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.

We're Expecting!!!

Just in case you didn't know, we're expecting!!! Yesterday, Kerri went for the 12-week ultrasound and the doctor said that everything looked good. The baby is due mid-April and we should know whether it's a boy or a girl in about 8 weeks. Please be in prayer for both Kerri and the baby--both for a healthy pregnancy and delivery.

Update: Wednesday November 1st, we went for another ultrasound. We're having a girl! So far so good. The baby is healthy and has passed all ultrasound tests.

Action International Orientation

On September 11th - 15th 2006 Kerri and I traveled to Seattle Washington for Orientation withh Action International. The week was very busy with tests, training, and finally a board interview. Our desire is to see the church in Zambia grow as a result of our ministry and the board confirmed this with our full acceptance. Up next, we will be meeting with leadership from our home church, Columbia Crossroads, to discuss next steps.

Our Ministry...

While in Zambia, Kerri and I both want to use the gifts that God has given us to encourage the body of Christ there and to make new disciples. Because of this, a lot of our time will be spent assisting the church in small group ministry and one-on-one discipleship. Our desire is to assist the church in any way possible so that it is more equipped to extend God's message of reconciliation through Jesus Christ to the people of Zambia.

While there we also hope to be part of the "Children in Crisis" ministry. There are over 1/2 million orphans and street children in Zambia. And that number is expected to grow over the next few years because of the AIDS pandemic. God has given the vision in the book of James when His word says, "Pure and undefiled religion is this, to look after widows and orphans, and to keep onself from being polluted from the world." We want to see the Zambian church establish a vision for applying God's word and ministering to these little ones.

If you would be interested in learning more about our ministry, please can e-mail us at: Mzungubwr@aol.com or Kerrisings@aol.com for additional information. If you would like to learn more about Action International or, specifically, you can visit their web sites by clicking on the appropriate link in the links section of this website.