Pastor Carlin

One of the many benefits of Zambian churches is that everyone is encouraged and expected to participate in the services. Last Sunday, Carlin taught the sermon at Ndeke Church. The Sunday School Choir sang during worship including the song, He's Got the Whole World in His Hands. I wish you could have been here. It was awesome.

Caylie was recruited at the last minute to sing in the choir. She was happy when they started singing He's Got the Whole World in His Hands as it is a song she's known since toddler days.

Carlin began his sermon in the traditional Zambian way:
"I greet you in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen!"

Our friend Sydney translated for him. Together, they made a great team.

The topic was the importance of reading God's Word and doing what it says.

The verses he discussed were:

• Psalm 1:1-3
• Jeremiah 17:5-8
• Joshua 1:8
• James 1:22-25

Carlin took this assignment seriously. He worked on his sermon all week and then practiced his delivery several times Saturday and then again Sunday morning before we left for church. Honestly, he did an outstanding job of delivering the message from beginning to end.

Above, Caylie holds baby Shalom during the service. It just doesn't seem that long ago when she was this age.

Once again, it is late and there is still more to tell you. But it will have to wait until my next post. Have a great day!

Blessings and joy,
Beckie

It is ALL Worth It!

This past Saturday we celebrated MTI graduation in Mufulira. Neither Jason nor I were prepared for the incredible honors we received by the students and their families. Although I am not usually emotional, I fought back tears throughout the ceremony, which makes it tough since I am the photographer. I will tell you why in just a bit. There is so much to share that it is going to take some doing just to even recap.

We were presented this beautiful gift by the graduating class.

The first diploma was presented to Jennifer Nkandu, our new National Overseer of Foursquare Zambia! Jennifer is an amazing woman full of love for God and vision for the church. We are thrilled to be working with her. I struggle to get good photos of her since she is extremely uncomfortable in front of the camera. You must remember that most of our Zambian friends have had few, if any, photos taken of themselves. So contrary to how most of these pictures look, Jennifer is joyful and fun to be with.

Above, Jennifer presents the diploma to her husband, Pastor John Nkandu. John is a mighty man of God. We thoroughly enjoyed visiting his church in the compounds. Many pastors will not choose to pastor in the compounds (slums). But John and Jennifer do, and they serve with all of their hearts.

Okay, here is where I started to choke back the tears. When Theophilus Lukonde received his diploma, instead of shaking Jason's hand, he reached out to hug him. His brothers followed suit. You know, some times you wonder if you really make a difference. On this day, we were overwhelmed with learning just how much influence Jason and MTI has had in these lives.

Above is Haggai Lukonde receiving his diploma and thanking Jason for his faithfulness.

Left to right: Pastors Jennifer and John Nkandu, Pastor Aaron Mutale Chimfyende (Apostolic Church of Zambia), and Pastor Stanley Mwaba

Above are the pastors holding their last MTI book. In the States, everyone going through the course purchases their own materials. In Zambia, that hasn't been possible. So, the only students receiving the course are pastors. We are praying that the books will be available to all students. The problem is that the course itself is out of reach financially for Zambians. Add to that the cost of shipping and you can see why only a few can get it.

So far, Sharon and Debbie, and then Dan have brought the copies we have given out to save on shipping. Our home church, City Center Church of Redmond, Oregon along with Camp Sherman Community Church in Metolius, Oregon purchased the materials. And then, John and Sonja Decker, authors of this curriculum gave us a tremendous discount. We thank our dear friends very much for their willingness to do this! You cannot even imagine the impact this course, and Jason's teaching has had on the Zambian church.

Left to right: Pastors John and Jennifer Nkandu, Pastor Stanley Mwaba, Best Chungu, Pastor Aaron Mutale Chimfyende, and then the four Lukonde brothers: John Mark, Haggai, Theophilus, and Elijah.

I included the diploma below so you can see how I designed it. I spent hours of course. Those who know me well are smiling right now. I wanted it to be just right for Zambia and it really is. So the time was well spent. Jason had them laminated for protection.


Below, Jason acknowledges Jefferson Chipopa for his faithfulness every Saturday. Jefferson knocked 20% off his fees to drive Jason the 3 hour round trip to Mufulira. On top of that, he waited three hours while Jason taught the class. Keeping a nine-month commitment of this caliber is rare. We depend a great deal on Jefferson as we do not have transportation of our own.

I include the image below because I thoroughly enjoyed capturing it. This is our new National Secretary, Pastor Charles Mwila and his lovely wife Sarah. We stopped near this grove of trees and I asked if I could get a shot of them together. They haven't seen it yet but I know they will absolutely love it!


There is much more to share with you all about this but I need to get back to my family. I will add more thoughts right here later. So if you want to know "the rest of the story", check back to this post. Actually, I decided to make seperate posts instead of one long one.

It is absolutely wonderful to give you such a terrific report!

Blessings and joy,
Beckie

ONE YEAR!

Wow, it is hard to believe that exactly one year ago today we landed in Zambia ready to begin the next season of our lives. In some ways, it seems a life time has passed since that hot September day and in others, it's as if we have only been here a few weeks.

As usual, God's timing was perfect in bringing us here a year ago. The full year gave us time to become acquainted with the culture, learn what the real needs are, and get to know the people who make up Foursquare Zambia leadership, both then and now.

And finally, we are comfortably moved into the house that will be our home for the duration of our season in Zambia. Trust me, it has taken the whole year to get settled and I would say that we are not people who are difficult to please.

Although the situation with the Matambo family was terribly disappointing, we learned a lot about the hazards of allowing people to live on your property in addition to bringing them into the family as "friends". Once the they get moved, we will turn the dwellings into training centers. We plan to bring church leaders from outlying villages to Ndola for several weeks where we, along with local church pastors can disciple and train them before sending them back to their villages with renewed vision and passion for serving their congregations.

It will also provide space for visitors from home to stay while they visit us! Hint, Hint. . .

This new year already has brought changes and there are more to come. We are now working with a completely new Foursquare leadership team. The past year provided many opportunities to meet them, visit their churches, and enjoy their fellowship. In other words, the foundation of building relationships has already been laid. HOORAY!!!!

As you may have heard, Zambia's president passed away after suffering a stroke in June. The vice-president has taken over until elections at the end of October. According to law, an election must be held within three months of the death of a president. So politically, things in Zambia are a bit crazy right now.

And then of course we are in the midst of selecting a new president in the USA too. It has been very strange to be so far away during this presidential election year. I hope all Americans appreciate and exercise their rights to vote. I am thrilled to know that I too will be casting my vote.

So it is with great hope and enthusiasm that we begin this second year in Zambia. Although I wouldn't repeat many events of this past year for the world, I also wouldn't trade the closeness we developed as a family as we weathered each storm together. Our children are growing spiritually as well as physically. Academically, they have advanced more during this one year than ever before. What more could we hope for?

I look forward to sharing many more adventures in the months and years ahead. Naturally, I want them all to be fun and pleasant but that is not what God has promised. What He does promise however, is that no matter what happens: ". . .that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28

God does not promise us easy lives but He does promise that when we seek His will and follow it wholeheartedly that our days will be filled with purpose. We have seen this truth over and over this past year and so it is with excitement that we move into year two of ministry in Zambia.

I want to thank all of you who faithfully pray for us and support us financially. We are blessed beyond measure with the most outstanding people on our team. Truly, "sending" is just as important--maybe even more so--than "going". We are humbled by the sacrifices many of you have made that we may serve the Zambian people and build strong leadership within the church. We do not take a one of you for granted. Thank you!

May God bless you and your families,
Beckie

An Eventful Week

As mentioned in my last post, it all started with a neighborhood sewage blockage that brought the yuck of five houses into our yard right outside the bedroom windows. After I posted last, the problem worsened by the hour. By the time we went to bed, the soupy sludge gurgled like a creek as it forced its way up through the lid and out into our yard.

Nope, no pictures of how bad it got. Some things you just don't want to see nor do I want to photograph, trust me.

That went on all the next day and night. Wednesday afternoon, the plugged pipe was located and fixed. There is only one problem. We now have gobs of human waste in our yard which seeped under the brick wall and out to the ditch in front of our house. Naturally, it is up to us to clean it up.

A few hours after the sewage problem was solved, the Zambia Foursquare Convention started. There was no time to clean up the sludge and really, where does one even start on a project like that?

This convention was very important to the church and to our ministry here as a whole new national team was to be decided upon.

The convention was excellent. We are thrilled with the new leadership team and look forward to partnering with it's members during the years ahead. It was good to connect with Zambian church leaders all in one place. I think it was healthy for everyone to have fun in the midst of handling church business matters.

Here I am in my traditional Zambian Citangi suit with Sarah Mwila. She asked Jason to take this photo to put here on my blog saying, "I want all your friends in America to see you are Zambian now!" Sarah is tons of fun and determined to teach me how to dance like a true Zambian. Good luck on that one!

Foursquare Missions Regional Coordinators Glen and Rosemary Mickel drove up from South Africa along with their assistant David Stime and Pastor Glen Denyssen, the national overseer for Foursquare South Africa. They were in Zambia for the convention and truly, it was wonderful to visit with them briefly there and then more in depth today when they visited our home before making the long drive back to Johannesburg.

Left to right: Pastor Glen Denyssen, Rosemary Mickel, Glen Mickel, Me, Jason, and David Stime. We thoroughly enjoyed visiting with them in our home. During convention, I mentioned that I make a pretty mean chicken and dumplings dish and invited them all to sample it the following day for lunch. There was no hesitation in taking me up on that offer.

I close with this image of Pastor Jennifer Nkandu, our new National Overseer for Foursquare Zambia. Jennifer and her husband John are seasoned pastors who enthusiastically chose to minister to those living in the compounds (Zambian term for slum). They are very humble and committed to discovering God's will for their personal lives as well as for the church at large.

We look forward to a fruitful season of ministry as we partner with Jennifer, John and the rest of the team in the coming months. I will keep you all posted! Until then, it is almost 1 a.m. so I'm off to bed.

I hope you all have a glorious weekend!

Blessings,
Beckie

Looks Can Be Deceiving

ESPECIALLY IN THIS CASE!

Now you may think this is a lovely scene at the end of a long hot day. And you would be... WRONG. What appears to be a peaceful "stream" flowing through our front yard is in fact raw sewage from at least five houses and it is worsening by the hour. YES YOU READ THAT RIGHT!

This ditch is meant to carry water away from our house to the ditch along the road during the rainy season. Can you tell that the water there is a bit thick??? Hmmmm. . .we are two months away from the rainy season!

Just behind our house where the bathrooms are.

It seems that our house is the lowest point in our general vicinity. So when the main sewage line plugged, it started backing up in our yard. Don't ask me how all of this works 'cause I have not a clue and at this point I don't even care. All I want is a sewage-free home!

Jason called a plumber assuming our system was at fault. As handy as my dear talented husband is, (he truly is the best), I do not want him dealing with raw sewage. He happily agreed. After checking the system in our yard, the plumber suspected that the problem involved several houses. So he investigated our neighbors' systems and sure enough, they are plugged solid.

Jason quickly called Kafubu Water & Sewage but naturally he was told, "We do not take complaints over the phone." So he summoned a taxi and raced down there before it closed at 4:00 p.m. to report a serious sewage backup in our front yard that is about to spill out to the street. He was somewhat encouraged when the supervisor said he would be right out to assess the situation.

When I say "just behind our house" I really mean it. See the wall? On the other side of it is our boys' bedroom. The sludge is packed up to the lid and seeping through the cracks.

You will not believe what happened next. The supervisor arrived, saw the sewage bubbling up through the man-hole covers and flowing through our yard and said "We'll get to it first thing tomorrow." WHAT???? Are you kidding me? I mean really, wouldn't you consider this an emergency? It is important to realize that "first thing tomorrow" in Zambia could mean next week. Time means nothing here. And even if it they do get out here in the morning, this problem is not an easy fix. The stench is almost unbearable and we don't dare flush toilets or run water.

Ughhhh.

So you may wonder how are the kids handling all of this? Like they always do. It's all an adventure. Although no one likes the smell, they jumped at the opportunity to shower in the hose.

The thrill of victory!

Sia says, "You can't get me Dad!"

Caylie squealed with delight as Papa squirted her with the hose while Steven chuckles as he waits his turn.

As you can see, our children have embraced Zambia and ALL that it offers. After a long day of school work and play, there is nothing like cooling off in the hose. You would never know by the looks on these faces that just 30 feet away is a stream flowing with raw sewage. Our children certainly add perspective to ALL of our days.

So how is your holiday going? Stay safe and have fun!

Blessings and joy,
Beckie