Greetings from Luanshya!

This is actually coming from MY computer which is feeling better, but not quite 100%, after being attached by "many viruses" (according to the technician who finally found them). We are also sending it out early because of the subject of the next paragraph…

Few things are more romantic than a candle light dinner. That is, of course, if it by choice and not under duress. For three of the last four evenings the entire power grid of Zambia has gone dark. This means that every light in every direction which is connected to the Zambia Electrical Supply Company (ZESCO) has been doused. This includes water pumps, fuel pumps, security lights, the Internet connection and hospitals. None of the hospitals in our area have a generator which means that babies in incubators, patients on respirators or dialysis and anybody on operating tables are immediately put at risk. There are no immediate records of the numbers of people who have died because of the outages, but the citizens are becoming more and more irritable. Yesterday the ZESCO vehicles were being stoned in the capital city of Lusaka. It is not the technicians who are driving these vehicles who are at fault. They are simply the targets at hand of frustrated clients. Please pray that this situation is handled quickly and reasonably before the infrastructure of the entire nation is affected.

In spite of these challenges the ministry continues. Last Friday the youth meeting attendance more than doubled. The topic under discussion is "Joseph - A Man of Integrity & Forgiveness". This past week's focus was on "Resisting Temptation". The conversations that were generated from the lesson gave many a pause. Continue to pray for the young people as they learn from the life of Joseph. This week the lesson will focus on "Imprisoned & Forgotten" from Genesis 39:20-40:23.

This Saturday morning we will be hosting a youth meeting for the African Encounter Revival Ministries. This is an evangelistic emphasis gearing young people to share their faith. Most of these young people are post-high school. The evangelist, Leonard Bwalya, has a real burden to help these youths in the practical expression of their spiritual gifts. Some months back I turned over the "Caddy Chapel" ministry to brother Bwalya. Pray for him as he uses our discipleship program as a source material with those that attend the weekly meetings.

Due to the torrential rain storms over the last few weeks, work at the building site has been seriously delayed. The door and window frames have been completed, but the security bars have not yet been installed. We are doing everything we can to make this happen. While delays are frustrating, we know that God controls the weather.

One other avenue of service has presented itself. Severe flooding in the southern part of Zambia has left hundreds of families homeless. Most of their worldly goods have been completely washed away. I have been asked to help coordinate a relief exercise and may be going down to Southern Province in a week or so to oversee the relief work. We will have an opportunity to help restore some sense of family order and will work with the Zambian government in this process. Pray for the believers who affected by this disaster as well opportunities to share Christ and His love by our ability to "love our neighbour" in a practical form. We are trying to source Bibles in the Tonga language for each family we help.

As always, your prayerful support of this ministry is important to us. We appreciate your faithfulness.

In His Service,
Patrick & Sherry