Raining in Scotland!!

Well we have made it to Scotland (just over the border in Lockerbie) and are having a great time of fellowship with Geoff & Janet Rushton. This couple run a trust that supplies book resources to works all around the world and today we are going to their warehouse to chose some books for the Samfya Library. There trust has also done some work in printing Bemba bibles, so we are investigating possible means
of working with them on this. Please continue to pray for our meetings with people.

The church in Eythorne, Dover, was a real blessing. They have a history that extends back to the 1500’s, the oldest Baptist church in UK. There are people in the church who are very interested in being part of building teams that may go down to assist in the building at Samfya.

To encourage you further, here is part of a report from one graduate by the name of Charles Chola. He and two other men went on a short mission trip into the Congo from 1-6 September. They were working with three recent church plants in a very remote part of Congo:

Distance Travelled - 78 kms
Transport Used - Bicylce, boat and on foot (most on foot!!)
Type of work done - Evangelism (open air and door to door), Teaching
Number of those who believed - 27
Problems - Having just one bible and no hymn book at each church, and the fall of the church building at Kabumba (due to severe winds)
Way forward -
* Pray that God can raise up people to help in the rebuild of this church wall before the rains
* Pray that God can open doors that some people can help this area with Bibles and Hymn books
* Pray that the church of Christ can start growing in Labanga area and that the Spirit of the Lord can move in this area
* pray that God raises people to be visiting this area

It is such a blessing to see the commitment that so many of these graduates have to gospel ministry. We were able to give Charles two boxes of bibles (48 total) which he will sell to these churches and the money raised will go to rebuilding the church wall. But as you can see the needs are ever present. We just can’t seem to supply enough bibles for this work! It would be wonderful to supply double that we do - please pray that God will raise up further partners with us in encouraging the work of God in village life Zambia.

Hello from Scotland!

Hi everyone,
Sorry I can't put any photos on today as I am using someone else's computer so this is just a quick hello.

Donald has an update as well but it is on his computer and can't update until we get connected to the internet.

It has been raining here today, but it isn't cold.
Katie still has a really bad cold and now I have a cough. Hopefully it will all be gone by the time Tuesday comes and we are on the plane to LA.

We have seen lots of castles and ruins of castles. Katie has really loved these as all of a sudden it has bought her Church History lessons to life.

People we have stayed with have been really great and looked after us well. We are at the moment in Scotland, in a town Lockerbie.

The last place we stayed at there was a girl Katie's age so Katie had a nice time being able to be with kids again and not just adults. The couple we stayed with in Gosport said it was nice to see that although Katie looks so much older than 12 yrs old that she still acted her age!

Katie has had another growth spurt and has grown out of most of the clothes we bought with us. We are hanging out for LA to do some shopping!

Well I must go as there is a coffee waiting for me to drink hehe

Lots of love to you all.
Gwen

Greetings from Gosport

Greetings to all from the Hampshire Coast (Portsmouth). We have had a wonderful three days sharing with Chris & Stella Fair. Our meeting with the Echoes of Service people has had to be postponed until 5th October so that did change our plans somewhat. We are currently staying with Martin & Naomi Cooper who were missionaries in Zambia for seven years and this morning I have a men’s breakfast to speak at.

We then drive to “the white cliffs of Dover” and on Sunday share at a church there where a fellow TMS graduates is pastor. This service is part of their harvest celebration and people bring food offerings to go to those in need and the service has a major missions emphasis. Please pray that the challenge in missions would touch hearts and encourage people in a closer devotion to Christ.

After the weekend we travel to Scotland for meetings with people in Lockerbie and Motherwell. Your prayers for safety and the opportunity to encourage others in the truth are coveted - we are certainly looking forward to being home with you all.

Friday Morning

I climbed up into the window in the castle ruins!
Lunch time at Rye.

This morning we leave Chris and Stella. They go back to work and we go to Gosport.

Yesterday we went to Rye, Hastings and Battle. Katie was so excited to go to Battle. I was wondering how she even knew about Battle as I had never heard of it. Well she told me Mr J. has been teaching us about the William the Conqueror and the Battle against the Normans and the Saxons (known as the Battle of Hastings) had a Battle in Battle!!! She was so excited. We were trying to decide whether or not to go and have a look at the ruins of the Abbey in Battle. We decided we should – for Katie’s sake. She was now really excited and said that Mr J. will be so proud of her. She spouted off all the information she knew (which I must admit was quite a bit). She was happy that she knew how it all ended now as when she left school Mr J. hadn’t finished reading the book! We walked around the battlefield but we couldn’t look in the main building as it is now a very flash school. Can you imagine going to school where William the Conqueror had fought a battle!!! Wow! Somehow we missed taking a photo of Katie at the ruins - what a shame!!!

We had scones for lunch in Rye. We were in this very quaint little cafe that seemed to specialise in cupcakes! Of course Katie had to have a cupcake for her lunch.

Hastings was not like our Hastings. It was right by the sea. It is a fishing city and didn’t smell very nice.

After our walk around Battle we went back to Rye and bought fish and chips. We had to have it at least once while we were in England.

We left there and picked up Ben and his girlfriend Emma. It was lovely to see them and spend some time with them. Ben talks with a real English accent now.

Well I must sign off again as we need to pack up again and head out.

Catch you all later

Gwen

Ps – Katie is still all stuffed up, but at least she is starting to get some sleep with the drugs kind of working.

Canterbury

Donald and Chris
Stella, Gwen and Katie

Today is Thursday. Yesterday we went to Canterbury. We saw a lot of old buildings and walked around the town. It was a fun day. Chris and Stella have taken time off work to be with us which is really nice. We have been having a great time with them – lots of laughing and joking around as well. It is nice to see where they live and actually stay with them.

Katie has an amazingly heavy cold, even though she has been taking her antihistamine! Yesterday we got her a bottle of otrivin and at least last night she was able to get a more restful sleep. I sure hope it doesn’t end up in an ear infection like it usually does in NZ and that it clears up before we get back on another plane. She is doing amazingly well even with the late nights and early mornings – although I must admit that she is still in bed as I write this and it is 8.00am! Not like her at all.

Yesterday we were inside looking at the Canterbury Cathedral – it was amazing although I wouldn’t want our church to be like it! There were groups of children on a school trip and we decided to listen in. He was telling the children about Thomas Beckett, who ended up being an arch bishop. Anyway the guide continued to tell the children that Thomas Beckett had excommunicated 3 other priests and the children were then told that once you were excommunicated you then go to hell! It was a good teaching time about salvation with Katie and that once you are saved we are always saved and it doesn’t matter what others say! (the men were excommunicated because the priest didn’t approve of something they did – which wasn’t a sin – they simply had offended him). It was very interesting that they were allowed to talk like that to the kids on a school trip – we can’t in NZ! I just wanted to grab the kids and take them out of there and tell them the truth!

We also walked around a castle in ruins and also on the old city wall. What an amazing day we had. Katie has been learning lots about the history in London. She has also been very excited when she knew some of the facts that she had learned from school in Church History Lessons. All of a sudden her Church History lessons have come to life – well sort of.

Chris wanted to do go on a punting boat so we all went punting on the river at Canterbury and through the country side.

Home again and a late night for Katie again. Ohhhh well I guess we will be home soon enough for her to catch up on sleep.

Buckingham Palace
Katie on the London Eye, Ohhh how can she stand so close to the edge
Meryl on the London Eye

Me trying to be brave at the end, on the London eye

Well Today is Tuesday and we are still in London. Today we will leave Doug and Royale’s home. We are very thankful for their hospitality and letting us stay with them and their sons! We have had a great time here. We are going to go and stay with Chris and Stella Fair today. We were able to catch up with them a bit last Sunday and it was wonderful.

Yesterday we did some touristy things – we went on an open top double decker bus and did a tour of the city. It was great and I would recommend it to anyone who was coming here. We got to see a lot more than we would have by ourselves and learned lots too.

We also did the London Eye. For those of you who don’t know what that is – well it is like a VERY HUGE ferris wheel. Instead of being in little seats you are in a big pod sort of thing that can take 25 people I think! Well, I don’t like heights as you all know, but I still thought that I would be brave and go on it anyway. I got on and it wasn’t so bad I thought. Then all of a sudden I looked out and there was nothing under us and unfortunately I was not brave anymore! I told Donald that I wanted to get off but the only way down now was to finish the ride, or push the emergency button and then you could get out and walk down the stairs, (ummm I don’t think so!!!!). Ohhhhh dear. I sat on the wooden seat in the middle of the pod with my eyes shut and my hands over my eyes! My knees were like jelly. My hands were so wet and by now I actually felt like I was going to be sick! My everloving husband told me to pray and then I would be over it! Ummm My lovely daughter tried to console me but I didn’t want her to miss the opportunity to enjoy it – she isn’t scared of heights! I told her to just go and enjoy the view and that I would be alright! On our way down now and it is a bit better as I can now see all the bits of the BIG wheel we are on. I never did get off the chair until it was time to get off. Katie said, ‘Mum at least you can say you went on the London Eye’. An old man when he saw that I wasn’t covering my eyes anymore came over and asked me if I was ok now and that he has been on the London Eye a lot of times and that there had never been any trouble and it has been going for 10 years! Even that wasn’t very comforting as it has been going for 10 years so isn’t it about time for something to break!

We also had Donald’s sister with us for the day and it really was great to see her.

We also went on a boat ride on the River Thames and that was wonderful as well. There is so much history here and it is all very interesting. We got to see Buckingham Palace. The queen was in but was obviously too busy to come and say hello to us! Hehe We got to the Westminister Abbey but got there 10 minutes late. We got there at 3.40pm – not very tourist friendly hours that is for sure. But anyway even the outside was amazing. Katie was a bit disappointed as she didn’t get to see where David Livingstone grave! Ohhh well at least she got to see the building where he was buried. We saw lots of other churches and buildings as well. They are all incredible!

We got to see Big Ben up close. Wow the photos just don’t do it any justice! I don’t know what other word to use but amazing! By the way did you know that Big Ben is actually the bell and the clock is actually called the clock tower – I didn’t!

We went under the Waterloo Bridge and did you know that it was built by women. The men had all gone off to war so the women built the bridge!

We also got to see the London Bridge. Did you know that it has been rebuilt 6 times! The second time was when the nursery rhyme London Bridge is falling down was started. The Saxons would throw rocks at the Vikings that would come up the river and so they tied ropes to the bridge and pulled it down! Just some other useful little bits that I have learned while being here!

Hi from London

Donald and Katie with the London eye in the background! -opps it is sideways again!!!
Katie and Gwen in front of the London Tower.
Big Ben _ sorry it is sideways not sure how to rotate it!
Donald beside the foundations that Charles Spurgeon laid.

We arrived in Heathrow, London after a flight of 10 ½ hours. Donald and Katie had been able to sleep but I couldn’t – I just dozed on and off!

We are staying with Doug and Royal and they have been looking after us really well and are very helpful with what to see and do here.

Saturday after arriving and having a shower we headed out to see London! We took a train into the city. We intended to go on the London eye but have decided after seeing the queue that we would do that on Monday once everyone was back at work! We went to the London Tower and they have a beefeater ( a guy dressed in a red dress and tights) as a guide. They give you all the history and a lot of the history here is very gory! Katie got quite uneasy and then ended up in our bed in the middle of the night! He talked about things like the tortures that happened, the people who got beheaded and also about 2 little boys that went missing and then they found their bodies later!

We got to ride on a double decker bus, a train and the tube. We have also seen Big Ben (from a distance). The London tower is where the British Crown Jewels are and we got to see them - ummm I wonder if they really are real!!!

We got back home at round 7pm and then us and Royal went to the local Indian Restaurant. After parking the car, we were walking to the restaurant when we heard an old man yelling. He was homeless and was yelling at another man. The other man ended up turning his walking stick upside down and hitting the homeless man a couple of times. It was a very yuck thing to watch! Ummm maybe that was what was upsetting Katie!

Anyway we got to have our dinner and the atmosphere in this place was incredible. It was just buzzing! We got home and I realised that I hadn’t had any sleep since 7am Friday and my eyes were starting to play tricks on me so it was time for Katie and I to go to bed! The nice thing was that church here didn’t start until 11am so we had a big sleep in!

Today is Sunday and Donald is sharing at church about Samfya Bible School and also doing the teaching. Charles Spurgeon helped to establish this church – how amazing to be here! Chris and Stella Fair have also joined us and we spent the day with them today. We went to visit Krystle and she is not well at the moment. As we parted ways they were then on their way to the hospital and Krystle was now there! We had dinner at Leicester Square! Katie has found it very exciting as she loves to play monopoly and we are seeing so many places from the board! The 5 of us walked though Kensington Garden and Hyde Park. There is a huge monument that Queen Victoria had put up as a memorial for her husband Prince Albert! It was massive – I told Donald not to expect one that big hehe

We had to go on the tube again today. I have decided that I don’t like riding the tube. As for getting there tonight we had to go down 3 floors down (I think). Now you all know I don’t like heights well we have now gone on an escalator that was the whole 3 floors all at once!!! Yep it was really long. The first time we went on it, it was full and Stella and I were chatting so as we got on it I hadn’t noticed! After a while I thought gee whiz this is taking ages and looked ALL the way up. Now my knees are going like jelly and I really don’t like having sweaty palms!!!

Ohhhh dear tomorrow we are planning to go on the London eye!!! That is like a VERY big ferris wheel (well over 130 metres up!) but it goes really slowly and takes about a ½ hour! Ohhhh I am so not looking forward to it however I will be a brave girl (hopefully) and do it anyway despite as Donald calls it and irrational fear!

Donald got a skype call from his sister Meryl and Meryl and Denys are in London! We are going to try and meet up with them tomorrow if we can.

Well I really should go to bed now as it is getting rather late!

Well update again soon.

Here we go again....

A surfer at the Jefferies Bay Beach

It is now 6am and we are at Lusaka International Airport and are heading to O.R. Tembo Airport. It is a 2 hour flight, but then we had a four hour stopover. Our flight was very smooth which is great for me! We looked at some of the shops and then had a drink at the Mugg and Bean Coffee Shop. It was great. Now it is time to go to our next flight and we are going to Port Elizabeth. Ummm who stopped praying for us? As we were descending it was very bumpy! Port Elizabeth (P.E. as it is referred too here), is known as the windy city! We are met at the airport by Wynand (pronounced Veinard!). He is a Masters Seminary Graduate and he took us to Jefferies Bay. Hey Denys and Elvira everyone here talks like you! It is really lovely here, but Denys you got us here on false pretences – it is FREEZING and very windy!!! The meeting went really well last night. Today Wynand took us to Wimpy’s for breakfast then the Billabong Factory Shop. We went to see the surf. It was amazing but very cold. Soon we were back at Wynard’s parents flat (where we stayed) and Neil from Port Elizabeth picked us up, to take us to his place. Neil is also a Masters Seminary Graduate. His wife’s name is Nicole. They are lovely and she is expecting a baby. Tonight we are having a meeting with the church that Neil is pasturing. I am sure that will be great. Tomorrow afternoon we leave P.E. and fly back to Joberg then the long flight to Heathrow!! It is about 11 ½ hours.

Wow I still can’t believe that we are now leaving Africa. It has been an amazing experience being here. It has been great to see Samfya Bible School and it’s ministries, to meet Lucy Chama again and renew our friendship, meeting new friends (like Patricia) and also to see all the people and things that Donald has talked about for many years. I still cannot believe that Donald got me to come here to Zambia, however I am grateful to God and to our church for giving me (and Katie) this opportunity. Guess what – it hasn’t been as hard as I thought it would be. God has been gracious in allowing us to stay at the Brubacher’s home. It was a great place and we even enjoyed Copper!!! Copper gave us lots of excitement that’s for sure! I still scream at the lizards etc and I am soooo glad that I didn’t actually see any rats! Seeing the country here is just amazing. It is really big. You see land (except for the lake of course) no matter where you look. Sometimes we think that just over the hill will be the sea, but no it is more land!!!

Please pray that as we travel to the UK and to LA that we will be able to be an encouragement to the people we come across and that we will be able to generate interest for Samfya Bible School.

The next time I update the blog will be from London!!!

Our Last Days In Lusaka.

Donald and Katie at a shopping place in Lusaka. Take note of all the rubbish that is behind them!

Well after our time at the Protea Hotel we went back to the Kilimanjaro Lodge and spent the rest of our time there.

Anne (the owner) is wonderful! She is so willing to help us in whatever we need. If any of you are ever in Lusaka I would suggest you stay here at the Kilimanjaro Lodge! It is a peaceful, quiet and lovely place to stay.

We went and saw some more souvenir places and also met with Billy and Jenny Fuller and their son and his family for dinner - a Chinese restaurant which was wonderful.

The next day we tried to contact my family in Australia but it just wouldn’t work. We went back to town to put some diesel in the truck before we took it to where it needed to be for the next people.

Well.... Donald did a ‘u’ turn so that we could get to the petrol station. There was this little white car that pulled up behind us and this lady in the back seat kept looking at us. Donald hadn’t noticed her as he was dealing with the people filling our car. Eventually she got out of the car and came to the driver’s side of the car and asked me what we were doing here. I was a bit confused as to why she was asking me and I told her that we had just come from Samfya. It turned out that she was a police woman – well that is what she told us. She had no police identification or uniform, she only had a piece of paper for a ticket and a police hat! Well she told me that Donald had made an illegal ‘u’ turn and she considered what he had done to be very dangerous. She said that they had been patrolling the area and have caught him. Donald asked her how he was supposed to know that he wasn’t allowed to do a ‘u’ turn when there were no signs to say so, and that all the vehicles were stopped and actually jammed so they couldn’t move and that was why he made the turn. . She then looked at me and said that there had been an accident there before and so there wasn’t a sign!! Ummm how were we supposed to know that you weren’t allowed to Donald told her! She said it didn’t matter and she was still going to issue him with a fine! By now she is sitting in our car and said that the fine would be K270,000. Donald had to go and pay for the diesel and she asked me what Donald’s job was. I told her that he was a Bible Teacher at Samfya Bible School and that in our country he was a pastor. Her face and attitude changed when she heard that. ! She told us that her senior officer was here too. We couldn’t see him anywhere so Donald asked to see him. As soon as she heard that she backed off and asked Donald if he was sorry. Donald said that he was IF he had actually committed an offense so she said that because he was sorry she would not give him the fine! She said it was good just to forgive people sometimes! We think it was actually a scam rather than her being an official police officer!!! Just as well Donald has had enough experience in Zambia. This was the 5^th time in 3 months he had been pulled over.

Next Donald dropped Katie and I off at Arcades Mall and he went to drop the car off and was going to catch a taxi back. Before long he was back (he had actually hitch hiked!). We wondered what we were going to do to fill in the rest of the day. Katie suggested we go and watch a movie which we did. While in there I asked Donald if he remembered to get the camera out of the car which he had put under the driver’s seat. Oh dear!!! After the movie we had our final ‘Food Fayre’ ice cream and the driver from the lodge was there to pick us up to take us back to the lodge. Donald asked him if we could go back to the car to get our camera. YAY he said that would not be a problem. Thankfully the camera was still there.

Things went well back at the lodge and we also had our dinner there which was really great. We got our bags sorted and off to bed. We have to be up at 5am as our plane leaves at 6am!

That was our last day in Zambia.

OW – THAT HURT!!!

Patricia squealing with delight!
Me feeding the Kudu
The huge lioness

The EMI team have gone now. They are now in Livingstone doing some touristy things. Yesterday (Sunday) we went to the Protea Hotel Safari Lodge. Katie and I really wanted to see African Lions in Africa and at this late stage didn’t mind where. At this hotel they have a wildlife park and also a lion enclosure.

On our drive through Lusaka we see lots of rubbish again. We have gotten used to seeing it. It still grosses me out but that is how it is here. Anyway as we were driving there was a lady with her son and they had a garden hoe and were scraping in the rubbish. This really upset me. It wasn’t very nice seeing someone scrape through rubbish like that!

The hotel was really nice and we had a good time. We saw the lions. There are 4. A mother and 3 of her children, 1 male and 2 females. The mother had to be separated from the rest as she kept fighting with her son! She was huge. Her paws were so big. The others were big too but she was bigger than the rest!

Yesterday we went on a walk which is when we saw the lions. On our walk we also saw lots of hartebeests (a type of antelope), and some Zebras. We also saw lots of birds. One cheeky bird warned them that we were getting close and they all took off! Oh well we did get a couple of photos.

We get back from our walk and we had an hour to just laze around! Katie and Donald decide to go for a swim. After a while they came back in and Katie was buzzing. She had been able to feed and touch a Kudu. For those of you who don’t know a Kudu is an antelope – a very big one! Sooo I go out to see the kudu. She wasn’t there instead there was a bush buck (again for those who don’t know it is a type of antelope – but a small one). Kids were feeding her and then started to chase her which wasn’t too nice! Anyway it wasn’t a Kudu. I thought Katie and Donald had exaggerated about how big this Kudu was. Donald and Katie get out of their togs and we are waiting in the reception when along comes the Kudu! This thing is huge!!! Turns out she is a grandma. She is a friendly one who is used to having people around feeding her bread and touching her. Ohhh I got to touch her and give her some bread. That was cool! Then she thought I had more and when she realised that I didn’t she bit my hand!!! Yes you can guess what happened – I screamed. It didn’t hurt, it just gave me a fright but I did make Donald, Katie and the staff laugh! After a few moments she head butted a lady. I was glad that she just bit me!

We also went on a safari – yep just like in the movies with a crate on the back of a ute for you to sit on! We were off Yay I wonder what we were going to see. Oh dear that doesn’t sound very good. Oh no, it isn’t very good. The man is pouring cold water into the radiator and you should hear the noise it is making – kind of a loud gurgling noise ummmm even sounds like the water is going right through the radiator! The driver gets us back to the hotel, but that is the end of the drive. Not very impressive I must say, all we saw were some warthogs run across the road and we have seen loads of them. How disappointing! We get back to reception and they tell us that the vehicle will be fixed by morning and that they would take us out then and what time would we like it. Donald told them their first ride, which ends up being at 8am. That is fine we can cope with that. We are in our room and we get a phone call to ask us if 9am would be ok. Ok Donald says. By this point we aren’t very hopeful that it would actually happen!

Dinner was really good. It was a brie (a BBQ!). There was so much food and it was really good. Then we went back to our room and went to bed. We were able to talk to Chris and Stella on Skype about our trip to the UK so that was all good – now to get some sleep!

Ok Monday morning now. Wow the breakfast is amazing as well. It is another smorgasbord. Great food at this place. If anyone goes hungry it would be their own fault and the breakfast is included in the room price – even better!

Breakfast is finished so we go and pack our bags so that when the safari is finished we can leave. So now we are waiting at reception for the truck. We get told that it is on its way. Then we get told that they are coming now. Ummmm I wonder if it really is!

YAY it is here. It is a different vehicle. We had a really good time and saw lots of different types of antelope and a warthog family! There were also lots of birds but we can’t seem to get their picture. They are just too quick!!!

The safari takes about an hour. We are now back in Lusaka staying at Kilimanjaro Lodge. It is beautiful here – so restful. It is soooo restful that Donald is fast asleep and is even snoring! It is the middle of the day but he has been working very hard and is exhausted! Katie is bored so I had better go and do something with her.

We are here until Wednesday morning and then we are flying to Port Elizabeth.

Talk to you all soon.

Gwen

Our last moments in Samfya.

Patricia receiving her certificate from Gwennie's School of Home Cooking

As I have told you before Patricia was just trying to learn everything she could and at the moment especially in the kitchen. She was joking around with me telling me that she needs to get a certificate, soooo you should all know me by now! I made her a certificate and we presented it to her at the last lunch that she helped me with! Here is the photo of her getting her certificate – if only the picture could let you hear how she squealed- it was very cool!

The New Master Plan!!

Hi all - yes here it is the new master plan. I will write more about it later but you will see all the accommodation along the lake edge maximising the major asset of the lake! There is one entry to the property off the road and all the Bible Training component is moved onto the lake side of the road, with agriculture and medical clinic on the other side. You will even see a football pitch - a great asset for outreach in the community and also income generation for training camps etc. The Bible School staff and board are greatly excited about the potential and possibilities in the future which includes seeing up to 60 students on site in a two year programme.

WOW this is fantastic, it will take years to establish, but think of the blessing to rural churches through a facility that is built well and with proper design. Thanks for all your prayers and support.

Another Copper Story!

new hair styles!!

Tonight (Wednesday) we had 25 for dinner and we had a BBQ. I did way too much potato salad but everything else was just right. We had a choice of apple pie or lemon meringue pie. I think everyone enjoyed the food and the night.
It was now 9:30pm and was time for us to leave. We hopped in the car and home we came. Copper met us at the drive.

Ohhhhh dear Donald has left his back pack inside and the house keys are in it! All the windows have bars on them and Katie is too big now to get through so Donald and I certainly are!!! None of the doors are unlocked. We end up calling Rosemary (the housekeeper) and we drive to her house!

Copper is bouncing along in front of the car. He is so funny. Donald says he is like Tigger from Winnie the Pooh. He came quite a long way but doesn’t like to follow the car – he has to run in front. Donald had to try to dodge him a couple of times or Copper would be no more!

Well this must be Rosemary’s home as there is a light on and people look like they are calling us. Ohhh dear it is sort of like a pub and there is a man wanting to get into our car. Donald just told him no and we drive off. Oh look there is another man – no not him either he is drunk and he also wants t o get into our car. Hey we are not a taxi!!! Oh look there is Rosemary and her husband! Thank goodness it is them this time. She thinks it is funny that we have locked ourselves out!

Yay we are on the homeward stretch and where is that Copper! I don’t think he has made it home yet! Oh yes there he is – totally exhausted he doesn’t even come down the drive and waits until we are just about at the top and then bounces like Tigger in FRONT of the car again!!!

We are inside now and Donald realises that his backpack is actually at the guesthouse and not inside our place. All we had to do was to go and pick it up! OHHHH well it did make for an interesting end to our day!

Today is Thursday. Tomorrow is our last day in Samfya! I still cannot believe that I have come here! I never thought I would. It has been great even with the critters that I don’t like. As I have said before it is a lot like the Fiji that I grew up in. It is very beautiful here when the wind isn’t blowing a gale. It is however getting very hot, which does make the day a little unbearable at times – even a shower doesn’t cool you off! God has been very gracious (and the Brubacher family) by letting us live where we have been. It is a wonderful place set on the hill overlooking the lake.

Copper will leave a precious memory of our time here – some funny, some annoying, some NAUGHTY, and some very cute!

Today Katie and I got our hair done. We both got the same and the style is called corn rows. Donald doesn’t like mine but he really likes Katie’s! I think it would be very cool to have this hairdo in the heat but I don’t know how long it will last with our slippery hair. Katie is very exhausted as we have had late nights (for her) and early mornings. I think it has worked out well that we are going to Lusaka with the team as it means we will have a couple of days to just relax and re charge our batteries. I need to remember that my daughter is only 12 years old and not 35!!!

Tonight is the last dinner I will cook in Africa! Tomorrow we are having homemade pizza for lunch and then are all going to one of the lodges for dinner. This has come about because I will need to have all borrowed kitchen items back to their owners, before we leave and Donald is talking about leaving Samfya before 6am! The road to Lusaka isn’t so busy at that time of the day!

So tomorrow for me will be spent cleaning the guest house kitchen, returning borrowed items, cooking lunch and also doing some baking for the team to take with them to Lusaka and Livingstone. There will also be a presentation in the afternoon from the team. It will be really great to see how they have put everything together.

Katie is in bed and Donald is packing our bags as we need to get our luggage to the Fullers tomorrow. They are coming to Lusaka and so are helping with the luggage and also are taking 2 people with them.
Talk to you later.
Gwen
Hey who turned the lights off – no one did, the power is off again!

Congo Church Plants

Well the EMI team continues to put in long days and are coming up with some great concepts and ideas for the future. Keep praying for their last two days of work here that the plan will formulate well and that the Bible School board and staff will be greatly encouraged as they purpose towards the future.

I had a visit from a graduate yesterday. Charles was just on mission in the Congo working with three church plants. These churches only had one bible each and in one church a wall had blown down through some heavy winds. We have been able to pass on two boxes of Bibles for these churches and the money raised from selling them to these local Christians will go into rebuilding the wall!!

Over twenty people committed their life to the Lord through the mission in these churches - praise God for the commitment of Charles to this very remote area in the Congo. Keep praying that the graduates will excel in the work of the Lord!

OUR LAST DAYS – WOW

Gwen & Patricia


This has been such an amazing time! Did you ever think I would ever come here to Samfya and enjoy my time here. I still scream at the critters much to the delight of any locals nearby – I am glad I have been able to provide them with so much entertainment. I have a best friend here and her name is Patricia. I have written about her before and she has certainly proved here worth with the team here. She has helped me so much in the kitchen but has also even organised the ladies doing the cleaning, dishes and laundry. I am supposed to do that but they don’t speak much English and I speak even less Bemba so she has been a god send!

Yesterday I was out looking for Donald when I heard Patricia scream. I thought that isn’t like her I wonder what has happened. Well when I got back she said look at what I found in the cupboard! It was a bat! Now how on earth the bat got in the cupboard we will never know, but one of the cleaning ladies took it and killed it!!!!! Then they took it outside and guess what happened when they showed me – yep I screamed! You would all be proud!

The EMI team are here and they are great. There is a wide range of ages and they are very hard workers. Some are not well and they are all battling with jet lag but they still carry on. Katie has been enjoying watching the different things like the surveying and the water testing. The first day they were here Katie had a tummy bug and we had to get someone to look after her as I was supposed to be doing the catering! She is doing fine now which is great.

I think they have been enjoying the meals. Patricia has been here helping as she wanted to learn how to cook some different things. She has certainly mastered it. She is a detail person which means that the two of us work well together.

Well this must be the shortest blog update by me yet, but I do need to go and actually do some work in the kitchen.
I guess my next update will be from Lusaka
Bye for now
Gwen

EMI Team at Samfya!!

Wow - what a busy few days getting the Engineering Ministries International team to Samfya and then helping them in their work while they are here. But also - what an amazing team!! The skills they bring and fantastic - surveying, agriculture, water, architecture, electrical, civil engineering... They work together so well and are so focused and have incredible expertise from work they have done around the world. Praise God for dedicated people who are professionals in their fields who love the Lord and want to use their skills for the benefit of God’s Work.

We are now two days in to their programme and already very full concept ideas are on the table. Various water tests have been done to establish what will be best to use. Surveying is nearing a more complete on sight picture to allow site design. Information has been pouring in from all the team - the result will be an excellent master plan for the future infrastructure of the school.

Would you please continue to pray that these men and women would be blessed in their work here and the end result will provide the kind of plan that enhances and blesses the training ministry that happens from this place. The goal is men and women to be equipped for local church ministry in rural areas and for this to be done with excellence!

On Saturday the team and our family will all leave for Lusaka. Please pray for these last remaining days here in Samfya. What a blessing it has been and what a privilege we have to support the work of the Lord in this needy country.

Emails Received

Greetings all. Here are two emails that I have just received - praise the Lord for the work He is doing.

Greetings in the name of our Lord.

We are grateful. Thanks for your visit and the word you shared with us through the Holy Spirit. They have brought changes in our churches in Livingstone district. We are praying that God will allow you in future to visit us again. Once again we are grateful thanks for the gifts we received (bibles) . They are very helpful in the work of our Lord. We thank for sisters Katie and Gwen, the love she had for us and support for your ministry. Brother Paul and wife Janet for acceptance to accompany you with joy.

May God bless you. Yours in Christ.
Frank & Regina Musenga


Hi Donald,

Greetings in Christ from Jo’burg. I knew you would rejoice to know that, this past Sunday, we baptised Mapule, a young lady who was saved under your preaching from 2 Tim. 1 on that Sun. PM when you were here. She read that passage in her baptismal testimony, and it was a powerful, Christ-centered testimony. Praise the Lord for using you.

Trust you & yours are well there in Zambia,
Tim Cantrell