The Rodgers Family

Jan. 2012
December was packed full of ministry and fun for our fam-ily!
-Suzie and Hannah began teaching out in Ng’ombe compound every other Mon-day. Suzie is teaching the women and Hannah is teach-ing the children.
-Justin was home for the whole month and we tried to do lots of fun things together-movies, shopping, playing games, eating good food, spending time with friends and I’m sure he would add sleeping! He also got to go to mk camp which he loves!
-Kevin went to the states for 10 days so he could partici-pate in his graduation. He received his diploma plus got to see Zach and other family! He was also able to preach at our home church and visit with friends there.
-Zach did well on his ex-ams and is enjoying his break from Liberty with family.
-Hannah turned 11 and had several celebrations! She also got off from school for two weeks. She has en-joyed some tennis lessons as well.
-Suzie washed more clothes, cooked more food, got more hugs and enjoyed every bit of this month!

Coming up in January:
-Jan.2nd Justin returns from mk camp at 9:00pm and then Jan. 3rd at 11:00am he flies back to RVA for his second term. Please pray we will be able to wash clothes and get him all packed up quickly and that he would have a safe trip and a great term.
-Jan. 3rd Kevin starts teaching a Personal Evangelism class for the Baptist Seminary every Tues. night. Suzie and Hannah start back with homeschool.
-Jan. 2nd, 16th, and 30th Suzie and Hannah will be teaching in Ng’ombe compound. Please pray for wisdom as we teach.
-Jan. 7th Kevin will be teaching the leadership training that he is doing out in Chipata compound among the leaders in that association. Please pray for a good turn out and that these men and women will be chal-lenged in their walk with the Lord.
-Jan. 13-15th Our family will be traveling to Kitwe to visit with the Kims. Pray we will be an encourage-ment to this sweet couple.
-Jan. 16th Zach starts back to classes at Liberty. Please pray for a great semester!
-Jan. 25th-26th Kevin will be flying to Nchelenge in the far Northern cor-ner of Zamiba to survey that area to see about placing a missionary there at some point. He will also be trying to go into the Congo to survey there some too. Please pray for this trip as he and a couple of other missionaries go out to spy out the land.



Dec. 2011

The 2011 theme is “His heart, His voice, His hands – I am Southern Baptist missions.” It reminds us that as followers of Jesus, we – the Church – are called to be the body of Christ. We are His heart, His hands and His voice in the midst of a world filled with unreached peoples. We are part of the task to fulfill the Great Commission. And although we Southern Baptists have been praying, giving and going for 160 years, the task is far from finished.
Now is the time to take a fresh look at the challenges ahead and be ready to finish the task of reaching all peoples. Here’s a global snapshot of the work ahead of us:
6,744 people groups are considered unreached (less than 2 percent profess a personal relationship with Jesus Christ; as reported April 2011)
3,789 people groups are not engaged at all with the Gospel (as reported April 2011)
The 2011 Lottie Moon Christmas Offering® goal is $175 million.  Yes, that sounds like a lot of money but all things are possible with God!
One time someone said to us, “I give to other ministries which have to raise their own support because you already have support.”  As Southern Baptist missionaries we are fully funded through this offering. That is why we do not have to raise our own support.  Our churches, Southern Baptists, provide for us and we are so thankful for that because we can then spend most of our time doing ministry and not having to raise support.  Please prayerfully ask God what He would have you to give this year to this offering.

To give online you can visit the imb
Website at:  
https://netcommunity.imb.org/SSLPage.aspx?pid=229



Aug. 29th, 2011
Scriptures you can pray for us and other missionaries all over the world. This is taken from David Platt.

Pray that they would be confident in God's Word. (Acts 13:4-6)
Pray that they would be filled with God's Spirit. (Acts 13:7-9)
Pray for their victory in spiritual warfare. (Acts 13:9-12)
Pray for their success in gospel witness. (Acts 13:12)
Pray for peace with other believers, in their homes, and marriages. (Acts 13:13)
Pray for favor with unbelievers that they would be open to the gospel. (Acts 13:14-15)
Pray that the gospel will be clear through them (Acts 13:16-48)
Pray that God will open hearts around them. (Acts 13:48)
Pray for their joy in the midst of suffering. (Acts 13:49-52)
Pray for their kindness in the midst of slander. (Acts 14:1-2, Mat-thew 10:22)
Pray for supernatural power to accompany them. (Acts 14:3)
Pray for Christlike humility to characterize them. (Acts 14:4-18)
Pray for their patience. (Acts 14:18)
Pray for their perseverance (Acts 14:19-20)
Pray that God would use them to make many disciples. (Acts 14:21-23)
Pray that God would use them to multiply churches.


June 3rd, 2011

“Man shall not live on bread alone but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” Deuteronomy 8:3

The Soli people are some of the ones that we came to Zambia to work with.  So for the last 10 years we have shared Christ and discipled these people. I believe that God desires for people of every nation, every tribe, and every language to know Him. Before now, the Soli people have never had any book published in their language, whether scripture or otherwise.  They have been too long without the Word of God in the language that they understand best.  Just recently the Soli Bible Translation Project published the Gospel of Mark in the Soli language.  Please pray for this project to be able to continue so that eventually the entire Bible will be in the Soli language.  You can also pray for the many who will receive the Gospel of Mark in Soli to begin to hide God’s Word in their hearts and that their lives will be changed as a result of being able to fully understand His Word in their heart language.


Jan. 1st, 2011

Wow...2010 was a great year.  Challenging?  Yes.  Frustrating at times?  You betcha!  However, it is through these challenging times that we grow closer to God.  As I review this past year in my mind I'm thankful to see God's hand leading and guiding us through good times and bad times.   We have been in the states for our furlough time since the end of July and will go back to Zambia in March.  It will be hard to go back as a family of 4 and not 5 as we have to leave our oldest son Zach here in the states so he can go to college.  I'm so thankful that just like God's mercies are new every morning they are also new in this new year.
What will 2011 hold?  I'm not sure but I can guarantee it won't be easy or without obstacles.  But I do know the One who directs my path.  So I'm welcoming 2011 with excitement and anticipation, knowing that the best is yet to come.

"The land you are ... to take possession of is a land of mountains and valleys that drinks rain from heaven.  It is a land the LORD you God cares for; the eyes of the LORD your God are continually on it from the beginning of the year to its end." (Deuteronomy 11:11-12)


May 28th, 2010

I continued on with the theme of teaching our children, at the womens meeting. This week we focused on correcting and punishing our children. Sometimes our children will disobey the rules we have set in our home. So when this happens we have to correct and punish our children. We punish them because we love them and we want to show them the right way. Even the Lord punishes sometimes. He corrects us and shows us when we do something wrong(Prov. 3:11-12). God reproves those whom he loves. God expects parents to punish their children too. How else will our children learn to obey? We do have to be careful that we don't punish in anger though. When you punish in anger you are not thinking of the child just yourself. Your child should know that you still love them. Your punishment must be firm but just. It should not be too harsh.
All children will rebel from time to time. Even if parents are wise and kind, children will still try to get their own way and disobey. This is because of the sinful nature in each of us. Proverbs 29:15,17 says, "The rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother...Discipline your son, and he will give you rest, he will give delight to your heart." I told the women that I know that it is not easy to teach our children when they rebel. Sometimes we feel angry and discouraged. We feel like letting the child just go and do whatever. We don't like to argue and we feel tired sometimes. I encouraged the ladies to not give up on thier children. They need to pray each day and ask God for his help and strength.
There really doesn't seem to be a lot of discipline in the home here in Zambia until the children get older. Like I mentioned before it is often a beating-not time out, spanking, taking away something, etc. One time this past year a boy a little older than Hannah was not treating her right. I went to the mother to let her know and right there in front of me she started beating her son. I was horrified and felt so bad! While I did think he needed to be disciplined and instructed in the right way to treat a girl I did not want him to be beaten like that. Please pray that these women I am teaching have learned the correct way to punish and will do it out of love for their child.
It was so sad because during the question time one of the women asked me what she could do with her child who was drinking. She went on to explain that he was 16 years old. He doesn't go to church with the family. When she tries to discipline him in any way he will beat her. Can you imagine? If you would right now, could you pray for this woman and her son.

Are you teaching your children when they rebel, or do you let them get their own way?



April 27th, 2010

"..and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise."
Last week at the women's meeting I taught on two goals that every Christian parent should have for their children(see post below). This week I taught that parents have the job of teaching their children. Many things come along in life that can pull our children away from following God such as: temptations of the world, bad friends, their own desires, or lies from Satan. We have to make sure that we teach our children the Word of God so that when they are faced with these things they will know how to handle them. I think that in the verse above it doesn't just mean that we should teach our children 4 times a day. I think that it is saying that we should take every opportunity that we have throughout the day to teach our children.
Eli, in 1 Sam. 2-3, was a priest. He himself was a good man. He also raised Samuel well. But Eli's own sons were very sinful. It says in 1 Sam. 3:13 "I am about to punish his house for ever. For the iniquity which he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them." God judged Eli for not teaching and punishing his sons. It was not enough for Eli to work well for God. God wanted Eli to raise his own sons well.
We, as Christian parents, need to make sure that we are doing all that we can to teach our children the way to live and follow God. So many times here in Zambia children are just left to do whatever they want to do during the day. The parents will not even start disciplining their children until they are around the age of 5. As you can imagine by that time it is too late. Often their form of disciplining is to beat their children to teach them and I'm not talking about spanking. Please pray for Zambians to begin to take an interest in their children and desire for them to follow God and live for Him. Pray that they will take opportunities to teach their children the Word of God.



April 18th, 2010

"Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him." Psalm 127:3
Children can bring their parents much joy. They are a special blessing which God usually gives to marriage. If God does not give this blessing, the marriage can still be complete. If he does give this blessing, we should remember that children are a gift from God. God gives us our children, but he wants them to serve him. God does not give them so we can keep them for ourselves to use. He gives them to us to raise for his glory. Yesterday, I taught on this subject at my women's meeting that I went to. Our children really belong to God. Of course, we want them to be healthy, to learn well, and work well with others. I think most people would agree with those goals. But as Christians God wants us to have two goals for them. 1-to recieve Christ as Savior, and 2- to follow God's plan for their lives.
In some tribes parents think of their children as their own riches. They think of what they will receive from their children. They send their children to school so they will get money from them later. Their goal is that their children bring riches to their parents one day. That is why many Africans will have lots of children because they know that some will die and some will not be rich but then some will have enough and help provide for the parents as they get older.
Please pray that Zambians, who are believers, would raise their children to receive Christ and to follow Him.


April 12th, 2010

Today I had a first time experience for me. I carried a deceased person in the back of my truck to the mortuary plus had a few more stops along the way. As a imb missionary we are here to plant churches, disciple, and lead others to Christ. However, because we live in Africa relationships with others is very important. To be a part of the community is essential. Sometimes we are called upon to do things which aren't pleasant but necessary so we can be part of the community. There are also many benefits to being part of a community but today was one of those days when I was asked to do something kind of weird and unpleasant for me but necessary. Kevin has done this type of transportation many times and it has always been difficult for me to just hear about it afterwards. He has been out of the country this week at a meeting. So today when our friend came and told me that one of his relatives had died during the night I knew that I would need to help and do something for the family. His request though was for me to go to the village and pick up the person who had died and take him to the mortuary. I think my friend could tell by the look on my face that I was surprised because he quickly added that I could just stay in the truck the whole time and wouldn't have to look. So as I start off on this first time experience I began to pray that God would help me with this task. I get to the village and I just couldn't just sit in the truck. I got out and greeted everyone and sat and waited for them to prepare the body for transport. Then they brought out this man wrapped in blankets and put him in the back of the truck. Well, they left the tailgate down and the back window open and several people climbed behind with the body. I asked my friend, "aren't you going to close the tailgate?" He said, "no he was too tall and we can't." Well, all I can picture is this man falling out of the back of my truck as I'm driving down the road. Can you imagine??!! He assured me that this man would not fall out. So we start off. However, when we get into Chongwe we first have to go to the police station because a report has to be filled out since this person died at home. If he had died at the clinic we would not have needed this report. Then we proceeded to the clinic to get a doctor to check him out and make sure he was really dead. He also had to sign a paper saying as such. (Sidenote-it was kind of humorous to me to watch in the rearview mirror this doctor climb up in the back of my truck and get out his stethoscope and listen for a heartbeat on this man-but I guess it was necessary) We then proceeded to the mortuary where we dropped the deceased off. It was such a small building maybe just the size of my den and kitchen. They don't embalm people here. The mortuary is just the place they take the bodies to keep them cool until the family can come and cleanse the body and prepare it for burial. The family comes to do that on the burial day. After they have prepared the body they then take it to the church or to wherever the person will be buried. Anyway, after leaving the mortuary I took all the family that had ridden with me back to the village. I quickly made my way home and ate a quick lunch so I could head out to teach this afternoon. I'll write about that tomorrow. As I have reflected on the events of this day and this first time experience I see that it was good for me to do this. Yeah, it was a strange experience but it made me feel good that I could help a family in their time of need.


April 2nd, 2010

Trust in the LORD and do good;
dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
Delight yourself in the LORD
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the LORD;
trust in him and he will do this:
He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn,
the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.
Psalm 37:3-6


Trust in the LORD: I have got to trust in the Lord in all circumstances. Whether it is with my children, my husband, my marriage, my mission(work), my friends, nationals, extended family, etc. I have to trust God to take care of all of that. When I start trusting in myself and get my eyes off of God things go south really quick. I know I can trust in God because I have faith that He is in control.

and do good: I need to do good no matter who is watching. God always sees my actions and my heart! Oh, how I pray that I will know when to help others and that God would use my gifts of mercy and helps to minister to others. Help me God, to do whatever you call me to do with all my might! Help me not to always try to please others but be more concerned if I am pleasing God.

Dwell in the land: To dwell means to live as an inhabitant: reside, to exist in a given place or condition, to focus one’s attention, to treat at length. Am I dwelling in the land that God has brought me to? Or do I have one foot in this land and the other in America? I feel like I am dwelling where God has called me to. Lord, help me to be comfortable with who I am in Christ, with the calling and gifts you have given me, and please use me to minister to others.

and enjoy safe pasture: The best place we can be is right in the center of God’s will no matter where that is or how tough it is. I am safest when I am in the center of His will. However, I think this is mainly talking about spiritual safety. Surely God protects us a lot from physical harm but I don’t think He wants us to not experience any suffering along the way. Even Jesus experienced physical suffering and death. Throughout history, many righteous people have tragically lost their lives. God did not always rescue them. We also know that members of the early church were tortured and died cruel deaths. Though the reasons behind life’s tragedies often remain a mystery, by faith, we can know that God will not abandon his people. Thank you God, that no matter how tough life can be sometimes, you will always be with me and walk through life with me.

Delight yourself in the LORD: to delight means great pleasure or gratification; joy; something that affords great pleasure or enjoyment. I need to make sure I’m delighting myself in the Lord every day by spending time in His Word and by growing closer to him by communicating with Him through prayer. Is it a duty or a desire? Is it boring or pure fun?

and he will give you the desires of your heart: Will God give me anything I desire? No, I don’t think so. But he will give me my desires when they first are shaped by a delight in the Lord. To receive this promise I need to love God above all else and my desires will become what he desires for me. Then my greatest desire will be to conform my life to his will. God is so patient with me!

Commit your way to the LORD: would this mean commit my life or my path? I think sometimes we commit our way to ourselves. We do what we want to do and not necessarily what God desires for us to do. We do what we are comfortable with or what we know. We don’t like to get out of our comfort zone. However, when we do get out of our comfort zone God stretches us and uses us like we can not imagine.

Trust in him and he will do this: Here again we have to trust in him and he promises us the next statement.

He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.: So if I will just commit my way to the Lord and trust in him He will make my goodness shine like the dawn(beautiful image) and the rightness of my mission will shine like the noonday sun(that is bright!) Lord, I do pray that I will be a light that will shine for you where ever I am and in whatever I do. I have realized that I am not alone.. that Christ can and will accomplish all the things that He purposes to bring about within my life…in the right season. Praise God!


March 26th, 2010

"Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?"
2 Cor. 6:14
"Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives." 1 Peter 3:1-2
In Zambia, you will find many Christians that will be married to a non-believer for different reasons. Perhaps he or she received Christ after being married. Perhaps the unbeliever only pretended to be a Christian before marriage. Perhaps the Christian willingly married an unbeliever. Either way, we see this alot here in Zambia. Also, there are many times that the husband will go to one church and the wife will go to another. As you can imagine this can cause a lot of conflict in the home and the family is not united. Many women have come to me in the past and asked me what they can do in this situation, so that is why I decided to teach on this subject this past Thursday at the women's meeting. A Christian wife should respect, obey, and love her unbelieving husband because this may bring him to Christ. If she will live her life in a good way and pray then perhaps one day her husband will trust in Jesus. I had a friend once that told me that her mother had been praying for her husband to come to Christ for 20 years and finally he did. God is faithful and answers prayers! What I learn from that is that we should not give up on anyone coming to Christ. We need to be diligent in our prayers for our lost loved ones.
Please pray for Zambian families to be united in the Truth of God's Word and desire to worship together as a family.




March 18th, 2010

Many Zambian women do not feel like they have much value as a person. They do most of the work at home, take care of the children, and work in their fields most often without words of appreciation from their husbands. Many of the women I teach are beaten by their husbands when he comes home drunk or if things aren't just right at home. They are taught even from a young age that they are not important. That is why today I taught on how women were created in the image of God (just like men were) so therefore she is a valuable person. We looked at many verses but focused on Prov. 31:10-31. That Prov. 31 woman was something! She did so much! Her husband trusted in her and loved her. The wife was always good to her husband. She knew her value and who she was in Christ. Therefore, she was able to act wisely and humbly. She obeyed God's plan by following her husband as the leader. She did many good things because she knew that she had value from God. This woman had strength, dignity, wisdom, and kindness. From these verses we can see how God wants us to be also. He wants us to be able to think and plan. He wants us to be wise and kind. He wants us to be able to help our husband and our families. This woman helped the poor. She made good clothes for her family. She followed the leading of her husband. Her husband and children praised her! I think this husband thought that his wife was a valuable person created in the image of God. While we can not control our husbands actions we certainly can control ours. Hopefully, in time these women that I teach will receive the praise they deserve from their husbands and children. Please pray for the women all over Zambia!
A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. Prov. 31:10-11


March 4th, 2010

Today's lesson at Chimusanya Baptist Church  was on how we should forgive one another. Often things happen in life among our friends or in our families where we get hurt. Bitterness and anger can easily come between us. This is not God's plan. God tells us that when trouble comes between people we need to, "forbearing one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive." (Col. 3:13) We must put away anger, wrath, hate, lies, and evil talk(Col. 3:8). When another offends us we must not answer back with these bad things. Colossians goes on to tell us that we must be patient and forgive even when another has hurt us. Col. 3:12 says, "Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, and patience.."
We forgive because God has forgiven us. One time Peter asked Jesus how many times he should forgive. He asked whether he should forgive his brother seven times. Matthew 18:22 says, "Jesus said to him, I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven." That means 490 times. Jesus meant that we should never stop forgiving one who offends us.
Question time can always be interesting and a cultural learning experience as well. Today, one of the women asked me, "If my friend hits me in the face what can I do?" I had to first ask if that was really true and she said it was. I told her that she may not really be a friend after all. Anyway, our job is to forgive even if the other person doesn't ask forgiveness. I'm not saying it is easy, in fact, it is very difficult to do. People cannot forgive in this way unless God helps them. Jesus is our example and his power gives us strength to forgive. All we can do is our part that God wants us to do and then pray for that person that God would work in them and change their heart. Interestingly enough, I had a very similar situation happen to me just this week that I could share with the women of how I had forgiven someone of a wrong deed when that person had not actually asked for my forgiveness. If I had not forgiven that person I could have become quite bitter in the long run. Now, I'm just praying that God would change that person and show them their wrong deed. I can't change anyone only God can do that so I'm just leaving it up to Him. I think that it is neat how when I teach, God allows me to use examples from my own life.


Feb. 26th, 2010

Thursday at Chimusanya I wanted to follow up our time of sharing our testimonies from last week with sharing the gospel with these women. I could tell from last week that there were a few who probably did not understand the gospel but who thought they were Christians. I told stories from Gen. up through Jesus' resurrection. This method is called Creation to Christ. I took a long time to explain certain stories that they might be confused on. At the end when I asked if they had any questions one woman asked about charms and witchcraft. I had taken Amai Mwachamota with me that day and so she then spoke on that topic for about 30 min. She also shared her testimony. Before she was saved in 1991 she had been involved in many of the things that these women struggle with. She is such a different woman today! I know it must have been an encouragement for these women to hear her words of what Christ did in her life to set her free from that bondage. When she had finished I gave an invitation and 4 women came saying they wanted to receive Christ. So, me and Amai Mwachamota took these women outside and counseled with them and they all prayed to receive Christ. Please pray for these 4 women to break free from the bondage in their lives and that they would begin to grow in their relationship with Jesus.
I left at 1:00 that day and reached home at 7:15pm. It was a long afternoon but so exciting to see these women decide to follow Christ. As I reflected on this day God taught me two things:
1-In relationships we are always learning new things about our spouse, our children, our friends, and our God. How boring it would be if we all ready new everything about the people we love. We have been in Zambia since 1997 and I am still learning about our people. I learned some new cultural things today that I had never heard before. I wasn't surprised by them but it was still exciting to learn. I think it is neat that God didn't teach us everything we needed to know about culture and our people the day we arrived. Little by little we continue to learn and grow in our knowledge of who they are.
2-One of the women at the meeting asked Amai Mwachamota a question about miscarriage. They believe that if a woman has a miscarriage she can not be with her husband until she has taken some medicine(charm) to protect her from getting sick with a lot of pain in her stomach. So when women have a miscarriage they will go to the witchdoctor to get this medicine so that they will not get sick. Amai Mwachamota knew I had had a miscarriage back in our first two years on the field. So she asked me in front of them if I had taken any charms after my miscarriage. Of course, I said no. Then she asked if I had gotten sick. Of course, I had not. Then I had Hannah almost one year later. She talked to the women explaining that we are all women and we are the same. If they were to cut each one of us we would all have the same blood. Anyway, I could talk and talk on this but I won't. What God showed me was that He can use anything in our lives to teach others about Him even something painful like a miscarriage. When I went to share Christ with those women on Thursday I had no idea that subject would come up. I'm thankful that God could use something from my life to direct others towards Christ and show them how they can leave this part of their traditional life behind.



Feb. 21st, 2010

But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect. 1 Peter 3:15

An easy way to begin to share Christ with your friends and family is by telling them your testimony. Your testimony is simply your story about how God has worked in your life. In today’s lesson at Chimusanya Baptist Church I read the story of how Paul shared his testimony in Acts 26:1-29. Then we talked about how Paul’s testimony had 3 parts. 1-His life before he knew/received Jesus, 2-How he came to know Jesus, and then 3-His life after he received Jesus(how he had changed). Basically, if you can share these 3 things you can share a short testimony. Lesley went with me today and so she had the opportunity to share her testimony with the women. Then I had the women break up into groups of two and practice sharing their testimonies. We then came back together and one by one they each got up and shared their testimony to the whole group. Most of these women are not used to getting up in front of others and speaking so I was very proud of them for doing that. I also was able to see how some of the women seemed to depend on their joining the Baptist church to make them a Christian. It was also interesting that all but two women didn’t become a Christian until after they were married. I think there is a lot of confusion among some of our churches about what it really means to be born again. Pray for me over the next couple of months as I share Christ and His Word with these women that they will understand what I’m saying and desire to truly live for Christ. For homework this week I asked them to learn the verse mentioned above and to share their testimony with a friend. Pray for these women as they try to do these things this week.

It was sad to me today when I asked a woman if she could say the memory verse from last week and she said she couldn’t read and she didn’t even have a bible in Chichewa so no one could help her. She lives very far from the church and none of the church members live close enough to come and help her learn the verses each week. She truly seemed to want to learn the verses but could not see a way to do that. I told her I would try to start staying a little longer after the meetings and help her to learn her verses. How often do we take for granted the fact that we can read? How often do we just quickly read some passage of scripture and say we have spent time with God? How often have we just left our Bible on the shelf and not read it at all? So many people all over the world can not read at all. Many people don’t even have their own Bible. There are still many places in the world that there isn’t a bible written in their language. What would these people do if they had the ability to read and owned a bible? May God have mercy on us all! Lord, help us not to take for granted everything you have blessed us with.



Feb. 14th, 2010

I started a new study last week with two other friends here on the mission field. There was a portion of the study that I have not been able to get out of mind since reading it. I thought I would copy it here for you. I hope that it means as much to you as it did to me. It is challenging and thought provoking!

"But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ
and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.
For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and
those who are perishing."
2 Cor. 2:15

When I was a teenager I had a part time job at the big variety store in town. Every Friday afternoon some folks would come in to cash their paychecks. We always knew when these guys were in the store because you could smell them coming. They spent their entire day holding, touching, and packing onions and that smell rubbed off on them, their clothes, their hair, even their paychecks. They carried with them the aroma of onions because they had been so closely involved with onions for such a long period of time. They didn't come in the store and try to smell like an onion. They didn't take classes on what onions smell like. Their aroma was a natural outcome of where they spent their lives, day in and day out.
Are you an aroma of Christ? It doesn't automatically come with being a Christian-or a missionary. Can others smell you coming from a mile away, like those folks in the store? There was no wondering where they had been. What about you? Can people you know tell that you've been sitting at the Master's feet? You can't fake it. You'll be found out every time. That's the unique thing about an aroma. Either you have it or you don't, and there's only one way to get it- by absorbing it from the source. Note in the verse that it is the knowledge of Him that is fragrant, not us. It is only when we have this knowledge of Him -not about Him, but deeply, intimately of Him-hidden deep within our hearts that we become aromatic.
A lot of people think that a ministry is the same thing as an aroma. But a ministry can be faked. People can have a lot to write home about-lots of numbers, lots of disciples, lots to show for their effort, lots of church members. They are considered successes, great Christians, models for others. But how many of those end up in disgrace, compromised morally or discouraged in the work-having attempted to do something for God instead of learning to be in Him? There's a huge difference. It isn't about us. It's about Him.
In this verse it is interesting to see to whom the aroma is drifting. Not to the world, missionary, because it isn't about them; not to the church, preacher, because it isn't about them either; but to God Himself. It's all about Him. It is to Him that we smell sweet. He is the recipient. And it is God who "spreads everywhere the fragrance, " not us. It is not our work; it is His work through us. Our most important task is absorbing Him and being transformed into His likeness, not doing great things for Him. He can handle the doing, but we are to love Him so much that we sit before Him, worship Him, adore Him, learn His ways, memorize His words, dwell on His promises. That is our task.
So even though being an aroma sounds like a wonderful idea, I keep wanting a "how to" plan. You can't judge your effectiveness at being an aroma like you can with more tangible things so it is hard to feel successful. Your measuring stick can't be the outcome of a situation or the reaction of another person to you because you can't control those things and you don't necessarily know what God's purpose is in any given situation. Your standard has to be the Word of God.
It is God who judges us and He doesn't measure success as we do. He wants to see in the end a heart that has been conformed and shaped to the image of Christ. We are not to abide in Christ so that we get results in our work. We are to abide in Christ so that we begin to be transformed into His image-we begin to look like Him, sound like Him and yes, smell like Him. It is enough. It is the ultimate. If we truly become mirrors of Christ....we will see God bring a world to Himself and we will have the honor of being part of His work. Yes, we will be imperfect. We will make mistakes. We will fail, and may go through times when we do not feel very close to God. But we can rest assured that if we continue to sit at His feet, He is able to bring glory to His name through us wherever we are. He can receive glory if we are to Him an aroma of Christ-filled with the knowledge of Him.



Feb. 10th, 2010

"Whatever your task, work heartily, as serving the Lord and not men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward; you are serving the Lord Christ."
Colossians 3:23-24
At Chimusanya yesterday I taught on the verses from Col. 3:17-25. These verses are written to families. It specifically mentions wives, husbands, children, and fathers. Sometimes family members can be unhappy with their work that they are supposed to do. They may feel that their work is not important and may complain about doing it. They may even get angry at the one who caused the work. So as a result we may do our work carelessly, or even fail to do it all. We should all do our daily work as if we are serving the Lord. That means for us women that as we cook, clean, wash clothes, and care for our children we need to do it as if we are doing it for the Lord. One thing I hate to do is iron. However, my mother loves to iron. She once told me that as she would iron she would think of that person for whom she was ironing. I told this to the ladies yesterday and told them that as they were cooking for their family they could be praying for them or as they are washing clothes(by hand) they could pray for each individual in their family. They liked this idea and said they would try it. At the end of the lesson I challenged them to think about these questions: How have I been doing my work? Do I do it in any way just to please myself? Do I do it carelessly because I do not like it? Do I do it in an angry way? Do I do it to please the Lord?
What about you? How are you doing your daily work?



Jan. 27th, 2010

Let the words of my mouth and the mediation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
Psalm 19:14
Yesterday, I taught the women of Chimusanya: 1-a Christian family must use kind words, 2- We can get strength from God to use kind words, 3- Psalm 19:14 shows us how to have kind speech.
After the lesson the women had lots of good questions. One in particular stood out to me. One woman asked, "If your husband is not a Christian and then right as you are leaving to go to church he tells you to do some things and that he doesn't want you to go to church, what can you do?" Many Zambian families to not worship together. You will find most often that the wife will go to one church and the husband to another. Then sometimes you will find where one in the relationship won't go at all. Because I mainly work with women it is their side I always hear. There were two single women in the group whom I encouraged to make sure that they married a Christian man. I wanted them to learn from these other women who are not happy or having trouble with their spouse because they are unequally yoked. It can cause much hardship later on in your relationship if you are not both like-minded. It made me truly thankful for my Godly husband(which by the way is coming home finally tomorrow!). After all the questions, we memorized Psalm 19:14(above) by using some hand motions. They liked doing that a lot. We talked a bit about memorizing scripture and how difficult it may seem if you can not read. So we used hand motions for this one and then we talked about another way by making a song out of the verse to help us learn it. I even sang a song for them which was based on Matt. 22:37-39 to give them an example. As soon as I finished one of the women in the back raised her hand and said that she all ready knew of a song based on what we talked about that day. She is going to practice it this week and share it with us next week.
May we always ask God to daily help us to speak kind words to others especially in our homes where unfortunately it can be more difficult at times.


Jan. 18th, 2010

By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead. Hebrews 11:4

Sunday afternoon I got news that my friend Amai Banda had died. She was my friend from Silver Rest Baptist Church where I was teaching about one year ago. She is the woman who had diabetes and had to have her leg cut off at the knee. Evidently, last week two of her toes on the other foot had fallen off and when she went to the doctor they said they would have to cut off her other leg as well. It was after her surgery that she got worse and then died.

This morning I went with some of my other Zambian friends to visit the home of Amai Banda. We entered a room about 10 ft wide and 12 ft long. All the furniture was taken outside where the men sat. Only about 25 women were in this room plus the two men that came with us. We all sat on the floor bunched together. There was much wailing. We all greeted, sang, prayed, and then wailed some more. Then they turned it over to me to share. I brought the book, Voices of the Faithful II with me because I had written a devotion in there regarding Amai Banda. I read that days devotion and then shared Heb. 11:4 mentioned above. I tried to encourage the family and friends that even now after Amai Banda has died her testimony will still live on.

I can’t copy that devotion on here but if you have the book it is found on Aug. 16th. Now, on that day, people all over America will be praying for Amai Banda and won’t even know that she has passed away. While that is sad to me, I know that people will be encouraged by her testimony and perhaps even challenged to be a witness for Jesus. Amai Banda was a good friend, mother, grandmother, church member, and wife. She sacrificed much to serve God with one leg. I feel sure she is doing some kind of African dance praising Jesus even now. Many will miss her presence but hopefully they will be encouraged that even though she is dead she still speaks.

She will be buried on Wed. Please pray for Amai Banda's family during this difficult time.


Oct. 9th, 2009

Sitting across from the temple treasury, He watched how the crowd dropped money into the treasury. Many rich people were putting in large sums. And a poor widow came and dropped in two tiny coins worth very little. Summoning His disciples, He said to them, "I assure you: This poor widow has put in more than all those giving to the temple treasury. For they all gave out of their surplus, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she possessed-all she had to live on." Mark 12:41-44

This was the lesson I was supposed to teach yesterday at Kamilulu Baptist Church. However, there was a big associational meeting for all the churches in that area that will last for several days. I had all ready planned on going with two of my friends, Amai Mwachamota and Amai Chipboa. This lesson didn't really go with their theme and I was busy this week and just didn't have time to prepare anything new so I decided to just go and be a part of the group and listen to my friends teach. They taught a group of about 50 women on the importance of prayer, bible study, and witnessing. It was a very hot day but so rewarding to see so many familiar faces that I have been teaching over the last several months. As we were walking out to leave we were singing and dancing. The women brought me a live chicken and a 2 liter container of Monkoyo(a drink that they make). As we were driving home Amai Mwachamota told me she had put something in my bible so don't be surprised when I see it. When I dropped them off back in Chongwe I let them split the chicken and the drink. Actually, they split the drink and then Amai Chipboa took the chicken and promised to bring some baby chicks later to give to Amai Mwachamota. I told them that I wanted them to have those gifts because they are the ones that did the work, I had just sat. These women are so precious to me because they are both widows. I have known them now for 12 years and they have become very good friends. They never ask for anything which is quite uncommon here. They are so involved in women's ministry and people far and wide have a great deal of respect for them. Of course, they both struggle to make it day in and day out but God always provides for them. We made a plan to meet again next Thurs. As I go to my last womens meeting I will drop them off about 10 miles out of town where they will go survey the land where they will plant their groundnuts. I think it is sweet that they are such good friends and that they plant their crops together. They look out for each other. Anyway, I dropped them off and reached home at 5:30pm after being gone for 9 hours. I was tired, hot, and thirsty. As I got out of the car I decided to look at whatever she had put in my Bible. I began to cry as I saw that she had put K163,000 in between the pages of my Bible. That is about $35.00! The average income of most Zambians is about $50.00/month. This was an incredible gift for her to give me! Some might question why she did this but I know that God was speaking to me through this event. Something happened over the last several days that we had not told anyone. Through this gift God was showing me that He is in control and He will provide for all of our needs. Now, why he chose to use Amai Mwachamota I'm not sure, except that it certainly got my attention. Praise God! He is Soooooo Good!



August 23rd, 2009

Today I told the story of the Ethiopian Eunuch and Phillip, and taught on baptism. We have been missionaries here for years and still struggle with getting people to understand the need to not wait to be baptized for so long. A lot of times they will wait 1-2 years before allowing someone who has been saved to be baptized. As I asked them why they waited for so long they said they had to wait until the person quit sinning before they could be baptized. What?? I had to back way up and start at the beginning almost. They said they understood by the end but they probably really don't. They may understand what I say but they don't believe it for themselves. What it comes down to is they just don't understand God's Grace. Please pray for Zambians all over the country to understand the grace of God, the point of baptism, and that they would have the assurance of their salvation. How sad to live day in and day out and think that if you die with unconfessed sin you will go to Hell. I'm so thankful that once I repented of my sins and asked Jesus into my life that he freed me from the bondage of sin, and I was assured of going to Heaven when I die. I'll never be perfect here on this earth but thankfully God promises me that if I sin, He is faithful and just to forgive me of that sin when I ask. I really would appreciate your prayers on this matter.


June 26th, 2009

For the past two Thursdays I have been sharing the gospel at the women's meeting at Kamilulu Baptist Church using a method called Creation to Christ. Basically, it is sharing short stories from the Word of God beginning in Genesis up through Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection. I shared half of it last week and finished it up this week. Thankfully, this wasn't just a time to teach the women how to share their faith. One woman, Adalyse Mwanza, came up and sat beside me right before we started practicing the stories. She told me she needed me to pray for her in an area she was struggling with. We talked about it for a while but when I asked her if she had ever repented of her sins and prayed to receive Christ she said she had not but wanted to right then. So right there in the middle of our meeting she repented of her sins and asked Jesus into her heart. Please pray for Amai Mwanza to grow in her relationship with Christ and that God would help her overcome that sin area in her life that she shared with me.
It has been so exciting the last two weeks because the third church, Namphande, finally joined us. I'm picking up about 11 women from that church and traveling to Kamilulu to meet with them and the women from Chinzete. So we have been having about 25 women. I will miss teaching for the whole month of July so please pray for the women as they continue to meet in their own churches until I return. Pray that we will be able to pick up where we left off in Aug.



June 9th, 2009

But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect. 1 Peter 3:15

Thursday I told the story from Acts 26:1-29 about Pauls testimony. We then talked about the 3 parts of a testimony-your life before Christ, how you came to know Christ, and your life after Christ. I took a few min. to share my testimony with the ladies and at the end one of the older ladies started clapping and said, "we have to clap because you were not a good person and now God has changed your life." They then sang a song for me which had to do with a changed life. I just love these women! I broke the women up into groups of two and they practiced sharing their testimonies with one another. We came back together and I had each of the 13 women take turns telling their story. Here are some interesting but sad facts that I would like to share with you:
1- 9 of the 13 women talked about their life before saying that around the age of 14 they became s. active with men. This just breaks my heart because I know this still goes on today and probably at an earlier age.
2- 3 of these women had at least two children before they got married.
3-Most of them didn't get saved until after they were married.
4- at least 10 of them had been affiliated with at least 2-4 different groups before becoming baptist.
5-12 of the 13 did not pray to receive Christ until they were in the Baptist church because they said,"It wasn't until we got into the baptist church that we finally heard the truth of the Word of God."
Well, Amen to that last one that they finally heard the truth but how sad that they went around searching for something(truth-just not realizing it) and not finding it in some of these other groups. I'm thankful that these women's lives were changed after hearing the truth.

Please pray for these women as they go out this week and share the story of Pauls conversion and then share their personal testimony as well. Pray for boldness for the women and receptive hearts to those who will hear.




June 7th, 2009

I sure had a fun time today being with some of my favorite people in the world-Zambian Women! I have been planning on going to the Kamilulu area for several months now. However, the women were busy in the fields back in Feb./March and then we had 40/40 so I am just now able to begin going. I didn't know if they would be organized today or not to start with T4T so I prepared a short lesson entitled "Burning Words." I used several verses, one of which was James 3:5-6, "Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell."  At the end of the lesson God nudged me to have them do a skit. They split into two different groups. One group did a skit on women using words in a good way. The other group did a skit on using words in a bad way. It was so much fun and they didn't even have to practice. I laughed so hard. The memory verse for the day was Proverbs 15:1 "Mayankhidwe ofatsa abweza mkwiyo; Koma mau owawitsa aputa msunamo." (translation: "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.") After we finished and I prayed, they then began to sing songs having to do with the tongue. It was so special to hear them relate the verses we had shared together into songs that they all ready knew. It was now 4:00 and I still had an hour drive home and they brought out food-nshima, pumpkin leaves, and chicken. Well, I just couldn't pass that up! Yum!
I will be going on Thursdays over the next several months. I will pick up women at Nyamphande and take them to Kamilulu where the women from Chinzete will meet us. So there will be 3 baptist churches meeting together in one place. I am very excited and expectant of what God is going to do in the lives of these women and in my life too. Pray for us all that God would grow us closer to him during our time in the Word. Next week, I will be talking about testimonies and sharing mine with them. They will each have the opportunity to share theirs. This is a good time to see where they are spiritually or if they are even saved. Pray for discernment on my part and that God would lead me in how to share with them.



March 22nd, 2009

Dear Prayer Partners,
The website for you to use during our Special Day of Prayer
is:   http://www.ehtprayer2009.blogspot.com/
You can just go to the website and then pray through our area.  Thank
you for your prayers!
The Eastern Harvest Team




Feb. 1st, 2009

I have witnessed to a lot of people in my life in a lot of different situations. As a Christian I try to be as intentional as possible and take advantage of opportunities the Lord gives me to share the gospel, however as a missionary it often just comes with the territory. This was the case for this "Buckets of Love" project. We had designed the project so half the time of each visit would be spent explaining the bucket and half the time would be spent sharing the gospel with the patients and caregivers. I was overwhelmed at the response of people as we witnessed to them. People here are often responsive to the gospel, but they don't always seem broken. What surprised me the most was how in each sharing of the gospel, the patients especially, seemed to hang on my every word. Often times they seemed more interested in the gospel presentation than in the bucket itself. Many of them prayed to receive Christ, but the thing that struck me the most was how eager they were to do it. I tried to make sure they understood the commitment involved, and made it clear that they should not pray just to please me or because they had received a bucket. However, on more than one occasion they answered, "No I want to receive Jesus because I don't know if I will be here tomorrow or not... this is my last chance." Of course that is true for all of us, but I was overwhelmed when I realized that these people lived with the certainty of the sentence each and every day. Even those who are HIV positive and are doing well because of ARVs, know that it has only bought them some time and quality of life. They know that eventually their time will run out. I have never sensed such utter hopelessness and despair, and yet such a desire in someone to cling to the hope of Jesus alone. If only I could live my life with such brokenness, and cling to Jesus alone as my only source of hope and strength.
Blessings,
Kevin


Jan. 25, 2009

Baptist churches in three states; Mississippi, Kentucky, and Tennessee recently helped pack 1,378 “In-Home Care Kits” or “Buckets of Love.” The items in the buckets will be a tremendous blessing to families that must care for terminally ill relatives at home because access to health care is so limited. And although there are more than 22.5 million adults and children in Sub-Saharan Africa who are living with the HIV virus, the need extends beyond even those families. Thousands of people in the region die at home each year from sicknesses like cancer, tuberculosis, malaria, and other life-ending diseases. In-home care is all the care they will receive.
The buckets include a wide range of everyday supplies needed by a caregiver – from lotions, ointments, and vitamins to bedding, bandages, and thermometers. The “Buckets of Love,” which were packed in five-gallon plastic buckets – were delivered to the Baptist Fellowship of Zambia’s human needs program in December.  The Eastern Harvest Team will go out during the week of Jan. 26th-30th to help deliver about 100 buckets to families that are terminally ill in the Manenekela and Manyika areas.  Pray that the use of these items by loving caregivers will show the love and compassion Jesus Christ has for the terminally ill. Pray that they would come to know the True Hope that comes from a personal relationship with Him.  Pray for our team as we go out and deliver these “Buckets of Love.”



Sept. 1st, 2008

"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." Luke 9: 23

Amai Banda is the woman I wrote about last month that has diabetes and has had one of her legs cut off at the knee. She walks with crutches if she needs to move around but mostly she sits. Last week I went to visit with her and she seems to be doing better, eating right, and taking her medicine once again. She asked if I could take her to the meeting that day so I did. On the way home that day she asked if I had time each week could I come and get her so she could go the women's meeting. She said she was very encouraged after being there that afternoon. You see, she is not able to go to church on Sundays because it is so far away and also because it is up two flights of steps. I agreed that if I had time I would pick her up. Well, on Thursday I was running late because of another stop(see story on Amai Nkoma below). So, I was thinking I just did not have time and maybe next week I would leave earlier. As I approached the road to go to Amai Banda's she was at the end of the road in a wheel chair and dressed in her purple attire. That is what the Baptist women wear to their meeting. Anyway, I pulled over to collect her. She was so excited that I had stopped. She had asked someone to push her 1 1/2 kms in a wheel chair partly on a dirt road so she would be out at the main road when I passed by.
Then at Chainda II there were several visitors from the local village. I was a little late arriving there so I had not seen everyone come in. At the end of the service as we are about to all file out and shake hands I turned around and saw one of the visitors crawling out of the church all the way to her hut which was about 50 feet away. There didn't appear to be anything wrong with her legs but obviously there was. I'm assuming she crawled in too.
Can you imagine?? Both of these women wanted to go to church pretty badly to be pushed in a wheel chair and to crawl to get to church. I can hardly even write this without tears coming to my eyes. Don't you know how that pleases our Father! One day, Amai Banda will enter into Heaven walking to meet Jesus. I'm not sure about this other woman whether she is a believer or not. As far as I know she hasn't ever been to the church even though her hut is so close. Pray that this woman would know Jesus if she doesn't all ready. Pray she will find the one she may be searching for. Pray that one day she will also walk to enter into heaven like Amai Banda.
As I thought about these two women on into the night and for the last several days I asked myself to what extreme I would go to if I was in a similar situation. Would I humble myself and crawl to church if need be? What about you? How much do we really love Jesus??

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!" Galatians 2:20-21


Aug. 24th, 2008

We went out in groups of 3 to practice what we had just learned together in the women's meeting. The topic yesterday was prayer walking. I used a very simple method using our hands to help us remember what to pray for. I just taught using the right hand this time which represents 5 requests that we can pray for while prayer walking. Next week, I will teach them the left hand which represents 5 different places you can go to pray in the community or village. The women really enjoyed the hand signals and knew them very well by the time we finished since I went over them a lot. After I finished we went out and prayer walked, each group going in a different direction. One woman fell behind a little in our group and when I looked behind me she was walking with her eyes closed. I told her she had better open her eyes or she was going to fall. It was quite funny. My group was the first to get back to the church so we just walked around the church a couple of times praying for their church. It was a fun afternoon!
The purpose of us going out and prayer walking is to tear down the strongholds in that area so that people could come to know Jesus.
Please pray:
1-That God would open heaven and reveal himself and his power to the people all around so that they will want to receive Him.
2-That people will have open hearts as they hear God's Word.
3-For open homes/huts. In many homes the people living inside go to the witch doctor, practice meaningless rituals, and feel hopeless because of their circumstances.
4-For open highways or paths so that the church will know how to enter into the villages and share God's Word.
5-That the people of the church will have open hands for ministry. That God would reveal to them acts of compassion or kindness that needs to be done where the people live.



Aug. 11th, 2008

10 miles per hour... that was the average speed on the trip I took this last week. That might not sound so bad if it didn't translate into 30 hours of the most grueling driving I have ever done in my life... I just wanted to take a few moments and update you all on our ministry here in Zambia and my recent trip to Mboshya. I do cover a large area, work with a lot of churches and drive a lot of miles (or kilometers as we would say here). We have a few hundred Baptist churches in our teams area, and to be honest we have reached most of the people in the places that are easy to get to. What that leaves now, is the places which are not. Mboshya is one of those places. This is a remote chiefdom which lies on the other side of the Lunsemfwa River from where we live. I have traveled there before by vehicle, but I drove to the river (several hours) and then crossed the river in a canoe and walked to the church. However, the people of Mboshya are very serious about evangelism and have planted two more churches called Tumbwe and Mwenda. I had never been to those churches and they were just too far to walk... especially since I wanted to take Jesus Film equipment and do crus