Mongu Celebration!

Our Mongu students proudly hold their Certificates of Completion after a week of intensive training! 

What a fabulous week! We had thirty dedicated students, all of them young (18-35) and eager to learn and grow. 

We were also able to encourage our dear friend, Pastor Yuyi Mundia, of the Central Mongu Vineyard Church.  

Saturday and Sunday (9/16) were especially full days. On Saturday, we trained all morning, then met separately as men and women to discuss sexuality issues. Significant conversations were held on this sensitive subject.

On Sunday, we worshiped at Yuyi's church. Percy taught on biblical worship during Sunday School, and I preached on the fivefold purpose of the church during worship.

That afternoon, we participated in an awesome celebration at Evangel Assembly of God where Abby preached on God's profound love for us, and we also awarded certificates of completion to our students. The church was packed with 150+ youth leaders and youth, and various praise teams led us in worship and dancing. It was simply awesome!  

In addition to these formal meetings, we had numerous one-on-ones with pastors and leaders throughout the week to discuss issues pertaining to their ministries and families. We were able to be an encouragement to many and received encouragement in return. 

Thank you for supporting us, for enabling us to do this work. We are profoundly grateful and blessed!

Plese pray for our students and us as we begin training a new group of pastors and leaders in Katima Mulilo, Namibia this Saturday. And we will continue to pray for you! 

Grateful for Another Adventure

Students from this year's Nangweshi, Zambia training display their completion certificates!

Abby & I leave tonight for about a month in Zambia (Livingstone and Mongu), Namibia (Katima Mulilo) and England (Wolverhampton). In Zambia and Namibia, we'll be joining up with our dear friend and GTN colleague, Percy Muleba. It'll be great to see him, his wife, Muyunda, and his girls, Thabo and Nsala. His oldest daughter, Natasha, is away in nursing school. We'll also see other old and new friends while we're there. In Mongu, we'll be training youth leaders and, in Livingstone, we'll be encouraging some of our former students and mentees.

In England, we'll visit for a few days with our U.S. friend and new missionary, Cheri Contes, and her kids, Hannah and Evan. I (Doug) will have the privilege of preaching in the church she is helping to plant there. Should be exciting!

Would you pray for us while we're away? Would you pray for our kids, Jen, James, Emily and Andrew, and our grandsons, Isaac, Luke and Zachary? And would you pray for safe and uneventful travel, great health, the inspiration and leadership of the Holy Spirit, a loving and enthusiastic team spirit, and the transformation of our students by God's grace!

Rethinking Commitment

When you're privileged to do what we do, you get to see things that demand a shift in your thinking. One of these is the depth of your own commitment to the Kingdom. 

The relative ease with which we can access training and resources in the United States, the sound infrastructure that makes traveling easy, and the options available to us are unknown in places like Zambia's Western Province.  

Students arrived in Nangweshi after walking 1 1/2 days through the bush, one of them a 79 year old gentleman who's been in ministry for many decades! Some carried tattered Lozi Bibles, a few pages of note paper and a pen. Others had none of these. They slept in the church building and cooked over open fires. And, at the end of a long day of training, the 79 year old said, "I am so glad to receive this training, but I have one question. Why can't we train into the night?" 

Words fail me.  

Please continue praying for us as we meet with former students and prepare for our return home. You are always in our prayers.  

This student's Lozi Bible was missing both Genesis and Revelation. 

Mr. Fulai Yamba, 79 years old, with Percy Muleba! 

Back from the Bush!

We're back online after 2+ weeks in the bush. We taught two fantastic classes of twenty students each (see photos). As usual, the smaller groups allowed for relationships to flourish, which was terrific.

We taught Introduction to Pastoral Care, Being, Becoming & Doing, The Wounded Healer, Understanding the Bible, Understanding Your S. H. A. P. E. for Ministry, Praying the Psalms, and more. The questions and discussions were great, as well. And, of course, after class visits were meaningful, too! 

While we were there, Pastor Titus Njamba (organizing pastor) and his wife, Kahilu, gave birth to a son under a mango tree! He came too quickly to get to the clinic! 

More blogs will follow, but we wanted to give you a quick update!  

Please keep praying as we do for you! :)  

Our first class in Nangweshi, Zambia! 

Our second class in Nangweshi, Zambia. Many in this class walked all day from the Kalongola area and slept in the church to attend! 

The first time we've taught by candlelight! 

A regal Deaconness from the Kalongola area both cooked for her team and fully participated in our training!