25 May 2005

News from Zambia - 25th May 2005

Greetings from Zambia!

Last Sunday I preached at the rural church in Buntungwa. The last time I was there was the last Sunday in March. At that time I carried notes in Swahili, but the interpreter only spoke English. This time I took notes in English, but the interpreter only spoke Swahili. I had a great time and three precious souls came to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ after the service. This is why we do what we do!

Two weeks ago I went to the Luanshya golf course and chased golf balls for an hour. (Claiming that I actually "golf" would be an exaggeration.) One of the caddies at the course said he would like to come to church, but Sunday was the busiest day and he had to be at the course if he was going to keep his job. I asked him if he thought other caddies would like to have a Sunday morning Bible study and he said yes so… I went to the golf course on Sunday morning at 7:45 – without my clubs. For two weeks I have had several young men at the “Caddy Shack Chapel”. Please pray for these young men. They are asking a lot of questions about “why do I exist?”

Sherry has started a new series with the College & Career Class. The subject under discussion is Spiritual Living in a Secular World following the life of Daniel. Last week the young people learned about how, from the very first, Daniel maintained his testimony with regard to dietary restrictions as required by the Lord with respect to Jews. It is amazing how out of the many young Jewish men brought into the King’s University of Babylon only four maintained their integrity. As a result, they experienced God’s blessing and began to build their reputation before King and nation. At the end of their "training" period, each oft he young was found ten times wiser than their colleagues and promoted to high positions of service as advisers to the King. This week the class will be looking at chapter 2 and will learn the importance of consulting God in the challenges of life.

The long awaited courses for the Source of Light Correspondence Bible School have arrived, but we are already running short of the initial courses limiting new enrollees. A new order has been made. Please pray that this order arrives quickly.

We did have a very interesting visitor in the Christian Resource Centre last week. While I was talking with a couple from the Congo an Indian man with a turban walked into the library. He stood patiently at the door until I asked him what I could do for him. He handed me his laminated card which identified him as a "palmist" and asked me if he could read my palm. I declined his offer. It was the first time I had ever met a door-to-door palm reader. The occultists are here in Zambia along with many other false prophets and teachers. We have been asked if we are ministering to "unreached peoples" in Zambia. The fact is, we are ministering to people who have been "reached", but they have been "reached" by people with the wrong message.

We appreciate your prayers on our behalf as we continue…

In His Service,

Patrick & Sherry

11 May 2005

News from Zambia - 11th May 2005

Greetings from Luanshya!

During the month of April the Source of Light program was incredibly
fruitful. We distributed 429 lessons, corrected 404, issued 35
certificates of completion and enrolled 23 new students. The biggest
problem we had is that we ran out of the first lesson in a number of the
series and cannot enrol new students. Please pray for the quick arrival
of these lessons so those who are seeking to enrol will have that
opportunity. Also during the month of April there were 182 people
utilizing the Christian Resource Centre. This does not include the very
small children who come in to read the children's books either before or
after school. We are excited about this aspect of the ministry as we
reach into homes where we may not otherwise be welcome.

This coming Friday Sherry will end her series on "To Walk and Not Grow
Weary" with the College and Career group. The final study is on
"Barnabas-Encouraging Others". Once this series concludes the group will
begin looking at the book of Daniel focusing on "Spiritual Living in a
Secular World."

Monday afternoon I had a very interesting conversation with a young man
who came into the office late in the day. He had a question about which
he had not received what he perceived as an acceptable answer. He has
met a girl...The pastor of his church has told him he needs to give the
relationship more time and not rush into making a commitment. The young
mans parents and the girl's parents agree with the pastor. The young man
was coming to me looking for an alternate answer that he could take back
to his parents and church leaders. He was very disheartened when I gave
him the same admonition. He is 22 and the girl is 19. Neither has
finished college and both want to go into a highly skilled profession.
Young people here are like young people everywhere. Patience is not a
priority, which is one of the reasons that we spend so much of our time
with the youth. They are, in fact, the hope of this nation and
ambassadors of the Lord Jesus. Please pray for A. He has a real desire
to serve the Lord but he needs to coordinate his plans with the will of
God and prepare for his sojourn here on earth.

This coming Sunday the children in the Sunday School will be studying
Ananias and Saphira. Pretence vs. "For Real" is the emphasis of the
lesson. When one chooses to serve God, motives must be pure. The
children will see how these two characters were not quite "honest" in
their stewardship. It will be interesting to hear the responses of the
children when asked, "Why did God take the lives of these people? Didn't
they give Him money?" The real question, of course, is integrity. Were
they honest about their gift or were they just showing off?

We appreciate your prayers as we continue to serve.

In His Service,
Patrick & Sherry