Lozi Update

Dear Family,

This month finds us no longer camping but care taking at Mutemwa Lodge. The owners, Gavin & Penny Johnson, take January and part of February to holiday with family in South Africa. While they are away they offered for us to have free reign of the Lodge. What an absolute blessing to us! We have a lot more space and a large kitchen. The night guard washes all the dinner dishes and there is even a swimming pool! Nathan is enjoying not having to make “donkey” fires to heat water for showers and dishes. We have our own private bathrooms just off our chalet. Now, chalet sounds so much better that tent. But it is really just a tent put on a wooden deck. You can see pictures of the Lodge at http://www.mutemwa.com/. We are so very thankful to the Lord for providing through the Johnson family. Please pray with us for the Lord to bless the Johnson’s business here in Western Province.

Shannon was to go to pick up all the chiefs today (Monday) to travel to Mwandi for a meeting with the Royal Council. This meeting has been rescheduled for Friday, January 22. This will be a very long and difficult 16 hour day. Here is a shortened version of the process:

The members of the “Kuta” must review our paperwork & present the case to “His Royal Highness” (the senior chief). If he approves then two members of the Kuta will go with the guys back to the land to walk the boundaries. Then, the Kuta will draw up an official document that the Senior Chief will sign and stamp.

This is quite a process and we are praying for God to work on our behalf. Things here are on no timetable. The council can prolong this process at their discretion. Proverbs 21:1 gives us comfort “The king’s heart is like a river in the hand of the Lord and HE turns it wherever He will”.

Please be praying with us about this. We cannot move forward on building of homes if until final approval is given.

On Sunday afternoons we have started a Bible Study with some of our workers as well as any in the area who would like to attend. We are meeting in a cleared area, sitting on the cut grass, in the middle of the bush, just on the banks of the Zambezi River. Today we had three men, four women and about a dozen children. Shannon taught on Noah’s Ark and made special mention of how it is like a picture of Christ as the only means of salvation from the coming judgment of God. One woman asked, “so how can I be saved and what works must I do?”. Shannon took her to Acts 16:30 -31 and John 6:28. The message from Paul and Jesus is clear – “believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved”. Please pray for Mary to be saved. In this culture these people may be coming to this study to see if the Americans will give them “stuff” or out of fear they may lose their jobs if they don’t. Pray for an awakening so that they might want Jesus and Him alone.

The pavilion structure is coming along. Jackson, our thatcher from Sioma, arrived last week and will being to put thatch on the roof this week. While he is working on the roof, Shannon and the other guys will begin work on the solar water and septic system. They will be digging trenches and laying pipe. Please pray for this to go well. The ground here is extremely rocky. The first hole that was dug for the septic tank could not be dug deeper than 3 feet because of the rock. The second hole was great and was the proper depth. All of this work is being done by hand by our Lozi workers. As Shannon and Sean lead Bible study each day with these guys, would you pray for them by name - Vincent, Shadrach and Chris. Pray for the Lord to still their hearts to know Him and that through the teaching of the truth of Scripture they may find salvation in Christ.

I had my first adventure in driving the dirt road from the lodge to “town” last Friday. We needed to head to Namibia for supplies. The guys just could not afford another day off work to take us. So, Michael, Joyce and I headed off on our own. The guys were headed to work as we were headed to town so, when we got stuck in a deep mud hole they were right there to tow us out! The board crossing was uneventful. The day of shopping was full and we barely had enough time to make all our stops. In fact, we were supposed to fuel the vehicle in Namibia but decided not to since the border closed at 6 pm. That was a good decision since we crossed back into Zambia at 5:58 pm! When we drove in, the guard was waving us in saying, “we close in 2 minutes”. Yikes!! That was cutting it a little too close for comfort! Once across the borders we fueled and headed for home. On the road back into the lodge we got stuck again! This time in a different puddle! We had no cell signal but knew the guys were watching the time and would come after us. They did and pulled us out again! We reached the lodge at 10 pm praising the Lord for seeing us through this crazy day!

Yesterday we realized that we are quickly approaching the one year mark! We praise the Lord for providing, protecting and sustaining us in these days. We are learning more and more each day how to trust Him more fully, rely on His strength and live with fullness of JOY when things are difficult. Thank you for being an integral part of what the Lord is doing among the Lozi as you continue to pray for us. You will never know how much that encourages us.

With much love from Zambia,
Stephanie (Shannon, Nathan and Morgan too!