The Cost

With Josh camping in the bush this week, I have been contemplating a little too much! But thought I would blog my thoughts for those interested and so I can remember in the future.

Our old friend who is here with his volunteer team of students was talking with us about the cost of being obedient to God’s call on your life. We both said that it is a good thing we surrendered at an early age before we realized fully how costly it can really be. At the same time we talked of all the blessings that God brings your way as a result of your obedience.

Scripture talks much about suffering in the Christian life but also talks about joy that accompanies the abundant life found in Christ. Total surrender is kinda a mix of the two. There are things that are costly as Josh and I have answered the call of God on our lives as missionaries. Lest you think I am Pollyanna, sometimes I wonder why I am here. The knowledge of our parents not being able to watch their grandchildren grow up before them or see their new toothless smile is sometimes too much to bear. They can’t hear their hardy laugh or feel their awesome hugs and smell that sweet baby smell that all my kids have before they turn two. We can’t pick up one day and go hang out at grandma’s on a spur of the moment. Our children don’t know what it is like to be in children’s choir or have a Sunday School class to attend with crafts, carpet, and stories just for them. We miss out on birthday parties for cousins or date nights and restaurants to eat at when I am tired of cooking. There’s no doctor for emergencies or regular childhood check ups. Emotional isolation sometimes seems to rip at my heart and some days you wish you had someone to talk to that really understands you other than your spouse. Yes, obedience is costly.

But there is also great joy. How many other 8 year old boys get to spend a few nights camping with their dad while witnessing what it is like to see young people share Christ with total strangers? Caleb is hanging out with his Dad and Zambian men who remember when he first moved to Luwingu as a 2 1/2 year old and have watched him grow up physically and spiritually. He sees role models choosing eternal things over temporary pleasures that a normal summer vacation could hold. How many girls get to meet women who once worshipped Satan and used his power to heal or hurt people but now she sings the praises of her Savior who freed her from that old life? My children have an awesome yard to run, play in, and just get dirty and be kids. There are chickens to feed, eggs to gather, cows to milk, and trees to climb. There isn’t a rush to get anywhere and relationships with people are more important than meetings, appointments, or going places. Helping someone get to the hospital is more important than your own personal comfort in the car ride home. We get excited about driving on a paved road and looking at the starry sky on any given night. My kids are thankful they have a mattress to sleep on and that their clothes aren’t torn like their friends. They have missionary “family” that love them like they were flesh and blood.

Following Christ for any believer will be costly but I don’t want the cost to cloud my focus from the joy.

Team Update

For those of you following the updates of the students that are ministering with us this week we have a great report! Yesterday they had a great first day of ministry with 60 adults coming back for Bible study. They had a host of people come to the Jesus film last night. Today they had 30 adults come to the study and 4 prayed to receive Christ. Everyone is feeling well and doing great teaching and explaining the Gospel in a clear way! KEEP UP THE PRAYERS!! God is at work in the hearts and lives of these men, women, and children. I hope to have more ministry pics soon but here is their camp set up!

Prayers for Josh and team

Please remember to pray for Josh and the team of young people from Texas who are camping in the village of Citoshi (chi-toe-she)this week. They arrived last night and start their full day of ministry today. Here are some requests:
-Many to be saved as they go door to door throughout the village
-For many to come to the Bible studies each afternoon (this is the hardest part-actually gathering a group)
-That the team will remain healthy and free from sickness
-For spiritual strength as they teach, minister, pray, and evangelize.

To all the parents who might be reading, I will post updates and pics as soon as I have them!

Also pray for the villages of Cakaba(chah-kah-bu) and Lundu(loon-do) These are places Josh has been going to for a year now and because of our volunteers and welcoming a new family to our team, he will be unable to go to their weekly meetings. Please pray they will stand strong even in his absence and that the Lord would raise up leaders to carry on in teaching and leading the groups of believers in both of these places.

Lastly, please pray for me and the children to remain healthy while Daddy is gone and for nothing around the house to break (ie. water pumps, electricity, etc)

Women's Heart Day--Take 3

Thank you for your prayers for our final Women's meeting on Saturday. The Lord blessed us with a sweet time of fellowship and worship. We had about 30 ladies come and it was so FUN! We did all the same teaching and I was so impressed with the women who taught, once again. I am praying now that all that they learned especially about being in God's Word everyday and daily prayer time that they will actually implement these truths into their lives. Thank you for your prayers!

Happy 6th Birthday, Abby!

Abby turned 6 years old on Friday. Our family celebrated by having all of her favorite meals (biscuits,bacon, & eggs for breakfast and chicken pot pie for dinner) and having yummy Sleeping Beauty chocolate cake! Of course we made homemade ice cream compliments of our cow, Bonnita. We had a fun day celebrating her life.
We are so thankful for Abby. She loves to help in any way she is able. She sees needs all around her from a child in the village who is less privileged that her to something she can do to help get dinner on the table. I can usually find her playing with her babies and she is always coming up with some adventure that she and Anna can do with their dolls. I love to listen to her play. She has a big heart that I pray the Lord will use even while she is young to bring Him much glory. We love you Abby Leigh and are so thankful you are in our family.

Here are 2 of her gifts that she liked from her birthday. We had a fun special day enjoying Abby!

Happy Birthday, Joshua!

Today we went to Josh's leadership meeting to celebrate his birthday with his friends! Since we moved to Luwingu and had some evangelistic Bible studies started, Josh began inviting the leaders from each group to our home every Wednesday for further training and encouragement. This group has grown over the years and has changed to meeting just every other week but it has been a continual blessing to Josh as he sees these men as those he is pouring into so they can in return invest in others. The meeting is now at the church plot here in the boma so we loaded up the fam and took lunch and cake for everyone to enjoy!

Not sure if Luke was more excited about eating cake or having a late nap!


At home we also celebrated after dinner with a no bake cheesecake! Can you tell we like sweets?? The children helped me decorate with balloons and they wrote Daddy's favorite sayings on construction paper and hung them up too! It was so cute and Josh got a laugh out of it! What a happy day for all! Thanks, Josh for all you do for us! We love you and hope you had a Happy Birthday!!

The Men(little and big) in the Family!

I just wanted to post a few cute pics of the men in our family recently, mainly for the grandparents! The first 2 are of Luke's nightly snuggling time with Daddy before bed. The one below is of Caleb being a great big help to me and a great big brother to Luke! Enjoy!

Prayer Partner Update

Here is our recent prayer partner email update with some requests:

Thank you for your faithful prayers over the last month. We have seen God answer your prayers in many ways. The week after we sent our update, Josh had 16 adults attend the Bible study in Musungu! I had one lady pray to receive Christ at our women's meeting at the lake and a host of others surrender themselves to become Godly women. Praise the Lord for how He is at work, thank you for joining with us.

We have several prayer needs for this month however, we will ask you for your prayers as they come so you might hear from us a few times this month!

Join with us in praying for the college and high school students from Park Springs Bible Church in Texas. They will be working alongside of us as we seek to begin evangelistic Bible studies in the village of Chitoshi. Pray for safety as they travel to Zambia and for them to remain in good health as they walk the village witnessing and inviting people to the afternoon Bible studies. Pray for them to have boldness as they share their testimonies, the Gospel, and the truths from the Bible so that many will realize their need for salvation. Their team leader is Shane Johns our friend from when we were in youth group together. His wife is the reason you receive this update since she sends it out so faithfully for us!! Pray for this team as they leave the states July 3 and minister through the 11th.
As you eat hamburgers and hotdogs in celebration of our country's independence, pray for the women of Luwingu on July 4th. We will be having one more Women's Heart Day meeting for the women who live in the boma and surrounding villages. Pray for visitors to come and for the salvation of many. You can check our blog for pictures and updates of the past 2 meetings.

We mentioned in our last update that the IMB is having to limit the number of personnel they are sending to the field. We are thankful that our team has been blessed with one family as career missionaries before those restrictions begin. Pray for the Schwarz family as they arrive in Zambia on July 7th to join our Northern Evangelism Team. They will be working with the Mambwe-Lungu people and living on the border of Tanzania and Zambia. They have four children so please pray for them as they adjust to life on this side of the pond. We now have 4 couples, 2 single men, and 12 children on our team!!!

As a family we are celebrating Joshua's birthday on July 1 and Abby's 6th birthday on July 3! Of course we will have birthday cake and ice cream and you are welcome to stop by! Please pray for a special blessing for both of them on their birthdays.

Women's Heart Day in Cakaba

We started early Thursday morning and travelled to Cakaba village stopping in 2 different villages along the way to pick up some women. We had a very full truck by the time we arrived. When we got there the church members' house where we usually meet, there wasn't anyone home! I was a bit discouraged after travelling so far and everyone excited about coming to encourage these women. There was some confusion about the dates and they thought we were coming the following day. We decided to start, knowing they would eventually show up. And when they did they just joined in with us in worship-- like it wasn't a big deal to have 18 women in their yard when they came home!
There was a lot of singing...


We began our teaching time with a skit on Mary and Martha and I shared some scripture about how important our hearts are and making the best choices with our time and our lives. Then Bana Mwewa explained how they can have a new heart through salvation in Christ alone. In this picture she is showing how when they are saved they will sin but doesn't mean that they will lose their salvation they just need to confess those sins. She started with a black heart to represent sin, then a red to show the need for the blood of Christ, and finally a white one to show a new person after trusting in Jesus.


Bana Muze shared her salvation testimony

They love to sing and do foot and hand motions and walk around in a circle. Let's just say my cheerleading days in high school have finally been helpful! My coach would be proud :)


These ladies are acting out the parable that Jesus talked about in regards to humility and prayer. One was a humble tax collector coming to Christ in humility and the other was a Pharisee coming to God with a proud heart.

After that skit, Bana Alex taught about having a heart for prayer and how to pray. Bana Cintelewe also helped her teach on this topic telling the story of Hannah and how she prayed for a son. A lot of women don't realize they can talk to God just like they can talk to a friend. He seems distant to them and prayer is something you do at church not on a personal basis.

When they finished talking about prayer I taught on having a heart for God's word. This is so challenging because once again the Bible is for church only. Also few women can read so I gave them several ideas of how they can get God's Word in their hearts and minds every day.
Before the final teaching time they did a skit about obedience...

Bana Tonga taught about having a heart that follows Christ obediently.

It was amazing to see women listening and hearing God's Word speak to them in a powerful way.

Thank you for your prayers. We didn't have anyone pray to receive Christ but they did pray and commit to become Godly women that have a heart to follow Jesus!

Please Pray Again

Please pray again for Women's Day on Thursday, June 25th. Only this time we are going to the village of Cakaba. We are stopping to pick up some ladies from 2 different villages along the way. Once again pray for these things...
Salvation of some ladies
Spiritual strength and wisdom for those teaching
Attendance by many women
Spiritual growth to take place in their hearts
True heart change that will affect their actions

This time I am charging my battery before I go so I will have plenty of pictures to show you!!
Thanks so much!