Monday, November 25, 2013

Rejoicing in God's Provision, Protection, and Presence


"In you, O Lord, do I take refuse; let me never be put to shame; in your righteousness deliver me!  For you are my rock and my fortress; and for your name's sake you lead me and guide me." - Psalm 33:1, 3

Missionary life in Zambia has been the adventure we had always hoped it would be.  In a world where few things seem to live up to your expectations, you can always rest assured that serving the Lord will always surpass them.  How great is our God!

Since our last major prayer letter entitled, "Showers of Blessings...Storms of Destruction" God has again taken us on an amazing journey of faith that keeps our eyes on Him as the great guide.  Here is a run-down of all that has transpired since then.


Four days after our return to Choma we had a much-anticipated visit from Phil Hunt, our field director with IBM Global who lives in Kitwe, Zambia which is an approximate eleven hour drive north of us.  During his visit we were able to share with him all the things that we have been experiencing in ministry in Choma and Nambaaza and seek his advice regarding the strategic changes we have been praying about and of which we have asked for your prayers as well for the last few months.  What a blessing it was to get a fresh, outside perspective from someone whom God has used to establish the kind of ministry that we desire for him to use us to establish as well.  Hopefully in the next few months we will have more certainty about the direction we believe God is leading us in and can share those details with you at that time.  Until then, please keep praying for wisdom and guidance.

One of the joys of Phil's trip was to take him on a tour of Choma which is absolutely booming with growth.  There are buildings going up everywhere, but only four churches faithfully preaching the truth of the Bible.  What a task they have before them of reaching this city that is now Zambia's Southern provincial capitol.  Jamie has had the privilege of developing close friendships with each of these pastors so he and Phil went out to visit each of them at their churches.  Each pastor has attended the Leadership Conference at Central Africa Baptist College in Kitwe (Phil is the President of the school) and so they also have a relationship with Phil. It was so fun and insightful to see Phil interacting with each of these men in an encouraging way that comes with two decades of pouring your life into others.

After two brief, but action packed days Phil was back on the road to Kitwe and we were back to the rigors of ministry.  Mandy and the kids had a lot to catch up on with homeschooling after all our adventures while Jamie had meeting after meeting.  

·      We hosted a Pastor's Fellowship meeting at our house on Monday, November 11.  
·      Jamie met with Temah who at our last report had wandered from the Lord, but who seems to be repenting and attempting to make things right.  
·      Jamie also met with two potential Zambian ministry partners for Choma and Nambaaza
·      Jamie met with a man named Collins Kapata who is passionate about starting a completely Zambian led and funded camp ministry about 45 minutes outside of Choma.  He is asking Jamie to help think through the organizational aspects of such a meeting.  They are now meeting once a week to work through these ideas.  Please pray for Collins as he has much to do and in these early stages it does not take much to derail some wonderful ministry aspirations.


While all of these things were happening, we were also preparing for our final trip to Nambaaza for this year.  As you have heard before, the rains have come earlier this year and the roads are getting quite bad already.  So, we were buying up all the supplies needed to put the roof structure in place on the boma in Nambaaza so we have a more permanent place to stay when we are out there next year.  Everyday we were up at 5am and staying up until around midnight trying to squeeze everything in.  Then, on Thursday, November 14, we had a Zambian experience that put everything on hold.  

While working on things in the house that morning Jamie heard the dogs getting worked up, but didn't know why and didn't go to investigate.  A couple hours later our worker, Chester, came to the door saying that we needed to see the good thing that the dogs had done.  Just 3 feet from the door to our back porch was a spitting cobra that the dogs had recently killed.  It was 46" long.  Our dogs are amazing!  None of them got bit, but two of them did get spit in the eye.  We got some eye treatment from the vet and they were as good as new.  For Jamie, who has wanted a good snakeskin, this was a welcome interruption to the plans for the day.  The kids got to have a special science class for homeschooling that day.  You guessed it...we dissected and skinned a spitting cobra!  How's that for education.  Now we have a great centerpiece for our display table on furlough.  
 



With this adventure behind us, we were back to our breakneck speed in order to get ready for our trip to Nambaaza.

This trip was an adventure!  Our family of five arrived on Saturday, November 16, and set up camp.  We enjoyed a quiet night in the bush by ourselves, but in the morning we jumped right into ministry.  Jamie combined two lessons into one for the New Believer's class.  We spoke about all the new things that a believer has in Christ and how the old things have passed away and all things have become new (2 Corinthians 5:17) and then spoke about the new confidence that a believer has from John 10:27-30 because so many of them had the wrong impression that a person could lose their salvation if they committed a big sin after being saved.  This lesson was very lively and eye opening.  The entire trip would have been worth it if this were the only thing accomplished.  

On Monday, November 25, the rest of our work crew arrived by 10:30am.  Pastor Arthur brought five men from Choma to help put the gum poles in place for the roof of our boma.  His wife, Beatrice, came to help Mandy with cooking.  Jim Chambers came to install all the plumbing from the well to the water tower and then from the water tower to the two buildings.  Rachel and Teresa came to work with people in the schools and follow-up on the literacy training that Joseph Mwambazi has been leading.  So, our quite camp turned into a bustling workstation rather quickly.  

When they arrived, they were surprised to find Jamie and a crew of four from Nambaaza already working on the boma.  Jamie's crew installed the heavy horizontal beams on the posts while Pastor Arthur's team started building trusses.  Well, God provided three days of absolutely perfect weather for building.  By Wednesday at 3pm the structure was complete, the plumbing was done, and Rachel had been able to finish her teaching at the school.  That meant that the Choma crew was heading home.  However, as they loaded the cars the weather changed and they found themselves driving into a severe storm.  





 




Within 20 minutes they found themselves blocked by downed trees.  Neither vehicle was pulling a trailer so they decided to drive around the trees.  Well, our second Land Rover, driven by Pastor Arthur, did great at trudging through the thick black cotton soil that usually swallows vehicles that attempt to cross it.  The Chambers found themselves in a different situation.  Their 4-wheel drive would not engage and they sank deep.  Thankfully, Pastor Arthur was able to use the winch of the Land Rover to pull them out.  Yet, even that was not so simple.  The road had become a river and at first the winch pulled the Land Rover to the stuck Land Cruiser.  So, Pastor Arthur put it into reverse and sent mud flying as the Land Rover zigzagged across the muck.  Now, they thought they were free to continue.  However, that was just the beginning.  In total they encountered four downed trees and lots of deep mud.  Pastor Arthur got to use the winch a second time to free the Chambers.  It was quite the adventure, but they made it home to Choma by 8:30 that night.

Meanwhile, back in Nambaaza we got about one more hour’s work done before the storm swallowed us.  We huddled in the tent the rest of the night attempting, but failing to stay dry.  Everything from clothes to mattresses to Jamie's papers and guns got wet.  It gave us a great opportunity to test out the new waterproof Bible that was sent to us by friends at Bethel Baptist Church in Parkersburg.  It passed the test!!!

On Thursday, while Jamie was doing more work on the boma he got a text message from Jim and Arthur telling of the horrible road conditions.  They suggested that we attempt to return to Choma early.  We had hoped to stay out until after church on Sunday so Jamie could teach one more lesson of the New Believer's material, but we knew that the rains were coming everyday now and were quite severe.  So, Jamie decided to go check out the roads and remove the trees with the help of Mr. Kabanda's son Chemunya.  It took three hours to remove all the trees.  When the last tree was removed rain descended yet again.  In just minutes, the road vanished and was replaced by a river about 8 inches deep. When he reached the camp an unwelcome sight greeted him.  Not only was there plenty of standing water, but the two E-Z up tents used for the cooking area had been destroyed.  While Jamie was away, the most severe storm so far hit the camp in Nambaaza.  Mandy and the kids were safe inside the tent, which amazingly had weathered the storm.  At that point we knew we better head back to Choma the next day.


Friday morning was a flurry of activity.  We were packing up soaking wet supplies, saying five-month good-byes to close friends and the village headman.  Jamie taught the next lesson of the New Believers' class to Mr. Kabanda so he could teach in Jamie's place on Sunday which is something Jamie had wanted to do all along, but the people in the church insisted that Jamie teach this series so Mr. Kabanda deferred and asked Jamie to teach.  However, it seems that God providentially sent these storms to remove us from the scene so that the people could not become overly dependent on missionary influence.   We hope they recognize that God is raising up men from among their midst who can teach them well.  

So, with Mr. Kabanda's training complete we packed up the trailer and finished tying the tarps just as yet another storm was moving in to Nambaaza.  God kept us ahead of the storm for three hours until we got to a gravel road where mud would not be a problem.  To get there though, we had driven through deep mud puddles including three sections that were worse than any mud bog at a county fair.  Each of them was 200 yards in length with thick, deep mud.  We were pulling a heavy trailer, which doesn't help much, but God brought us through without being stuck even once.  After each muddy adventure the kids would laugh and shout, "We love this car!"  It was a fun adventurous day.













So, now we find ourselves at home in Choma thoroughly exhausted, but thankful to be dry.  The words of Psalm 33:1,3 have certainly been true for us these last three weeks.  God has been our rock, our fortress, and our guide through some tricky journeys and dangerous adventures.  What a joy it is to have Jesus for a guide! 

We have one more big trip before we can get some much needed down time.  Next Sunday we take several leaders from Nambaaza and Choma all the way up to Kitwe for the Leadership Conference at Central Africa Baptist College.  Please be praying for our safety, energy, and vehicles as we make this trip. 

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