Happy Thanksgiving!

Today marks a milestone for our family. It is our very first Thanksgiving spent in Zambia. We were home last year for Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter, so our first American holiday here was July 4th. But this is the first "big one" - one where we are usually spending the day with our family enjoying delicious turkey and "fixins", sharing stories, laughing at kids, and relaxing together. So, our hearts are a little sad today knowing that our families will be celebrating without us. Y'all eat some extra turkey, dressing, and strawberry stuff for us, OK?

However, we are indeed thankful that the Lord has provided surrogate family for us here and that we are still able to celebrate! We are thankful that Shoprite stocked frozen turkeys (which they don't normally have), and that we have the flexibility to spend the afternoon and evening celebrating with dear friends. Brent will still be conducting his 2:7 discipleship class this afternoon since, after all, Zambia does not have a reason to acknowledge the last Thursday in November. But we will all be together tonight to eat and fellowship, and I'm sure there'll be a whole lot of laughing and relaxing! We will also have a big team celebration on Saturday at Ciyanjano, ACTION Zambia's ministry center.

We're mindful and thankful today for God's graciousness to us each and every day. We're thankful for healthy and thriving children. We're thankful for Zambia and what God teaches us as we live life here. We're thankful for our extended families, our fantastic team and our dear friends on both sides of the ocean. We're extremely thankful for all of you who support and pray for us so diligently. What would we do without you? Most of all, we are thankful to be loved by our God - the Creator, the Redeemer, the Sanctifier Who is over all, through all and in all. May He receive all the glory for every blessing we have! Happy Thanksgiving!

Rainy Days are Here!

We are finally experiencing our first Zambian rainy season! And they weren't kidding, it rains a lot! Just though you would enjoy seeing the kids all dressed up in their rain gear! Our family has really been enjoying the rain. It has brought a very welcome relief from the heat and is turning the world very green! We also get to enjoy crazy thunderstorms without having to worry about tornadoes!

However, the rains also bring suffering to the poorest of the poor in Zambia and that is never far from our hearts and minds. In the compound areas, where the water gathers and there is certainly no proper drainage, people die every year from disease. Children also commonly drown by falling into deep potholes that have filled with water. Please remember these dear brothers and sisters as the rains continue until at least February!

Please also bear with us as we are experiencing some issues with our computer. Gasp! Our ability to get on the internet has been really hit or miss. So, if you don't hear from us very regularly, this is why! Please pray that we can figure out how to get our computer serviced and have our means of communication back again!

KiliClimb For Kids

This December, two of our teammates will be traveling to Kenya and Tanzania to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro as a fund raiser for children in our community schools programs here in Zambia.  Below is a link to their brochure.  Take a look if you get a chance.

Click Here for Brochure

A Bible for All...

A posting from Steve Allen:

A few months ago, we were alerted to an opportunity by Tyndale Publishers of a container that they were sending over to Zambia full of NLT Life Application Study Bibles for only $9 dollars each.   When Brent and Luke were back in the states, they put the word out, and a few of us put out a few emails later, Owen when he came to do an internship, raised a bunch of money, and through all these gifts,  God raised through his people enough for us to buy over 200 bibles to give away here in Zambia.  We started out by giving them first to our pastors. They were giddier than a kid at Christmas.  It was great fun. I thought I would show you a picture of us giving the bibles away to the pastors. THANK YOU all for your gift to make this possible. 

A Visit with the Chief

A couple of weeks ago, we had the privilege of visiting with Chieftainess Mwenda.  She is the chief over Chikankata, an area located about 2 hours south of Lusaka.  Chikankata consists of many different villages accounting for approximately 20,000 families (approximately 100,000 people).  A majority of these families are unreached and have no active evangelical churches.  The Chieftainess is a vibrant believer who has a heart to see her kingdom evangelized and churches planted.

During our meeting, she expressed a desire for Action Zambia to help her in this effort.  We don't know exactly what God has in store, but we are stepping out in faith and seeing how He will respond.  During the first week of December, we are taking a group of pastors from our Pastors College and Discipleship programs for an outreach event that should last 3-4 days.  The plan is to go down there and camp on a piece of property that was donated to Action Zambia.  During the days, we will be visiting many remote villiages (some that have never even seen white people).  In the evenings, we will be trying to show The Jesus Film.

Please join us as we begin to pray for this outreach event.  Pray for the missionaries who will be leading the trip.  Pray for the pastors who will be accompanying us.  And pray for these people we will be sharing with during our time down there.  Pray that God would open the eyes and ears of many to come to a saving knowledge of His Son Jesus Christ!  Pray also for the Chieftainess.  It is very difficult being a believer and a chief here in Zambia.  She faces many challenges in ruling her kingdom.