Thankful...

My heart is full of thanks to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ today. Yes, I know, we are missionaries and more importantly children of God and we are supposed to be thankful everyday, but some days we seem to be more focused on what we aren't thankful for than what we are or what we should be. Today was a day that I spent most of the day in thankful prayer to Jesus. Here are a few of the things that I am thankful for today.

Electricity to run fans in the house

Running water

Healthy children

A loving husband

A slightly cool breeze on this hot (115 degree) day

Loving friends and neighbors in the US and around the world that pray for us

A peaceful nation on election day

God's provision in ALL areas of our lives

The missionaries that came before us that have taught us many things

Our families who love us so much that they let us go to serve Jesus in Zambia

God's grace for this ungrateful and sinful woman

Our Zambian friends who love us enough to teach us about themselves

Oh...there is so much more that I could share. Thank you for your continued prayers and love for us as we serve among the Nsenga people of Zambia and Mozambique. On the days when you don't know what to pray, the Holy Spirit intercedes on your behalf and answers ALL of our requests. I am thankful for YOU!

A Presidential Candidate, The Nalls Family, and Smoothies

We have been having so much fun here in Nyimba the past few days! So here is a random blog post to catch you all up on our lives!

On Sunday, Lauren had her first no-sugar added smoothie...she loved it and her face was priceless after every bite!

(Sorry it is so blurry, but this is her facial expression after she would take a sip!)

On Monday morning, Zeria and I were on the way to visit Amai Zimbiri at her home when all of the sudden we see these NICE helicopters and a massive group of people in NYIMBA!!! Then Zeria says.."OH YES! Rupiah Banda is coming today...today in NYIMBA!" So, we immediately turned around and went home to get Kendall and the kiddos to take them back to see the helicopters and hopefully the MMD Presidential Candidate. This was an interesting time for us because we have not been in another country for an election. Pray for Zambia on October 31 as the Zambians will elect a new president to serve Zambia for 2 years to complete the late President Mwanawasa's term. Pray that it will be a peaceful election.

The presidential helicopter of Zambia ( Rupiah Banda was President Mwanawasa's VP). Here in Zambia, the VP is appointed not elected so a new president must be elected the VP does not become the next president.

The Zambian Air Force escorted the presidential candidate.

Easton and Lily watch all of the people gather to hear Banda speak.

MMD and Banda supporters dance before the candidate arrives. Their chitenges (skirts) have Rupiah Banda's picture on them and the political party, MMD.

The sunset on Monday...when this picture was taken it was only 104 outside.

Today, Tuesday was a day of a HUGE surprise!

As I drove back into our gate from the market, Kendall met me and said that Chris and Katie Nalls, Kym and Johanna were coming to visit us on their way to Lusaka for 40/40 Safari Orientation! I was so happy! So as I began to walk into the house I hear a "beep beep" at the gate and they were THERE!!! We had a great time together, eating lunch, changing a flat tire, and watching Abigail (9 months) and Lauren Callaway (8 months) play together!

As a Mama, I was so happy for this day because Lauren hasn't been able to play with anyone her size or age yet, so this was so exciting! Lauren LOVED Abigail and I hope they can play again really soon! Chris and Katie are missionaries in Mozambique and we were so happy to meet them so that hopefully one day we can meet up with them in their area of service, Tete, Mozambique. To learn more about their family and ministry click on Chris and Katie Nalls in the "Partners in Ministry" column of our blog! Lauren Callaway was SO happy to meet Abigail!

Praise the Lord for good friends and FUN surprises! It's the little things in life that bring the most joy to our hearts!

Mumvetsa?

"Mumvetsa?" ..."Yeo!"

"Do you understand well?"..."YES!"

Thank you all for praying for the Women's Meeting in Kacholola (a town nearby to Nyimba). God was so good to me and really brought the language to my mind and I was able to teach without reading for the most part! The women were so happy to see me teach in their language. I offered a time of commitment to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, all of the women were in a circle and we prayed, so I am really unsure of how many made a commitment for Christ, but the Word of God will NOT return void and seeds were planted. Praise the Lord for a great time of worship and study of His Word. Mombe Baptist Church, where the meeting was held.

Sorry, you cant see well but this was the meeting area. The one speaking stood in the middle and there were shelters all around where the women sat.

"Nizatuma phoney kwa Mulunga azayankha!" (I will text message God and He will answer!)
One of the unique choruses that we sang at the meeting! They LOVE this song!

Mnyazi Baptist Women
Mwape Central Women
Nyimba Baptist Women
Nyimba Central Baptist Women
Pwe-Pwe Baptist
This sweet woman came running to the truck as I was leaving and was begging for Bambo Kendall to teach the Bible at Pwe-Pwe. I was so happy to hear that she wanted to learn more! The good news for her is that he is teaching near Pwe-Pwe every other week!

Mtilizi Baptist Women

Chisomo Baptist Women
Madalitso Baptist Women Wocha Baptist Women from Kacholola

Prayer Requests for this Week

*Pray for Kendall as he travels to the 4 zones of Nyimba and is teaching the last part of Genesis and beginning of Exodus. This part of Scripture is a "mouth full" for baby Christians and even for those who have been following the Lord for a long time.

**Pray for Kendall as he travels to Mozambique on Friday with Pastors Maunday, Phiri, Lungu, and Phiri. Pray that their travel will be safe and that those who have accepted Christ the past two weeks will return to the Bible study to learn more about Jesus Christ.

***Pray for Joy as she travels to the nearby town of Kacholola to teach at the overnight women's meeting. She will be traveling on Thursday morning and teaching that morning then returning home after lunch.

****Pray for Joy as she teaches in Chichewa. The lesson she will be teaching is about loving one another and the passage she is teaching is 1 John 4:7-12. The passage is a great passage and she is super excited to teach it! Pray that the women will be open to hearing the Word and that some may come to know Jesus on Thursday!

Lemons, A Big Cloud, and Happy Faces

Yes, the title of this post sounds like a children's television show, I know! But this one is about the kids! This week Lily and I made lemonade from the lemons that came from our lemon tree! It was delicious!

God blessed us with this awesome cloud around 3pm on Monday and we were able to go outside and play with the doggies and swing! Thank you Jesus for giving us a cloud to cool the air down!
Lily loves Summer, she is one of the new puppies!
We were two happy girls in this "cool" weather on Monday.

Lauren Callaway's new favorite thing is to be in the swing after naptime each day!

And then there is my little "Pigpen" as his D-daddy affectionately called him on Sunday! Easton is so funny. The kids go out to play at around 7:30 or 8:00a.m. and usually by 10:00a.m. I have to bathe Easton and change his clothes because he is so dirty! Africa is the place for this kid! Don't you love the kool-aid mustache?!

Just some fun pictures of the kids at the Tea Garden in Lusaka.
Wooooee Eaaya! (War Eagle)
Precious Lauren Callaway with her sweet Daddy. I love it!

A Princess Moment

Lily had a special moment in Lusaka last Tuesday. She was able to attend her very first birthday party! She was so excited to attend Isabel Kimbrough's PRINCESS birthday party! Isabel and her mama decided that the girls all needed a princess dress to wear to the party! How fun! I just loved watching Lily interact with her friends and celebrate Isabel's life! What fun!

Abigail, Lily, Isabel, and Kelsey (the princesses!)
Aunt Dawnya made a yummy chocolate cake!

Isabel the birthday girl!

Leonard Banda...

Leonard Banda came to Christ last week in Mozambique and his name was written in the Lamb's Book of Life. Today as Kendall and the 5 men approached the Leonard Banda's village, Kompo, they found him there with 12 adults and numerous children waiting the arrival of the missionary and his friends. Leonard had gone into his village and told his neighbors about his salvation experience. He invited them to meet him in the village today so that they could hear the Good News of Jesus Christ! It brings joy to our hearts to see the joy and passion to tell others about Jesus...what if we ALL started sharing about the day we came to Christ?
After hearing the message of Jesus Christ; Gibson, Aypisa, Smart, Shemu, and Davidson prayed to receive Christ! Praise the Lord for these 5 new brothers in Christ!
Kendall and the 4 men left Kompo village and traveled to Nachingwe where 6 people came to Christ! Amazing! God is so good! God has heard our prayers to soften the people's hearts in Mozambique to accept the Gospel. Continue to pray for these 12 new believers! Praise the Lord for Leonard and his excitement about the change in his life and the love that he has found in our Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ! HALLELUJAH!

God's October 24th is Different....

If you ask a Zambian most of them will say that the rains will come on October 24th...well today is October the 10th and RAIN CAME TODAY! Just a fun reminder that GOD is in control of the weather! I was so excited about the 30 minute rain shower, thunder included, that I ran outside and STOOD IN THE RAIN! WOW! What a HUGE blessing from the Father today!

Untitled...

Untitled...why...because there are too many words that come to mind when I reflect upon the night that these pictures were taken. I was able to experience God's creation with a great friend. Lauren and I were so blessed to have seen the animals that we saw while on our night game drive at South Luangwa National Park in Zambia. There are SO many pictures and stories, but I can only share a few with you because these pictures were my favorite. I was reminded of how blessed we are to live here in Africa again as I sat with Lauren and she was so happy to see elephants, giraffe, and lions in the wild! Sometimes we can forget how blessed we are and we need friends to remind us to count our blessings!

These are one year old male lions resting by the Luangwa River. The river is very dry because we are anticipating the beginning of the rainy season within a month or so. Seeing this leopard in the wild was a huge treat because we have been anticipating this moment since we arrived in Zambia! He had just captured his dinner and was resting. This cat is gorgeous, what a blessing to see him in the wild!