Lessons in Patience

 Greetings Family and Friends,

I can see that many of you are enjoying the warmth of summer and all the fun activities it brings. Here is Zambia the months of May- July are typically the coolest. There have been many days where Iowa has been much warmer than here. It has actually been one of the coolest seasons in awhile, but it should begin heating up soon before the rainy season begins. This update is long overdue, but we hope that you will all be encouraged and more informed on our activities here. 

Matthew 13 NIV

The Parable of the Sower

13  ³ Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. ⁴ As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. ⁵ Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. ⁶ But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. ⁷ Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. ⁸ Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. ⁹ Whoever has ears, let them hear.”   ¹⁸ “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: ¹⁹ When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. ²⁰ The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. ²¹ But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. ²² The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. ²³ But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”

 In this Scripture, the farmer (God) sows the seed (His Word). The soil that the seed lands on determines its growth. The first type of ground was hard; the seed could not sprout or grow at all and as a result was snatched up instantly. This hard ground represents those whose hearts are hardened and blind to their sin, and will not accept the Gospel. The second type of ground was stony. The seed was able to planted and began to grow, however, it could not grow deep roots and withered in the sun. The stony ground represents those who show interest in the word of God, but is not fully convinced when the troubles of the world come their way. Ground type three was thorny. Although the seed could plant and grow, it could not compete with the number of thorns that overtook it. The thorny ground represents those who receive the Gospel but have many distractions in their life that begin to take over their hearts, and press down the truth of God’s fullness. The fourth ground was good soil that allowed the seed to grow deep, strong roots. This roots anchor the plant and allow it to grow, and produce fruit. This fertile soil represents those who have accepted the Word of God, and allow God to take root in their lives to refine, and prune them as they abide in Christ.

Throughout the history of the world, people have had a chosen not to listen and respond to the Gospel message, but the message continues to go forth by those who are willing to sow the Word of God. It does not matter how long we have walked with Jesus; we can all be challenged by this passage as we look into the “soil” of our hearts. Is my heart hardened, blind, or disobedient? Have I created excuses? What weeds of sin are crowding the good seed that was planted? We often find ourselves trying to function in our own power, rather than turning to Jesus. May we all become more aware of the ways God wants to bring restoration, healing, and growth into our lives. “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”  Psalm 51:10

This passage has been close to my heart as Nate continues to teach Firm Foundations. We sometimes can get caught up in people’s words and actions. It can cause us to question if they are truly seeing their need for a Savior as they sound agreeable at the time, but then their actions show something different. We can look at these situations and begin to wonder if we are doing enough. What I love about this passage, is that our role isn’t to change people. Our role is to be obedient to the Father, and present His message. Jesus knew that there were people in the crowd that day that would not accept Him, but it did not prevent Him from sharing. As Nate continues to share the Word, we pray that the seeds that are being planted will fall onto soil that will be rooted, and grounded in God’s Word.   

We have also been doing Children’s Church with the children at the Children’s Home these last few weeks. We are thankful to have this time to connect with the house- moms, and worship and play with the children. Our lessons have been centered on choosing to follow God rather than man, or any other worldly things. We discussed the story of Elijah, and how he made an altar to the Lord and asked the 450 prophets of Baal to do the same. We shared how Elijah wanted the people to see that God is the only true God. We also walked the children through the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men chose to stand and not bow down to the King’s wishes. What challenged me was that these men did not know the outcome, but they still chose what was right. They knew in their hearts that it was better to serve God than the king, even to the point of death. As children of God, we have to say, “no” sometimes, and that can be hard in the midst of the sin that can so easily entangle us.  It is our prayer that these children can continue to hear the word of God, and have the opportunities to respond to God’s love for them. 

Through his teaching of Firm Foundations, Nate learned that some of the attendees had a desire to have a Bible. Some had one but  it was either borrowed and not returned, in unreadable condition due to lack of protection from the elements. Nate really wanted to find a way to get them the Word of God. Many of them have phones, but their phones do not have the ability to download Bible Apps. After some research, Nate was able to find a New Testament download that he could put on SD cards. The SD cards can be inserted into their phones or radios. We were thankful to find this as we see the value for the people who struggle with reading due to little education, or failing eyesight. We are looking to find something like this for the Old Testament, because we desire the people to have God’s Word in full. Please pray that we will be able to find a downloadable Bible in their language that we can put on SD cards.   

Land Rover and The House

Some of you have asked how our Land Rover repair is going, and when we anticipate getting it back. Unfortunately, we don't really know a timeframe at this point. There have been some delays with the machinist. Due to some political happenings (the passing of Kenneth Kaunda; led Zambia to independence in 1964) and other public holidays; many businesses closed out of respect. Our mechanic was trying to order the parts as well, but that process has taken longer than expected due to the parts suppliers not having the quantity of certain things we need. Our parts that he is ordering also have to be shipped in from the U.K. What we do know is that there is a decent list of parts that we will be needing. God-willing when this process is complete, we will have our own vehicle back in good condition. In the meantime, we have been blessed by Mike Jones. A missionary friend that has served in Zambia for many years. He has so graciously offered us one of his vehicles to drive until ours is complete. Overall, the truck has been such a blessing. There have been a few fixings here or there, but we are so humbled by Mike’s willingness to borrow us his truck during this season. It has helped us be able to get the supplies we have needed in town, and building materials for our house project.

The House   

The Land Rover and the house project have been good at testing us in our patience. We all have ideas, expectations, hopes, and dreams of what time frame we would like things to be done by, and how frustrating we can allow ourselves to get when it doesn’t happen like that. We could see some of these emotions rising in us when our brick-making workers kept coming to us saying they would have to move to another termite mound because the bricks they made cracked. This happened 3 times over a course of 1.5 months. The promise to have the bricks to us by the middle of June was fading fast, and the discouragement began to settle in. Finally, the brick workers found a good mound, and have been working to fulfill our 14,000 bricks needed for our house. Nate has been busy arranging the transport and materials for the foundation to be laid.(Cement, river sand, stones, water runs with the water tank, etc).

Our builders have done all that they can do up to this point; they are now waiting for some of our bricks to be burned, and transported here so that they can start building. We are praying that by the 9^th of August, they will be able to come and start that process. Our builder is very skilled, so we are beyond thankful for his abilities to lay a good foundation for our home. Having the builders here daily has also provided the opportunity for Nate to facilitate the beginning of a spiritual foundation in these men.

•  Nate checking on the termite mound and getting water to them so that they could begin molding the bricks. The other picture shows them off loading the stones we needed to mix with the cement for the foundation. 

The picture to the left shows the footings that are being poured. Then a few rows of brick will be laid before they pour the floor.

Below is another type of rock that we had to get in order to pack the ground. It is such a bright orange. We thought Clayton was getting quite the tan until he showered and all of it washed off.

They are framing up for the floor. They first sprayed a termite killer, then put down plastic, wire, and Nate also cut some rebar to put around the outside wall for extra support. All of the cement has to be mixed by hand. Nate was busy getting water for them and helping mix a few times as well.

In the pictures below you can see our brick oven being completed. Hopefully by the end of next week we will be able to get these transported and the house building can begin.

 

 

 

We are prayerfully trying to keep our vehicle and house situations fully submitted to God. It is so tempting to want to take control. After a few tears. I began to play worship songs, and went into Psalms. The Lord has been showing us that there are bigger and higher purposes that He brought us here for, and it wasn’t the house and land rover. 😉  In all situations that we face, I want to believe that as we lay down our plans, and are attentive to what He is showing us; we will be able to walk in the Spirit more and flesh less. Only through God's help are we able to remain thankful for the blessings and gifts he has given us. It is our prayer that we will be aware of His love for us, and His promise to remain faithful in our life no matter what we are facing. What comfort that can bring to our weary souls. 

In John 15:5 it says, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; but apart from me you can do nothing.”

Amid all the unknowns, there’s one thing we’re surely learning—we need to abide in Christ and His Word.  With such pushes and pressures in our culture to be independent, and to figure out all of our problems on our own. I think we all need to be reminded that God did not create us to be self-sufficient. We were created to live connected to God, and to each other. We need the body of Christ to help remind us we need to be connected to God. That our time with Him is precious and sacred, and is necessary if we want to thrive and not just survive.

Family Fun

Nate turned 34 on the 15^th of July. He was pretty pleased with two cakes. We are thankful that we can celebrate him and thank the Lord for the great Dad and husband he is.

I loved the kids’ facial expressions here. I am glad they can get so much enjoyment out of it even though it isn’t their birthday! Of course, they did get to eat the cake too.  We decided to take a family trip to Livingstone the weekend after his birthday.

Nate surprised me with booking at a beautiful resort called Avani. The atmosphere is so relaxing and the décor was so neat. The kids loved the kids play area and spent a few hours there before going to see a few of our friends from Overland Missions. The kids had a lot of fun interacting and playing with the other families. We are grateful for the connections we have, and we hope to build as we intentionally try to seek community here. It was also an extra bonus that the wildlife also enjoy the facility. As we ate supper the first night, a group of about 6 zebras just decided to graze about 20 feet away from us. To see a part of God’s creation so close was just amazing for all of us to experience. On our last day there before church at Overland Missions base, we decided to go on a quick walk. The kids were in a great mood and felt as though they were on an adventure. I am sure when tourism is flourishing we would have seen more people and workers but since Covid started, that industry has suffered greatly, and it was just us on the path. We were running out of time, so we decided to turn around and start getting loaded to leave. A man came running up behind us and said, “Were you wanting to see the giraffes?” So, we followed this man off the path and into the bush to a little bench where he told us to sit and wait. Within about 5 minutes the giraffes appeared through the brush and came to the feeding trough. He invited our family up to stand next to the trough as the giraffes calming ate in front of us. All of us were taken back by how great God is! He not only created this beautiful creature, but he also cared about our desire to see the giraffes with our kids. Little did we know that we would be inches away from them! (we did make it to church on time and had a great time of fellowship afterwards). It was a weekend that our family will remember and cherish as we got to see God’s goodness shown to us in so many ways.

              

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Prayer Requests

1.      That our family would be faithful to plant the seeds of truth into this community, and that the people will be willing to receive the Word, repent, and follow their Savior with all their heart, soul, and mind.
2.      Please pray that we will be able to find an Old Testament download in their language that we can put on SD cards.
3.    Please pray for the rebuilding of our Land Rover’s engine, as it is so important to have a functioning vehicle to provide for personal and community needs as they arise. Also, the building of our home.
4.      Since there has been a rise in Covid cases, they closed the schools again. They closed schools in June and have yet to reopen. The kids are missing so much needed teaching. Please pray for discernment as we assess the students learning, and are considering mentioning to the parents that all students should repeat this year as they have missed a total of almost 7 months since the Covid restrictions began.

 

We pray that all is well with you and your families. Thank you again for lifting up our family in your prayers. We appreciate it so much. 

Below is a reminder on how you can give towards our ministry. Thank you for partnering with us as we do our best to carry out what the Lord has asked of us. 

If you want to partner with us financially you can write a check to 

Faith Assembly of God. Please write Zambia in the memo line and send it to: 

     5112 Lafayette Rd.

        Elk Run Heights, IA 50707

If you are interested in giving online please follow these steps

below: 

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