This is how we roll...

Every Saturday, we travel to Kaluwawa for Bible teaching. Inevitably, it seems that the kids fall asleep - so I just snapped a picture.

What Was It?

He was obviously a popular young guy at the moment. He had one and they did not. They were all huddled around him, gazing in wonder at what he had. He was in control of it, being careful that the other boys did not get too handsy with what he had. You may ask - what was it? It was a ragged book that looked like it may have been a school book at one time in it's newly published life. You would have thought that it was the absolute latest technical gadget on the market, they way that they carefully paged through it.

I saw this just yesterday. It is not a bad thing to be captivated by a book. It is actually a very good thing, if it is a wholesome and educational book. We were at Kaluwawa Community School which is a mud rectangle with small, very crudely built benches for the kids to sit on and a slightly higher bench for their 'desk'. I honestly do not know if they even have any books for the kids. I have never seen a book in that school. I hope at least the teacher has a book to teach the children from but then again, I don't know - as I have seen incorrect information on

the barely there school chalkboards. Kids walking home from school rarely

have books in their hands.

As I watched these young boys - maybe 10-13 years old - gaze in wonder at this ragged book, I prayed with all my heart that they would have the same fascination with The Holy Bible. May these boys rise up and become leaders in their village. May they truly be men of The Book. Lord, may it be so!

Who prays for these children?

This is Mboo (m-bow). I took this picture today during the Adult Bible Study. I had already finished the Kids Bible Study. Mboo is one of my favorite little girls as she is not afraid of me. She actually voluntarily comes up to me and gets in my lap - which is very rare. She probably had never seen a camera and obviously didn't know to smile. As I was sitting outside next to a mud "school" yesterday after I had taught about 50 kids, I was praying. I looked at these ragged, smelly, beautiful children and wondered if anyone had EVER prayed for them. It broke my heart. I just looked them in the eye and prayed for them - wondering who they would become. I wonder sometimes if I am just here for the Lord to refine me AND pray for these children. They have no supervision. Little 4-5 year old girls are carrying babies on their back who are probably 1-2 years old - and they do it like pros. Literally, children raising children. And that doesn't even address the fact that almost every 15 year old girl has her own baby on her back.

But today, Mboo was prayed for. Her new baby sister, Ruth who is only 2 weeks old, was prayed for. As I held each child in my arms, I prayed desperately for them.

Thank you, My LORD God, for hearing those prayers. I know that HE loves them even more than I could ever do so.

Praise His holy name...

She took the words right from my heart...

I follow a very special blog - Grace Full Mama. She just posted THIS on her blog and literally, took the words right from my heart. Honestly, I have had the exact same moment over a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. My kids also are very impressed with cheese sandwiches and it is super rare that we have Pringles. Please read her blog and just substitute our names and places where hers are and please continue to pray for all of us.

Balikana (Friends)

Praying for the Lozi and Mbunda

Recently, I have been writing prayer requests for the Lozi and Mbunda. Both of these tribes are a part of the Western Province. You can go to www.imb.org then click on 'Pray' to see new prayer requests each month for People Groups all over the world. Below are two that I have done for the Lozi and Mbunda. Go to imb.org to continue to pray for the Lozi, Mbunda and Nkoya of Zambia's Western Province.

LOZI

They are the lost boys. I see them everyday as they drive cattle in front of my home. They are young boys, usually about 10-12 years old. These young shepherds stay with the cattle all day, every day. In the morning, they drive them from the corral onto the floodplain then back again in the late afternoon. They have an agreement with the herd’s owner to take care of the cattle for 2-3 years. After the agreed upon time, they will receive a young cow as payment for their work. They do not have the opportunity to go to school, climb a mango tree with their friends, or even live with their family. They are expected to do a man’s job yet they are still so young. To me, they seem to be lost in their own society. As I see these boys everyday, I think of the 23^rd chapter of the Psalms. Please join with me as we pray that the LORD will be their shepherd (vs. 1), that the Lord will renew their strength, that they will be guided along the right paths (vs.3), and that His goodness and unfailing love will pursue them all the days of their lives (v.6). Pray that these young boys will not be lost in darkness but know the Light of the World just as Jesus says in John 8:12 (NIV) – “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will the light of life.”

MBUNDA

Maroon, bright blue, green and brown - these are just some of the colors of the school children’s’ uniforms here in the Western Province of Zambia. As I see their uniforms almost everyday, I am reminded of the children’s song that says, ‘Red and yellow, black and white. They are precious in His sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world.’ Luke 18:16 (NIV) says, “Jesus called the children to him and said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.’” Please pray that these precious Mbunda children will know that God, the Father, cherishes them. Pray that they will not feel alone but know that the God of Heaven knows their name and loves them exceedingly and abundantly more than they could ever imagine.

Then and Now

THEN and...

NOW.

Enough said.

Ba Taha...

They come - thank God that they come. They are so precious to me and even more so to the Lord Jesus. Every Wednesday, a hoard of children descend upon our yard. This week we had about 65 which is lower than last week when about 90 children came. They come barefoot, with shirts four times too big and sometimes 4 times too small. They come spit polished to a beautiful ebony shine and they come filthy head to toe. These children are the future of Zambia and my heart breaks for them. I wonder what awaits for them as they grow up. For the girls, I pray for chastity - that they will not get pregnant without the blessing of a Godly husband. I pray for purity for the boys and that they will grow up to fear the Lord and lead their households to honor God. AIDS is so very real in all of our everyday lives. I pray for their protection from AIDS. I pray that they will know the Truth and that the Truth will set them free. Oh, how I pray for them...

Just Another Day?

Nyambe came last night to ask Jeff to go and pray for his sister, who was sick. As Jeff arrived, there were several people waiting outside the hut - eerily silent. Jeff talked to Sisii, a baptized believer and the girl's father. As Jeff entered the hut, the girl was acting very strangely and it soon became apparent that this girl was more than likely demon possessed. Jeff began to pray for her, laying hands on her and calling out the demons in Jesus name. After some time, he also walked around outside with with Sisii, praying for protection on the whole family. After about an hour, the girl began to act normally and sit by the fire outside.

Witchcraft is VERY real here in Zambia and therefore, many people can become demon possessed. Sisii had asked Jeff to come to pray for his daughter because she wanted to be taken to the witch doctor. Praise the Lord for the belief of Sisii, a relatively new believer. Pray for renewed spiritual strength that will glorify the Lord in all things. Pray for Sisii's daughter that she will be delivered from the powers of darkness and accept Jesus as her Savior. Pray for us as we stand in the gap for our Lozi friends and new believers.

Just another day...

Zebras, Hippos, Crocodiles, Elephants and More

As we drove through Kafue National Park yesterday, we got to see lots of animals. We have gone through the Park and not seen anything but yesterday we got several treats. We saw zebra, a crocodile, hippo and these elephants. The elephants were very close to the road, so we snapped a few pictures.

The Kids Are Back!

Just about 10 minutes ago, there were about 65 kids waiting at our fence. They were waiting to hear about Jesus! Each Wednesday, we open our yard and our hearts to the neighborhood children. If you remember, it was not just 3 months ago that we were down to only about 20 kids because of rumors that had been going around about us. I'm just so grateful that the Lord has brought these children back to hear about His love for them. Rejoice with me!

Merry Christmas from Zambia, 2011

5:45am came early this morning as the kids woke us up for our Christmas. We are doing our celebrating today as tomorrow, December 25th, will be very busy with church activities.

Hope you all have a wonderful day celebrating the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ!

Time for Lottie!

Please don't forget to give to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering this year. It is a crucial part of our support as Southern Baptist Missionaries. Sweeping changes have been made in the past few years as a result of many financial aspects, including a low participation in giving to

Lottie Moon. Please take time to pray about how much you can give to support

Southern Baptist Missions - then do it!

A Few More Pictures from Kaluwala

It looks like the Lord has opened the door here in this community. Jeff will start storying Creation to Christ with the adults and I will start storying the Bible with the children. We will probably take the opportunity to camp out for 4 days or so in January, too.

Kaluwala - Making the most of a new opportunity

The kids made a see-saw out of an unfinished fence railing.

Here Jeff is talking to the head man of the area -

asking permission to come and teach in his area.

It is a huge blessing that the head man is the father of the new believer, Khoms (in white shirt).

Wherever we go, we attract a crowd, especially a bunch of children. I took the opportunity to tell a Bible Story to these children. Only one knew the name of God's Son that day.

A New Opportunity in Kaluwala

On Saturday, we drove an hour and a half to visit a new believer, Khoms, in Kaluwala. He is a teacher at Kaluwala Community School. In Zambia, community schools are not funded by the government so they have to provide everything for themselves - even the teachers are not paid. Below is the school. Wherever we go, we seem to attract a crowd.

Below are some kids peeking through the window of the school.

Below - Khoms is proudly showing us the school room.

At the End...

Above is Pastor Vincent of Mukuma Baptist Church and Jeff. Pastor Vincent started this church all by himself and even has preaching points as far as a 5 hour walk away. He is a great man of God and is doing a fantastic job in Mukuma.

After church, it is customary to line up and shake everyone's hand. Here we have come out of the church and are waiting for everyone to file by and shake hands.

During Worship at Mukuma Baptist Church

The choir is behind Zoe. They love to dance and sing. They even have some dance steps coordinated with the songs.

Who is this below?

Teaching at Mukuma

I got to teach the kids the story of Moses and Daren Davis taught the adults.

Arrival at Mukuma

Here we are standing in front of the Baptist Church in Mukuma. Below, the worship has started with lots of music and dancing.

Starting off across the Zambezi River

Friday, we started out across the river to fellowship with the believers in Mukuma. We first have to get on the pontoon ferry to cross the river then we had to drive about 2 hours to reach the church. As you can see, it was sprinkling pretty well in the morning.

11/11/11 - Happy 7th Birthday, Zoe!

For her special birthday lunch, Zoe chose chicken nuggets, french fries and lemon icebox pie. Jeff made the chicken nuggets and fries while I made the pie. We are so grateful for the blessing that Zoe is to us each day!

Lottie Moon Christmas Offering - 2011

Calling all Southern Baptist!

Please give sacrificially to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering this year.

Sweeping changes have been made in the IMB in the last 3 years because of lack of funds. Some of those changes needed to made, other changes have sadly had to limit the sending of new missionaries to the field. When Jeff was pastoring, he would exhort our church family to give more to Lottie Moon than you spend on Christmas gifts. I know that many people were very surprised by this but really, which is more important - a life changed for Christ or a toy?

Satan Strikes Again!

Living in Africa, no missionary can discount the spiritual world that swirls around us. When I lived in Texas, I didn't really give much thought to the Spirit World but living here in Zambia, we are confronted with it almost everyday - young children with woven charms around their waists, passing by the witch doctor's (traditional healer) house on our way to Sunday Worship, children and adults with white marks on their foreheads

and even amulets worn around the neck.

We are even experiencing it on a more personal level on Wednesday afternoons. The last time that we had Good News Club, several children staged a revolt right outside the gate - chanting and yelling during the Bible Story Time. Today, I noticed that our numbers were quite a bit lower than they have ever been. My helper/translator told me that some of the boys have been spreading rumors that we are taking the pictures back to America where we will sell the children. This is so heartbreaking to me because we have taken their pictures so people in America can see them and PRAY for them. This is really not too surprising to me as I have started into the stories of Jesus and Satan does not want

Jesus to be proclaimed to these children.

Please pray for God's power to be evident through the Bible stories that we tell.

Pray that His Spirit will draw the kids back to Good News Club.

Pray that the spirit of fear will be cast out of them.

Pray that they will know that they are loved by God and also by our family.

Pray for Justin - as he is one of the main boys who has been spreading these rumors.

Please just PRAY.......

Us!

This was taken just a few weeks ago.