last update from Zambia...10/21

Last update from Zambia…Oct. 21^st

It’s hard to believe 5 months have already passed since I arrived here.  I’ll send out a recap/conclusion in a couple weeks when I get some videos and pictures posted, but this will be my last (planned) update from Africa since I fly out on Tuesday at 9 AM EST (which means I will be enjoying my mom/aunts cooking on Wednesday at 6 PM EST!)

On September 20^th, the Zambian presidential elections were held.  The current president was voted out of office and a new president took over immediately.  There was some small rioting around town and around the country, but things cooled off much sooner than Harrison expected them too.  Unfortunately, the elections and the changeover in government limited what we were able to accomplish with the building projects.  After the elections, we weren’t allowed to get the prisoners until this past Friday.  We stayed busy with working on the projects ourselves (digging the dirt for the brick, working on the well, collecting rock, doing visitations, trying to get the vehicles running, spending some time at the farm (a piece of land Harrison got to start an orphanage; he has a lady moving out there to live to start farming the land so the orphanage can be self-supporting), and taking a day off to get away and tent camp out in the bush. 

This week everyone has been going at it hard.  We’ve been able to hire the prisoners again.  In total, the wells deeper (but we still haven’t hit water), we’ve made 18,000+ bricks, the mountain side is graded, and the rock piles (for the concrete) are larger.  I was able to finish the Standard Operating Procedures and Camp Manual and go through the hundreds of videos and thousands of pictures that the Banda’s and the Chamber’s will be using for promotional videos.  We had the baptism service a couple of weekends ago (which one of my close friends was one of the ones baptized) and the youth group was started this past Sunday.  Lastly, I was asked to teach some classes on running a youth group and teaching, so that has been going on as well.

A couple of praises:

·         I received a care-package from home.  Included were some episodes of Home Improvement (one of Harrison and my favorite shows).  We’ll have to teach the nationals how to grunt before I go.

·         Harrison was given a lot of used piping and hosing that we’ll be able to use at the house and have already been using at the worksite. 

·         When Harrison took in one of the buses to the shop, the shop owner allowed him to borrow another vehicle (a truck) that has been a wonderful help in transporting all of our tools to the church plot every day.

·         There were some lions and elephants in the area we went camping.  Though the elephants did come to the camp ground, nothing was damaged and no one was hurt.

·         The other short termer who left two weeks ago arrived home safe.

Prayer Requests:

·         The rains have moved in ahead of when they normally do.  The bricks must be burnt fast or they will be ruined (and weeks of work will be washed away).  The plan is to burn 20,000 this coming week.

·         We’ll leave Tuesday early morning for the 8 hour drivel to the capital for me to fly out.  When I go back, Harrison has to take the truck he borrowed back.  When he does so, he will have no reliable vehicle.  Right now, they have 2 buses (one’s in the shop and the other’s not running) that they’d like to use for bus ministries and a Landcrusier (which has made more trips since I’ve been here to the shop than I have made to the refrigerator looking for a late night snack and is currently not running either).  It’d be nice for them to be able to get (at least one) running properly.

·         Travel  Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday for all of us.

·         While I won’t be here to see the outside of the house complete, once the brick is burnt, Lord willing, everything should go quick.  Starting next week, they’ll look to dig the foundation, put in the footers, mix the concrete, and pour the slab. After that the walls and roof can go up.  Within a month, the exterior of the house should be up. 

Thank you for all the prayers throughout the summer and support (although we’re not done yet).  I look forward to seeing you all in person very soon.  I’m planning on being at HHBC, CCF, and PRCC on Sunday (Oct. 30^th) and will be making some trips to TLC and CU soon.

Still Trucking...Sept. 12th

The past couple of weeks have gone by fast and crazy.  I was told my grandma had been checking the blog a couple times a day, so I knew it must be time to repost.  I was trying to get this out earlier, but several of us have been sick in the house.  I was sick enough (and I’m ashamed to say it) that for the first time in my life, I turned down a homemade chocolate chip cookie.  Fortunately, a few hours later, I was able to dig deep and persevere through a couple (even though they came back up later).

First off, I want to say for those of you who were worried, I did not forget my sister’s, mom’s, or aunt’s birthday.   Secondly, as much as my English teachers demanded writing in paragraph form, I work much more efficiently out of the bullet-point format.  I’m sure I’ll miss a few things that have happened, but I’ll do my best to explain how good God has been blessing us and how He’s been working.  Enjoy…

Construction Projects

·         The Banda’s and I have been overwhelmed by the support that has come in for the building project over the past couple of weeks.  The Lord has provided an additional $3,325 to give us a good jump on this project.  We were able to get a good pump, 15 picks & shovels, and four wheel-barrels to get us started.

·         The last weeks of August were spent making brick.  We decided not to waste any time, so we made brick where we could get the water to (about half the distance from where we need them).  The great news is we have 7,000 bricks ready to be burned.  The bad news is we have to carry each one from one side of the ravine to the other that’s about 1o meters deep.    

·         We found out we are able to have prisoners come and work for us.  Instead of renting a bulldozer for $1,000, we’re able to have 15 prisoners come out and help us hand-grade the property and dig the foundation. We can get 15 prisoners and a guard for 8 hours a day for $35 USD total.  We chose this route for several reasons.  First, it should save us $500 or so when we’re done.  Second, it gets the prisoners out working so they can send money home to their families.  Third, it has given us great opportunities to build relationships with the prisoners and share Christ with them. 

·         Hopefully, we’ll be done with the grading/digging the foundation by next week.  That will give us time to get up the foundation walls so we can pour the concrete.  If we pour the concrete the last week of September, we’ll be right on schedule.

·         We’ll also be using the prisoners to help us finish the bricks.  They told us they could make 16,000 bricks in four days (which is much better than us making 7,000 in two weeks).

·         We’re continuing to dig the well.  We dug for one day before we hit another sheet of rock.  We had to wait for the jack-hammer to come back to town, but we have had access to it again.  We’re well past 10 meters down (probably 12-13).  Last time, the dirt was moist enough to form it into shapes.  We hope we’re getting close.

·         Sometime this week, we will start the grading of the church site as well.  We hope to at least get some posts and a roof up before the rains start as well.  Currently, the church is meeting at the local school grounds.  It rents one of the classrooms, along with several other churches.  Not only do we get run out quickly, but having so many churches meeting in open-aired classrooms causes a lot of distractions and makes teaching difficult.

Ministries

·         The attendance at church has been picking up the past few weeks.  Both of the churches have had several families/people getting sick.  Out here, it seems like everyone gets sick at once, so it’s nice getting everyone back together again.

·         As the church grows and matures, Harrison felt it was time to have the first communion service at Bethlehem.  It was exciting to be a part of the church having that experience for the first time.

·         I’ll be teaching a baptism class at both churches over the next couple of weeks and there will be a baptismal service October 2^nd.

·         Somewhere in our downtime, the other intern and I will be working with a couple of the national young adults to train them how to run a youth ministry.  We’ll also incorporate some camp counselor training since Harrison is looking at adding a camp/ropes course on the church grounds after the other projects are done.

·         As we’ve gotten to know the prisoners, we’ve had many opportunities to talk to them and share with them.  The prisoners have already asked us to go spend Sunday afternoons hanging out with them (their one visitation day) and they’ve asked us to schedule a game between our soccer team and their soccer team.  We have also had a chance to build relationships with some of the guards and officers.  They’ve also invited us over to start ministering inside the prison. 

·         We’ve been invited to speak in the chapel services of the local college.

·         We’ve been working with two different soccer teams.  The church has a soccer club and there is a team made up of street vendors that we also play on.  As best I can understand it, we’re in a semi-pro type league.  They have me playing keeper, and I received the first yellow card of my young career last game (I think my sister would be proud).

·         We’ve had a few national missionaries come and work with us the past couple weeks.  A couple came from the capital to do some literacy clinics out in the village church.  We had another guy, Kenny, come and help assist in the everyday ministries of the church as well.

·         Harrison and I will be going out to the village for a couple of days/night(s) to fellowship with the congregation out there this week and to burn the 10,000+ bricks out there for their church building.

Blessings

·         Two of the young adults here decided to give up their entire school break (about the month of August) to volunteer working with us.  It’s such a huge encouragement to see the young guys grabbing ahold of their faith and putting everything they have into it.  They’d be at our house by 6 ready to work and work until sunset.

·         Last week, I went into the immigrations office to re-stamp my passport (like you have to every 30 days) and was told I was illegal.  When I added onto my stay, we went into immigrations, talked to two different officers, and they assured me I did everything necessary to legally stay through October.  We met with the officer who is second-in-command and he gave me a temporary permit within a few minutes.  This was a miracle for a couple reasons.  First, permits normally have to go through the capital and can take months to get.  Second, missionaries have come in with bad attitudes in the past when working with the government officers that make these things even harder.  And third, after the fact, we talked with some other officers who couldn’t believe that the officer we meet with didn’t deport me or even give me any hassle.  I know have 2 years before the government would force me out.

·         Harrison was supposed to travel to the capital this past week in our vehicle.  When Hadassah got sick, he ended up staying home.  A couple days later the tire blew on it.  It’s so much better the tire blew 1 km from home when someone was backing up rather than him going 60-70 mph through some very dangerous mountain roads.

·         Truthfully, there have been too many blessings to count.  I try to keep track, but they happen faster than I can write them down. 

Prayer Requests

·         If you believe in God and believe in the Bible, then you have to believe in demons as well.  There has been a lot of demonic activity/witchcraft/possession going on around us in town and out in the village.  Being stateside, you often don’t think much about it.  Out here, it’s a part of life.  There are several situations we will have to deal with this week and in the future, both in town and when we travel out into the village.  We’ll need a lot of wisdom.

·         September 20^th is the presidential elections for Zambia.  Campaigning is picking up.  There’s a decent chance the current president gets voted out.  Like with any election, it’s a possibility some people go crazy.

·         Obviously, we have a lot on our plate as far as the building projects and ministries.  We’re pushing hard, but still trying to get the proper rest as well.

·         Some of us are getting over being sick, while the others are showing signs of what we had.  It’d be great if we all got healthy, and stopped passing it back and forth.

·         Hadassah, the Banda’s two-year old has been sick for some time and the doctors can’t figure out why.  She’ll be okay for a few days and then get sick.  This has been going on for some time and if it doesn’t get better, Michelle might have to take her to South Africa or back to the states.

·         Some have you asked if the shutdown of Evangelical Baptist Missions would be effecting the remainder of my trip.  The answer is no.  While I was working with EBM missionaries the first half of my trip, I chose not to come through EBM.  When I transitioned halfway through the trip, I started working with missionaries under a different mission board.  However, the shutting down of EBM will greatly influence the Chambers and their ministry I worked with.  Please keep them in your prayers as they do have to deal with that (as well as the other missionaries worldwide).

With Love,

Josh

And finally, I’ve posted a few pictures on my facebook page.  It should be open to the public.  You can find them at this link:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2027911415141.2094594.1164720304&l=f55da503ce&type=1

Dreaming Big...Aug. 17th update

Dreaming Big...Aug. 17^th update

We’ve decided to dream big… Originally, we were going to work on building the two church buildings over the next 3 months and do what we could.  But the churches got together and told Harrison that he needed to build his house first (which will be on the same plot as the church/school/Bible college here in Chipata).  The Banda’s have had to move a couple of different times already and our currently house sitting (free rent) for another missionary couple.  In February, they will have to find someplace else to go.  By the end of October, we hope to have the exterior of their house built (foundation, walls, and roof), before the rainy season sets in (making it impossible to build until February).  The reasoning behind this madness is cost.  It costs a white person a bare minimum of $500 for rent out here (and that’s not for a very nice house).  For a couple of years’ worth of rent, a property can be obtained and a house be built.  But many things will need to fall into place for this to happen.

1.       We have to hit water in the well.  We’re at 10 meters and haven’t hit water so far.  Fortunately, we have gotten through the hard rock.  The dirt we have been pulling out is damp with moisture.  We were told we should hit within the next two meters.

2.       We have to get a pump and something that will increase the output of the generator we have.  We were able to find water about 1 meter down in a dried up stream somewhere off our plot, but that means having to shoot the water 10 meters up a ravine and another 100 laterally, to where we need to make brick.  The location of this water source makes it next to impossible to carry.

3.       We have to make brick…and lots of it.  Our goal is 20,000 bricks in 20 days.  When we’ve been making brick in the village, it takes 6-8 men (and women helping get the water) 6 hours or so to make 1,000 brick.  We have 3 guys, no women, and a water source that is currently much more difficult to reach.

4.       We have to get the plot graded.  The only land the Banda’s were able to get was land on the side of a mountain (it’s a beautiful setting, but extremely difficult to build on out here with limited resources and funds).

5.       If all this goes well, we’ll have dig our own rock to mix with cement (by hand) to make our foundation, dig our own sand, make mortar, build the walls, and slap on a roof by October 25^th.

While these projects go on, we will continue to carry on the other ministries already established by the Banda’s as well.  We’re grateful we have had a couple of men volunteer this next month to work with us.  Two of the young adults will be working with me making brick while one of the elderly men from the church will be focusing on hitting water in the well.

This project has surfaced over the past couple of days, so we’ll be trusting God provides the necessary funds, as well as the energy, for us to get this done.  For those of you who don’t know the Banda’s, they are an incredible couple with a desire to serve the people here, no matter the cost to themselves.  Many missionaries live very comfortable lives here and worldwide (nice tv’s and satellite packages, the best cars, living in nice missionary compounds, shipping large containers of furniture/goods from the states, eat well, and have nice tool workshops).  Right now, though they consider themselves blessed, the Banda’s are living and working off 80% support.  Even though their 100% is much lower than most missionaries 100% to start with, much of this still goes into their ministry.  We eat staple foods off plastic plates and are very grateful when the truck will start.  I’ve lost count of how many times Harrison has said he’s not hungry so someone else can eat (when I have been around him the whole day and I know he’s not eaten).  There is one (broken) knife in the kitchen.  The gas tank is filled up $10 at a time (which if I did my math right gets you about a 1 ½ gallons here).  When they go back for furlough, they go back for 6 months instead of a year (and even then Harrison still tries to come back at least once).

I don’t write these things because I want you to feel sorry, because the Banda’s (or myself) wouldn’t change the conditions.  You learn what you truly need and what you don’t, and you learn to trust more fully in God to provide day to day.  I write these things for two purposes.  First, for those of you who know and support the Banda’s, know that they are doing exactly what they promised you they would. Churches are being planted, people are coming to know Christ, and believers are being discipled.   Secondly, I know there are different methodologies on how to do missions (I guess each missionary has to follow his or her own convictions, knowing he or she will be held responsible for how they used the Lord’s resources).  Know that Harrison and Michelle are pouring their lives out like a drink offering to this field every day.  They understand every dollar they spend on themselves is a dollar they can’t spend on someone else.  They have a heart for serving the people here, no matter what that means.  And God is blessing their ministries in big ways…it’s incredible just to witness it. 

It would be a huge blessing to their family if we are able to get this house done for them.  It would allow them not to have to pay rent or a water bill, which means the more money they will be able to put into their ministry.  The work itself, and much of the materials we will be able to get naturally.  For $5,000, much of this project can be completed (plot graded, cement, wood for the roof, and the necessary tools).

God has continued to astound us as He’s answered prayer after prayer this summer.  Please continue to be praying for us as we take on this next challenge.

Pray that…

1.       God will burden the hearts of the people He wishes to use to help this project be accomplished (financially and with physical laborers*)

2.       We have wisdom and use good discernment as we build (things aren’t done the same way they are in the states)…things often have to be adjusted on the spot.

3.       We get the equipment we need…a good water pump, hose, something to increase the power of the generator (or a bigger generator), some hoes and shovels, and some masonry tools.

4.       We have the energy to accomplish this, but to also not allow the other ministries to slack off.

5.       We’ll be running some children/teen camps coming up soon in the village.

Feel free to pass this on to anyone you wish.

Trusting in Him,
Josh

*We are hoping more people will be burdened to help us from this side, but we would also love it if more people came from stateside as well.  If you know of anyone who would like to come out and help, send them our way and we’ll pick them up from the airport when they arrive.  Any skill set can be put to good use.   For those interested,  we can promise working long hours out in the sun for no pay, nshima and a relish for meals (sometimes just a piece of bread), with knowledge that safety cannot be guaranteed nor will there be any earthly rewards received.

**If God has burdened your heart to give, support can be sent to:

Heather Hills Baptist Church-Zambia Fund

1421 N. German Church Rd.

Indianapolis, IN 46229

update from Chipata...I"m still here...

 A few days ago, Harrison was joking with me about staying around for awhile longer.  We played around with the idea, but then we started really considering it.  Because of the missionary travel agent I used, there were restrictions on my ticket.  Yesterday, we drove into the capital of Malawi to speak directly with Ethiopian Airlines.  The lady we worked with was a huge blessing and helped us out in ways she wouldn’t have had to.  Eventually, we were able to get my ticket extended until October 25^th (I’ll be landing in the states the 26^th).  We were also able to get everything worked out with immigrations as well, so they extended my visa for 90 more days.

There are a few things I will have to miss, but I’m sure you understand.  Lance and Shelby:  I love you guys…best wishes on your wedding.  Camp friends:  I won’t be able to attend the closing meeting like I said…you are in the final sprint of the marathon now…push through til the end.  Lawlor RA’s:  You’ll have to do Lawlorpalooza without me L

Harrison and Michelle’s Ministry: For those of you who don’t know, Harrison is a national pastor/missionary, who has been a part of ministry for over half his life.  Michelle first came to Zambia in 2001.  They were married in 2008 and now have two children.  Since coming back from deputation, they have planted two churches (Bethlehem Baptist Church) in the Chipata area (one in town and one in a village).  We had a meeting tonight about starting a third church plant.  Two nights a week, he has men over for Bible Institute.  Harrison also has a soccer ministry.  The unique thing about the Banda’s ministry is that nationals are always welcome at their house, so people are always coming in and out of the house.

Past two weeks:  Right now, Harrison has several things going on at once.  He’s working on building two different churches. Every Saturday, the men from the church and us get together to make bricks.  The church plot Harrison got in town is beautiful.  It’s on the side of a mountain, where you will be able to see the church from all over the city.  We spent two days clearing all the trees from the property.  Soon we will be grading it.  We’re also digging a borehole well on church plot here in town.  Currently, we’re approaching 10 meters down and have been in solid rock the past couple of meters.  We have also had to spend a great deal of time at the mechanics so some work could be done on Harrison’s truck.  Lastly, we have spent some time scouting out locations for two different camps (that we hope to build in the future)

On Sundays, we preach at both churches.  There is also a Bible study on Wednesday nights in the homes of nationals.  Last week, we were allowed to have it in the house of a Muslim.  Monday and Friday nights we have Bible Institute classes.  We have also been running some leadership/teambuilding camps for the members of the two churches

Things to come/prayer requests:

-Beth, Jake, and Mary (the three interns I worked with this summer are currently making their way back to the states.

-We will be going to Lusaka tomorrow and Thursday for the Baptist Mid-Missions annual Zambia Conference.  There’s been discussion that Harrison will at least be nominated for president of the missions.  Be praying for the elections and the meetings that take place there.

-Last time I told you guys about a child named Junior who had 2^nd degree burns on 63% of his body that Mrs. Chambers and myself were asked to treat.  I found out that after suffering for 10 days, he passed away.  Be in prayer for Mrs. Chambers (as I’m sure she took it hard) and for the family.

-For the building projects coming up:  finishing up the blueprints and getting them back from the city council, bricks need to be burned, we only have two days left with the jackhammer (and we really need to hit water soon), that we can find a bulldozer to grade the church plot (for a reasonable cost).

-We are trying to schedule a meeting with the chief of Chipata (think governor of a state, except with the capabilities of military power...he considers his land to be his own little nation rather than a true part of Zambia). 

-Now that we have 3 more months, we’ll be making plans on running some youth camps and other types of programming.

Closing Remarks:  God’s truly been blessing us and taking great care of us.  A couple of us got malaria, but have gotten over it quickly.  Falls that have happened or accidents that have occurred that could have been bad, have amounted to know injuries. Even the smallest of prayers are being answered.   I was able to hook my computer up to a screen to get my sermons and the camp manual off of it.  This field here is ripe for the harvest.  People are coming to know Christ…disciples are being made…churches are growing.  It’s amazing to get to have a part in it.

When we were driving into Malawi to work on the tickets, I saw a sign on the back of a truck I wanted to encourage you with.  It read, “Let God be God.”   Sometimes we spend so much time trying to control everything (trying to stay safe…figuring out the loopholes in the clauses of the tickets), rather than giving up the driver’s seat and allowing God to work.  God is good…and is plans are far better than ours.  Dwelling in His plan and His safety are much fuller of peace and joy then we could provide on our own.

With Love,

Josh

prayer request...

God's been doing some great things...i'll send you an update in a day or two.  I was asked by Harrison and Michelle to stick around a bit longer...til October 25th or so.  Tomorrow, Harrison and I will be driving to Malawi, to work with Ethiopian Airlines and immigrations to get everything squared away for me and another intern (everything has to get done before my scheduled flight Aug 2).  We'll be getting there about 9 am this morning (3 am stateside).  Please pray everything will work out properly. 

Love you all,

Josh

back from the bush...

Back from the bush again…

Things have been crazy the past couple of weeks.  I was going to try to post some pics, but I dropped my laptop last night…so my pictures won’t be accessible til we get back to the states.  I don’t have much time til we have to leave the internet café, so this is a bit rushed.

We were able to get many more things accomplished in our second trip out into the bush.

1.                  Each day, half of our team was in the local school teaching Bible, English & literacy, and art.  They were very pleased with what they were able to accomplish in their time there.

2.                  The guys working with me and myself were able to resetup the ropes course and finished make the last few elements.  The course now offers 16 low ropes elements.

3.                  The first week, we had counselor training each day, training several nationals from Choma and from the bush to be able to run the activities and to be able to teach through them.

4.                  While there, Mr. Chambers had his men’s conference for the men of the church and the community.  We spent two days working with them.

5.                  After the men’s conference, we had a three day teen and young adult camp.  This time we were stressing our need for God and the hope we have in Christ.  At first, we were discouraged because we heard the local youth would be away at a sports day somewhere else during the three days we had scheduled for camp.  At one point we were thinking about leaving early if they wouldn’t be there.  But God works in great ways.  That game day at the other school was canceled.  Not only were our school children allowed to come after all, but the headmaster asked if he could invite the other schools that were going to be at the game day.  Instead of having one school, we had kids from three different schools and communities.    Overall, the response was tremendous.  We ran 50 or so kids each day.  Many of them had never heard about Christ before, so we were starting at the very beginning.  They were very eager to learn about what we had to say.

6.                  The last day, we hosted an all-day soccer tournament.  God has a sense of humor…I found myself playing striker for a team in an opening round game.  If you know me at all, you know I have never touched a soccer ball…or even pretend to know anything about it.  But it was fun.

Whats next:

Time is starting to run out on my time in Zambia.  I have about 15 days left in country.  We will be hosting Harrison and Michelle Banda at our house for the next to days.  They will then be taking me with them to the northern province for me to help them in their ministry and to lay the groundwork for starting a camp next year and to start training them. I’ll be with them for 12 days or so until I meet back up with rest of the team in the capital to fly back out. 

I’ll also be doing is finishing up the camp manual and programming guide to leave with the Chambers and the Bandas (although I’m not entirely sure how that will happen with my laptop no longer working.

Thank you for the encouraging messages and the continued support and prayers.  God's doing some wonderful things out here...

heading back out...

The past two weeks have had many things happen.

Caleb got back to the states safely.

·         A few years back, the Chambers and Twin Lakes Camp partnered together to start a camp called Camp Zambia in Choma.  After a few years of successful ministry, it was shut down by a different group of missionaries. One of the nationals, Collins, who has a passion for camp ministry and reaching his people, is starting it bak up.  He has formed a team of nationals to be leaders of the camp.  I have/will be working with them to train them and rebuild the course.

·         We’ve been planning or programming and what we will be teaching in the bush. This time, we will be focusing on the the teens/young adults and the men.

·          In total, we’ll have seven days worth of camp.  Part of our team will also be teaching in the school again.  We’ll also be finishing the training for our team

·         We ran a volleyball camp at Salvation Baptist for the local community.  It’s a sport most of the teens have never played, but they enjoyed learning it.

·         We’ve been gathering supplies, fixing things, and building things for this next trip out. 

Prayer Requests

·         The time with Collins and his team will be beneficial, as we revive Camp Zambia

·         We’ll be running seven days of camp out in the bush.  Part of our team will be teaching in the local school again. 

·         A large part of my job is training people.  Not only do the missionaries need to be trained, but the nationals from Choma and the nationals from Nambaaza (the bush).  Everyone is so busy and have so many other duties.  Everyone also has different levels of training.  We still have a lot of training to do and we have a lot of schedules to work around.

·         The medical clinic will be opened as well…that wise decisions will be made while dealing with patients.

·         Once I get back, I’ll be heading up to the Northern Province to work with Harrison and Michelle Banda.  Their interested in starting their own camp.  Travel arrangements still need to be made. 

Love you guys,

Josh

L

back from the bush...

Back from the bush…

(written on  1^st Tuesday)

-We’re out in Nambaaza, about 5 hours from the nearest gas station.  We left Friday morning, although the truck driver decided to work on his truck before he took us.  So he was two hours late.  After a 6 hour truck drive, we arrived at the property donated by the chief to EBM.  With us, we brought 5 Americans and five nationals with us. This is the first time the Chambers have ventured out here for more than 6 days and the first time they have brought such a big team, so there will be a learning curve.

Kaponde Baptist Church is who we are working alongside while we are out in the bush.  This church was planted by Salvation Baptist Church out of Choma (the church we are working with in town and have run the camps at) in 2006.  In 2005, when the Chambers helped start Salvation Baptist, one of the women from the church, Teresa received Christ.  Though she was a divorced woman (someone not respected by the society here), she knew she needed to take the Gospel back to Nambaaza (where she left) to bring the Good News back to her family and friends).  The church had other people from around that area.  Though young, they decided it was necessary to plant a church in Nambaaza (Kaponde Baptist).  So, members of the church come out with us as part of the ministry of the church.

-Friday night, the churches choir greeted us and sung late into the night.  They have been at the church (about 100 yards from our tents) singing each night since.  Elephants were spotted the first two nights (although we haven’t seen them), so they’ve been doing that to keep us protected.  There have also been three families staying at the church to protect us if anything were to come our way.

-Minus the church building and the pit latrine (the church built for us in anticipation of our coming), there is nothing out here.  We spent the first couple of days clearing land so we could set up camp.  The area we cleared will be the future home of the EBM campus (that is outlined in the blog). 

-Saturday night, we also had a pleasant surprise.  Somehow a rumor was spread that we were going to be showing the Jesus film that night.  About 50 people were gathered for it at church waiting on us.  Once we found out, we decided to go ahead and show it.  By the end, more than 100  people were gathered, watching it around the church.

-Mrs. Chambers is  known as a “doctor” out here, so many people come to her for help.  She’s asked me to assist her in treating some of the injuries (b/c of my athletic training background).  Every time we treat someone, it comes with great risk.  If someone takes a turn for the worse, it is very easy for the locals to claim we used witch-craft to further hurt or kill them, which could hurt the ministry.  We have to trust God that He shows us the best way to treat each patient (especially with our lack of medical supplies) and that if someone does turn for the worst, the locals understand we did the best we could for their friends/family. 

(written on Tuesday)

Our first trip to the bush has come to an end. Overall, it was a great experience. We were able to get much more done than we thought was possible, everyone remained relatively healthy, God protected us from the wildlife and ourselves, and He presented us with some ministry opportunities we didn’t anticipate having.

- We were able to set up our ropes course within the first week we were there.  The course offers 16 low rope initiatives at 12 stations spread across one trail (fallen log, trust fall, port-hole, spiders web, space web, nitro crossing, dragon’s finger, acid river, mountain tops, all-aboard, two types of tension traverse, postman’s walk, jungle vines, wild woozy, and Mohawk walk) .   Because of our lack of cable, the longest cable of the Mohawk walk and wild woozy double as what we are calling multi-purpose lines.  We have different attachment points to the trees, which allow us to run the tension traverses, jungle vines, and postman’s walk from both locations.  We were also able to get plenty of tension on the cable, which we were very thankful for and so far it seems to be holding up much like the courses I have been on in the states.  Though our lack of supplies and tools caused us some hindrances, overall we are very pleased with the final outcome of the course.

-As we were building, many of the locals wanted to try things out.  Whether they were young or old, male or female, all of them wanted to try out the activities.  They all looked like little kids on a playground and was a lot of fun to see them enjoying it.

-Since we got done so fast, we were able to do some training on the course and with debriefing as well.  We will be training a couple of the nationals from Choma, and a couple of the nationals from Nambaaza in running the course and being able to teach through it. 

-We were able to run three days of camps for the children of the local school.  We would run a camp in the morning for the younger kids and a camp in the afternoon for the older kids.  We averaged about 100 children/teens per day.  Our first focus was on teaching about the Bible being God’s word and the eternal security Christ offers (*this recent ministry of Salvation Baptist is one of the first times the Gospel has been brought out to these people…the only other missionaries to reach this part of Zambia taught only certain people are good enough for salvation…and they didn’t last very long).

-We were able to show the Jesus film at the chief’s palace and at another village that asked us to come out as well.  At the chief’s more than 80 people showed up…more than 200 people showed at the other village.

-While the men were building the camp, three of our women were able to teach in the local schools for the two weeks…teaching religious education, art, and literacy.  We have been welcomed to do as much as we like by the community leaders with the children of the school and community.

Since we’ve been back…

-Since coming back from the bush, we traveled down to Livingstone for a night to see Victoria Falls (Saturday was Mr. and Mrs. Chambers anniversary)…incredible is the only way to describe it. 

-Caleb left yesterday to get back to the capital.  He boarded his plan today and should be back in the US around when I send this message.

-Harrison and Michelle Banda stopped by our house to visit last night…they send their greetings back to those of you who know them (Harrison was the first person to talk to me about coming to Zambia three summers ago, even though I never thought it would actually come about).

-For the next two weeks, we will be working with Salvation Baptist church, running some more camps from the church, working on some programing for camps we will run when we go back to the bush, and getting the things ready for our next trip out.  We’ll leave July 4^th for our next trip out.

Prayer Requests

-that we all regain our strength…living out in the bush takes a lot out of you

-that the brings get made/finished (we got out there and none of them had been fired yet)

-that Caleb finishes his travels safely

-that we’re able to find another tent before we go back out (Caleb and I had the privilege of sharing a one man tent for the two weeks…and next time we’ll have more people with us)

-if everything works out, it looks as if I will be going back to the north part of Zambia with Harrison and Michelle to spend a week with them and working with them to develop their own camp (they’re about 11 hours away from us)

we're back and safe...

don't have enough time for a full update, but we're back from the bush.  we should get internet in three days or so. I'll try to update everyone on everything that happened then...love you all

last update for awhile...

The past few days, everytime we have tried to get internet in town, the connection has been down.  I’ve written these parts over the past couple of days.

Monday

Things have been going great the past couple of days.  First off, Mrs. Chambers hosted a woman’s conference at the church.  50 women came out for that (some rode in the back of a maize truck for 5 hours overnight to get there).

Saturday night, we lost the clutch in the truck.  The landlord, who is an atheist, volunteered his van so that we could get our whole team to church on Sunday.  Bruce (the landlord) has been very anti-Christian in the past, so it was a shock when he volunteered his van without us even asking him for it.  He allowed us to use it today as well. 

The message went well on Sunday.  I spoke from 1 John 3 & 4…about Christ’s love for us and his command to love one another.  On Sunday, three people accepted Christ as their Savior!

Today, we started running our day camps for the children around the school.  We are running two camps each day…one for the children who go to school in the morning and one for children who go to school in the afternoon.  The first game we played was a version of dodgeball (surprise attack for all you camp people today).  It took the children a little while to grasp the concept, but after they did, they had a lot of fun.  Then we also did a trust walk relay.  Lucy, one of our translators is doing a great job debriefing the activities.  The kids have been very response to the teachings.  Today’s verse was Proverbs 3:5-Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.

Tuesday

We played dead monkey tag (we had to adapt dead ant tag due to skirts).  We had more than 75 children in the morning session and we more than 50 children in the afternoon.

Wednesday

We’re playing capture the flag today.  We had a good turnout this morning as well.  Derreck, one of our translators did the teaching today.  Part of these camps is getting our translators used to teaching/debriefing again.  They were trained by the Twin Lakes Camp staff in the summer of ’05, so it’s been awhile for them.

We’re making preparations to get ready to go to the bush today and Thursday.  Hopefully, the truck we rented gets to us on time.  We’ll be out there for 13 days.  After we leave the bush, we will be heading to Livingstone for 2 days.  Hopefully there we will find good enough internet to upload some pictures and send out proper messages.  Right now, we cannot load many pages here.    Don’t expect another update until after then.  But don’t worry, Mrs. Chambers is taking good care of us and making sure we are eating our vegetables

Prayer requests:

-That children continue to come and are receptive to the gospel

-that we remember everything we need to take to the bush

-the 2^nd weekend we’re in the bush, we have been invited to the chief’s “palace” to show the Jesus video to him and the leadership of the village

-that we find proper equipment to put tension on the aircraft cable, so we can form tight-ropes between trees

-our goal is to set up the camp and the ropes course within a week, so we can start running camps the second week we are in the bush. 

-The team is getting healthier and should all be completely recovered by Friday.

-that we bond well with the translators going out with us.  One in particular, is not saved, but has been asking many questions

-we still have a lot of training to do once we get to the bush as well before we get started.

With love,

Josh and Caleb

Greetings from Choma...

Greetings from Choma.  This past week we have been working at Salvation Baptist Church (that Mr. Chambers and Arthur pastor over).  We have been preparing the grounds for the children’s camp we will be hosting Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.  The pastor said we should anticipate more than 100 children for each session (we’ll have to sessions each day).  The past few days, we have been flattening land for a volleyball court, picking maize from the fields, slashing down the weeds, and painting part of the church.   We were able to finish everything needing done at the church.

This Friday, Saturday, and Sunday we’ll staying at the farm while we make preparations for the camps.  About half of the programing has been written, so that will need to be finished up.  Then we’ll be training a few of our team and our translators how to lead group games and debrief.

As a team, we are currently memorizing 2 Tim: 3:10-4:7

One correction from my previous post…Derrick is saved, one other teen who will be working with us is not.

Prayer Requests:

-That preparations and training will be able to completed well over the next couple of days

-That we would be able to get a better grasp on the language (we’re still struggling with simple greetings)

-I was asked to preach this Sunday at Salvation Baptist…that I may expound His Word well.

We're expected at the church in a short while, so we don't have much time...

We got through the airports surpisingly well...and had some of our overweight bags overlooked.  Once we went through customs in Lusaka, none of our bags got checked, which meant we didn't have to pay any taxes on a lot of the gear we brought.  They also only charged us $50 for our visas instead of the $100 we were expecting.

Currently, we're staying on a 5000 acre farm where the Chambers rent a house.  We got our tent up out in the back!

We are hitting the ground running.  Our time here will be split between Choma (the town) and Nambaaza (the bush).  Sunday, we went to the church we will be working at in Choma.  The pastor, Arthur, is also acting as our translator and teaching us the ways of the land.

This week, we'll be working on getting the church grounds ready to host a camp (clearing fields for big games, setting up some low ropes elements, etc), training some nationals, and coming up with the plans for the week.We'll be hosting a 3 day camp at the start of next week for the children at the local school.This camp we will talk about trust in Christ, Christ rescuing us, and then eternal security.  After this camp, we'll take a day to prep for the bush and then spend 2 straight weeks out in the bush.

We gotta run, but a few prayer requests:
-getting the church grounds ready
-training Derrick (one of the nationals to help us)-he's unsaved, but eager to learn more
-ideas and brainstorming as we work on the porgramming and lessons.

We should have more time later this week to update better.

Getting there...

So far, everything has been going well.  We received news we reached full support Thursday morning before we left (and then some...which is great because we can now do even more with the camp).  The airlines looked the other way on some of our heavy bags too...so we didn't have to pay the extra charge.  Our full team met up in D.C. (there are three other interns going out besides Caleb and I).
The flights have been going smoothly.  Caleb and I have have been blessed with a seat in between us on both the flights, making it much easier to stretch out. We're currently boarding our last flight into Lusaka, Zambia.  We'll spend the evening there before complete the drive tomorrow.

Future EBM Campus...

The work being done this summer will only be the start of what is to come for this campus.  Over the next several years (and decades) this will continue to grow and expand.  This was the resent building plan presented before the Zambian government.

    EBM CAMPUS

Training center -multi purpose structure to accommodate training for:

               

                Agriculture

                Community Health

                Biblical studies

                Leadership and church development training

                Christian Camp/retreat facilities

                Water and Sanitation for villages

Staff housing - EBM missionaries, short term assistants, national missionaries

Training/camp housing for enrolled participants -(cabins/bunk houses, outdoor kitchens, outhouses,                                                                                        bath houses, borehole/well,

Kaponde Baptist Church

Storage Building and workshop

Medical care unit

Agricultural development plots (garden and small, experimental fields)

Recreational area (volleyball courts, soccer field, game area... etc. as camp director chooses)

Support Letter

Greetings family and friends,

Most of you know I will be graduating from Cedarville University this spring.  Besides studying youth ministries and world missions, I have spent my time working as a Resident Assistant, working with Athletes in Action (a branch of Campus Crusades for Christ), and starting a youth group as part of a church plant.  I have also spent the past three summers working at Twin Lakes Camp as a counselor and as an intern.  I have learned I have a passion for holistic  ministry and for camp ministry.

For the past few years, God has been burdening my heart to serve Him in Africa.  As I leave college and join the “real world,” my goal is to go into long-term overseas missions.  Last summer, I was approached by Evangelical Baptist Missions missionaries Jim and Rachel Chambers to assist them they transition to a new ministry site in Zambia.  Through much prayer and many talks, we agreed this would be a great way for me to get practical, hands on experience while also working toward my long-term goal.  Even better, my brother Caleb is joining me for a month of the trip.

On May 20th, my brother and I will fly out with two other team members to Zambia.  Most of our time will be spent in the small village of Nambaaza (the bush) and in Choma (a small town).  While there, we will have much to accomplish.  Mr. and Mrs. Chambers were donated 100 acres of wooded land next to Kaponde Baptist Church by tribal leaders to start a camp.  Our main focus will be to assist in setting this camp up.  We will be working alongside nationals to clear the brush and build buildings.  We also will be installing a low-ropes course, training nationals how to use the facilities, and teaching the nationals how to teach through experiential learning opportunities.  By the end of the summer, we will be running a couple of camps.  Caleb will also spend some time shooting video for the Chambers to be able to use in promoting their new ministry.  Finally, we will be assisting our other team members with running sports camps back in Choma.  These will be the first steps in a much larger vision.  Besides the camp, the retreat facilities will be used as a multi-purpose training center for nationals to learn about agriculture, trades, first aid/health, biblical studies, and church leadership.  This will also be home to staff housing, a workshop, and a medical care unit.

As we allow God to lead us through this new adventure, please join our team.  Since neither of us has done anything like this, we need much prayer throughout this summer (I will be there until Aug. 3; Caleb will be there until June 22).  We also need financial support.  Together, we need to raise $5500 (currently, we are a little under half support).  This will go towards plane tickets, travel insurance, living expenses, a few supplies for the camp, and a three-month salary for a national to help us translate and navigate in a different culture.

If you can help us financially, please make checks out to Heather Hills Baptist Church.  In the memo, please put Zambia Mission Fund.  If you want a tax deductible receipt, do not put either of our names on the check.

We will have limited internet access throughout the summer. When able, we will be able to send out updates on what is going on, prayer requests, and posting photos.  If you would like to be included in this, please provide your email as well.  We also have a Facebook page (you can access through my profile) and a blog, joshuaipack@blogspot.com that we will update as well.

With His love,

Josh and Caleb

(If you have any questions, please contact me at jpack@cedarville.edu, or 317-517-7412)

Checks can be sent to:

Heather Hills Baptist Church

1421 N. German Church Road

Indianapolis, IN 46229