Dear partner in service,
Greetings from Zambia! Tomorrow Zambia will celebrate its 55th year as an independent nation from Great Britain. The celebration is substantially less enthusiastic. The incredibly poor economy and power outages of 12-15 hours every day make celebrations difficult. Community morale is at its lowest since Sherry arrived in Luanshya in November 1990. We invite you to pray with us in relation to these concerns.
This is the “hot and dry” season in Zambia. October is known as “suicide month” because the excessive heat (in excess of 100 degrees) and the lack of any rain often leads to depression often caused by a lack of sleep and dehydration. We have encouraged people to drink more water, but the water sources in Luanshya are not always accessible and often polluted even from the municipal water company. Those who can afford filters or chlorine are more fortunate, but that is not common. Please pray for these matters.
One of the young ladies in Sherry’s College and Career Class approached her two weeks back and said that she wanted to be baptized and take her place at the Lord’s Supper. She came to know the Lord as her Saviour but has not been a part of any Bible believing church. She came to Sherry’s class more out of curiosity than conviction. Over the last year she has come to realize that she needs more in her life and has found it in her association with her fellow young people in the Bible Class as well as the friendships developed at Fellowship Chapel where she has been visiting with us for some months. This afternoon she was baptized by John Bwalya, declaring her faith publicly. Please pray for Katongo as she continues to grow in her faith. This is the third young person from the College and Career Class that has made a decision to follow the Lord and make their spiritual home with the believers of Fellowship Chapel.
In the weeks to come we will be concluding the final term exams at the Bible School. There have been a number of course completions at the Source of Light Bible Correspondence School which Sherry is overseeing. We are always thrilled when people complete a series of lessons and begin the next!
Both the Men’s and Women’s Bible Studies continue with lively discussions and questions from participants. The Men’s Class is studying “Basic Christian Doctrine”. The current discussion has to do with “why Adam and Eve sinned when they had all that they needed?” Satan cast doubt on God’s word and that doubt led to disobedience. The Ladies Class are studying the toping “When Women Walk Alone”. There are so many instances when women fell as though they are misunderstood and alone. The idea that Sherry is trying to get across is that a child of God is never truly alone and perhaps in the busyness of life, though surrounded by crowds, we feel alone. Yet, God… perhaps we can refocus that sense of “aloneness” and turn it into an opportunity to be “alone WITH God”.
Special prayer request:
The fuel pump on my Jeep, broke. A new one has to be imported from the USA but it is taking some time (and expense) to get here. Please pray that the part will arrive soon and it can be fitted so that rural ministry can be done before the onset of rains.
Thank you for your prayers and your support as we continue…
