"As the father has sent me, I am sending you..."

The jet lag has flown and the video I promised is posted below. Just a few things...First, I'm sorry about how dark the video is. The lighting conditions were very poor and I'm still learning this video thing. Second, Bosco uses a few terms that might not be familiar to you. They are: "branch" = new church; "Indunas" = village elders; "traditional doctor" = witch doctor. The video, I think, speaks for itself. Bosco is an amazing young man and Abby & I are proud to know him, and very grateful to have had a small part in his training, although the lion's share of credit for training goes to Percy. Enjoy!

"You shall know them by their fruit!"

Jesus said we'd know a tree best by its fruit (Luke 6:43-44). That's why, at IMC, we're always looking for stories from our students about the impact our training has had on their lives. Bosco's is one of those stories. He just officially graduated from Live School Tuesday evening (graduates Alex (l) and Bosco (r) are pictured below), but he had already planted a new church in the last year about 40 miles off the main road in a small bush village several hundred miles north of Mwandi.

In addition, as word has spread bout the new church, Bosco has been asked to visit families as far as 10 miles away who are interested in the Gospel. To help Bosco as he travels these long distances, IMC gifted him with a new bike at graduation!

I had planned on including a video of Bosco telling about Live school's impact in his life and the new church, but the bandwidth on the WiFi I'm using isn't adequate. The upload was going to take 7 hours! LOL! Anyway, I'll have to post it when we return to the States.

Just a quote from Bosco to whet your appetite: "I have told my new church that even though I am their pastor I am just a visitor. I told them I will be leaving one day because if I am going to go into all the world with the Gospel, then I have to be free to go and go and go."

By their fruit indeed!

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The IMC Adventure Continues!

It's always exciting to make new connections! Over the weekend, we traveled to Senanga to meet with the Ministers' Association about a possible invitation to bring our 3 Weeks Intensive training to them next June. But, first we had to get to Senanga and that involved the "pontoon" (ferry) across the mighty Zambezi River. There was a strong headwind and one of the two diesel motors was out on the pontoon, so our crossing took about an hour. At times, we wondered if we were moving at all. A bridge is under construction and should be completed within the next few months, but for now it's the pontoon!

We stayed Saturday night at the Senanga Safari Lodge, a comfortable place on the beautiful banks of the same Zambezi. Sunday morning, we worshiped at the Evangelical Church of Zambia in Senanga, led by missions minded pastor, Rev. Enoch. Now, getting to the worship center was a bit of an adventure. Senanga is noted for its deep sand roads and we found out pretty soon that without 4WD we were in deep trouble!

Once we solved the sand problem with the help of many passers by, we had an amazing time worshiping with great people and a fabulous choir. Later in the service, Percy led the praise and worship that led into my sermon and after worship we enjoyed warm fellowship on the church grounds.

Later, at 3pm, we met with sixteen pastors and elders representing six area churches to present IMC's mission. We were well received and, after a brief discussion among those present, Rev. Enoch invited us to come next June as we had hoped!

So, thanks for your prayers. Tonight, we enjoy a graduation celebration with twelve of our Mwandi Live School students. We can't wait!

The Freedom of A Fence!

Some time ago, I read an article about an elementary school that had a large and fabulous new playground installed. The teachers were frustrated, however, because the kids only played near the school building and rarely ventured to the far side of the playground even though some of the best equipment was located there. One day, everything changed. A playground fence had been installed over the weekend. That Monday, the kids swarmed every piece of equipment, near and far. The fence had brought freedom to the kids to play to their heart's content and make full use of the playground.

Today, the fence for our IMC land was completed. And, just like those kids, we now have the freedom to make full use of the land we've been given by Chief Inyambo Yeta to our heart's content!

This is our first step toward the Training Center and Farm we believe the Lord has called us to complete as part of our strategy to reach the Western Province of Zambia and beyond. It was an historic day. The Lord is good!

Four young men, three of them our Live School students, completed the fence around the 5+ acres in extremely hot conditions. They volunteered to do the job, by the way, and were content with some food and a large tent to sleep in. Their names are Alex, Bosco, Mulenga and Obby and they did an amazing job! (Alex and Mulenga are pictured above.) Thanks, men!

Our next steps are to bring water and electricity to the property and this will be done very soon. We already have the water tank and have made arrangements with the powers that be for installation. Once this is accomplished, we can look ahead to 2016 and our hope to launch the Farm and begin building the Training Center.

Next week, two local churches will bring their youth groups for a retreat on our land which will be led by our three students, Alex, Bosco and Obby, with Percy, Abby & me on hand to provide support and some teaching. This will be the first official use of IMC land as a Training Center!

Please pray for us as we move forward with God's vision for IMC!