Peace

Kerri here...I just thought I'd share something that God has been doing in my heart. People ask me quite constantly how I'm doing and if I'm stressed out with all that needs to be done in the next month. I should be. There IS so much to do and some days I feel like I won't be able to rest until March! But, I'm really not stressed. I should also be crippled by the emotions that come along with saying goodbye to everyone and everything that I hold dear, but I'm not. Philippians 4: 6-7 says, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." You know what? It's true! I am living it daily and I am really in awe of God's goodness. I am so thankful for His inexplicable peace that is guarding my heart and mind as we continue to work toward this huge transition in our lives.

Scaling Down!!!

This past Saturday we had a garage sale. We cleaned out all of our storage areas, closets, toy boxes and cabinets and put out everything that we don't need! It was quite and undertaking! We went to bed VERY late, got up VERY early and tried to organize things. The sale was scheduled to begin at 8 am, but of course people were beginning to hike up our driveway by 6:45. By 8:15 I felt like we had been working for hours! My mom was here to help and several of our friends came by to say hi and offer an hand, so we really had fun. The kids also set up a table to sell hot chocolate and apple cider (and to give out our ministry brochures, of course!). I think they probably drank more than they sold, but they enjoyed contributing to the cause! Maddie just sat around looking cute. If I had a quarter for every time someone asked me, "How much for the baby?", we'd probably never need to raise support again! At the end of the sale Calvary Chapel Lexington sent a truck over to pick up what was left for their church's thrift store. Whew...it's gone!

Though it was hard to see some of it go, in some ways it feels really good to have purged ourselves of all the extra stuff we had accumulated. And I must say that Caleb and Gracyn are being real troopers when it comes to getting rid of their stuff. I never thought they would be so willing and eager to give their things - or sell them - to other kids. That's a huge blessing to us. All in all, going to Zambia feels more and more real and this was a big step in getting there! Our next big steps are to move out of our house by the end of the year and then to spend all of January packing our stuff to go on February 5! PLEASE pray for us!

Lasts...

Kerri and I only have 65 days left until we leave for Zambia. With that being said, we are starting to savor the last times we will be able to do stuff while we're here in the States. This past Friday was one of those lasts. It was the last time Kerri will be singing in a professional capacity for the next three years. I have to brag on my wife. She has the voice of an angel and the heart to back it up. God has truly given me someone that I don't deserve.

I recorded 6 of the songs that she performed, but due to space limitations, I have only loaded one of them to this site. You can view this video from our video section on this web site. If you would like to see the other 5, you can go to http://www.youtube.com/ and search for videos with the key words "Kerri Roberts Sings."

Housing in Zambia...

Many of you have asked what housing will be like in Zambia. Aside from the high probability of rats and other critters, not being able to drink the water from our sinks, and the occasional power outages, housing should be "A" okay. In our video collection (located on the right-hand side of our web site, about halfway down) we have published a video on typical missionary housing in Zambia. In fact, there's a good chance that the house shown in this video will be the house we will be living in while we're in Zambia. We thought you would enjoy seeing what housing in Zambia is like. Enjoy...

Communicating with us in Zambia!!!

• Would you like to be able to talk to us in Zambia?


• Would you like be able to do this for free anytime you want (accept in the middle of night, of course)?

Well, there is a software that some of you may or not be aware of that will allow you to do this. It is a FREE download and it allows you to make computer to computer calls. The only requirements are that you have a microphone (which can be purchased at Radio Shack for approximately $30) and speakers for your computer. The name of the software is Skype. If you go to the following link, you can download this software for FREE: http://www.skype.com/.

If you need detailed instructions on installation and setup, you can view the user guides at: http://www.skype.com/help/guides/. Also, our friend John Ballentine has agreed to assist anyone having technical issues setting it up. He can be contacted via e-mail @ jkballentine@sc.rr.com. It takes less than 10 minutes to install and setup and it will give give you the ability to communicate with us while we are on the field. Please consider taking the time to set this up!

His Intent...

"His Intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms according to His eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Ephesians 3:11-12)


Last Sunday, we had the opportunity to share about Zambia with the congregation at Union Baptist Church in Elgin. A friend of mine, Hank Goff, invited us to their evening service. Their pastor and his wife (Jerry and Wanda Lewis) were longtime friends of Kerri's parents. Kerri's father and mother were the best man and matron of honor in their wedding. We didn't realize that this was their church until the night before. When we arrived, they had a picture of Kerri - at age 2 - up on the screen! During the service Kerri sang, we shared about our call to go to Zambia and then they had a little reception. We really enjoyed our time of fellowship with the body of Union Baptist.

Yesterday, we had the opportunity to share with one of our sister/daughter churches, The Church at Dutchfork. Our home church assisted in planting this church a few years ago, so we knew a lot of the members. One of the elders there, Thomas Yarbrough, is a longtime friend of ours and he invited us to come share about Zambia. Before introducing us, he mentioned Colossians 1:17 "Christ in you, the hope of Glory." It was kind of neat because this is one of the central themes in one of ACTION Zambia's ministry videos. We were able to share and then the church prayed for us corporately. We are very thankful for our time worshiping with the members of the Church at Dutchfork.


Over the past year the Lord has seen fit to allow us the opportunity to share about His vision for Zambia with several churches here in the Columbia area. We are so thankful for the ways He is using these churches to make His manifold wisdom known. And we are so thankful that they have opened their arms to us and become involved in our ministry to the people of Zambia.

Quick Prayer Request

Kerri and I wanted to request your prayers. We have a buyer for our home, but it is dependent upon them selling their own house. Their house is on the market. Would you please pray that their house would sell quickly!

Thank you...

Blessings and Opportunity

------Please read this post in its entirety as it discusses our current funding and specific prayer requests------

The only way to describe this past month is Blessings upon Blessings! After speaking at the CLC on October 11th, our support levels climbed drastically. Within just a few days our monthly support went up by over 30% and we reached our one-time support goal. This past Tuesday, after receiving additional information, we learned that we were 100% supported, both monthly and one-time!!! In fact, the home office has now cleared us to buy our plane tickets and we will be leaving this February. It is so amazing and humbling to see how God has provided the rest of our support in such a short period of time. It really gives credence to one of the names of God found in the bible—Jehovah-Jireh “The Lord will provide.”

With these blessings comes more opportunity. On Thursday morning, we received an e-mail from our friends in Zambia. In recent weeks, during a process of trying to get a better understanding of Zambian tax laws, the ministry discovered their perception of certain tax policies has been incorrect. Their ability to write off certain expenses through the mission is limited to far fewer items than was thought before. As a result we will need, going forward, to pay taxes on substantial items such as: rent, car insurance, diesel, etc. When this happens, our taxable income as missionaries will increase and push us into a higher tax bracket (from a 17% tax bracket to a 35% tax bracket). The net effect is an increase of $795 in monthly taxes.

Ultimately, it is the Lord who provides and we trust that he will provide this additional support by our February departure date. We are now in the process of putting legs to that trust. We will be purchasing plane tickets in the next couple of weeks. Our house is being packed up and will soon be on the market. I have also informed my employer that I will be leaving my job in mid-January. What once seemed to be out in the distant future is now just around the corner. Would you please pray for us during this time?

Please pray that:
· The Lord will raise the additional amount of monthly support.
· Our home will sell quickly and at the right price.
· We would find some affordable plane tickets.
· The process of packing up our lives here in the states will go as smoothly as possible.
· We would be anxious for nothing and that our hearts would be stayed on Him.

Marine Corp Marathon

On October 28th, I had the opportunity to run in the Marine Corp Marathon in Washington, D.C.. A very dear friend of our family, Wilton Lyles (pictured right) and I had been training throughout the summer—he in Colorado, I in South Carolina. For those of you who don’t know, the Lyles family was very instrumental in my coming to know the Lord. Wilton’s son John (pictured middle) and I are best friends and the Lyles have been kind of a second family to me growing up. While we were training, I told Wilton that I wasn’t going to lose to a 60 year old, but that turned out not to be the case. We both finished the grueling 26.2 mile race. I completed the race in 5 hours, 1 minute—about 6 minutes behind Wilton.

God has taught me many things over the last few months as I was in the process of training for this race. Specifically, he has been showing me the importance of discipline in my daily walk with Him. In order to train for a marathon, you have to discipline yourself to run on a daily basis. If you don’t, you will not be prepared when the race comes around. It is the same in our walk with the Lord. 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 says:

24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26 Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. 27 No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”

As we transition towards life in Zambia, I’m seeing more and more the importance of being firmly rooted in my relationship with Christ. I know we will face situations that will be trying and the winds will be blowing harder than ever. Please pray for me in this area. Pray that I would develop habits that lead to Godliness. Pray that I would be a man who desires to be in God’s word on a daily basis and who prays without ceasing on all occasions. Pray that God would sanctify me through and through—that I would be the leader this family needs, the husband my wife desires, and the father who continually points his children back to Christ in both word and deed.

"Every Tribe, Every Tongue Rejoicing."

This weekend, Kerri and I had the priveledge of participating in a Global Outreach Conference in Georgia at Lake Oconee Presbyterian Church. During this conference, we were able to hear from various missionaries from around the world about their respective ministries as well as share about our ministry to Zambia. Seeing how God is moving in other parts of the world is exciting! We can't say thank you enough for the hospitality we received this weekend from the body of Christ at Lake Oconee. They were such an encouragement to both of us!

A few updates and prayer requests...

Kerri and I are planning on leaving for Zambia this coming February. We have begun doing repairs around the house to get it ready for the market and we are beginning the process of downsizing. These next few months will be busy and tough on us and our family. Please be in prayer for us. Some specific things to pray for:

• Pray for our relationships with Christ and each other.
• Pray that our house will sell quickly and at the right price.
• Pray for wisdom in decision making over the next few months.
• Pray for our time management.
• Pray for our families--that God would begin to prepare their hearts for our departure.

How Great Is Our God!

Kerri and I were given the opportunity to share our ministry at Blue Cross Blue Shield's Christian Luncheon Club (CLC) Wednesday afternoon. This is a fairly large group of believers who get together on a monthly basis to share testimonies and have fellowship. After we showed our video and shared about God's calling for us to go to Zambia, Steve VonFange, who is one of the members of the leadership team, came up and sort-of cut me off. He said, "Brent has no idea what I'm about to do, but I need to say some things to you." Then he asked me to take a seat. He began to confess that he had not wanted us to come share that day because it was the last CLC of the year and the subject matter was just heavy. Then he told how he had been able to spend 2 hours alone with God this past weekend and how he was completely convicted about his attitude. He looked at me and Kerri, while chocking back tears, and said he was sorry. Then Steve said that as God taught him during that time, he was led to Hebrews 11. He shared how in reading about these men of faith his natural tendency was to look at their failures. But he was overwhelmed at how God looked at their faith and saw them in a completely different light - He saw them as righteous! Then he said he was led to Acts 2 where the scripture talks about all the believers being together in one mind...selling their possessions and giving to anyone who had need. Steve then began to challenge the group. He said, "Brent and Kerri have stepped out in faith to obey God's calling to move their family to Africa and we need to follow them." He said, "I believe that God is calling the CLC to fully fund Brent and Kerri Roberts today!" (At this point we both just started crying!) It was obvious that Steve was in the Spirit because he was speaking with great zeal and our spirits were leaping as he challenged the group to do whatever they had to do - maybe even sell some stuff -to give the money that we need to go to Zambia. And he said something else that was very specific, he said that they needed to make it happen BY FRIDAY!

After his talk, Steve had us come up and asked those who would support us to gather around and pray for us, which they did. It was awesome and we were completely overwhelmed! As Kerri was talking to some of them afterward, she told them that the night before we had asked our community group to pray for this meeting. Shawn Hevel, one of our communty group members, prayed, "God we ask you to fully fund the Roberts, and we ask you to do it tomorrow." What Kerri has also been praying over the last few months is that if God's timing is for us to go in February, then He would have us fully funded by November - giving us time to adequately plan to leave the country. Maybe, just maybe, God is at work in all of this : )

Thursday morning when I got into work, there was a voice message on my phone that had been sent out to everyone who had attended the CLC meeting as well as everyone else who had been involved over the past year. Steve said again that he felt the Lord was telling him that the Roberts needed to be fully funded by this Friday by members of the CLC. We are completely blown away!! We don't know exactly what God will do, but enough has happened over the past few days & weeks that we are very excited! (We will not receive a financial update from ACTION until November 1) Please pray that those who were moved by God on Wednesday will be obedient to act, and pray with us that we will indeed be fully funded!

God has convicted us and challenged our lack of faith! He has reminded us that this venture is not of us, but of Him. He has reminded us that He is a great God who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above anything that we can ask, think or even imagine! We are so thankful for your prayers, so thankful for Steve's obedience to get up and share what God had done in him, and SO thankful for God's sovereign hand on our lives!

Interviewing the Roberts Clan

Kerri and I thought it would be interesting if we interviewed the children on their thoughts about going to live in Zambia. We thought that they, being kids, would be unfiltered in their responses. The responses, as you will see, were totaly unscripted. Some were downright comical. We shared the video this morning at our church, Columbia Crossroads, but thought it would be a good idea to post it on the web site as well. Please take the time to watch the video if you get a chance. It is located in the video section of this website, on the lower right-hand side of the page. It's titled Roberts Kid's Interview.

Picking Up Steam!!!

The last few months have been a time of regrouping. Kerri and I took some much needed time off from raising support to adjust to having three children. As someone recently told us, we've now switched from a man-on-man defense to a zone defense. It's been an adjustment, but a good one.

Now it's time to move on and this month, things have begun to pick back up. Tuesday, last week, I was invited to share about our ministry at a men's bible study in Florence, S.C. I traveled down there with my pastor, Brad Bird. He leads this study as part of his ministry--Center for Biblical Discovery. The trip was a very encouraging one. A few of the men stayed behind afterwards to talk with me and several of our ministry brochures were distributed. We are praying the Lord will raise up some new monthly ministry partners from my time of sharing with this study.

This past Sunday, August 26th, Kerri and I had the opportunity to share about Zambia with our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ at Charleston Baptist church. The trip went really well. Kerri and some of our friends from Columbia Crossroads church led a time of worship. We then showed our ministry video, followed by a short presentation on our calling and vision for Zambia. We are so very thankful for the leadership of Charleston Baptist for having us down for this time of worship and sharing.

September and October also look to be busy. It looks like we are going to have the opportunity to share with various bible studies in Columbia and possibly Charlotte. We also have been invited to share at a couple of churches (one in Columbia and one in Georgia). Please continue to pray for us as we seek to serve the Lord in Zambia. Pray that God would continue to prepare us for the field and that He would also continue to raise up monthly financial partners for our ministry.

Financial Update Through July 2007

We’ve been completely humbled by the willingness of many to partner with us through prayer and giving. We continue to ask God to move in the hearts of His people to join our ministry team! It takes all of us—those who pray, those who give, and those who go—to reach the world with the Gospel of Jesus. So far God has provided 40% of our monthly needs and 87% of our one-time needs.

Have a Good Day

For the past two weeks our home church has been providing a summer enrichment program for the students of a near-by elementary school. They asked me if I would come and do music classes. It has been fun! They are really great kids!
Today one of the teachers asked me if I would share a little about Zambia with her class before I did the music lesson. Each day they have learned about a different country and then prayed for that country. So, off the cuff, I just told them basic information like where Zambia is, what the climate is like, what kinds of animals live there, what a hut village is like and then told them a little about what our family is going to do there in Zambia. I told them how the people are very poor and many are sick and that they need the hope of Jesus. Then I told them a little about the children who live in the streets. Then they prayed. The first child prayed, “God, I want you to give those people clean water to drink and food.” The second one prayed, “I want those people to know Jesus in their hearts.” Then the third prayed, “I wish that Mrs. Kerri’s family will not be killed; that they will survive….and have a good day. Amen.” Precious!

Potter's Christian Life Center

From left-to-right: Brent, Kerri, Mrs. Sandra Formey & Pastor Greg Formey

Our home church, Columbia Crossroads Church, is a participant in something called Mission Columbia. It's purpose in the city of Columbia is to envision, network, train and mobilize leaders within the whole of God’s body to strategically reach the the city of Columbia with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

On Sunday, May 27th, our family had the opportunity to visit and share with one of our "sister churches" in Mission Columbia, The Potter's Christian Life Center. Pastor Greg Formey invited Kerri to share in a portion of the worship by singing two songs. In between the two songs, we showed our ministry video and I shared a few minutes about how the Lord is leading us to serve in Zambia. It was a very encouraging time of fellowship! Many of the members of the Potter's House came to us afterwards and expressed interest in our ministry. We are very thankful that the Lord provided us with this opportunity and feel very blessed to have worshipped with the members of Potter's Christian Life Center.

To learn more about Mission Columbia visit http://www.missioncolumbia.org/

To learn more about Potter's Christian Life Center visit their link located in the "Churches" link section on the right-hand side of this site below.

Finishing the Race

Today Brent participated in the Lake Murray Triathalon. He has been running for months now and is training to run his first marathon in October. He has not, however, trained to do a triathalon and just decided to do it for the challenge. I thought he was nuts! Brent's Dad called and said they were coming to watch him to see if it's really God's will for us to go to Africa. Perplexed, Brent asked, "What do you mean?" His Dad said, "Well, we figure if you drown in Lake Murray, you weren't supposed to go!"

In spite of all our ribbing and doubting he did finish, and he finished well. I was reminded of the challenge from Hebrews 12, "let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us." Brent did that in the physical sense today and we are proud of him!

May 13 ~ Dedicated to the Lord

Last Sunday, on Mother's Day, we had the privilege of having Maddie dedicated to the Lord at Columbia Crossroads Church. It was a very special day for many reasons: all the grandparents were in attendance (except for my Dad who was speaking in NC that day); we were able to stand alongside our best friends, the Ballentines, who were having their son Ben dedicated as well; and the charge was given by Brad Bird - an elder of our church and dear friend who has now officiated our wedding and overseen the dedications of all 3 of our children! The charge came from Joshua chapter 4 and Deuteronomy chapter 6. We were once again challenged to impress the love and Law of the Lord upon our children as we walk it, talk it, breathe it and build every moment upon the goodness of our God! Caleb added some humor to the occasion when he decided to pick his nose as Brad was speaking. Brad turned and saw him and said something like, "We as parents need to be the ones to teach our children to love the Lord with all their heart, mind, soul and strength, and not to pick their noses!" Oi vey! Anyway, it was a great time of celebrating Maddie as we committed to raise her in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Please pray that we will be able to model His unfailing love to all our children ~ even when they pick their noses!

Mary Addison Roberts Arrives!!!

On Friday, March 30th at 12:19 pm, Mary Addison (Maddie) Roberts was born. She weighed 7lbs 1 oz and was 20 & 1/2 inches long. Thank you very much for your prayers. The delivery went great. Both grandmothers were present, two of Kerri's close friends, our sister-in-law, and yes, me. It was a party! Maddie and Mommy are doing great. We've had lots of help from the grandmothers as we're learning how to do life with three kids! For that we're very grateful.