteer team coming in July.  Dorcas and Deborah did not know Hannah was coming and she said they were so excited that she was there to spend the day with them.  She took her bag with her bible and coloring sheets and told them bible stories just like she used to do.  They went and got ice blocks and she also got to eat nshima and relish with them too.  Hannah has been missing her friends so I'm thankful for this opportunity this week for her to go and play with them.

 While we were in the states Amai Mulenga had another baby in Feb. They named her Hannah.  So now they have 4 children-Dorcas, Deborah, Mapalo, and Hannah.  She is the cutest little baby!

Dorcas carrying her little sister Hannah on her back.

Our Garden

 Since moving to Lusaka we have planted a garden in our back yard since there was already a space set aside for one.  We planted lettuce, cabbage, onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, and strawberries.  Above is our garden about 3 weeks ago.

 Anton, our yard worker, is holding our first head of lettuce.  We have enjoyed several heads of lettuce since this first one.

Here is a shot of our garden this past week.  It is neat to see everything growing so fast.