Pages

Recent Posts from the Mumena Team

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Team Newsletter: February 2010

Read our Team Newsletter

Below is a copy of the text from the newsletter:

February is a hard time for the farmers in Zambia. Most of them have eaten all their stored maize (corn), so they are left searching for something to replace their staple food.

Appropriate Technology – Rick

IMG_0279
Building a compost pile

 

One of the major problems that causes starvation and malnutrition in Zambia is dependency on maize.

Everybody grows maize even though it is the most expensive crop to grow and has the lowest price when it is time to sell. That doesn’t make any sense, but people cannot risk change because they fear their family might starve. Before changing, they have to see something that works better.

Since I live among farmers, it is important for me to relate to their struggles. So, I started a garden this year. However, I want to introduce simple and cheap technology that can drastically improve gardening. This is called Appropriate Technology.

A rope pump is an example of that. For about $40 (which is cheaper than one bag of fertilizer), a rope pump can be made that can pump water from up to 150 feet. This can be put on any type of well (like a traditional hand dug well).

This simple pump can enable anybody to make a garden near their village (It also has the bonus of providing water for drinking, cooking, and bathing). The people can see the benefit, make the well and pump themselves, and pay for everything without any help.

IMG_0327
A local youth testing the rope pump

 

As we are teaching the Kaonde we must be the salt in their community that causes them to thank God for our presence, which Jesus spoke about in Matthew 5. Even here people want to see your love in action before they trust your words.

Hopefully, by showing them a way to feed their own families on earth, they will also understand that God wants to give them spiritual food.

 

Rick & Karen Love

Standing? – Brian

It is quite a contrast between the snowy United States and the balmy Central African tropics! We arrived back from our furlough after a leisurely 9 hour lay-over in London. This actually worked to our advantage as we have experienced less jet lag than usual. As we have gotten back into the swing of things here, we were trembling as we wondered what we would find.

You never know what you are going to come back to. For instance my gardener decided to “skip” work for the three months prior to our arrival. Thus the garden was ruined. Thankfully our new grocery store was still in business, but our gardener is now un-employed. The much greater test is whether the new churches “skip” worship for the missionary’s furlough.

While delivering this year’s invitations to our April Bible School, we have seen time and time again young churches who are focused on being faithful and who – in some cases – are even growing numerically. This is an important test of each missionary’s work. The rains have been harsher than usual this year with many villages being flooded out and several houses collapsing. Thus we have been prevented from visiting our outlying congregations as of yet, but we hope to pass the test as the roads begin to become passable.

“The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.”
Matthew 7:25 NIV

Pray that our outlying young churches stand on the Rock!

 

Brian & Sondra Davis

We are now on Facebook

In trying to communicate with as many people as possible, we now have a team page on Facebook. Become a fan to keep updated with everything that is happening in Mumena.