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Friday, June 11, 2010

Team Newsletter: March – May 2010

Read our Team Newsletter

Below is a copy of the text from the newsletter:

Harvest time is a joyful time of year in Zambia. The farmers finally have enough food to sell their surplus and buy some extras which they often do without (like soap and sugar). Living close to creation constantly reminds us who is truly in control.

April Servant-Hood Seminar – Rick Love

In April, we invited 20 men to come and continue learning the Word of God. We had three classes for one month. First, Garry Montgomery came from America to teach about servant leadership. Second, Brian and Rick taught the book of Acts. Finally, each student took his turn to practice teaching a section from Acts.

Each of the leaders continues to grow in his commitment to God and serving others in his community.

Kandemba House Church – Leonard Mujala

This little congregation is located just near the airport in Solwezi and meets in the home of Mr. & Mrs. Nyevuka. The Nyevukas used to walk a long distance to the Messenger congregation and finally thought of starting a congregation in their home with two other families. They live in a large compound and will have many people nearby with which to share the gospel. The Messenger congregation where John Maseka preaches is fully supporting this new church plant within Solwezi.

On its first Sunday meeting, two people came forward to be baptized and one restored! Twenty two people assembled together on their first Sunday which has caused them to begin looking around for a possible room for rent or perhaps a plot of land on which to build. I visited the other congregations in town to encourage them to be visiting this new congregation. Solwezi is a mining town that is growing in population. English is well spoken there. We hope to have a major distribution of World Bible School material in Solwezi later this year. I know that you will join me in prayer that God will give a great harvest!

Matenda! – Brian Davis

Each year the rains threaten to wash away our 2 mile dirt road from the paved highway to our village where we live. Three years ago, Leonard Mujala mentioned a word in KiiKaonde that might help in the road’s annual repair: matenda. The meaning of this word exists in numerous cultures here in Africa and most language groups have a single word for this idea. I haven’t found a single word for this concept in English. Perhaps the closest phrase that we have is “a barn raising”.

The idea is that the community pulls together in a volunteer effort to accomplish a task that will bless the whole community. During the last two years, we have had from 10 to 15 community volunteers come out to work together with us on the road. This year we had around 30 volunteers! We are prayerful that this indicates a willingness of the community to perceive us as part of the community rather than as a foreign aid agency. This has been a perception problem that we have been wrestling against since we began.

The acceptance of the road being a community responsibility and believing that they can help themselves with the help of God is a big step in the process of overcoming “a poverty of being” that is well entrenched in our people group. As Chief Mumena recently shared with me, “The Kaonde are a noble people with many talents. They just need to re-find themselves again.” The word matenda may be a language key that helps them to do just that!

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