Sunday Services and Fellowship

Sundays are usually spent at church and just simply hanging out around camp. doing odds and ends.  We enjoyed and eventful morning at church meeting up with old friends (for those who know them, Pastor Petros, Rasta, Obi, Frances, Fanwell and more).  Jako gave a lesson on the fall of Adam and Eve for Sunday school.  And guess who was chosen to give the first sermon of the trip this year…?

FRED!  Originally, he was supposed to be teaching Sunday school to the children.  But he stepped up with his INCREDIBLE servant heart and took the task head on, teaching the Tonga people a lesson from Genesis on Joseph.  For those who don’t know, this is Fred’s first trip to Zambia, as well as it only being our second day in the bush.  He did an amazing job, especially since he had never spoken with an interpreter before (which is not easy to do) and we are so thankful to have him on our team!  Thanks Freddy (this is what Pastor Petros calls him)!

Another joyous experience is that Fred is traveling with his son Noah on this mission.  Before he began speaking, he introduced himself and his son.  Then Noah prayed for his dad prior to beginning his sermon. It was absolutely wonderful to watch these 2 godly men join together on the mission field and not only lift each other up as team mates, but also as father and son.  By the way, Jill – they say hello and that they love and miss you!

There were so many kids at church this morning! Because Fred was unavailable, children’s Sunday school was then given to Bre and she did a wonderful job with the help of some of the other team mates.  They also learned about Joseph and his brothers, as well as getting to color some coloring pages we brought over that were then cut up into puzzle pieces.  They enjoyed it so much, their church ran longer than the adult church!  Karen and Bre had a photo op with some of the kids standing outside of the church.

When we returned from church, we had some down time with lunch, followed by odd jobs around camp.  Laundry is getting washed, the 1964 Land Rover is getting improvements yet again (it’s amazing they still have it running!) and the eye team took some time to refresh on their training. 

Tomorrow we will begin our first ministry at the chief's house which is a 2 1/2 hour drive away.  The chief is like the “governor” of the Kazangula district (or in the USA it would be the state) and we were invited to bring our ministry there.  Earlier this year, Alyssa (standing next to Fred in the picture above) went to the chief’s house and prescribed he and his wives glasses.  So he asked us to return with the team to distribute them to his community! So we will update you and fill you in more on that tomorrow when we are finished!

The other half of the team will be heading out to the property that needs to be cleared for planting crops to start our first work project.  Jako hopes that we will be able to complete what he needs done there, as well as put the roof on Alyssa’s house before we leave.  So we will keep in touch with you regarding that as well!

As for Amber’s foot, she is out of her cast and doing well.  You can see her belly starting to grow with baby #2 and soon they will find out the gender of the next child!  She already 20 weeks along and doing wonderfully.  We thought you might like to see a picture of them and their handsome little boy, Jakob.  He is a bundle of energy but loves being outside, playing and having fun in the bush!

 

A few quick notes.  Ed – Candi and Ryan say please call the girls and your parents to tell them they love them and miss them.  Oh… and love you too:) And Amy & family – Dean says he loves you and misses you all very much.  It is truly a privilege to serve here and I can’t wait to see you all soon!  More personal posts to come so keep coming back to check – and please keep commenting!  We love them all!

Last, please keep the most recent orphan that joined the orphanage, Ortevia, in your prayers.  Last night they sent her to the clinic with a temperature of 107.  She is HIV positive and she has recently changed medication (she wasn’t receiving the proper ones before she arrived at the orphanage).  They believe her body is just adjusting and there isn’t much they can do to bring the fever down because of all the medication she is already on.  This morning at church she was there!  She is not 100% and still very warm, but praise God that the fever did come down some.  Please pray for her to get well as her body adjusts to this new medication. 

Talk to each of you soon!  Zambia Team 2011