It's Official

Well, it's official. We have a crappy car. Yesterday, I left Kerri and the kids in the bush in Chikankata and headed to the city to see if I could get the car fixed again. It's becoming a regular routine. This time, the whole front-end of the car shakes when accelerating, it billows black smoke while driving and there is something causing the back end to sound like it's grinding metal. I had to leave it in Lusaka with a friend last week, because I just didn't think it could make the 2 hour trip. Thankfully, we have been able to borrow a vehicle, but that's about to come to an end.

Anyways, we continue to pray that the mechanic can work his magic and make it drivable. I'll be going to spend the morning at the shop with one of his guys to see if we can get it sorted out at least so that it is drivable in the short-term. But in the long-term, we have to make a change.

I know we just finished asking for funds for the ministry in December, and I hate to do it again, but I feel it is necessary. So, with that being said, we are now trying to raise funds to purchase another used vehicle for our family to drive. If you would like to help us by being an advocate for this in the States, please let us know. We estimate that we will need approximately $22,000 - $25,000 to make it happen.

If you look at that figure and think it is high, please know the situation here in Zambia is much different than in the States. All vehicles here are imported. The Zambian government uses this to their advantage and taxes all imports rather extensively (at 96% of their value). So, a car that would normally cost us around $12 or $13,000 ends up costing a whole lot more! They used to let organizations like ours import duty-free, but about a year ago, they stopped that. So, we have no way around it.

Would you please consider helping us? Maybe you can't afford to make a donation, but know some people who might. Please feel free to tell them about us. Or if you would like to make a donation, please do so at the following link: www.CTEN.org/BrentRoberts. All donations are 100% tax-deductible.

Would you consider helping our family find reliable transportation?

Thank you