he that ploweth should plow in hope

Some time ago we received a tractor from some people in the States. However, at the time there were no attachments available. Thankfully, earlier this year we received just what was needed. We have some property that we are hoping to farm to really help supplement our conferences with maize and vegetables. None of us are really farmers so please be praying for God's wisdom and guidance in all of this. We are trying to "plow in hope"!! Thank you to all those that pray, give, and send us supplies and such things to help the people and keep this ministry moving forward.

Kalima - Sunday School Conference

We took the 3 hour drive over some pretty rough roads to get to Kalima Bible Baptist Church. Since Savannah gets tired easily because of her pregnancy, we decided she should stay back for this one. I later told her, this church was 25 km past the middle of no where! It always amazes me people actually inhabit such places... but, praise the LORD - we have established some churches!

Although a long day, we had a wonderful service. 4 churches gathered at Kalima for a 3 day Sunday School conference. In total, there were 202 people. I was told 11 adults and 51 children were saved over the three previous days. On Sunday, we had another 2 adults plus 8 more children get saved! It is truly wonderful to see the power of God continue to work even in the most hard to reach areas!

Please pray for Pastor Paul as he has only been the pastor for 1 year and has a large task of discipling these new believers as well as leading the rest of the flock forward!

Zambian Police Donation

When I first arrived in Zambia, many government offices in Zambia would be without any typewriter or computer. Things were very much done by writing a letter using ink. Today there is some change. Occasionally when visiting an office you will see a typewriter or maybe even a computer.

Over the last couple years we have established a very good working relationship with the Masaiti Police. Mr. Magawa (Officer in Charge) has become a personal friend of mine. Some time ago he requested if possible we could provide a computer for the police to be using. Today we were able to make his request come true! I AM was able to ship a couple computers on the last container dontated by church members from the States. Although not the primary role of a missionary, these type of donations go a long way to help build relationships that sometimes the Lord uses to open doors for evangelism, bible studies, and maybe even new church plants.

We were able to give the desktop, the monitor, & 2 flash drives. We were hoping to come up with a printer but that will need to wait until some time in the future.

Visit to the palace

While my mother was here we decided to take her to the Royal Palace to visit the senior chief. Sure many thoughts run through your mind on what a chief in Zambia looks like but honestly the chief and his family are quite normal.
Upon arrival, we found the senior chief had been called away on business. Thankfully, we were able to spend some time with his wife. She is a wonderful woman that loves the Lord. There are some people that are helping the chief build a new home. We took a brief tour of the home and found it to be very nice! Savannah asked if we could get the same plans and I build one for her... no problem ;-)
Just to note, the man standing next to the chief that looks like a guard, well - he is a guard!

Kangololo Baptist Church

There are some times when traveling two hours to church is not so bad - for instance, this last Sunday we went pretty far into the bush to a church called Kangololo. It has only been in existence for a couple years. The church itself was planted by a Zambian pastor - he asked me a few months ago to come, visit, and really encourage the people. I was not excited about going just because the road was in awful shape.
To my surprise - the road had been repaired! After driving two hours, it is nice to be "fresh" and ready to preach. Although have the road in good condition was great, having 1 person get saved and three repent, was truly the wonderful part of the day. Praise the LORD!
Church is not exactly in good shape. After the rains this year, the walls fell down and the church was forced to erect a very humble grass and branch church. They saved up some money, burnt some bricks, and began plans for a more permanent structure. Well, the man they hired to do the brick work stole the money and the bricks they were working on fell apart. Guess there are some days that are just better than others...

blessings from down South!

We sometimes get boxes of nice things from our friends and family in the States. Recently, we had some people come and bring a wonderful treat... which has made my wife quite happy - GRITS!

Although as a pure Northerner, I was not quite as excited to receive the grits as my wife, but knowing it has made her happy is good enough for me.

Thank you!!

Nakonde School

It was a long trip (12 hour drive) but well worth it... the purpose of all our travels was to set up a school to teach kindergarten through 3rd grade as well as offer English as a second language for high school students. Ultimately, the idea is that through better education these kids will better comprehend God's word. Of course, through the study of God's word many of these kids will ultimately know, serve, and worship Christ!
Please be praying for Pastor Robert - he is now in charge of all this and will have his hands full until things smooth out a bit. Also, a great big thanks to Bro. Jon for having the vision to start this as well as bringing the necessary tools and equipment. Praise the LORD!

Mishikishi

On the way to Nakonde we stopped at a church that is working on a building project. If you look closely at the pictures you will see the entire one side of the church wall had fallen out --- guess you could say it is Zambian air conditioning! Actually, the church is building a new church just a few meters away with stronger bricks and a better roof. We were quite excited to find the members have already raised much of the needed money and should complete the structure before the rainy season! Praise the LORD!!
The other picture shows Savannah with a family that we are friends with and are close to our hearts.