Hospital Visitation

This past Monday, Luke, Chiluba and I went to University Teaching Hospital (UTH) to visit and pray with some of the patients.  Luke and Chiluba have been going for a few weeks now, but this is the first opportunity that I have had to go.  UTH is a very large hospital with different wards for different needs.  We ended up visiting two different wards, and praying for several patients.  I have to admit, I wasn't prepared mentally for what I saw.

Adult Ward:

The first man we visited with was the victim of a poisoning.  He was in a bar in the northern province of Zambia drinking, when someone slipped acid into his beer.  The results were horrendous.  He has yet to get an x-ray or any other scan.  So the extent is unknown, but he has not had a bowel movement in 2 & 1/2 months (Yes, I said months).  Basically, he eats and hopes his body gets enough of the nutrients from the foods before he throws it back up.  He recently made a profession of faith, but please pray for this man.  Pray for healing.

The second person we visited was a teenage boy.  This boy was diagnosed with liver cancer and is visibly suffering.  The tumor is now the size of a bowling ball and his entire mid-section is distended.  As we sat there and prayed for him, I couldn't help but notice his heart beating in his chest.  He is so skinny because the tumors restrict his eating and you can literally see every time his heart takes a new beat.  Please pray for this boy.  Pray that God would work a physical miracle in his life just as He has already done one spiritually.

The third person we visited was an elderly gentleman.  I could barely hear what he was saying, because he was going in and out of consciousness.  But apparently he has issues with his kidneys and is very weak.  We prayed for him, and he fell asleep shortly after we walked away.

Pediatrics Ward:

The pediatrics ward was in a small building on the other side of the property.  As we walked in, I was blown away by just how many babies and small children were there.  The mothers were there caring to the needs of their children and often performing some of the nurses duties.   It was difficult seeing these little children, full of tubes, laying there helpless and then looking at the mothers struggling to disguise their emotions about the situation.  As we prayed, I just sat there at times thinking, "What if this were my child?  How would I be handling this situation?"  I think it made me pray all the more earnestly and I hope that we were an encouragement to them.

Please pray for this ministry.  It is in its infancy and desperately needs  your prayers.  Our desire is to see the Church here in Lusaka take up its responsibility and begin to minister to the hurting people in this hospital.  Pray for laborers.  Pray for a vision to ignite amongst the members of the different churches we are working with here in Zambia.  Pray that the Church would become mobilized.

Is Gas Really This Expensive?

Kerri and I have heard a lot lately about the rising gas prices back in the States and I have to admit that because gas here is distributed in liters and sold in Kwacha, I never realized just how expensive it has gotten here.  As you can see on this picture, Unleaded is 9495 Kwacha per liter and Diesel is 8350 Kwacha per liter.  

Curious what the equivalent was in U.S. dollars, I did some conversions.  I converted liters to gallons and Kwacha to US Dollars (based on recent exchange rates).  When I multiplied everything out, I was quite shocked.  Regular Unleaded is selling here for $10.13 per gallon and Diesel is selling for $8.91 per gallon.  So, remember that even though prices are rising to levels never seen before, it can always be worse.

Changes for ACTION Zambia

Last Friday we received the news that Glenn and Liese Ripley, along with their children, Gift and Grace, have felt God calling them on to a new season of life and ministry and will be leaving Zambia in early October.  The Ripleys opened the field in Zambia for Action International Ministries in 2002.  When we came to Zambia for our survey trip in 2005, the Ripleys had a great impact on us and were very influential in our decision to serve in Zambia.  While we are sad to see them go, we are also rejoicing with the Ripley family as they follow the clear direction of their Heavenly Father!  Please pray for Glenn, Liese, Gift, Grace, John, Mark and Stephen Ripley as they walk through this change.

I encourage you to read the Ripleys' own letter detailing their decision to go back to the U.S.  

Click Here

Please also remember to pray for our team here in Zambia as we go through an adjustment period and seek the will of God for our team moving forward.  

Happy Birthday Zambian Style

I've finally figured it out!  I was born in the wrong culture.  I should have been Zambian.  For those of you who don't know me really well, I am a prankster.  Back in the States, I developed quite a reputation with my friends because of the pranks I sometimes played.  Well, here in Zambia, things haven't changed.  They have a birthday tradition here that is right in line with my personality.  Whenever someone has a birthday, friends of that person are allowed to and, in fact, encouraged to douse the birthday boy/girl with water.

This past Wednesday, I got together with some of our Zambian friends and we decided to introduce Luke to this tradition.  I went over to Alex's house and set the trap.  We called Luke and told him that my car needed a jump.  Then we filled several buckets and balloons with water.  Alex waited at the entrance of his house and I stood beside him, responsible for opening the door so he could hit Luke with the bucket of water he was holding.  The others involved (about 7 in all) waited by the side of the house with the water balloons and other buckets of water.

The plan worked to perfection.  Luke showed up, came to the front door and knocked.  Immediately, I opened the door and Alex hit him with the first bucket of water.  Then everyone else came from around the side of the house and started pelting him with the balloons and other buckets of water.  By the time we were done, he was soaked.  He was a good sport about it and vowed that he would be paying me back in the future.  Regardless of the promised payback, I think I love this birthday tradition.

Pastors Discipleship

On Thursday, Graham and I, along with 10 Zambian church leaders (mostly compound pastors) started a new discipleship program.  Over the next year, Graham and I will be leading this group through some material focused on Deepening Our Intimacy With God.

The first meeting went really well.  We did the normal introductions, introduced the material and then tried to memorize a verse from scripture.  Everyone seemed to be really excited about what God is going to teach us as a group.  Our desire is that the pastors attending this discipleship program will take what they learn and start similar discipleship programs in their own churches.

One of the biggest needs in the church here is discipleship.  In most compound churches, the pastors have no more than the equivalent of a 7th grade education, coupled with little to no theological training, which is the case of most of the pastors in our discipleship program.  Imagine having only a 7th grade education, no theological training, struggling to read English (in some cases) and overseeing congregations where 70-80% of the members cannot read and therefore are unable to learn from God's word unless taught by someone else.  Now, you can somewhat understand what these men are up against.

Please pray for this group.  Pray that God would use this program for His glory and for the benefit of these men and their churches.  Pray for the daily physical provisions of these pastors.  Many of these men struggle to provide for their own families, much less their churches physical needs.  Pray for Graham and I.  Pray that we would be sensitive to culture, and would lead in a way that equips these men for effective ministry.

Indecent Exposure

Wednesday morning, I decided to go for a run, which is the same time President Manawasa was being laid to rest.  The run was a long one and I didn't have a proper running shirt.  So, I decided to run without a shirt and get some much needed sun.  

The run started out great, I ran out of our neighborhood, past parliament (passing several police officers on the way), and up past Manda Hill, a local shopping center which was closed for business because of the funeral.  I have to mention, that before I reached Manda Hill, I must have passed at least 10 police officers, all of who said their kind hellos and other familiar morning greetings.

But when I got in front of Manda Hill, there were about 8 officers sitting just inside the closed gate.  As I passed by, a few of them stopped me and asked me to come over.  After asking the officers what the problem was, one of them said "I know you are in training, but today is a special day and we have a lot of important people here.  You need to go back to your home and put a shirt on."  I was caught a little bit off guard, but I complied, turned around and headed home.  I guess I won't be going on any runs without the proper attire from now on : )

Internet Woes

We're sorry for not posting for the last week.  We've been experiencing issues with our internet and keep getting knocked off.  I am typing this post hoping the same will not happen.

Here are some quick updates.  We hope to have some more posts up soon.

Discipleship Materials

The past two Sundays, I have been piloting some discipleship materials with the church that we attend here in Lusaka.  They asked me to come in and teach the church on Sunday mornings.  Please pray for me in this area.  I'm trying to develop a basic discipleship curriculum which teaches believers here the core aspects of the gospel and then equips them to share it with other people.

Village Piggery

I went with Alex yesterday to Chongwe (about 45 km east of Lusaka).  We were finalizing a design for a village piggery and negotiating prices for its construction.  Alex desires to go into ministry full-time and wants to use this piggery to allow him to pursue this option.  I'll be posting something about him and his family soon.

Language

Kerri and I are still plugging along in our pursuit to learn the language here (Nyanja).  We're nearing the end of our lessons on grammar and continue to need your prayers for this aspect of our ministry here in Zambia.

National Holiday Today

For those of you who don't know, Zambia will be laying to rest their president this morning.  Several foreign dignitaries are now in the Lusaka area and it is supposed to be a major event.  Zimbabwe's president Mugabe is here as well.  Please pray for this country.  Changing leadership in an African country is no easy thing.  There is always potential for violence as different parties vie for a spot in the president's office.

Again, we're sorry for not keeping you updated recently.  Hopefully, our internet will get better.  Blessings!

The Whitfields

Please take the time to read this update from Luke and Elise, our good friends and partners in Evangelism and Discipleship here in Africa.  Cool stuff!

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Dear Friends

Greetings from increasingly hot Lusaka, Zambia. I (Luke) wanted to write a quick note and let you know the latest on new ministry opportunities and development with us. As Elise has mentioned in a previous update we have been investigating ways to “mobilize” the churches we are working with. We have realized, during our two years here, that there is much knowledge transfer going on in churches but very little mobilization of the congregation. While knowledge and study of God’s Word is essential, if that knowledge cannot be transferred into practical actions are we really helping the Zambian we came to serve? It to this end that we have been intent on developing outlet ministries that allow different congregation to see the power that exists when we take the knowledge of the Word of God to the streets. This has mainly been in the areas of door to door and open air evangelism, as well as hospital visitation.

The past two weeks I have gone over to the main hospital here in Lusaka, UTH, and spent time visiting with various patients. I always take a member from a local church with me because of the language barrier and most importantly because we are hoping they will catch the vision for themselves. Yesterday, 25/08, we went to the pediatrics ward and all I can say is that I left broken hearted. So many little ones with tubes stuck all over their bodies and anxious mother with looks of desperation covering their faces. We went to visit a little 8 year old boy named Enzo. This little guy has a significant hole in his heart which means you can literally hear his heart murmur without a stethoscope. With or without treatment the diagnosis is that Enzo will probably die in the next year but the hope is that treatment might prolong the inevitable. We went to love on little Enzo and pray a pray for healing in faith, what a privilege to serve this little one in this manner. 

While there we also meet a little girl name Musonda who, just like Enzo, also had a heart condition as well as problems with her lungs. As we prayed for her she labored heavily to take each new breath in, but when we finished she rewarded us with a big smile. Her mother, a Jehovah’s witness, was reluctant at first to let us pray for her but finally agreed. After we had finished we noticed that all the other patients in the ward has gotten up and left the room we were in. We took this a clear rejection of our prayers and proceed to leave the ward. 

As we enter the hall, Musonda’s mother came running after us and frantically explained that she was concerned that we had only prayed for her daughter, what? As I asked the Zambians who had come with me to explain what she was so concerned about, they told me that there is still much superstition towards whites (we are sometimes thought to be Satanists) and she believed bad things would happen to her daughter if we only prayed for her. We assured her that we had just prayed for a little boy in the next ward named Enzo but she would not be satisfied until she asked him for herself. These are the little ways satan has bound these people in fear and keeps them from receiving the healing message of Jesus Christ. Continue to pray that the name of Jesus would break down these spiritual barriers and that He would continue to equip us to do battle for His name sake.

We are also still organizing a meeting with the head of all prisons here in Zambian with the hope that we will be granted permission to begin work in the prison system here in the country (amazing opportunities for ministry). 

I continue to help lead, with my good friend Brent Roberts, a small group ministry with Great Commission Baptist Church. We are excited as we have identified two future leaders in the group and are hoping they will partner together to start a new small group within the church. This is such an answer to prayer as our mission, from the beginning of our small group ministry, has been to see replication happen (praise God). We also began work a couple of weeks ago on creating a curriculum for evangelism that will be piloted at Evangel Baptist Church, which is the church we are currently attending. I have begun a five week program on evangelism with the men’s group each Saturday morning a 7:30 and I am excited at the evident eagerness to see a heart for evangelism fostered at this church. 

Please pray as the long term vision for this program will be to implement it into all levels of the church—leadership, men’s/women’s ministry, youth programs, AWANA, small group, etc. Elise and I feel that this type of training and educating is why God has called us to Zambia. 

Also, as you continue to pray for us you might be interested to know that last Tuesday 08/19 the president of Zambia passed away in Paris, France. This has been such an interesting time as the government has decreed that there will be 21 days of national mourning which will end with his burial on my birthday September 3rd. Things remain very stable here but the implementation of the new government would prove to be troublesome. I am sure that violence will be avoided at all costs but as we have seen in other instances bathing these types of situations in prayer is essential. Pray that Zambia would continue to remain a beacon of stability in a somewhat unstable region and that the Christian heritage they claim would continue to be the cornerstone on which this great country rests. 

FYI—please check out our blog at: www.whitfieldwateringhole.blogspot.com as we have added some new feature that will allow you to give online and also sign up for email updates every time a new entry is posted. 

Thanks again for your continued support and prayers. We are so appreciative of your partnership.

His Servant

Luke

I think we're winning the war

This afternoon, Kerri came inside with the laundry, which had just been cleaned.  When she got it out of the dryer, she noticed a different smell in the laundry room.  She said it smelled like a dead animal.  So in stepped Brent to save the day.  I went out to the laundry and pulled the dryer away from the wall and looked in the vent and sure enough, there was a little furry dead rat.  We figured it had been there at least a day or two.  What stinks, besides the dead rat, was that we had to wash all of the clothes again and the ones that we had washed, we had to hang to dry.

Since we've laid poison out, I think we've killed about 5 adults and two babies.  So, I hope this is evidence that we are winning the war with these little critters!

Saturday Conference

This afternoon, I had the opportunity to speak to about 25 pastors and church leaders on the subject of church cell groups.   Things went pretty well except for a few glitches (One, I was late and, two, there was no electricity).  If I had been giving the presentation in the first few months of being here, I probably wouldn't have anticipated the electricity being out, but being here 6 months (now a veteran--yeah right!) I was prepared.  I just used the printout of the powerpoint presentation as reference and used a white board to draw all of the illustrations.  

During and after the presentation, there were a lot of questions from those in attendance.  That coupled with the fact that no one fell asleep made me feel like today was a success : )  In fact, several of those in attendance said that the conference gave them a whole new perspective on cell groups and that they looked forward to implementing some of the things that they learned from our time together.    Thank you so much for praying for me during the preparation and presentation of this material to these church leaders.  Please continue to pray that some of the things that were taught will be applied at the various churches in attendance and that God would be glorified as a result!

Ministry Stuff

Developing Curriculum

Please pray for me over the next several weeks.  I am developing some basic discipleship curriculum that is geared towards the African Church and new believers in the African church.

Cell Group Seminar

This coming Saturday, I will be teaching a seminar to a group of local pastors and church leaders on Cell Groups.  In addition to discussing the need for cell group ministry, I will be training these leaders on how to facilitate.  Please pray for me as I teach this seminar.

Piggery???

This past Monday, I sat down with a deacon at Great Commission who wants to start a piggery as a means to provide financially for his family.  His desire is to get this piggery up and running so he can leave his current job as a teacher and go into ministry full-time.  We projected all of his startup and operational costs.  He plans to begin in the next few months.

Hospital Visitation

Luke and I will begin visiting Lusaka Teaching Hospital this week with members of Great Commission.  Pastor Kandela expressed a desire for his church to start this ministry.  So, Luke and I will be doing whatever we can to assist them.

Discipleship for Pastors

Graham and I will be starting a Navigators 2:7 discipleship course with a group of 12 pastors and church leaders in the first week of September.  Our desire is to see these leaders equipped to then go and train the leaders in their church on how to disciple their church members.

Zambia Loses Their President

The President of Zambia, Levy Mwanawasa, died yesterday in a Paris hospital from a stroke that he suffered from nearly a month ago.  The government declared 7 days of mourning, which started yesterday, and will hold a funeral service sometime shortly after that period.  Since Zambia is still fairly young, when it comes to gaining their independence, this is actually the first president that they have ever lost.  Vice President, Banda, will step in for the next 90 days, at which point they will hold elections for a new president.  Please pray for Zambia during this time.

Mushingashi

Ok.  We made it back safely, but I do have some great stories to tell.  Instead of giving you every single detail of our camping trip to Mushingashi, I'll try to give you just the highlights.  If you are receiving this via e-mail, you will have to go to our website to view the slideshow: www.RobertsInZambia.Blogspot.com.

Leaving for Mushingashi

On Thursday night, I went to Luke's house to pack up the car.  We decided to do this a day early to make sure we could fit everything in or on the car.  As you have seen from the first picture in the slideshow above, we barely made it.  Gracyn and Payton (Luke's son) had to sit in the back seat on top of the tent and the food and hold a cooler in between them.  It was truly a sight.

Day 1

Setting Up Camp

When we arrived, we pulled out the cans of diesel we had packed in the car.  I decided that it would be better to go ahead and pour the diesel into the car so we didn't have to keep track of the cans while we were there.  The only problem was that while trying to pour the diesel, my hand slipped and, as a result, I got sprayed all over my head, face and pants.  Yes, I know.  I'm retarded.

A Walking Safari

After setting up our tent, we took all of the team's children on a walk up the Kafue river.  We ended up walking about 1/4 mile up the river before turning around.  What's significant about the 1/4 mile?  The next morning, our guard, who took us on the walk, told us that we had come within 100 meters of a Pride of lions (7 lions)!  I don't know what we would have done if they would have seen us with all of those little buffet items, oops, I mean children.

Fishing on the River

Luke was the fisherman of the group.  He brought his collapsable rod and reel with various fishing tackle.  He and I went down to the river right in front of camp with the kids and went fishing for about an hour.  Luke ended up catching 3 fish which we had the cook prepare for everyone to sample.  Later, that night, I was in camp and decided to shine a spotlight on the river in front of camp--the same place we were fishing earlier.  That's when I saw 3 different sets of eyes reflecting the light from the water.  Yep, crocs!  In fact, the next day, we saw a 13 foot croc a little ways up the river.  Let's just say that the kids didn't join us on any more fishing expeditions the rest of the trip.

Night Safari

You guessed it.  It was dark, our spotlights didn't provide enough light and we didn't see much.  Whoever thought of going out to look for animals in the dark?

Sleeping in the Tent

After a long day of driving, setting up camp and exploring the wilderness, Luke and I had the task of trying to get 5 children to fall asleep in a tent without the assistance of the wives.  We managed, but sleeping that night was a chore.  The ground was very hard and me, Caleb and Gracyn were trying to share two sleeping bags that were a bit too small.  As the night got colder, I kept waking up.  I think I ended up getting about 5 hours of sleep.

Day 2

Safari Drive

Most of our other teammates got up and went on safari before 6:00 am.  Luke and I were still trying to recover from the previous night of no sleep and didn't get out on safari until around 8:00 am.  As we drove, Luke caught something out of the corner of his eye.  It was a lion.  At this point, we left the driving trail and tried to maneuver the car around rocks and fallen trees to get as close as we could.  In the car was Luke, myself and our 5 children along with the guard from camp.  As we drove back towards the lion, we realized that she wasn't alone.  There were 6 others.  This was the first time that we realized that the tent we were sleeping in the night before with 5 kids was less than 1/4 mile away from 7 hungry lions!

Relaxing Afternoon

That afternoon, we took several of our teammates back out to see the lions, and then went back to camp to play games and just chill out.

Dinner Surprise

As we were eating dinner, the man in charge of maintaining the camp interrupted us and asked if we would like to come outside and see the lions.  Those same 7 lions had left their place 1/4 mile from the camp and decided to walk in our direction.  When we got outside, we watched as all 7 of them walked through the outskirts of the camp.  At this point, Gracyn, Caleb, Caleb's daddy and even the camp staff, didn't like the idea of the campers sleeping in their tents another night.  So, they graciously let some of the ladies on our team use one of their chalets and me, Luke and the kids used the group room.

Lunar Eclipse

After all of the excitement from the evening, the team gathered around the fire in the middle of camp.  We learned that there was going to be a lunar eclipse.  So, we put the children to bed and then the adults sat and watched it.  Pretty great way to cap the day off!

What in the world was that?

After watching the eclipse, Luke and I headed back into the group room and went to sleep for what we thought would be the night.  But much to our surprise, at 1:00 am we awoke to a loud shriek just outside, a few feet from the building.  A hyena had ventured into the campsite and made this awful noise.  If you have ever seen "Lord of the Rings," it sounds like one of the sounds dark lords made in the movie.  Luke and I both sprung up ready to defend the little ones, but the hyena had already made its way off into the night.  Luckily the kids never heard a sound, but needless to say, Luke and I had a hard time going back to sleep after that.

Day 3

Leaving

Overall, we had a wonderful weekend and experienced things in God's creation that will last as memories for the rest of our lives.  After breaking down camp and team devotions, we jumped into our vehicles and headed back to Lusaka.  Kerri was happy to have her hubby and children back safely and we were happy to see her again after our first African camping trip!  Thank you for praying for us while we were away.

Pray for our Campers!

This morning at 7:00, Brent, Caleb and Gracyn shoved off with Luke, Macy, Emma and Payton Whitfield to meet the rest of the team and then caravan to Mushingashi Game Conservancy.  They will spend the weekend with most of the rest of our team camping (yes in a tent - a huge 3 room one, though) and driving their own safaris in the park.  We decided that it would be best for Maddie and me to skip this one.  She is at such a busy age and always getting into things that just the thought of having her camping in the "wild" was stressful to me!  So, she and I will be enjoying some one-on-one time together, and I'll be enjoying some more alone time than usual.  I have been craving time to myself for quite a while now.  

I can't wait to post the picture of the guys and kids packed into our car like sardines.  It was hilarious!  Our car seats 7, so they had every seat filled and all their stuff packed under, behind, between and around the kids.  Gracyn and Payton were in the jump seats in back completely surrounded with pillows and sleeping bags.  If they were to have an accident, God forbid, those two would be just fine!  The bigger 3 kids were in the back seat with absolutely no leg space, and in addition, the top of the car was loaded too.  It was a sight, for sure.  Incidentally, don't worry, they are all wearing seat belts!  Thankfully their trip home should be much lighter.  I just hope they make it there without any horrid leg cramps or puking!

I'm sure they are going to have lots of fun, and we'll post some pictures as soon as the crew returns on Sunday.  In the mean time, would you please pray?  

• Pray for the safety of all our team members as they drive far away from civilization and return on Sunday.
  
• Pray for all the vehicles to function properly and for an abundance of diesel (it's been short here in Lusaka lately).
  
• Pray for their safety and health at Mushingashi and that God would keep critters and reptiles at a safe distance from them all. 
  
• Pray that all who are on the trip have fun and enjoy relaxing and enjoying God's creation!
• Pray that Brent and Luke won't lose their minds with 5 kids and no Mommies.
  
• Pray that God will give me some refreshing time in His presence this weekend.
  
• Pray for Elise and Tazi Whitfield as they return today from a week-long ministry trip to the bush.    
  

Thanks so much!  

Going on a short vacation

Our team is doing a team retreat this weekend.  We're headed to a place called Mushangashi, about 4 & 1/2 hours west of Lusaka.  We were told to pack fireworks if we didn't have a gun because lions have been known to wander around the outskirts of the campsite.  We'll also be on the Kafue river and yes, the river has Crocs!  I guess this isn't like camping in the States.  Is it?  

Due to the increased risks of malaria, Kerri is staying home with Maddie, but me, Caleb and Gracyn have been taking our malaria meds and will be heading out for our first African camping trip tomorrow.  Should be an experience!  Please pray for us and our team.  Traveling in Africa isn't as easy as it seems and even though my dad isn't on these roads, they are still dangerous.  (Love you dad!)  We'll post some pictures sometime after our return.  God Bless.

A Nice Surprise!

This past Saturday, we were invited to a church fellowship day with Great Commission.  Pastor Kandela asked our family and the Whitfields to come and spend the afternoon, eating, playing games and just hanging out.  What we didn't realize was that they had organized the event for us.  When we got there, we went to one of the rooms onsite and had a time of worship.  After worship, several of the members of the church, including leadership, stood up and shared testimonies of how we had been a blessing to them.  It felt kind of weird, because I feel like they have been more of a blessing to us than we could ever be a blessing to them.  After an afternoon lunch and some basketball, we headed home.  All in all, it was a very nice surprise and a very encouraging time of fellowship.

Choices, Choices, Choices

Kerri's mom took this picture on her visit here to Zambia.  Just thought it would be a good representation of the different choices we have when we go grocery shopping.  Whereas in the States, you can choose from Cocoa Puffs, Fruit Loops, Rice Krispies, Lucky Charms, Frosted Flakes, etc... here in Zambia we don't have that luxury.  If you love Kellogg's Cornflakes, this is the place for you!

Devotional, Ministry Tidbits & Khoswe (a Rat)

"Blessed are the people of whom this is true, blessed are the people whose God is the Lord." ~Psalm 144:15

We were reading over Psalm 144 this morning before staff meeting. The psalm is 15 verses long, but it was the last verse that stuck out to me. Blessed are the people whose God is the Lord. It just got me thinking about the richness that I have in my relationship with the Lord, the spiritual blessings that were bestowed on me by the sacrifice of Christ on my behalf.

I, then, started thinking about some of the trials that I have faced here and how, in my flesh, I have been more prone to complain instead of rejoice in the fact that through it all my God is the Lord--that no matter what the circumstances, no matter what the trial, I'm being led through it by the Lord. The same Lord that the Scriptures show as faithful and trustworthy, slow to anger and abounding in love.

It was as if God was trying to re-center my thoughts and affections on Him by reminding me that I am blessed, not materially, but spiritually. Not for anything that I have done, but for what Christ did for me at calvary. Anyways, I just thought I would share this verse and what God taught me today. So that hopefully it would be an encouragement to you.

Ministry Tidbits

• The cell group ministry with Great Commission is going well. There seems to be a regular group of attenders and we've been getting to know each other a lot more in recent weeks. Two leaders have emerged in the group and Great Commission hopes to launch a new cell group with one or both of these leaders in the near future.

• I will be leading a presentation on Cell Groups with a group of pastors and church leaders for various churches in the Chilenje area. Please pray for the leadership in attendance, that they would see the value in using cell groups as a means to disciple members of their church.

• Our guard Charles and I did an inventory count on his store and figured out his first month's profit.  In a month's time, his family had a profit of close to 265,000 kwacha (about twice what they were making with his wife breaking bricks). 

• This past Saturday, I went with Alex, one of the deacons from Great Commission, to his property in a village east of Lusaka in the town of Chongwe.  He is trying to start a piggery in order to provide enough income for him to go into ministry full time.  We'll meet later this week to do some cost estimates for starting the piggery.

Khoswe!

Finally, the Rat, or Khoswe in Nyanja.  This morning, our guard Charles found this little critter in the bottom of one of our outside trash cans.  We see them all the time, but can never seem to catch them.  Unfortunately for this one, he fell into a can he couldn't get out of.  Gracyn didn't take it too well when I gave Charles instructions to destroy the varmint.  I think she thought it would make a great pet!

Duh...

Do you wonder what we do just about every night, after dinner, giving the kids their baths and putting them to bed?  Here's what it looks like for us.  Took this picture with the camera on our beloved, the computer.  We're so boring.

Chocolate Explosion

Poor Maddie! We just had to take a picture of our little cutie after a hard morning. Maddie is growing more and more independent and loves running around without being held on to or confined. Lately, however, this has caused her some bumps and bruises. After church this morning she tripped on a crack in the sidewalk and face-planted into the concrete. Within a few minutes she had a huge goose egg on her forehead and a red, swollen nose. A few minutes of laying her head on Mommy's shoulder seemed to make her feel better, but we thought that she might like a little "pick-me-up" and gave her a couple of chocolate cookies as we were driving home. When I turned around to check on her I found her this way...asleep with a chocolate explosion on her face!