Greetings from Luanshya!
We find it hard to believe this year is already two thirds completed. We don't know where the time goes. We have had a very busy month in the Christian Resource Centre and the Source of Light Bible Correspondence School. We enrolled 55 new students, distributed 312 lessons, corrected 253 lessons and awarded 19 certificates of completion in various levels of study.
Most of the children's lessons have a memory verse associated with the lesson content. Each child has to say the memory verse to either Sherry or myself before handing in the lesson. One little girl, named Dalitso, said her memory verse to me today, Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." Dalitso is twelve and does not read on a second grade level equivalent to the North American system. She is, however, in grade 5 here in Zambia. Most children do not know how to read and comprehend until grade 4 or 5 in Zambia. She is doing the absolute youngest program in our curriculum. As she said her memory verse, I asked her what the words meant. She did not know. She was learning the words, but had no idea what she was saying. I spent about ten minutes explaining the concept of "all have sinned" and what it meant to "come short of the glory of God". Sometimes people make the mistake of believing that because someone knows the right words they fully understand what they are saying. The more we work with the children and young people, here in Zambia, the more we realize that a fuller explanation is usually required to ensure complete understanding of the concepts that many Christians take for granted. We are planting seeds and watering the soil, praying that God will give a harvest. Please pray with us for Dalitso and her generation.
On the other hand we have some marvellous news concerning the six children in our care at the Lighthouse Children's Home. Johnnie is our precocious youngster. When he came to the Lighthouse, he was constantly getting into "stuff". For those of you have been receiving our update for some time, you will recall that it was Johnnie who stuck a wire in the wall socket and knocked himself across the room after being hit with 240 volts of electricity. This week we received Johnnie's school report and he is number one in is third grade class. All of our children are going to private schools where the standards are higher than government schools. Johnnie is able to read. His scores are nearly perfect in math, science, social studies, religious education, English and sports. His weak point is penmanship (maybe he will be a doctor). Our youngest child is Andrew. He is number two in his third grade class. Nancy is our oldest child and she is number four in her class. None of these children had ever been to school prior to being in our care and none of them had ever spoken one word of English. We are very proud of all of our children. The other three are having some challenges but their standing in class isn't bad. The Social Welfare officer commented that without our care none of these children would probably be alive today. Because of your love and concern they have a future both in the physical and in spiritual realm. Please continue to pray for our kids.
Sherry had her final youth class this week during the school break. She has been teaching the young people about "Full Joy" using the book of 1 John. This week's lesson was "Full Joy Through Knowing Him." The kids all head back to school next Monday and prepare for their final exams. We have a number of students who will be taking their grade twelve exams in 6 weeks' time. There is an incredible amount of pressure placed on these youngsters. Every one of them is not only attending classes at school but also going to extra classes at night and on weekends-and this is only high school. Thank you for praying for them as they endure the pressure placed on them by society. This is their only chance into higher education.
It has been a good week and a good month. Thank you for remembering us in your prayers.
In His Service,
Patrick and Sherry
Dr. Patrick and
Sherry Coleman
Luanshya, Zambia Africa