21 November 2012

News from Zambia - 21 November 2012

21 November 2012

Greetings from Luanshya!

There is no "Thanksgiving Holiday" in Zambia. Nevertheless, Sherry and I celebrate the day every year with a dinner with friends. This year we will be having the four Lighthouse residents and a young lady from Canada who was a Rotary Youth Exchange student a few years ago. She is back in Africa for a few weeks and will be helping Sherry in the kitchen in the morning before going with me to Mukolwe Village for the Bible study. Then we will go back home for dinner at six. We are thankful for the blessings and the challenges of the year - and also for the fact that I found a TURKEY in the store for tomorrows dinner! We are looking forward to enjoying our fellowship together with our extended family and friend.

Meanwhile, the work continues! Sherry will be teaching about the prophet Haggai in her youth class on Friday - The Prophet of Priorities. The students have completed their exams and the pressure is over... except for the waiting for results. Nancy, Dickson and Shadreck will be entering the Mobile Mission Maintenance Vocational Training Centre in January. The boys will be taking Construction Management and Nancy will be taking computer classes. We do not want them just sitting and waiting for the results so we are putting them into this school so they can learn a trade. Ultimately Nancy wants to go into teaching, Dickson wants to enter the Zambian military and Shadreck wants to be an engineer. The training they will receive at MMMVTC will help them all with their ultimate goals. Please pray for "our kids" as they transition from secondary school to vocational training college.

The meeting hall for the Mukolwe Chapel is at roof level. The church members have planted a garden on the acre of land next tot he building in order to raise funds for the roof. This is a village and most of the believers there live by bartering with each other - onions for potatoes, tomatoes for cabbage etc. They are planning to put a vegetable stall on the road and hope to sell vegetables to passers-by. You are too far away to support them by purchasing a package of okra or a few egg plants, but if you would like to help, we will make sure that every gift designated to Mukolwe Chapel goes into their building fund.

As we enter this season of the year, we are constantly reminded of your generous faithfulness in prayer and support. We deeply appreciate your partnership in the Lord's work in Zambia.

In His Service,
Patrick & Sherry


Patrick & Sherry Coleman
P O Box 90010
Luanshya, 
Zambia

Off:   260 212 512359/512539
Res: 260 212 510033
Cell (P): 260 966 780113
Cell (S): 260 966 780112

07 November 2012

News from Zambia - 7 November 2012

7 November 2012

Greetings from Luanshya!

Sherry reminded me that it has been four weeks since our last update! Time literally slips away from us!

In the past four weeks the Mukolwe congregation has finished making the bricks for their building and the walls have gone up to "ring beam" level. The ring beam is a band of concrete that encircles the structure to add stability to the walls. The members of the church are working with the students at the Mobile Mission Maintenance Vocational Training Centre students from the nearby village of Kafubu Block. They do not have much money, but they have worked to make the bricks, carried sand in sacks on their bicycles and cooked meals for the students who were working. We deeply appreciate those who have contributed to this construction project. This past week the ladies of the congregation have cultivated about 3 acres of land to plant beans, okra and egg plant so they can sell these to held pay for benches and doors for the new building. I am reminded of the generosity of the Macedonian believers who, in their deep poverty, gave themselves to the Lord's service.

The Lighthouse Children's Home students (Nancy, Dickson and Shadreck) are in the midst of their final exams for grade 12. In fact, the Christian Resource Centre has become a hub of study groups for Luanshya. At any given time there are between 5 and 30 young people huddling in small groups talking about history, mathematics, civics or science. We are pleased that the CRC is available for these young people to have a quiet place to prepare. Almost all of these young people are part of Sherry's Friday Youth Meeting. Please pray for them as they proceed through the exam period.

The photo attached is of Sherry's grade twelve students. (She is hiding behind them!)

This week we commemorate "Remembrance Sunday" in Luanshya. I have been a part of this service for the past 17 years (committee chair for the past 8) and it is always a privilege to honour the few remaining veterans of World War 2 who served in North Africa and Burma. The "baby" of the group is 89 years old and the "old man" is 95. These men call me their "nephew" and they ask about the "boy (Colin) who accompanied us to the service while he was here. While working with these ex-servicemen I have been able to connect with the current military leaders based in Luanshya. I spent an hour talking with the Staff Sergeant who serves as the liaison officer between the Zambian army and the Remembrance Day Committee. He is a professing Christian, but he said his church is "a bit weak" in teaching. Pray for my new friend as he continues to seek to know more about our Lord.

Finally, the election in the USA has been a major topic of conversation all over town. As the only American living in Luanshya at the time, everybody wants to know for whom we are voting. Our answer is always "The secret ballot is called 'secret' because it is a secret." Still, people here are intrigued that the United States can have elections without riots and bloodshed. We praise the Lord for the privilege of having the right to vote - which we did several weeks ago - and for the liberty that we as American enjoy even as we live far from the borders of the United States. Now that the election is over and the the results are in, we set our eyes on the goal ahead - beyond politics, beyond human promises and beyond self-proclaimed "experts" on television - and look to the Author and Finisher of our faith. Our mandate has not changed and our commission has not diminished.

We deeply appreciate your faithfulness in prayers and support which keeps us...

In His Service,
Patrick & Sherry



Patrick & Sherry Coleman
P O Box 90010
Luanshya, 
Zambia

Off:   260 212 512359/512539
Res: 260 212 510033
Cell (P): 260 966 780113
Cell (S): 260 966 780112