Our last moments in Samfya.

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

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

The New Master Plan!!

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

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

Another Copper Story!

new hair styles!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Congo Church Plants

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

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

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

OUR LAST DAYS – WOW

Gwen & Patricia


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

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

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

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

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

EMI Team at Samfya!!

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

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

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

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

Emails Received

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

Greetings in the name of our Lord.

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

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


Hi Donald,

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

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