Answered prayers- tons of them!!

It has been far too long since I have updated my blog, but I finally have a moment to rest so I thought I'd dedicate it to this! So much has gone on since I last wrote, and it would be pretty boring to go back and comment on everything, so I'll just highlight the major stuff as I get back into the blogging swing of things!

The most major piece of news is that we MOVED! It became very clear to us that the house we were waiting for was going to take at least another year to be completed- and to prevent a complete and total meltdown we decided to start looking for something new. It is VERY difficult to find accommodation here, as it's an area that is still developing- so if a house is vacant it stays that way only for a night or two!

In God's providence, Sydney was called to be the speaker at a youth camp in Samfya, which is about 4 hours or so from Mpika. We took the drive up there with our deacon and his wife, who were attending a separate couples conference in the same town. The camp went very well, it was a “pilot” camp and there were about 60 or so kids there from all different denominations, and the word was well received. (Not to mention it was at the beach :) ) As we were driving home and dropping of our deacon, we passed a very large house on his street and noticed there were no curtains in the windows- a signal that a home is vacant. Again providentially, our deacon is an old friend of the landlord to the house, so he said he'd call for us that very day.

The next morning, he called and she confirmed it was vacant but she had already told someone they could go look at it. We decided to go and peek in the windows to see the inside, and from what we could see we loved it. That evening, we met the agent there, but at the same time the other lady came to also view the inside. She, however, wanted them to lower the (already low) price, so favor was given to us!

The house needs a lot of work, as the previous tenants completely trashed/vandalized the place- but its nothing we can't handle with some patience. Every single tap on the sinks and tubs needs to be replaced (we actually have a brick keeping one of then=m off or else it just pours out water.) They are expensive, so we are pacing ourselves. The landlord gave us about 100 bucks to start doing repairs, but there’s about 1,000 dollars worth of work to be done, so it will be slow going, to say the least. Boxes are slowly being unpacked (after YEARS) and we are making purchases of door handles, taps, toilet seats etc one at a time. It's frustrating to want shelves in the pantry and a dining room table and paint on the walls and tile on the floors and want it NOW, but since we can only swing about one purchase a month- we are still being taught that lovely lesson of patience!!! But we have room, and space, and peace of mind, and security and a fence is being put up- privacy!!!

The other major thing we'd love to do is have a water tank put up. We get water every other day, and looking at the time it takes to collect and fill up buckets to last us through the “off” days, it seems like a very good investment- and worth the money to have water 24/7! We've got our hearts set on that so it's save time!

Another reason why we need to save... and why unpacking is a bit slow going, is because I can't do any heavy lifting! We are having a baby!!!!! We are very excited and truth be told I am terrified, but I think that's all part of the adventure. I am trying not to think about delivery- the how and the where of it, cause that's where the “terrified” comes in- but instead I am enjoying the excitement! (Any fully qualified midwives or doctors want to come live in Mpika in April?? :) ) We are due in April, but we are NOT finding out the sex (although I have all my fingers and toes crossed for a girl) and probably wont have as many ultra sounds as I would if I was in the states, but we did have one in Lusaka last week and all was well.

Last month, in the midst of finding out we were pregnant and moving houses, we had an intern from LBC staying with us as part of his internship. We were not at the top of our “hospitality game” in the midst of a move and my exhaustion (and discovering that the power level in this part of town during dinner time is too low to run the stove- and turn on half the lights in the house, another adventure all together!) but we enjoyed our time with him and we believe he was also blessed by his time with the saints here at church.

Last week, we attended the Annual Reformed Baptist Conference in Lusaka at LBC. It was very refreshing, and although it completely wiped me out- it was worth it! It was the 25^th anniversary of the Conference and we were fed by Voddie Baucham and Ken Jones (from Florida). We were so busy getting to meet people, catch up with people, celebrate my birthday (I was spoiled all day- breakfast at our favorite blue moon cafe where we had our first date, lunch and shopping at Manda Hill Mall (although I almost had a complete pregnancy meltdown- I got so tired and overwhelmed walking through shop rite that I almost started crying from sheer exhaustion and came VERY close to needing to lie down on the floor right in the dog food aisle!), and also doing some shopping both for the house (curtain rails, but no curtains on this trip- I may have to send Sydney alone next time to pick out curtains.... not thrilled about that prospect....) and for church- the ladies ministry collected money all year to raise enough for curtains for church, and we were finally able to get them!

So much more has happened but it would be impossible to put it all here. Church programs have been going well- we are on “holiday” for literacy class and will start up in a few weeks. Two of the teachers are pregnant and will need significant “time off” eventually and we are in desperate need of more so please pray in that respect!!! We also had Holiday Bible Week for all the Sunday School Kids which went very well, I was only able to attend one of the days but I had a blast- wish I could have been there all week!

Bemba service is steadily growing, we have anywhere between 10-20 people each Sunday. We also have a large number of people attending the Baptismal class, and have baptisms and new members to add soon! We are amazed by God's faithfulness and are humbled that He has allowed us to be here at such a time to witness what he is doing in Mpika! Please continue also to pray about the mosque- the doors are open, and the people from Pakistan have arrived to run it. They have already started handing out jobs and food and we pray that people will not be blinded by their false message. (Apparently they held a rally in town a month or so back where they were explaining why their God and the Christian God is really the same thing, and you are not abandoning your faith to go to the mosque. I am glad I wasn’t there to witness it.

Please continue to pray for us, especially my health and the anxiety we are facing at the prospect of being parents, for patience as we slowly get settled in the new house, and especially for the church. God is doing wonderful things here and we never want to take that for granted or overlook the mercy and grace he is showing us as a little group of sheep. Thank you for all your love and prayers!

Get behind me.

I haven't taken a bath, or a shower, since we moved here.

Good now that I have your attention I can assure you my hygiene is up to scratch just not how I thought it would be when I was growing up with multiple hot showers a day freely available.

I decided to make this blog more like a “picture diary”. As a disclaimer, I'd say this blog is much more geared toward my American/British/(and most parts of Lusaka). I often get messages and encouraging notes from people and some of the most often asked questions by those more curious followers of our ministry are “What's it like living there?”, “Is it that different in day to day life- how exactly?” Not an easy question to answer. In some ways not really, in other ways- entirely.

Some people also dislike the fact that I complain (which I wish I didn't, and I'm working on it) or talk about things that irritate me or I find difficult because “I chose the missions life”. You're right. I did chose the missions life, and I love it and I could never in good conscience go back to the life I lived before I gave up many of my worldly comforts for Christ. That is true BUT that doesn't change the fact that I am a human being and I struggle. I didn't grow up here, and life is just plain harder. Not only do I get questions from people in the US but also Zambians. Some of them do not understand why washing clothes by hand is so tiring and foreign to me. Some of them have lived without a hot shower just fine and don't understand why I crave it. Sometimes people don't understand why not having a single countertop in the kitchen makes me want to tear my hair out and scream (You hear me, 'western world' ladies. I know you do. Try. Try one day to prepare your meal without using a single countertop. You'll punch a wall too.) “I even had one Zambian teen here ask me- “You dont work? What on earth do you DO all day?” Oh my dear girl- read on.

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I just wrote an entire blog post- pages and pages long- describing the house and the issues with it and my frustrations. I even took photos of all those issues to include and really get my point across. I then got convicted. I am sinning. I don't want to be a complaining missionary. I read a lot of missionary blogs- being one myself they interest me. I always hate the "complainy" ones. I usually don't even finish reading them. I don't want to be that 'woe is me' person. I don't need people to "know the struggle" so that they sympathize or send notes, comments or even money. That's not why I'm here- and I am abundantly blessed.

 I will save that blog post I wrote and whenever I am tempted to complain in the new house, whenever we get there, I'll read it. I'll fight sin. I'll beat it.

*the end* (I'll post about what's going on with life and church soon. Not today. Today I need to pray.)

What a day!

Well. That was horrifying.

Rewind one hour- I had just driven out of the church parking lot headed onto the main road when I heard a loud car horn honking frantically. I saw a van coming at a high speed so I stopped- and he started waving his hands. I realized he obviously had no brakes and he was careening toward a bar with about 20 people outside and/or walking on the road next to it.

One man realized only too late that he was directly in the line of fire and he was hit. Hard.
Hard enough that I watched him fly about 10 feet. I almost vomited... but my "deal with this crisis" mode kicked in and I got out of the car and ran across the street. Amazingly, I have been reading these books a woman from my church in the U.S. sent me on how to deal with any medical emergency when there's no doctor around. Providence.

I found about 30 people crowded around him and everyone was just shouting. He was clearly drunk- and probably didn't feel as much as he would have sober which was good for him because his calf was snapped in two. Two. I saw where the bone was and his foot and ankle were no longer attached to his body by anything but skin. He also had severe cuts and dents in the back of his head and was bleeding at an alarming rate. I watch all these medical shows but real blood, actually flowing, is a frightening colour.

Everyone was shouting and of course- this was Chitulika village so they were speaking Bemba and I was panicking- so I said, multiple times, he needs to go to the hospital- he is badly hurt- he needs to go to the hospital... but no one was listening. Hospital is the same in English and Bemba so they probably thought I was just commenting. Finally I shouted, really loudly, "I AM TAKING HIM TO THE HOSPITAL". The crazy screaming white lady got peoples attention. They got the hint because I was wagging my car keys around and pointing at my car across the road.

The driver of the vehicle who hit him grabbed my arm and said "Get the car." He was the only person who spoke English. Providence. I ran and got the car, calling Sydney to meet us at the hospital. I got my chitenge and put it on the man's head trying to explain to put pressure on the wound but he was wasted drunk and not understanding a thing. 5 men tried to get him in the car on top of my tray of eggs and bottles of water, so I had to rearrange things and help them gently put him in the car. Blood everywhere. His wife and mother both came shouting and screaming and pushing into the car, pushing the man out of the way so they could ride too. I couldn't even tell them to stop jolting his body around it was a lost cause. I made the driver come with us (thanks to Sydney who warned me not to leave the scene without him) and off we went. We pulled into the hospital, but they then decided they wanted to go to the police station. I argued the best I could... but to no avail. We LEFT the hospital with a badly injured man and went to the police station to file a report, while this guy bled out in the back seat of my car.

20 minutes later... we went to the hospital. It took another 10 minutes for someone to find him a wheelchair. Finally Sydney went in and got the chair, and wheeled the guy in, while his wife tried to support his dangling foot.  A nurse was waiting for us (watching everyone struggle to get him inside) and came out reprimanding us saying with an attitude "The person you've chosen to support his leg is just... ugh" as if she was disgusted by our medical skills. It took everything in my power not to ask why she, who is a medical practitioner, stood and watched instead of doing her JOB.

Anyway, we left him there- he was being stitched up then sent into surgery for his leg. It wasn't til we were leaving that I felt like throwing up or crying, or both.... it was also at that point I thought about disease, the car has his blood in it, I had checked his wounds bare handed and Sydney actually carried him at the hospital.

Lessons learned:
I never ever want to have to be treated for a major injury here. It will be part of my prayers daily.
You never know when someone is going to be in need- act. It could save a life.
Life... is so fragile. This man was drinking his day away celebrating Friday not realizing those wasted breaths could have been his last.
I NEED to learn BEMBA. All I could think about while we drove to the hospital was how I wanted to witness to these people and I couldn't. I can only pray my actions spoke of Christ's love. I saw where is wife came from, their house faces the church. so no doubt they know who we are... maybe they will stop in when they've had time to think.

What a day.

Finished Roof!

It is amazing how busy we have become and how fast time is flying! I find it hard to believe we are already in February.

The church building project is progressing well. We encountered some setbacks, as is usual in projects like these. There were some hidden costs to finish the roof, both with needing more roofing sheets than we thought but also with needing to buy cement and cinder blocks, which we didn't account for, to raise the walls higher to meet the roof. Over all, God has been gracious and we have been able to meet these costs but it means that we will now NOT have the money to do the floor as we originally had included.

God seems to have opened the hearts of the people at church and at the Annual General Meeting for the members, the deacon in charge of finances reported that our tithes and offerings have basically skyrocketed, and therefore we should hopefully be able to complete the building sooner (aka, not have it continue to drag on for years). The floor should cost us 2,000 USD, which we hope to be able to raise in a few months. After that is less major items such as doors, windows, security bars for the windows and doors, plastering and paint. However we do have to think about chairs, a new pulpit (ours is barely standing!) curtains &curtain rods, hymnals, tables and chairs for Sunday school and literacy class and those other things. We also have a long standing issue of having NOTHING in the kitchen. We need dishes, cups, silverware, pots and pans, shelves,cabinets, a sink, (a stove and fridge is LONG long term, unfortunately). We'd also like to get a copy machine for the church office. 

                                                               




                        FINISHED ROOF!!!!

These things seem to be so many but God has not ceased to shower us with blessings, and we believe he has a plan for us here and he will provide what we need in His way and His perfect timing.

The building project of our house is moving, slowly but surely. The owner was here to sort out a few issues. It turns out the house is too far from the main water line, therefore they will need to put in a tank underground and have the water pumped into the house from that reservoir. Although it means taking more time, this is actually a blessing in disguise! Insead of having water only during designated hours like the rest of the area, we will have water flowing 24/7. Most likely pressure will also be better. Praising God for that! (And profusely seeking forgiveness for my impatience.) We are told power should be put in by next week- they had to apply for a permit to put up another power pole because the other power lines were to far from the house. Also, the carpenter currently finishing the church roof will immediately be going to the new house to install ceilings and shelving and cabinets(I hope) in the kitchen. The owner is scheduled to come next week to put security bars on the windows and doors.

We will move in as soon as there are security bars, water and power. After that he will be painting, putting tile down and installing the water heaters while we are there. Keep praying!

Many of you read on facebook that we had a member who was struck with malaria- and a very bad case at that. He was rushed to the hospital in the night by a church member, and after “seemingly” recovering, he took another turn for the worse. He was experiencing inability to move his legs and hands, and severe temperature changes and body pains.

His wife lives hours away due to her job, and rushed to be with him (about 6 hours- by taxi!) in the hospital. We are thankful to God to announce that he is back home and back to work! He is still suffering from extreme exhaustion (malaria depletes/destroys red blood cells) and he is also suffering from memory loss and confusion. The doctors told him it was spreading to the brain, which inevitably causes coma and death- so he got to the hospital just in time. We are so thankful for God's providence in his life.

The church has not had a functioning ladies ministry for over a year. We have been doing the book study in the interim waiting for elections to be held. We finally did hold those elections in January. I was elected as chairwoman, Mrs. Sichone as secretary and Mrs. Mulenga (a deacons wife) as treasurer. Please pray for us as we seek to bring this ministry back to life! I have been working on a year calander and hope to have a planning meeting next Friday where we finalize plans. Among the many events planned so far are practical demonstrations of skills (gardening, baking, sewing etc), an Evangelistic Tea Party for the community, and a home management/ budgeting seminar which I will lead. Pray for all these endeavors!

Literacy class is going well, we see more pupils each week. The kids are REALLY enjoying the new materials, and they are a great help to us! We are so grateful to Grace Covenant Baptist Church and especially Holly Teale for organizing and spending hours preparing these materials for us. Your efforts as a church are not in vain- we are eternally grateful! 

                                                                 Jane Sichone teaching

                                                              Lonear Mwaba teaching

We are seeing a need for more teachers as the numbers grow, and most especially as the kids are on so many different levels ( In a class of four 5^th graders, you will have kids at grade one level, grade 2 level etc.... ) We will be separating them by ability rather than grade and seeking to catch them up with their peers at school. 

                                                  

I have also “volunteered” or at least mentioned that I'd be willing to teach the Youth Bible Class on Sunday morning. Our Sunday school program only takes kids through grade 8, and then after that they just automatically go to Adult Bible Class, which is most of the times way above their heads. Because of this, some of the kids from the community leave church after grade 8. We don't want to lose them at this critical time. We have about 10-12 “youths” in that age category who we want to cater to. Sydney will bring the idea before the leadership and we will go from there. The issues will still be materials for that class.

Last week I created a facebook page as well as a website for the church so that we can get the word out about our congregation way out here in Mpika, and also so that people all over Zambia, in the US and UK who have supported us and pray for us can be more fully involved in our work here. The links are

Website: http://ebc-mpika.wix.com/ebcmpika

Facebook:    https://www.facebook.com/EBCMpika

We have been waiting for two of our packages for over two months (our Christmas presents from family) and we've never had anything take more than 4 weeks so you can imagine the worry! We are so thankful one arrived two days ago!! The other was sent first and seems to have never been scanned in at Lusaka (holiday rush) so we are praying that God will intervene and we will receive that one as well. We are praying it doesn't get "lost in the system"- Please pray with us!

                                                   



Reading a letter from my neice

                                                   




 The cat's ultimately got a little present too!

                                                      



  Handing notes for Sydney to read.

                                                       

  Showing off some of my treats!

I must admit today was one of those days where I pretty much felt like if we lived out of boxes in this house for ONE more day I was going to just lose it. We are now in month 6 in a house we were never supposed to have been in in the first place... and I don't want to count te months our belongings have been in boxes. I went digging for a sweatshirt yesterday and it had that musty "I've been in storage for a year" smell. I'll have a lot of laundry to do when we move that's for sure. I have prayed, and I am content with what God sees fit to give us day by day... patiently waiting on Him! (That's not to say that I wont cry tears of absolute overwhelming joy the day we move out of here :) )

Imagination vs. Reality... and some bitter realization thrown in!

I missed a month in blogging, but December was VERY busy for us, with Christmas programs at church and many other things. Things are going very well with the church. We have been so encouraged and blessed to see growth both in numbers but also, and most importantly, in vitality and fruit in the members. We feel like we have been here for years- people have really accepted us into the fold and we feel a sense of family.

 

Sunday school kids doing a Christmas Pageant

We have added a “Sunday snack” program at church- whereby in between the morning and afternoon services there is a time of refreshment (juice and bread) and fellowship. The women all come together and put the butter on the buns, pour the juice and serve the children, then the men- and finally ourselves! We have seen that this has REALLY improved our fellowship- ladies and men are both growing closer and benefiting from this “mealtime” fellowship every week.

 

Ladies cleaning in the kitchen- no sinks, no counters, no stoves, no running water, nothing but grace and selflessness! 

 

 

Christmas meal !

 

The midweek meetings are back in full swing and running well- and the prayer meeting is VERY well attended- almost all of the men now attend, and a few women (especially those without small children). The deacons meet regularly, and the men also meet for “leadership training” once a month.We also have one of our youth who has expressed interest in being baptized this year! The same boy has banded together with some friends and they have come up with a plan to build a park in Mpika, one that will be Christian based and be an area for entertainment and witness- but also keep many kids off the streets. He has asked Sydney to be a leader/mentor in the project and they come meet with him once a week about it- they have already received approval from the town council to proceed! Pray for that endeavor!

The ladies have been meeting bi-weekly. It has been so great. I come each week feeling weary and REALLY unsuited to be the one leading. (Although Sydney tells me the less qualified I feel and more humbled I am by the topic the better.) We are going through the book “Respectable Sins” and as we go through each chapter on irritability, impatience, anger, ungratefulness.... it seems like every week I have to confess my sins to the ladies and pour out my heart before them. Surprisingly, this has led to them in turn pouring out their hearts and confessing their shortcomings and in turn- we are all growing closer and more tightly knit with one another! We started out with a few ladies, but now all of the ladies attend (with absences here and there due to sick children, needing to work in the field etc). That also is very encouraging!!

This past week, during the meeting one of the ladies began to bring forward an issue she was struggling with in her home and I was so blessed to see all the older (and younger) women chipping in and giving advice- explaining how she wasn't alone and giving examples from their own pasts. I just felt so blessed to be a part of that. Many of the women have expressed that they are benefiting tremendously from having an active ladies ministry again- and especially one where people are letting their guards down and being frank with each other. (This is a culture of always saying everything is fine when the house is burning down behind you- people (even Christians) will frankly lie just to not offend or disappoint you). 

After the meeting, another of the ladies asked me if I would walk her home. She is someone who speaks very broken English but somehow she is one of the women I feel closest to. On the way, as we walked holding hands, she expressed how much she has been learning from these ladies meetings. She started telling me practical ways in which what she is learning is changing her Christian walk and her home- even telling me about how she responded in an “out of (old)character” way to a stressful situation and her shocked husband exclaimed “Is this what you are learning in ladies meeting?? You guys are really learning a lot!!” I was so happy to hear that and it just showed me how much God is working through our feeble efforts.

When we got back to her house, she finally told me the real reason she asked me to walk her home- she asked me if I would help her learn English. She even said that in return, she will make sure I know Bemba by the end of the year!! It was a strange providence because I have been wondering how, in a (mostly) English household, I would ever learn! God works in very mysterious ways!!

On Friday, I had a meeting with the leader for the church's literacy class. We have received about 10-12 boxes of books and supplies from dear saints at GCBC, and mostly the efforts of our dear sister Holly. We will begin meeting with the kids the last Saturday of this month. There will be 3 teachers, Jane Sichone, Konyi Masanzi, and me. (Please keep us in prayer!) Mrs. Masanzi was a member at Fanny and Curtis' church in Kabanana (what are the odds!), but has been transferred here for work so she is ready to jump on board and help- and since she is primary school teacher she will be very valuable! We also discussed plans for the school. Sydney and I had discussed opening a Christian school here in Mpika on the extra land the church has- but it was more of a LONG term plan when we raised funds. Mrs. Sichone has apparently had the same desire and a better idea- why not start now! Now that we are building the main sanctuary- the hall where we were meeting could be used as a classroom during the week, and we could use the school fees we received to build a school building brick by brick. We will be discussing it further and coming up with plans soon- stay tuned! VERY exciting!!

As far as the church building goes- things are going extremely well. The structural boards have all been put on the building and we are now waiting on the builder to come from Tanzania and as soon as he gets back the roofing sheets will be purchased from Lusaka and they will be done in a week! The builder is the only one delaying us- we are suspecting he is doing another job somewhere at the same time as doing ours because he is not answering calls and disappears for days. It is VERY hard to find faithful and honest laborers, so we are just praying and trying to be patient with him. We had a few unexpected costs- as things tend to go here- so we actually won't be able to get the walls and floors done like we thought- but we will do as much as we can!

                                                                    Front of the church

                                                              

We have a well at church that got destroyed by the neighborhood so we paid to have it re-dug, cleaned and covered. Because we covered it- they broke the pipe so that they could draw water. Because of that we have filthy water each week- there’s even trash and mud in it. We have to handle it- possibly with the police. It's not easy because we aren’t there all the time so when they are coming to steal our water we aren't there to know who is damaging our property. But they don't pay water bills and just steal from us for free. Pray for us!

As far as our house goes- it's still not done. It has been very discouraging because literally every month since August we have been told “next month it will be done”. Again last week we were told by February we will be moving in. I am no longer holding my breath since we were supposed to only be in this current house for 3 months and we have now doubled that- but I am trying to just be patient and see that God has a plan. To be honest, it looks like a lot more will be done when we move in than we thought. We are given different reports so we will just wait and see. We have said once water and power is there we will move in and they can work around us after that. It remains to be seen. Keep praying!! 

The car has been in issue, from the time in November the neighbor came and smashed the mirror, we have been unable to find a replacement part. We need to have the car checked for road fitness this week and with no side mirror that WOULD pose a huge problem but (again) providentially, the only traffic officer in Mpika trained to check the cars for fitness is a faithful attendee of our church!!! He knows the struggle we've had to fix the car- and he even took one of our tires once and fixed it for us. He is a very faithful brother and helped us get a police report etc. for the broken mirror and gave us advice on how to get a temporary mirror, which we've done. (Hand held mirror taped on the car. Redneck fabulous!) There is a man from LBC who used to maintenance my car when I lived in Lusaka, so he knows it well. He is traveling to Tanzania this week and is going to try to find the mirror from there for us.

The car has given us numerous problems, there was a span of about 2 weeks when almost daily we were getting flat tires- basically the tires are shot but they are about 120 bucks a piece used, so we can't just buy them- not to mention they are hard to find here! We may take a trip to Tanzania (about 2 hours away) and get maybe one a month or so. Worse off, on Sunday one of our shock absorber springs snapped (the thick metal just snapped like a pencil), so now that needs to be replaced as well. The brother who is traveling to Tanzania for the mirror will look for one for us. All these unexpected expenses piling up- in the same week our car insurance ran out, road tax was due and road fitness needed to be performed and payed for!!

We are due to travel to Lusaka at the end of February. Sydney will be attending the annual General Meeting at out mother church, Lusaka Baptist, and I am hitching a ride to see friends and STOCK UP! It's so funny- I used to complain and talk about how we couldn’t get this or that in Lusaka- now I look to Lusaka as the mecca of groceries and supplies. Before I was complaining about not finding the particular brand I liked... but now I am tasting real limitation- even the shop rite we go to two hours away has a very limited selection. I can not believe I ever complained about Lusaka... I am now having trouble finding differences between shopping there and in the US!

We got a new puppy, Phoebe, who died two days after we got her. We believe she was poisoned by our ever-lovely neighbors. About a week ago, we got a little chihuahua-ish puppy named Axle. A church member breeds small fluffy dogs and saved one for us. He is an inside dog since he's so tiny and susceptible to being stolen. We've given away two of the kittens to church members, so we remain with the two males. I feel so bad for the two dogs outside- we have to keep them chained because of the neighbor threatening (and attempting) to kill them- so literally for two solid months they have been chained on the front porch. We tried to bring them inside a few times but they are way to big and the house is way too small. I hate seeing them like that. Just praying for the new house and freedom- for ALL of us!

Last week Sydney was outside slashing (cutting the grass with a sling blade-ish thing) 

                                              (this is a slasher/slashing- how we cut our grass)

and a man came by and asked for work- saying he would even work for food not money. Sydney was almost done, so he told him next time. I felt bad  for him- so I told Sydney to let him finish and we would give him some mealie (cornmeal) and vegetables to take home. As soon as we agreed to let him work- he changed his story saying he would only take money and wanted 100 kwacha (20 dollars- when he should have worked for about 2 dollars according to the rates here and how much needed to be done). Sydney reminded him that he was already working- and almost done- when they guy came asking for work. It wasn’t us looking for a worker. He finally came down to a slightly more reasonable price. (Still too much for my liking). Sydney came inside and we watched him for 3 hours out the window be the most lazy man we'd ever seen. He's slash one foot and then stop. Slash another foot, then come ask for water. After the three hours he came and said he was tired so he was leaving and would finish tomorrow (it was only 11 AM!!) My patience was shot- and I told Sydney to give him a few kwacha and send him away. That’s where my compassion ended and Sydney’s surpassed mine! Instead of sending him away in his laziness, Sydney went outside and talked to him, rebuking him gently and then told him to come back tomorrow and finish the job. I didn't trust him in the least and finally just let myself get irritated. The next day the guy came and with wrong motives, I gave him breakfast. It wasn’t the love and compassion in my heart to give this man food- it was so that he wouldn't have an excuse of being hungry or tired. He finished and Sydney spoke with him again but also kindly let him know that we would not be able to hire him again because of his laziness and unfaithfulness. If it was me- I would have said much worse and paid much less.

At the ladies meeting one of the ladies began talking about her workers and how she was irritated by the way they work and she was rebuked by the book we are reading. God used that to show me how nasty my heart had been and right there and then I had to tell the story and confess how nasty I had been.

The next day after my big revelation and commitment to change and be more loving and compassionate, Sydney and I took the car to have air put in the tires (a weekly necessity). Every time we go, the guys are stinking of beer and act “shady”. It was a new guy who hadn't seen us there before- and after filling the tires, which is free at the gas station, he told us it was 10 kwacha to fill tires. If there is one thing I HATE about Zambia, it's how people can lie in your face- like you are an idiot. Sydney told him we know that it's free and I told him, in a very ungracious and unchristian way, that we weren't paying him and that he was a liar.

On the way home I was furious- at first with him, then with Sydney for giving the guy two kwacha, then I realized I was actually mad at myself. Yet again, I was completely hard hearted and nasty to someone after being rebuked just the day before. 

I find myself  becoming more and more jaded the longer I love here. When I came those first few years I would've given the shirt off my back to anyone and never worried about how it was used. As years roll by and I am lied to more, and more and I see people I try to help misuse money or be incredibly selfish and ungrateful... I am so un-trusting now and so tight with my wallet and so unsure of everyone's motives all the time. I want the "fresh" faced mission worker me back!

I know that this side of Heaven, I will never be perfect- but it's so sad to know who you want to be and how you want to act and fail over and over. I lay in bed at night imagining myself being this kind loving Mary Poppins/Mother Theresa who shines the light of Christ all over Mpika and instead I feel like I am dumping black tar all over.

I know my family and friends have images of me hugging little orphans and passing out Bibles but in reality- sometimes a kid in tatters walks toward the car and I roll up the window because I simply can't be sure if he's really hungry or it's a ploy to steal from the car. When a homeless person is walking past I don't offer him a sweater or an apple from my bag from the market- I imagine him grabbing my purse or hitting me (Sydney was punched by a homeless man in the market last month- not a far fetched imagining!) and so I cross the road to get away. As soon as I smell the stench of beer on a woman in the market my immediate response is usually to make a mental note not to buy her vegetables because she's a useless drunk- instead of inviting her to church. When someone laughs at me for shopping in the market or shouts “muzungu” to me just to get a reaction, I don't see that as an open door to witness, I see it as an insult to my pride and roll my eyes.

It's discouraging, but I am working. I am reading some great books and getting help from my husband. It's easy to think because someone is a missionary they are a saint. We aren't- we need prayer. Our sin remains in our aging bodies and if anything, we are reminded all the more of who we are supposed to be and how we are failing. I am thankful for the relationships I am making with the women here, I am learning from them even though most of them have no idea that I am watching. I went to visit a church member and saw her give a begging man some vegetables and fish. He wouldn't leave because he wanted cooking oil too. My reaction would have been to be furious at his ungratefulness and refuse to ever give him anything again. She quietly went inside and got him oil. I saw Christ in her. I thought of how I have this roof over my head and someone to draw water for us and food on the table and such great support from LBC, and instead of being thankful all I can do is shake my fist because I want to be living in a different house.... It's amazing how much God puts up with from me, and how little I am willing to put up with from others. 

Most of all I am thankful to God for giving me the most gracious, patient, kind and loving husband I could ever have imagined and MOST definitely don't deserve.

Being aware of these things is helping. I want to be the missionary woman/pastors wife I always imagined... but I have a sneaking suspicion we all fall short... 

"This world is not my home, I'm just passing through...."

Neighbourly love

It's been an interesting month here in Mpika. We have been so blessed and encouraged on many different levels and had some setbacks as well that are quite a challenge.

One of the major setbacks is this house. I am personally finding contentment here to be my biggest struggle. The walls seem to be closing in on me and every time I pray and resolve to be joyful and find content something else happens. I am cooking in a kitchen without a single counter top- which means I use the stove as a counter and a cook space, which means I burn and melt bowls, spoons, and hands on a daily basis. It has also sucked every desire to even cook out of me because I am searching through bags and boxes for ingredients and once I find them, and wash the cockroach droppings off of them, there's nowhere to PUT them so that I can use them. My favourite thing is hospitality. I love cooking and having people over and having people come and stay so that we can host. We haven't had a single church family for a meal since we moved here and that makes me so sad. I feel like that's the one gift I have to offer, and I'm not able to offer it. I wouldn't even be able to find enough plates in my boxes to host a family for supper. Our spare room is full of boxes- and has no electricity- so we can't have anyone who comes to town stay with us.

The wiring in the entire house was not done properly and there are only 2 outlets IN THE HOUSE, one of which Sydney fixed when we moved in but it has to be “coaxed” when you use it. I have electrocuted myself twice and we trip on a daily basis because we have extension cords running through the hallway into the bedroom and the study. We have no water. There's nothing more really to be said about that, but pretty much everything I have to do every day depends on water (cooking, cleaning, laundry... even ironing.) Since it's collected for us we have to ration it and when we run low or it comes to us already dirty- it's a struggle to bathe or decide whether to flush. Recently the sewage system, which is inconveniently immediately out the main door, is full and very shortly going to overflow. We have giant black flies and huge cockroaches now, not just they myriads of the regular sized ones, because of the raw sewage. I wont mention the smell. The worst part is that some of our stuff still isn't here from Lusaka, which includes all of the furniture for Sydney's office. He has no desk so he's using boxes to study on, no bookshelf so hes got books all over the floor- and worst of all no chair to sit in. He uses one of the plastic chairs from church and he's been having bad back pain.

Probably the most major issue is the location, in the middle of town with no.... NO privacy. People walk through our yard all day every day and can clearly see in every window- and make no issue of staring in either. When I go outside the neighbour's kids (who I constantly see tormenting the dogs and throwing things at them). Scream at me “Iwe muzungu, hey! Iwe muzungu how are you?” Literally “You white”. Now this word has gotten under my nerves for some time now because I don't like being called “white” as a name when I can easily be called “ma'am, miss, auntie or madam” which is what Zambian women are called for respect. I don't mind being referred to as muzungu in conversation, that I can understand, because I am white- like being refered to as a blond or brunette, but being called muzungu as a name is a different story.  For some reason when a CHILD screams across 100 yards to get my attention repeatedly calling me, simply' “white”, irks me. I know that here- a child wouldn't DARE scream across the yard to a strange Zambian woman to ask her how she is because that would be utterly and mortifying disrespectful... so it tends to grate on me that these kids repeatedly do it and their families sit and laugh- like because I am white I don't need to be respected as an adult. Our other neighbour has repeatedly offended me and laughs when I hang laundry or she finds me cooking because it shocks her that a white woman can do those things.Because of that, I don't even want to go outside. I always hope no ones out there when I go out to hang laundry (which never happens). That's not me, and I don't like it.

Our neighbour across the street is a whole other ball game. About 2 weeks ago at 4:45 AM we heard a chicken squawking in our yard. Our dog are chained during the day- they grew up being fenced in and with the entire neighbourhood walking through our yard and the neighbours kids on both sides tormenting and harassing them we knew they would bite them if they got the chance, but we had let them out at night as security since we are out in the open. We knew that chicken noise because when we first moved in, Jayte our dog had killed someones chicken. We paid her back for it, disciplined the dog and life went on. When we realised this, Sydney ran outside to save the chicken. As he went out, the neighbour across the street came following Jayte with an IRON ROD, chasing after the dog to kill him.

Sydney caught Jayte and started to discipline him and told the man we would repay him for the chicken only to see the man take a swing and miss. Mind you- Sydney was holding Jaytes collar. He had to jump back not to be hit. In a fit of rage, the man swung AGAIN and this time Sydney had to let the dog go to not be smashed. The dog ran and the iron bar came down hard------ ON OUR CAR. He completely smashed the side mirror. Without missing a beat after damaging our car- he ran after Jayte to kill him but Jayte outran him- so he turned to our small puppy, Davy, and HIT him as hard as he could with that iron bar right across the spine. He also ran away so he turned to us and told us to be rest assured he was going to kill our dogs. His wife came over- undressed, basically just wrapped in a cloth and picked up the chicken in a rage and threw it at us. I am not sure what kid of anger is in that house but I was scared to death of both of them. Sydney tried to reason with him asking him why on earth he just damaged a car and tried to kill two dogs over one chicken that we already said we would pay for and he just told us he would pay for the car, but also kill our dogs.

In God's providence, we have a law enforcement officer who has been regularly attending our church. Sydney called him for advice and he said to get a written statement. Sydney went over with the money to repay him for the chicken but they wouldn't come out of the house. He refused to leave so eventually the man came out and Sydney paid him, and told him we want to settle this outside of court as neighbours, and asked him to write a statement saying he would pay to fix the car but he refused. We had no choice but to go to the police. They gave us a “call out” for him to come in in the afternoon so we both give our statements. We did, although he lied and said that we never said we'd pay for the chicken til after he said we'd pay for the car. Sydney (and sometimes I) ended up having to be at the police station every day that week because they don't have any computers or printers, so if you want a statement you have to type it up and print it yourself, which we did but he didn't like the first draft so we had to keep paying to do it over.... Finally we got a written stamped statement of the incident- but they didn't make the guy write anything out.

It has been 2 weeks and he is dodging every phone call, won't answer texts, and seems to be hoping if he drags it out we might forget about it. We employed someone in Lusaka to find the mirror- and it took him until now to find the actual part- we almost had to order it from Japan. It's going to cost the guy over $120 (NOT including labour to put it on the car- since its an electric side mirror, not a manual) over a $7 chicken. Our dogs are also under strict orders to be chained- 24/7. I almost feel it would be better to give them away because I am hurt every day feeling like we are abusing our pets- Jayte has been with me since he was born and now I've turned on him. He isn't eating properly and is all mopey and depressed. We really do not want to take this to court. If I am 100 percent honest I don't trust the police or the courts here- and who knows what they would say or what outcome there would be.

Welcome to the neighbourhood! Doesn't exactly make me feel any safer I can say that.

On top of all of this, after being promised the new house would be done in August, then November, then being assured by 1^st December we could move in.... we just got news that it will not be ready by then. It's crushing news and I am very very tired. There are no other houses available- people are clamouring for THIS house when we move out. So we wait.

Like I said, as you can tell- I am struggling with contentment. I am struggling with patience. I am so thankful for the fact that we have someone to fetch water for us. I am thankful for the electricity. I am thankful that we have been kept safe here. I am thankful for our sending church making sure we have a home. I am thankful for the deacons and families here who bring us vegetables and make sure we are ok. I am aware that this blog, thus far, has just been complaining. I am writing it because we need prayer. I need prayer. I can't write and say everything is cool and I am doing cartwheels in the back yard because that's not true. I love Mpika, I love the church. I love what's happening here with the ministry but I am struggling to be happy at home and I need prayer. 

It's no ones fault. We are in a remote area and there simply aren't houses available- thus us waiting for one that's still being built. I chose this life- I married Sydney, we became one and we came to Mpika. I also love missions life. I love the adventure, I love the hardships, I love the challenges and most of all I love the God I serve, whom we are doing all of this for and to glorify. I am not really sure why this house in particular has been such a struggle for me. I've lived in small places. I've struggled with water. I think this is just another level and I am still adjusting. It's a heart issue I am still wrestling with.  

All of that being said, there are many amazing things going on with the church. We seem to grow in numbers weekly- we've had a number of visitors. There are also multiple people who have recently relocated to Mpika who are eager to be a part of the church. We have re-en stated the home fellowship groups- which are also growing. Ours is in Bemba since it is the one which caters to Chitulika Village, but I am following well and it's actually helping me to learn. Our main attendee was a member of the church already when we came but clearly had a lot of questions and didn't understand simple gospel truths. She is HUNGRY for it, though and spends the whole study asking questions and clarifying things... she's also been faithful to start bringing her kids and neighbours. On Friday, she was at our house and wanted to ask more questions- we sat with her for some time and discussed various verses and cleared up questions she had- she was so joyful and excited- laughing and clapping our hands. She already made a standing appointment with us for this week.

We gave two soccer balls to the youth group and they seem to be growing also. Ladies are meeting biweekly to go through the book “Respectable Sins”. Almost all of them have specifically come to me to tell me they are so encouraged by the book and the meetings are drawing us closer together so we are more free with each other.

Two of the kids who come to Sunday school we often drive home because they live near our house. Last week they asked us to come visit them at home. Their guardian is a Roman Catholic. We went and spent time with her and she too made a standing appointment with us for Saturday afternoons. We have visited many people and heard so many stories and it's been quite a blessing. The woman who was near death has since started medication and is back on her feet- an answer to prayer. The other woman who was pregnant but told her baby might not make it because of complications has delivered a healthy baby girl. The ladies all pooled together for a gift and we went to go present it to her last week. It was so interesting to see and hear the different advice and stories the women were telling. I can see that when I start to have kids there will be some clashes between how I was raised to do things and how they are done here. Her husband- who was a drunk and a wife beater- has quit drinking, sobered up, regularly attends church and has counselling with Sydney on Fridays, going through the book “Manly Dominion.” He even got a notebook and now takes notes in church. We are encouraged!

The most major encouragement has been the building. It has been standing as just a “skeleton” for a long time. The church has been putting away money and people have given and we were almost at the target to be able to put the roof on. Grace Covenant Baptist Church in NJ took it upon themselves to do a special offering and with their selfless givings, and those of the Rodgers family, Emmasdale Baptist Church in Lusaka and tithes, gifts and offerings from our church here- we have not only raised enough to do the roof but also the floor and plastering the walls!!!! It is so great and when it was announced in church there was so much joy and happiness. They've been waiting a long time for this- and it is going to help the work here IMMENSELY! We plan to start physical work December 1^st, right now we are finding the labourers and materials.

Also, in my own little world of joy, our cat finally gave birth! She had 6 kittens, but two of them died the day they were born. The other 4 are doing well and growing by the day!

It's a tough time of year. Thanksgiving and Christmas are a BIG deal in my family and to me personally. and I always struggle with my emotions in November and December since moving here. Two of my sisters have gone through rough times the past month or two- and I feel disconnected. Thanksgiving will come and go without being able to do the whole meal shebang- since I can't get the ingredients and it would take me a week to dig for a pie plate in our boxes. As Christmas approaches, I had visions of being in the new house and putting up my little tree and lights. Now it seems they will still be in their boxes. It's hard to sit in a house that's well over 100 degrees inside and imagine the smells of sugar cookies and autumn leaves and pumpkin pie- or know that it will snow soon and my family is together bundles up telling stories and I'm here unable to relate those stories to anyone or really explain why I am feeling down.

Like I said, right now I need prayer. One day I am up and chipper and feel like I could get through anything and the next day the slightest thing makes me want to scream! Sydney has a lot on his plate- and he is in his prime. God has gifted him with a genuine love for the people here and they are responding in turn. His ministry has been strong and he is working hard (too hard, in my opinion). We are enjoying each other and I am thankful that since he has no office anywhere- he's home so if I need a hug he's around and always willing :)

It's been long since I last wrote and I know I haven't remembered everything but that's what's on my heart right now. I am thankful but I'm also sinful- and God is working in me in very specific ways.

General monthly UPDATE (written by Sydney)

RELOCATION – Lusaka to Mpika

Despite the delays we encountered in Lusaka before our departure, nonetheless; we travelled well despite the tire burst we experienced within Lusaka, which delayed us further.

When on our way, after driving for over 5hours; we had a near accident. The scenario was; there were about 3 Trucks in front of us; and since our viewing range was quite limited due to the trucks, there was a big stone right in the middle of the road which we couldn’t see. Thus we drove on it. We lost a bit of control on the vehicle, but finally managed to stop. The Car’s tire developed a bump as a result of the impact. Inspite of that, we managed to drive till Mpika. We arrived a little bit late in the night, by 10:30Pm. Upon arrival, we were received by one of the active member of our Church, and he took us to our lodging.

ACCOMMODATION & WATER CHALLENGES

Our sending Church – LBC arranged our temporal accommodation at a lodge were we were supposed to live for 3months. This was done, to buy time for the house under construction to get completed. And since the lodge was expensive yet very small chalet was not spacious enough to contain our property once it came. We therefore resolved to move into the temporal house I showed or mentioned of during the time I gave a report on Mpika and accommodation @ GCBC as well as GBC in Indiana (I am sure Katryn has sent or uploaded some picture of Facebook Or check Kat’s blog for details).

Despite all these eventualities, we are settling in well. Though the water challenges still lingers, although the need is being met twice per-week, because the Church member is fetching water for us on Wednesdays & Fridays.

MINISTRY RESUMPTIONS & EQUIPPING

Besides that; the work of ministry is up and running. Though there is much to work on and organize. There are many dysfunctional ministries, uncommitted members needing encouraging, the sick needing consolation and many other Church related challenges needing my attention. But nonetheless, we are excited to be a part of what God is doing and is going to do thru our feeble efforts.

On the Lord’s day; I am preaching thru the beatitudes morning services. I am doing a series I have called: – “The necessary attitudes for Kingdom citizenship” – from Matt. 5:3-12. Then the afternoon services, we have continued our study thru Acts. 2:42-47 – on “Orthodox Christianity”. Over and above, the response has so far been quite encouraging.

I held the first meeting with the deacons the other Saturday. I had an encouraging time with these precious brothers – Mr. Laket Mulenga & Mr. Kenneth Kapesa. Unfortunately, we could not finish going thru the agenda, thus we had meet on Tuesday last week at 6:20pm to finish up the remaining pointers. Of which we did. Besides that, I have commenced a mentorship corner for the deacons. In that, I have assigned books to each deacon to read about the Church and Leadership. And every time we have staff meetings the last Saturday of every month, we will be discussing each book’s chapter in response. The books are: “The Trellis and the Vine” – by Tony Payne & “Exemplary leadership” – by Jerry Wragg. I am also studying along thru Don Fortner’s book called – ‘The Church of God”. My aim is to develop and sustain the culture of reading with the leadership.

Last week Friday, Katryn met with the ladies with a view of getting to know the ladies of the church, and if possible plan for a ladies book study (Respectable Sins by Jerry Bridges) for the days to come. Of which the ladies have welcomed Kat’s proposal. Therefore she has already prepared and given them (ladies) the hand-outs, and they are going to be meeting next coming Friday [more updates from Kat concerning this]

Last Saturday, I also met the leaders of various Church ministries. This was so essentially, with the purpose of getting to know them, to encourage them for their faithful services they rendered over the past years. As part of the agenda, I hopped to assess if there are certain functional ministries which can be resuscitated before this year ends. If not, then our objective plan were to have all the ministries commenced by next year January, and therefore, devote the time between now and December to training up ministry leaders. But secondly, because the ministries can only run properly once scheduled for, we want to come up with a year calendar, since currently there hasn’t been none.

I also wanted to inquire of the causes that have made the Church ministries to crumble to the ground, the state of lifelessness; devoid of vitality (within the Church and the community. I desired to establish the ultimate reason/s that has led the Church on the path of downgrade. And by identifying the deficiencies and concertedly as a Church, to look at finding the way forward in establishing a health Church, though not perfect. Thus to accomplish this agenda, I proposed to start doing a book study on leadership by Al Mohler – ‘The Conviction to lead’ – with the ministry leaders. And we later on resolved that if we were to do a book study with not only the ministry leaders but the Church membership at large, then; why not resume the Home Fellowship Groups? And the idea was widely and hastily welcomed.

Thus, on Sunday I met with men that have led the HFG before in their respectable homes. I inquired of them if recommencing the HFG in their areas was such a fine idea; and it was affirmative. And that is something my wife and I are thankful to the Lord for.

So, the HFGs are resuming next week Wednesday @ 5:30pm. We will be doing a series study on – The Doctrine of God. The reason for this study, is to help the Church awaken a sense of awe concerning God in the hearts, so that we may be taken back to the first love, by developing a deeper knowledge of Him; the knowledge that will find its expression by building a well-founded Christian worldview around God; leading to effective evangelism as well as improving our private and corporate worship. This also is something you can be praying with us for.

There other exciting thing again is; I will also be conducting a somewhat leadership Mutual-mentorship with the HFG leaders, yet we will all be participating in teaching/mentoring one another. This is purported for the equipping of the leaders as well as creating a platform for developing a culture of reading just as– “Iron sharpens Iron, so a man sharpens another…” – Prov. 27:17. This mutual-mentorship program begins on the 12^th of October, 2013; where I will give a somewhat keynote study of the book. This program will be running middle-week of every month.

To accomplish this task, we will each be taking turns, by reading a chapter or two. And then whenever we meet, the leader for the apportioned day would have read the portion of the book beforehand; glean some lessons and study questions from the book to share with the group. Therefore, for us to ensure the smooth running of this program, I will draw up a schedule and a basic study guide for each chapter for the leaders to use.

On the other flip side of the coin, week before last Saturday morning, after our Church morning prayer meeting; Katryn attended the literacy class. And there she took noted some challenging needs the ministry is going thru, in terms of staff and material for both the kids and the teachers. We are trying thus to organize the necessary materials for the 1^st thru the 5^th graders as the Lord leads.

CHURCH RELATIONS & CHURCH CHEERS

Therefore, after all these, where we are currently with respect to our settlement; Kat and I are daring to build relational bridges with the church membership and ease in in stabilizing the Church.

We are also thankful to God, that the first Sunday thru to last week, we recorded a larger attendance of about 50 people in our morning service. The other Sunday and the Sunday that followed, we were about 35-46 in attendance. And what that means is that; the chairs were just about enough for the attendees, the Hymnals were a challenge also because they are not enough.

The immediate need we are currently facing is the completion of the sanctuary. As a Church, beginning last year, we have raised half the money for the roofing. And the rains are commencing by next month. And considering the measure/size of the old sanctuary is growing smaller and smaller each day that passes. And the fact that the HFGs are starting next week, that will certainly encourage neighborhood evangelism, which will in turn bring about many people into the Church. Please would you pray with us in this vein.

We are thankful to the Lord for the financial support we received from one our sister Churches from Lusaka, given toward the building. You can rejoice with us.

We also want to thank God for the attempts we made last Sunday to preach in English/Bemba. Though it was hard the dare, yet it was worth it. Continue praying that the Lord may grant His servant who preaches to be simple and clear in speech, that the gospel will continue being delivered concisely thru the demonstration of the Spirit’s power to bring about salvation.

But overall, we are so grateful to God for entrusting us with this work of ministry. And in all these things we have nothing to say but only to ascribe glory to Him, and Him alone?

Lastly join in with us, as Katryn and I stand indebted to Lusaka Baptist Church brethren and the eldership for this rare opportunity they have granted to us to serve the Lord here in Mpika, for the sanctification of the saints and salvation of the sinners, all to His glory.

May He alone reward all of you graciously – LBC; GCBC & GBC – abundantly as it seems befitting to Him.

Prayer items:

• The Lord to calm our hearts (Kat and I) as we labor among these dear ones
• Pray for me, that I may be faithful in leading God’s flock
• Pray that the Lord would knit our hearts as a Church
• Remembers us as EBC with the meetings scheduled in this month as we strive to build a health and functional Christian community:
  • Staff meeting
  • Katryn’s meeting with the Ladies that God would be gracious to them even as they focus on the future-state of ladies fellowship
  • My meetings with: HFG leaders for mentorship; each month with the deacons as we do book review that God would be honored in using our feeble efforts to build his Church; Church member needing husbandry counseling. In, thru all these strivings, the Lord God would give us wisdom even as we will be seeking to establish all the Church ministries.
• Pulpit ministry, that the preaching would be clear and convicting, leading to repentance those that sit under the charge of the gospel
• Pray for stability of the church
• For God’s wisdom on how to go about the Vernacular service as we have already attempted
• Pray for our accommodation that it would be ready by the proposed time (1^st Dec. 2013)
• Pray for the Church building requiring financial support. We’ve raised half the money for the roof. But we desire to furnish the entire building soon if the Lord wills.