Zambia Update

-

SWEERIN FAMILY | AFRICA UPDATE

Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever! 1 Chronicles 16:34. 

UPDATE: God has been gracious over the last few months. Overseas preparations, discipleship, and the daily grind of carpentry and family raising have all been busy but at the same time so fruitful. That in mind, we appreciate all of you who have invested in our family and partnered in prayer as our next move with Zambia approaches. 

As we’ve continued taking steps in that direction, it has been amazing to see God’s faithfulness in orchestrating things right before our eyes. One example of this was meeting a wonderful family who will help us by not only providing batteries and solar panels for our Zambian home, but also through the provision of a mentor for me (Nate) as decisions continue to be made. Another way God has brought provision has been through giving us neighbors here in Iowa that are also missionaries. Conversations with them have given us much perspective and encouragement, especially since their own ministry is in Africa as well (Kenya). 

           When it comes to considering our future with Mission of Love (Zambia), we have continued to remind ourselves that we need to remain focused on abiding in the Father and His Word. We are nothing more than imperfect people attempting to glorify Him - so keeping near Him and each other has been a must during this process. We are looking forward to reconnecting with some of our Zambian friends. As we spread the good news of Jesus Christ and begin discipleship with the locals, we must continue to trust that the Lord will guide us each day. 

          HOW TO HELP: One vital thing we continue to work on as we process is forming a team of prayer and support partners. We cannot and will not enter into this journey alone, and strongly desire that people like you would consider joining us. If you desire to be more connected with us and our Zambian future - whether through prayer or financial support - please contact us personally. There are real fiscal needs for this trip to happen (shown below), and we’d love for you to pray about playing a role in that. Beyond this, partnering in prayer for discernment and this incredible yet need-filled Zambian community is something we covet as well. 
                       
In regards to a list of expenses, our friends (Jako & Amber Joubert) have helped form realistic estimates:

PRESENT NEEDS
$3000 to ship some belongings, batteries, solar panels, and tools to Zambia
$1000 per month for food, guest house we will be staying in, transportation to town.
$400 per month for medical bills
FUTURE NEEDS
Vehicle $25,000-30,000; $House 25,000-30,000; Power inverter $1500; Washing machine/Fridge/Freezer

If you would like to support us financially please consider these two options:

#1 SEND A CHECK   
Faith Assembly of God, 5112 Lafayette Road, Elk Run Heights, Iowa 50707 (Write Zambia in memo)

#2 DIRECT DEPOSIT  
If you desire to do automated payments, ask your bank if they will approve doing direct deposits into the church’s Veridian account. Make sure to have the bank teller note it is for Zambia so Connie knows that funds are distributed correctly. 

For any further questions please contact Nate at 319-243-5664 or you email us at nmsweerin@hotmail.com.                                                           
 **Visit our blog for updates on the project: https://nathanandmelaniesweerin.blogspot.com.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Greetings From Zambia

-
Image
Greetings from Zambia! Our family was blessed to see a lunar rainbow at Victoria Falls at the end of June when we had to make a quick trip to Livingstone to ask immigration a few questions about our upcoming renewal. The Joubert family was there with us and Jako was able to capture these beautiful images on his phone. Such a neat experience for our families to do together.  Celebrated Nate's 37th birthday A few days ago, we returned from a short trip to Livingstone and thought it would be good time to update everyone on how our family and ministry is doing.  Our recent trip to Livingstone was basically for health purposes/medical care. Melanie has to have her thyroid tested from time to time to make sure it hasn't fluctuated too much. We also wanted to take our children to the dentist. We were so blessed to get all of these appointments done as it is not so easy with Zambia still being in a severe drought. There is very limited electricity. The power will only come on for 6 to...
Read more

Greetings Family and Friends

-
Image
Greetings from Zambia. This update is long overdue. We appreciate your prayers and patience with us as we are not great at putting out monthly updates.  At the end of August last year, many of you know we visited the states. We were so thankful to reconnect and visit friends and family after being away for 3 years.   We returned to Zambia mid- November. A short time after our return the end of the school year was just a couple weeks away, so we were helping the teachers to complete their assessments and finish all of the administrative work from the last term. I was also trying to wrap our own children's schooling and prepare for the new year to begin.  Since a few of our teachers were leaving, we took the opportunity to do a deep cleaning of the preschool so that we could have a fresh start. It had been years since the last deep clean. The walls, carpets, manipulatives, dolls, dress-up clothes, blocks, puzzles, and kitchen toys were all washed, reorganized sorted,...
Read more

Elijah Dale Sweerin 9/22/13

-
We come to you with saddened hearts as we have had a rough past couple of days. For some reason God decided to take our baby home to be with Him. On Saturday evening Melanie started having some mild contractions. We assumed it was braxton hicks or a false labor and decided to wait it out a bit as they weren’t getting stronger. After waking up around 5:30-6 in the morning we could tell they were getting stronger and we would need to make a plan. By 7:30am on Sunday the baby was born and had only a few breaths before going home to be with Jesus. The helicopter arrived  around 8:30 and the paramedic attempted to resuscitate him but his lungs were filled with fluid and collapsed. It just wasn’t time for Elijah Dale Sweerin. Our hearts are broken as we question why this happened to us but we are trusting in God’s perfect plan. He knows exactly why this happened and what our families future will hold. Please pray for us as we try to heal. Melanie has been checked by several doctors and a...
Read more