rbcinafrica

Home & Storing Up Treasure In Heaven

2011-10-06T11:53:00.001+13:00

Well home at last after one month away. As I flew out of Auckland for Hawkes Bay I was amazed once again with the beauty of our land, just as I had been as I flew out of Napier on 5 September. I looked across the Hauraki Gulf and saw the many Islands and identified Ponui Island where the Lord opened my heart and enabled me to repent of my sin and confess Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord coming up 38 years ago. It was a poignant moment for me to see the place of my birth in Christ as I reflected on the commitment of many Christians that I have met over the last month.

It is very comfortable to be at home, to enjoy all the blessings of this land of abundance that we live in. As I thought about this, I thought about heaven. Nothing will ever compare to the beauty and glory that is stored up for us in the future. We can hold on to the things of this life too firmly. Whether we live in a land of green beauty or the arid conditions of Zambia as the dry season cranks up and the earth cries out for rain - the challenge is the same - only what is done for Jesus will last! Storing up treasure in heaven must be our chief end, seeking the glory of God’s name.

I cannot begin to tell you the personal challenges that have been on my heart as God has exposed me to servants of Christ that are putting everything on the line in their service of Jesus. The call of the gospel is so urgent in this needy world. To minister the love of Christ is what every one of us is to do. Not everyone is called or gifted to be a full time missionary or pastor, but every one of us is called to represent God, to live more for Him and less for self.

So does mission end as I return home? No way - it continues and intensifies. Jesus is coming back and we have a mission to see people saved and growing to be like Him. I would love you to come on a team next year and be exposed to God working in other places - it changes your perspective of life here and now!

Singapore Photos

2011-10-04T04:36:00.002+13:00

Donald & Soon Yong in the Singapore Flyer

Dinner with the elders family & Soon Yong and Aileen

Samuel posing for the camera

Singapore & Home

2011-10-04T04:17:00.001+13:00

I come near to the end of one month away from family and church friends - but as I think one month is nothing compared to missionaries that have gone before or even missionaries I have meet in these last week’s who have dedicated their lives to the work of the gospel around the world.

My time here in Singapore has been wonderful (despite some ongoing stomach issues). The Fishermen of Christ Fellowship is quite a large church with a Mandarin congregation and an English congregation. I had the joy of teaching the English church on Sunday. That evening I went to dinner with one of the elders and his family as well as with Soon Yong & Aileen. It was a precious time to speak of church ministry life and to encourage these people in their work and the process of change that they are walking through. This year their long serving Senior Pastor was promoted to glory and the church faces significant challenges as it navigates towards future ministry and work.

Soon Yong & Aileen have been wonderful hosts and I am so encouraged by their work here and what God is doing through them as a family. They have two boys, Nathan 8 years and Samuel 20 months - Samuel has been especially happy to have another man around the home.

I trust that I have been able to encourage them as a family - it is a very necessary thing for people in pastoral ministry to have others that come alongside at times where you can each share the issues of pastoral life. It can be a lonely place, a place of discouragement and challenge. People who understand the pressures of such life are able to be a major blessing. The ability to bounce ideas around or seek advice and counsel is very important and our time together has been mutually beneficial!

Well thank you for your prayers - I am on the flight tomorrow and look forward to being home Wednesday afternoon - how ever will I communicate all that the Lord has been teaching me and the challenges of ministry in Zambia and indeed the world!!?

More Pics

2011-10-01T15:44:00.002+13:00

Tania & Alan Pyatt with Melanie (left). Melanie is a young women in traiining and heading to a remote area, She is a gifted linguist who will be working on lesson developemnt/translation and discipleship with women.

Entry to NTM sight with coconut trees in background

Anyone for a dog dinner?

Manado Class

2011-10-01T15:31:00.002+13:00

Manado, Markets & Ministry

2011-10-01T15:25:00.002+13:00

Greetings from a hot humid Manado. I have just returned from the local market where we purchased a number of food items including all sorts of fantastic tropical fruits. We managed to avoid purchasing any dog meat, bats, rats or cats - all good local fare!!

My time here has been a real blessing as I have learned about the ministry to the tribal areas here in Indonesia. With a population of 240 million the needs are endless! New Tribes Mission has a very well established system of training and operating in this land. Amazingly there are around 90 missionary families operating here, often in very remote areas and in difficult circumstances. The training ministry here is focused on training local missionaries who sometimes work alongside the western team members with a view to being able to continue the work in the years ahead. Others go directly in teams to tribal places with a focus on learning the local dialect and then beginning teaching from a chronological sequence of Biblical history.

The Pyatt’s are so at home here and are doing a wonderful work in training, with Simon having supervision responsibility over what is going on in remote areas which requires him to travel around quite frequently. Annie home schools the children and they are well equipped with computers and internet to make the most of the online capacity. Last night we enjoyed a movie night in the carport and about 40 people came to enjoy the night with much laughing at the later scenes in Toy World 2.

The previous evening I had the opportunity to address the whole student body of around 50 plus staff families. They wanted to hear about Zambia - there are many similarities to village living, but also many differences in such a tropical country. What a blessing to hear of the places these people come from, the huge needs and the heart for the gospel. Interestingly many students come and in their first year are converted! The training goes over 4 years, is very deliberate and is excellent in preparation for ministry and translation work.

I have come to appreciate this ministry so much more being able to visit and see it firsthand. It provides much encouragement about what we are supporting in Zambia and ideas for future work. I head to Singapore in a few hours so will update you from my time with Soon - Yong.

Manado, Markets & Ministry

2011-10-01T15:25:00.000+13:00

More Photos

2011-09-29T13:34:00.005+13:00

Webster Nonde one of the new board members for Samfya Bible School

Class members at a Baptist training ministry in Manado

Two new Papua friends - very much like their Fijian cousins except much shorter!!!

From Lusaka to Manado

2011-09-29T13:27:00.001+13:00

My time in Lusaka was a welcome respite. Meeting with Webster Nonde was a highlight. It was very encouraging to spend time with a successful businessman who has his heart set on the gospel and using God’s blessing of his life for the benefit of others. Webster’s role on the board will be a wonderful blessing - his training and background will provide an excellent support of the Bible School work.

On my flight to Johannesburg I sat with a young Muslim couple and their baby. They are from Zambia, however the husband is teaching at an Islamic University in Johannesburg. We were able to have a profitable discussion about “the prophet Jesus” and I endeavoured to challenge him with the exclusive claims of Jesus himself. The wife was wearing a full burqa and she talked about her own desire to wear this as an expression of her faith. It is sad to see the eyes of people blinded by Satan’s deception - pray that my conversation with them will sow the seed of the gospel that would bring liberation.

The flights to Singapore and Manado were uneventful. Simon was at the airport to meet me and we drove the 7 kms to the New tribes Mission sight. I thought I was back in Fiji - Hot, humid, coconut trees everywhere, bananas, pineapples, papaya... The people here are very friendly and this area has a heavy Dutch Reformed presence that has turned through the years to nominal faith. In many ways this city is an unreached people group because they are following tradition and not faith in Jesus. I am reminded of the older son in the story of the prodigal. He never left home, but he was just as lost as the younger son was - he needed the liberation of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Last night I went with Simon to a class run by a Baptist training school. The topic was church planting and the lecturer was endeavouring to have the students think about how they could strategise to move out into a new ministry area. Simon is doing this study and completing a degree - really he should be teaching this class as this is the very thing that New tribes Mission is doing with their own students. I was asked to address the students for the last 10-15 minutes of class - be ready in season and out!! It was a real blessing to encourage them through the Word of God to ensure that the challenge of the gospel is maintained throughout their lives in the ministry. At the end of my time, the class professor asked if I would be interested to come back and take a week long block course in the school. Simon has been working hard to see an influence of Biblical Counselling Training here and welcomes the opportunity to see further instruction that would add to this training ministry.

It has been a joy to meet many of the students here. They are all “Indonesians” however their racial backgrounds vary significantly from Melanesian (Papua) to Asian. Today I will get to meet more of them and tonight share the word with them as well as our mission work in Zambia.

People and Places

2011-09-26T21:07:00.006+13:00

Dinner being prepared at Kaswetele (Inshima is in the pot - this one made from maizer meal and Kasava.

A new stove I organaised to be built that burns sawdust. There is much sawdust available in Samfya and having this at the Bible School will cut their charcoal bill down significantly.

Peter Chomba enjoying using his laptop that we organised for him to help in his studies in South Africa, not to mention the preparation of class notes and sermons!

Humprhey & Joyce Magula and family. Son James is in his final year of study in the Copperbelt doing architecture. I have seen his work and he is definatley a skilled young man.

Mansa & Overloaded Buses

2011-09-26T20:47:00.002+13:00

My time in Mansa went very well and it was good to have extended time with Humphrey Mugula and work through the financial issues that the school has faced this year. The withdrawal last year of the sponsor who paid the students sponsorship has sent the school into catch up mode all year. When we look at the operational expenses that we as a church endeavour to help with we do not even cover the full power and water payments that the school makes. The need for more partnerships to help in many areas is very pressing. Churches and individuals who are interested in making a difference in Bemba speaking village life - we really want to hear from you! Email me on donald@riverbend.org.nz - any support small or large will be a huge blessing and an investment in eternity.

I was able to teach at Mansa Chapel on Sunday morning which was a blessing. They are actually an English speaking church and have an interest in supporting the school so it was good to spend time with them. Humphrey and His family hosted me for lunch afterward - they are such a lovely family, committed to the Lord and seeing the church grow. Humphrey and many of the church every Saturday are out doing personal evangelism - there commitment to the gospel is a real example.

Well the bus was scheduled to leave at 3.30pm it arrived late and we got away at 4:30pm expecting to be in Luasaka at 4-5pm. There was much dispute as there were not enough seats - I was moved to a seat that was worn out and had a metal rod poking the side of my leg, but even with the rearrangements there were still not enough seats. Well we sped off and made it to the junction where you go to Samfya in 40 minutes a journey that is usually 50-60 minutes - we were flying! At the junction a huge number of people poured into the bus. The Isle was full and I think there may well have been about 120 on board. In our row of five seats and the isle there were 10 people - 2 women with two children on knees and one girl about 13 years on the floor by their feet. On my side there was me, a man holding a boy, a woman and then in the isle a man sitting on a bag and my lap as well at times - 10 people across !! Well we arrived in Lusaka at 2:30am after leaving an hour later we arrived 2 hours early!! These buses fly!

I was picked up by the lodge I am staying at and caught a little sleep before another beautiful clear day in Zambia. Later today I meet with Webster Nonde a new member of the Samfya board and look forward to learning about him and his life and ministry here in Lusaka.

Tomorrow I fly to Johannesburg, Singapore and then Manado Indonesia where I meet with the Pyatt’s who work with New Tribes Mission. Please pray that I will be able to be a real encouragement to them in the work that they are doing and that I will be able to learn as much a possible about the training that they are involved with to many village/highland people.

New President and Samfya Board Changes

2011-09-24T02:47:00.000+12:00

Well the new President has been announced !! At 12:30 last night I was woken by the noise of people going up and down the road singing and rejoicing at the victory of a new President. Horns sounded, whistles blew, people shouted. President Sata will be inaugurated this afternoon at around 2pm - how is that for fast in a country where everything else seems to go so slow!!

The chairman of the Samfya board arrived yesterday and I have had fruitful discussions with him. Wathabu has carefully guided the board in the last number of years and this year has seen the board trimmed from 15 to 9 members. This refocusing will continue to be a great blessing as the members now have a much more defined responsibility and purpose for their involvement. Sadly by August next year Wathabu will stand down from the board, however he will still have a significant input into the work here. His intention is to go to a Baptist training school in Tanzania that offers courses in both theology and rural development. He is wanting to focus in the development area so that he can train the Bible School teachers to better train students who come with little education from these rural places.

Wathabu is a strategic thinker about the work of the Bible School. He will on the completion of his training come and teach at the school and spearhead the ongoing training of graduates and their church leaders in the village churches. So while Wathabu will be stepping down, he will still have significant input even during his training and will become resident in Samfya in years to come.

Our curriculum meeting went well and will continue this afternoon, and the Finance meetings continue to progress. We look forward to the potential next year of having a team member that will come and do an audit of the accounts with the new administrator Mt Humphrey Mugula...

2011 Students

2011-09-22T23:09:00.000+12:00

Infrastructure

2011-09-22T23:08:00.000+12:00

The frustrations of power here at Samfya are continual! Last night the voltage was so low - maybe 60 volts at the most and even now my laptop can’t charge because of low power. These power issues destroy things like fridges, electric motors, pumps - it is a major problem. Unfortunately that is the way of Zambia - everything seems to go slow!

That also includes the progress towards starting the new multipurpose room (kitchen/dining/conference/classroom...). We had a very good but testing meeting yesterday to address this. The dimensions of the building in the Master Plan are just too big. Without major expenditure on steel that is difficult to get and very expensive, we just can’t build a room of that size (possible with supporting posts in the floor area which is not ideal). All the timbers here are about 5 metres maximum, and so construction is difficult! We had the opportunity to go and visit a building close by at a new lodge. It was very well finished and was a very good size at around 10x16m.

After much discussion it has been agreed upon (and to be confirmed by the board) that the new building will need to be 10x15m with the kitchen being 10x3m (total 10x18m). While this is a departure from the master plan, it will still be within the overall plan of the Master Plan. The building will be able to host large groups, will double as a classroom for an initial period if necessary, provide a wonderful space for the students and truly be multipurpose.

Please pray for the work necessary to get this underway, the plans, sourcing of materials, necessary approvals from council (not difficult here like at home!!). The stockpiling of material should be able to begin shortly.

Thanks for your ongoing prayers. I have further finance meetings today as well as curriculum meetings with the staff today and tomorrow. We are yet to hear the result of the election, but everything here is calm - not so sure about the big city! Saturday I leave for Mansa and will teach there on Sunday morning and catch the bus to Lusaka Sunday afternoon, arriving Lusaka the next morning at 5am! Oh and praise the Lord, an individual has put his hand up to support the plans for Francis going to South Africa - God is good - all the time!

Staff Tarining Needs

2011-09-20T03:03:00.001+12:00

One of the desires that the Bible School has had as it refines its programme is the potential for further staff training. Over this last year we have seen Peter Chomba do two one week training weeks in Pretoria in Expository Preaching, and he has also completed four one week training modules in the last year in Biblical Counselling and he has another four to go over the next year. Peter is already passing on to the students much of what he has learned and it has sharpened the training that is happening here at Samfya.

There is now the potential to see one of the current teachers, Francis Chola, begin training for a four year degree at Christ Seminary in Polokwane, South Africa. This training school is associated with The Master’s Academy International (TMAI is who Riverbend Bible Church partners with in our own training programme The Shepherd’s Bible College)and is doing an excellent work in equipping men for leadership in local churches. For Francis to do this training and then build back into the work of Samfya would be a huge blessing. Our need would be to find funding to employ a replacement teacher. Would you pray that another church or individual might take up the challenge to help in this need that will enhance the training here. If you are interested for more details please email me at donald@riverbend.org.nz

Photos from Kaswetele

2011-09-19T07:46:00.005+12:00

Sunday School in full swing

Sunday Morning Church - children are at Sunday School with Agness

always children everywhere!!

Kaswetele Zone Churches

2011-09-19T07:38:00.001+12:00

16yr old who came to Christ

On Saturday we set off at 6am (6:35am Zambian time), for the churches in the Kaswetele area. We had two students that we were to drop off on the way at their home town - part of the journey was to pick up two iron sheets from a town on the way for the students house! While in the students town, the local magistrate who is a Christian, invited us in for a cup of tea and a dry bread bun. Remember in Zambia, you are not time driven, but event driven and this is something that you could not turn down. It was a pleasant time and it turns out that this magistrate was at the funeral that I preached at on Thursday!

Well we carry on our journey and finally reach our destination (a total of 91kms) 3 ½ hours after we set off. Most of the journey is on dirt roads and the last 15kms along a very narrow dirt road. There are 6 churches in this zone and all were represented with elders, deacons, deaconesses and plenty of children. The first thing to do before setting up anything is to have a general session. I taught from Titus 3:6-8 “Our Amazing Salvation.” In this passage we learn three truths about our salvation and just how incredible it is, and then see two actions that should flow from our lives because of our salvation. Part way through the teaching a 16 year old girl stood up and said that she repented, many of the congregation clapped and I kept on preaching! Another teenage girl also came to faith in the same fashion on Sunday morning as I taught the unity of the church from Ephesians 4 - one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all! Praise God that his Word by His Spirit is alive and brings conviction and blessing.

After our Saturday morning session, we broke to set up tents and then have lunch. This place is even more remote than the last weekend, however mission activity began here from what we could gather in the 1940’s when Mr Coleman came up with his boat in the water & swamp areas around Lake Bangweulu. Praise God for the faithful missionaries who first brought the gospel to these people - it was no easy task to get into these places - certainly no serviceable roads to get to this area in those days!

The afternoon was devoted to teaching the elders of the churches, however all the deacons and deaconesses also sat in - this is truth that they also need to grapple with. We first walked through the qualifications of elders from 1 Timothy 3. There was much discussion about men who are disqualified from leadership and also the challenge to examine a man before he is appointed, and for the protection of the church to regularly review all existing elders. Many of these concepts were new for these men, and their questions showed them grappling to see how they could implement the word of God in what they are doing. There were open hearts however, and we look forward to seeing fruit in the future from churches that are serious about applying the word to who they are and what they do.

We then moved on to 1Timothy 5:17-25, and looked at the “treatment of elders in the church.” The first verses here deal with giving double honour to the elder(s) that rule well and work hard at preaching and teaching. Now in these Christian Brethren churches, the tradition is that you do not pay pastors, so this concept was greatly discussed through questions and looking at other scripture. They were able to see that we have placed our tradition over and above what God says in His Word. That kind of discovery is not easy to accept. Fortunately the Bible School staff are right there to help these men think through these issues. The churches have been weakened by a lack of gifted teachers being given opportunity to pastor the flock of God.

There is one graduate from this area who we picked up on the way. You could see the result of his teaching in that there were many commendable things happening in the churches - Sunday schools, youth work, biblical choir music... However this man has just had to move from the area because he needed a farm to support his family - the churches were not doing this and the fishing that he was doing was in decline. He still comes and teaches in these churches - pray that they would see a Biblical vision of leadership and call this man back to work with them, supported by the churches. One application form was completed for a prospective student (2 last weekend) and we trust more will take up the challenge to be prepared for pastoral ministry.

Well the teaching continued in 1 Timothy speaking about accusations against elders and how that is handled (quite a problem in these rural churches) and then also not appointing men too quickly to the office of overseer. The questions and interaction were very good - building in to the leadership of these churches is a vital part of the Bible School ministry and something we must continue to support.

In the evening we had a gospel meeting (under generator lights) - we are not sure of responses, but there was a challenge to Christian and non-Christian alike. Your prayers for these precious souls are coveted - pray that God would continue to bring change to hearts through the Word preached. This morning I was woken at 5am as the women folk began to sing and pray - it was cool to listen to - I just wished they had waited till 6am! The Sunday service is always about a 3 hour programme of singing, choirs, announcements, preaching, and then it is followed by a communion service. After Lunch we began the long rough journey home.

These people are so thankful for the interest that our church has in their lives. What a true blessing it is for us to partner with a work that is bringing such significant help to rural churches that have so often been forgotten and neglected. The need from trained leaders is huge. The need to see the Bible School infrastructure built is pressing. Levy already has about eight applications from prospective students next year and applications don’t usually flow until around November. There is an increasing desire from many churches to see people equipped - what a blessing to be able to encourage this and see churches grow spiritually and numerically! Remember with infrastructure changes, the Bible School would like to increase its roll from around 20 up to a maximum of 60!

This week it looks like my plans may be in a state of flux. The General Election is happening on Tuesday and the prospect of problems is definitely real. There is anxiousness from many and it seems that the country will just about stop when the election comes and as they wait for results. Please pray for peace and that my times with the staff on curriculum development would be beneficial. We will also be making some plans for the multipurpose building (kitchen/ dining/ conference room). Thanks for your prayers.

Last day Teaching 1 & 2 Timothy

2011-09-17T00:34:00.000+12:00

Today I have finished the marathon of teaching through 1 & 2 Timothy. It always does my heart good to be reminded by these Pastoral Epistles about the priorities of church life and ministry. Today the questions that flowed from the students gave insights into the understanding that they were gaining. The battle for them will indeed be hard, with many going back to very untaught leaders who in turn need to be instructed by them. There is much patience required in working in these village areas and the ongoing training that the Bible School facilitates to these rural places is vital for the growth and spiritual health of these churches.

Tomorrow morning at 6am we depart for churches in the Kaswetele zone. I don’t know much about them but look forward with anticipation to learn of the work there. Please pray once again for clarity in teaching and that people’s hearts will be touched by God’s truth.

Dinner at the Tembo's

2011-09-17T00:29:00.002+12:00

Eratication - 55!!!

2011-09-17T00:24:00.001+12:00

Funeral & Gospel

2011-09-16T06:49:00.000+12:00

Greetings all. I have just returned from a huge funeral in which I was asked to preach the gospel. Francis was an elder at the local Mwamfuli church where i have preached many times. He was in his 50's and died from diabetes related issues. The funeral was held outside his house with people sitting in every vantage point, mostly on the ground. It was hard to say how many people were there because you couldn't see every part where people were sitting, but maybe 1500-2000 people.

There was the local AV Announcer vehicle there that provided a sound system. The choirs sung around his coffin and his family also gathered around the coffin and sang a hymn among their tears (there are 13 children!)

Francis was a contractor who built school buildings etc., and also had two little shop stalls in the market. He became a Christian in 1996 and obviously loved people. It was astounding to see the turnout of folk and most of them also proceeded to the graveside for the burial.

It was a wonderful opportunity to share the truth of the gospel. Many of the people were not Christians and the whole service was glorifying to the Lord. I was able to share from a number of passages and conclude with 1 Thessalonians 4 on our certain hope of resurrection.

Random Things

2011-09-16T02:00:00.000+12:00

Well Wednesday has been an interesting day, five hours with the students finishing off 1 Timothy with lots of good questions especially in the areas of the care of widows and then the challenge of dealing with elders in sin.

The frustration today was the inability to find the boundary marker that was located last year. It may have been dug up by the water board as they put a new line down to the village! Maybe we will find it on Thursday, but we do need to get a new survey done. But on the funny and yuck side of things. The chicken house where around 240 birds are raised at a time had a big metal basin with bits and pieces in it in the store room. Rats had decided it was a good home - the men carried it out and great sport was had in eradicating (or should I say eraticating!!) 57 rats, 35 furry ones and 22 babies!! I can report that no one wanted to eat them!

Tonight was the monthly hatching of the swamp flies. They are a real nuisance - millions of them hatch and are attracted to lights, so you try and lock up as best you can. In the end I retreated to inside my mosquito net!! They will last for a couple of days and then we will be free again!

Elders of Kasuba Zone Churches

2011-09-14T02:53:00.000+12:00

Welcome at Kasuba

2011-09-14T02:50:00.000+12:00

Graduates Davies & Evans at Kasuba

2011-09-14T02:47:00.003+12:00

The Road to Kasuba

2011-09-14T02:41:00.000+12:00

Random...

2011-09-14T02:37:00.001+12:00

Tonight the power went off for the first time since I arrived. Usually this has been an everyday affair so you might think that things aren’t so bad in Samfya. However the power that we have had has been so low that very few things work properly. At night you cannot read. Machines break down because they cannot handle the low voltage and then the boost of voltage that comes usually late at night and is gone by about 5am. It is a challenge to achieve the most basic tasks. The internet will not function on low voltage, so the time to get on is when the generator is being used to pump water - then you can plug in the internet and get enough voltage. Night time productivity is hampered so much by these issues. Pastorally I do so much at night in NZ - here it is next to impossible!

I write this under candle light - the power on my laptop is about to run out. Today the water stopped as well - that was a mystery - there was water in the tank but none delivering to the taps. Investigations found a small rat stuck in the pipe - hmmm I wondered what that new lather in my hair was this morning.

Another funeral today - there has been at least one per day since I have been here. There is a Thyphoid problem at the moment - on top of the Malaria, HIV Aids and assorted tropical problems. Oh the urgency of the gospel to touch the hearts and lives of these dear people.

As i sign off, it is 8:20pm and a loud speaker on a car is blasting along the road - it is elections on the 20th and candidates use every method to get the names heard. The joys of Africa!

Just Back From Kasuba

2011-09-12T08:58:00.002+12:00

Well you have to be ready for changes here in Zambia. Leaving Friday turned out leaving Saturday morning, a leaders conference turned out to be a conference for all comers from nine churches in the Kasuba Zone. None the less it was a time of wonderful blessing. I embarked on this weekend feeling a bit ‘blue’ because I wasn’t well, but was immediately rebuked by the overwhelming welcome of singing and dance as we arrived. These people were excited to be together and the joy of the Lord radiated from their hearts.

My teaching sessions became general passages encouraging Christian living. The church was full of people with many spilled outside to listen from windows or wherever they could get close. We had three choirs sing two numbers each, prayers, announcements, preaching, three more choirs doing two songs each - three hours slips by pretty quickly!

The evening session became an outside event near where our tents were pitched and I was instructed this was to be a gospel message. I spoke from Luke 15 on the lost sons with John 3 tacked on as well. It was hard to see everyone there - we rigged up lights powered by a generator, but the crowd was lost in the darkness (looked like 300-400)! That evening a lady was counselled and received Christ, with 9 others also talked to regarding others issues. These were followed up on after Sundays service, with some understanding that they have never been Christ’s. Another lady was taken home by her husband on Saturday, but she came back on Sunday afternoon to talk about salvation. Please pray that God’s work in these hearts will grow and blossom in true fruit.

Sunday’s message was on the priority of God’s Word in our lives, looking at 2 Tim 3:16-17. Most of the people here did not have Bibles so we talked of the desire to get Bibles in their hands - this is a vital part of our ministry to these churches. We left some Bibles but the needs always overwhelm the supply.
There are two graduates from the Bible School working in these ch
urches, Davies and Evans (2003 & 2004). I cannot speak highly enough about the influence they have been on these churches. I witnessed a vibrant youth ministry in action with young people heavily involved in our services. I saw firsthand the Sunday School on Sunday morning, well taught and loving to sing about Jesus and his love. Since graduation Davies and Evans have been instrumental planting four churches in this zone to make up the current nine. What a blessing to see God at work, saving people, establishing churches! Davies wondered if we could get a tent and sleeping bags for their wide sweeping pastoral and evangelistic work.

These men are doing a worthy work and they are typical of the many graduates that are working hard in the spread of the gospel in this needy land. We travelled 96kms to this area - it is remote but there are people everywhere. Our home journey which was supposed to be shorter and on a better road was 112kms, was slower and much more rough. One section of 16kms took 1 hour to cover. The home journey was 3 ½ hours! Welcome to Africa!!

One area of need that was highlighted significantly to me this weekend, is the need of trained believers who can counsel people. Teacher Peter Chomba continues with his training with Dr Mack in Pretoria - this is vital for the Bible School to develop further counselling training that can help these needy churches. Many people are stalled in their Christian lives through basic issues of forgiveness, or issues of guilt over past sin... Some basic training will be able to make big inroads into helping brothers and sisters who need encouragement in Christ.

Some of the areas I have travelled through this weekend have been very beautiful - great lake areas, plenty of fishing for the locals, but away from the water everything is tinder dry. It is hard to know what to leave out. The lasting impression however is a people that love God, a people served by godly leaders - what a privilege that as a church we have been part of that blessing to these people through the ministry of Samfya Bible School.

This week I am teaching the students through 1 & 2 Timothy. I have a bit of a cough developed from my sinus infection - please pray that this will heal quickly. Thanks to for your prayers for sleep - for the first time I have hit the time zone without any issues!!

2011 Students & Teaching in Chapel

2011-09-09T20:18:00.007+12:00

Today I had an unscheduled teaching time at the Chapel service for the students. I taught from Colossians 1:28-29 & 1 Thessalonians 5:14 - life verses from Paul, challenging the students about the pastoral ministry that they go back to in their village churches. The translator is Francis and the photo of the students is them singing after we left the classroom.

Humphrey Magula

2011-09-09T20:10:00.005+12:00

Heading to Kasuba

2011-09-09T18:35:00.000+12:00

Greetings from Zambia. Today I head to Kusaba Zone churches for the weekend. I will travel with Levy & Agness Kasoma & Francis Chola and together we will do leadership training with the elders and deacons & deaconesses. Please pray that the Lord would open hearts to the truth of the Word and enable these leaders to grow in a commitment to applying the Bible to their leadership where change is so necessary from cultural norms that are against the scriptures.

Departing For Africa

2011-09-02T09:36:00.002+12:00

Greetings all - another year has gone and I am on my way back to Samfya on 5th September. On my return journey I have the privilege of spending time in Inodnesia and Singapore and learning from other Christain Ministries in those countries. I will endeavour to keep regular updates coming through on this site. Below is my scheduled itinerary and prayer requests:

5 September Depart Hawkes Bay Airport at 9:25am. Flights are via Auckland/Singapore/Johannesburg/Lusaka/Mansa arriving Samfya 7 September

9-11 September Leadership Training Weekend in Kasuba Area (Elders Deacons & Deaconesses from local churches)

12-16 September Teaching Pastoral Epistles to Bible School Students 8am-1pm

16-18 September Leadership Training Weekend in Kaswetele Areas (Elders Deacons & Deaconesses from local churches)

19-22 September Leadership Training with elders from the Samfya area churches

23-25 September Curriculum Development with Bible School Staff

26 September Drive/Bus to Lusaka

27 September Fly Lusaka/Johannesburg/Singapore/Manado

28-30 September With the Pyatt’s at the New Tribes Mission Training school in Manado. Looking at their model of training and also to encourage them in their work

1 October Fly to Singapore

1-4 October With Soon Yong & Aileen Tan (they helped set up TSBC library a few years ago). Soon Yong is a TMS graduate and I will teach at His church “The Fishermen of Christ Fellowship” on 2 October. Also meetings scheduled with his eldership.

4 October Fly home arriving 5 October at Hawkes Bay airport at 2:45pm

Here are some prayer requests:

· Wisdom in crossing the cultural issues in teaching the Word i.e. clarity

· Strength for a very heavy teaching load

· To be aware of pastoral issues and bring encouragement

· To have wisdom in helping board members think through the infrastructure development

· To encourage all the staff

· Maintain good health so that the teaching is uninterrupted

· To give wise insight into curriculum development

· To learn more of God’s grace from our brothers and sisters

· To love people!

· For Gwen & Katie at home to be encouraged and supported

Last Days in LA

2010-10-18T10:33:00.003+13:00

Donald, Katie and Hannah went on this roller coaster and Katie and Hannah went on the ferris wheel. On the ferris wheel they chose to go on the swinging pod!! Yes that is right this ferris wheel has pods that swing and they swing a lot.
Donald and Katie with the Kaya Family when we went to Venutra Beach.

Well here we are just about at the end of our trip away from home. I must say that it will be nice to be home - to see our kids, to see our friends and to be home and not have to live out of a suitcase anymore.

We have had some amazing experiences, lots of fun and lots of meeting new people. It has also been really good catching up with old friends.

Today is Sunday and we went to Grace Community Church. It was great being there and we got to go to Cornerstone Sunday School Class, which is the college group that Rick Holland is pastoring. He told them all some of the stories from our Kiwi Ranch days and told everyone we were crazy!!!

I actually haven't been back to LA since Donald graduated in 1995 so for me it has been really fun to be back. For Katie it is her first time here so she has enjoyed lots and lots of 'firsts'. Today after church we went and showed Katie the house we used to live in. I didn't realise how steep the road was!!!

Tonight we are going to Placerita Baptist church. That is where Scott Ardivanis is a pastor so we are meeting with him after the service and with Patty and also Patty's brother Steve. We knew Steve from Kiwi Ranch Days as well. It will be a lot of fun. Donald will be giving a report on Samfya.

Yesterday we met with Grandpa Gerry, who just happens to be Patty's and Steve's Dad. He supported us when Donald was in Seminary by taking us to Price Club and also by paying some of Donald's Seminary Fees.

We have also been able to spend time with some of the Sheahan family which has been wonderful as well. The Sheahan family took us in when we first went to the Masters Seminary. We stayed with them for a month and they helped us to find our home and showed us where to do grocery shopping etc. We are very grateful to them for everything they did and taught us. We love them loads!

Tomorrow we are going to try to catch up with Marcia. She actually came to NZ to Impact not the last time that Martha Peace but the time before. I knew her when we lived here and sat in her counseling class to learn some of the counseling techniques. Then we will have to make sure we are all packed and ready to go. Our planes leaves here at 9:30pm Monday and we will be arriving at 12.30pm Wednesday in Napier. We actually fly into Auckland and we are going to be able to spend some time with Donald's mum at the Airport.

Well this will be my last report here. We will see you on Wednesday!
Thank you all so much for this lifetime opportunity.

Gwen

UK to LA

2010-10-12T05:27:00.001+13:00

Greetings from Simi Valley in Los Angeles. I am long overdue an update - sorry for the delay!

Our time in the UK was a real blessing for us. In many ways it was unwinding from the previous 3 ½ months of the work in Zambia, time to take a breath and as a family enjoy seeing some amazing history as we travelled to various churches and stopped with ministry contacts and friends. The meetings were valuable in making further contacts in relation to partnership in Zambia and we look forward to seeing how God uses this visit in the future.

As we travelled through the UK, we have had impressed on our hearts how unique our church fellowship is in New Zealand. We are blessed beyond our imagination, and while we are by no means the perfect church, we have an amazing fellowship at RBC. God has richly blessed us as a fellowship and we must rejoice in the blessings that He has given and continue to share with others from the abundance that we have. We must be an outwardly focused church sharing the love of Christ through all the blessing we have in people, ministries, finances, teaching... Praise God for his blessings to us!

The meetings we had the day before we left UK with Echoes of Service in Bath was certainly a high light and was alone worth the time spent in the UK. The men we met were very gracious and supportive and we were able to be encouraged together in the cause of mission. The trust that these men work with has given gifts to Samfya each year for many years and they will be very interested to see the long term plans for infrastructure development at Samfya with the potential of helping the school as well as having contacts with a wide number of churches who could be made aware of the work as well. Praise the Lord for this valuable meeting!

We are now staying with our friends the Kaya family in Simi Valley. It is a blessing to catch up with them - they are people that we interacted with when we were here at Seminary, a wonderful relationship in Christ and discipling. They have four children and are also caring for a nephew, so the house is very full but loads of fun.

Yesterday we fellowshipped with Christ Community Church in West Covina (where Greg, Traci & Micah come from). I can’t tell you how much of a blessing this time was and how welcoming this church was to us. Donald was able to share in the preliminary parts of both morning services and then give a detailed report to the youth ministry in one session and then to two adult classes in the second session. Then in the evening Donald also taught one further adult class. The people of the church were very supportive about Samfya and they may even be interested in short term missions there in partnership with us. What a great day and what sweet fellowship!!

This week will be further meetings with missions people, Grace Church staff, Scott & Patti, other friends... (and a side trip for Katie to Disneyland!!). Thanks for your ongoing prayers. We are really looking forward to getting home!!

2010-10-10T04:46:00.003+13:00

The Roman Bath house in Bath.

Donald and Katie with Sylvia - Donald's mum's friend.

Hi there,

Well here we are here in Los Angeles! Oh it is so nice to be here with the Kaya Family. I don’t know if I told you before but I had said to Donald (in NZ) that I wanted to catch up with the Kaya Family and he gave me a really funny look. I then asked him if he didn’t want too and he told me we were staying with them.
Let me tell you a bit about the Kaya Family. There is Jon and Debbie – they are the parents. We knew them when we lived in LA when Donald was attending Seminary. They had Hannah and she now 15 years old. Now there is Jonathan (13years), David (11years), Joey (9 years) and they are also looking after their nephew Levi (8 years). Debbie home schools all the children and they attend Grace Community Church. They live in Simi Valley and it takes them 30 minutes on the freeway – depending on traffic! They all play soccer. Debbie used to play soccer when she was at Notre dam College.

At the moment Jonathan is making pancakes – they smell very good!
The kids are great and Katie has fitted in just fine with them all and has just become one of the clan! She is having a blast.
Today we are meeting with the Sheahan family. We stayed with the Sheahan’s when we first came to LA and stayed with them for about a month before we found our own place. Terah (their oldest daughter) has kept in contact with me over the years so it will be really nice to catch up with them. We will be meeting with Terah and Josi and their husbands and children and also Tom with his new wife.
We will be going to Disneyland at some point as well but are not sure when! Yesterday we went shopping – Donald bought some shorts for just over $3.00 and a t shirt for just over $1.00. Katie and I bought some Jeans and belts and Katie bought a hat and also some hair stuff. I also bought some boring stuff like sheets and table runners – stuff for the house.

The kids are all watching America’s funniest home videos and you should hear all the laughing – it is so nice to hear them all enjoying themselves. Jon has just come in and said that he and Debbie just love Katie’s laugh!!

Well back to the UK. We had a great time there and the history is just amazing. We got to see so many places and meet so many people. People we have stayed with have been so kind to us and have spoiled us. We were able go to England, Scotland and Wales – we didn’t get to go to Ireland. Katie says that Mr J will be disappointed that we didn’t get to see his homeland!
Well I need to go now and get ready for the day.
Talk to you all later.

Up, up and away ... again!

2010-10-10T03:37:00.002+13:00

Hello there everyone,

As I am typing this we are 36000 feet above the ground – Yep that’s right we are in the air on our way to L.A. So far it has been an ok flight with the pilot putting the seat belt sign on a couple of times. I am so sick of watching bad movies and the only age appropriate movie for Katie has been ‘Cars’ and she has seen it a lot of times before. She has now decided to have a sleep but that isn't working. Donald has had a snooze and is now reading a book called ‘Liberating the African Soul’ by Felix Muchimba. Felix is the principal of GLO in Ndola.

Ohhhhh I sure hate the loos on the planes and I especially hate how loud it is when you flush it!!!!! Hahahaha It sounds as though it would suck you right out with it! Ohhh well only another 4 hours to go! We are above Winnipeg, Canada.

The Uk has been a very interesting place to visit. We have met lots of people that Donald has been able to talk to about Samfya and has had a positive response to the work at the school. Even on our last night he had a meeting but we did that over dinner and it was with Malcolm Houghton.

Malcolm Houghton is Stephen’s cousin, and Levy and Agnes’ home was once his. His parents were missionaries there in Samfya so he was very interested to find out how the Bible School was. We had dinner in a pub which had amazing food and even a few different types of curries that were all part of a smorgasbord dinner.

Last night we stayed at a Holiday Inn Express so that we were close to the airport. It has only been opened for 3 ½ weeks so it was really flash (well for us anyway). Thankfully it didn’t have a flash price!

I don’t think I would like to live in England. If you live in the city there are sooooo many people, but if you live in the country well.... there are still so many people and the old country roads are sooooo narrow, that in some places (a lot actually) there is only one lane! Some of the places looked like Coronation Street with all the houses all joined together. There are some individual houses but they cost the earth to rent or own and they all have to be a certain style.

Ohhhh dear we are going over some bumps again – I really don’t like them! Katie is becoming very restless. It is hard to do a long flight during the day when you are usually awake. It is a lot easier when you fly at night and you can sleep! It will be about 1.30pm when we land in LA.

Anyway back to England. There are so many castles and when we first got here we would all get really excited about seeing it but then at the end it was oh look there is another castle! We got and English Heritage Pass which enabled us to see a lot of the castles and Hadrian’s Wall. All of these were on our way to different places. More bumps again!!!

We went to Goodrich Castle which is just outside of Wales and we looked over the river (that separates England and Wales). When we got into the car Katie said “oh isn’t it a shame that we couldn’t just drive into Wales to say that we have been there. She obviously hadn’t seen the signs saying Wales! Oh dear now we have to put our seatbelts on ohhhhh I don’t like this!

Just as we went past the sign that said Welcome to Wales, Donald passed a truck so she still didn’t realise that we were in Wales! We soon told her and she smiled and told us we were mean. We stayed the night in a place called Chepstow. Well I must close the computer now as I don’t have much battery left – I will finish this blog update later.

Motherwell, Scotland

2010-10-02T06:52:00.002+13:00

Hi there everyone,
Well we are at the GLO centre in Motherwell, Scotland. Donald had a meeting yesterday with the principal who used to be the principal at Samfya Bible School, many years ago. He also took the devotions for the students this morning. Today it has been raining a lot.
We went to see a Loch(a lake) today, but it was too wet so we just drove around looking and window shopping!

Katie's cold seems to be getting better but the little (or not so little) rascal decided to share it with her parents!!! Hopefully we won't get it as bad as she did!

We are just about to head out for dinner so I had better go. We are certainly getting sick of living out of suitcases and are really looking forward to coming home again.

We leave Motherwell tomorrow (Saturday) and are going to be in Manchester. Donald still hasn't been able to get to a football match which has been a shame.

Well Donald has just woken up, so we will now go and get some dinner.
Talk to you all later.

Gwen.

Raining in Scotland!!

2010-09-30T00:37:00.001+13:00

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!

2010-09-29T22:57:00.002+13:00

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

2010-09-25T18:32:00.000+12:00

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

2010-09-24T18:40:00.002+12:00

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

2010-09-24T18:21:00.003+12:00

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.

2010-09-23T18:48:00.003+12:00

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

2010-09-20T19:27:00.003+12:00

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....

2010-09-20T09:50:00.002+12:00

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.

2010-09-20T09:46:00.003+12:00

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!!!

2010-09-14T00:51:00.003+12:00

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.

2010-09-14T00:43:00.003+12:00

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!!

2010-09-12T03:30:00.002+12:00

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!

2010-09-10T19:47:00.001+12:00

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

2010-09-09T19:54:00.000+12:00

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

2010-09-08T19:14:00.002+12:00

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!!

2010-09-07T02:38:00.000+12:00

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

2010-09-02T07:51:00.002+12:00

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

Fantastic Phone Call From Home

2010-08-30T19:29:00.001+12:00

Have you ever spent 2.3million on groceries? Well that was our bill at the checkout the other day as we prepare for the EMI team - they must be big eaters!! Wednesday Donald heads to Lusaka and the team arrives on Thursday. It will be all go then in making sure that their visit is as successful as we can possibly make it. Please pray that the team settles in quickly and has excellent insights regarding the sight and how we can use it and develop the best master plan possible.

Well this morning we had the most encouraging phone call from our home church family, Riverbend Bible Church. We were all able to talk to our church family. They were gathered for a Sunday evening potluck meal, especially to talk to us and they broadcast the phone call over the church sound system. It was so good to talk with ‘home’ and field many questions about the ministry here and life in general. Katie enjoyed saying hello to friends as did Gwen as she answered questions about her work here (and her fears of lizards, bats...).

The areas of primary need that we identified were the need of an administrator, the need of discretionary funding for the Bible School budget, the need of infrastructure development. As well as this we spoke of the village visitation programme and the need to make this even more effective by more regular visitation to the rural areas. It has been amazing how God has opened doors into the hearts and lives of the people here. This extended visit by our church has certainly deepened our partnership and enabled us to have an even more clear view of the issues that are faced in ministering in rural village life Zambia.

Well our formal spiritual training programmes are complete. We have travelled thousands of kilometres in bringing the Word of God to our brothers and sisters and the response has been a huge blessing. But the next two weeks will be pivotal as we face the future of our partnership here. The spiritual work continues (less formally) as we work together with our partners. Would you please pray that in the busyness of these two weeks that we will see an even greater bond and partnership established with the Bible School staff and board. Systems are being put in place, help in reporting, growth in friendship and love in the Lord. Your partnership in prayer is vital to all of this and the success of what we do together. Sola Deo Gloria

Fires around our house!

2010-08-30T19:12:00.003+12:00

fire just down the hill
the water fight - amazing we had enough water!!

As I am writing this Donald and Katie are outside having a water fight! I hope they don’t use up all the water! Oh Donald has now decided to have the soap outside with him and is having a shower under the hose! Katie is giving hem instruction on how to wash his armpit!!! I guess it is rather hot at the moment. They are having a lot of fun!

This morning at 7am we had a call on Donald’s mobile phone from our church back in NZ. It was so nice to talk to people from home and I must admit had a tear in my eye as I watched Katie smile from ear to ear as she watched us talking and then when she was able to talk to her friends. It was certainly a lovely way to start our day.

Today we went to the English Speaking Church which is at the Bible School. It is like going back in time with no music (just a brother to start the hymns). They also have the old redemption hymnbook and the Mission Praise Book. At least they were songs that we knew and for once could sing along. They have two services in the morning. At the first one everyone is there and then when ministry starts the children go out to Sunday School. The second one is the breaking of bread and it is really weird as there is hardly anyone who attends! It is also a very short service.

After church Donald decided we would go and check out the lodge in Samfya. He was thinking that maybe in the future teams could stay there. It was very nice and even has a restaurant (Samfya style). While we were there Mr and Mrs Fuller pulled up wondering what we were doing. We ended up all having lunch together there which was really nice. Then we headed off for a Sunday drive. We saw another beautiful lake but couldn’t figure out how to get to it which was a shame. There were lots of people living out there which was also a surprise. There was even a great big SDA Conference centre. The conference centre just had lost of sticks that people tied reads around to make themselves little huts to sleep in.

Well we are back home now and as I said Donald and Katie are having a water fight! I am now typing up recipes for us to use while the EMI team are here. The reason I am typing and not just taking the books down there is that Patricia (my interpreter) wants to learn all the recipes that I am doing. She is really lovely and really wants to learn – not only cooking things but anything that will help her with her walk with God and how to look after her family. She is a wonderful godly woman whom I have a lot of respect for. I think she is thirties. I have written about her and her family before.

Today I spoke to Lucy and told her that it is not long before we leave and told her that every time Donald comes home from Zambia people ask how she is. I also told her that she is not forgotten. She told me to tell everyone that she is happy!

Copper has just decide to have a stroll through the house! He is wet from the water fight! He is just checking out what we are doing!

Copper the dog is still causing havoc! Yesterday Donald and Katie went down the hill to the lake for a swim and tied copper to the tyre but didn't put the tyre around a pipe in the back yard. Well he dragged the tyre half way down the hill. I saw him with some children and not realising that he was still tied to the tyre called him to come home. He tried but then i realised that he was tied to the tyre and the kids had the tyre. Ummmm I wondered what was going to happen. The kids heard me call Copper and so decided to roll the tyre up the the hill to me! They just about go the tyre with Copper attached home when Copper heard Katie scream. Donald had picked her up and dunked her in the water. Well that Copper (we still don't know how he did it) he got off the leash and took off down to the lake. He had a blast swimming in the lake. On his way home he chased the kids who were trying to get him home and when they were out of his range, they giggled and squealed with delight! I gave the boys a drink and some biscuits for their efforts.

People have been asking for prayer points from me and Katie and so here are a few for our final weeks in Zambia:

• As Katie and I are working with women serving the EMI team that we would be a good example – for me as a Christian woman and also for the both of us as they see a mother and daughter serve together.
• We would like to be able to leave Samfya with the team so that Donald doesn’t have to do another trip from Lusaka and back. So we need to be able to organise another vechile. Katie and I would like to see if we could find another game park to go to... We really want to see a lion in Africa. I know, I know it isn’t a ministry thing but we would REALLY like to see some.
• For me as I prepare to leave that I don’t become frustrated with the way things happen here – like the power and water situation. I have been coping fine with it so far but I don’t want to blow it in our last few weeks.
• That I will be a good example in front of the other women as a wife, mother and servant as we serve the EMI team. (I know it is sort of a repeat of the first one but it is a bit different).
• As you know Katie and I reacted to the Anti-malaria drug and so have not been taking any. Please pray for the three of us and our general health but also that in our last days here we won’t get malaria! The mosquitoes are starting to come out a bit more at the moment. We have had a few tummy bugs but not many and none of any consequence so we are very thankful for our good health so far. My diabetes has been great with my readings between 5.5 and 5.7 (for those who know about the readings!).
• For safety in our travels. Donald has to go and pick up the EMI team from Lusaka which is about an 8 hour drive and then (hopefully) we will all be going back with him. Then we fly to Joberg to Port Elizabeth and drive to Jefferies Bay, then back to Port Elizabeth and back to Joberg. From there we fly to Heathrow, London and hiring a car and driving to Scotland and back. Then it is to Los Angles and then home to NZ. So as you can see lots of travelling to do between now and actually getting home to the Hawkes Bay!

Well I had better to and finish typing these recipes. We are going to meet at 10.00am on Monday to start baking. I have been so thankful for my Rally Cookbook, the HCS cookbook and my Alison Holst muffin book. They have been so great. I did bring a diabetic book here as well but can’t get most of the ingredients here – ummmmm oh well that hasn’t been an issue.

The neighbours have lit a fire just across the road to get rid of the long grass etc. The fire is quite big and we can hear the crackling noise it is making. I sure hope it doesn’t jump across the road and come up the hill to see us.

Oh well time to go. Again it was soooo nice to hear from church this morning.

Love
Gwen

Why we don't favour public transport!!

2010-08-26T19:09:00.001+12:00

Mambalima Conference

2010-08-26T19:01:00.000+12:00

Greetings all. I have just returned from two nights at the Mambalima Conference. Thousands of people were in attendance, all camped out beside the Luapula River. It was hot (35C as I left) and dusty, but they were all enjoying the fellowship, teaching and choirs!

I was able to teach two sessions on Christian Marriage, bringing the challenge to the people to let the Word of God bring changes to their culture, both as Zambians and also as members of CMML churches. There seemed to be good responses and it is so encouraging to see so many people taking notes as the Word is opened. I would say that the smaller leadership conferences are much more strategic and beneficial, however this was a wonderful opportunity to proclaim God’s truth and also encourage the work of Samfya Bible School.

Gwen & I are now in full swing to prepare for the arrival of the EMI team next week. Gwen will co-ordinate the food and we need to make a supply trip to Mansa. Thanks for your ongoing prayers, we are all in good health and enjoying the blessings of the Lord in this place.

2010-08-24T19:42:00.004+12:00

We are home

2010-08-24T19:42:00.002+12:00

Hi there everyone,
It is now Monday night. We are back in Samfya and had a safe journey home! Gosh the entry into Lusaka was a bit difficult, but Donald did us all proud with no incidences – thank goodness. There were cars going everywhere, overtaking where they shouldn’t and having to push their way in. At one point Donald even pulled right over as the car overtaking cars in front of us almost had a head on collision! It really was rather scary! Also it is really hard to see people walking on the roads (and there are many), not only because their skin is so dark but also because is no road lighting or markings! Makes for very hard driving.

On the way we saw a bus that was in a ditch on the side of the road. It looks like the driver might have fallen asleep! There aren’t so many pot holes anymore on this part of the journey which is nice but there are still a few.
This morning we headed off to Lusaka Bible Society and picked up 11 boxes of Bemba Bibles which had 24 bibles in each box, and said our Goodbyes to Paul, Janet and Lily. Thankfully we were coming home with only the three of us with only one hand luggage bag so there was plenty of room. Katie at one point even stretched out and went to sleep in the back! The Atkinson’s will fly out tomorrow for home! It was really nice to have them here and sharing our home.

The Bibles are loaded in the car and Donald gets a phone call from our elders. So he stands outside the Bible Society as that is where he can hear the best (even then it was really hard). Katie and I wait in the car. Walking past was a man pulling a cart with what looked like a pie warmer on it and in it were some sausage rolls and pie looking items. I decide that I would like a photo but by the time I get the camera out and ready he had gone. Well this lady who was going past started yelling at me and asked me why I had taken a photo of her! I told her that I hadn’t then she was even more offended and said why didn’t you take a photo. I told her that I didn’t want a photo of her and motioned with my hands for her to go away. She kept yelling at me and (naughty me) said what a stupid woman! A man (who wasn’t even with her) asked me why I was picking a fight with that woman. I told him she was picking a fight with me and so he kept walking. What a lovely start to the day!

Well true to form so far for Donald in Africa he was pulled over by the traffic police AGAIN! This time however we had had some warning and Donald was making sure he was doing just under 100kms! They pulled us over, shook Donald hand and mine then tried to tell Donald that he was doing 112kms. He told them no he wasn’,t so the police officer said oh well I will only give you the minimum fine. Donald just looked at him and I said but he wasn’t doing that speed! He ended up just saying oh well just go – so we did. I think he thought we would just pay him – maybe he didn’t realise we were locals hahahahaha

We went through so many police stops today which really was a nuisance! At one of the stops the police officer asked where we were going and where had we come from. Then he waved to another guy and he came over. I thought oh what is he going to say now! He was actually an immigration officer and checked our Nationals cards and Donald’s work visa looked inside the car and waved us on. We think they were looking for illegal people as there are many and it was on the road that goes to Tanzania!

We get to the place where the bus was and took a photo. Donald looks across the other side of the road and some men who were sitting there we holding their hand out wanting money for us taking a photo! Donald just said you have got to be kidding to them and we left. They were just after a quick dollar!!

At the Serenji Junction we picked up a hitchhiker! She was a 24 year old American girl. She is with the peace corps here. There are so many of these people here. We dropped her off at the Samfya turnoff and she caught a taxi back to her village.

We got back to Samfya and Donald pulls into Peter’s house to find out when they (Donald, Peter and Francis) were leaving to go to the Mambelema conference only to find out that their accommodation has been paid for from tonight! So home we come, he packs his bag, while I made him something for dinner and he has gone. He will be back on Wednesday or maybe Thursday. He is teaching at 8:00am in the morning but wasn’t sure about when the next session was!
Donald had a tummy bug last week – I am sure it was because he had been doing so much. He also hadn’t had a good nights sleep for a while as for some reason

Copper had decided that he needed a toilet stop in the middle of the night. Thankfully he isn’t doing that anymore! I hope Donald will some time to rest before he goes to pick up the EMI Team. The arrive on 2nd of Semptember, So Donald has to drive to Lusaka again! It will be pretty full on until they leave and then he will have to take them down again, drive back and a few days later we leave!

It looks like I will be organising the catering for the team so while Donald is away will put together a menu and then we will be going to Mansa (probably on Monday) to get the supplies from Shoprite, then I will start baking for them for time they are here. Ummm looks like another busy time for us!

This week Katie will be trying to finish all her schoolwork. She will also have to do her job at SCCP. The American girls are leaving there this week so that means Katie’s job will also be finished!

Oh I don’t know if I told you but we met the Fullers the other day and went to their home for dinner which was a nice treat. We got to know them a little bit as well and hopefully they can come to our place before we leave.

Just after Donald left tonight the power went off and it is now 7:30 and it is still off. I hope it comes on soon. This is probably the part that gets to me the most – not having power as when it is dark there isn’t much to do when the power is off.

Well I had better stop moaning and go and tuck Katie in.
Good night everyone
Gwen

This Weekend

2010-08-24T19:37:00.000+12:00

Today is Saturday. The wind has died down and now it is very hot. Yesterday was over 30 and today I think is much hotter! This morning we went for a boat ride on Lake Bangweulu. The lake was so still and it was really lovely with a gentle breeze that kept us at just a right temperature. We tried to buy fish off the fishermen in the boats but they only had those tiny little fish! We took a photo of one boats catch of the tiny little fish and then just as we were ready to go the man asked for money as we had taken a photo. I told him no and that if it was going to cost us I would just delete the photo. So then he said he wanted the camera! I just laughed at him and said NO!
As we were going along we saw lots of people washing clothes, dishes and themselves. We saw lots of women with no tops on and one lady also decided to wave at us. She did not mind at all that she was topless. Along further and a very skinny old man was also bathing. Lots and lots of children who would wave out and yell hello!
Thursday and Friday a transformation happened to my daughter – she had her hair done African Style! Fanny came to our place and it took 10 hours to do Katie’s hair! She now has braids with wool woven in it. It has made her hair look very thick. She can’t even get a hair tie in it and it has to be tied back with a piece of wool! Lily is still in the process of getting her hair done as I write this. She is also having beads put in her hair. Katie’s hair has taken a lot longer to do as she has a lot of it and even though Lily’s hair is longer there isn’t as much of it! It will be interesting to see how long it lasts!
Tomorrow Donald is teaching at Mwamfule CMML Church then we will all drive to Lusaka. Monday we will say our goodbyes to the Atkinsons and we will pick up boxes of bibles from the Bible Society and then drive back to Samfya. Then on Tuesday Donald heads off to Mambelema to the big conference. He will be there a couple of days.
Soon the EMI Team will be here. Donald will drive to Lusaka again to pick them up! A few days after they leave, we leave Samfya! I got it wrong before. We now only have 3 weeks left here in Samfya! The time has gone fast.
Last night we had Lucy and Elizabeth Chama here for dinner and tonight we have Fanny and Chipampe. They are the girls who live at Agnes and Levy’s home. They have been very kind to Katie.
As I am writing this the power has gone off and Donald and Paul had gone down to the lodge at the bottom of the hill to watch the All Blacks v South Africa game! Ohhhh dear their generator isn’t working, I think I can hear them all coming up the hill so I had better sign off and get the dinner on the table. They are here now and have said that they had organised with the staff at the lodge to watch the rugby game. Then all the locals came in and they changed it to the soccer. Donald and Paul complained as they had organised it earlier. They did change it back for about 15 minutes then it got turned back to the soccer. They made a deal that Donald and Paul could watch the second half of the game but guess what – the power went off so they did not get to watch the end of the game!
Hi to all our friends out there,
Gwen

Reformation!

2010-08-19T19:35:00.000+12:00

Reformation!!
Wow!! What an amazing three days of training with leaders form Samfya area churches! God has been preparing hearts and enabling these people to receive and desire truth. We have worked through the entire booklet on eldership over many sessions, through principles of giving, youth ministry, music , expository preaching, men’s and women’s roles, marriage, church discipline, plus teaching through Revelation 2:1-7, 2 Timothy 1:6-10 & 3:16-17 and fielded what has seemed like an endless barrage of questions. The people have been like sponges soaking in truth!!

The comments I have received from some people is that they are wanting reformation and the teaching has helped them towards making significant changes in how they approach church ministry and life in general. It has been very humbling to witness all this going on. It has not been all plain sailing however. One particularly difficult person had much to say and concluded that African culture just cannot change. To say my response was forthright is very much an understatement - I had total liberty to address the Majestic character of God who is in the business of changing people for His glory and has all the power to do it. The response from the people was loud and supportive. I think they are tired of hearing excuses for poor behaviour under the guise of culture.

I started off this morning’s teaching saying “natotela pali iyi inshita eyo twasambilila ichebo ca kwa Lesa.” That is “thank you for the privilege of coming to share God’s Word.” Indeed it is a privilege and it has been exciting to see God’s Word powerfully work in the hearts and lives of His children. Thank you for your prayers that I am sure have helped in bringing clarity and opening hearts. Keep praying for the Conference in Mambalima next week, where thousands will be meeting for the major Bemba conference and I have the responsibility to teach on Christian marriage.

Gwen's Diary Update!!

2010-08-19T19:30:00.001+12:00

Hi there again,
Hopefully this won’t be as long as the last update I did.
This last weekend Donald, Paul and Janet went off to a village, so Katie, Lily and I stayed home. The girls were hoping to do some girly things like straighten their hair, watch a dvd etc! Well they didn’t get to do any of those sorts of things as on Saturday morning the power went off and stayed off all day. It came on for 15 minutes at 6pm – thankfully I was organised with our dinner and had it cooked in that time. It came on again at about 8:30pm! We did lots of our cross stitch and the girls played card games and tried to occupy their time playing with Copper the dog.

On Sunday morning I woke early and the power was on so was able to get water boiled for doing the dishes (I saved the hot water for my shower), did the dishes and then the power went off again! Oh well now it was time to go to church anyway so off we go. Copper decides that he was coming to church as well. We kept chasing him back home but he wouldn’t go. Bwalya (the night watchman) came at him with a stick and that was it Copper wasn’t staying with him! He led us all the way to church then actually went into the church building. Some of the students were scared and weren’t even coming out of their rooms and Copper was making himself at home still inside! At this point I decided that that the best thing to do was to just go home and hopefully he would follow! He did for a time then he decides to go and say hello to three children on the side of the road. They see him and what do they do – they run! All three of us are yelling out “don’t run” but they run anyway! I probably would too if I saw a great big dog running towards me. Then we look up the road and these two men who were walking were running as well. They ran so fast. I thought man you should have been running down here to hit the dog so he wouldn’t run after the children but instead they ran away. Well we finally got him back and started on our way again. This time he likes the looks of two dogs. We call and call him but he won’t come so we just go home hoping that he would follow and eventually he did. When he got home we managed to tie him up. I must admit that I did wonder why Bwalya hadn’t done this in the beginning instead of letting him just follow us!

Ok now we are home and still no power. Bwalya has gone home and we don’t have water either now. Apparently there is a tap under the water tank that Morgan (the gardener) turns off when he is watering the yard. He had forgotten to turn it back on again so the tank was dry. I didn’t know how to fix any of those kind of things and Donald was due back so we just waited for them.

In the mean time Donald, Paul and Janet are on their way home from the village looking forward to having a nice shower and flush loo. The place they were supposed to have their wash in, Donald wouldn’t let them, as people had been using it as a loo! Gross I reckon!!!!

So now they are home and very disappointed. Donald finds out what was wrong and turns the tap on, but now the town water supply is off so we have to wait until Monday!

We decide it might be a good time to go to Samfya Beach to have a swim (well 4 of them anyway). Paul decides to take his soap and uses the lake as a bath. When he came out he had his soap in his pocket and all the bubbles were running down his leg! It looked really funny. We head off home but first we make a stop at the lake near us to get some water.

Oh dear Copper has seen us and has met up with us! We have to take the long route home as the road was too bumpy with all the water we had in the car. That Copper ran in front of the car the whole way home apart from when he was getting into fights with the village dogs! He is certainly a dog that has character but ohhhh so disobedient!

Monday now and yay we have electricity and the water is hot! The power stayed on all day and at about 9pm went off but came back on pretty quickly! This time when we went out we tied Copper up! Donald has a conference on for three days with the 5 Samfya Churches – their elders, deacons and deaconesses. He says it has been really good but he is exhausted. We went to the shops close to us as Lily wanted to post some postcards. They paid for it and while they were waiting for their change, the lady started to serve someone else. They asked her for their change and she said in a very surprised voice – oh you want your change? Then she disappeared out the back for 10 minutes before coming back in with her change! Then we went down to the other end of town to buy some meat and saw a bakery. We bought some buns for lunch and Paul paid and we waited for a long time for change again. This time the guy had gone out the back and gone into the market/town to find someone with change as he didn’t have any but he didn’t tell us. We kept asking for our change and people just said ok and went out the back!

Today we also had the women’s group meeting to start the cross stitch. It was sooo funny. I thought they could design their own bookmark. They didn’t seem to understand that even though the squares on the page were bigger than they squares on the fabric we would be working with both! In the end it was decided that I would just design one and give them the pattern and show them what to do on Wednesday!

Tuesday now and I have such a sore finger from colouring in cross stitch pictures. Paul has been very frustrated as Donald has asked him to find the boundary pegs for the Bible School. We had Peter and Patricia and their 7 children here for dinner. Paul paid me the biggest compliment he could have by saying that it seems that I am coping very well here as I had cooked the dinner for all 13 of us without any help (Janet was helping him find the beacons and the girls were at SCCP), with all the low power and the like.

I know that the only reason that I am coping so well here is all because of God. I know that so many people are praying for me. It was also the right time for me to come – God’s timing is always perfect!
As I was just typing that last line a lizard ran across the wall in front of me!! Yuck I still don’t like them!

Today we had another cross stitch session with some of the women. A lot didn’t come as they were with Donald is his session which is much more beneficial than learning how to cross stitch! It was certainly hard work to teach them this craft. The fabric is not the best and the thread has a shiny coating that makes it slippery! Oh well Friday we are back to doing our study on Titus 2!

That is it for now. Donald has an update on his time with the Elders, deacons and deaconess’.
See you all soon.
Gwen

God At Work Through His Word

2010-08-17T18:41:00.000+12:00

Greetings all - we are back in Samfya and about to begin the first of three days of training with the elders from the Samfya area churches. But first a quick update from the weekend - it was cold!! We have had a very cold weather front that has had wind and very cold temperatures and we don’t really have the clothes for this!! Oh well we have survived without difficulty and look forward to many hot days ahead.

The meeting with Chembe area churches was held at Kundamfumu and there were 13 churches represented with elders, deacons and deaconesses - totalling 120 people. We have again been able to work thought the teaching on Eldership, addressing many issues and problems that these churches face. The response was again humbling. It seems so many of these churches are ready to hear the truth about leadership issues after struggling with traditions for some time. They want and need to make changes and these visits seem to have been timed just right - God is certainly working.

I would say that the need for ongoing training and help is essential. It would be sad to see the momentum stall through lack of encouragement and assistance. This is not just our visits, but also the teaching of the Bible School staff - we need to fund them to get out on frequent visits to these churches. More Bibles are needed that help in this, more resources that can be place in the hands of these men & women.

We had the joy of meeting with seven graduates this weekend. We heard reports independently from the elders of their churches about the dedicated commitment that these graduates have to the church and the gospel ministry. Three churches have been planted including one in the Congo. They are active in training and many areas of ministry (women’s, youth, children, teaching, evangelism). Bicycles were a huge need, all but one had transport. Sleeping bags for ministry times... The stories are the same everywhere we are going. Gospel ministry is progressing but hampered through lack of resources. What a privilege we have to help these men & women.

Well back here in Samfya the day with the Samfya elders has turned out to be elders and deacons and deaconesses!! It started well and then we hit controversy over dress issues. It is a very difficult thing for a traditional culture to accept the changes that modern life is bringing. We got back on track and I have been blown away by the acceptance of teaching received as we dealt with eldership issues. Again it is as if God is opening the doors to the hearts of these people. They want to be men and women of the Word and they affirmed the teaching as we progressed through the scriptures together. At the end of the time I had one very old elder learn over and shake my hand to thank me for the day, a day which would have been difficult for him as we even addressed the need for some of the senior men to step aside and let the younger ones lead. What a blessing to have such open hearts. Please pray for the next two days together.

2010-08-17T02:18:00.000+12:00

Gwen & Katie At Victoria Falls

And God said let there be..... And it was so!

2010-08-17T02:11:00.002+12:00

Warning - this is a long one!!
My goodness seeing Victoria Falls and Chobe National Park is amazing. And the Bible says that God just spoke and it happened.We have just come back from our LONG trip to Lusaka, Livingstone, Lusaka and home again.

We are on our way to Lusaka. It is Monday. We have just come to the Samfya Bridge which is the longest bridge in Zambia. There are police stops on both sides. As we approach we see a figure go running into the police office. We get to the stop and a hand waves us on. We crack up laughing as the figure we saw was the police officer having his bath on the side of the road. At least when he waved us on he had a towel around him!

On our way to Lusaka we stopped at Maple Hurst Farm which is just out of a city called Kabwe. Maple Hurst is run by New Zealanders working for Bright Hope Ministries. They weren’t there so we thought we would go and have a coffee at the cafe next door. Well who should we bump into but Kevin and Helen Henarae (oops I am sorry but I don’t know how to spell their name!). We stayed for a little bit then had to carry on to Lusaka as there is still quite a way to go.

We found this amazing place to stay in Lusaka (Mark and Carmen had recommended it to us). It is so lovely and it is around the same price as the little motels/lodges we have stayed in previously. This place just seemed so flash. The staffs were very helpful. Donald says that he will be bringing future teams to stay here. They also have amazing food of which breakfast was included in the price of the room. They will also pick up from the bus station and drop people off at the airport with no extra charge. Well let’s get on with the story. We spent the first night in Livingstone in a tent which was really flash (especially for a tent) with our own toilet and a shower which was actually outside!

Donald had not told us that we were staying in the tent and showed us where Fawlty Towers was and said he would show us around a bit. After we had booked into the Maramba River Lodge we went for a drive and saw some of the amazing really flash hotels. Outside one were some Zebras. The guards outside let us in to take photos. I really wanted to pat them but thought better of it as I didn’t want to get kicked. We carried on our way and saw elephants grazing on the side of the road! They are wild elephants that just roam. They can be a really big pest as they get into farmers gardens and eat their crop.

This blog is going to be long so go and get your cup of tea/coffee and a biscuit and relax and read.
LIVINGSTONE:
We picked the Atkinson’s up from the airport at noon and headed out to Fawlty Towers – yep that is what it is called. From the outside it doesn’t look like much, but it is a backpacker’s lodge and has a pool – much to the delight of Katie and Lily! We checked in and Donald took us for a drive to see what we could see. We went on a cruise on the Zambezi and they also served dinner. We saw hippos, crocodiles, water monitors and lots of birds then we went back to Fawlty Towers and went to bed.

We have to be up early. We are being picked up at 7:30am to go across the border to Botswana to Chobe National Park. Oh it is so worth getting up early! We head off to cross borders again. We have crossed so many borders now it is getting a bit painful but this time it was easy as we were part of a tour. Ok through the Zambian border and we head off again. This time we will catch an aluminium boat. It was fast and in no time we were in Botswana. Now to go through customs again. Ok done that and our tour guides are waiting for us. We head to a really flash hotel – even the toilets were flash with African Birds painted in the sinks! We get into another boat – a slow one – and we are now looking for animals. There were so many – crocodiles, elephants, wart hogs, hippos, different types of antelope, baboons, vervet monkeys and lots of bird life. We even got to watch elephants holding each other’s tails as they walked in a line to cross the river. Ohhhh photos and TV just don’t show how amazing these animals are.

We spent about 3 hours on the boat but it only seemed like 5 minutes! We were dropped back at the hotel and they had a smorgasbord lunch for us. Ohhhh the food was so good and we even got to taste Kudu pie! The meat was so tender. They even had dessert which for us was a real treat.

Finished lunch and now we head outside and there waiting for us was a safari vehicle – just like you see on TV! Katie and I hoped that we would get to see some lions but unfortunately they hid from us! We did see lots of lion paw prints so I guess we can say that Chobe National Park does have lions. We did see lots more animals including the giraffe and one even bent down in front of us and had a drink! The tour guide did his best to try and find us a lion! We were on there for about another 3 hours.

Ok now we are back at customs, on the boat and through customs on the Zambian side. Again this was a breeze. Man we are so tired and now we have to find somewhere for dinner. Ummmm Funky Monkey sounds like a good place. It was actually a pizza place, and was good. Then it was to bed.

Friday Donald went to the Livingstone Central CMML (Christian Missions in Many Lands –Christian Brethren) church. He was there all day, encouraging the elders. At first we all went then we were allowed to leave to go and do washing etc. The girls were happy and got to have a swim in the pool. After that we went to the Livingstone market just to look so we knew what was there. We picked Donald up later and then went out for dinner.

Saturday morning and Donald and I are off to a village called Kazungula. It turns out to be the border town we had been at to go across to Botswana. We were there all day. Frank’s daughter Katie came with us. She lives in Livingstone and had not even seen the border or Botswana before. One of the elders worked at the crossing so we all hitched a ride to Botswana and back again on the truck barge. Katie was so amazed at the busyness there and was so excited at what she got to do. I couldn’t believe that they hadn’t been there before it was only about 20 minutes up the road in the car. Katie Stevenson and the Atkinsons’ stayed at Fawlty Towers and also went for a walk. When we got back they had been to the supermarket and cooked us dinner which was really nice.

By now Lily’s ingrown toenail is causing her lots of pain. We were able to talk to Cathie Ellis and get advice on what to do and guess what – our doctor had given us the right cream for her! Isn’t God great? We were able to contact Cathie and we had the right cream!

Sunday was another big ministry day for Donald. We all went to church in the morning which was in a suburb of Livingstone called Dambwe. We were there for 5 hours! Frank (a Samfya Bible School Student) and his wife were with us. We got back to Fawlty Towers and raced across the road to shoprite to buy some lunch and then it was back to Frank’s church for another 3 hours. Oh Donald I don’t really want to go again can’t I stay back at Fawlty Towers I moaned! Boy oh boy what a bad attitude I had. The people there were so thankful for the ministry. They were even thankful that I went even though I just sat there (trying to stay awake!). They said we were good examples of a husband and wife in ministry together – boy did I feel bad for the attitude I had was not of serving the people but to just look after myself and my poor sore bottom!!! Both Donald and I were humbled by their thankfulness. We really take for granted all that we have in our church with the teachers that we have. These people were so hungry they could have sat there for another 5 hours!

Monday we were up bright and early again. Today we are going to Victoria Falls both the Zambia side and Zimbabwe side. Zimbabwe was first so, yes, it back through customs again, so we park the car and look at all the baboons on the side of the road. They are going through the rubbish that people leave –they are huge! They are quite scary too. There is even one on the top of a truck and one on the roof of the customs building! This time we walk along a bridge and there is the bungee jump that Donald did in 2006. Oh dear I can’t even look over the side of the bridge let alone jump it! There are a few men asking us if we want to jump – don’t they know that it is taking everything in me to just get over the bridge!!!
Well now we are over the bridge and still have a bit of walking to do. Everything is so dry and dusty. It is rather amazing that the women here (in Zambia and Zimbabwe) are able to get white clothes so white!

Now we are here at the falls. I can’t wait as we have been hearing it on and off while walking. Here is a man trying to sell us some light raincoats and Donald says it would be a good thing to buy. They cost us $1.00 US. Ok all set lets go... please!

Wow this is so amazing. The Zambezi River is very full. The speed at which the water travels is quite frightening. It is so fast. Wow this is amazing (I don’t know how else to say it) Incredible. The photos or movies just don’t do the falls any justice! I have heard so many people say that before but oh man incredible. We keep walking and seeing more and more of the falls. The falls just seem to go on forever! The falls are huge not just in how wide it is but how far it drops. The drop is 98m and we still get a sprinkling of the water that has gone over the edge! Ok more walking ewwwwww yuck there are striped mongooses on our path. Now if you know me you will know that I don’t like rodents. Thankfully I didn’t yell anything except Donald please get a photo! We have a picnic morning tea at the end of the walk overlooking the bungee bridge. It is so beautiful!

Ok time to go and finish our look around the falls area. No matter how much I look it still seems beautiful. Out of the falls now and it is time for lunch so we head into Victoria Falls town. The policewoman is asking Katie where she is going but Katie doesn’t hear her and I tell her that our guys are just up there on the hill in front of us and we are following them to get something to eat. She suggests a few places and lets us go. The place Donald thought of wasn’t there anymore so we go to a different place and now we have a policeman with us. Ummm I wonder what is happening so me being me I asked. He said they were tourist police. Ummmm I thought that maybe the tourists were being a problem but it was the street vendors. The street vendors were hassling tourists so much and even fighting each other and also the tourists. Ok I said. At the time I thought wow that’s a bit over the top as I felt quite safe. Finally he takes us to a nice place to eat and he was right. At this complex the street vendors aren’t allowed in. To get to the restaurant we have to pass a crocodile park sort of. They were behind fences but were huge. We were able to touch one through the fence as he was just lying there with his big mouth and teeth facing the other side! We were taking in the view outside the restaurant and there was our policeman. He waited for us and then took us to the market.

The market is another side to Zimbabwe. Now they are all calling us into their little booths. Donald tells females to go into this big shed so we did. There they sold all sorts of fabrics, tablecloths, runners etc and also some tops which they had crocheted. They were really nice but not my taste. I did see a table cloth that I kinda liked and showed Donald. He said to wait as there may have been other things I might want instead. The lady heard me and later on when I was standing outside came and showed it to me again. I couldn’t believe it! Janet found some things she liked and when she went back all of a sudden there was a sea of people trying to sell her the same piece of fabric – just amazing! Donald was right I found other things that I liked better than a table cloth. At one point there were a whole lot of men all talking loudly at me to buy something from their shop that I started to feel a little uneasy so I found our personal policeman and stood beside him. It was incredible they stopped straight away! Now where is that daughter of mine? She and Lily were having so much fun. They were just close to Donald so they were fine! One man showed be a wooden statue of the big five and asked me what I was prepared to pay for it. I told him I didn’t want it and he asked me why. I told him that I didn’t like it so I didn’t want to buy it and he told me that I did like it and what was the best price that I could pay him!

Our son and daughter in law for our three birthdays had given us some good drink bottles which we had with us. When they spotted it they wanted us to trade it for something in their shop. We had to KEEP on telling them that they were special gifts and we didn’t want to trade with it! But would they give up –NO! They even ended up asking Lily for the socks she was wearing! It is all just a ploy to get you into their shop and then they will tell you that you have to pay money on top of the trade!

Now when we were going to get our lunch there were some shops in the complex and Paul and Janet found a painting of elephants that they really liked so they bought it. They were going to package it up well and we would pick it up later. Well while we were there picking it up one of the street vendors was waiting for Paul outside and said that Paul had promised to look at one of his carvings. Paul went on his own to have a look. The guy had already packaged it up and was asking for a lot more than what they had agreed on. Our personal policeman realised that Paul was taking too long and went to look for him. Paul all of a sudden was standing in the middle of a circle of men all starting to get annoyed as Paul didn’t want to pay what they were saying. Paul ended up just pushing them out of the way and left, banging his head on the piece of wood in the shed! We don’t know what happened to the police officer but we didn’t see him anymore. We actually did look a little bit for him to say thanks but we had to get across the border again. Oh I didn’t tell you – I really wanted a wooden giraffe to take home a big one that can stand on the floor. Donald decides to go and get one and came back with two because you know you can’t just have one he was told!

Taxi Please!!! Oh here is one but it is only a car. How on earth can we fit 6 of us and the driver in a little Toyota Corolla!!! The driver said only one in the front! Because the police will give him a ticket otherwise. Ummm ok Paul hops in the front because Donald told him to and he says he will just walk and we can meet him on the other side. Ohhhh I don’t think so. Sooooo all 5 of us are in the back seat. Now did I tell you how hot we were in Zimbabwe? Donald is sitting on my knee bent over. My head is in his armpit and his head is hard against the window. We all have the giggles so much. Paul tries to get a photo but is too close! Even the taxi driver is laughing. What fun experiences we have had in Africa! All the back windows are tinted so the police can’t see in and see how many people are in the vehicle! Well we make it back to the border and then through the border into Zambia again.

Now we are to go to see the falls on the Zambian side. We are all tired and Janet decides that she will just stay in the car and wait for us. So Donald, Katie, Paul and Lily are going to see the falls again. This time we have to cross a walking bridge that is really high and the Zambezi River underneath. Ok I must do this so that I can see the rest of the falls as there is no other way to do it! Donald, Paul and Katie are long gone and Lily is behind me. Half way across I just screamed. It was like we were beside the sea and a wave came and got me wet and put so much water on my sunglasses that I couldn’t see and then the force it hit me took the hood off my head so now my hair is soaked! I was scared! Anyway I just had to keep going. Walking around the Zambian side of the falls you get a lot wetter than the other side. We were so hot and sweaty before and now we have had a shower. My eyes feel as though I have been swimming in the sea from the mixture of salty sweat and the water from the falls. Wow what an experience that was but I am so glad that I can say I have done it. Now where are the markets. Here we go again. There are only a couple of things that I want and everyone wants me to buy from their store! Katie and Lily really do love all the bartering. I wish, they would just have their price and that is the end of it! Oh dear here they go again wanting our shoes and drink bottles. The Zambian side is a lot nicer than the Zimbabwe side I will have to admit as far as the street vendors are concerned. I tried to tell them that I was a local as I live in Samfya and they would tell me that they would give me a local price but I am not so sure about that either. They all seem to think we have an unlimited amount of money to spend!
The end of an amazing day!

It is now Tuesday morning and we head to Lusaka. Thankfully a pretty uneventful day which is nice but it still took 6 hours to get there. We check into Kilimanjaro Lodge and all have showers. Again it is so nice to be there.
We are walking round Lusaka as Donald and Paul and Janet need to change money. Paul and Janet are also wanting to get a sim card for their phone. One of the street vendors kept asking me what I was buying as he could sell it to me. I told him that I wasn’t buying anything. He wouldn’t believe me and kept on pestering me. I had been telling him nicely and then his voice was starting to change and so I told him in a not so nice tone to “go away”. I thought Janet looked at me very shocked but when we were telling the guys later she said no she was just thankful that I did as she was starting to feel uneasy about him as well.
We went back to Arcades Mall for an ice cream – oh what a treat. We also updated emails.

Driving around and Donald gets pulled over by a police officer – not again! He is telling Donald that he was speeding. Donald was trying to tell the officer that it was the car that sped up and passed us but the police officer wouldn’t hear of it and sent us to see the other officers. Donald told them the same story and so they said that they would reduce his fine from K180, 000 to K80, 000. Donald told them he shouldn’t be paying anything as it wasn’t him. Anyway they were filling out the ticket and came to occupation. What is your occupation sir? Pastor Donald replied. They both looked at each other and then asked of what church. Donald replied CMML. They looked at each other and then said to Donald that he was forgiven and could go. Donald wasn’t going to be told twice and we drove away again ticket free!!! I should add here that Donald was telling the truth and that there was a car that had passed us at speed and the officer did just wave him through!

Wednesday now and Anne from Kilimanjaro Lodge had found out where we could buy some cross stitching fabric from. Not quite ada cloth but it will do and then we head off back to Samfya! Now I can teach the women who want to learn, how to cross stitch. Today we have an 8 hour trip back to Samfya.

On the way we stop at the Fig Tree Cafe (just by Maple Hurst which is run by New Zealander’s) for a coffee and toilet stop. We have our coffee and are heading out when Donald heard the owner telling some of the staff off. Donald was quite upset at the owner’s attitude and said he was even snapping his fingers at one of the staff to hurry up and get his jacket! It was not very nice to hear a Christian man talking to others in that sort of manner.

On the way again and we will be looking for places to buy some fresh fruit and veggies from. It is so hard to choose which person you want to buy from when everyone is selling the same things!

Oh my goodness is this rain on the windscreen. Surely not! Yes it is. In Zambia in the dry season and there is a drizzle of rain on the windscreen. Ohhh it is quite chilly as well. How weird.

We stopped in to visit Charles one of the Bible School Graduates and saw the school where he teaches carpentry, gardening and the girls are also being taught how to sew. They were also making bricks.

Here we are at the bridge again. Donald stops and lets the Atkinsons have a look at the Luapula River. Then we head across the bridge. The police officer waves us on but Donald decides to ask him if he was the one we saw the other day. Well when he realised it was us who saw him he laughed and shook Donald’s hand. All of a sudden we were his best friends.

We are now back in Samfya and driving up our driveway and who is that there happy to see us – Copper! He is so excited that he almost knocks Paul over. It is sooooo windy here. It feels as though the roof is just going to fly away! We are going to Levy and Agnes’ home for dinner and we are all thankful that we don’t have to cook after being on the road for so long! Wow what a meal they have given us – nshima, rice, chicken, fish and spinach! Whew we have very full tummies.
It seems as though I can’t eat nshima. Whenever I do I get bad tummy pains! Donald has said that I am not allowed to have anymore! I actually like nshima but I really don’t like the pain later.

Ohhh bed is so nice tonight!
Thursday morning and we are showing Paul and Janet around the Bible School. On our way there we pass the Fullers house and who do we see Spice. She was so happy to see us. We also saw Lucy as Paul and Janet’s home was the first home that Rogers and Lucy stayed at. Lucy was very pleased to see them.

It is now Friday and I have had the Ladies Study here again. Copper is tied up and doesn’t like it but it makes the Ladies feel safer. As I write this only Katie, Lily and I are at home as Donald, Paul, Janet, Peter and Levy have gone to a village in Chembe for the weekend. They will be going to meet with the CMML church there. Chembe is the Zambian border town buy the Pedicle Road in the DRC. They will be back on Sunday afternoon.

On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday Donald will be meeting with the elders from all the CMML churches here in Samfya. It will be a very interesting time. You will have to read Donald’s blog about all that happens there later in the week.
Today Katie and Lily started their job cataloguing books at SCCP (the orphans project that Mark and Carmen Brubaker run). They went on their own and then afterwards went down to the Bible School and bought us spinach (our silver beet) for dinner. At the moment they are both cross stitching.

Some sad news. On Wednesday it was really windy here in Samfya. A boat towing another boat sunk and with it 15 people drowned! As far as we know no bodies have been recovered yet.

One of the frustrations of living here in Samfya is the power. At times even thought the power is on it is very low which means to boil the jug could take over an hour. The power can also go off without warning. Today is Saturday and I wanted to get my blog updated but the power was off all day. The girls wanted to bake bread but no power. We couldn’t do dishes as there wasn’t any hot water. The girls didn’t even get to have a shower as there wasn’t any hot water. The power did come on at 6pm but only for 15 minutes! Thankfully I had everything ready, just in case and the elements were still hot when it all went off again to keep cooking our dinner. The power came on again just after 8pm! We have no idea on whether it was a routine power cut to work on lines or the weather. It is very windy and cold! Who would have thought this time of the year in Africa we would be cold! Oh well church tomorrow. Katie, Lily and I will go to the English speaking church at the Bible School.

Well I did warn you that this would be a marathon blog and it is. I will end it now.
I hope this has bought you up to date with our 10 days away.

Love to you all
Gwen
PS do you know that it is only 5 weeks until we leaving Samfya!

Your Prayers Valued

2010-08-13T22:26:00.000+12:00

Just a quick update to thank you for your prayers. We have arrived safely back here in Samfya and the Atkinson’s have been getting used to low power, no power, and short showers!!

Today Donald, Paul & Janet, Levy & Agnes and Peter will travel to Chembe for training all weekend and then getting back to Samfya there is leadership seminars for all the Samfya area church elders (Gwen, Katie & Lily will remain home over the weekend). This is a very busy schedule and your prayers are valued that the teaching will touch the hearts of these leaders and that God’s Word would be exalted in the practice of these churches. Please pray that hearts would be open to the truth and that we again have the discernment needed to help our brothers and sisters.

Wow- what a day!!

2010-08-09T07:24:00.003+12:00

Gween Janet & Regina (Frank's Wife)
The ekders from Livinstone Central Church (Frank the Samfya Graduate is in the yellow shirt)

Wow - what a day!! To say the speeches of gratitude were humbling is an understatement - there were tears in my eyes. This visit to these few churches in Livingstone has been a timely one. We have found people here who are hungry for truth and the application of the Word to their churches. The churches here are relatively young, being established since 1983. However they have come under serious criticism and pressure from a very legalistic section within Zambia. The teaching requested and the questions fielded reflected a leadership wanting help to navigate through troubled waters. They were full of thanks for the instruction and the honesty of teaching and responses that could identify the historical problems of our church heritage and bring the word to bear on those issues.

It would be a very prudent move to consolidate this teaching at their conference next year in August and help them make further progress in the priority of the gospel. As I have already indicated these leaders are visionary. They are looking outside of their city to the surrounding regions and countries. Church planting and outreach are on their hearts, but with that, churches that are soundly taught.

It is an amazing privilege to help these brothers and sisters. We have teaching and resources that are beyond imagination to the average Zambian church and leadership. With these blessings that we possess, comes great responsibility - that is why we are here on behalf of RBC. It is hugely challenging to grapple with the issues here and then be available to help. The teaching can be tiring, but it is rewarding to see the connections that are being made. Please keep praying that we would have wisdom and strength and discernment as we draw alongside these our fellow saints.

Tomorrow we get to take the Atkinson’s to Victoria Falls (& Gwen & Katie). This will be a lot of fun and beauty! Tuesday we drive to Lusaka and Wednesday back to Samfya. Please pray for safety in travel.

Kazungula

2010-08-08T18:13:00.001+12:00

Well Yesterday in Kazungula was a real blessing to see a new church in action. There are just 30 believers in this new plant, but these men and women have a passion for the Gospel and a heart towards reaching into other nations around them. As always here in Zambia, resources are slim and the church is struggling to establish the new plot that they have purchased. They are actively moulding concrete blocks however and planning towards the future - it is always good to see churches that are getting stuck in and doing work both spiritually and physically and not expecting handouts from others.

Their vision for the work in Kazungula includes the establishment of the church buildings, starting a community school and establishing a clinic for orphans and vulnerable children. This is part of their strategy to touch their community with the gospel, the gospel which motivates us all in good deeds to all people. They expressed needs like getting a generator and PA system that they could use in evangelistic crusades which are effective tools in reaching out in these areas.

Well today will be another full day of teaching in two churches in Livingstone. Thank you for your prayers that sustain us each day.

Teaching in Livingstone

2010-08-07T17:23:00.000+12:00

Greetings from Livingstone. Yesterday I had a full day of meetings with the elders and church members from Livingstone Central CMML Church. This included some personal time with the elders which was very valuable. The teaching ranged from Church Discipline issues to Leadership Qualifications to Paid Staff to Womens Issues and a huge number of questions all the way! It was a rewarding time and these leaders are very active in the church and involved in outreach and church planting programmes. The home church has about 300 or more members.

Today we drive 60 kms to Kazungula where they have established a small church plant in 2007 and we have a full day of meetings. Sunday we meet with a daughter church in Livingstone in the morning and then back to the mother church in the afternoon. Please pray for clarity in teaching and the ability to discern and help with the real needs here. These leaders have asked if we could come to their annual conference which is late August - a time which may fit well for future team visits.

In talking with the leaders the passion they have for evangelism and church planting was evident. They desire to see all the regions in this area established with good churches - a venture they have begun to establish. They also have eyes on neighbouring Namibia and Botswana. The struggle they have is finances. One church plant in a town called Zimba is struggling because in the economic downturn they have not had the money to send their teachers and evangelists as they did initially.

To assist them in their work they are looking at the possibility of establishing a bookshop and even a poultry unit. I think that their initiative is commendable - they are not sitting back and waiting for others to help, but rather actively looking at ways to establish these works themselves.

The main church also has a lot of widows and orphans, something they take seriously in an effort to help these people. Praise God for a church with vision and passion and a heart for the truth!

Training Needs

2010-08-04T18:42:00.001+12:00

I trust that you were able to read the report from the six graduates from the weekend training. They are all doing well in church ministry and have a passion to help their churches. The more time I spend here the more and more I understand just how great the ongoing training needs are. These men are doing so well with what they have been taught, but so much ongoing training is necessary. It is vital that the Bible School staff are involved in regular village visits to see the training happen.

To this end we have developed a list of the various areas that graduates are from and have begun to prioritise where visits are needed. The problem is how many of these seminars can you run in a year? If you only do four then it will take about 5 years to get around. If you do ten or more how do you pay for all the transport costs not to mention the toll on the teachers!! There are no easy answers; however more Bibles and finances to make these visits happen is vital.

As I reflect on the last two weekends of training, there really needs to be follow up visits another year down the track. The momentum is there, the desire for truth is there, the need for change is clearly evident - would you pray about these vital leadership training opportunities. Pray that God would use then to bring real change to rural churches, leaders who are committed to truth, that graduates would have the wisdom needed to work in difficult places. I was saddened to hear that some of these men were not sending their own kids to school because they were not making enough money due to the time that they were trying to put into ministry. Now that is wrong, but the calling that many of these graduates have in their lives is unmistakeable!

The need for the second year to be added to the Bible School programme is undeniable. These men & women need further sharpening for the work that they do. This will mean the need for at least another staff member and the administrative burden only continues to grow! Please PRAY!

We are now in Livingstone worn out by two days of driving. The Atkinson family arrive tomorrow, we have 1 ½ days of R&R with them and then three full days of leadership training in three areas down here. Please pray for strength and discernment as we encourage the church members from this region. They have been actively church planting down here, so it will be interesting to see how the work is progressing.

Weekend at Chipundu/Kapata

2010-08-04T02:39:00.002+12:00

Hi all, The ministry weekend went well - I have copied a graduate report for you below and will make comments on the blog tomorrow. We are now in Livingstone to pick up the family coming up to Samfya - email in Lusaka didn;t work!!

Report form Past students from Samfya Bible School - Kapata/Chikunyu Zone
(slightly abridged and edited to flow!!)
To the Saints at Riverbend Bible Church, New Zealand

Greetings in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. We are very happy tp see brother Pastor Donald Stevenson and the family come to us again. We still thank God for how He uses you people of New Zealand to help the people of Samfya. We even received the Bemba Bibles from you. We know that you are still remembering us people of Samfya. We also thank the teachers of Samfya Bible School for the servant spirit they have by helping people of Zambia by telling them God’s good news. We get knowledge from them. We are six past students in these zones:

Br. Francis Pengele from Kapata Central Assembly
Br. Dickson Chikundu from Kampolombo Assembly
Br. Dominic Chilufya from Chikunyu Assembly
Br. Davies Kawama from Chikunyu Assembly
Br. Lazarous Mwelwa from KAbende Mushi Assembly
Br Alfred Mutanda from Chisuku Assembly

What the Lord has done here:
We are conducting the following seminars
- Seminars for leaders
- Seminars for elders
- Seminars for Deacons & Deaconesses
- Couples Meetings
- Seminars for Youth Groups

We also preached to the people, “Repent and believe the gospel.” The people who believed His message and turned to follow him became his disciples, accepting Him as their Saviour. Praise God for the blessing.

We formed a youth group called Kamaka. It is a joy to see parents letting their children come to learn God’s Word. We have six assemblies were we started youth groups. When we meet together it is called Kamaka.
Sunday School is now done in most of the Assemblies in these zones. Three assemblies were started by the past students of Samfya Bible School...

Future plans:
- Sunday School Teacher Training
- Teaching the preachers how to prepare a lesson (27 churches in our region)
- Teaching those who have never been to school (literacy)
- Francis and Doreen Pengele planned to go and Evangelise in Central Province in Kapiri District in Sep/Oct 2010. The problem is concerning accommodation costs...”I spend most of my time in the work of the Lord. Only my wife supports the work...” (an appeal for assistance).
May God bless you all - signed by the six graduates.

Just at home

2010-08-04T02:29:00.001+12:00

My Goodness!

I have just sat down to play some games on my computer. I said to Donald that it sounds like it is raining. I didn’t think it was as this is the dry season. The noise outside is all the swamp flies that have hatched and are hitting the windows and roof! They are here literally in the millions and our pale yellow walls are black with the insects. Not so much fun! They come and buzz around us and land on us and the computer – time to go I think!

Also this afternoon Katie and I were watching the long version of pride and prejudice and I heard a plop sort of noise not far from me. When I had a look there were two lizards right by me!!! Then I went to go out the front door and there was another one just by the door handle! Needless to say I screamed and didn’t go outside!

Cultural Differences

Donald was talking to one of the men yesterday and he was telling Donald how he had a nasty rash on his armpit!
Donald asked him how he got it
Now wait for it!!!
He told Donald that after he had shaved his armpit, he put deodorant on and it had a reaction! That is right, you did read it right - he shaved his armpits!!!
Apparently here in Zambia married men shave their armpits!!
Can you hear the laughter when Donald was telling Katie and I!
Donald told him that in our society, it is a sign of masculinity - having hairy armpits!
The two of them were able to laugh about how different cultures can be!

Can you imagine a good kiwi bloke shaving his armpits hahahahahaha Now Donald you are in Zambia so you should do what the Zambian’s do hahahahahaha

Well for those of you who have asked – the photos on this blog are photos of our view from our house. Isn’t it just amazing! We see the lake as far as you can see. At night time it looks like there is a city out there with all the paraffin lamps glowing in the fishing boats. We tried to take a photo but it didn’t come out so well so you will have to use your imagination!

I thought I might point out some differences between Hastings and Samfya.

POWER: The electricity here is very inconsistent. It goes off most nights between 6pm and 8pm approx. Sometimes when the power is on, it is low so boiling a pot of water can take well over an hour or biscuits that should take 15 minutes can take nearly 2 hours! I must admit that when there is power on we make the most of it getting washing done and also the cooking. Because of the power going on and off people who have fridges quite often have to get new ones as they blow up!

ROADS: Although the roads to Samfya are tar sealed (careful of potholes) most of the other roads are dirt. It is very pretty though as it is red.

SHOPS: Shops always seem to be open even late at night. They are more like little booths and sell a variety of things rather than specialising in one or two things eg the dairy kind of shop will sell everything from an ice cold coke to BIG bags of grain, or some even sell pesticides as well as clothes. They also name their shops funny things (well they are funny to us but normal to them), God Given Investments is one (a diary type store), Back to My Roots (a shoe shop) is another one. The butcher here has all his meat in freezers thankfully. But he mostly just goes to the big towns and buys the meat and comes home and freezes them. The fish market is another tale. Nothing is refrigerated! And ohhhhhhhhhhhhh the smell. Whenever they see us white people (hehe) they want to sell us something even if we don’t want it! Sometimes they get a bit stroppy if we don’t buy!

LIZARDS: Well need I say more. Even while typing this, a lizard thought it might be nice to say hello to me! HA he got it wrong. I screamed and ran and Katie shoed him out under the door! They seem to think this is their place and they can roam as they please – inside and out!

SAFTEY: It is really safe to go out walking here. At home I would not let Katie and her friends go any distance on her own but when Lily comes they will be able to go to the stores up the road and I know they will be safe. There are a few mad men (yes I actually mean mad) but others would make them go away if they were being a problem. There doesn’t seem predators here like at home. I think if they tried anything on young girls the villagers would beat them to a pulp – hmmmmm maybe we should try that at home.

GREETINGS: Whenever anyone passes you when you are out walking (no matter what colour you are)they will greet you and expect a greeting back. At church you are made to stand so everyone can see that you are a visitor. After the first service every one leaves and stands in a line outside and as you leave you shake hands then stand at the end of the queue until everyone has gone through.

THE SUNRISE AND SUNSET: Ohhh man photos just don’t do them any justice. They are amazing and the colour of the red/orange is brilliant. You can’t even look at it sometimes as it is so bright. It is like nothing I have ever seen before! Absolutely beautiful!

FOOD: The fruit just seems so much sweeter here than back home and certainly bigger. I guess they haven’t been imported and have just been picked although I must admit to buying them on the side of the road not at the supermarket. The granny smiths there were gross. I don’t think they would even be sold as seconds at home! Needless to say we left them there. Bananas, pawpaw and watermelon is what we have had most of. Granidillas (a different variety of our passionfruit) just tastes amazing as well – they are light green when ripe not like our dark purple!

Then there is nshima. This is the staple diet here. We don’t mind eating it. I have had a lesson in cooking it but need more practise in making it! They eat it with ‘juice’ as they call it which is usually a tomato type sauce which they make by grating the tomato and then adding onions and boiling it. They would usually have some small chicken pieces with it. They also have spinach (we would call it silver beet), rape and Chinese cabbage. They would just have one and cut it up into very small pieces and add red onion and boil until cooked. They would however eat fish more than chicken. They love to drink Coke. I can’t have coke due to my diabetes but sometimes the shop will sell coke light. It doesn’t have sugar in it but I am sure it doesn’t taste like coke zero, or diet coke back home. Most times I just choose to have bottled water. They don’t usually have dessert or baking. They don’t have ice cream or cream here in Samfya. You can buy it at shoprite but that is in Mansa which is an hour away. They also don’t have cream that you can whip here.

Oh their lollipops are amazing too and I must admit I have had one. Katie really likes one brand in particular. Chippies and things like that they do have here. Some are nice but they are not like our bluebird chippies back home. We have not seen any twisties, burger rings or anything like that here.

DOGS: There are a lot of dogs here that just seem to roam around but people are petrified of them – in particular Copper and Spice. Copper and Spice are very big dogs though and if you run will chase you.

LAKE BANGWAULU is really big. The meaning is ‘where the water meets the sky’ and it is a fitting name. The water really does meet the sky when you look out to the horizon. They catch a lot of fish here – the most popular being bream. It really looks like it is the ocean. People here have never seen the ocean. I just can’t imagine that! They also think it is strange that the ocean would be salt water as the lake here is fresh. It is where they get their water from. It is very beautiful.

BIRDS: The bird life here is just so amazing. I wish we could get photos to show you all but they are just too quick for us! They range from being tiny to absolutely massive and everything in between.

HOUSING: Most people here would live in a shack with an iron roof. The walls are made of mud bricks covered with cement and then painted. You are fortunate if you have a concrete floor. Some are just mud. There are also lots thatched roofs, oooh yuck can you imagine all the lizards that live in those! Some people have quite nice houses as well and as people are getting more affluent the houses are getting better. Most people would still have a pit loo outside and have a wash from a bowl, and cook over hot charcoal! Even if you have electricity you would still have charcoal to cook with as a backup because of the power situation, but most of these homes would not have electricity.

TELEPHONES: No one here has a land line! Communication all happens with cell phones and there are cell phone towers everywhere. It is rather amazing that someone would not have a Bible but would have a cell phone. It is hard for me to get my head around that one.

COMPUTERS: Unlike NZ not many homes have computers. Most people if they need a computer will go to the Samfya Basic School to use their ones but most do not have any need for a computer or internet.

MALARIA is very common. Most people will have it at some point in their lives and more than likely more than once. It is caught by a female mosquito biting an infected person and then biting someone else. It is the leading cause of death here – even above aids. Prevention in the most part would be easy. Mosquito nets should be a must but a lot choose not to have them. They are readily available and are very cheap. The govt (or whoever it is who should do this) needs to put drains in to drain off stagnant water as that is where mosquitoes breed. These two things would reduce the amount of people who get Malaria. Education is also important. People don’t seem to understand how easy it is to do some things to prevent getting it. None of these are fool proof however and the only way not to get it is not to get bitten – easier said than done.

People with Malaria do get quite sick although the cerebral malaria is the worst as it attacks the brain. The other is like getting a bad case of the flue although can and does often cause death.

Well there are amny other things that are different as well, but as usual this blog has turned out to be a marathon. Sorry.

Gotta go and have lunch now.

Gwen

The Ladies Bible Study

2010-07-30T02:11:00.002+12:00

cooking Nshima by candlelight and coals!!
the ladies study group

Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, I meet with the ladies and we are studying the book by John MacArthur called God’s High Calling for Women.

As you all know I am not an upfront teacher and prefer to be one on one but oh well here I am teaching up front. Well actually all I am doing is reading the book. I have done this study many times before so I know it well. The ladies seem to be enjoying it and have asked questions.

The most common one that they don’t seem to understand is if the men are not doing what they should why shouldn’t the women step up and do it if they are teachers. Doesn’t that sound so familiar? We have these same issues in our society. I have been able to tell them about Elizabeth Elliott and also Donald’s Aunty Esther who were missionaries and were on their own and how they dealt with the issues of the church meeting together. These issues are very real here as in some of the villages the men are not qualified to do the teaching or do not know the scriptures well enough to be able to pass on their knowledge to others. One village a student comes from, at different times of the year all the elders are out at their land planting then harvesting and also fishing and there are no men left to run the church except those who are not believers! We told them to go back to their elders and say to them that they need to have men at church all the time and not to just leave it to the women! These times that the men go away is their livelihood and they are not just taking a weekend off. It would be quite a hard thing to manage I think.

One of the other questions is that if a woman is not allowed to teach or have authority over a man in church what is she allowed to do. There doesn’t seem to be anything else in their eyes. I have tried to answer their questions but this one we will do in more depth after our study of this book is finished.

This Friday we will have our final study of this book, so all the ladies are coming up to my place for afternoon tea. I have promised them that I will have the dogs locked away as they are very scared of them – I understand this fear of dogs!

The ladies want me to teach them how to cross stitch. I have been given a name of a shop in Lusaka that sells cross stitching supplies. If they do, this will be the next job for me to do. If they don’t I don’t see the point in teaching them something they cannot continue to do.

Now Patricia is the lady who interprets for me at the study. She is wonderful. She has also had us over to her place and gave us a sort of western meal. It was really nice to go there and meet her family. She has a husband, Peter and together they have four children. Then they have also raised Gift whose parents died when he was two years old. His father was Peter’s brother. They have also raised a set of twin girls from the age of 11 years as their parents died as well. Their mother was Peter’s sister! So with everyone counted they are raising seven children. Peter also has a mother who is getting old and lives in Lusaka, and he is trying hard to be faithful to her and care for her. Patricia has a mother who lives in Mansa. Patricia is a housewife and Peter works for Zamtel which is like Telecom. It is a telecommunication company. Peter is away a lot between caring for his aging mother and his work. I think Patricia is an amazing woman!

Last night Agnes and Fanny come here to our place for dinner. Agnes taught me to make nshima and I have taught her some baking. I even got to cook the nshima on the coals as by the time Agnes arrived the power had gone off. I had everything else organised and cooked except for the nshima! Tonight I will try to make some on my own! Hahaha

Tomorrow Donald will head off to a village out on the other side of the lake. Katie and I are staying at home. He will be going with Peter and Francis and they will be sleeping in tents. Katie will hopefully be able to complete her school work so she can have some time off when the Atkinson’s come. I will be getting the house ready for their arrival and also doing some baking as we will be away for a week.

We leave for Lusaka at 5am on Monday morning. We are leaving that early as it is an eight to ten hour car trip and there are some things we want to get done in Lusaka. On Tuesday morning we leave to go to Livingstone which is about a six hour drive. We pick the Atkinson’s up at about mid day from the airport.
That is it from hot Samfya for now.
Have a great weekend everyone.

On The Road Again

2010-07-28T19:38:00.003+12:00

Graduates and Bible School Staff
One of the churhc visits with Murray & Joy
On the road again...

We left Samfya at about 9am Friday morning, heading towards the DRC via Mansa. We needed to stop in Mansa to get our new passports and get the visas transferred from the Emergency Travel Documents. We could not believe it. We went to the immigration office and had left with all things done in less than 15 minutes!! If you know Zambia at all you will know that this is truly amazing! We went to the Braham’s (missionaries from Canada) for lunch. They were the people our passports were sent too. They are so lovely and gave us an amazing lunch – actually more like a dinner! They had also done some printing of the elders pamphlet written by John MacArthur and translated by Francis. This is what Donald, Levy and Francis were going to teach on this weekend.

Ok off on our way again. The border this time is not so bad (the Zambian side) – actually quite a breeze to get through. Now we head off down a dirt track. I was wondering where on earth we were going and when were we going through the DRC border. Katie and I were both a bit apprehensive about the DRC border because of the last time we went through it! Ok Levy is telling us to stop as these were his friends on the side of the track. Actually what it is, is our stop. We unload the car as we are leaving it for a man to look after as we are going across the Luapula River. I was still wondering where customs was! We head off in a long boat and the men (Levy’s Friends who were actually from the church and also graduates) started singing. They sang us all the way across. It was rather nice. Donald helped to row the boat. Well we are getting close now and who on earth are all those people and who are they waiting for? Oh there is Murray and Joy – Yay.

Kasenga – Democratic Republic of Congo
Oh my goodness all those people are there for us!!! You should hear the singing to welcome us. They are amazing! They get us off the boat and all our luggage went with them. I hope the people taking it are actually church people – we certainly don’t know! The singing volume was incredible. I wonder if our church could sing like that without music! INCREDIBLE

Well now we need to go through customs- There it is the little building over there! We go into this tiny room which has two customs officers in it, Donald, Gwen, Katie, Levy and Francis! Ohhhh man some of the other men came in too! It was so crowded and hot. I was kinda wondering why the other men were there but they had organised a special price for us to get through so needed to be there. The customs officers couldn’t say my name so kept calling me Patricia! Well no problems at this end of customs either. We pay our money and go. Murray has all our luggage and the boxes of Bibles but we are told we have to walk and that we have to go the long way!

Ok now it is VERY hot for us and we are going to walk! It took us about 20 minutes to walk, however with all those people the dust was amazing and I started coughing – that darn asthma. Now where is my ventolin – oh that’s right I left it in Samfya!!! Oh well just deal with it and carry on Gwen!!! The singing started as we started to walk, again absolutely incredible! They sang the whole way and I mean the whole way right into the Catholic Mission!

Now, in our original plans Katie and I were going to spend the weekend with the Braham’s in Mansa. Donald had found out that the Catholic Mission was the best place to stay in Kasenga and had flush loos and inside showers. We get there and everything looks nice on the outside, we opened the door and ohhhhh what a different story!! The flush loos were kinda flush loos – we had to pour water into the toilet bowl after it had been used. Ok I guess we could deal with that, at least it is in our room and isn’t a pit! Now for the shower. A good start, we have a shower box and a shower rose. Ummmm the tap for the sink doesn’t work. Uh oh the shower is for looks (and it wasn’t that pretty either). When we shower the men heat the hot water and then bring it to us in a basin. Yep that’s right we are having washes out of a basin again. I don’t think I will trust any of these people again who say oh the place is fine!!! Oh well we are here now and no way back until Monday.

Today is Saturday and Donald will be at his conference with Levy and Francis. Katie and I will be going on the road (so to speak) with Murray and Joy.
We had a great time looking at all the projects Murray and Joy manage. There were schools, churches and clinics. At one school Murray was not too happy as progress of the building had been very slow. When he inquired as to why, he found out that the elders weren’t very happy that the headmistress of the school was put in charge of the project. They came and took the cement that was supposed to be for the mortar. The new school building is to be bricks. The old school building caught on fire. They have put on a new grass roof for the time being. Murray actually felt sorry for the lady as it wasn’t her fault. The elders had their noses put out of joint because they weren’t in charge. It is the culture here. It is strange for a woman to be in charge and these elders took advantage of her!

Everywhere we went people were so happy to see Murray and Joy. They had lots of meetings of reports given of progress and also what still needs to happen and how much it costs. Then discussions on whether the funds Murray and Joy have charge of will be used for the particular projects at hand. People are always wanting more money, but as Joy said to me they also have to be trying to do some things themselves, or they will always just rely on others to help them instead of trying to help themselves.

Kids were everywhere and I mean everywhere. Wherever we went there were heaps of children. The children were becoming overbearing at times as they wouldn’t talk, smile or try any form of communication – they just stared at us! Then started to touch my arm. Even when Joy, Katie and I were just sitting they came up and stared. This was a bit difficult to cope with at times. Katie was always surrounded by children which most of the time she loved, but when it got too much would hide in the car. That didn’t stop the kids though – they just came and looked in the window!

We stopped to have a picnic lunch under a tree and guess what – kids came to watch. Yep they watched us eat!!! Then we looked around and the parents were watching as well. Oh to be so popular!

That night Murray set up the big screen and played the Jesus movie. Lots of people came to see. The kids of came early. Murray had a Christian music dvd so he cranked up the music and that really bought everyone in. Unfortunately we couldn’t see the screen as it was still too light.

It was a good day even though it was hard sometimes not knowing what anyone was saying! Murray and Joy got given 3 goats and 4 chickens today. They will be taking 2 goats and the chickens back to Lubumbashi with them. The goats will be tied to the roof all the way. It will take about 4 hours.

The next morning we were told that church started at 9am. So we are there but where are the congregation? Eventually some of the choir arrive and they start to sing and then someone goes outside to beat the drum to tell everyone to come. By now it is 10:am and they have just started.

Donald was doing the teaching. He loves to hear them sing and got the Sunday School of 250 kids to sing. They were all so pleased with themselves! Well then it was back to the Mission for Lunch and then Donald, Levy and Francis were to go back for a meeting with the elders, then the graduates then the both groups together. Katie and I decided to stay at the mission. Bad move! There was nothing to do. I mean nothing. Donald said we would go for a walk to the market when he came home and we were by the river most of Saturday – there was nothing to do. We ended up on our beds dosing on and off! We were so pleased when Donald turned up after 5pm! We headed off to the market to get a cold drink. Oh did I tell you how hot it is here!!! Tooo hot!!!

Dinner time now and it is a repeat of lunch – oh well at least it filled our tummies! It was one of Murrays goats! It was very nice.
We are planning to get to the customs office as soon as it opens in the morning so we need to leave the mission at about 7:30am! Yeah right! No one told us they wanted to give us breakfast and we have already had our cornies! Ok then we will have some of their breakfast so that we don’t offend anyone but we need to get going soon! Ummmmmmm where is the breakfast!!! Donald who is very time orientated is starting to get very frustrated. We are all packed and ready to go but can’t! Breakfast arrives at about 9:00am – now what time were we supposed to leave! We had chicken, nshima and hot rice – for breakfast!!! We have a little and then head out.

We are now at the customs office and everything is fine – we didn’t even have to go in. One of the guys did it! Now we are ready to go but where is the boat!! Oh dear it isn’t here! The women who sang us down the road are still singing. They are going to have very sore throats by the time we leave. They do sound amazing though. They are singing songs that say we will meet again in heaven and that there will be lots of flowers there – not sure about the theology there. Oh look here comes the boat. It is now 10am.

Our car we can see has been parked on the other side for a very long time! We are now on our way. An easy trip through customs again. Donald stopped in at Mambelima to show us where the conference is (you know the one with the big rock that we have seen photos of). Then we stop in to see Francis’ parents. Now off to Mansa to see the Braham’s again. They have prepared lunch for us again and it was very yum! Donald has dropped the car off to get it serviced. It will take 2 ½ hours. Mrs Braham has Anne of Green Gables so Katie and I got to watch some of it and have bought it back to our place. Unfortunately we do not have a vcr but we will try to borrow one! She also gave us Pride and Prejudice on a dvd and so Katie and I have started to watch that. What a treat!

We got home at about 5pm. This week I will be baking for going away to Lusaka and Livingstone and getting beds etc ready for the arrival of the Atkinsons. It looks like Katie might have some work to do at the orphan project cataloguing some of the books in their library but that is yet to be finalised.

Well that is it from here. We got a very warm welcome home from Copper who met us at the top of the road then got distracted when he saw the chickens and went after them! Apparently there have been some complaints about the dogs so this morning Morgan (the gardener) has been putting up more fencing and when we got home there was a gate across the driveway. Today the dogs have been contained in our yard and I think has settled Copper a lot - we can hope can’t we.
Love to everyone
Gwen

D.R. Congo - Ministry Weekend

2010-07-28T00:13:00.002+12:00

Us crossing the Luapula
Bibles to Graduates
What a wonderful weekend with our brothers and sisters in Christ in Kasenga, DR Congo. We met in Nsansamina church where four graduates minister - Saidi & Claudine (2006),and Talaka & Carol (2009). There were also present three other graduates, Mainsa (2001), Kafusha (1999), Mumba (2004). The reports from the elders of the work these people are doing was very encouraging. They all seem to be working hard in church life. Talaka and Carol even help support 12 orphans in their community through the gardening skills taught at Samfya!

Over this year, two graduates have been involved in Evangelism Training as far away as Lumbumbashi. Locally one graduate has been active in establishing and equipping Sunday Schools and teachers for various local churches, as well as the ongoing teaching programme that they are all involved with in the churches. As a team they have been training 21 people through June/July in Bible interpretation, Theology (the Doctrine of Salvation)...

The challenges they face are primarily support issues. They still need to work on farming as the churches do not give financial support. Bicycles are also needed for their ministry visits (they had some in 2006 , however these are now worn out!!). We are working on this one through the ministry fund.

The training that we worked on through the weekend was primarily aimed at leadership, using the booklet on Elders (by John MacArthur, now translated into Bemba - having this resource is a huge blessing to these village church leaders). This enabled us to cover the NT teaching on elders, the role of elders, their qualification, the team nature of the work, and the need to support those who lead well and are given to the task of teaching and preaching (1 Timothy 5:17f). The Impact of the teaching was significant. The leaders (around 90-100 men & women) were hungry for the Word and wanted to be applying the things they were learning. It is very important that follow up training occurs, and we know that even more people from many other churches will attend.

We were also blessed to have Murray & Joy Stevenson with us for Friday night, Saturday & Sunday morning. Gwen & Katie got to travel with them on Saturday to many projects that they work with (see Gwen’s blog for all the details!!) including doing an evening projection of the Jesus film. It was nice to have some family time in the depths of Africa!

One of the graduates children was in the local hospital with severe dysentery. We were able to leave a small gift for medications - life is truly on a knife edge here! Three boxes of Bibles were left for sale to the local village Christians. As always the distribution of these causes some jealousies among people who don’t have much, but please pray that they will be used to see men & women growing in Christ. I only wish you could have seen the joy in people’s faces and hear the songs of thanks and praise that were sung for the whole weekend and its impact on them all.

These graduates are strategizing to try and establish a Bible Centre for distributing Christian material, and would also like to begin a mini Bible School at the end of 2012 when people they have training will return (they are training at a theological school that Roger Wharrie and I visited in 2008 - it does a three year French programme). What an encouraging time to spend with these saints - with huge challenges they are committed to Gospel truth and impacting their communities.

To DR Congo Today

2010-07-23T18:37:00.000+12:00

Greetings all, it is Thursday night and I have just finished teaching through 1 & 2 Timothy - 20 sessions in four days, a little bit of a marathon. The students had a good number of questions and seemed to be following the teaching well. There is so much very practical instruction in these two books about what we need to do and apply in church life and we talked much of the application of these principles in village church ministry.

We cross into the Congo tomorrow (early Saturday morning NZ time). The border crossing will be a little unknown for us as Congo can be a little difficult; however the graduates from Congo have been trying to prepare the way. The crossing is by long boat over the Luapula River which should be interesting and we will be taking Bibles as well. We expect to see around 8 graduates and we understand that there will be quite a crowd at the meetings, not just the church leaders. We will still focus on leadership training however, as this is the essential ingredient to the churches growth.

We value your prayers for this time and the effectiveness of the training. There will be five of us going over, Gwen, Katie, Donald, Levy Kasoma (Principal) and Francis Chola (teacher). Gwen & Katie will get to see some projects that Murray & Joy work with, so that will be interesting and fun.

We are thankful that our new passports have arrived in Mansa, and we will pick them up on our way through. We also will visit the Immigration office to have our visas transferred into the new passports. Please also pray that this will go smoothly. Thank you for all your prayers and emails - we really do appreciate your support.

That Naughty Copper!

2010-07-21T01:14:00.000+12:00

Today (Tuesday) Katie and I head out for our walk. Copper decides he is going to come too! I know that I can’t control him so we try to get him back, but would he go. NO! Morgan (the gardener) sees him and calls him back and off he goes. We are not even two minutes away and here comes Copper charging down the hill right between us! We both got a fright and of course screamed. We tried to get him back but no his mind was made up. There were these men coming along the road. One was carrying a bag of fish. Copper decided that he liked that smell and went up to the man. Well... do I need to say more. The man dropped his bag and ran so fast. Ohhhh thinks Copper he is playing with me and chased the man!!! By this time I am calling Morgan to come and get the jolly dog. This other man was so scared! I told Katie to pick up the bag before Copper got it. We tried to give it back but every time Copper saw him, well... he chased him! One of the men working at the resort came and tried to help, but kept pulling Copper by the collar which he doesn’t like and so Copper kept trying to bite him! In the end Morgan was able to trick him into going home. The man that Copper chased scratched himself while running away and tried to get ‘compensation’ as he called it. I just told him ‘silly dog’. Well all this and not even 8am yet. What will the rest of the day bring!

Partnership Affirmed

2010-07-20T19:58:00.005+12:00

It is now Monday night, the wind is blowing very strongly and our dinner visitor has gone home. It is time to reflect on the weekend and the interaction with the Samfya Bible School (SBS) board. The board are made up of men and women from around the Bemba areas of Zambia. Since last meeting them in 2008 there are a number of new members. Again I have been impressed by the calibre of these people and their commitment to the gospel and their desire to see positive change implemented in the Bible School training and in village church life.

The meeting discussed the Memorandum of Understanding between SBS and RBC. It was passed unanimously and the document was signed at the close of the meeting. This is a good step in clearly outlining the responsibilities that we both have in our partnership and will provide a firm foundation for our future working together.

I have also been able to have much personal time with the chairman of the board, Wathabu Simfukwe. He is a godly man with a passion for rural church ministry and a desire to see the Bible School become more effective in its training. Quietly spoken, Wathabu demands attention as he speaks with the wisdom of many years walking with our Lord. There are some people in life that you have an immediate bond and relationship with - Wathabu is one of those. He speaks with clarity and passion and will lead and guide the final decisions on curriculum development in October.

One area we talked of is the development of Bemba studies to enhance rural church life. There is very little available and a real need to see good material written as well as updating some other work. Graduates and church leaders desperately need material that is simple and yet solidly based on God’s Word, resources that will build into the lives of rural Christians.

Back to the board - they affirmed the desire that no infrastructure building begin before the arrival of Engineering Ministries International (EMI) on 2nd September. EMI will have a team of 10 here to develop the new master plan for SBS. They all bring areas of expertise that will be applied to establishing the most excellent use of the Bible School property. Please pray for the preparations for their visit that all will go well (we are having little success in finding any boundary markers for the site!).

The photos above are of the board and Chairman Wathabu signing the Memorandum of Understanding. This week Donald is teaching at the Bible School, working through 1 & 2 Timothy and on Friday we all head off to Kasenga in the Democratic Republic of Congo for meetings with graduates and their church leaders from this area. Donald’s brother Murray and his wife Joy will also meet us there and Gwen and Katie will visit the projects that Murray & Joy’s ministry partners with in this area.

Our Place

2010-07-20T02:05:00.003+12:00

Well I thought it was about time I told you about where we live.
We live at the top of a hill and have an amazing view of Lake Bangweulu. Sometimes the lake looks like the sea. It is very beautiful. It is fresh water. Fishing is a big part of the way people live. At night time when you look across the water you would think it was a city out there not a lake as the fishermen are out and all have a light on their boats.

As Donald has told us many times Lake Bangweulu means ‘where the water meets the sky’ and let me tell you that is exactly what you see.

The house we are in belongs to Mark and Carmen Brubaker. They are missionaries here and work with the orphan project. The house has 4 bedrooms, lounge, formal dining, 2 kitchens (I will tell you about that later), and an upstairs loft (which has a tv with our equivalent of sky on it!), 2 bathrooms (with flush toilets yay) and for the moment 2 dogs. The house itself isn’t completely finished but is very liveable. Things like the breakfast bar needs to go in and some more painting done, but as I said very liveable.

Now by two kitchens I mean that there is the main kitchen and then opposite the formal lounge there is a long kitchen bench, which is also where the breakfast bar is to go and is to have a sink in it! For the moment however all the water is in the main kitchen behind the wall. Most of the dishes are not in the main kitchen which means when you are cooking you are constantly going backwards and forwards and also when you are doing the dishes. The oven is in the other kitchen – not the main one. I think the main kitchen is called a butlers Kitchen.

The two dogs. Well one belongs to Mark and Carmen and his name is Copper. The other one belongs to Mr and Mrs Fuller who are missionaries as well, but are on furlough and her name is Spice. Spice is the one who attacked the village dog that Donald wrote about! She is actually a very loving dog! Both these dogs are used to being inside. They are very big! Well we have moved their food and water outside and they are not allowed inside during the day. At night they sleep in the lounge! That is for security – however it means that we have to have all the other doors in the place closed as copper likes to visit everyone during the night. He also loves our bed and if he happens to come inside... well he loves to lounge on our bed!!! Naughty dog!!!!

We are about 15 minutes walk away from the Bible School. Katie and I walk there 3 times a week for the ladies Bible Study. They don’t want to come here because of the dogs! The Bible School has a great veggie garden which is where we buy, silverbeet(they call it spinach!), rape, and now carrots. We also buy our chickens there but we get them to ‘dress’ it before we get it! Donald is constantly bringing home fresh fruit which he buys from the ladies on the side of the road. Ohhh the fruit here is amazing. It tastes so great! Bananas and pawpaw are just wonderful! They taste so different to home!

Katie and I try to go as often as we can on the big walk and that takes about half an hour and also some of it is uphill. There are stores up this end of Samfya and Katie and I will go there to get groceries that we need. The other end of town is where you would buy whatever you need (as long as they have it!) including a fish market. The smell there is ... well I am sure you can use your imagination. There is no refrigeration! Katie and I don’t like going down there. It is a very sleezy part of town! However Katie and I feel safe when we are out walking. Most people greet you as you go.

Now we have a housekeeper whose name is Rosemary. She is great and gets rid of all the spiders, lizards and stuff like that. She also does the washing if I haven’t done it first, hangs it out and when it is in does the ironing!
Then there is Morgan and he is the gardener but will do anything and when Rosemary isn’t here. He will do dishes and even the washing and washing the floor – I don’t ask him. We just come home and it is all done!

Well finally there is the night watchman - Bwalya! He is really funny! The other day we were showing him photos of home and he told me “madam you are fat!” Yes that is what he said. Well I got the giggles and he said “yes you are”. Well what do you say to that. He then saw a picture of my Mother and told me that she was very beautiful. He saw a photo of Donald’s Mother and I told him that she was beautiful and he asked me if she was fat too!!! He is so funny. For a lot of Zambians being fat is a good thing. It means that you are wealthy and healthy. Being skinny means that you don’t have enough food and possibly are even sick. Donald remembers when he lost 22kgs and then came here no one said anything about the weight loss in case he was sick! So by telling me I was fat – he was trying to tell me I was beautiful ohhhhhh how lovely (I think!).

Well I hope you are able to see in your mind where we are. It is really nice. We have been really fortunate to be living here. We wouldn’t be if Mark and Carmen weren’t back in the USA and Canada.
Love to everyone
Gwen

Board Meeting, Boys Update, Next Week

2010-07-17T19:26:00.000+12:00

Today is the day of the Bible School board meeting when we hope to formalise our partnership relationship with the board through an official document. This will be a helpful step as it clearly outlines both parties’ responsibilities in the partnership. I will report again about this meeting.

The two young boys that we reported on earlier have come back to give us updates. Gullivers had his eyes treated and is doing much better. He must have monthly checkups and so the Bible School’s medical clinic will take this over from now on unless he gets worse. What a blessing to see his eyes improving. Unfortunately the local hospital just does not have the right people to deal with such issues, so the trip to Mansa was a necessity. Gullivers mother even returned some cash that was not required and she also wants to study at the Bible School next year.

Godfrey and his dad travelled to Mambalima and he has been accepted at this school starting in August. The problems his family will have are getting there and back each term (probably by bicycle - about 200kms or more), fees and food requirements. We are working with the family to see if there is the possibility of a micro loan that will enable them to increase their income through extra business/farming. These loans are working very effectively in the community and making a big difference for many impoverished families. The capital must be repaid, however they get a help up to being more productive. The fees and food for one term are only about NZ$50 but we do not want to create dependency by paying these things when families need to work hard to provide what they are able. We may assist with a small amount this term until the family are able to provide.

Please pray for this next week at the Bible School when I will be teaching through 1 & 2 Timothy. We have had all the headings for my notes translated and copied which will make class time much more efficient. The following weekend we are off to Kasenga in the Democratic Republic of Congo for leadership training with graduates and their leaders. We value your prayers.

Please also pray for Donald’s Mum who is waiting for surgery to place a stent near her heart. She is very breathless and can’t do much at all - very unlike her. The surgery was due on 14th but now 28th - pray that it will happen then!

Kasanka National Park

2010-07-16T18:59:00.002+12:00

Well we left home at about 8:30am and went to send our emails from Samfya Basic School before heading out to Kasanka National Park. There were the usual people selling their wares and also some children with a huge catfish! It was almost bigger than they were!

We arrived at Kasanka at around mid day. On our way to reception some baboons ran across the road right front of us! Then we checked in at Wasa Lodge and had some lunch then headed out to explore.

First we had to cross the river so Donald drove the car onto a pontoon and off we went.

Katie was the first to spot some Puku which is a type of antelope. They are average in size, red and fast. We also saw some monkeys. We went to Luwombwa (another lodge down the road a little) and went on a boat for a ride up the river to see what we could see! We saw a hippo, a small crocodile, and some water monitors. Donald was also fishing and caught 3 bream fish. Two were small so we put them back but one we are going to have for dinner. On our way back we saw, wart hogs, a common gray duiker, sable antelope and lots and lots of Puku. We also stopped at Fibwe Hide. Fibwe Hide is a place you can go to spot some of the rare sitatunga (another type of antelope – we didn’t see any). Fibwe Hide is up a tree with a look out at the top. Needless to say Gwen who is scared of heights got a little way up and then chickened out! We are having a Brie (BBQ) for dinner with beef and Donald’s fish.

Well the beef ended up being chicken and South African sausage, roast potatoes and pumpkin, boiled beans and carrots, and Donald’s fish! Not what we were expecting but very nice anyway.

Having a warm shower was another unusual time! They came and asked us when we would like our hot water. It was to be at night or not at all! The men arrived with the hot water, climbed up the ladder and poured it into the containers on the roof. Once it was finished it was literally finished – not even a cold one! It was done, all the water gone!

This was the end of our first day!

All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small, all things wise and wonderful, the Lord God made them all!

Day two at Kasanka, started with our cereal and then off to explore. What would today bring after all the amazing things we saw yesterday. Our first stop was the airstrip and we saw 3 zebras! They were quite far away but at least we got to see them! It is even the first time Donald has seen them in the wild as well. Gosh these darn flies I wish they would go away. Owww that one bit me!! Turns out these flies that bite can also give us sleeping sickness. Let’s pray that we don’t get that. Symptoms won’t show until we are in the UK!

We saw lots and lots of animals they certainly showed how amazing our God is. He made all of these things! We went down this dusty road wondering what was down there. Well there was bush, bush and more bush, not even a puku in sight. It took us the rest of the morning. Finally we found we were back at the pontoon so we crossed the river, parked at a spot we knew we had seen some puku the day before and had lunch. It was a nice picnic lunch the only thing missing was the bluebird chicken chips! Oh well back to the lodge to see if we could find some coffee! At the lodge we got talking to a family who had just been out (in a different direction to us). They had seen hippos and crocodiles... so off we went again in the hunt to see more of the African wild! Wow we saw 4 hippos, 7 crocodiles, and lots of the rare sitatunga antelopes! It was so wonderful. The sitatunga are a lot different to a normal antelope. They are a lot darker and as Katie put it when they run they look like my bunny hopping! They are not graceful at all but there were quite a few and were playing in the water.

Ok back for dinner. Tonight we are supposed to be having sweet and sour pork – we will see!

Well they still told us it was sweet and sour pork but it was more like a beef casserole! Dessert was really sweet so I only had a couple of mouthfuls – Donald ate the rest! All in all a wonderful day! Back for our showers, now where is that hot water man!

So here is a list of the animals we saw:

Antelope:

Puku,Sable, Common Gray Duiter, the rare Sitatunga

Birds:

Saddle Billed Stork, African, Fish Eagle, Bat Hawks, White Egrets, Sacred Ibis and many, many more but we didn’t know their names!

Other Animals:

Water Monitor (3), Wart Hogs (heaps), Lizards, Zebras (3), Hippos (5), Crocodiles (8), Vervet monkeys (heaps), Baboons (heaps), Termites, Ants, Bats, Bream, Flies and Frogs!

Ok Time for bed and it is only 8:30pm, we must have had a hard day as we are all tired.

Thursday Morning- Time to go home.

Well you would think this would be straight forward wouldn’t you. We had our breakfast and Katie went to brush her teeth. In the jug of water (that had a lid on it!) now had a frog in it!! Of course Katie thought it was cute but hey true to form I screamed! Yep just can’t help myself!!!

Ok in the car now. Where is Donald? He is trying to pay the bill but it has been close to an hour that he has been in reception. Now just to add to all our excitement two families who had come to the park decide to have a big arguement - time to move I reckon!

It is now 8am. We are hoping to be back in time to do some emails etc so off we go!

On our way Donald notices that he doesn’t have brakes! The pipe has been leaking brake fluid, oh well we still have the hand brake so we keep going. We can get that fixed in Samfya! Ummmm now we are about 20 minutes away from home yay. Oh oh what now!!!! There seems to be a blockage in the fuel line and the car won’t go anymore. Donald tries to fix it but we have to end up calling Hoggie! We have such a big audience outside the car. Just lots and lots of kids! I decided to take some photos of them. Oh my goodness you should hear the noise when I show them the photos on the camera!!!

Hoggie has arrived with a mechanic yay! There isn’t a fuel blockage it is one of the pumps! Anyway to cut an even longer story short, they get us going and when we get back to Samfya they will fix it all properly! We have no idea how much it is all going to cost! Hopefully not too much but it does sound expensive to me!

Oh well we are now home thank goodness. We have unloaded the car and are ready for the rest of the day, and now Donald is taking the car in. At least while we are in Samfya we don’t actually need a vehicle but next weekend Donald is heading off to the Congo so it will need to be done by then. Oh well everything is in God’s control. At least we were able to make a whole lot of children happy today.

The rest of the week will be school work and ladies study. This weekend the Samfya Board is meeting for the whole of Saturday. Donald will be tied up with them. He will give you his report later.

Bye from Gwen

Leadership Training in Kalalushi

2010-07-12T20:11:00.001+12:00

We have just returned from our first leadership training weekend in Kalalushi. We were able to stay with one of the Samfya Board members Oliver Mulenga. There were four graduates and two GLO graduates working in this area and they are quite widely spread geographically. Unfortunately one of the men was in hospital having been diagnosed with diabetes. We visited him on Friday night and we were able to give him some good advice on how to manage his diet (thanks to Gwen), as well as leave a small gift to help in paying for his treatment. The open ward that he was in would have had 60 beds in at least and looked like a very sad place indeed.

We travelled to the church where the conference was on Saturday - long potholed roads. We started with a general teaching session from Titus 1:9-16 with the call for the leaders of the church to hold firm to God’s Word. For the rest of the day we worked through the principles about leadership from the booklet [produced by John MacArthur and Grace Community Church] on Elders. This booklet has been translated by the Bible School staff as they have found it so helpful in teaching their people. We copied this booklet off in Ndola on the Thursday (what a long job that was - everything in Zambia tests your patience!!).

The response to the teaching was fantastic! It was as if we were opening up new concepts - we truly take so much for granted in our church in NZ. On Sunday we had another general session from 1 Timothy 3:14-16 on what the nature and purpose of the church is and the central message of the gospel that we must hold on to. Again this was well received and we pray will resonate in the hearts of our brothers and sisters as they focus on what the church should be doing.

Our visit here was a timely one. Two graduates were trained in 1994/5 and this is the first ongoing training that they had received (prior to coming to Christ these men were Angolan Freedom Fighters!! - not to be messed with, but God changes hearts!). One of these men, Alex has started a new church plant in 2008 and had just baptised 10 new believers. He and his wife start walking to church on Sunday morning at about 5am so they can get there by 9am - we are going to send funds to purchase bicycles for some of these men. Well it was a timely visit, because this visit has become an impetus for these men to work more closely together. They intend now to meet at least twice each year for ongoing training and encouragement in the work that they are doing.

It would be fair to say that these men have struggled with their work, often due to the traditions of church leaders where the Word of God has not been upheld. Please pray for them to be even more effective in this work and make the changes that are necessary in their own leaderships so that the churches can grow both spiritually and numerically.

We left three boxes of bibles for these men. One will be used to help raise funds to send another student to the Bible School. The other two boxes were split among the graduates for distribution to their church people. They will sell these Bibles at less than half the price you can buy them from the city stores. This makes them affordable to their people and the money raised is used to support their church ministries.

This weekend was a true blessing! It was way out in the bush, difficult roads and difficult conditions, but this is where so many people live. Again we have affirmed to us the need to train men and women for this work. You should have heard the song of thanks that the women led as we finished the teaching - they were so grateful. Please keep praying for this work and for what we are doing. Our seven hour journey home with a vehicle full of Bibles for distribution just about ended in tragedy when we hit a very unexpected pot hole - God protected us, thank you for your prayers. Please read Gwen’s three blogs below that give you all the details of our time away.

Back to Samfya!

2010-07-12T20:06:00.001+12:00

Today is Sunday and we are on our way back to Samfya today but we have to go to church first. We need to leave the house at 7:45am to be there by 8:30am. Back on the bad roads and we are actually 15 minutes late. We were thinking that they would all be in the church building waiting but no one was there! Where are they all? The service didn’t end up starting until 9:30 and then they wanted Donald just to teach one session and then have a break so that they could have some breakfast, then he could teach another. Well he ended up just teaching one, then after the break giving out the Bibles and explaining what they are for.

When we were waiting for everyone to arrive Donald bought an older lady to me. She wanted to ask me some questions he said. Well she told me she had pains in her hip and in her leg. I told her that I wasn’t a doctor. I had been talking to some about diabetes as it is such a problem here, and told her that I knew a bit about that because I am a diabetic but I don’t know about other things. Francis was interpreting for me. Then he just started talking to her. Obviously I did not know what he was saying but later said that she really just wanted money for the orphans that she looks after and didn’t need medical assistance. He told her to go and see Oliver and Emily as this is the ministry they were in. I thought it was a bit deceitful but Donald said that it is the way things work here. I would rather they just asked straight out. You know me straight to the point.

It is now after 11:00am and we are just about ready to leave and Francis is called to the side of the chapel. We have been given a chicken – a live breathing one. We are supposed to take it to Samfya with us! Now being given a chicken is a great honour. It means that they have really appreciated what we have done and hold us in high respect. So now we have a chicken but we give it to Oliver. He will have it for dinner tonight.

Back to Oliver’s for lunch – goat again. We have had goat in NZ and have liked it. It was very yummy! Load the car up and we are off to Kitwe and pick up Agnes and back to Samfya. Going through customs this time was really easy. They remembered us going through before – I guess we are an attraction!

We have picked up Agnes and we are on the road to the pedicle again. There are police stops everywhere here. They usually just let us through, but this time they tell Donald that he has committed an offence. Apparently he has overtaken on the bridge! He is told to park the car and come back to them. Oh dear here we go again!! Donald and Francis (he got out to interpret) get out and by then Francis told Donald that he actually passed the truck after the bridge. Donald gets to the police officer and he says that he is going to charge him for the offense! Donald tells him that he didn’t do it and the guys says ok you can go! Francis says that sometimes the Police here just want to show you that they are the boss! Ok lets get going again!

The road is still bad. Sometimes potholes and how deep they are can’t been seen until you are almost on top of it because of the shadows on the road. Donald hit one and nearly lost control of the car. The people on the side of the road started running to get out of the way and a man who was riding a bike rode off into the long grass!! Hahahaha it looked like something out of a movie!

Thankfully we didn’t crash. We were going fast but thankfully we were kept safe – the angels were working overtime I think. We keep going everyone is laughing so much! When you are on bad roads like these you have to use the whole width of the road avoiding potholes where you can. Sometimes you are actually on the wrong side of the road! Oh did I tell you that in the DRC you drive on the other side of the road! Just another thing to remember when you are driving here! Anyway we are going along quite happily and Donald is avoiding the potholes and drives to the other side of the road, well.... this man on a bike saw it and thought he was out of control and rode his bike straight into the long grass. Donald and I just looked at each other and then cracked up laughing! The poor man. Now let me tell you the long grass is taller than Donald, so when they ride off you can’t see them anymore!

We are now in Mansa and looking for a place to have some dinner – there are no takeaways here. We ended up finding a bakery and having bread and pies – not too good for the diabetes but at least it fills out tummys. Off again and we arrive safely in Samfya.

When I saw Levy I shook my finger at him and when we told him about the loos and the shower he laughed and laughed.

Well that was our weekend – a bit more eventful than we have at home but a lot of fun! Tomorrow we are taking two days off and are going to Kasanka Wildlife park! It will be fun and nice to have some rest.

Talk to you later

Gwen

Ps sorry it is so long!!!

Kitwe and Kalaushi here we come!

2010-07-12T20:03:00.002+12:00

We go back into Ndola to get the little booklets. Francis stayed up late last night to get the translation finished. The printing ends up taking most of the morning! Katie and I leave the men to it and we have decided to go and look at the shops. We find a western type shops and it was fun to go and look and all the clothes shops. They certainly have different styles to what we have. Now it is lunch time so we grab a roll and some cheese and off we go to Kitwe.

The road here is amazing at the other end! We have two lanes each way and no potholes! The copper belt certainly has more money, because of the mines. You can certainly see it but it still isn’t like home. There are people everywhere and lots of little road side stalls selling everything you can imagine – cane baskets, food, oil, wood, coal, clothes, furniture – sofas and one place even had beds! I can’t imagine buying a bed or a sofa that is already dusty and dirty! They are also very uncomfortable with no springs or anything like that just boards covered with fabric!

Kitwe is quite a sleazy place. Katie and I didn’t like it much. We just passed through here initially but came back later. We are on our way to pick up the Bemba Bibles. Chingola is only about ¾ hours away from Kitwe. We got 22 boxes of 24 bibles. We met Covina and Gertrude. Covina is a board member for Samfya Bible School.

On our way there Donald got pulled over by the traffic police! Donald was overtaking a truck when the speed limit changed to 80kms. The police said that he was doing 93! Well after lots of talking he got off a ticket. It would have been $60.00 NZ. We are thankful that we didn’t have to pay for that.

Ok now we are on our way back to Kitwe. We stop at shoprite to get a few supplies to take home. What a yucky place. Oh well now we are on our way to Katalushi. Oh my goodness back to the bumpy roads again. This time they are worse than ever and everyone (even Donald has to go slow).

We arrive at Oliver and Emily’s home. The inside of the house is just bedrooms and a lounge. When we were shown our rooms I was thinking that I hadn’t seen a toilet. Yes we are on that subject again and I was right there is no toilet in the house! It is a pit loo outside! I thought oh no Donald where have you bought us but actually this one isn’t too bad. It is still a squat loo but it is all concrete and I haven’t seen any lizards and it doesn’t smell! Thank goodness for small mercies! Ummm we have power on but no water - what is the deal here. Everytime we go somewhere we either don’t have power or water or both!

Well in looking around our rooms we start to think that are beds don’t have sheets on them. Now we are heading back to Kitwe to try and find sheets. No such luck, however we did find blankets, so we bought a few of them. Since we are in Kitwe Oliver decided we should go and see one of the ex Samfya Bible School students. He was in Kitwe hospital. We went up there and oh it was not a nice place to be. I was sure we would catch something just by being there. Anyway it turns out that the man has diabetes! His leg is badly swollen. He was sent to hospital and that was when he found out that he was a diabetic! Katie happened to look out of the ward and saw a man being dragged down the hallway. She was rather scared. As we were going out we saw the man. They had just left him by the stairs and he didn’t look well at all and smelled even worse! Later we asked Francis what was wrong with the man. He told us that the man was drunk! All our emotions (Katie and I that is) was all on a drunk man! It really wasn’t a nice thing to see. Some more good teaching moments on being thankful we live where we do with GREAT medical service and the effects that alcohol can have on people and why the Bible says not to be a drunkard! Katie saw these things first hand!

Well here in Zambia they quite often don’t pronounce their letter ‘h’. For example herbs are erbs, humps are umps (as in road humps/ judder bars) etc. Well the gates at the hospital were open and obviously when the gates are closed the gate reads Kitwe Hospital! Well Katie reading the open gate wanted to know why hospital didn’t have an h on it. Well I got the giggles so bad everyone was wanting to know what was so funny. Initially I was laughing so much I couldn’t tell them! When I finally could talk I told them that they don’t pronounce their h’s like ump and ospital! Well they were all laughing by then!

We are now back at Oliver and Emily’s home and having a very nice dinner prepared by Emily. All of a sudden Oliver’s wife tells him that has just remembered that in our room in a suitcase are some sheets! Yay we now have a sheet to cover the mattress and blanket to cover us! Oh dear it is now dark and Katie needs the loo. Thank goodness for big brave daddy who can take her!

We all had a good nights sleep and now it is time for showers! Where are the showers? It is the little shed down the back of the yard! Oh dear! Oliver and Emily have been up very early to start boiling the water so there is no way out we have to have a bath! They have a plastic basin filled with hot water for our baths. It was actually really nice, although I did tell Donald that if I saw a lizard the people outside might see more of me than they bargained for! Thankfully they didn’t!

Ok off to the conference now. It is in a village in the back of beyond! Guess what, I did not drink anything all day as there was no way I was going to that toilet and it worked! I might try it again tomorrow for our trip back to Samfya! We are at the conference for lunch and they issue us in to the guest house for lunch. The lunch was yummy. It was goat! You will have to see the photo – it will explain everything! The kids are wonderful. Katie just seems to attract children of all ages. She had them all doing netball exercises today!

Well that is all for now and I am guessing that you are all saying it sure is!!!! Sorry about the marathon.

Gwen

Ndola here we come.

2010-07-12T19:54:00.003+12:00

This photo is taken from the bridge that divides Zambia and the DRC. Beautiful isn't it!

Well we left home at 6am to go through the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to spend the night at the GLO centre in Ndola. Ohhhh man the road called the Pedicle was incredible! It was a dirt road but oh boy it was pitted and there were lots of potholes!!!!! Potholes, potholes and more potholes!!! It was amazing. Sometimes Donald didn’t realise how big they were and went straight over the top of them. I am really glad none of us had back problems! The seatbelts in the back don’t work and once Katie’s head hit the roof of the car! The place was soooo dusty that even the trees were covered. They looked like they were dead but they weren’t just covered in red dirt! Katie thought it was great and said it reminded her of when Josh took her and some of her friends on the back of his truck down by the river – I assure you that would have been mild compared to this road! The Pedicle is in the DRC. We saw these huge mounds of dirt which we were told ware anthills!

Well let me back up a bit.... A week ago Donald and I got our National Registration Cards. Today was a test to see if they would work so that we could then post our Emergency Travel Documents to London so that we could get our real passports sent to us. Leaving Zambia was no problem at all. Going into the Congo .... well that was a bit more interesting! All our details were written into 4 different books. That means we had to see four different people. Each person wanted 5 pin (about $1US Dollar) and also wanted money for a coke!

As in anywhere in Africa, as you drive around there are people trying to sell their goods. There was this one little boy in particular, he had been out to catch is product. On a stick displayed for all to have a good look at, were at least 7 RATS! Yes that is what he was selling. For those of you who know me... well you know what my reaction was. Yes I screamed and we were still in the car driving! Agnes and Francis just laughed and laughed and said now that was funny and that I had made their day! I commented that rats spread diseases and Francis informed me that it was only the city rats and that village ones were ok and disease free ...ummmm Ohhh well we kept going. It took a long time and then we were at the borders again. This time I didn’t like the look of one of the customs officers. Up till now they had all been fine. He wasn’t even the one dealing with us and came over and looked at us and our documents. Katie is on the work visa, and because she is a child they did not give her a National’s Card. Agnes asked if it was ok for the three girls to go outside now – they usually just deal with the driver and the rest of us walk through. They answered yes. When we went to go the dodgy guy said that Katie couldn’t because she had no documents! Donald kept telling him that she was only 12 yrs old! He studied that work visa very hard! Then Agnes told him again in Bemba that she was only 12 years old and still a child and that we were going through and told us to come. We followed obediently! It was not a problem at the Zambian end of the border. They still wrote details down but no issues at all. Whew thank goodness for that. Well now I need to go to the loo and guess what it is a pit loo, soooo ok I say to myself well I have to go. I was all ready to go in taking lots of deep breaths when a huge lizard ran across the door. That’s it I am not going in there! There were all these men outside. Actually I am not sure what they were doing there but oh well, I certainly made their day. They laughed and laughed! Agnes asked the customs officer if they had a toilet I could use. She pointed to the one I wasn’t going too. Agnes told her I was too scared of the lizard! She gave a smirk and took me to a flush toilet. The floor was even tiled! Ok business done let get back on the road!

We are now back in Zambia on our way to Ndola. Oh my goodness this road is tar sealed but ohhhh the potholes again! Donald reckons it is worse than the pedicle to drive. We arrive at GLO and we are staying in the guest house. It is a nice place to stay. We had a waterbed to sleep on! I haven’t slept on one of these since the 1980’s! Donald and Francis have printing to do. An elders booklet written by John MacArthur. Francis has translated it into Bemba. We also have to get a passport for Francis so that he can go to South Africa for studies. We have also dropped Agnes off. We will meet her again on Sunday.

We had dinner in Ndola. It was quite hard to find a restaurant here, that is clean or not a bar! We found one place and it is owned by an Arab man. It was a good lesson for Katie as all the food was ‘halaal’ so initially didn’t want to eat there. We told her as Christians we can eat it as it would not defile us as Christians. Good teaching moment! Unfortunately for Francis there is no nshima here!

Tomorrow we go to Kitwe and Kalalushi.

More Medical Needs

2010-07-08T01:43:00.003+12:00

Here is the boy (Godfrey) who has badly deformed feet. We are sending him to Mambalima School and Hospital for assessment at the handicapped school. His father will take him - he is 9 years old and is being supported by his dad in the photo as he cannot stand like this with his legs apart. His family is part of one of the local churches here that we teach at.

Medical Needs

2010-07-07T20:46:00.002+12:00

In Zambia it is so hard with the multitude of needs that there are. Medical needs are huge and conditions are often left until it is too late. On Sunday we meet Gullivers at Samfya West church - he was sitting behind us. His eyes are all puffed up and the pupils of his eyes are not clear and sharp. He has had some treatment that did not work, but he needs proper medication - as we know sight is so important! We are having him sent to Mansa Hospital which has an eye clinic and we trust a proper diagnosis of his problems. It seems that with the allergy he has there is also infection and potential damage to his eyes. We trust that intervention is not too late.

The second boy (picture to come) has badly deformed feet and will not get a fair education in the normal school system. There is a mission school and hospital at Mambalima that helps physically handicapped children and provides education. We will refer him to this mission and see what can happen to help him and his family. Unfortunately his feet could have been treated with early intervention as a small child, but now it is much more difficult.

How do you respond to such needs? We don’t have the resources to cover all the needs, however we can make a difference for some. If you want to help with such needs, please let us know by email.

Tomorrow (Thursday) we are travelling to the Copperbelt for leadership training meetings with graduates from the Kalalushi area. We will travel through the Pedacle Road which is in D.R. Congo - it is much faster. While in the Copperbelt we also plan to send our Emergency Travel Documents to London so that the High Commission there will release our new passports. Unfortunately they would not allow us to keep the ETD’s and then get new Passports at the same time. Please pray that these come through quickly and that we don’t have any immigration issues with officials here or in Congo!!

Student Gardens

2010-07-06T19:02:00.002+12:00

These gardens are part of the Agricultural teaching that the students receive to help them when they return to village life to be a little more self supporting in ministry. The food here goes to their daily meals and also much is sold to the community sponsoring the Bible School work, as well as some going to student fees for the work they do in the gardens.

Marriage Proposal, 120 chicks, 9 bags @ 40kgs each, and 7 humans!

2010-07-03T21:00:00.001+12:00

Well what a trip we had today. Firstly we were supposed to leave to go to Mansa at 7:30am. We didn’t leave till after 8am as the vehicle we were supposed to take wasn’t where it was meant to be. Then we had to find Peter and Aaron from the Bible School. It takes about 1 hour to Mansa. Fanny (pronounced Funny) also came with us. She is Levy’s niece and is 19 yrs old. So there were 6 of us in the car.

On our way now, the road is fairly nice but a lot of pot holes and they are fixing them. We dropped the guys off and went and did our little bits and pieces before heading for the supermarket called Shoprite. I had my first experience of the pit loo at the Mansa Mission Station!!!

We were to be home by 2:30pm as my Ladies Study starts then.

We got what we needed at Shoprite and when we got to the checkout the block of cheese didn’t have a price on it and the lady was really rude – like it was our fault. Donald said to her don’t you have someone who could check it. She said no so we said we wouldn’t have it. She then sent someone to go and get a price. She was amazingly rude! Donald said they get like that in Mansa as they see the white people (hehe me included in that) come and spend lots of money and the locals can’t. It’s not our fault we are so far from the supermarket and can only get there every now and again. Oh well time to move on....

Outside we met Hoggie Jnr (Hoggie, the caretaker’s son). He is doing a course in Mansa. We didn’t know that he wanted a ride back to Samfya. That was fine – now there are seven of us for the car, which is ok as you can actually seat 10 but keep reading!

After loading up the car with our goods to last hopefully till we leave, Donald decides that we would get some sausages, chicken and chips from the place right next door. Fanny and I decide we will wait outside. Well there was a power cut so everyone gets locked into the stores or out as the case may be! Katie came to ask what we wanted and then came and stayed out with us. There was a man there who took a liking to her. He wanted to know what her name was. We didn’t tell him of course but then he said he would like to marry her! I told him no as she was only 12 years old so he said he would wait for her. Well I got the giggles, Katie was getting freaked out, and Fanny was telling me that because I kept giggling he thought it was ok and was bragging to his friends there how he was chatting with us! As soon as the power came on Katie took off to the safety of her father! It was verrrry funny though!

Ok now we have our food and we go to pick up Aaron but the goods he needed hadn’t arrived yet, so we left him there and went to pick Peter up at the Mission. He hadn’t finished all his photocopying. By this time I told Donald to phone Levy to cancel the Ladies Study – there was no way we were going to be back on time. Ok, Peter is now in and we head off to pick up Aaron – this time his delivery was ready – nine big sacks full of chicken feed. That is fine we now put that on the top of the car! The next thing were the baby chicks. I mean real live baby chickens! A whole 120 of them. Then Francis phoned and wanted us to pick up 25kgs of flour! Those in the back seat had to nurse a box of chicks on their laps the rest of us had groceries around us and I also had the sack of flour beside me. Well by the time we got home I am covered in white flour, which Donald promptly told everyone that I was trying to become a white woman! This made everyone laugh!

The other amusing thing was that Fanny wanted to know what we put in the chicks to make them into chickens! We couldn’t understand what we meant. She did not realize that these baby chicks grew up to be adult chickens that she then killed and dressed (defeathered!) although she doesn’t eat them as she doesn’t like the taste! She also didn’t realise that the chicks came from eggs!

All in all it was a very fun day full of unexpected surprises and a marriage proposal!

2010-07-03T20:46:00.004+12:00

We Have Moved House
Well today I am writing to you from Mark and Carmen’s home. We have moved in and are trying to get into a daily routine which is kinda hard here, when things aren’t the same every day.

Our first night was great. There was quiet, with no rats or bats in the ceiling, however in our diligence of switching off all the lights we also turned off the hot water. The switch just looked like a light switch right beside the outside door. We had cold showers in the morning.... ohhh well these things you learn as you go!
We also have to look after two big dogs and they are inside dogs. For the next two weeks we don’t have a maid so the dogs are now outside and they really don’t like it! They do however sleep inside at night – apparently for security! Whenever Donald is away we will also have a night watchman. He has a little shed outside to stay in! Copper (one of the dogs) keeps going in our room, smelling our suitcases and then whimpering!

Tomorrow (Friday) we will be going to Mansa to get supplies. I hope they have lots as my shopping list is as long as my arm! I went to do some baking yesterday and there wasn’t much in the pantry so we went into Samfya but couldn’t buy most of what we needed – oh we just have to make do with what we had. I assure you we didn’t go hungry.

Oh the power has just gone off again for the second time this morning! Glad I made the cheeseless quiche early for lunch! That is one thing I have learned is that when the power is on you make the most of it as you don’t know when it will go off and for how long. You also cook with what you have and do without the other!

One of the photos I have included this time is of Katie covering her eyes. This is because she wanted to see how they prepared the chicken for dinner and of course the chicken was still alive! She came just when it’s throat was being cut! Couldn’t get fresher than that! Speaking of chickens Donald will be getting us some dressed today (killed and plucked). The Bible School students will be doing that for us thank goodness. Oh the power is back on again!

Today Donald phoned us and told us to go up the road. Some of the local boys had made themselves a soccer goal by using sticks and an old mosquito net. We just got home and he told us to go back as there was a parade happening. It was something to do with all the different schools around here. Their posters talked about their Health Studies and some of the older boys were beatings drums. It very interesting but no one could tell us what it was about. They came to the Education Buildings and there were all sorts of officials and they played the National Anthem but no one sang it. They also had the Zambian flag flying. There also seemed to be a large number of smaller children not at school today so we are assuming it is some sort of holiday.

On Sunday Fanny (pronounce Funny!) took Katie, Elizabeth and her brother to the yach club – that is how she said it! It turned out to be the yacht club! It was really funny! Anyway Katie and Elizabeth came home totally soaked as they had decided to go for a swim but hadn’t taken their togs or towels!

The weather here is very hot during the day but cools off enough at night that we are wearing sweatshirts. It is also very dry and very windy.
Katie continues to make friends and they come to visit. A couple of girls turned up here at 2.30 yesterday and at approx 6pm went home. The three of them played outside mostly but man were they dirty when they came inside.

The ladies study is going ok I think. Yesterday we had questions as we were at the end of chapter one. The questions came from the book –God’s high calling for women. It is still hard to tell what is going through their minds. I think my interpreter Patricia just answers a lot of the questions as it seems to take a long time to interpret what few English words have been said!
That’s about it for another update
Katie needs the computer for her school work.

Bye for now

Gwen

Ps Donald, Katie and her friends went to the lake this afternoon. I suggested that they take the dogs which they did. Well I was at home cross stitching when I heard a whole lot of screaming and dogs barking. I went outside on the hill to see what all the noise was about and Spice the female dog had taken off and was attacking one of the village dogs!!! Donald went in to break it up. All the girls were screaming and the men who were at a building site were all cheering! Donald said if he hadn’t have pulled Spice off the other dog she would have killed it!

Looking towards Glory

2010-06-28T19:09:00.000+12:00

Well another Sunday has gone by and another 3 ½ hour service! The church was about 10miniutes drive from Samfya - village areas all the way, with children everywhere calling out “musungu’s” (white men) or “how are you” - the only English they seem to know! Well the service was great - a blessing to see these people with so little serving the Lord. The choir sang amazingly well with passion and strength. The focus of so many of their choir songs is the future, of being with Christ. Frankly there is nothing in their lives that is comfortable - the great comfort is their love for God and the certainty of glory in the presence of Jesus.

What a contrast to the churches we represent. There is so much comfort, so much materialism in life, so much in life that we get consumed by. These brothers and sisters have little and so there focus is much more intently on God and the future. Oh that all of our congregations had that focus - God and our future with Him! Rural Zambia certainly simplifies life - The big cities area contrast, but here the simple devotion to the gospel is refreshing.

On Friday we got great news that Levy has been accepted for the Biblical Counselling Course. But not just that, his travel and fees for the eight trips he will make to Pretoria over the next two years have been fully sponsored. What a blessing, and to Sit under Dr. Mack and Dr. Joel James will be a huge blessing for him and will build into the ministry of the Bible School.

Francis Chola has also been accepted for the Leadership Conference with Jerry Wragg, and we will be getting Peter Chomba’s application in for the Expository Preaching conference this week. Peter has been away for the past week preaching at a conference. Please pray for these mean and the vital training role that they play in preparing the Bible School students for village ministry.

Training for Bible School Staff

2010-06-24T23:14:00.000+12:00

Greetings all - thanks for the feedback we are getting form so many. One of the goals in visiting in South Africa was establishing further links in ministry partnership with ministries there. Biblical Counselling Courses are run by Dr Joel James and Dr Wayne Mack and we are in process to seeing Principal Levy Kasoma apply and begin this two year programme that would see him travel to SA on eight occasions over the next two years for block courses. I will update you on this at a later time.

There are two other training opportunities that would excellent for the other two teaching staff, run at Joel’s church. The first is a Leadership Course on 16-20 August, to be lead by Jerry Wragg. This will be a valuable training time for Francis Chola, and we all know what a blessing Jerry has been to us in New Zealand through the years. The training received will benefit Francis and then the students at Samfya greatly. The cost to get Francis there and course costs (including a new passport) are around NZ$960.

The other course is on Expository Preaching, led by Joel James. Peter Chomba teaching the preaching class here and he will be blessed to have further instruction himself from material that Joel has prepared for an African context after doing his own D.Min programme in Los Angeles. This course happens in September and January, two one week periods. The cost for the first week (including a new passport) is around NZ$920 and the second week around NZ$830.

I cannot emphasize too much how staff training like this will be a huge blessing to the Bible School and then outward to the many rural village areas the Bible School works in. If you would like to help with these costs please pass on gifts to Riverbend Bible Church (Phone 06 8730054, or account no. 01-0646-0045240-000) marked for “Samfya Bible School Staff Training”.

Thanks for your interest in following the blog. I am adjusting to the slowness of life here - it can be frustrating at times just getting things done. Please pray for this weekend - I am preaching the gospel at a youth rally at Samfya beach, and then preaching at Chalwe CMML church on Sunday.

2010-06-24T22:53:00.004+12:00

Hi there,

Well, I think we have settled in quite well although I do still scream when I see a lizard or something like that, which I might add, to great delight of the men who hear. Today, Wednesday, there was a lizard caught up in Katie’s legs. She didn’t care but I just stood there and screamed and Donald was trying to get it away from her.

Katie loves Zambian life and the people here seem to really love her. She loves the children of which there are many. Yesterday we went into town to get some meat for dinner. You will see in the photo, Levy, Donald and Katie standing outside a building – well that is where we were buying the meat from. I was just thankful to see that all the meat was frozen!

The lake here is just beautiful. And the name Bangweulu – where the water meets the sky is so true. Last night Donald was even saying that you couldn’t see where the water ended and the sky began.

The power goes off every night for 2 hours from 6pm -8pm approx. So if you haven’t got a gas bottle you have to be very organised with dinner or cook over the fire! Thankfully Agnes has a gas bottle so we can cook with that, however it is very expensive.

It has been good to stay here with Levy and Agnes, so that we can get used to cooking and things like the power going off – I guess just to know the daily routine of the way things happen here.

Today we went to Agnes’ preschool. They were very organised with their teaching. We were there for the Bible Study and then the teacher asked us to tell them about NZ. It was very hard for them to

This afternoon I have my first study with the ladies so that should be interesting. You know how I hate to be up the front. Sounds like there will be at least 16 women attending! Well we had our meeting and yes there were lots. The interpreter didn’t turn up so Agnes had to it. I will txt her before the meeting next time. They have decided that we would have study 3 times a week! One lady wanted it everyday!!! I don’t know if I have enough material to do everyday for 3 months. Hopefully they will have lots of discussion time. Lucy also came to the study which was great.

Yesterday we met Lucy Chama. She is doing well now. She came and looked at all the photos that we had of people at home and I was very surprised that she recognised so many and remembered their names. Donald showed me her new house and it looks nice. I think they are just waiting for water to be connected and then she can move in. Elizabeth has been nice to Katie as well which is great. Lucy will come and see us more when we move to the other house. I think she finds this home a bit uncomfortable as it used to be hers.

We move to the other house on either Monday or Tuesday next week. It will be nice to have our own space. Levy and Agnes are really great and let us cook and do whatever we want to here. Levy thinks Katie is funny – the way she loves the power going off so that we can have candlelit dinners every night! Katie’s job is to boil the water for drinking and fill up the water bottles. It is an important job here. Agnes is very impressed that Katie knows how to do so many things around the home and is willing to do them! She is going to take Katie one day to her classroom. That should be very interesting for her to be in a Zambian Basic School. They are about 13 yrs and up in her class.

Today Katie and I decided we would do our washing Zambian style. There are not too many days before we have a washing machine in our home. It was a good lesson for Katie on how the Zambian women have to work at home. Some women have 10 children and a husband and have to wash their clothes like this! Good exercise I reckon – I might come home with strong arm muscles hahahaha

Till our next posting

Gwen

2010-06-22T23:37:00.001+12:00

Hi From Samfya Bible School

2010-06-22T00:42:00.002+12:00

Hi everyone,
Rats, cockroaches, ants, bats, no power, no hot water, no showers, not even a toilet – welcome to Samfya! hahaha Well this has been our experience so far – well I personally haven’t seen the rats thank goodness, as I am sure all of Zambia would have heard me! Levy keeps laughing and saying that they wanted me to experience the true Zambia straight away! There was something wrong with the Zesco power’s transformer which has now been fixed so we are fine for now (2 days no power!!). The toilet was blocked and needed some major work done on the pipes etc Donald will have to give you the details as I don’t know about these things! The men worked so hard that day. The holes had to all, be dug by hand – no diggers here! The water was out because the pump doesn’t work when the electricity is out. I didn’t know a shower could be soooooo good!

We arrived in Samfya when it was dark so we didn’t really see the area as we drove in. The drive from Lusaka was long but looking at the country side was very interesting. Seeing how people survive in little huts and selling their goods on the side of the road, just waiting for someone to stop to buy their produce. It is the dry season so they are starting to light fires everywhere to burn off the long grass. At some points, along both sides of the road, the grass was taller than Donald and was very dry and brown. It looked very pretty though. Katie said it was like what you see on TV when a lion was stalking it’s prey, but we didn’t see any(-:

We did stop at a couple of stalls and bought watermelon, potatoes and tomatoes. Bananas here taste so much better than we get at home. Avocados are so much bigger than home as well. People here are so friendly. We have been welcomed with open arms. They are so glad to finally meet Katie and I. The other day one guy –when Donald was introducing us- said that he remembered me! I think he had just seen my photo!

It is so dry and consequently it is really dusty. The kids play outside and come in looking so grubby but it is just the dust. We went into Samfya town the other day to the market. A whole lot of tiny little mud huts joined together and people wanting you to go into their store.

We are staying at Levy and Agnes’ home and they are looking after us very well. Agnes is going to teach me how to cook nshima. Katie loves it and I don’t find it too bad either just have to watch those carbs for my blood sugar! We have been eating well but all have lost some weight which is really great.

Our health has been really good as well with no problems apart from the reaction to the anti malarial drug! The citronella soap and the insect repellent seem to be doing a good job as well as none of us have been bitten. My bloods were a bit high the day we got here but that was because of too many carbs and no exercise. It is back to normal now.

Today (Sunday) we went to Mwamfuli CMML Church – Christian Brethren. It was all in Bemba except for Donald’s teaching and choir ‘A’ sang one song in English. Then we went to Mark and Carmen’s home for lunch. We will be staying there when they go home on furlough. Lunch was lovely and we even got to watch NZ tie with Italy! What a game. Even I was watching!

Tomorrow we start Katie’s school work. She has been really great here and has really enjoyed the power being out, boiling water, lighting candles etc. She has met Elizabeth (Rogers and Lucy Chama’s youngest daughter). Katie was hoping to meet her and on Saturday morning Elizabeth came and they spent the morning playing along with two other friends. People here love her and really enjoy listening to her trying to greet them in Bemba. I think it might be a bit hard to concentrate on school work with so many new things to see and do. The first day that I asked Katie to boil the water, she wanted to know how she would know that the water was boiling! Poor girl was too used to the electric jug turning itself off when it was ready!

On Wednesday Katie and I are going to go to Agnes’ preschool. It will be fun to see these little ones. Katie and I are really looking forward to it.Well because the power has been off we haven’t been able to send or receive emails. We are hoping to do this first thing Monday morning. Hopefully it will work. All this to say, that it isn’t that we haven’t had time but because of the power situation here, if you don’t get word from us.
That is all from Gwen for now.

Our time in Lusaka

2010-06-17T04:53:00.003+12:00

Hey what happened to all your prayers – we had a bumpy flight into Lusaka hahaha no it wasn’t too bad.

Here we are in Lusaka! I have found it to be a bit more intimidating than Joburg. Here they have broken bottles on the top of fences as well as the electric fences! People walk by and just bump into you or push you out of the way! Of course they can also tell that we are not from here so try to charge a lot more money than what a local would have to pay – unless you are in a mall or somewhere like that. It is not all bad as we have met some really nice people as well.

Well all I can say is that you must have all been praying for us to get the work permits. We now have them and when we went there this morning it didn't look hopeful but we had a call just after lunch and were able to get the new documents in just under 30 minutes!! We are at the moment filling out our forms for new passports that will then have to be sent to the NZ Embassy in London for issuing. We have decided to apply for new ones (the ones we have now are Temporary Travel Documents) as to get visas for the US will cost way too much. We don’t have to have visas if we have proper passports.

Levy is now with us and Agnes and Hoggie are on their way from Samfya to pick us up. We will be leaving for Samfya in the morning. Levy said that is nice to finally meet Katie and I – it is nice for us to be able to finally meet him too.

Lusaka is dirty with lots of rubbish around even though Donald says that it is much better than before. There are a lot of women begging. A lot are blind and just sit there with their hands out. Either their families just don’t care for them or they don’t have any. The weather here is actually quite nice –warmish during the day and coolish at night. There are people outside shops trying to get you to buy their things and not to go into the shop itself.

For those who have been here – Manda Hill is yuck at the moment as it is has lots of construction happening and so it is very dusty and gross. It will be finished in November and will be very flash! However Arcades Mall is wonderful.

The motel we are staying at is called Marble Inn. It is comfortable enough but the best thing is that it is clean, has a shower and flush toilet!

Our first night here Katie and I had a burger for dinner at Manda Mall. The beef tastes quite different to ours – quite gamey. Last night we had a really yummy meal at Arcades Mall. Apparently Donald and Roger watched Hook at the movies here in the past.

Katie is finding the driving here quite amusing. People here just duck and dive everywhere. I have squealed a few times which was to the delight of the driver! Seat belts in the back of the taxis generally don’t work either! Crossing the street is another adventure everytime!

The other day we were walking past a construction site, that were blasting the ground. We didn’t know that when they whistled it meant that the blast was going to happen. Well when the blast happened I screamed and Katie dropped her ice cream much to the delight of the men. Donald said that we made their day!

For those of you who have been praying for our health- Donald has been fine. Katie and I have now recovered from the reaction to the anti-malaria drug. My diabetes is well under control and sugar levels have even come down a couple of points!! Thanks for all your prayers.

That is it for now. Our updates for the next three months will be from Samfya!
Gwen

Hot in Lusaka

2010-06-16T02:07:00.002+12:00

Our time in South Africa was a real blessing, meeting with so many Christian friends and investigating ministry links. It has also been madness here with the world cup - a sea of colour and noise; flags, vuvulezzas, street sellers. Certainly a special time to be in SA!

We have arrived safely in Lusaka and are awaiting our work permit visas. The visit to immigration today located our applications (after some long time!!) - the booklet has not been produced but we have pleaded that this be done quickly so we can drive to Samfya on Thursday. The officer was very helpful and we trust to pick this up on Wednesday afternoon - please pray this comes through quickly so our plans can continue without delay.

There is an issue with our temporary travel documents as on our return via the USA, we will need visas as the US won’t accept the temporary documents without a visa. These are very expensive so we are going to try and get our new New Zealand Passports issued and then couriered up to Samfya. Please pray that this can happen in quick time.

Lusaka is hot in the day and cooler at night - lots of traffic, dirt, smells! We have managed to purchase a printer for use at Samfya - a small laser printer. It pays to shop around as the difference in price was US$100 for a $200 machine! Levy arrives from USA today and so we hope to ctach up with him this evening. Thanks for all your prayers.

Our last night in Joburg

2010-06-14T07:02:00.004+12:00

Well what an eventful couple of days we have had. We left Joberg to go to Polokwane on Wednesday. On the way Lebo (the local girl we had taken with us) got us lost in Pretoria and we ended up in a not so nice place. We were all in hysterics and Lebo was mimicking the way we were asking for directions!

Well we got to Polokwane in the end. It is about 3 hours from Joburg. Donald has already told you some things but there are a few he has left out.

Lebo told us that she wanted us to go to her home and try some traditional African food. We told her that would be very nice thank you. If only we had known. She thought it was so funny to dish us up some Mopani Worms!!! yes you are reading right - WORMS! You will all be so proud of us as we did eat them! Not all of them but some anyway!

On the way back to Joburg we were stuck in traffic on an on ramp and we saw a girl in another car with a NZ flag painted on her cheek. We were waving out at her and she realised we were from NZ too and was waving back but was not watching where she was going and nearly hit the car in front of us! It was so funny!

Katie and I have reacted to the anti malaria drug and so we can't take them anymore!I really did feel quite ill, but thankfully Katie didn't get it quite so bad! We will now instead have to bathe with citronella soap and make sure we are very diligent with the insect repellent.

The soccer atmosphere here is just amazing and it really would have been fun to go and watch at least one, but we have been able to watch a few on tv. All the shops are selling all sorts of world cup soccer souvenirs. It is really amazing to see how many people are selling things at the traffic lights (or robots as they are called here). It is a wonder they don't get hit by cars. I don't know if you have heard the sort of horn noises while you have been watching the world cup. These horns are called Vuvuzella. They are very loud and people blow them anywhere - even in their cars and also in the malls!

In Joburg there are electric fences, razor wire and fences with spikes on them all over the place and especially around their homes. Most of the homes we have stayed in also have dogs. There are lots of security guards everywhere even at malls and in carparks. I thought that coming to Johannesburg I would be really scared because of what we see on the news, however I have felt really safe here even when we got lost!

We are not sure when we will be able to get internet connections from tomorrow so am unsure when we will be able to update the blog. Catch you later - Gwen

In Polokwane

2010-06-10T21:47:00.003+12:00

Hi all - we had an eventful drive to Polokwane yesterday - got a little lost on the way and ended up in a dodgey area!! Last night we meet with the Samaria Mission team of Christ Baptist Church. What a blessing to see the work they are doing in rural Mozambique. There are many similarities to our work in Samfya so it has been good to learn from them. They are using New Tribes Missions material very successfully and this may have a real application in rural Zambia.

Today Donald has been meeting with Pastor Nicki Cortze and learning of the Seminary ministry. This would be a wonderful place to see teaching staff trained for Samfya, and indeed they already have a student from the Copperbelt in Zambia who speaks Bemba! Partnership with exisiting works here in Africa is essential as we plan towards the future.

Tonight we meet with Pastor Nicki's home group and will share from Colossian 3:1-4 and also talk of the work in Samfya. Tomorrow we head to Pretoria to pick up our new travel documents and stay with Pastor Joel James and also visit with Dr Wayne Mack and his wife Carol. Thanks for your prayers.