Thank you!

Thank you Northstar Baptist Church 3-5th grade class - We love The Comets!! Thank you Mrs. Gerri for organizing, purchasing, praying, wrapping, and sending!! We'll LOVE opening these on Christmas morning!!!

Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for the box of wonderful goodies!! We love you so much!!

We are so thankful to all of you for  these gifts!! You sure made us smile when we checked the mail yesterday!! We felt like we got a huge hug in the mail!!

We are praying the Lord's blessings on you guys...you sure blessed us!! 

Jesus is the Reason

We were so excited Mark was able to find a Christmas tree in Mongu. The kids loved putting it together and are making ornaments for it. As we enter into Christmas season, may our hearts prepare to celebrate the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ, the greatest Gift of all time.

For to us a child is born, 

to us a Son is given;

and the government shall be upon His shoulder, 

and His Name shall be called 

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 

Isaiah 9:6

happy birthday Mark!

Happy birthday to Mark, our fearless leader! Madylanne made him a card she really loved giving him!

Peach cobbler instead of cake....Mark liked it but Micah was highly disappointed...he thinks all birthday celebrations require chocolate cake. 

School daze

The kids enjoyed Thanksgiving break immensely! We all did. But they are back to school now...school daze.... I mean school days....  :)

Speech Therapy

This is a shot of Micah doing speech therapy with Mrs. Lisa, his speech therapist who lives all the way in Virginia. We are so thankful to God for technology which allows Micah to have speech therapy in our far away spot on the map! He is making great progress, too. Thank You Lord! 

Happy Thanksgiving from Zambia

We had a blessed time indeed, hanging out with mission family in Lusaka for Thanksgiving.


Matthew in the pool having lots of fun with everyone!

                                   

  Evangeline pushing Micah down 

  the hall of our guesthouse... 

  so cute!    

Madylanne with Luli and Charlie.

                 game time for the ladies

hang time for the guys

The Baptist Mission of Zambia 2019 

(with a few guests)

Thank You God, for your many blessings- the greatest of whom is Jesus Christ!

Loving these students

When we first moved to Senanga we heard that there is a school here for students who are deaf. We have come to find out there are TWO such schools here...one for grades preschool through 9th, and one for students in 10-12th grade. They are boarding schools for children who come from all over the Western Province. We visited these schools last week and met some of the staff and students. They are open to having us come and share the Gospel with them through sign language. A church in North Carolina is sending a team of volunteers here next July 2020 and guess what they will be doing?? Sharing the Gospel through sign. 

We are THRILLED for what God is going to do!!! Pray for these students and what God wants to do in their hearts!!

We love you Vines Family!

A very dear IMB mission family from the Eastern Province of Zambia came to visit us last week for a few days...it took them over 15 hours of driving to get here!! We loved and cherished every minute of their stay and are so honored they came so far to see us!! We love you, Kenny, Lesley, Tyler, Kenley, and Colton! We thank God for you and the encouragement you brought while you were here. May the Lord bless you guys and the ministry He has given you in the Eastern Province...for God's glory and His Kingdom! 

Beauties

These two beautiful girls are our neighbors. They are Limpo and Tamara. Tamara is the daughter of Melynda's language helper, Bo Abigail. She turns 3 tomorrow. Please pray with us that Tamara and Limpo will come to know Jesus as their Savior!

RAIN!!!

Not sure you can hear it but let me assure it is the sweet sweet sound of RAIN!!!!! Thank you for praying for rain!!! We are thanking God for His answer. Please keep praying because it's going to take a LOT of rain to fill empty wells, rivers, and lakes.

For Whom Do You Pray?

Here are some of the people you are praying for when you pray for us to share Jesus in Senanga...Here you see Pastor Dominik, who is visiting us and meeting with Bo Lamech (in the orange shirt), Mark's language helper. We are praying for Lamech, who says he wants to be Baptist. He reads his Bible daily and is asking lots of great questions. Please pray that God will help him understand what it means to follow Jesus, and that Mark and other Godly men such as Pastor Dominik can help Lamech along on this journey. Lamech and Mark go everywhere together these days. May Lamech come to know Jesus as Savior!

The men below are our guards...sounds strange to have guards I know but that is a normal part of life around here.
The one standing is Bo Sianga. He is quiet and honest. He is considered a shepherd in his church. However his church believes in the gifts of the apostles/preachers above the authority of Scripture. Please pray he will see the truth in Scripture and long to follow Jesus with all his heart.
The one seated is Bo Luka. He is hard working and joyful. He loves to sing! Please pray he will grow in his walk with the Lord and be a Godly example and leader in his family.
The woman you see is Bo Sianga's wife, Boma Sianga. She was pretty sick a few months ago and Melynda was able to visit her in the hospital and share the Gospel with her. She didn't understand what it meant to be born again but has been shown in the Silozi Bible what that means. Now she comes to house sometimes and Melynda visits her at her house sometimes. And she loves to talk about the Bible. Please pray the Lord will help open her heart to being born again.

Random Joy

Here are some shots of random stuff that makes us happy...

when the power goes out and the kids play cards by headlamp

when we are at a store somewhere in a city and we happen upon kid size shopping carts (trollies, as they are called here)

And mango sticky rice!!!! yummy 

Thank You Lord for these little slices of Your goodness. 

Baptist Mission of Sesheke Church

Here are some photos of our most recent trip to Sesheke. We always love worshiping with Pastor Dominik and the church family!!

 Above is Pastor, with Mark and Micah

 Bo Teresa and Melynda

Their daughter Rita with niece Charity

family shots

 

We were at a gathering recently and decided to take some family shots. 

The kids!

                                                                Mark and I 

so serious

Goodness gracious don't these boys look serious? Is this Lord of the Flies or what? Well they posed for this, I'll have you know. They were actually having an amazing time at a gathering we recently attended. They loved their big sticks and tromping through a really lush green (small) forest of sorts. Oh childhood! 

The kiddo standing up at the back is Ethan, a third culture kid from Kansas!! His family serves in the capital city of Lusaka. Our boys love him dearly and cherish every time they get to hang out. 

travels

                                    Here are some pictures of us on our recent travels.                                        This is not usually how I like to sit, but the boys seem pretty
                                                            comfortable. :)
                                                  At least Madylanne is upright. :)

Brothers in Christ

We had the honor of hosting two really special guests in the last week...Pastor Yamba of the Evangelical Church of Zambia, a dear friend and partner in ministry in Sesheke. Pastor Yamba was passing through on his way to see family. Such an encouragement! 

And Pastor Dominik, the pastor of Baptist Mission of Sesheke Church. Pastor Dominik stayed a few days while we were trying to help him find some answers as to why he's losing his vision. He'll be back this coming week to make a follow up trip to the eye clinic in Mongu. Please pray the doctor will be able to accurately diagnose the issue and give clear direction for what needs to happen next. 

Hazel is free!

The kids are so excited Hazel is allowed out of quarantine!! Matthew  loves to hold her....

Micah is not so sure about her.....

Madylanne on the other hand is IN LOVE and had lots of fun giving Hazel a much needed bath.

say cheese

                 Haircut time!