"Your teaching is not falling on deaf ears."

Greetings from Luanshya!

Sherry has been thoroughly enjoying the discipleship lessons with Nancy. This week's lesson was on the fact that God does not set traps for His people. Many new believers see God as a vindictive disciplinarian instead of a loving Father. They fear God in the sense that they are afraid when the Bible says we should fear Him with respect and awe. Having never really known love from an earthly father, this whole concept is foreign to her. The love that she has experienced has come from people who were not only strangers, but also foreigners. We have been able to use the analogy that just as we have taken on the guardianship by choice, so has God taken her into His family by His choice. Every day, Nancy has more questions and every day Sherry is able to give her answers from God's Word. Please keep praying for progress.

On Resurrection Sunday I was able to explain the difference between Easter and the day we celebrate the resurrection of Christ. The world's perception of Easter as bunnies, candy and Easter egg hunts is slowly creeping into Zambian society. The local grocery store — the only grocery store in town — was packed with chocolate bunnies and marshmallow chicks all imported from South Africa. The children and adults alike wanted to know what this had to do with the resurrection of Christ. I had to admit that I had no idea whatsoever. We celebrated the day talking about the empty tomb and the fact that almost nobody fully understood the implication of what had occurred. Pilate was clueless. Herod thought he had a solution. The ladies were devastated at the death of Christ and the disciples were stunned with disbelief. It was only when Christ appeared to them that they began to realize the meaning of what He taught over the three-year period. Sadly, many people in the world today still do not fully understand the implication of the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

After the service, Mr. Siwale stopped me at the door and said, "Your teaching is not falling on deaf ears. I am listening, I am reading and absorbing." He has been coming to almost every service including the small group Bible studies and asking a lot of questions. When he makes a decision for Christ, it will be firm and it will be his. We are planting seeds and trusting God for the harvest.


A brief update on my father's heart condition, the angiogram is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, California time. The doctor and the surgeon will confer and make a decision on when to perform the valve replacement. We will keep you updated with the latest information as we receive it. We have been able to communicate a lot better over the last few weeks using a program called "Skype" which allows us to have voice conversations through the computer... for free! This does, of course, depend entirely on our ISP connection being clear and strong. We thank God for small miracles! We appreciate your prayers on our behalf.

In His Service,
Patrick & Sherry