Greetings from Luanshya!
Last Sunday John K. was baptized declaring his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. John continues to receive a lot of pressure from his family concerning his decision. Sherry shared with him a bit of her testimony and how the Lord uses various circumstances in our lives to strengthen us and strengthen our resolve to follow Him. John has been in the library every day this week. A lot of the terminology is new to him and both Sherry and I are able to define terms and simplify some of the "religious" expressions in literature. Having been a Christian for over forty-six years, it is sometimes difficult to remember when "religious terminology" was not a part of my vocabulary. Watching John dive into Bible studies with the thirst as strong as his is indeed encouraging to both of us. Please continue to pray for John.
This past week we had an unusual situation. Don C. has been attending services at Fellowship Chapel for over two months. He comes from a very religious background and has sorted through a lot of the denominational baggage to come to the place where he received Christ as his Saviour a few years ago and was Scripturally baptized. The church in which he was a member has been suffering from poor leadership and low scriptural integrity over the last couple of years. Don has been very uncomfortable attending a church in which he felt the Bible became the secondary authority and the opinions of men was taking precedent over the Word of God. When he first began attending services at the chapel he said it was like a breath of fresh air. Last Sunday he was welcomed into the fellowship of our local assembly and he participated with us in the Lord's Supper on Sunday morning. Please pray for Don and his family.
The Christian Resource Centre has been abuzz over the last week. Not only are the school children coming in at all hours because of the school break, but we have also had a number of preachers and teachers coming in every morning with specific topics of study for their Bible classes and churches. Two young men from the Mikomfwa Baptist Church have been here almost every day. One is studying the book of Matthew and the other the book of Mark. They are preparing a youth seminar in which they are speaking later this month. They have been pouring over the books, commentaries and Bible dictionaries as if they were studying for a final exam in Bible college. It has been exciting to watch them study and to be able to guide them to specific books on particular subjects in the gospels. We have also already enrolled 34 students in the Source of Light Bible Correspondence School and we are only mid-way through the month! Please continue to pray for this growing ministry.
Last week we were unable to show the film on Jeremiah because the local electric company was performing maintenance work on the lines in our area. A two-hour job lasted over six hours. This coming Sunday we will, Lord willing, be able to show the film. Please pray for this ministry as we endeavour to teach people about the Bible characters specifically in the Old Testament.
Every week we say that we appreciate your prayers for this varied ministry. Every week we mean it! Thank you for being a part of our lives.
In His Service,
Patrick and Sherry
Dr. Patrick and
Sherry Coleman
Luanshya, Zambia Africa