News from Zambia - 23rd March 2005

Greetings from Luanshya!

Tawanga is a young lady taking courses in the Source of Light program.

As she handed me her lesson on Monday, I glanced at the answer sheet and

noticed that in her answer to the question: "Have you asked the Lord

Jesus Christ to save you"? She wrote "Yes". The next line asked "when"?

Her answer was "Yesterday". I said, "Tell me about when you asked the

Lord Jesus to save you". She told me that when she finished the lesson,

she realized that she needed to ask Christ to be her Saviour. So, she

did. This is why we are here, telling people about the Lord Jesus

Christ, His love for them and what He sacrificed to pay for their

eternal life in heaven. You will never meet Tawanga on this side of

glory. But, for those who have had a part in this ministry when we all

get to heaven she will be one of those saying thank you.

The College and Career class visited the life of Asaph last week. The

name of the subject was "Looking to the World or Looking to Jesus-Where

is Our Gaze Focused". This particular age group tends to look for

approval in their circle of movement. Many seek connections with things

not quite helpful in the believer's life. By focusing our gaze upon the

Lord, we can more easily discern what our goals and objectives in life

out to be. This is especially true when we remind ourselves that we are

but pilgrims on journey with a mission to tell the world of Jesus Christ

and His love. Pray for the many who have been coming and those who will

be attending in future.

On Saturday morning we had a very unusual ladies fellowship. Sherry was

asked to lead the Bible study for a group of ladies from one of the

rural villages. It was agreed that she would teach in English and one of

the ladies would translate to Bemba. In this way those who worked in

English would be able to enjoy hearing an English lesson. Those who did

not understand English would be able to understand ciBemba. When the

ladies arrived, Sherry discovered that none of the English speaking

ladies had been able to come. Since her notes were all in English, we

improvised. She taught in English. I translated to Swahili (about half

of the women from this village are originally from Zaire/Congo) and one

of the ladies would translate from Swahili to ciBemba. Mid-way through

the lesson, two of the ladies from our church arrived who spoke both

English and ciBemba. But, we did not interrupt the flow of things since

Sherry was well into the lesson. We had a good time. The ladies

appreciated hearing the lesson in many languages knowing that the Bible

is the World of God regardless of the tongue spoken.

This coming Sunday I will be speaking in a rural church out in

Buntungwa. The people there are good friends. I have been there several

times. I am looking forward to the service and they have invited the

entire village to be present to celebrate Resurrection Sunday together.

Please pray for this service. It will also be multilingual (Swahili and

ciBemba).

We have a praise and a prayer request. Last night brother Chibumba was

driving back to the Lighthouse Children's Home after picking up some

rice at one of the local shops. As he turned the corner off of the main

road, he heard a loud bang and thought someone had thrown a stone at the

minivan. He did not stop because this is often a way that vehicles are

stolen. He continued driving all the way home. When he got out of the

vehicle, he realized that the left side of the windscreen had been

shattered by a bullet. When I looked at the damage this morning, praise

the Lord that the bullet was not strong enough or aimed at the proper

angle to go through the windscreen. I am also thankful that it was far

enough away from brother Chibumba's side of the vehicle that he did not

swerve and have an accident. Please pray for brother Chibumba. He is

more than a little shaken by the experience. Also, pray for us.

Replacement of the windshield will be just over $700. Obviously an

unbudgeted expense.

Through the experiences of this week, we have had great victories,

exciting services and harrowing adventures. Through it all God has been

faithful and we continue to enjoy His blessings. Thank you again for

being a part of our lives and ministry.

In His Service,

Patrick & Sherry