Last Post 2008 Trip

Well!!! Sorry this is so late! Our outreach in Lusaka was cancelled due to demonstrations related to the elections. Since we were having it at a school, the government would not give permits. That was disappointing because it is so fun to preach the gospel. So we had to regroup. We picked up 21 young men from the church and brought them to the guest house. We taught them how to make spirit stoves (the Holy Spirit Fire) and Solar Ovens fueled by the SON... We talked about using these tools to evangelize to their neighbors. Everyone would like to learn ways to cook using less charcoal, so they can teach these skills while evangelizing. It was really exciting to see how excited they were.

God knew our plans, but I think he had other plans this trip. It is really exciting to evanelize to large groups like we planned, but He had us spending time one on one with members of the church. We had spent a lot of time before we left learning how to teach with parable lessons... teaching a bible lesson while doing work... Such as a flashlight being God's light - that Matt was able to use with the guard. Maintaining the engines on vehicles coorelating to maintaining our prayer and bible time with God, and more. We spent a lot of time teaching Old Testament stories with the flannelgraph, which was exciting because there are very few Bembe Bibles with the Old Testament. It was a different sort of trip, but I pray God will use that time spent with the church members to spark their evangelistic call to their neighbors, friends, and family. We will let you know what we see when Matt returns in April/May time frame.

Our flight home was pretty uneventful other than getting in trouble for sleeping in the dining area of the Amsterdam airport. Wooops.. The seats were really comfortable there and we had eaten breakfast!!! We are so glad to be home, and if it works out with the church, we will have our presentation on December 6th!

God Bless You!
Matt, Bonnie, Ariel, Nate, Jerry, Nancy, and Kathy!!

Travel to Lusaka & Election Day

Hello! Yesterday was election day, so we were unable to do another outreach because everything closed.. boohoo. But, we were able to finish the solar dehydrator and make a modification to the water pump to improve the water flow for the pig farm. The ladies were able to pack and spend time with the Ferukas which was very nice. We are still waiting for the results of the election. There are two main candidates and one alternate candidate. We will see what happens, right now the mood is very calm.

Today, we traveled to Lusaka. It was another hot day packed into the van. Jerry was surrounded by luggage - he looked like he was in a cave. Ariel sat on Matt's lap and tried to climb over the luggage to Jerry - it was pretty amusing. Since there are no car seats here, it will be interesting to see how she reacts when she is put back into the car seat Monday. You can pray about that!!! We just finished some light shopping and are at the Arcades for a bite to eat. We will be doing our final outreach tomorrow at the East Gate Vineyard. We plan to do children's ministry, building solar ovens and tuna/pop can stoves, and then wind it up with worship, and the Jesus film. We are very excited because the worship team from Mpalo came with us to do the outreach!

It will be too late to write an update Saturday night, and we leave Sunday morning, so please pray for us. When we get to Amsterdam I may have time to post an update - If not, I will write on Monday when we return! God bless you All!!!


Love,
Matt, Bonnie, Ariel, Jerry, Nate, Nancy, & Kathy

Medical Clinic and Childrens Outreach

Today we hosted a medical clinic and children's outreach at Mpalo vineyard. We treated 60 families and the felt board was used by Donald, Mupe, and Noseaku to teach the children about Jesus. We also toured the new resource center. The members there are making purses and necklaces, and we also purchased some wood crafts. If anyone knows a store owner who would be interested in selling some African crafts, we are looking for some US retailers!

The clinic was very successful and we were able to pray with many people. Additionally, the children heard the gospel in Bembe with the visual demonstration taught by their own people. Pastor Francis was very excited to see the board being used, and really has a heart for the children. The majority of children that came are orphans or come from families that cannot afford school fees. It was a great blessing to be able to love on them and teach them about Jesus's love for them. The resource center is now hosting a school for these children free of charge. We will be looking for a grant to continue with the school, so please pray for that to happen!

The guys continued to work on the dehydrator. There was a difficulty finding the right material, but they have found something that will work, and it is almost done! Mangos are on the trees now, so we look forward to tasting Mango chips next year!

Tomorrow is the election, so please pray for a peaceful outcome! We leave for Lusaka on Friday morning for our last outreach on Saturday! Keep praying!

Love,
Matt, Bonnie, Ariel, Nancy, Kathy, Jerry, and Nate

PS Ariel has a little head congestion, but is still having a ball! She is trying to pull herself up and is really crawling around. Keep her lifted up! Thanks..

Nsobe Game Park

Well, we finally made it to Nsobe Game Park. It is a farm/village/safari park project that is similar to what God revealed to Matt for Amen Outreach. There is a huge fish farm, cattle, pigs, and all sorts of herbivore safari animals. We took a guided tour and saw giraffes, Kudu, several kinds of antelope, zebras, and monkeys. This place supplies tilapia, beef, and wild game meat to a large grocery in the area, and the profits are shared with the local village that granted the land. Kathy got a massage while Nancy, Ariel, and I sat out on the riverbank. We ate a great dinner with Steak and Tilapia and enjoyed our day entirely. Tomorrow it is back to work

Car Trouble!

Well, we were on our way to the farm, and the car overheated. We had to wait 3 hours for someone to bring the part. Once we switched vehicles, we headed to the farm. There has been little progress on the fish farm, or the farming projects. Banda (a member of the SHIP team) was dropped off there. He is planning to stay for 2 weeks to help get the projects going. Pray for him and his faily while he is gone.

We tried a new fruit - sort of a peach/pear type with three walnut sized seeds. Pretty Yummie. Then we returned to Ndola for a late lunch/early dinner and off to bed. Tomorrow we will try again to go to Nsobe.

SUNday, SunDAY, Sundaaaayyyy!!!!!

What a great day! Service at Mpalo vineyard was great. Great worship, great message, great children's ministry, great prayer! We were able to use the felt board with the children's ministry and Nate played goliath in a drama. The kids actually played David and really enjoyed the lesson. After lunch at the sweet bite (home of the Shawarma - bembe word that means really nice) we returned to the church for a prayer service. We got to pray for several members while worshipping and praising God. We then travelled to another families home who just lost thier son. He had been sick for a while, and we were able to minister to the family. It was a great day! Tomorrow we are off to the farm and to Nsobe Game Park!

Zambian Graduation

Hello and greetings from Zambia! Today we attended Mrs. Flavia Feruka's graduation from Bible School. Like a typical Zambian event, we arrived at 0900 but it did not start until everyone arrived. So the praise and worship began. There were 3 choirs from local churches who performed. They were very good and we heard a lot of new songs. We unfortunately chose the seat closest to the loudspeaker, so we were a little overwhelmed by the keyboard!

Once the graduation started, there were several speakers. The keynote speaker "the General" is a presidental candidate. One of the missionary (American) speaker used the phrases - "on the offense" and "playing defense". I asked several Zambians if they knew what he meant, and no one did. I was reminded of the video we watched at the missions small group showing how American speakers were translated... Cats and Dogs are falling out of the sky! and - she keeps her face in a jar! It is so hard not to use those sorts of things when you are talking... Our accents are hard enough.

After the speakers, the graduates were prayed for and diplomas were handed out. Then each of the candidates were sent to the front where their family and friends presented gifts. We got to participate, and several of the graduates were doused in powder. Pastor Francis said it represents anointing. It was very fun and upbeat. Some of the graduates were presented with bicycles, TVs, microwaves, and more. After prayer and dismissal, we took photos and are now home at almost 4pm. Wheww!

Tonight we will eat traditional Zambian meal with the Feruka family. Kathy & I am learning more recepies to bring back and share with you all!

God Bless you All!

Love,
Matt, Bonnie, Ariel, Jerry, Nate, Nancy, Kathy