"Little is much when God is in it"

Greetings from Luanshya!

This mornings Bible reading was from Hosea 14 where we are reminded that: Every man must do his own growing, no matter how tall his parents are. When it comes to growing a garden, there are usually two kinds of people: those with green thumbs who grow everything, and those who are all thumbs and grow nothing. To which group do you belong? It is not surprising that when Hosea searches for a suitable illustration to describe the potential of God's restored people, he finds it in a picture drawn from nature: "the lily... roots... branches... olive tree... corn... vine... green fir tree... fruit" (Hosea 14:5-8). Nature silently but eloquently testifies to the fact that God is in the business of transforming seeds into trees if you will but entrust them to His loving hands. A little talent... a little money... a little time—each can become something great in God's economy. "Little is much when God is in it."

Some years ago we took on the care of a young, troubled boy named Chewe. We have mentioned him in prior newsletters but this time we have some additional, exciting news. After graduating from high school, with honors, he went to Lusaka, the capitol city of Zambia. He moved in with a distant relative while he sought a job and attended night school studying computer programming. Subsequently, he has graduated from that course of study, worked one year for a computer graphics company and is now setting up his own graphics company as of last month. Chewe’s next goal is to attend another course of study in the evenings and achieve a diploma in IT (Information Technology). Chewe visited us this week, sadly, to attend the funeral of his aunt. He stopped by the Christian Resource Centre to provide this update for our encouragement. His parting words this afternoon were, "Mama, thank you for believing in me and giving me a chance to succeed. Without your support, discipline, prayers and guidance, I do not know where I would be today. You've made a man out of me and I want to make you proud." We wish to thank those who have prayed with us about the many young people that have passed through our care over the last 8 years. Investing in this young particular life has made all the heartaches worth it! Chewe returns to Lusaka this evening and will resume his work and continue in the youth leadership program at his local church.

Speaking of young people, Colin returned to school over the weekend. He has begun his mock exams and will complete his final exams in two months time. Please pray for him as he winds up his education in Zambia and prepares for a future back in the USA. The kids at the Lighthouse Children's Home have also returned to school this week. We are back to paying school fees, picking up supplies, arranging for tutoring and the whole nine yards. Your prayers on behalf of our children is greatly valued. We will be making some tough decisions with regard to the education of our children in the next few months—some may be moved from the private school to the government schools come the new year.

The ministry at the Christian Resource Centre has been fruitful over the last couple of weeks. We were pleased to see one young man return... Happy Kafungwa. He brightly informed us that he was away for the last few weeks because he had "gotten married". Happy is a young itinerant preacher here in Luanshya and makes good use of one of the computers donated to us in the library. Pray for Happy and his wife, Doreen, as they set up a home and ministry based on the Lord Jesus Christ.

As always, we greatly appreciate your prayers on our behalf. Yes, there is much to do but your support makes it possible for us to remain...

In His Service,
Patrick & Sherry