Forgiveness (Must Watch Video!!!)

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to spend some time with leaders from various churches in Zambia and Zimbabwe.  Above is a video that I recorded on our last night in camp.  It was a story shared by Ben Freeth about his family's plight with the Mugabe Land Reforms of the early 2000's.  Specifically he is sharing about his battle to fogive the young men who abducted and tortured his mother-in-law, father-in-law and himself during a farm invasion.

Please take the time to watch this video.  The audio is not so good.  So turn your computer to the highest volume if you can.  It's a great message on forgiving your enemies and praying for those who persecute you.

If you are receiving this post via email, please CLICK HERE to view the video.

Border Patrol

I'm at the border now heading to Zimbabwe for a leadership conference with church leaders from all over Zambia. Here is a picture of what many people have to deal with when traveling from country to country - border patrol. If you drive a truck, you might wait a week or so for clearance. If you're in a car, just an hour. Anyways, we're off! Send you some pics from the other side.

Dollar Troubles

I am reposting this blog that a friend of ours, Kelly Huckaby, wrote just to give you a little insight into why it is sometimes difficult to budget as a missionary serving in a foreign country.  This relates specifically to things currently happening here in Zambia.  Don't worry, we're not asking for any more support, unless you feel led to give ; ).  We're okay for now.  But please pray that things don't stay this way for too long.  Thanks,

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I'm sure you've been carefully watching the Zambian exchange rate lately but just in case you missed it, things are getting a little ugly in Lusaka. The basic fact is that the dollar has lost about 11% in the last two weeks. At the exchange bureau they told me that they're planning on the dollar loosing another 10-15% over the next two months. Which is bad news for missionaries and expats who are paid in dollars in the U.S. and then have their paychecks wired over for an exchange in kwacha. It means that every $100 bill that comes over will only be able to buy $75 in kwacha compared to last month's rate of exchange. Which would be no big deal if prices generally reflected that here. But when the dollar was strong over the last six months a number of big businesses here raised their prices to match the dollar. Which means with a falling dollar you now get hit on both sides from inflation and devaluation 'cause those prices of goods are not going down.

The reasons behind all of this are many but boil down to a few - the new PF government made it illegal to deal in dollars in order to A) get the old MMD government to offload their (stolen and hidden) dollars and B) strengthen the kwacha. Now buying or selling in dollars can get you 10 years in jail so the market is now flooded with people trying to trade-in dollars for kwacha creating (hopefully) a brief time where the demand for kwacha is spiking and the dollar is weak. The government is also working on a new currency by dropping the three zeros off the kwacha to make it 4.6 kwacha to the dollar instead of 4600 to the dollar (also a bid to get people hoarding cash to get rid of it - which might help flood the market and make the dollar strong again...).

Long story short - the government is creating a false demand for kwacha to strengthen the local currency and weed out crooks. Hopefully the market will set this all straight again in a month or two and the exchange rate will stabilize. Hopefully in way that won't mean that our personal and ministry budgets are suddenly 25% short every month.

Saluala - Grab What You Can

Today was a busy Saturday.  We've been trying to get prepared for a clothing distribution for the workers on the farm where we stay.  And today was the day that it all happened.

Many of these families have very little means and can't afford to buy clothing and most have rather large families.  So, to say that they were excited for the opportunity to come and choose clothing for themselves and their family members is an understatement to say the least.  We basically had the different housing compounds on the farm arrive at 10:00 am and form a line at the gate.  By the time we started the distribution, we had nearly 75 families representing about 375 - 400 people.

The proper term for clothing distribution is Saluala which literally means "grab what you can."  We were a little bit more organized than that, but most of the families were able to pick out several new clothing items.  It was a blessing to us to be able to provide for some of the physical needs of our neighbors.

Thank you to those of you who made this possible.  Just to list a few: Chapin Baptist Church combined Sunday schools, in particular Jamie Cassel and Marvin Bozard for securing the container and many of the donations.  Margie Simmons and her staff of volunteers of Christian Ministries International for packing the container and providing extra donated items.  The friends and family members who sacrificed time and donated items for this cause.  And a few friends from Texas who were responsible for the generous donation which covered all of the shipping costs.  There are more who helped, but we did want to make sure that we mentioned these few individuals.  Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!! If you are receiving this post via email, please visit our website to view the video: www.robertsinzambia.blogspot.com

Coolest Field Trip Ever!!!

A couple of weeks ago, we had the privelege of accompanying one of our friends on a game capture.  Our vet and friend, Ian Parsons, is the the person that game reserves in Zambia (both private and public) call when they need to capture or tag wildlife.

In fact, just last month, Ian was contacted to capture and transport 3 Giraffe to the Statehouse for the president of Zambia.  Pretty cool job huh?  Anyways, Ian was asked to capture approximately 100 Lechwe, an African antelope that can weigh in excess of 300 lbs.  We've been bugging him to let us tag along if he ever had a capture where we wouldn't get in the way.  So, he invited me, Luke and our oldest children!  

The method of capture: helicopter and nets.  Ian contracted a local pilot to use his chopper to fly around the game reserve and basically herd the Lechwe towards a netting system.  As the helicopter got close to the nets (which were stretched out in the shape of a U about the size of a football field) it would sound a few short blasts of a siren to scare them into the mouth of the U.  When the lechwe entered, a group of people would pull curtains so that the animals were trapped within the U.

And that's where we came in ; ).  We basically hid in the tall grass and as they ran in, we would stand up, chase them into the nets and either grab them by the hind legs or, if they were male, by the horns.  It was hectic, but it was AWESOME!!!  Don't worry.  The kids didn't participate in the physical capture.  They were safely hidden on the outside of the nets.  They were the photographers.

Let me just say that I thought I was in shape before this day, but I quickly realized how out of shape that I was.  Along with a lot of running, it was extremely exhausting wrestling with these large animals and then loading them into the transport trucks.

And my kids weren't that impressed with me either.  At one point, my son Caleb said, "Come on dad, quit being a wimp and catch one."  Let's just say that at times it was hard to muster up the courage to run full force towards an animal that could seriously hurt a person with a well placed kick.

But all in all, it was a pretty successful day.  We, along with Ian's Zambian staff, were able to capture about 60 Lechwe and 25 Impala (another African antelope).  And for the first time, we were able to get a really up close look at these beautiful animals.

Coming out of the day, I think we all had to pinch ourselves to make sure we weren't dreaming.  We kind of felt like we were on the crew of one of those shows on Animal Planet or National Geographic.  

Needless to say, it was a very, very neat experience!

An Evening of Study

Last night was the first night for a farm-wide study on the story of the Bible.  New Tribes Mission has a study which chronologically goes through the bible and lays the foundation for people to understand who God is, who man is and His plan for the entire human race.  The name of the material is Firm Foundations.  It's a 48 week course.  So, we will be meeting ongoing for quite some time.

I really didn't know what to expect in terms of turnout.  I put out word to our neighbors (the farm workers) through one of our own workers that we would be meeting on Tuesday evenings to study the Bible.  I asked everyone to arrive at 6:30 pm, but this is Africa and sometimes 6:30 means 7:00 or 7:30. So at 6:30 we had only a few, but as you can see from the picture, many more arrived a little later.

The first lesson was on the authority of the Bible.  Many of the people who showed up were surprised to learn that 40 people over 1600 years wrote the Bible and that it told one consistent story.  When we asked them how this could happen, they said that "God had to be the author."  Next up, Genesis and the story of Creation.  I can't wait to see what and how God teaches these friends of ours over the course of the next year!

Repairs Maningi (A lot of them)

Over these past few weeks we've had a lot of repairs.  When you live in the African bush, you can't just go down to Wal-Mart and get a part for a quick fix.  Here, the nearest place is Mazabuka, about a 45 minute drive away.  And many times they don't even have what you're looking for.

So, a lot of times, you just have to "make a plan."  It's a very common term we're beginning to learn.  In the case of these two pictures, on one day, our oven stopped heating up.  Instead of being able to find the right part, we had to jerry-rig the broken part to work on less electrical breakers than it is supposed to.  And the picture of the car happened when, because of the rough roads, we had a bracket under the dash break loose.  So, our friends helped me weld it.

Just a couple examples of us finding ways to fix things where parts and services are not as readily available.  And example of practical differences between our lives in the States versus our life here.

New Family Members

This past weekend, we welcomed 8 new puppies into the Roberts family.  Our 2 year old Chocolate lab Hershey started labor early in the day and then delivered her first pup at 8:00 pm.  The last finally came at 2:30 am.  Daddy, Caleb and Gracyn were some tired people after it all.  Kerri lucked out and missed it all because of a scheduled trip to Lusaka.

Anyways, the kids are loving having the cute little guys around!

Reaching a Nation through Schools?

A really neat opportunity has basically landed in our laps, but one that we think could have significant reach when it comes to the gospel going forth in Zambia.  A local school, Terranova Basic School, has asked us to assist them in creating an agricultural program with it's foundation rooted in the truths of Scripture.

This past Thursday, was the 2nd meeting that we have had with teachers and students from the school who are part of a committee who will be assisting us in implementing this program.  Currently, the school has a plot of land on site with access to water.  We hope to work with them to clear this land within the next few weeks and begin a weekly discipleship program teaching kids from grade 2 to 12 about honoring God through farming.

The beauty of this program is that it is rooted in Scripture and teaches kids to look at what God is doing in nature and learn from His ways.  Then apply these ways in their farming as well as their personal everyday lives.

Here's a simple lesson that will be taught during our time there, but one which I hope gives you insight into the potential of opening the eyes and ears of these children to their creator through farming:

In this program, we teach that weeding is a "year-round" process.  Many Africans only weed just before planting and sparcely during the growth stages of the plant.  Because of this, the weeds have a chance to grow and produce seeds which will, in turn, create more problems for the farmer.  Had the weeds been uprooted early when they were small, they would not have had the opportunity to reproduce and consistent weeding will eventually reduce the population of weeds in the land.  The same can be said about sin.  When we live with sin and let it grow, it has the propensity to reproduce and cause more problems.  If we deal with sin as soon as it is identified, (when the plant is small), it has less of an impact on our lives and fellowship with God.

Isn't that exciting!!!  Kids learning about farming, but more importantly learning about a loving relationship that they can have with their Creator each and every day.  Pray for us as we develop this program over the next few months.  We hope it will be a model for additional schools to use here for the glory of God!

Your Kids Learn Spanish,

Ours learn Tonga!  Today was the first day of language learning for the kids.  They will be meeting once a week to learn a bit from our friend Cynthia.  Today, they learned their Tonga names.

Caleb is Cipengo (Meaning gift)
Gracyn is Mutinta (Meaning a girl born between two boys)
Thomas is Coolwe (Meaning lucky)

They also learned greetings, yes and no, finished, I'm not fine and thank you.  This is a combined group with the Whitfield children.  So, there was a lot of giggling at the different pronunciations.  But, all in all, they had a really fun time learning.

Lights Out

(Solar Lighting and Movie Watching on Computer)

Power is at a premium these days in Zambia and generators are selling like hot cakes.  Apparently, there are two separate issues with our utility company.  One is that they are repairing/replacing various transformers for our area.  In the States, this would be rather seamless as they would probably have backups waiting in the wings, but here in good-ole Zambia, it just gets switched off.  Then on top of that, one of the turbines at the river plant is leaking so badly that they had to take it offline.

What does that mean for the Roberts you might ask?  14 hours without power in one day with many more like it scheduled in the near future.  As you can see from the picture, the solar lights we purchased and installed when we got here are now our new best friends.  Tomorrow, we'll work on getting the generators (which just arrived on the shipping container) hooked up to our main power supply so we can power a few other small appliances.

Anyways, fun stuff here in Chikankata!

We Come to Serve

(Mwenda Rural Development Trust Board Members)

We recently had the privilege of hosting several of the Board members from Chieftainess Mwenda's rural development trust.  They oversee a group of about 130 Zambians who are working together to bring more development to the Chikankata chiefdom.  The chairperson is Daniel Kalichi, the chieftainess' husband.  He is the one in the tan jacket standing between Luke and myself.

The purpose of this meeting was to develop relationships and share with them some of the programs that we would like to see implemented amongst many of the villages that they are already living in.  It turned out to be such a sweet time.  We were able to take them over to our demonstration plot, composting station and greenhouse and share with them God's plan for improving the physical and spiritual lives of the people of Chikankata.

After a late lunch, the board gathered for this picture and then headed back to their homes.  They left here full of food, while we were full of hope for how this relationship might grow and how we can work together to glorify Christ in this rural African district of Zambia!

Helicopter Party

Sorry for the slow updates.  There has been 2 major issues with the power company and we have been without electricity every night for the past week.  Being that evenings are when we update the website, there haven't been many posts.

Thank you to those of you who prayed for Gracyn.  This past Monday, we traveled to Lusaka to get x-rays of her foot.  Diagnosis: no broken bones, just some deep bruising.  So, she should make a full recovery!!!  We are extremely thankful for this report.

Why the picture of the helicopter?  This afternoon, Maddie and Ellie went to a birthday party at our friends and neighbors the Reeves.  Their son Owen turned 3.  One of the guests decided to arrive in style and the father flew him in on a helicopter.  Pretty cool huh?  Can't say that I've ever been to a party where one of the guests arrived in one of these : )

Celebration with a Hiccup

Today, in celebration of Dailes's 40th birthday, we decided to take a day trip to Livingstone. Dailes has lived her entire life in Zambia, but has never seen Victoria falls.

The trip went pretty well up until this afternoon when we were just finishing a drive your own safari. Gracyn had a slight accident and got her foot run over by the car. We think she might have a broken bone on the top of her foot near her pinky toe, but it could have been a lot worse. So, we are very thankful.

We'll head to the vet in the morning for X-rays and then maybe to Lusaka if there is a break and anything needs to be done. Please pray for our baby girl.

Why Send Missionaries

Our director recently posted this article on  global missions.  Thought it was very insightful on the need for sending missionaries.

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I have been asked, “With so many non-Christians in America why send missionaries to other countries?”

You can sum the answer up in one word: access.

While there are many unbelievers in the US there are innumerable churches, Christian ministries, magazines, television and radio programs, even entire stations, plus thousands of pastors and, of course, other Christians to reach U.S. unbelievers.  Over 1 out of every 4 full time Christian worker in the world lives and serves in the United States.

On the other hand, in many nations there is no, or very limited, access to the gospel – not on television, not on radio, no churches, no Christian publications, absolutely no way to discover who Jesus is.  It is estimated that in some areas of the world there is only one Christian worker (a pastor, lay leader, missionary, etc) for every 1 million people.

One missionary, upon entering a village, began talking to a woman about Jesus.  She directed him to a shop that could fix his sewing machine thinking perhaps that is what a “Jesus” is and that his was broken.

It is sadly true that there is an abundance of non-believers in the United States but there is also an abundance of believers who can easily make Christ’s name known.  There are an endless number of opportunities for a seeker to discover who Jesus is and the message of salvation.  We must ask ourselves: Should one group have multiple chances to reject the gospel when there are millions who have never even heard it for the first time?

Finally, Jesus commands us to go – to Jerusalem (or own city), Judea (the surrounding area), Samaria (our neighbors – even if they aren’t very friendly toward us) and the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).  It is not a “pick one” option.  He said we were responsible for local and global, Jerusalem and the ends of the earth.  Obedience demands we send missionaries.  Are you ready to go?


Matthew 28:18-19
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, …

Jesus Film (Take Two)

Well, we made it back (at least the girls did).  Friday night, as Luke and I headed back from our trip to Mkushi, the girls headed out with a local church to show the Jesus Film.  They were going back to the same location we went to during the team from the UK's visit, because the last attempt at a showing didn't quite work out.  But this time was a little better.

I guess because the last time failed and those who attended then knew we were coming back, the attendance was quite high.  If you offered this type of format for a movie in the States, probably only a handful would come, but here in the rural areas of Zambia, they turn out in droves.  There were probably close to 300 who showed up to hear about the life of Jesus.

I can't tell you how awesome it is seeing these Zambians hearing   The girls did a great job.  Everything went without a hitch and many people had the oppurtunity to hear about Jesus in their own language.  I just wish Luke and I could have been there to experience it too!

Container-oma

The long awaited container has arrived.  During the first week of February, we shipped a 40ft container full of ministry items to Zambia, hoping they would arrive before ministry really got up and running.  Well, it finally arrived and only took 3 months in doing so.

It was quite an ordeal trying to figure out how to get the container off of a big truck, but in the end, we hired a side-shifter truck to do the dirty work for us.  For those of you who don't know, a side-shifter is an 18 wheeler equipped with hydrolic arms which pick the container from the truck and place it on the ground.

Our workers enjoyed helping with unloading as they were able to go through and pick out some of the donated clothing for them and their children.  It took a full day, but what was packed in period of several weeks, was emptied and sorted through in about a day.

Thank you to those who helped us in this huge effort.  Specifically, we would like to thank Jamie Castles and many members from Chapin Baptist, Columbia Crossroads Church, Marvin Bozard, Margie Simmons and the volunteers of Christian Ministries International, Campus Crusade for Christ Zambia and our parents.  These were just a few of the key players involved in making this effort a reality.  Thank you, as well, to everyone else who assisted through donations.

We're so exited that it is finally here!!!

If you are receiving this post via email and would like to view the slideshow, please go to:  https://picasaweb.google.com/mzungubwr/ContainerArrives?authuser=0&feat=directlink

Last Minute Trip

This past Thursday, Luke and I were invited to a leadership conference with the our friends from Foundations For Farming.  It was literally a whirlwind of a trip.  We were picked up in Lusaka on a chartered 6-seater prop plane and flown north to a farming district known as Mkushi.  The purpose of the trip for us was just to develop further relationships with some of the key international leaders for FfF, and to that end, it was awesome!  While there, we met a man named Peter.  He is one of a handful of white Zimbabwean farmers who still have a farm.  I hope to share more about him in a future post.  And we also met Gavin Johnson.  He is the cousin to the founder of FfF, Brian Oldrieve, but is most famous for being one of the most famous fullbacks in South African rugby history.  If you've seen the movie Invictus, then you probably heard Nelson Mandella's character mention his name when meeting the 1995 World Cup team!

The trip up was forgettable.  The plane was a nice plan, but very small.  Because of this, it moved quite a bit with the strong winds we were experiencing that day.  Upon landing, the plane actually blew a tire and skidded to a halt.  But everyone was ok.  The visit was a good one as we made several new friends.  One highlight of the trip was a men's breakfast with all of the farmers of the Mkushi district.  Gavin shared his story about playing rugby for S. Africa and how God really got a hold of his life after his playing days.  He was so excited to share about just how much Jesus meant to him.  After breakfast and one more meeting, we said our goodbyes and headed home.

All in all, it was a wonderful trip.  And we are so thankful to have met some new friends who share a similar vision for Zambia!

If you are receiving this post via email and would like to view the slideshow of our trip, please go to: https://picasaweb.google.com/mzungubwr/Mkushi?authuser=0&feat=directlink.

Field Day

On Monday, we arranged for a field day for all of the commercial farmers of Mazabuka/Chikankata to come and see the benefits from implementing a zero-till program like Foundations for Farming.  A local farmer (Wizz Bignell) opened up his land for farmers in the community to gather and have a hands-on question and answer with himself and Brian.

There was quite a turnout as you can see from some of the pictures.  While we were in the field, Wizz handled most of the questions, as they were more directed at what specifically he was doing in zero-till farming.  But later in the day, we returned to his home for Brian to give a presentation.

Brian's, as well as our conviction, is that we should honor and glorify God in all we do, including farming.  So, it was great to have someone who this farming community respects, share with them this conviction.  He shared from the heart about the need for Africans to not only be productive and make profit, but to also lookout for the needs of the poor and for the foundation of everything they do be Jesus Christ.

Blessed are the Meek

We had the extreme privelege of hosting Brian and Cath Oldreive the last few days, the founder of Foundations for Farming (previously known as Farming God's Way).  For those of you who don't know, Brian is a pioneer for zero-till (conservation) farming in all of Sub-Saharan Africa.  He is invited to speak all over the world.  In just the last few months, he has spoken with various groups and foreign dignitaries in Australia, India and many other African countries.  So, needless to say, we were extremely honored to have him visit us here in little old Chikankankata.

But, I'm not writing this post to dote on all of his accolades.  I'm writing it to share with you the most impactful part of his visit with us.  Over dinner the other evening, Brian and Cath sat there and shared their story about losing their farm (the 2nd largest commercial farm in Zimbabwe) because of the land reforms instituted by the Zimbabwean government.  Now, let me give you some perspective as to who we were listening to:

Brian and his wife Cath, for many years, ran a 3,500 hectre (approximately 7,000 acre) commercial farm in Zimbabwe, the 2nd largest of its kind.  They, through the Lord's guidance, built this farm from the ground up over may years/decades of hard work.  In addition to this, they used this farm as a training facility for rural subsistence farmers to learn better practices to farming, which improved the lives of many of the poor in their surrounding communities.  Then in 2000, everything changed.  The Zimbabwean government instituted a land reform which would pass control of all white-owned commercial farms in Zimbabwe to the black Zimbabweans.  In the course of about a year, Brian and Cath had lost everything they had worked so hard to achieve.

Now, some of the farmers in the community didn't take to kindly to their farms being siezed.  Many faught it tooth-and-nail and even resorted to violence to keep their farms.  But this was not the Oldreive's reaction.  Cath sat there and shared about how the black Zimbabwean who had taken over the land came and screamed at Brian on different occasions when the farm was first seized, but that Brian never lost his cool and always spoke to him gently.  Then just at planting season began, when the gentleman was planting his first maize crop, Brian went to him and asked him if he needed any help.

As I sat there contemplating just how angry I would be and how I would react, I was blown away by this man's gentleness.  Here he was losing everything.  He still lived on the farm, but couldn't farm the land anymore.  He had to watch as another person destroyed his life work and instead of being hateful and trying to find ways to hurt this guy, he was asking if he could help him.  Then Brian reminded us of the verse from the Sermon on the Mount found in the 5th chapter of Matthew, "Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth."  It's one thing to read a scripture and conceptually understand it, but to see it lived out through the life of another in such extreme situations is a whole different story.  Needless to say, we all were blown away and greatly encouraged by the humility shown in the life of a very Godly and well respected couple.  Brian left us with one challenge, which I hope will also be a challenge to you as you walk away from reading this post.  "All of Christ's life and ministry were grounded in humility and meekness.  Shouldn't ours be the same?"

To learn more of his story and what God has taught him over several decades of farming and life, go here: http://www.foundationsforfarming.org/wp-content/uploads/The-Story.pdf.