Mumena Missions - All Blogs

Discovery Bible Study - Foundations of Faith

Rick — Thu, 13 Feb 2014 08:00:00 +0000

Below is the Bible study we have been using in Mumena. Most people in Zambia believe in God and Jesus and believe that the Bible is his word. This study assumes that foundation and helps each person read some of the basic teachings of God.

The Bible study is a discussion. The questions help each person hear, obey, and share God's word.

Discovery Bible Study - Foundations of Faith

Baptisms at Tundula

Rick — Tue, 04 Feb 2014 08:00:00 +0000

Sunday we visited Tundula and met with the church there. During the Bible Study, a young man taught about the importance of following Jesus. Many of the youth said that they wanted to follow Jesus. We taught about baptism and explained how someone gives their lives to God and becomes a follower of Jesus.

Many of the youth responded that they were serious about their commitment and wanted to be baptized. There were 7 girls from about 12 to 16 years and 1 young man in his 20s.

There was no river nearby, so we decided to take the car down about 5 miles to the nearest river. It took two trips to get everybody there.

Once we were there, we read 1 Peter 3:21 and explained again that baptism was a serious commitment and that each person should be promising themselves to God.

Benny Kachimpu who is one of the leaders at Tundula did the baptisms. His daughter was one of the girls who responded.

Benny with some of the youth of the congregation.

A young man who was just baptized.

One of the girls being baptized.

Mumena 2013

Rick — Tue, 05 Nov 2013 10:25:00 +0000

Mumena 2013, a set on Flickr.

Photos of our family and the people here at Mumena working together in God's kingdom.

Loves Return After Furlough

Rick — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 09:00:00 +0000

We, the Loves, returned after our 2nd furlough last week on Jan 12. We have lived here for 4½ years and still have many years to go. While we were gone, the Rodriguezes were still here continuing the work.

We enjoyed seeing our friends and leaders of our sending church in Cedar Hill. We were also able to see much of our family and many of our friends from other places. We thank God for that time to spend with loved ones who are physically far away.

What's Next?

Another benefit of these breaks is that they give us a step back to evaluate ourselves and our work. By pausing from the weekly schedule, we can get a fresh perspective on the big picture:

What have we accomplished in the past few years?
Where are we heading?
Are we spending our time with the most important tasks?
Are we focusing on the long term objectives?

Really, those questions are too vague, so we have to think more specifically about what we are trying to accomplish: The goal of everything we are doing as missionaries and Christians is trying to build God's community. So we ask:

How much does the church resemble God's community?
How is the church acting and growing as a community?
Which tasks improve the community of the church?

These questions help us first determine what we should be doing. Then when we have a clear objective, we can decide how to work towards that goal.

Before we get busy, we want to spend a few weeks praying and deciding what we ought to be doing. Then our busy-ness will actually have value. We saw this example with Jesus as he began his ministry by spending time alone with God for 40 days.

I'm not sure Karen would be very happy if I, Rick, disappeared into the bush for 40 days. However, we can as a family and as a team take a pause to decide what the next step should be. Whatever tasks we end up doing, we hope they will build God's community.

Friends at Mumena

We look forward to seeing our friends in Mumena. It is amazing to see what changes in a person's life can happen in 2 months. We have heard of many new Christians that were baptized while we were gone, of babies being born, and of leaders who have matured much in a short time.

For the next few weeks, we are going to visit as many friends as possible while unpacking and getting settled at home.

It is an amazing opportunity to serve God as a missionary. The minor inconveniences of living away from our first culture are negligible compared to the friendships we enjoy. Even more, we know that these friendships are just beginning in God's everlasting family. It is truly a great honor that others have made such sacrifices to send us here.

Mini Update from ABILENE!

Erin — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 09:04:00 +0000

So much has happened in the last month and a half! Our joyous mission apprenticeship came to a close in Mumena, we moved back to the States in mid August, spent a couple of weeks in Chattanooga, a couple of weeks in Roanoke, and now we have been in Abilene for a almost a month! Jason is ACU's Ag and Environmental Science department's new Rhoden Farm manager and I will be starting grad school next fall at ACU to get my masters in Marriage and Family Therapy. Until then I have decided to turn my favorite hobby (photography) into a little mini business! There will be more updates on that adventure to come. : ) Obviously that is a rather short summary for all that has gone on and the roller coaster that comes with moving back to the States after living in the slow and peaceful atmosphere of an African country!

We are already missing so much about Zambia and those that we grew to love in Mumena. But, we have been so blessed to be reunited with family, friends, and pets! We will be heading back to Chattanooga in December for a Mumena Celebration at East Brainerd Church of Christ which we are so looking forward to. East Brainerd has been the most wonderful church to have been supported by and we are eager to show our gratefulness to them and to report (in person) on all that went on in Mumena the last almost two years.

Our family of three (Rex makes three) is now living at the ACU farm outside of Abilene in a little one bedroom farm house which we adore. I have been a busy bee cleaning, decorating, sewing, and figuring out how to grocery shop in America again. That in and of it's self has been more of a challenge than I could have imagined. My most memorable moment of panic happened in the mop isle at Walmart. Too many choices, taking too long to figure out which choice was the most cost effective, all led up to boycotting buying a mop all together!

I am hoping to upload photos of our new farm life in the next week! Until then here is a couple phone snaps of two memorable moments in the past month.

Reunited with Rex!!

My sweet best friend Lauren took Jason and I to a "Welcome Home" Ranger's game. It was AMAZING!

That is all for now... There is just much to tell about life in the past months but it's hard to put it all into one blog post. ; ) God has been so faithful to provide for us and guide us through this transition. We are abundantly blessed! Thank to for all of your prayers and love over the past two years! More updates to come!

2012 Annual Youth Conference Report

Rick — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 10:01:00 +0000

This year we had our first provincial youth meeting. About 150 youth
came from four different areas of the North-Western province of
Zambia. The Mumena congregations hosted the event here. We met for
four days and had many activities. It went great and everyone was very
glad to meet other Christians.
As a note, youth here means "young person" and includes anyone under
35 years. With the "young people", about 20 "old people" came to help
supervise and cook.
We sang, had many Bible lessons, had a session on purity (separating
the men and women), and had simple group competitions. During "Bible
Search" a person from each team raced to see who could turn to a
specific verse and read it first. During "Bible Quiz" each team would
take turns answering random Bible questions. They also played sports
during free time.
The youth enjoyed spending time with each other. The lessons
encouraged them to stay faithful to God. The Bible competitions
challenged them to be more serious in Bible study. The singing and
other activities established some strong relationships in which they
will remember that they are not alone.
We look forward to other meetings in the future.

The Bible Search competition

Youth from four areas of North-Western Zambia

Resting after hauling water

Waiting for the baptisms

One of the four who were baptized

2012 Campaign

Rick — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 10:02:00 +0000

We had a great campaign this year. We had 13 visitors from the US who stayed for about 10 days in June-July. We focused on three activities working side by side with the Zambian Christians: Evangelism, Village Education, and Medical.

Evangelism

We worked with two local congregations to visit their families and neighbors for three days each. In the morning, we trained in how to build relationships and teach someone about Christ. Then in the afternoon, we formed groups – the Zambian Christians paired up with their American brothers. The groups then went out visiting family and friends: introducing them to the basic message of Jesus and giving them a chance to ask questions about God. During the night, we set up a projector and watched the Jesus film in Kiikaonde outside the church building.
This effort went great and afterwards Shadrack, one of the church leaders, said that it was a great encouragement for him and wanted to thank everyone for their work.

Village Education

Six Campaigners came to work with home education in the villages. We trained five families in how they as parents can teach their children at home. In the mornings, we trained the parents with their children. Then, in the afternoons, those parents taught other parents in the community to do the same.

James teaching his daughter to trace her name

Phythias demonstrating how to teach the children how to write their names

We focused on three core subjects: Reading Comprehension using the Bible, Writing, and Arithmetic. For each subject, we taught many activities that progress in difficulty. For example, with writing, we showed them three activities that lead the child to write his own name:

First, the parent would write the name in the sand, and the child would trace over it.
Second, the parent would write the name, and the child would copy it below.
Third, the child would write his name without seeing it first.

All the activities used local resources from the village: charcoal, corn cobs, sticks, etc. This made it natural to spread the teaching to other villages.
For reading comprehension, we showed the parents a simple method for teaching Bible stories:

First, summarize the Bible story
Second, read it from the Bible
Third, help the children act it out as a skit
Fourth, ask comprehension questions

This turned out to be a great way to teach the Bible for both children and adults. Everyone saw how these activities could be used for evangelism while providing a great service to the community. They combine preschool, grade school, adult education, and Bible lessons into a fun hour or two. This is a great draw for both children and adults who want to improve their English or Math or want to help their own children.
We will continue to train other parents in all the congregations and follow up to train in additional activities. Also, we have begun to demonstrate how each congregation can do these activities for evangelism.

Medical

Two campaigners spent each day building relationships with the nurses at the local clinic. They learned how the nurses deal with the common ailments in this environment and also how to work in this culture. The nurses appreciated their new friends. The time together gave them a joyful memory to remember as they continue their daily work.
At the end of the week, everyone went to the clinic to help with the medical clinic day. We worked together with the clinic nurses and two local Dentists from Solwezi. We gave out reading glasses and directed the lines for the dentists and nurses. Again, the local church leaders were at the forefront of everything. The work was done in the name of Jesus and his church. In this way, the clinic day demonstrated to many that God does care for them and works through His family.
We four families greatly appreciate everyone who came to visit and work alongside us and the local Christians.
May God make you fruitful as you serve Him,
Rick & Karen Love
Along with the rest of the team:
Sam & Ellie Rodriguez
Jeremy & Whitney Davis
Jason & Erin Davis

Congregation Report - The Church at Kayonge

Rick — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 08:34:00 +0000

This weekend, we started our new schedule. Karen & I will be shifting around all the church plants to focus on training. Sam & Ellie Rodriguez will focus on working with the church plants that require more attention.

The training we want to provide is actually for the entire body of Christians. It is a way to work outside of the traditional "church service" into a more family oriented meeting. The idea came from this year's campaign. We had an educational campaign where we trained five different families in home school activities. One of the activities was a Bible story time that included acting out the story as a skit.

The activities were so interesting to both children and parents that we immediately saw the value of using them with the regular church meetings. They are an effective evangelistic tool. They combine fun social games with important learning of life skills with the learning of God's word. Its a great example of our team strategy to wholly affect the spirit, mind, and body as God created man.

This weekend we started our first meeting where we are trying to show the church how to combine these into the traditional service. Saturday, we introduced some of the activities. Then Sunday, during Bible study we acted out the text using both children and adults. This was combined with summarizing the story, reading the scripture, and asking questions about it. After this, we had our main service. One difference that I noticed was that the children were still attentive during the main service. Normally, they leave during the Bible study and continue playing outside until service is over. However, since they were engaged during the Bible study, they continued to feel like a part during the rest of the service.

When our service was over, it was time to prepare for a fellowship meal. While waiting, we played many educational games with the children. Games designed to teach English, Writing, and Arithmetic. One of the favorite games is "Teacher Says." This is the same as "Simon Says." It is an excellent game for teaching many English words and both children and adults enjoy playing it.

Another important activity is writing. We don't use pencils and paper. Instead, we use sticks, charcoal, and dirt. For the young children, we teach them to trace their names. For the older children, we advise them on how to improve their penmanship. It is amazing to see how quickly a child can learn when given proper attention. I asked a seven year old girl named Anna to help demonstrate the name writing activity. She could already write her name, but it was in all uppercase and the size of the letters were inconsistent and not straight. I wrote her name properly and asked her to copy it on the line below. I pointed out the lowercase letters, how they were half as tall as the first letter, and how they were all straight and the same height with each other. She understood and copied her name fixing mistakes on her own as she went. Then, I made a new line in a different place and asked her to write her name again. This time, it looked great. In five minutes, she went from writing her name at a preschool level to a 2nd grade level.

All the adults were very excited to see the impact that they could have on their own children. They have always been told that education is for the schools. However, as the church brings education about spiritual truth, it also enables our earthly lives to be completely transformed. Children and other adults were coming to see what we were doing. These simple activities are a great way to show others that we care.

This training will help the church provide a great service in the community. This is a great example of how the family of Christ acts as the light on the hill. These good works will help many and give them a chance to hear the story of Jesus that will give them eternal life. May God bless the men and women as they serve the community around them.

- Rick Love

Bless the Lord, O my soul

Erin — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 12:45:00 +0000

Today was a Sunday filled with many smiles, tears of joy, and songs of praise. Four of the sweetest young women, whom Whitney and I have loved getting to spend time with and watch grow and mature over the past year and half were baptized into the Lord today. Meet Catherine, Rwidness, Christina, and Mutinta, our new sisters in Christ!

"Bless the Lord , O my soul,

And forget none of His benefits;

Who pardons all your iniquities,

Who heals all your diseases;

Who redeems your life from the pit,

Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;

Who satisfies your years with good things,

So that your youth is renewed like the eagle. "

Psalm 103:2-5

Summer Campaign to Zambia

Jeremy and Whitney — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 02:02:00 +0000

We’ve spent the past two weeks partnering with a group of 13 Americans, made up of people from our team’s supporting congregations. It was an awesome two weeks! So much good was done working with the congregations in the area and with villagers on educating their children.

We had a team that went out each day to work with three different church plants in the area. They all studied together, Americans and Zambians, about what evangelism means and how we can reach out to our communities. Then they would spend the afternoons going out with Zambian church leaders to local villages to spread the Gospel. I loved hearing about the partnership between Zambians and Americans as they worked together, and also the encouragement that was spread to these Christian leaders that are trying to bring Christ to their communities.

The education team was split into pairs, and each pair worked with two separate Zambian families. The goal was to help the parents better understand how they can help their children learn more at home and to spread the word in their area. We worked with Christian families, so they already see the importance of this concept. They will take the knowledge they now have and share with others in their community. Things as simple as having their children practice writing their names in the dirt every day and practicing math problems with corn cobs that are lying around—it was great!

The last day of the campaign was a medical day spent partnering with our local Mumena clinic. Thanks to everyone who was a part of sending these individuals over or who came to be a part of our campaign this year! It was a blessing!

Here are just a few pictures of our time together:

Photos!

Erin — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 23:23:00 +0000

We have loads to update on in our next newsletter, which will be coming soon. Today is the last day of a very successful and blessed summer campaign which included work in spiritual, education, and health development. For now I wanted to share some photos from the Mumena Rural Health Clinic which is where yesterday's health outreach took place. : )

Past few weeks in pictures

Jeremy and Whitney — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 07:35:00 +0000

I'm way behind and had plans for more blog posts, but we are into the really busy time of year here in Zambia. Mom and Scott arrived this past Saturday in Lusaka, and Jeremy and I went to pick them up. They will be here through the campaign, so we have them here for about 3 more weeks! We are busy preparing for the group from America that will make up our campaign, and my body is "busy" as well just being pregnant. I am 14 weeks pregnant with a little sweet, surprise due in December!

About 3 weeks ago, the church leaders and missionaries gathered for a full work day at the local clinic to improve the maternity ward facilities. There will now be running water and a shower room for mothers. The church leaders will present this gift to the community while the group from America is here. They are very proud of their work!

After much trial and error, we finally have a consistent youth study going with the Konkwa church. Here's a game of bush volleyball going on before we began our Bible study. This group is so dedicated. They even met without us last Sunday, while we were away in Lusaka. They will hopefully be continuing on as a youth program long after we are gone.

Visiting the chimpanzee refugee farm with Mom and Scott!

Scott's first day here, and he's already eating up the nshema!

Sibling Adventures

Erin — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 09:26:00 +0000

In our last post I failed to mention a major recent event. My sister Maeci, and brother in law, Daniel, visited in May! They flew here on Emerates airlines flying to Dubai then on to Lusaka. They have been the luckiest travelers to visit us thus far because they got randomly bumped up to business class on their way here. Also, because they had an overnight stay in Dubai before getting to Zambia they had the least amount of jet lag I have seen yet. Needless to say, we were able to meet them in Lusaka (the capital city) and hit the ground running showing them around Zambia. We spent a full day in Lusaka then headed to Livingstone. We took them to see the amazing Victoria Falls and they went on a safari at Chobe National Park in Botswana. Jason and I used their safari day (which happened to be our 2 year anniversary) to rest and relax at Zig Zag Bed and Breakfast in Livingstone. The last days of their trip were spent at home sweet home Mumena. We spent lots of time visiting, cooking, eating, and playing games. It is always so encouraging and warming to see familiar faces and to be able to have family visit is a tremendous blessing and comfort. For some very odd reason I only have ONE picture of the four of us, and it's a phone picture, so a little fuzzy. My sister is a talented photographer and has lots of pictures of their trip that I'll have to steal from her to better remember our sibling adventures in Zambia. I really kind of like that the one picture I do have comes with my favorite memory of Maeci and Daniel's trip to Africa.

This picture actually sums up our biking adventure pretty well.

While in Livingstone the four of us decided it would be fun to rent bicycles and cycle to the crocodile farm that is about 2 miles from Zig Zag (where we were staying). As you can see, Daniel is very tall. He was a trooper and didn't even let the fact that his bike was way too small for him phase him. In fact, he rode in the road instead of the sidewalk, most of the way because he felt so comfortable moving with the flow of traffic. As we were getting nearer to the turn off to the croc farm we could see MANY baboons all along the roadside. Naturally, Maeci and I were very fearful that the baboons were going to run up to us, knock us over, steal our belongings, and ride off on our cycles. Well luckily, they didn't pay any attention to us and carried on with their business as we rode by, phew. We had a few other hiccups on our bike ride, like, my tire flattening like a pancake and Daniel's pedal falling off multiple times but that just made our adventure all the better!

Maeci and Daniel, We loved getting to see you and had so much fun making memories with you! We appreciate your visit more than you know! We love you both!

Zambian News

Jeremy and Whitney — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 00:34:00 +0000

I can’t believe it’s June! It does not feel like one year ago the group from our supporting churches came to hold their campaign here in Mumena. Now we are gearing up for them to arrive in 3 1/2 weeks. It is an exciting time of year for us, and it is as well for the locals as they prepare to greet their brothers and sisters from America.

When I think about a group coming to visit, I am reminded of the joy the locals experience and the honor they feel hosting those from a far, unknown land. I believe the most important and loving thing a visitor could do for a local is to visit them in their village. In Zambia, the greatest value is relationships. It is more important than food, work or sleep. To visit a Zambian, to sit at their home and learn more about them is a gift that is priceless to them.

Today, Jeremy and I went to visit a family in their village. Here was our welcome committee :

Here is a dear friend of ours. She is pregnant with baby #6, due in August.

This month the local churches have been pushing themselves to become more evangelistic. It has been awesome to see so many churches couple up to spread the Word. One of our church leaders goes each week with one of the missionaries, Sam, to the clinic near by to do outreach. Jason and Jeremy have a new Bible study point in a village that’s about a 20 minute walk away. They have had a couple of church leaders join them to go evangelize in this new area. And Jeremy has had multiple members from Konkwa church join him in a new church plant effort that’s about an hour bike ride away. God is good.

Thank you for the continued prayers!

Update from Kaondeland

Erin — Thu, 31 May 2012 05:28:00 +0000

I realized recently we haven't written an update in quite a while! Life has been sweet in Kaonde land the past month. Jason and I have been really feeling the effects of only having 6 months left with the wonderful people in Mumena that we have grown to love. When we first moved here I thought two years sounded like such a long time. Well, it isn't! Time has flown by, almost too fast for us.

Jason has been working hard to develop pig feed that can be made locally in the village. For the pig farmers, making their own feed will mean saving lots of kwacha (money). They would no longer have to buy commercial feed from town and it would give them a more profitable use for the maize they grow every year. This would also help boost the local hammer mill business. It is all very exciting!

The ladies at the Kampande congregation wanted to start meeting together again recently. I was very happy about this so I offered to teach the first few classes. I am teaching them "how to teach each other." Some of the women at Kampande are young in their faith but some of the women are more mature Christians. This is the perfect combination for them to work together and edify one other. I have one more week of teaching then I will pass the baton off as they will start to take turns teaching each week. Please be praying for the ladies and their desire to grow stronger in Lord through assembling together mid-week.

Underneath our kinsanza Jason has a few guinea pigs and couple rabbits. Both animals are perfect for Zambians to have a breeding pair for relish (which would give great protein) and for selling. Also, both can be fed with plants we can find in the bush. We hope raising them ourselves will encourage others to do so as well. I try not to dwell on the fact that they could be used for meals but more so just enjoy hearing the guinea pigs little squeaky noises as I walk by everyday. Our friend Edward brought several of the school boys over today to show them how to feed the little critters which gave Jason a chance to show them how to hold them and gently pet them. At first they were terrified to hold either but after I encouraged them with "if you hold one, I'll take a snap of you and show you the snap after," THEN they all wanted to participate! They ended up really liking them and laughing at the silliness of it all. Here are a few pictures of them...

That is all for today's update. Happy Thursday!

The Wisdom of Discipleship

Jeremy and Whitney — Mon, 21 May 2012 06:18:00 +0000

Last week, I had a truly remarkable experience. I was heading out to my Tuesday Bible study, which is held out under a bunch of shade trees, when Gift Siampongo stopped me. Gift is a young man who has faced many challenges in his Christian walk. He just completed our leadership seminar, where he studied the book of Acts. I have been mentoring Gift, age 21, for the last six months, as he has traveled to many Bible studies with me over that period of time. This, however, was his first time to ask to teach. We have been studying and practicing many weeks now on lesson preparation and teaching. He has been a very active student, and since the Bible study this day was to be from the book of Acts, I was thrilled to see him put into practice what he has learned.

This 21 year old sat in the midst of 25 people, most of them older than him, and taught about the Kingdom of God through the book of Acts. I felt so proud as I sat beside him not having to interject on anything that he said. He was right on the money and conveyed a powerful message to this group of older, but less mature, group of believers. This is the point of missions – to create disciples –as this young man will be here far longer than I will. I can’t wait for those of you coming over to know this young man and hear more of his story. He is truly an inspiring young man who loves the Lord. He provides an example of the wisdom of Christ who through careful discipleship spread His kingdom all over the world. Below is a picture of Gift teaching under the trees.

Gift is on the right

This is at the beginning, more people show up later.

A National Geographic Moment by Noah & Bryson Davis

Brian — Tue, 08 May 2012 02:46:00 +0000

(As you read this, hum to yourself the National Geographic song… it makes for a more exciting experience.)

Today we were bored. It was hot and all of our friends were in school. But then an idea popped into our heads: let’s go on a safari and catch the wild antlion of Central Africa. So we set out to find the bug. They make holes in the sand and wait for ants to fall in. Then they stick their heads out and pull the ant under devouring him in a horrible way. We found a whopper which we named, Harold, and put him in a jar of dirt. It wasn’t long before he had made himself a hole. We gave him some ants, so he should be happy for awhile.

God Bless,

Noah & Bryson

MISSIONARY JOURNEY: A New Journey

Brian — Tue, 08 May 2012 02:07:00 +0000

While sitting around the camp fire and watching the sun set, forty leaders of the church sang a farewell to me, Noah, and Bryson. I have known that our new journey is soon to begin, but after some 17 years in Africa, it is a bit surreal. Christ’s mission, however, is not just a matter for a far away, unknown land; rather, it is a way of life for those of us in His Kingdom. Sondra, Noah, Bryson, and I are looking forward to serving in that way of life in our new role in the ministry of missions & evangelism at the Hillcrest church of Christ in Abilene, Texas. We are being privileged the opportunity to continue assisting in the works that mean so much to us both abroad and at home, and for that we are so thankful.

Over the next few months, I hope to use the “Missionary Journey” to let you catch a glimpse into the ups and downs of a missionary’s reverse culture shock. One of the blessings, however, of a return home is the great opportunity to see our loved ones face to face once again!

“I will come to you: for I trust to see you in my journey” Romans 15:24 KJV

Because of Christ,

Brian, Sondra, Noah, & Bryson

J&E/J&W Newsletter

Erin — Sun, 06 May 2012 12:34:00 +0000

Here is our latest J&E/J&W apprentice newsletter. Just click on the page you want to read and use the magnifying glass tool or zoom in to read our updates. : )

Saturday Fun

Erin — Sat, 05 May 2012 07:44:00 +0000

Today Jason and I took a stroll about 2 miles down the road to the Kimpalumba village. Two men in this village are working with Jason doing a pig production project. They were required to build their own pig pens then have been gifted with a bred pig in return. The men and their families will feed and care for the baby piglets, along with the sow, for 6 months then be able to keep their profits from selling the piglets to invest in the next years production. Our hope is for this project to help two qualified farmers have a better means of supporting their families through pig farming. Here are a few photos of the new piggies!

Our reason for visiting the Kimpalumba village today was to check on the new babies but as an added surprise we got to observe some of the fun these families have on an average Saturday. The kids invented their own slide to ride down one of the termite hills. We were very tempted to want to take a ride as well but it was pretty steep! Looks pretty fun huh?

The women were mostly sitting under their kinsanza's preparing their relish for this evening's meal (pumpkin leaves). But Edward's wife was "polishing their house." She mixed red dirt with water, making a paint, then she painted a stripe around the bottom of their house. Next to her on the right is a little one who made herself a pouch to carry around her roasted ground nuts to snack on while she waited for her turn to slide down the termite hill.

We loved getting to spend part of our Saturday with a village full of people we have grown to love over the last year. Although the weekend activities of the Kaonde people may look a bit different than we experienced growing up it is neat to see them have family time, fun time, and relax time in their own special way!

Finishing up the Muzha

Erin — Fri, 04 May 2012 02:50:00 +0000

Today is the last day of the month long Muzha wa Yesu (slave of Jesus) seminar. Church leaders from the churches in the Mumena chieftaincy have sacrificed their time and money to spend 4 weeks sharpening each other and studying the Bible together. In the next week or so we will be sending out a new newsletter with a detailed summary of the Muzha this year for everyone to read about. Until then we wanted to give you a photo preview (above) of the men diligently studying. This was taken at chapel this morning while our teammate Sam Rodriguez gave a wonderful lesson. Thank you to those who have prayed for the seminar this year and to our visiting teachers from the States!

Finishing up the Muzha Seminar

Jeremy and Whitney — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 02:26:00 +0000

We have completed our third out of four weeks of our annual “Muzha wa Yesu” (slave of Christ) seminar! It has been our best yet. This group of forty men have overcome significant challenges to make this school happen. They’ve sacrifice time, money, and even food to come and be feed spiritually by the Word. After this last week, the men will return to their congregations (who also paid money to help send each student) and teach all that they have learned for the rest of the year. We are seeing great maturity with these leaders. They have really grown in their knowledge of the Word and in their commitment to Christ. I had an especially great time teaching a part of Hebrews. These men relate to the Hebrews in many ways. They face persecutions that could lead to things such as cursing from others, which is a scary thing for these people. Many of our young churches have struggled with people falling back to their old belief system. However, these men are learning to have faith and hope in the better promises of God. I had them list the promises of their past belief system with the promises of God and see which are better. It was a telling class, but they all agreed that God’s promises are better. Of course, it’s easy to say that, but as the writer of Hebrews urges—we must live it. I’m constantly challenged by the faith of these men. They have to make very big decisions to give up the false security of their traditional practices. It certainly challenges me to think on the promises offered in my home culture. Things like putting faith in money, insurances, and comforts of life often times become a temptation. Together with these Zambian men let us all consider the better, lasting promises of God to be better than that which is temporary. Please pray for this final week for these men to have the strength carry on in learning and the courage to take the messages back to their homes.

Blessings - Jeremy

Picture Post!

Jeremy and Whitney — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 02:14:00 +0000

More pictures from the past couple of weeks...

Cuties Gail and Kathryn

Pizza (from scratch of course) with the Mellors!!

Church leaders studying in Ron Roger's class

Do you spy our pink house?


Sweet faces in the Kimplumba village


Brothers (for you Debbie & Meemaw)

Sweet friend's new baby

One Blessing after Another

Erin — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 07:31:00 +0000

It has been a great April so far! The Muzha Wa Yesu (Slave of Jesus) Seminar is almost half way through. The church leaders have been working very hard sitting through classes from 8am-5pm everyday for the past two weeks as they seek to grow in their knowledge of the Word so that they can go back and teach their congregations. We have had three visiting teachers this session from the US. Two of those visiting teachers are from our sending congregation in Chattanooga, TN, Dave and Susan Mellor, and Ron and Gail Rogers. Dave is teaching the Hebrews class while Ron has been teaching on "The heart of an elder." While the seminar has been going on during the day Susan and Gail have been spoiling Whitney and I with many cooking lessons, sewing lessons, and lots of love and attention. It has been such a blessing to see familiar and comforting faces. Today we ladies ventured out to visit the wife of a church leader who is attending the seminar because she has a new addition to her family! Susan brought a handy little picture printer to Zambia so we wanted to take some snap shots of the new baby to gift his Mama with. He is so precious and tiny, and slept through the majority of our visit.

More updates on the Muzha seminar to come!

Week 1

Jeremy and Whitney — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 02:56:00 +0000

The first week of the Muzha wa Yesu (Slave for Jesus) seminar is complete. We have about 40 church leaders here for the month to study more about the Kingdom of God. Our prayers are they take back what they have learned to their congregations. It is going very well so far. There is an excitement for learning in the air!

Ron and Gail Rogers and Dave and Susan Mellor from our supporting congregation came to be a part of the seminar. It has been a wonderful week with them being here. Dave is teaching through Hebrews and Ron is teaching on the Heart of an Elder. Susan and Gail have been spoiling Erin and I and have been joining us in our ministry to the teens and women. Plus, we are doing some cooking lessons with Gail and Susan (we’ve made some amazing bread, doughnuts, chicken and dumplings…all yummy things!)We are just loving having both couples here!

Of course, Dave had to mention that he is not sure he believes that the snakes are really out here. That very night, a gaboon viper was killed on their path to Jason and Erin’s house. Then, the next morning we were all worshiping at Kamponde church, and a snake went crawling up their wall. We all panicked in the middle of the Bible study as we watched it scale the crooked wall. But luckily the Congolese students were with us that morning. They quietly exited the building and the next thing we hear is a loud bang on the roof. The snake was killed, and we could all continue on.

Here are a few pictures of the first week. These are just of the seminar, I know I need to take some of us with the ladies as well!

Thank you for your prayers for these courageous leaders as they seek to leave what is “normal” in their culture and follow the ways of Christ.

Jeremy and Mr. Jikata, who is now able to walk after our truck accident. He has been able to attend the seminar.

God’s Wonderful Ministry

Rick — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 08:00:00 +0000

After working among the Mumena chieftaincy for four years, I have tried, failed, and succeeded in many different attempts of serving God here. However, that experience and time creates a wonderful view of what God is doing.

When I first arrived, I wanted to find all the problems in the community and solve them. However, it didn’t take long to realize I couldn’t do it. I could neither see what the problems really were nor do anything to change reality.

Now, as I have become a part of the community, I have a very different perspective. I can see the reality of life here. In some ways the people are very rich: Socially, both in their extended families and in their community they have very strong relationships. However, in some ways they have true poverty: single parenthood and divorce are rampant.

The only thing I have ever seen make any real difference is when a person allows God to transform his or her life:

I’ve seen drunks and abusive husbands stop drinking and lead their families to Jesus.
I’ve seen “the local bum” who was a joke in the community change to become the elected headman of the entire community.
I’ve seen cowards who were afraid of shadows stand up to evil happening in their villages.
I’ve seen a depressed angry old man become a joyful and respected elder in the village.
I’ve seen young afraid mothers decide to give their children a better life.

No amount of “aid” or development can make those changes in a person’s life. This is God’s ministry: “For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves.” (Colossians 1:13 NIV).

What do I see God doing now?

Now, I have seen some great plans come together that will have a powerful effect on many people:

April Servanthood Seminar

We just finished the 1st week of the April Servanthood Seminar. Thirty-five men who are some of the active leaders and teachers of their congregations have come to continue their training. They each attend 4 classes during 4 weeks to help them become better servant-leaders and teachers of God’s word. This is not like a typical Bible school. Each man has paid his own way and the group can continue using this model to teach each other in the future, even if we outsiders are not involved. This is the fourth year for the seminar and the most impressive as we see the men take charge of all the small things that need to be done.

Audio Bibles

After many years of prayer for this need, God has made a way for it to happen. The Bible Society of Zambia has developed audio bibles for most of the major Zambian languages. They have a program that provides “Proclaimers” to groups who commit to using it seriously. A “Proclaimer” is basically a solar powered audio player with a big speaker.

We have met with the Bible Society and soon we will start training all of the Christians to use Audio Bibles. They will be forming groups of at least 20 people which will include Christians, their family, and their neighbors. They will commit to listen to the entire New Testament over the next year. We plan to begin with between 20-40 groups.

Because literacy is very low, 99% of people (including Christians) have not even read through a single Gospel about Jesus. However, now they will have a tool available to listen to the entire Bible.

I am very excited about this and see it as one of the most important accomplishments that we have helped bring here. This will allow thousands of people to hear God’s word clearly without literacy problems creating confusion.

Home Teaching

This year, we are going to start training Christian parents in how to help train and educate their children. We have always taught the parents that this is important, but they have come back saying, “We don’t know how.” Of course they teach their children how to farm and live in the village, but the relationship doesn’t often go beyond this.

The modern society has pushed most parents to believe that they are unable to teach their children. They are told that education must be done by the professional teachers at the public schools. The problem with this is that the public schools are not working. Failure rates reach 100% most of the time. It is a very difficult problem to overcome with 100 students per teacher.

We can’t do anything to solve the system. However, as a home-school parent I know the power of teaching at home. The Zambian farmers don’t have the time or resources to teach their children full time, but they can make a huge difference. The most successful students have parents who help them with their homework and practice basic skills at home. This is where we want to help the parents.

The parents have skills that they can give their children already. It all comes down to the fundamentals: reading, writing, and arithmetic. It’s interesting that these skills which are a foundation of education are often forgotten here. I have met many high school graduates who cannot add simple numbers.

However, we can help the parents make a difference. By teaching the parents to play simple math games, reading to their children, asking comprehension questions, and spending time showing their children that they love them, we can help transform their lives.

April goodness

Jeremy and Whitney — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 01:53:00 +0000

So many wonderful things to be a part of this month!

Jeremy and I were able to head out to worship with our dear church family at Mushingashi this past Sunday. We hadn’t been to worship with them since early February so we were very excited and anxious to be with them again. This was the church body that walked three hours to greet us after our truck accident, stayed for 15 minutes to hug, kiss and pray over us, and then walked the three hours back. What a blessing to see this church reaching out to others, and we got to be on the other end of that blessing! We were so touched.

The grass has grown just a bit since we had last been out to the area, as you can see not much to see but grass at this point.

Erin and I had a great study with our sweet young friends this week. It is neat because Erin and I have been doing this study for over a year now, and Jeremy and I are now working with the youth at Konkwa church. Most of the girls involved in Erin and I’s Bible study are also part of the new youth program. It’s neat to see their maturity and desire for Jesus. Some of the youth actually came to set up for the church leader’s month long seminar coming up this next week. This was inspiring to see, and we hope by the youth continuing to reach out to their community, it will light the fire for the whole village!

Mr. Jikata, who was with us in the vehicle during the accident, has been released from the hospital!! After 3 weeks, he was able to come home and is walking. Jeremy and I went to welcome him home last night, it was very surreal. He is in great spirits, and I will be taking a picture of him this week, so everyone can see his happy face.

Lastly, we are very excited for the Muzha wa Yesu (Slave for Jesus) seminar beginning on Monday. We have visiting teachers coming in from the states—four people of which are from our supporting congregation East Brainerd—and we are just so excited! We are anxiously awaiting their Saturday arrival.

Please keep the church leaders in your prayers during this next month as they strive to learn and soak up as much as they can. We want this to be a time of spiritual nourishment for them so they can take it back to their congregations all throughout the bush.

Team "Not so Restful" Retreat

Jeremy and Whitney — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 00:11:00 +0000

Our team is back from a retreat we took with Sonny and Eunice Guild, who were visiting from Abilene. Sonny and Eunice trained Jason, Erin, Jeremy and I for a year before we came to Zambia. They came for a two week visit, and it was so wonderful to have them here. We were fortunate to keep them in our home, and they spoiled us with pancakes and chai tea!

Our team packed up last week for a few days away for our team retreat. We were going to be staying in safari tents about five hours from where we live. It was a great few days away from our bushy homes, and we were able to enjoy a lake, wild game and restaurant while we were there. We were also able to reevaluate our work together and how we can encourage each other and be unified in Mumena.

The most hilarious part of the week (not so hilarious at the time) was when half of our team got stuck out in the middle of the game park. Jeremy and I had decided to ride around with the Love family (who also had their four small children with us) to go look for animals around our campsite. We were about three miles from camp when it happened. From this point on, I’ll let Jeremy pick up the story.

I pulled around the dirt road having just seen giraffe, water buck, and a host of other animals when I faced two obstacles that hindered me from returning safely back to camp. The road looked passable, and I was confident I could navigate around the dark, dense mud. As I picked up speed to cross through, I here Whitney yell from the back seat, “Wait I need to role my window up!” Fearing to carry a soggy wife back to my tent, I slowed down to all of our despair. My lack of speed caused my front right wheel to sink into the sodden earth. All 9 of us filed out of the vehicle as Rick and I brainstormed how to get out of this mess. Regretting the choice to wear Chacos, I was ankle deep in mud that was certainly mixed with all sorts of African droppings trying to shove branches under the tires to gain some traction. After many failed attempts, we were rescued by our other teammates who drove up behind us. With ease, their four wheeled savior pulled us from our predicament. Little did the men know as complaints welled up in our minds of our muddiness, the women and children were fighting off a hoard of fire ants running down the dirt path shredding any article of clothing possible to release the stinging buggers. We all recovered from the trauma, piled back in the trucks and made it past our first obstacle. Little did we know that the worst was yet to come. On the other side of the first mud pit stood a large puddle of water hiding unknown depths. I only had one choice. Pass to the right where there was enough visible ground to cross. Rolling up all the windows, I picked up speed and rushed through the mud pit to no avail. We were stuck. Instead of one tire it was all four with jelloy mud up to the axle. Our teammates behind us in the other truck found a clear route and got out in front of us. Safely evacuating our crew, we hooked the truck up and with several tries were unsuccessful. However, we were successful in getting our other vehicle stuck. The African bush is not known for its reliable cell service, and the sun was setting over the landscape, though breathtaking, promised a bit of danger. The only option was for me to run the three miles back to camp to inform our other team members. Leaving 15 people piled in the back of a pick up, I headed out with my little dinky flashlight through the jungle. Well aware of the dangers in the jungle, especially at night, I ran pretty fast. Huffing and puffing through the jungle with rubbed-raw feet, one hand holding my heavy with mud pants up and yelling every 10 yards to scare off any wild animals in my path, I’m knew I looked like easy prey to be devoured. Sure I was going to die from exhaustion, I kept thinking of my wife and the women and children depending on me for their survival. I trekked on. Wadding through a knee high crocodile inhabited river, stepping in various types of poo, and wrapped in spider webs I finally saw a light in the distance that pushed me the last mile of my 3.5 mile run, which I was ill prepared for to say the least. I arrived back at camp, arranged transport for my team, a tractor for the trucks, and was relieved to see my wife had survived the event. We returned with a good story, then I crashed in bed only to wake up with Malaria!

This is a true story written from my brave husband’s perspective! We are safe now back in Kaondeland and are preparing for our month long church leader seminar.

Thanks for keeping up!

With our family and teammates, Jason & Erin, at the team retreat.

Nsobe Game Camp Team Retreat

Erin — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 05:32:00 +0000

Last week our team of 3 apprentice families and 2 full time missionary families, along with Sonny and Eunice Guild from the Halbert Institute of Missions at ACU traveled to the Nsobe Game Camp in Ndola for a team retreat. The retreat focused on team dynamics and missionary care. The Halbert Institute works with many mission teams all around the world and we were so blessed by our time with Sonny and Eunice. Jeremy, Whitney, Jason, and I trained with Halbert before we moved to Zambia so to be reunited with our Abilene mentors was so encouraging. While at Nsobe we had a little free time to explore the wildlife around. We ran into several little vervet monkeys, a few antelope species, and a pied kingfisher bird. Above are just a few pics I snapped along the way!

Church Report–Lunsala

Rick — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 09:00:00 +0000

Lunsala is doing their best to be a faithful church in spite of loosing some members to denominationalism. Even though they are only a few, they continue to come to worship on Sundays and Bible study on Tuesdays.

They have finished all the brick work and the walls of their new building. They are now preparing to build the trusses for the roof. Once that is finished they plan to put on the iron sheets. Please pray for these people that they will not lose heart.

- Sam & Ellie

A little here and there

Erin — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 04:36:00 +0000

I got to sit behind this precious little one during worship yesterday. Often children from the Kampande church meet us at the door ready for their handshakes. Mrs. Kasono brings the great majority of them with her each week. Some are her own children but many of them are orphans she has taken in. I remember one week seeing her hand each of them (around 10 children) kwacha to tithe, such a sweet scene. Jason and I both love seeing their happy smiling faces each week. They like to sit extremely close to me during the service which sometimes makes me feel squished but I always get a kick out of their natural rythum during chorus songs being so much better than mine!

In the past I have been given a jokingly hard time by teammates about adding random pictures of flowers from our garden to my blog posts. It kind of made me think about if they were necessary but then I concluded...I like flowers/gardening, taking pictures, and taking pictures of flowers/garden scenery, so I will continue on. : ) Our rainy season will be coming to end in in May so I won't have near as many blooms to admire in a couple months anyway. Below is an amethyst plant ( I have been patiently waiting for it to bloom for what seems like FOREVER) and one of the blooms on one of our rose plants.

Our entire team leaves tomorrow morning for a team retreat at Nsobe Game Park in Ndola (about 4 hours away) for a few days. We will get to stay in little safari tents, go on fun game drives, canoe, and spend lots of good quality fun time together. I think we will all appreciate the relaxing time away and hopefully come back to Mumena refreshed and ready for the coming months!

Thankful

Erin — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 13:47:00 +0000

Today I write with a thankful heart for Jeremy and Whitney. They have had an abnormally rough week dealing with the results of a traumatic car accident. We are so thankful the Lord was watching over them and that they are okay. In order to give some reassurance to others that love them I awkwardly made them let me take a couple pictures of them today. : )

Jeremy and Whitney, we love you and are so blessed to be able to share our first years in Africa with you!

Congregation Report–Sandañombe Preaching Point

Rick — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 08:30:00 +0000

Some who want to know the truth at Sandañombe

On Monday afternoon December 27, 2011, we were finishing a Bible study at Kanda-kanda when we were approached by a kind and friendly man named Lufwaiya. As we continued to talk, we invited him to the next week's Bible study but he replied that he was just passing by on his way home to Sandañombe. Then he pleaded with us to come to his village (10k farther) and do a Bible study there with his family and friends.

Since then we have been involved in this new preaching point on Thursdays and it is going very well. The number of people varies from ten to fifteen adults and many children.

During our visits with him and his wife, we have learned he is a group leader in his village and is well respected in the community. Please join us in prayer that this work will endure the many months of Bible study it takes to plant a New Testament church there.

- Sam & Ellie

Clueless for a title name?

Jeremy and Whitney — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 04:05:00 +0000

Dear Friends,

I’ve been a bit out of touch with our blog recently, but with all that is going on the last thing I want to do is stop writing about our journey.

We have been so blessed with encouragement and prayers this past month, and I want to say thank you for it. This year has started off a bit unexpectedly for Jeremy and I, but we are very thankful for our lives this year.

In February, we made the decision to fly to South Africa for a few weeks of doctor visits. I had been having some trouble with a certain bacteria that had been stubbornly living in my body. After lots of antibiotics we were able to get rid of it and the pain has cleared up completely. We also were told this bacteria cannot do any damage to me physically if I were to get it again. It was a great time of reassurance and peace of mind.

However, two days after we had arrived back to Zambia, Jeremy and I were in a severe car accident that totaled the truck we were driving. The vehicle had flipped over and in the process, our dear Zambian friend who was in the backseat flew out the window. God was with us because we were able to get out of the truck with only scratches and bruises and quickly assist our friend who was on the side of the road. We are both extremely soar, but very thankful to be ok. Our friend, Mr. Jikata, is in the hospital. He does not have any broken bones, which we are so thankful for. However, he is still having intense back pain and his head was hit hard. Jeremy was able to go see him yesterday and the first words he said, as he was laying in his hospital bed were, “God was with us.”

We have been surrounded by our teammates, Zambians and special guests who just so happened to be arriving from the states the same day. Thank you for your prayers. We are very thankful.

We know this will be a process to heal from our pain and shock, but we feel very supported, and more than anything relieved that our friend will be ok.

Thank you for keeping us in your prayers. We love you all.

Whitney and Jeremy

MISSIONARY JOURNEY: Sam Rodriguez

Brian — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 01:23:00 +0000

“But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.” 2 Timothy 4:5 NIV

Sam Rodriguez is experiencing what happens to a missionary apprentice when one combines the gift of prayer with the heart of evangelizing: preaching points! Preaching points are groups of people who invite a missionary to present the Word of God to them on a weekly basis. Out of preaching points grow our church plants. Sam has discovered that there are no guarantees in regards to preaching points. Sometimes people show-up; sometimes they don’t. Some people reject the Word; some put on Jesus in baptism. Regardless, the duties must be discharged!

“But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed…” 2 Timothy 4:17 NIV

Because of Christ,

Brian, Sondra, Noah, & Bryson

Pictured above: apprentice Sam Rodriguez.

Gemnogene Stalking

Erin — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 11:30:00 +0000

Since living in Africa Jason has become quite the bird identifier. Today we saw a huge bird circling around the pine forest, well actually we first heard the chickens in a huge uproar, then we spotted it. Jason ran to get his binoculars as I ran for the camera then we went off stalking it for a good look. As I type this story I realize just how limited our entertainment is here. Turns out, it was a gymnogene bird. It took a lot of creeping to finally get a picture of it, and even then it was from really far away so the pictures are really blurry. But, without furthur ado, here it is...

They have a great hair-do! We love getting to see animals we wouldn't get to see at home in States. It always feels so adventurous. : )

Happy Wednesday from us and Mr. Gemnognene!

JW & JE Newsletter

Jeremy and Whitney — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 23:56:00 +0000

I was just taught by Erin how to upload our newsletters to our blog. So I'll make sure I start uploading these each month. Thanks Erin :) This is a newsletter created by Jason, Erin, Jeremy and I for our supporting congregation, friends and family to know what's going on in Zambia. Just click on each page and then use the magnifying glass to zoom in and read.

Since we passed up our one year mark in January, we wanted to review our first year in Zambia and give our direction for the second year. Hope you enjoy!

Davis Newsletter

Erin — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 05:05:00 +0000

Here is our newest newsletter. It has a time line of events from our first year then our goals for our second year in Mumena. Just click on each page then use the magnifying glass to zoom in and read. Or, if you would like to be on our email list just comment and let us know. : )

Village Music

Erin — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 02:39:00 +0000

Yesterday Jason and I went to Konkwa village and while we were there we visited this very talented blind gentleman. Jeremy and Whitney are good friends with his family so I had heard about how inspiring he is before but getting to see him in action...playing hymns on his hand crafted instrument while softly singing was such a sweet experience. I wish I could have videoed him and shared that but unfortunately it would have taken a really really long time with the speed of our internet

to upload a video plus I am not too handy with video

recording : ). Instead here are few pictures....

Thought this might be encouraging for some to see today!

"This is the work of the Eternal One,

and it is marvelous in our eyes.

This is the day the Eternal God has made;

let us celebrate and be happy today."

Psalm 118:23-24

Happy Sunday!

Team Blog Summary–January 2012

Rick — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 10:00:00 +0000

Below is a summary of our team’s blogs for January. Click on a title to go to the full article.

Team

Congregation Report - Mumbezhi Church of Christ
This year we have tried to stress the need for each congregation to grow via evangelism. In a land where truth is relative and ecumenicalism is embraced as “right”, evangelism pushes people out of their comfort zone. Thus accepting this great work of the church is a challenge for our young church plants. The Mumbezhi congregation is actually outside of the Mumena Chieftaincy and is pretty far out in the bush. The majority are from different tribes, Lunda and a few Congolese. Mumbezhi, however, has…

Brian & Sondra Davis

MISSIONARY JOURNEY: Erin Davis
“but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord .” Joshua 24:15 KJV In a land ruled by fear of the dead members of one’s own family, one of the first tasks of the missionary is to help establish Christian homes. Erin has a passion for helping families along the journey of becoming more Christ-like day by day. Conversion to the Lordship of Christ is just the first step. Letting Christ permeate our most private relationships and thoughts is a lifelong…

MISSIONARY JOURNEY: Apprenticeship Team Work
“… neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.” Leviticus 11:44 KJV Our apprenticeship team work skills were put to the test recently when Whitney came from our boys room and mentioned that she had just seen the largest wall spider in her life. As the old missionary, I condescendingly told her that “wall spiders are our friends”. That is missionary speak for “Whitney, get a grip.” However, when Noah & Bryson began “ooing…

Jeremy & Whitney Davis

Waiting
I've been reading Mike Cope's book, Megan's Secrets . Mike Cope was the preacher for my church growing up and his wife was a mentor of mine. The book is about the life and death of their mentally disabled daughter and what she taught Mike about life. I have enjoyed remembering Megan, who was just a couple years older than me. I remember one time when my mom wanted me, as a 7 year old at the time, to understand God better, so she took me to stop by and visit Megan. I didn't understand it at the…

Growing in the Bush
As I am feeling a bit sentimental about passing up our one year mark in Zambia, I thought today I would share a bit about our experience with the Mushingashi church. It's hard to believe we have already lived here throughout a full year. When we arrived in Zambia last January, our team divided out church plants that we would all work with. One of the churches Jeremy and I were assigned was Mushingashi. They were struggling and needed encouragement- strung out in the bush and isolated, poor…
Guest Post!
I haven't been the best blogger since the new year, but there are reasons for that. Jeremy and I were stuck in Lusaka, Zambia's capital city, last week with some truck problems with Toyota. So, I will be catching up this week. However, I wanted to share Brian Davis' post he wrote for our team blog last week. Brian is my husband's uncle and our mentor since we have arrived on the field. He has been a missionary in Africa for many, many years. This blog post is just too good not to share.…

Zambian New Years
New Years is the Kaonde tribe's most important holiday of the year. Jeremy and I spent New Years day celebrating with Konkwa church. We woke up early to begin our bicycle ride to Konkwa to join them in their worship service. The church service was encouraging for Jeremy and I. At the end of the four hour service, everyone was still very attentive. My favorite part, besides my sweet friend's baby that fell asleep in my arms for two hours and who's snore was the loudest part of the service, was…

Jason & Erin Davis

Sunday Encouragement and Monday Kiddos
Sunday Encouragment: Yesterday we witnessed a wonderful testimony by one of the church leaders from the Kampande church. Aaron was preaching about the blessings that come with being in the Light and focused on the blessing of not having to live in fear of witchcraft, as many here do. He told us that his wife was having health problems recently so his mother-in-law advised for their family to move because she believed there were too many witches in the area and that is why Aaron's wife was having health…

1st First Year Reflection
A year ago Jason, Jeremy, Whitney, Sam, Ellie, and I all stepped off a plane into a foreign country with a new culture and language much different than our own to begin our two year apprentiships with Jason's uncle Brian and his wife Sondra. Our first year as apprentices has given us the freedom to learn about the culture, build relationships, and explore how our gifts can best be used to serve the Lord through our work with the Kanode people. Although this year has been filled with new and at times…

Fun in Livingstone!
Jason and I have spent the last few days with my parents in Livingstone. It was such a great trip filled with lots of fun and good family time. We went on a day safari at Chobe Naitonal Park, visited Victoria Falls (always seems as amazing as the first time I saw it), and went rafting on the Zambezi River. Mom and Dad left this morning to head back to Texas and Jason and I will head back to Mumena tomorrow morning. What a blessing it was to see my parents for a couple weeks. They were such troopers, it was…

Praise Through Tears

Rick — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 10:00:00 +0000

Right now, Rick along with many of the team are driving to the Mukwemba village.

Alek Mukwemba (far right) with his friends:
Simoni Peyela Sr., Gosper Mofya, and Harry Jikata (left to right)

One of our dear and closest brothers Alek Mukwemba just passed away. He was one of the village leaders, a church leader at Konwka, and a strong Christian influence in the community. He was a strong and radient light for the Lord. He would stand up for his God even if all those around him refused to do what was right.

Alek once lived in darkness. He was an alcoholic and focused on the gains of this world until a few years ago. Then, his life was changed forever. With God at his side, he changed all his ways and gained the love and respect of the comunity.

We praise God that Alek fought the good fight and won the race and is now one of the many that will get to finally be with his great and wonderful Maker. Praise God from whom all blessings flow and Alek is one of those blessings. God's love flowed through Mukwemba's life until the day he died.

We all will go through a tearful time missing our dear brother and fellow worker for the Lord. Please pray for his dear wife and their children and grandchildren as they will have to go through a time of greaving and healing. Please pray that his family will stand strong and lean on the Lord for strength and comfort and not on certain traditions that involve witchcraft and it's evils. Please pray for strength for all the Christians here.

In God's gentle, comforting, and quiet strength
- Karen

MISSIONARY JOURNEY: Ellie Rodriguez

Brian — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 06:01:00 +0000

"Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 19:14 NKJV

Ellie has a heart big enough for every child she meets! And she sets up Bible studies with most of those. One of the big missionary skills that Ellie is mastering is that missionaries have to work through the hands of Christian adults in order for our works to be indigenous and sustainable. Add to this challenge the low level of literacy among our women of the Kaonde tribe, and one sees how difficult this task can be. A lack of literacy causes women to fear using the Bible; many would prefer Ellie to just teach the classes for the children. But Ellie has to use tough love to insist that the women of the church plants “stir up their gifts” and learn to teach their own children. Missionaries have to work ourselves out of a job. The gratifying aspect of this approach is twofold:

1. We will be able to reach another dark corner of the world with the light of the Gospel.

2. Long after we are gone, those we have trained will still be teaching the words of Jesus in their village!

Taking the long view,

Brian, Sondra, Noah, & Bryson

Pictured above: Ellie teaching ladies how to teach their own children from the Bible.

MISSIONARY JOURNEY: Whitney Davis

Brian — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 05:56:00 +0000

“If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him." John 14:7 NASB

The first time I became aware of Whitney’s gifting in communication was with the myriad of communiqués that we had to process for the U.S. Ambassador to Zambia as he visited Mumena Christian Outreach Center. Among the Kaonde, communication hinges on relationships. As Christians, our communication with the Divine hinges on our covenant relationship with our Savior. It is always amazing to watch Whitney using her communication skills as she forms relationships with the lowliest to the greatest. Whitney has a gift for using those relationships for the missionary skill of introducing people to Jesus!

Building eternal relationships,

Brian, Sondra, Noah, & Bryson

Pictured above: Whitney greeting the U.S. Ambassador to Zambia.

MISSIONARY JOURNEY: Jeremy Davis

Brian — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 05:10:00 +0000

“And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be?” Luke 8:9 KJV

One of the skills of a missionary that must be taught to an apprentice is “how to ask the right questions”. Jeremy is certainly gifted with this quality. I don’t believe that I have ever had so many books open at the same time - in order to answer Jeremy’s questions - as I have had over the last 11 months. Come to think of it, I don’t think that I have ever had as many of the books in my library on loan at one time as I have this year with Jeremy around! This insatiable desire to “know” is only matched by Jeremy’s passion to teach. And because he asks the right questions of the people in the village, Jeremy is mastering the missionary skill of “contextualization”… the finding of the right words in the local language and culture to communicate the Biblical meaning of a passage of scripture.

“For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” Luke 11:10 NIV

Trying to keep up,

Brian, Sondra, Noah, & Bryson

Pictured above: Jeremy teaching in our annual Bible college for church leaders.

Love Family–Looking for Homeschool Teachers

Rick — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 08:39:00 +0000

We are looking for potential home school teachers to come and help us teach our children. Please, spread the word and share this with anyone who might be interested in coming to Mumena and living here for a period (3 months – 9 months).

All the information and an interest form is at this page on our family blog: http://lovefamilymissions.blogspot.com/p/home-school-teacher-for-our-children.html

Avocados

Erin — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 11:39:00 +0000

We have a huge avocado tree in our backyard the produces enough fruit to feed many families. At night Jason and I often wake up to loud thuds that come from the sometimes 1 lb avocados falling on the ground. One of my favorite parts about having the tree is little ones who often come to the door and politely ask if they can take some home. They load them up in their shirts and take off running with them, usually dropping a few along the way then running back to pick them up. It is about the cutest thing you could ever see. Today we had two groups of little ones coming to collect the green treats. Jason climbed up in the tree and knocked them down for them to catch and they were trilled! Just thought I would make a quick post to give a visual of the excitement something as simple as an avocado can cause!

Congregation Report–The Church at Kankuwa

Rick — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:30:00 +0000

The Christians at Kankuwa are excited about following Jesus and bringing others to Him.
For the past month, we have been practicing personal evangelism. During the weekly Bible study on Tuesday, each person takes a turn reading and leading a discussion as if he was teaching his family and friends in the village. They enjoy these practice sessions because it makes them see that each Christian has the ability to bring others to Christ. The men are learning how to teach other men and the women how to teach other women. Those who can read are willing to help those who can’t so they can both work together to reach others.
This is an exciting time to see how God is working through them. I have been working with Kankuwa for over three years. Through that time I have seen them grow from young Christians with much confusion, to soldiers of Christ who are willing to take a strong stand for Biblical truth.
For example, during the Bible study yesterday, I had little need to say much. As I was listening to them discuss the scriptures, I had a few different important thoughts to contribute. However, before I had a chance to say anything, one of them would make the same point.
I enjoy the encouragement and love that comes from brothers and sisters who are all trying to follow Christ together.
- Rick & Karen Love

Waiting

Jeremy and Whitney — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 09:42:00 +0000

I've been reading Mike Cope's book, Megan's Secrets. Mike Cope was the preacher for my church growing up and his wife was a mentor of mine. The book is about the life and death of their mentally disabled daughter and what she taught Mike about life. I have enjoyed remembering Megan, who was just a couple years older than me. I remember one time when my mom wanted me, as a 7 year old at the time, to understand God better, so she took me to stop by and visit Megan. I didn't understand it at the time, I thought perhaps I was suppose to be “doing a good deed” for Megan. What I later realized was I was the one who was being taught by Megan and by my mother. I had been the recipient of the good deed.

Mike refers to the idea of "waiting" in his book. I have been thinking about this idea of waiting this morning. Waiting is something that our American culture struggles with—we’ve got to learn how to wait, to practice waiting. As I look to see the fingerprints of God here in Zambia, in the Kaonde tribe, I notice that waiting is a God-given trait that they have accomplished. These people could wait all day long...and more. I have lived here for over a year now and am still shocked every day by how they can wait. They don’t have vehicles so they don’t mind waiting all day long for a taxi or for a truck to drive by that may or may not give them a ride. They don’t mind waiting to start church for an hour or two if they know their family members are still on the way. They don’t mind waiting on food to be prepared- every meal they eat takes about 1 ½ hours to prepare. So why is it that they can have the patience to wait and I can’t? I think of the verse in Romans, “Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.” This is a gift that can go unseen, but it speaks to those who may have little possessions but have much to hope for. In Mumena, Zambia there is a lot of waiting going on. I tell Jeremy over and over, I think what I have learned most (out of a very long list of things) has been the baby steps of learning patience and the art of waiting. Nothing happens fast here. We have had a broken truck for the past 6 months and guess what...it is still broken. It is a minor problem that could be fixed in the states within one visit to Toyota, but not here. Even when Jeremy and I went to the capital city which is suppose to be modern, the power went off on us in a movie theater, our first chance to see a movie in a long, long time. It didn’t come back on for several hours. I leaned over and told Jeremy, “if we were in the states, people would be extremely mad right now.”

I am thankful that God has me practicing patience, has me stopping to wait. After 4 pm here each day, everyone goes home to their huts in the bush. All of the lights go off, and there is nothing left to do. Sometimes you are just waiting for the night to be over and for day to begin again. So drastically different from my life at home. But wow, the blessings that have come from that nothingness at night. I have spent more time with my husband than I ever had. I believe God has something to teach me through the Kaonde people, just as he had something to teach me through the life of Megan Cope. These people that I live in community with hold the secret to waiting. They are waiting for something better. If they do know the Lord, I’ll tell you they are minute-by-minute waiting on Him. What else is there for them here? This world is not their home. There is the anticipation for something better.

“I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope. I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning.” Psalm 130:5-6

A few pictures of my flowers, planted back in November. You have to find a hobby here. This has been one of mine, and oh the joy that came in waiting! They are finally here and blooming!

Sunday Encouragement and Monday Kiddos

Erin — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 04:44:00 +0000

Sunday Encouragment:

Yesterday we witnessed a wonderful testimony by one of the church leaders from the Kampande church. Aaron was preaching about the blessings that come with being in the Light and focused on the blessing of not having to live in fear of witchcraft, as many here do. He told us that his wife was having health problems recently so his mother-in-law advised for their family to move because she believed there were too many witches in the area and that is why Aaron's wife was having health problems. With a joyful smile on his face he told us that he does not fear witchcraft and instead of moving to a new place he and his wife were turning to the Lord for care and comfort. What an encouragement it was to see the faithfulness of this church leader and his family.

Monday Kiddos:

One of my good friends here, who is a teacher, has been working very hard decorating the walls of her classroom so I wanted to show my appreciation for her devotion to her classroom by stopping by this morning to visit her and her kiddos. The children in her class are so obedient and respectful of visitors. When I walked in they stood up and said in unison, "Good Morning Madam." As I sat for a short while I took a few pictures of some of the sweet faces that are influenced by this devoted teacher everyday. I am so thankful for Zambian teachers who truly want to make a change in the lives of the children they teach.

Happy Monday from Mumena!

Growing in the Bush

Jeremy and Whitney — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 23:14:00 +0000

As I am feeling a bit sentimental about passing up our one year mark in Zambia, I thought today I would share a bit about our experience with the Mushingashi church. It's hard to believe we have already lived here throughout a full year. When we arrived in Zambia last January, our team divided out church plants that we would all work with. One of the churches Jeremy and I were assigned was Mushingashi. They were struggling and needed encouragement- strung out in the bush and isolated, poor leadership within the congregation and struggling with extreme mental poverty. In the coming months, the seed that had been planted within the church was growing. Two of the leaders were able to come to our month long seminar for all church leaders. At the seminar last April, the oldest church leader present and one of the Mushingashi leaders, Ezron, stood up and said he was convicted. He looked around at his 40 other Kaonde brothers and said, "We have got to start relying on God. We cannot rely on the mzungu (white person) anymore. We are not beggars." From there, things changed at Mushingashi. They felt a sense of ownership and excitement. We have been joining them in weekly Bible studies for one year now, and there are about 4 men and 4 women who are there every time. Now, one year later, they have their church built, with their own sweat and tears. Yesterday at our Bible study we finally felt ready to go down the road, even more into the bush, to a new place which is hoping to hear the gospel. In two weeks, Jeremy and I will go with the Mushingashi church on a journey to preach the good news to a new people. What joy it is to see a church ready to take the word to a new place and start up a Bible study in a village that could eventually turn in to its own church. I was feeling overwhelmed yesterday, as I sat surrounded by my brothers and sisters. Thinking back over the year, I looked around the room at the beautiful, dedicated sons and daughters of a King. One year ago, we were unsure if the church in Mushingashi would last, and now they are going out to help form new churches. The Lord is faithful.

Mushingashi's church hut

Ezron sweeping the floor, preparing for Bible study

the faithful women

Team Blog Summary – December 2011

Rick — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 11:46:00 +0000

Here is a summary of our team’s blogs for December. Click on a title to go to the full article.

Brian & Sondra Davis

MISSIONARY JOURNEY: Jason Davis, apprentice
“and all the people came early in the morning to hear him at the temple.” Luke 21:38 NIV An apprentice has to choose a mentor. (I am always humbled when someone puts that level of trust in my hands.) Apprentices also get to choose when they will accept mentoring. Jason has a habit of showing up early in the morning. This impresses me to no end! Not only does he understand the finer points of coffee consumption, but frankly, my mind works better in…

MISSIONARY JOURNEY: Mentoring
“What you have heard me teach publicly you should teach to others. Share these teachings with people you can trust. Then they will be able to teach others these same things.” 2 Timothy 2:2 ERV One of the great joys of missionary life is when one gets the opportunity to mentor an apprentice over a 2 year period. I was fortunate to have this experience in my formation as a young missionary and have endeavored to return the favor. Prior to this year, I have…

MISSIONARY JOURNEY: Servant hood Leadership
“…and whosoever would be first among you, shall be servant of all.” Mark 10:44 ASV Every once in a while, a missionary gets to see the fruit. While at a women’s Bible school training seminar among the Congolese refugees, we witnessed Congolese church leaders cooking and preparing a meal for the ladies of the congregation. They had built their little grass kitchen, prepared a traditional meal, and even washed all of the dishes. After the seminar, I asked the…

Rick & Karen Love

Needed: Home School Teacher
We just put up some information about our need for a home school teacher for our children. You might be interested or know someone else who could do this. Please see the following page for more information: Home School Teacher for Our Children

Pigs, Prayer, Praise, and Power
Our growing family is healthy and growing well. Caleb now has two and a half teeth and I call him our little snagle tooth. Even with teeth coming in for the most part he's a very contented little boy. Emily is well also. She's our little pink, poofy dress, wedding veil (piece of old mosquito net), princess shoes, singing, little darling. She loves to put layer upon layer upon layer of skirts (in the middle of our hot season) to make her dresses as big as possible. But under all those layers of…

Jeremy & Whitney Davis

Christmas or “Kimishish” in KiKaonde
We are two weeks shy of having lived in Zambia for one year.That is so hard to believe. Part of me feels like we just got here and anotherpart of me feels like I can’t even remember what carpet looks like or what DietCoke tastes like. Anyways, this post is not about our one year mark, that willcome later. Jeremy and I have been married for three years now, and wehave only been home for one Christmas so far in our marriage. Our Jamaican honeymoonfell on Christmas and now our third Christmas together…

Three Years
Three years ago today, I became Mrs. Jeremy Davis! It has been an incredible three years. I am blessed and so thankful. How do you put in to words what your marriage means to you? I don't know, but these three years have been the years I've loved the most and grown the most. We are blessed.

Fields and Christmas
After the day I had yesterday I am so grateful for a God that is so much bigger than me. I am thankful for his hand which is stretched out over those I cannot reach and over things I simply do not and will not understand. I am thankful that he is with my 91 year old grandmother as she fights back pains in Rome, GA and is having to take an unexpected 30 day stint in a live-in rehab to heal. I miss her and wish I could sit with and listen to her stories to pass the time, but God is there. On the opposite end…

Sunday Blessings
Yesterday we had a full and rewarding day. Jason, Erin,Jeremy and I all set off for the refugee camp for church. We were going toworship at Rd. 68 church because one of Jeremy and Jason’s close friends hadjust lost his baby. Very tragic situation, but all too common in Zambia. The service was great as usual. Rd. 68 church of Christ isone of the oldest churches we have worked with, and they are all Congolese.They get VERY involved in worship: loud clapping like you’ve never heard beforeand singing…

Jason & Erin Davis

Mini Update
It has been quite a while since we have given an update. We have been very busy lately having fun with my visiting parents and holiday festivities. Here a few pictures from the past few weeks! We have been having some beautiful sunsets! Ellie hosted a missionary ladies tea time a few days before Christmas. She made each of us our own little gingerbread dolls that had different hair colors. We had to go around to each doll to find our where we were sitting based on the doll that looked like us! So…

Newsletter!!
After several days of technical difficulties we were finally able to send out a new newsletter! Here it is...click on an image of a page then right click and choose "view image." That will open the image to a widow where you will automatically have the magnifying glass as your cursor. Use the magnifying glass tool to zoom in and read the articles. I hope that isn't too confusing. If it is, comment on the bottom with your email address so we can add you to our email list! Happy Holidays from…

1st First Year Reflection

Erin — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 12:12:00 +0000

A year ago Jason, Jeremy, Whitney, Sam, Ellie, and I all stepped off a plane into a foreign country with a new culture and language much different than our own to begin our two year apprentiships with Jason's uncle Brian and his wife Sondra. Our first year as apprentices has given us the freedom to learn about the culture, build relationships, and explore how our gifts can best be used to serve the Lord through our work with the Kanode people. Although this year has been filled with new and at times difficult experiences, God has blessed us throughout with his steadfast love and mercy. This month we hope to make a few blog posts with refelctions of our first year. Here is our 1st first year reflection:

Some of the ladies from the Kampande congregation

This morning Jason and I rode our bikes to worship with the Kampande congregation, whom we have spent many Sunday's with other the past year. I remember sitting with our team around this time last year talking about the congregations we were the most interested in getting to know. Jason and I were eager to worship with and encourage our brothers and sisters at Kampande because Jason knew he would be working in Ag projects on-site and they are the second closest congregation to the outreach center. Kampande is a small group made up of some of the most loving and humble people Jason and I have had the privilege of working with. They have faithful leaders and a wonderful group of devoted women. In the coming year they really want to work at reaching out to the lost in their community and want to grow in their knowledge of how to best reach them. This morning the church discussed having a once a month campfire devotional where they could invite their friends and family. We are very excited about this program being carried out. Hopefully over the next year we will have updates about seeds being planted by the Kampande church members!

Guest Post!

Jeremy and Whitney — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 22:08:00 +0000

I haven't been the best blogger since the new year, but there are reasons for that. Jeremy and I were stuck in Lusaka, Zambia's capital city, last week with some truck problems with Toyota. So, I will be catching up this week. However, I wanted to share Brian Davis' post he wrote for our team blog last week. Brian is my husband's uncle and our mentor since we have arrived on the field. He has been a missionary in Africa for many, many years. This blog post is just too good not to share. Enjoy!

Team Work, by Brian Davis

“… neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.” Leviticus 11:44 KJV

Our apprenticeship team work skills were put to the test recently when Whitney came from our boys room and mentioned that she had just seen the largest wall spider in her life. As the old missionary, I condescendingly told her that “wall spiders are our friends”. That is missionary speak for “Whitney, get a grip.” However, when Noah & Bryson began “ooing and ahing”, I thought that I had better check it out. To my surprise a King Baboon Tarantula was perched high up on the boys’ bathroom wall. Now we had a problem.

Surrounded by able bodied apprentices, I felt a bit put upon when they looked to me, the mentor, for the proper response. Theologically believing that all arachnids are a direct result of the fall of man, I was none too happy about having to demonstrate my superior missionary skills in this particular situation. Add to this that our “Ag apprentice” (Jason) is also a firm believer in the un-holiness of all spiders, and my back-up troops were thinning. Taking my favorite fly swatter (steel reinforced with leather covering), Jason helped me up on to the bath room counter top… after which he promptly left the room. As Sondra mentored Erin on how to give lots of advice from the adjoining room, I approached within striking distance of the tarantula. Striking it with all of my force, I managed to send the thing flying across the room towards Sondra and Erin. (Enter Jeremy with his high school football ethic kicking-in.) Grabbing a 5 gallon bucket, Jeremy managed to catch the beast on the fly – and in one fluid movement, dumped it into the commode.

I don’t remember who flushed – God bless them – as I was struggling with a series of shiver spasms. Whitney, bless her heart, was desperately trying to suppress her gag reflex. And as Sondra and Erin struggled with their feelings of “If he had done it correctly, it would NOT have come flying towards us!”, I thought to myself, “What a team!”

Congregation Report - Mumbezhi Church of Christ

Rick — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 07:59:00 +0000

This year we have tried to stress the need for each congregation to grow via evangelism. In a land where truth is relative and ecumenicalism is embraced as “right”, evangelism pushes people out of their comfort zone. Thus accepting this great work of the church is a challenge for our young church plants.

The Mumbezhi congregation is actually outside of the Mumena Chieftaincy and is pretty far out in the bush. The majority are from different tribes, Lunda and a few Congolese. Mumbezhi, however, has been excited about evangelism. After teaching about the Gospel for several months, one Sunday when we arrived the congregation announced that 11 people wanted to put on Jesus in baptism. What a joy!

We pray that all of our young churches will grow in this value and skill.
- Brian & Sondra

MISSIONARY JOURNEY: Erin Davis

Brian — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 05:47:00 +0000

“but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord .” Joshua 24:15 KJV

In a land ruled by fear of the dead members of one’s own family, one of the first tasks of the missionary is to help establish Christian homes. Erin has a passion for helping families along the journey of becoming more Christ-like day by day. Conversion to the Lordship of Christ is just the first step. Letting Christ permeate our most private relationships and thoughts is a lifelong process. One of the missionary skills Erin has been studying is how to challenge a “pagan worldview” (how a culture in the world views reality) with the worldview of the culture of God. This is a particularly difficult skill to become comfortable with because we as missionaries have to hold up our own cultural worldview to God’s way of seeing reality in order to help another culture do the same. This skill is important because if a person isn’t thinking within the parameters of what God says is real, a person will be hard pressed to make a faith decision concerning those divine realities. What all missionaries ultimately discover is that it is just as painful for a missionary to go through this as it is for a lost person to go through it.

“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." John 8:32 NKJV

It is absolutely worth it, though!

Brian, Sondra, Noah, & Bryson

Pictured above: Erin teaching ladies about the first family.

MISSIONARY JOURNEY: Apprenticeship Team Work

Brian — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 23:26:00 +0000

“… neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.” Leviticus 11:44 KJV

- Brian

Pictured above: Citharischius crawshayi (bites cause sharp pain accompanied with hallucinations)

Fun in Livingstone!

Erin — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 11:11:00 +0000

Jason and I have spent the last few days with my parents in Livingstone. It was such a great trip filled with lots of fun and good family time. We went on a day safari at Chobe Naitonal Park, visited Victoria Falls (always seems as amazing as the first time I saw it), and went rafting on the Zambezi River. Mom and Dad left this morning to head back to Texas and Jason and I will head back to Mumena tomorrow morning. What a blessing it was to see my parents for a couple weeks. They were such troopers, it was their first trip overseas and coming to Zambia isn't the easiest first overseas travel experience. I miss them both already but am so thankful for the time we had together this month! Here a few pictures from the safari and rafting.

Rafting on the Zambezi River:

It is high water season right now so we had to get out and walk around one of the rapids (it was a class 6). The rest of the 18 rapids ranged from class 3-5. Lots of fun!

We love this picture because Dad claims when we flipped on this rapid Jason pushed him in...in-law abuse. From the looks of this picture (Jason and Dad are in the front) that may have just happened! Mom is in the back next the guide and I am behind Jason...falling to what felt like a near death experience.

The arm you see sticking up in the middle is mine. This photo was taken just before the raft landed on my head and I was trapped underneath the boat until the guide pulled me out. That was a first! : ) But we all survived and have some great memories!

Zambian New Years

Jeremy and Whitney — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 04:26:00 +0000

New Years is the Kaonde tribe's most important holiday of the year. Jeremy and I spent New Years day celebrating with Konkwa church. We woke up early to begin our bicycle ride to Konkwa to join them in their worship service. The church service was encouraging for Jeremy and I. At the end of the four hour service, everyone was still very attentive. My favorite part, besides my sweet friend's baby that fell asleep in my arms for two hours and who's snore was the loudest part of the service, was when it came time for the church to reflect on what they are thankful for. They each take a moment to stand up from the small log they are using for a seat to share how God has blessed them in the past year. It is humbling when you watch the oldest mama in the church quietly stand in her place and speak to the group about her blessings. She is well in to her 80s, walks two miles to church every morning and has outlived most of her children. Yet she is thankful for family and for a God that she is faithful to every Sunday. It was a pretty amazing moment.
After service, it was time to eat. The pictures can tell the rest of the story. There are thankful, happy people all over the world. God is working, even in places where we might feel a bit uncomfortable with the living conditions or where poverty strikes hard. Thank you for praying for our Zambian brothers and sisters. Happy New Year!

Here's my sweet snoring boy, Neva.

Nshema and beans!!

Washing hands for lunch.

Good friends

Christmas or “Kimishish” in KiKaonde

Jeremy and Whitney — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 08:26:00 +0000

We are two weeks shy of having lived in Zambia for one year. That is so hard to believe. Part of me feels like we just got here and another part of me feels like I can’t even remember what carpet looks like or what Diet Coke tastes like. Anyways, this post is not about our one year mark, that will come later.

Jeremy and I have been married for three years now, and we have only been home for one Christmas so far in our marriage. Our Jamaican honeymoon fell on Christmas and now our third Christmas together has been spent in Africa. It’s hard to get into the Christmas spirit when you are constantly sweating from the heat and you are outside planting flowers. It did not feel real to me until Christmas Eve, when our team shared in a Christmas dinner and a game of charades together. Every year the Davis family plays a game of charades in Ooltewah, TN, so, since three out of the five families on our team here are Davis’s we decided to carry on the tradition. It was a fun night, and Erin’s parents were our special guests as they are here visiting.

Christmas day was bittersweet. It finally hit me that Christmas was here, and we weren’t home for it. However, I am SO thankful for technology. We were able to talk to our parents and did some skyping. I was able to chat with my sweet grandmother, who sang me Christmas carols over the phone for about 15 minutes. Jeremy and I had presents to open (we received amazing care packages from our parents). We went to Konkwa church that morning which is about a 30 minute walk from here. We walked to church, and Jeremy preached on the meaning of Christmas. Which looks a lot different in Zambia, than it probably did at our churches back home. In Zambia, New Years is the big holiday and the churches will come together to celebrate and cook a big meal. Christmas is not celebrated as much in the villages.

Jeremy and I then came home and rested before we started cooking for our meal we were having that night with Jason, Erin and her parents. We concluded the night with some fireworks with the kids on our team.

We missed home very much. But, we definitely appreciate all that we have so much more being here. I hope everyone back home had a Merry Christmas! Thank you for keeping us in your prayers.

Here are a couple of pictures from Erin's camera, I forgot to use mine over the holidays.

Having a Christmas ladies tea, hosted by Mrs. Ellie.

Christmas Eve with the whole team

Mini Update

Erin — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 05:07:00 +0000

It has been quite a while since we have given an update. We have been very busy lately having fun with my visiting parents and holiday festivities. Here a few pictures from the past few weeks!

We have been having some beautiful sunsets!

Ellie hosted a missionary ladies tea time a few days before Christmas. She made each of us our own little gingerbread dolls that had different hair colors. We had to go around to each doll to find our where we were sitting based on the doll that looked like us! So cute!

Our favorite cook, Mrs. Ellie!

Caleb Love was the only boy allowed at tea time...

All the ladies including our special visitor, my Mom!

Mom has been teaching art classes since she as been here. Everyone is loving it!

Christmas Eve charades night with the team.

That is all for now. Hopefully in the next week or so we will have some time to blog more! Hope you had a merry Christmas!

MISSIONARY JOURNEY: Jason Davis, apprentice

Brian — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 23:20:00 +0000

“and all the people came early in the morning to hear him at the temple.” Luke 21:38 NIV

An apprentice has to choose a mentor. (I am always humbled when someone puts that level of trust in my hands.) Apprentices also get to choose when they will accept mentoring. Jason has a habit of showing up early in the morning. This impresses me to no end! Not only does he understand the finer points of coffee consumption, but frankly, my mind works better in the morning these days. Some apprentices are more comfortable in the public meeting arena. But Jason specializes in the small group and one-on-one teaching experience. Jason’s efforts in Christian stewardship and development are greatly aided by this approach. One of the missionary skills enshrined in our team strategy is “The point of greatest transformational leverage is a transformed person.” Jason has witnessed the power of this principle and is building on it!

"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.” Matthew 5:14 NIV

Humbled,

Brian, Sondra, Noah, & Bryson

Pictured above: Jason interacting with one of God’s creatures.

MISSIONARY JOURNEY: Mentoring

Brian — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 23:23:00 +0000

“What you have heard me teach publicly you should teach to others. Share these teachings with people you can trust. Then they will be able to teach others these same things.” 2 Timothy 2:2 ERV

One of the great joys of missionary life is when one gets the opportunity to mentor an apprentice over a 2 year period. I was fortunate to have this experience in my formation as a young missionary and have endeavored to return the favor. Prior to this year, I have been privileged to mentor 10 amazing apprentices. I am currently mentoring 6 very special people here in Mumena. I want to devote the next few Journey’s to these couples as they are accepting the challenge to be entrusted with the building blocks of eternity!

Privileged,

Brian, Sondra, Noah, & Bryson

P.S. Happy Holidays!

Pictured above: Our missionary team (apprentices underlined). [from left to right] Sam & Ellie Rodriguez, Whitney & Jeremy Davis, Karen & Rick Love, Erin & Jason Davis, Brian & Sondra Davis

Missionary kids [from left to right]: Matthew Love, Emily Love, Lydia Love, Bryson Davis, Noah Davis, Caleb Love

Three Years

Jeremy and Whitney — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 20:51:00 +0000

Three years ago today, I became Mrs. Jeremy Davis! It has been an incredible three years. I am blessed and so thankful. How do you put in to words what your marriage means to you? I don't know, but these three years have been the years I've loved the most and grown the most. We are blessed.

Needed: Home School Teacher

Rick — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 06:57:00 +0000

We just put up some information about our need for a home school teacher for our children. You might be interested or know someone else who could do this. Please see the following page for more information: Home School Teacher for Our Children

MISSIONARY JOURNEY: Servant hood Leadership

Brian — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 03:09:00 +0000

“…and whosoever would be first among you, shall be servant of all.” Mark 10:44 ASV

Every once in a while, a missionary gets to see the fruit. While at a women’s Bible school training seminar among the Congolese refugees, we witnessed Congolese church leaders cooking and preparing a meal for the ladies of the congregation. They had built their little grass kitchen, prepared a traditional meal, and even washed all of the dishes. After the seminar, I asked the women what they thought of the servant hood leadership of their church. To which they responded, “Well, they aren’t very good cooks… but we really enjoyed not having to wash the dishes!”

O.K. Next lesson series: gratitude.

Step by step,

Brian, Sondra, Noah, & Bryson

Pictured above: Congolese church leaders serving a meal to the ladies of the congregation!

Fields and Christmas

Jeremy and Whitney — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 05:53:00 +0000

After the day I had yesterday I am so grateful for a God that is so much bigger than me. I am thankful for his hand which is stretched out over those I cannot reach and over things I simply do not and will not understand. I am thankful that he is with my 91 year old grandmother as she fights back pains in Rome, GA and is having to take an unexpected 30 day stint in a live-in rehab to heal. I miss her and wish I could sit with and listen to her stories to pass the time, but God is there. On the opposite end of the world, I am thankful for how God is working in Mumena. He has been here, and he always will be.

Yesterday after a few morning chores, I went to visit a family in their village. One quick, 15 minute bike ride away. When I arrived, only the grandmother was still sitting under the kensanza, and I figured the parents and kids were in their field. The grandmother sent me out with her niece to get to my friend's field. After a long, sketchy walk through the bush, we arrived in an open field where I saw the family all out working. I was happy to be alive at that point, because we walked through grass that was as high as my waist. As I began walking through the field to meet up with the parents, all the little boys starting yelling "WHIT-I-NEY, WHIT-I-NEY!!" We turn my name into 3 syllables here because it is a lot easier to say for everyone. I LOVE hearing those boys call my name so loudly, nothing can make your heart melt more. My friends, Cosmas and Josephine handed me a hoe, and I joined them in their planting. They had arrived at the field that morning at 7 am. When I had found them it was 2 pm, and they had no plans to leave anytime soon. They had not eaten and just planned to make a meal once they finished for the day. About two hours later, it began to rain pretty hard, and I knew it would be getting dark in a couple of hours, and I should begin the path back to find my bike and then ride on home before it flooded. The kids were tired and ready to head home too, so they escorted me back to their house where my bike was. We then began the "high grass"walk back to the village. It started raining even harder, and the boys couldn't stop laughing because we were all soaked. I was laughing but also a bit terrified that between the 2, 5 and 6 year olds traveling with me--one of them was going to get bit by a snake, I was just sure of it. Of course, they make these journeys every single day. We all made it back to the village safe and wet.

Once I finally made it home and got in bed I couldn't help thinking about all of the decisions I get to make in life and the choices I have. My sweet friends would be up at 6 am the next morning to spend the day in the field all over again. There is so much to be thankful for. Although this is the way I perceive my life and theirs, God is right there in the middle of their lives as well making things happen. We are blessed.

In other news...just in case, you were curious what our house looks like at Christmas time, here are the pictures to document Jeremy and I's Christmas in Zambia.

There's our Christmas open house. Quite cozy :)

Pigs, Prayer, Praise, and Power

Rick — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 03:28:00 +0000

Our growing family is healthy and growing well.

Caleb now has two and a half teeth and I call him our little snagle tooth. Even with teeth coming in for the most part he's a very contented little boy.

Emily is well also. She's our little pink, poofy dress, wedding veil (piece of old mosquito net), princess shoes, singing, little darling. She loves to put layer upon layer upon layer of skirts (in the middle of our hot season) to make her dresses as big as possible. But under all those layers of princessy hoopla she loves to get down and dirty and play in the rain, or make all sorts of mud cakes and what not in our back yard sand box.

Lydia's our little animal lover. I can see her when she grows up becoming either a park ranger or a "save the whale" type person. Well, in her case it's "save the baby kittens from the overly loving clutches of her little two year old sister".

Matthew has been on break from school dew to a variety of reasons. We've had to make a trip to Lusaka to take care of Caleb's papers. Rick or I having to take care of different duties around here so Matthew with a big smile willingly gave up some of his school time to play with his friends. He's so heart broken. ;) He's a good student and is learning very well. But like any normal six year old boy he'd prefer climbing trees, wrestling with his friends fighting "bad guys", or splashing through mud puddles and playing in the mud.

Rick has been our electrical hero. Almost every day our house gets brown-outs for about two hours in the evenings. He was able to fix it as of yesterday. It's nice to be able to flip on a light switch whenever I walk into a room or not have to worry about my electric burners turning off right in the middle of my supper preparations. The kids will be happy to not have to take a bath by candle-light either. "Thank you daddy," as the kids told him yesterday.

I'm my usual self. Cooking, changing diapers, playing, cooking some more… I did get out the Christmas decorations earlier this week and we decorated our Christmas tree. The kids sure enjoyed helping. Now, for those of you who read the subject and may be wondering what pigs, prayer, praise, and power mean I'll tell you.

Pigs: we have now officially become pig farmers. We have started a sustainable animal farming method that can really help the local villager. We have our first pig (named Kelly by Lydia) and just five days ago, she gave birth to little piglets. They are so cute to watch and their mama Kelly is a good mother.

However, two days ago we had a little scare. Two year old Emily decided to sneak out the house and follow big brother who feeds Kelly because she wants to pet one of the baby pigs. Before Matthew could stop her Emily had climbed the fence and toppled head first into the pig pen. Thankfully one of Matthew's friends was with him and jumped in and got Emily. She was ok except that her pride was hurt. She got a little more hurt when Mama scolded her for going to the pig pen without mommy or daddy. I think she learned her lesson.

Prayer/praise: We have a friend who has been away from the Lord doing evil things and has been trying to hurt the Lord's work here for some time now. We have been praying that his life would change. It did, and I am happy to say for the better. He had stolen thousands of dollars, had been abusing his family, and spreading lies about our team. A few weeks ago he told lies about one of our teammates and it was brought to court. Needless to say, God shined like a light in the dark. The judge, the chief and everyone else saw the truth. And even local villagers would leave early in the morning on the number of court days and walk all the way to the court to show support for our teammate. Through all this our friend saw Christ and had a change of heart. He now wants to pay off his debt, reunite his family and come back to the Lord. Praise the Lord from whom all blessings flow.

Power: I already wrote about how Rick has fixed part of our electrical power problem and boy are we thankful.

- Karen

Team Blog Summary–November 2011

Rick — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 03:10:00 +0000

Here is a summary of our team’s blogs for November. Click on a title to go to the full article.

Team

Congregation Report - Kayonge Church of Christ

Congregation Report - Mushingashi Church of Christ

Congregation Report - Mutanda Church of Christ and Kanda-kanda Preaching Point

Rick & Karen Love

Love Family Blog

We decided to start our family blog back up and separate it from the team blog. This will give a space to put our family news up that may not be relevant to our work as missionaries.

Raining in Zambia

Greetings from a very wet Zambia. The rainy season is now in full force. Everything is starting to turn into a beautiful deep green and flowers are blooming every where. We're doing ok. The power has been out for some time though and I hope it comes on soon. Also, our back-up solar on our house has stopped working properly. The solar batteries have gotten too old. This having to use candle light at night isn't always the most ideal way of having fun. (Batteries for flash lights are very expensive…

Jeremy & Whitney Davis

Mumena in November

New Season

The rains are definitely here. The past few days it has rained constantly, especially at night, which I love. It always makes me think of my momma and grandmother, hearing the rain hit so hard on our roof—they always enjoyed listening to rainstorms under a tin sheet porch. Who knew that one day that would be what my roof is made of. Here are some pictures showing some of the perks of the rainy season. Since the ground is still really tough, we will wait until the end of the month to plant and garden, so I…

Quick Update

Rainy Season Adventures

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a great Thanksgiving in Mumena with our team and our special guest, Chief Mumena! All of the ladies had previously met to divide up who cooks what, and we ended up with a very, VERY good meal. I was feeling especially thankful that day for our Chief who is so supportive of our team. I was so glad he came to share in our tradition. I was also so thankful for our families many, many miles away and our amazing supporters back home. We are so blessed! We had the honor of being responsible for cooking…

Jason & Erin Davis

Shiny and Smooth Mud Floor

Yesterday morning I ventured off a few miles toward the roadside on my little blue bicycle to spend some time with the sweet ladies from the congregation Jason and I work the closest with, Kampande. The Kampande church is such a wonderful and faithful group of believers. They recently put a new roof on their church building with iron sheets. Their old one was made of grass which was not completely leak proof during the rainy season. They are so excited about their new roof and have much reason to be…

Give Thanks Unceasingly

"...for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength." -Philippians 4:11-13 Content, peaceful, thankful. These three words could be described as emotions, adjectives, and gifts. You can't have one without the other. Can you be…

The Heart of a Preacher, First Blooms, and Birthday Wishes!

Insta-Mumena Part II

Although I have put intagramming on the back burner a bit the past couple of weeks I do have a couple of photos and one horrific story to tell: Welcome to our front yard: Lake front living; it's quite luxurious! Care packages: My sister and brother-in-law are some of the world's greatest care package givers. They always manage to fit more in one box than I thought possible and send wonderful goodies. Maeci does have an advantage above many when it comes to care packages because she sent them…

Thanksgiving in Mumena

We had a great first thanksgiving meal in Mumena yesterday. So much to be thankful for! Here are a few pictures! Turkeys at the grocery store here cost over $50 so we had home grown turkeys to eat! The turkey roasting team The Davis Families Chief Mumena stopped by to take part in the yummy food Lydia Love The Chief's yellow bug! Caleb and Emily Love. I think Caleb was wondering where all the turkey went. It was a new experience being away from family on Thanksgiving but…

Newsletter!!

Erin — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 01:16:00 +0000

After several days of technical difficulties we were finally able to send out a new newsletter! Here it is...click on an image of a page then right click and choose "view image." That will open the image to a widow where you will automatically have the magnifying glass as your cursor. Use the magnifying glass tool to zoom in and read the articles. I hope that isn't too confusing. If it is, comment on the bottom with your email address so we can add you to our email list! Happy Holidays from Mumena!

Sunday Blessings

Jeremy and Whitney — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 02:21:00 +0000

Yesterday we had a full and rewarding day. Jason, Erin, Jeremy and I all set off for the refugee camp for church. We were going to worship at Rd. 68 church because one of Jeremy and Jason’s close friends had just lost his baby. Very tragic situation, but all too common in Zambia.

The service was great as usual. Rd. 68 church of Christ is one of the oldest churches we have worked with, and they are all Congolese. They get VERY involved in worship: loud clapping like you’ve never heard before and singing until they sweat. After church, two of the young men who had come for the Congolese seminar last month asked to be baptized by their mentor John, who is also Congolese. We were excited to tag along.

After worship, Jeremy and I were dropped off at Kayonge church to help them complete their building. They had been saving money and resources for almost a year now and the day had finally come. The men spent the afternoon putting on the roof, and I was able to spend some down time with the women that attend Kayonge. It was an important step in our ongoing relationship with the church, and I was humbled to see the time and effort they put in to their meeting place. The ladies had even planted flowers on either sides of the front door.

It was a full day out. In Zambian time that may only be 10 hours, but for a non-Zambian who is immersed in a different culture, it feels as if you’ve been without sleep for two days straight. We came home very fulfilled but very tired and went straight to bed.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Jeremy and Whitney — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 07:19:00 +0000

We had the honor of being responsible for cooking one of the three turkeys. You can see who that responsibility fell to.

No football or TV is available here-so we settled for cards.

Lydia Love, seriously too cute.

Hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving!

Congregation Report - Mutanda Church of Christ and Kanda-kanda Preaching Point

Rick — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 01:10:00 +0000

The Mutanda church is partnering with us at Kanda-kanda, our new preaching point. We have been having Bible studies there for over four months now.

About two months ago, a man named Aaron was dying from tuberculosis, so we had some personal Bible studies with him. He wanted to become a Christian so he was baptized becoming the first Christian there. Since then he has been recovering from the tuberculosis and always attends the group Bible study. Then, three weeks ago, we started studying about obeying the gospel in the group study. After Bible study there was one person who was baptized. We repeated the study the next week and two more were baptized: One, the head man of the village, Mr. Kanda-kanda Pupe.

Now we have started a study of the church from the book of Acts. They want to begin meeting on Sundays and we encouraged them to do so, all on their own. Please keep these new babes in Christ and the work at Kanda-kanda in your prayers.

The Mutanda church has nearly finished the remodeling of their building. They have worked very hard to finish before there is too much rain. Even though they are busy, they have been faithful to help with planting a new congregation at Kanda-kanda. Thank God for these faithful Christians.

- Sam & Ellie

Thanksgiving in Mumena

Erin — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 11:22:00 +0000

We had a great first thanksgiving meal in Mumena yesterday. So much to be thankful for! Here are a few pictures!

Turkeys at the grocery store here cost over $50 so we had home grown turkeys to eat!

The turkey roasting team

The Davis Families

Chief Mumena stopped by to take part in the yummy food

Lydia Love

The Chief's yellow bug!

Caleb and Emily Love. I think Caleb was wondering where all the turkey went.

It was a new experience being away from family on Thanksgiving but we are so blessed to have a Mumena family to share holidays with!

Rainy Season Adventures

Jeremy and Whitney — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 22:03:00 +0000

Last week, we had a seminar for 6 young Congolese men training them how to be preachers. I won’t write much about that experience, but you can see Jason and Erin’s blog as they tell more. However, one thing that happened proved to be very memorable. The last day they were here, we took them out to a Bible study in Mushingashi that go to every week. They were going to get a chance to practice preaching for this small congregation. So we all loaded up in the truck and headed off for the 40 minute journey. As we turned off the tarmac onto the dirt road, winds started picking up and lightning was streaking across the sky. Our destination was 8 km away through the forest. As the storm got bigger, the rain became heavy, the trees were swaying back and forth, and limbs were flying everywhere as I was driving on this now very slick mud road. We finally made it to the church and the storm had passed. We had a great Bible study and the young men did well.

However, it was the return trip that proved memorable. We made our way back down the muddy road with debris on either side of us. Half way out of the woods, we came upon a tree fallen across the road. So me and the six guys jumped out of the truck and were able to move this tree to the side for us to pass. About a minute later, we came upon another tree blocking our path that was a bit larger. However, with some effort we were able to relocate the obstacle. With only about a quart of kilometer left to the exit, we were stopped yet again by another tree. This time there was a truck loaded with people coming the other direction that had begun to chop away at the tree as it was quite large, about three feet in diameter. So after about 30 minutes the tree was finally chopped in half and it took 15 of us to push the huge trunk to the side giving just enough room for our truck to pass. We decided to let the other truck go first. As the truck maneuvered its way towards the opening it veered to the side of the road just a bit and both tires on the left side of the truck just sunk straight down in the mud.

So the next 30 minutes we spent putting tree bark under the tires and all 20 of us pushing on the left side of the truck as it slung mud all over us to get unstuck. After several attempts it finally made its way out, and then I received one of the biggest compliments I’ve ever had here. They called me a “muntu”, which when translated means “man”. This is a compliment because usually I get called “mzungu” meaning “rich white man”. However, all the Kaonde people call themselves “muntu” and make a clear distinction between the whites and the blacks. I guess since I was in there getting just as muddy as the rest of them, they for just a moment viewed me as one of them. Truly a memorable moment. Thankful though for four-wheel drive as I did not get stuck when passing!
-Jeremy

Congregation Report - Mushingashi Church of Christ

Rick — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 09:44:00 +0000

A church of about 15 adults mostly 50 year old and above, Mushingashi is a light in the middle of darkness. They have faithful members that day after day challenge the drunken atmosphere that surrounds them.

One of the recent highlights for them was the conversion of a Pentecostal leader who has a strong influence in this community. Lwendo came to worship one Sunday stating that, because of the longstanding relationship and Bible teaching he had encountered with these Christians, he was ready to join a family that was committed to following Christ and his word rather than the words of men at his previous church home.

Lwendo is a young and vibrant person with a heart to seek God’s kingdom. He is in a slave-like situation where he was convinced that if he worked, for free, for the “apostle” of the Pentecostal church that he was serving God. Consequently, this “apostle” doesn’t even allow Lwendo time to go to Bible study. He works him like a slave and is the richest person in the area. Lwendo has finally seen the lies through the persistence and outreach of the Christians in Mushingashi.

Pray for this church to continue to grow as it faces new persecutions as a local Pentecostal church has just lost their most vibrant leader.
- Jeremy & Whitney Davis

Raining in Zambia

Rick — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 17:59:00 +0000

Greetings from a very wet Zambia. The rainy season is now in full force. Everything us starting to turn into a beautiful deep green and flowers are blooming every ware.

We're doing ok. The power has been out for some time though and I hope it comes on soon. Also, our back-up solar on our house has stopped working properly. The solar batteries have gotten too old. This having to use candle light at night isn't always the most ideal way of having fun. (Batteries for flash lights are very expensive here.) Also if it doesn't come back on soon we'll be losing everything in our fridge. We go shopping only once every two weeks so our fridge is stocked up with supplies. We'll see. As it says in the book of James: "Count it all joy." also as we say on our team. To be a missionary you have to have a since of humor and you have to be able to bend as you face different aspects of life. So I smile as I write this paragraph to you. :)

The kids are doing well. The three older ones are thrilled with the rains coming. It means mud pies, and building cool roads in our big sand box in our back yard. Putting on their rain boots and splashing through the mud puddles. Or as our sweet little two year old Emily did during church services Sunday: Intentionally dip and slide (with a big smile on her face) through a big mud puddle. Needless to say we striped her down to her bare minimums in the car as we drove home after services.

Caleb is growing well. He's sitting up great and scoots around on his little back side. He keeps leaning forward to try to crawl but keeps landing right on his little face. "Sorry little fella. Don't worry, you'll get the hang of it soon enough." Then, we'll be chasing him through puddles as well.

Rick and I are well. No big news with us. We're trying to avoid mud puddles and the such although a few mornings ago little Lydia asked for Daddy to come out and make mud balls with her. So, as I fixed breakfast as Daddy and Lydia made mud balls and then splatted them on the ground. That's bush entertainment for you.:)

- Karen

Insta-Mumena Part II

Erin — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 12:36:00 +0000

Although I have put intagramming on the back burner a bit the past couple of weeks I do have a couple of photos and one horrific story to tell:

Welcome to our front yard:


Lake front living; it's quite luxurious!

Care packages:
My sister and brother-in-law are some of the world's greatest care package givers. They always manage to fit more in one box than I thought possible and send wonderful goodies. Maeci does have an advantage above many when it comes to care packages because she sent them to Daniel during his two 1 year deployments in Iraq. So she has had practice...I was extra excited about the packages received today because Maeci sent lots of zip lock bags. We re-use them here because you cannot get the durable clasp kind so we try to hold on to the "American" ones for as long as sanitarily tolerable. There were also many other GREAT goods inclosed but I took a picture with the baggies to show my sister just how happy I am! It's the simple things in life...

I HATE SPIDERS:
With these new rains comes a certain new type of spider (the rain/huntsman spider) that has been taunting me this week in the evenings. Twice I have reading on the couch and out of the corner of my eye I see something large moving very quickly. This "something large" has turned out the be the largest spider I have ever come in human contact with running around the living room specifically the coffee table in circles so fast that my eyes can hardly keep up. I immediately jump from the couch to the ottoman trying to stay out of the creepy crawler's or should I say sprinter's way while brainstorming how to get to the fly swatter. Well to make a long story short both nights this happened by the time I got to the swatter the obese yet highly athletic spider is no where to be found. But also on both nights, when it has been time for bed I have seen this same type of spider RUNNING HORIZONTALLY across the bedroom wall. At which point I close myself in the mosquito net and make Jason chase it down and kill it. Anyways, I have reason to believe there is a family of spiders living for the purpose of tormenting me. Below I drew a diagram of how large this type of spider is compared to my hand (this is to scale, not exaggerated, but they can get bigger, so I have now read). Also, thanks to pinterst I found a quote that perfectly describes this week's nights for me.

Hope you enjoyed this Insta-Mumena update. Have a happy day!

Love Family Blog

Rick — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 07:20:00 +0000

We decided to start our family blog back up and separate it from the team blog. This will give a space to put our family news up that may not be relevant to our work as missionaries.

The Heart of a Preacher, First Blooms, and Birthday Wishes!

Erin — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 02:07:00 +0000

It has been a great week so far. Sunday Jason and I visited the Rd. 68 congregation at the Maheba Refugee Settlement so we could transport a few young men back to Mumena for a preaching seminar Jason, Jeremy, and Brian have been teaching the past three days. I have sat in on a couple of Jason's classes and really enjoyed watching him strive to inspire these men while teaching about the "heart of a preacher." Jason has taught on the topics of love, humility, and lastly this morning, service.

Yesterday Whitney and I had a great time with Catherine, Rwidness, and Mariam. Catherine amazingly retold last week's story of Jacob and Esau almost word for word. We then studied Jacob's dream and had the girls draw a picture to help them remember the story. It brings so much delight to watch them laugh as they draw. When my Mom is here in December she is going to have an art class with them. They are very excited about it and I certainly can't wait to see how much fun they have learning to draw from a true artist.

Here is a picture of the bunch here for the seminar and a snap of one of the scriptures Jason used today in his lesson. "...serve one another humbly in love." (Galatians 5:13)

The consistent rains are here so we have had a couple blooms this week including our first rose in months! The goats now have new grass and leaves to snack on so our plants can actually grow leaves and petals.

That is all for this quick update. Except... Happy Birthday to my sweet, loving, caring, encouraging, compassionate, giving, and joyful Mother! You are amazing, love you so much and can't wait to give you a huge hug next month!

Quick Update

Jeremy and Whitney — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 23:37:00 +0000

Just wanted to show a few pictures today. I am so proud of my husband and how he handles his work and passion in Zambia. I am a blessed woman.
Here he is teaching some Congolese "youth" about serving and teaching the church. There are seven men who came early this week from the Maheba Refugee Camp, just 45 minutes away from us. They have been working with Brian, Jason and Jeremy (the 3 Davis men) on preparing lessons and learning how to use their Bibles to teach. These men are still considered "youth". You can have five children and a wife, but if you are 40 years or younger, then you are still youth. These young men will soon be filling the shoes of their elders as they get older, so our team is trying to help prepare them for the transition into church leadership.

On another note, it is still very hot in Zambia. Everyday, people anxiously await a rainfall so we can get some fresh, cool air. As I was passing the school building, I noticed they were having class outside, under the kensanza to try and get a break from the heat. You can see a storm rolling in behind them. How exciting!

Give Thanks Unceasingly

Erin — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 13:09:00 +0000

Content, peaceful, thankful. These three words could be described as emotions, adjectives, and gifts. You can't have one without the other. Can you be content and not thankful for ALL the blessings the Lord has given you? Can you be at peace but not be content with the spiritual, emotional, and physical aspects of your life?

One of the great blessings and struggles of living in another culture very far from home is you are removed from the false senses of peacefulness, contentment, and thankfulness. You are forced to seek and find these gifts through pursuing a deeper relationship with Christ who is the key to contentment.

I have learned that even if you have plenty as most of us do or if you have little as is the situation of most of those we live around, learning to be content is a tough journey. I have been on this journey a while now. But in the last month the Lord has really been working on my heart and exposed where I need growth in learning to be content and truly thankful. Philippains 4:13 is quoted often and used when teaching several topics. But I am most encouraged today to think of this verse in the context of contentment.

We can learn to be thankful and at peace with blessings we have been given. Because of the strength our Lord gives us we can choose to be content in EVERY situation. What would our day be like if we were constantly seeking a more grateful heart, looking for situations, events, people, and material blessings, past and present to thank God for? A day like this would leave us feeling content, at peace, and most of all thankful.

Thanksgiving is coming up and I always enjoy the opportunity to dwell specifically on thankfulness for a day (and of course I enjoy the pumpkin pie too). But this year God has put it on my heart that it is time to start a lifetime of seeking to dwell daily on thankfulness. I hope and pray many will be encouraged and inspired to think about daily thankfulness as this wonderful holiday approaches.

Congregation Report - Kayonge Church of Christ

Rick — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 09:49:00 +0000

The Kayonge church suffered a terrible split a year ago. Two of their church leaders gave themselves over to sin and left and took others with them.
Now, there are three men leading a small group of women and children. The church has been working really hard to finish their building. For the past eight months they had been meeting in the local school, but now they meet in the church building with an almost finished roof.
The church of Kayonge is committed and willing to suffer persecution for Christ. The five faithful women that attend are learning to teach their children in Sunday Bible class. The men are learning how to be more involved leaders and are gifted in teaching. They are self-supporting and are learning more and more about what real evangelism means. Whenever a visitor shows up for Sunday worship, the church leaders follow up with them for a weekly Bible study.
Please pray for strength for this faithful congregation.
- Jeremy & Whitney Davis

New Season

Jeremy and Whitney — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 21:21:00 +0000

Here are some pictures showing some of the perks of the rainy season. Since the ground is still really tough, we will wait until the end of the month to plant and garden, so I don’t have pictures of flowers just yet. These will have to do.

Growing mangos in our yard

Language learning has been a constant struggle for me. I love and hate it all at the same time. Regardless of how I feel, the key to the heart is language. The people out here light up when they hear you speak their language. It is also much easier to understand their culture and ideas when you are hearing it straight from their mouth without interpretation. Much gets lost in translation. I can understand a lot more than I can say at this point, but it is so exciting when you can understand the main idea of a conversation in kikaonde. I have approached numerous methods to learning the Kaonde language out here, but by far my favorite is learning from my friend out in her village, at her home. She is in the process of learning English. This makes it much more fun to learn from her because she is experiencing the same frustrations and joys that I am at the same time. We are learning from each other, sentence by sentence. Today, I sat out in her village for about two hours. She would write down a sentence in kikaonde, and I would write it in English. We both know enough of each other’s language to get by working together and helping each other. Her English is really progressing so she is able to put together simple sentences and verbs for me to practice. We laugh at each other a lot and continue to repeat the word “shupa” every couple of minutes. “Shupa” is a funny Kaonde word meaning stubborn or really difficult.

I was able to start back with Erin doing our usual Tuesday afternoon girls Bible study, after being gone for two weeks. In the beginning we had six girls, ages 12-16, coming, and occasionally we will have a week where all of them show up, but more than half of the time there are only two girls-but every week it is the same two. They never miss a Bible study, and we are seeing them grow and develop into beautiful young women. I pray that their faith continues to grow, and I hope they don’t give up the fire they have to learn. I love these sweet girls- Katherine and Rwidness. Even though our study is small right now, one of the other village girls who is about 17, really wants to be a part of it, but she has a baby and chores to do everyday so she can’t manage to meet in the middle of the day. She always has to decline the invitation to come, and I thought she just wasn’t interested. However, she showed up at my house a couple of days ago explaining why she can never come and asking for a different time to meet. We will start meeting with her once a week around 4 pm after she is done with her chores. Since a baby came in to her life, she can no longer attend school. I am excited about this new opportunity!

Whitney

Mumena in November

Jeremy and Whitney — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 23:50:00 +0000

I am happy to inform you that we are back in Kaondeland, Mumena. We had a huge thunderstorm to welcome us back as we were going to sleep Wednesday night. Jeremy and I have a tin roof, so when the rain gets hard enough we literally have to yell at each other to communicate. It is pretty funny.

I loved getting back and seeing the sweet faces that we have been working with. I have a friend, Mesa, who is 17 or 18 years old and has an 18 month old baby. She spends each day hauling water for her family since she can no longer attend school, being a single mother. If she is not hauling water, she is cleaning or doing laundry by hand. Yesterday, she had two huge buckets of water she was carrying and dropped them when she saw me and came running to welcome me back. Her face was lit up, and she was excited to see "Mrs. Jeremy" again. I was humbled as I compared the past two weeks in Cape Town I had to what hers must have been like. Today, I will go to visit her as she sits and washes clothes- she is one determined teenager.

This month the Kaonde tribe of Mumena will begin working in their fields again to prepare for the rainy season. This is a busy month for them. The holiday season, I have heard, gets a bit slow due to people working and staying out in their fields.

Last night, Jason, Erin and I had a surprise birthday dinner and cake for Jeremy. His birthday was the 1st of November, but since we were traveling, I felt like we still lacked a celebration. It was a good night for the four of us to catch up and eat a cake mix and icing kit that came from South Africa!

Home Sweet Home

Jeremy and Whitney — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 02:29:00 +0000

Well, I write "Home Sweet Home", but we aren't quite there yet. We chose the cheapest and possibly worst airline ever for our trip to and from Cape Town, and we are paying for it now. We arrived this morning at the airport at 5 am to hop on our 7 am flight, only to find out our airline had been grounded due to not paying their taxes. It is kind of funny because on the way to Cape Town, they were grounded because they couldn't find anyone to pay for the fuel on the plane. So we are now spending the day at the airport waiting on a new flight with a new airline scheduled for the evening. Hopefully, we will be home tomorrow night after the drive back from Lusaka.

Cape Town was perfect! We had an amazing trip, ate some amazing food, saw some great movies and met some great people. We did a lot of fun touristy things, but our trip was also long enough for me to meet some of the people Jeremy has worked with in the past during his summers in Cape Town. We stayed with a wonderful couple that Jeremy met last time he was in Cape Town. They were so hospitable and sweet; we felt like we were staying with our grandparents. Cape Town is a beautiful city that is surrounded by mountains and beaches-the best of both worlds. We ate A LOT. We hiked and rode bikes through the mountains, took walks on the beach (the water is freezing), saw lots of whales, toured the wine lands and much more. It was such a wonderful break and vacation for us.

We are ready to get back home to Zambia now. It is an exciting time as the rains are beginning in Zambia. It is time to plant some flowers and get our garden ready! Jeremy and I are anxious to get back in to our routine of living in the bush and working with the people there. It is hard to believe that we are approaching the one year mark of living in Africa. We are blessed to be where we are and to be learning so much.

Cultural Insights: Respect & Hospitality

Rick — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 08:45:00 +0000

Last post, I explained a very evil tradition: The Flying Coffin. This time, I will explain a wonderful cultural value: Showing Respect and Hospitality.

Some traditions show the very image of God shining in a people group. The way the Kaonde people show respect and hospitality to each other is amazing.

Respect is key to all relationships among the Kaonde. They always greet others with a warm greeting. Even strangers great each other with a quick acknowledgement. Failing to acknowledge somebody immediately causes that person to ask, "Why is he mad at me? What have I done to offend him?"

We missionaries often fail to show proper respect. In our culture, it is not very important anymore. We are too busy to greet every person we encounter throughout the day, even if we do know them. Unless we have something to say, we often don't say anything at all. Instead we quickly go to our office, our car, our private place, to do our own thing.

Living among the Kaonde community, I have learned how to sincerely greet and acknowledge others. Also, I have learned what real hospitality is like. Here if a visitor comes to the house, the household stops what they are doing. They say welcome (and mean it) and quickly get a seat for the guest. After he or she is seated, they then give all attention and start a conversation. It is even slightly offensive to ask, "Can I help you?" or "Do you need anything?" because it seems like the guest is unwanted or being rushed. Getting straight to business is equivalent to saying, "You are not important to me, I just want to know what you can offer me."

Obviously, we have made many mistakes while we live here. I have rushed by people without noticing they are there. Later, they have said to me, "Why didn't you greet me?" I apologize and tell them I am still learning how to give respect since we foreigners are not very good at that. They are very gracious and do not take it personally. When that happens, it is a quick reminder that I am not focusing on what is important.

God has made us a family of his children. The relationships we have are far more important than any busy-ness. Obviously, there are times to rush (like in a medical emergency). However, every day life is not supposed to go by in such a rush that we don't have time to show that we actually care about others around us.

Next time you go to work, school, or even in a restaurant, take time to say hi to those you encounter. This is a great lesson we westerners can learn from the "3rd world" who put priority on personal relationships. We may have most of the money, technology, and food, but if we forget to develop relationships, we are very poor indeed. It won't take much time to greet others warmly, but it will make a huge impact on our life.

I am thankful to learn some good life lessons from the Kaonde even as I try to teach them God's word.
- Rick Love

Cultural Insights: The Flying Coffin

Rick — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 08:17:00 +0000

Some traditions are just plain evil, like the Flying Coffin tradition of the Kaonde people.

Let me try to describe it from the traditional Kaonde point of view:
The flying coffin is a ceremony to destroy the evil witch who has caused the person (in the coffin) to die. This is done to bring peace back to the community before the witch can kill another person. The men who carry the coffin will take a herbal drug that will put them into a trance. This will allow the ancestral spirits to guide them to find the witch. During the funeral, they will start carrying the coffin. The spirits will guide the coffin and even make it hover over their arms to the witch's house. Then the witch will be accused and beaten to death, thus eliminating the threat to the peace of the community. Sometimes if this ceremony is not performed, the coffin will come back up out of the ground after it has been buried. Then it will fly to the witch and bring a curse to that witch or beat the witch to death itself.

Obviously, I have some problems with this perspective. Let me give my perspective:
Revenge belongs to God! He is the only one capable of judging and forgiving a person through Jesus Christ. The flying coffin is an attempt to seek revenge against an unknown enemy. However, it is based on the assumption that all physical consequences are a result of other humans bringing evil into the community. The ancestral spirits which the people trust to guide them to the "witch" are actually demonic spirits seeking to destroy an innocent person. The men carrying the coffin are acting as Satan's servants bringing murder to the community (thus they are the very witches they want to destroy). During the ceremony, I am sure Satan finds it quite humorous to see these men murder innocent people in the name of restoring peace. This is a demonic and abominable tradition which must be boldly spoken against by the Kaonde Christians.

The flying coffin is illegal and punishable as murder according to the Zambian law. However, the police cannot do much without the support of traditional leaders like the local chief. In some chieftancies, the chief has helped to punish the men who have done the flying coffin. In those places, the tradition is reduced and the men are most likely to allow the offending "witch" to pay a large fine instead of being beaten to death. However, in many places innocent people still die each month because of this evil tradition.

For example, about a month ago, a man was beaten to death in a nearby village. However, the family went to the police claiming their father was innocent (this is a good change, because in the past the family would ofter turn against their own family member and join in accusing him). The traditional leadership was very angry that this happened and the men were arrested. From what I understand, they are expected to be put in prison for 5 to 10 years.

Please pray that Christians will stand strongly against this practice and spread the message that God will judge according to his just ways. God has put governments into place to give criminals a fair trial where evidence is considered and the truth is attempted to be found. This is not perfect as human judges and criminal justice systems still make mistakes. However, it is far better than revenge killings. In revenge killings everything is led by pure anger and hatred and no sense of justice or truth is accomplished. God has taught clearly that revenge does not accomplish anything good - Romans 12:19

- Rick Love

Congregation Report - Road 68 Church of Christ

Rick — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 07:09:00 +0000

One Sunday morning in the Congolese refugee congregation at Road 68, Brother Kazadi preached on how King Solomon determined who was the true loving parent of a certain child in question. Kazadi concluded his lesson with a passage from Romans 9:8…

“This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are reckoned as descendants.” RSV

Kazadi pointed out how our Heavenly King has determined our parentage even in a world of violence and brokenness. As a result, we have both safety and belonging regardless of what Satan has done to our families here on earth. Bro. Kazadi’s lesson was all the more poignant knowing that his wife had passed away only a couple of months earlier. Kazadi continues to care for his 9 children now as a single parent and has begun children’s Bible school classes for the elementary children at the Road 68 congregation.

“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” Romans 8:14 KJV

Rejoicing in belonging and safety,
Brian, Sondra, Noah, & Bryson

Congregation Report - Kyongozhi Church of Christ

Rick — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 04:14:00 +0000

We have enjoyed visiting the Kyongozhi church of Christ over the past months. They are very small congregation but are working hard to push forward with making bricks for a more substantial structure to meet in. They are sending four women to the Ladies seminar this weekend which are very excited about. Visiting there with Brian and Sondra has been a great learning experience as we observe their interaction with a maturing church plant. Since we will not be able to visit them during the rainy season due to road conditions we hope to spend a few more Sunday's with them before November.

-Jason & Erin Davis

Christian Chronicle Article

Rick — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 22:54:00 +0000

We were just told about an article in the Christian Chronicle about our work here.

Read it here:

Article in Christian Chronicle

- Rick & Karen Love

Restarting Blog

Rick — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 09:17:00 +0000

Just a quick note for everyone: The Mumena Missions blog has been redesigned and we will be using it regularly again to send out news about the work here at Mumena.

God has blessed us to see Him working in many ways here.

Remember to visit our Facebook page for the latest activities:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mumena-Missions/289990056262

Lydia Love's Birth

Rick — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 17:44:00 +0000

Lydia Marie Love was born February 12, 2007 at 5:25 pm. She weighed 7 pounds 6 ounces and was 19 inches long. She is very healthy and the delivery went well. We came home two days after her birth. Matthew was glad to see Lydia and Mommy. Now we are a happy family of four. We thank God for Lydia and we pray that we will be good parents for her. We plan to live our best example.

We have uploaded pictures of her at http://www.winkflash.com/photo/public.aspx?u=rickandkarenlove.

Every day pictures of Matthew

Karen - Woman4Christ — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 07:52:00 +0000

Matthew having fun.

Matthew's Birthday Pictures 7/29/06

Rick — Sun, 27 Aug 2006 14:33:00 +0000

Here are some pictures of Matthew's first birthday. He got to play in a fountain and had alot of fun.

Plan Modifications

Rick — Tue, 22 Aug 2006 12:31:00 +0000

Since we are now expecting another baby, we have decided to postpone moving to Zambia about half a year. Originally we were planning to move to Cedar Hill, Texas in November. They want us to work with them for 6 months before moving to Zambia. During that time they will support us. Now we will probably not move to Zambia until December or January. So the 6 months would not start until July.

Because of that we have to decide what to do from November until July. I will still be resigning from my job as a blind programming instructor at the beginning of November. I will probably get a job in Cedar Hill (or Dallas) as a programmer, but until then I will do freelance programming jobs over the internet. My parents have asked us to move to Tennessee in November. They of course want us to stay there as long as possible. However, even though the dates have changed, we still feel that we should be in Cedar Hill as much as possible.

What we will probably do is try to see if I can do freelance fulltime and still make enough to live on. We will probably spend November and maybe December in Tennessee. After that we will move to Cedar Hill. If the freelance work is successful, we will still be able to spend weeks at a time in Tennessee. Otherwise, I will probably have a job in Cedar Hill until July.

We hope I will be able to find enough work as a freelance programmer so that we will not be tied down to a particular place. That way, we will be able to travel and spend time with family before we move to Zambia.

In addition, freelance work might become a hobby while we are in Zambia, and a source of income while on furlough. Whatever the case, we plan to use whatever resources we have to serve God.

Family suprise!

Karen - Woman4Christ — Sun, 06 Aug 2006 15:38:00 +0000

We're a happy little family of three and we just found out that we'll soon be having the addition of a new baby sometime in late winter or early spring. We're all happily suprised. What a blessing.

Love Family Missions Blog

Rick — Sun, 06 Aug 2006 14:45:00 +0000

Welcome to our family blog!

Come back regularly to see what is happening with us and how are plans are progressing. We will also post pictures here regularly for you to view.