Rested and Ready!

It was a long trip! We left Charlotte, NC on Thursday last and arrived on Sunday via Washington, DC (overnight), Dubai (22 hour layover), Lusaka, and then to Livingstone, Zambia. Whew! We were picked up at the airport by our dear friends, Percy and Muyunda Muleba, and it was so great to be reunited with them! We then rested and readied in Livingstone for three nights and then yesterday drove nine hours to Mongu, Zambia. We will be in Mongu until the 27th.

The drive from Livingstone to Mongu was difficult, to say the least. It took us 5 1/2 hours to cover the first one hundred miles because of the horrible potholes in the road. For one stretch of about ten miles we dropped down to the oxcart path running parallel to the highway so we could drive at a reasonable speed. Percy Muleba, our dear friend, drove the entire way and it wasn’t easy for him. Thankfully, his Toyota Hilux made the bouncing tolerable. I can’t imagine what it would have been like if we had made the trip in a taxi which is typically a Toyota Corolla. Yikes!

Tonight we begin training ten leaders from New Vine Ministry, each of whom represents a local church. We are limited to ten by Zambia's Covid guidelines. We are in Phase 2 with these young leaders and will spend the next week on “Discovering My Ministry and Mission.” In addition, on Sunday, Abby will teach a larger group on Gender Based Violence (GBV) and I will preach, as well. During non-training hours, we expect several one-on-ones with local pastors and/or leaders which are always meaningful.

Please pray for us and our students for transformational training, good health, and team harmony. As always, where we go, you go!

The oxcart path made for easier driving than the paved highway above us to the left!

It’s been great to be reunited with our dear friend and colleague, Percy Muleba!

And…We’re Off!

Imagine our delight when Zambia opened up again last fall. Three months later, we’re poised to fly to Zambia for a four week visit. Our tickets are purchased, our travel insurance is intact, our bags are packed (mostly!), and our hearts are ready.

Still, there is one hurdle. We must pass a COVID test on Monday (results Wednesday), so that we can fly out on Thursday. It’s such a strange feeling…WE PASSED! SO, OFF WE GO!

Zambia, for its part, has not been particularly hard hit by COVID, which is great. But, the lockdown has taken its toll. The Kwacha, Zambia’s currency, has lost about 50% of its value compared to the USD since 2019. Good for us as we travel, but very tough on our Zambian friends. Worldwide, it is estimated that the lockdown will result in 150,000,000 more deaths do to starvation, etc. Sometimes, the cure can be far worse than the disease, it seems.

We can’t wait to see and train with our dear friend and GTN colleague, Percy Muleba, who eagerly awaits our visit. Although our visit will be shorter than usual, we will still connect with representatives from eight student groups, train two students groups, meet with former students and friends, and preach and teach. Our agenda looks like this:

January 14-17: Travel to Livingstone, Zambia

January 17-20: Rest and connect with friends and students.

January 20-26: Travel to Mongu, Zambia where Abby and I will train youth leaders representing several different churches on “Discovering My Ministry.” Abby will preach to 200+ youth on “Gender Based Violence.”

January 27-28: Travel to Senanga, Zambia where we will meet with Pastor Titus and his wife, Kahilu, to renew our friendship and plan future training in Shangombo, Zambia. We will also meet with the Bishop of our former student, Reagan, to discuss future training.

January 29-31: Travel to Katima Mulilo, Namibia provided we pass the COVID test at the border. We will meet with Pastors Yumba and Jack to discuss future training, plus renew old friendships, and likely preach at Believers Fellowship.

February 1-9: Travel to Livingstone, Zambia with a stop on the way in Mwandi to visit our dear friend (and Percy’s mother) Gertrude. We will do Phase 1 training for a week with several young evangelists (Doug - “Our Common Creation, Problem, and Solution” and “Understanding the Bible”; Abby - “Wounded Healer” and “Family Systems”), connect with former and potential students, travel to Musokotwane village to preach and/or train, and do whatever else the Lord has in mind.

February 10-11: Travel home.

While we are with Percy, we will also strategize and plan the rest of 2021. We’ll keep you posted!

Typically, in Zambia and Namibia the internet is spotty, but we will try to post blogs while we’re away. Check back every few days. We’ll do our best!

Also, it’s sometimes easier to do a quick Instagram post so you can follow me there @dougvinez.

As always, when we go you go, too! Thank you for your prayers, encouragement, and financial support. Please keep our kids and grandkids in your prayer, as well. Thanks!

We can wait to see our dear friend, Percy Muleba, again and reuNite our traiNing team!

“Be fruitful and multiply…” Genesis 1:28

How do you measure success? I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately since Abby and I still cannot get into Zambia. And who knows when we will?

Now, it has helped that our mission is both in Zambia and here at home. So, we’ve stayed productive by writing curriculum, developing podcast overviews of our training, leading a mission small group, mentoring, connecting with our amazing ministry partners, establishing a new working relationship with International Business As Mission (IBAM), preaching, and talking regularly via WhatsApp with our dear Zambian friend and colleague, Percy Muleba.

But, despite all this, we’re still not able to go to Zambia and we long to. We long for Percy and our students. And, according to Percy, they long for us. As he put it to me recently, “This isn’t about mission anymore, Doug. Your clan needs you, and is calling for you!” And, we need our clan.

One thing that has been encouraging to us recently has been reports of our training multiplying through our students. The apostle Paul put it like this: “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will be qualified to teach others.” (2 Timothy 2:2)

Dan Mayeya was the director of New Vine, a ministry to young people (16-35 yrs.) in Mongu, Zambia. New Vine connects, encourages, and trains youth ministry leaders from fifteen area churches. (New Vine was founded by another dear friend, Pastor Yuyi Blessing Mundia, whom we have trained over the years.) Last year, Dan and his team arranged for us to train fifty key leaders from these fifteen churches. We spent a week with them using our “Discovering My S.H.A.P.E. for Ministry” curriculum.

Dan has since moved to Mumbwa where he has begun using Percy’s biblical worship and our S.H.A.P.E. training in his new church. He now has requests from seven other churches to train them in biblical worship, and he plans to train them using S.H.A.P.E., as well!

News like this is exciting because, even in our absence, it means we are continuing to “give birth” to spiritual grandchildren, and who knows, maybe some great grandchildren! According to the Bible, the principle of multiplication is built into the creation and the Gospel. It is wholly natural, or should I say supernatural, for spiritual life to multiply through the 2 Timothy 2:2 principle. And we continue to see this happen in Zambia. For this, we are profoundly grateful!

Please continue to pray for us as we await the opportunity to return to Zambia. And, please remember that, whether we are here or in Zambia, you go with us!

Dan Mayeya is actively multiplying our training in and around MumbwA, zambia!

“Those who wait on the Lord…”

I’m not very good at waiting. I’m American, for one thing, plus I’m a man, not to mention I’m an Amazon Prime member to boot! I’m accustomed to short lines, overnight mail, easy access to reservations, and even get frustrated when I have to wait too long in a line, any line. How about you?

Abby and I have been waiting since last fall to get back to Zambia. Having our dear friend and GTN colleague, Percy Muleba, here in January and February helped, but the cancellation of our May 12th trip to Zambia due to Covid-19 sure didn’t!

Providentially, we had already set aside March-April as a time for curriculum development so it wasn’t until May 1st that we began to long for Zambia and Namibia, to long for our students. Even now they are asking for us to come as soon as flights are available (August 5th is the latest update) and Zambia relaxes it’s 14 day quarantine (in an expensive hotel for all visitors at their own cost), but Zambia has not announced any news about this. So, we are waiting…

Biblically, waiting is sometimes a good thing. It is often connected to a sense of anticipation for what lies ahead. “Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles…” (Isaiah 40:31). In this regard, waiting is not a passive thing, but rather an active trust in the Lord, a reasonable hope that the future will be filled with his strength and power because he is just that kind of God!

Biblically, waiting on the Lord does not suggest that we just sit around and do nothing, but rather that we engage fully in the life we have been given to live now, even as we await a future hope. By the grace of God, Abby and I have been engaged in this kind of waiting over the last few months. Oh, there have certainly been times of a passive, even a depressive, waiting….”When will this COVID-19 thing end?” “Is Zambia ever going to open up again?” That sort of thing.

But, mostly it hasn’t been like this. It’s been much more active. While we’ve waited, what have we been up to? Well, an awful lot, actually. The Lord has blessed us with mission right here at home.

Last month, Maria Furlough, Missions Director at Lake Forest Church (LFC), asked us to lead a small group for mission-minded members. We jumped at the chance and we are so glad we did. So far, we’ve met three times and the group has been amazing, open, and eager to grow. Abby and I have been using some of our Zambian curriculum, modified a bit for the U.S., and it’s worked very well. People are just people everywhere, after all!

We have also had numerous opportunities to connect personally with Zambian students (WhatsApp), mission-minded Christians (outdoor meetings, text, email, Zoom, and phone), GTN colleagues (Zoom), EPC colleagues (Zoom and in person), and our family (WhatsApp and in person). And, now that things have opened up, both Abby and I are each meeting regularly with someone for deeper mission conversations.

In addition, at Percy’s request, Abby and I have begun recording podcasts with overviews of six of our courses. Harrison Gillming, our church’s Director of Worship, has kindly taught us to use the LFC podcast studio and has edited our efforts!

I have preached by recording at Centre Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC) on May 24th and am scheduled to preach at Westminster EPC in Burlington on July 5th and possibly again at Centre on July 19th. Of course, Abby will be there to share mission highlights with these supporting churches.

So, when will we return to Zambia? We honestly don’t know. In the meanwhile, we are waiting on the Lord, and are very grateful that our waiting has been filled with ministry opportunities, friendship, and grace. Please pray for us as we do for you, and please keep Percy Muleba and his family in your prayers as they deal with COVID-19 in Zambia.

And, remember, whether we are here or in Africa, wherever we go, you go!

Our Zambian and Namibian students’ hunger for god’s word is insatiable.