Greetings from Luanshya!
Last week we spoke about the man out at Kafubu Block and the celebration of his life after his home call. Last Thursday there was another death in the community. What a contrast in lives between the Christian and the non-Christian. The woman who died last week had treated her parents, her husband and her children with disdain. She took money that the husband brought home for food and spent it on alcohol. She had a succession of "boyfriends" and had contracted AIDS through her various dalliances. When she fell ill, her parents wanted nothing to do with her. Her sisters chased her from their homes. Her children ignored her. Her husband, in spite of the fact that she had been unfaithful for a number of years, still loved her enough to take her to the hospital. Unfortunately, there was nothing the doctors to do and she died alone. The funeral was held last Saturday and there was absolutely no hope in the eyes of the mourners. This is a woman who had been given every opportunity to know the Lord Jesus Christ as her Saviour, but she blatantly refused His call. Please pray for the family as they go through this period of grief.
Exam time in local schools is over. The students are relaxing a bit and coming into the Christian Resource Centre. Last month we enrolled only enrolled 3 new students into the correspondence program. 115 courses were distributed, 101 were corrected and 4 certificates of completion were awarded. Pray for those taking lessons and those who will put them on the shelves for a bit as they relax during the school holidays.
This coming Friday we begin SCUBA, the children's afternoon Bible Club. The puppet stage has been moved into the main chapel hall, music has been rehearsed, our helpers have been alerted and we are as ready as we are going to be. We never know how many children will be involved in these programs. In the past we have had anywhere from 70 to 150 children. Please pray for this program and pray for both the children and the helpers (Crew).
We mentioned one of the girls from the Lighthouse Home was having some rather serious behavioural issues. This is an ongoing situation which does not seem to be getting any better. She is consistently lying, using foul language, and trying to cause conflict between the adults who are, in fact, in charge of her. What she has not figured out is that the adults are talking to each other. The other children have realized that this little girl is a divisive element in the family. Fortunately, for this little girl, we are not giving up on her. Please pray for us and for her. Pray for patience, wisdom and understanding on our part and for a transformation in the heart of our little girl.
Challenges are a part of life. God never said there would be no challenges. What He said was there would be victories. Thank you for sharing with us in both challenges and victories as we continue...
In His Service,
Patrick & Sherry
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This is a regular (almost) update of the multi-faceted ministry of Patrick and Sherry Coleman who serve the Lord in Zambia, Africa.
About Us
Patrick was born and raised in the Los Angeles area of California. He moved to Lubumbashi, Zaire, (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) in 1985. In 1991 he was evacuated from Lubumbashi because of civil unrest. Patrick based his family in Luanshya, Zambia.
Sherry was born and raised in a Jewish home in New Jersey. She came to know the Lord as her Messiah and personal Saviour when she was 17. She came to Zambia in 1990 to administrate a correspondence Bible school. She also taught in area schools and in churches.
They met and were married on August 1, 1997.
Today both Patrick and Sherry Coleman serve the Lord together in Zambia. Their ministry responsibilities have grown. They own and operate the Lighthouse Children's Home with six AIDS orphans, they have opened their personal library to the public in Luanshya through the Christian Resource Centre, Sherry still has a correspondence Bible school and Patrick still works with local church leaders as well as serving in leadership at Fellowship Chapel in Luanshya.
Note from the Web Guy
Greetings from the Web presence of the Coleman Ministry. Please check the archives for any posts you may have missed.
This is the Colemans' oldest son, who is responsible for this website. My father refers to himself as "Technologically Reclined". Despite my best efforts to make posting to this site as easy and quick as possible, he insists on using the worst method available and occasionally forgetting to notify me for more than a year.As a result, sometimes posts get added in the background. They do not hit the front page, which only shows the latest update I have received, reformatted, and republished. As of this writing, I have a dozen posts to put up and back-date, and more coming in. I estimate that I will finish this effort by late July. Maybe not this year, but it will be a July.
So please, peruse the archives.