Sent Monday, December 24, 2007 5:08 am
To 'Patrick G Coleman'
Cc "'Sherry I. Coleman'"
Subject News from Zambia - 24th December 2007
24th December 2007
Greetings from Luanshya!
This is for those of you who – like me – slip into your office (or wherever your computer is) and check email even on Christmas Eve! I am writing this note "by faith" because the Internet connection has been down for three days and ZAMNET (our ISP) is arguing with ZESCO (the government-owned electric company) about who is at fault. I really don’t care who is to blame as long as somebody can fix it... Sigh!
This is our first Christmas with a completely empty nest. Our eldest son and his family are in Kansas City experiencing their "white Christmas" – something about which I never dream. Our daughter and her husband are in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area dealing with the "winter wonderland" of ice and snow. Our youngest son is with his grandparents in Bellflower, CA, on leave from the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, CA. Sherry and I are in soggy Luanshya where it has rained every day for over two weeks and we already have warnings that this may be the wettest rainy season for a decade or two. This year we have no children, Peace Corps volunteers, Youth Exchange Students or other house guests. It is just Sherry, me, the cat and the dogs. There are nine packages under the tree and from the looks of things it will be an academic Christmas – all of the packages look like books. We know each other’s taste in reading material.
We did have an incredible blessing yesterday (Sunday) when John and Sarah Bwalya were able to be with us in our morning service. For those who do not know (or cannot remember) John is one of the young boys we helped when he was abandoned by his mother. We put him through high school and teachers training college where he met and ultimately married Sarah. They have been away teaching in a rural village, but are now in Luanshya for two weeks taking a course at the local teachers college. When I knew they were coming I asked John to preach for us. He did a remarkable job explaining the Christmas story from the book of Isaiah with references from Matthew and Luke. Since they will be here next Sunday I have asked John to preach again. He said it was difficult to preach with me in the room because I am his teacher. I explained that I was his teacher in class, but in the church I do not critic his presentation. I am looking for what God has given him to give to me. Watching and listening to John present a clear and concise message of the Gospel was one of the best Christmas gifts we could had received. We are proud of these young adults. Please pray that God will allow them to move back to Luanshya!
On the building front, the church walls are all the way up to the peak of the roof and the roof has been completely covered. In Wednesday the door and window frames will be installed and the Mobile Mission Maintenance team will begin the plastering of the walls. This should take 10-14 days. The men will sleep in the building in order to guard against the door and window frames from being stolen… Really! The burglar bars will be installed, but the concrete has to dry before we can leave the building unprotected. It is an amazing fact of life that we have to protect a building dedicated to worshiping God from thieves who would steal the doors, but these are the times in which we live.
Still, God has been marvelous and we want to wish you a wonderful Christmas celebration wherever you are around the globe.
In His Service,
Patrick & Sherry
