We are thankful to go Back to Zambia

Dear Pastor:

These are very strange times; life has drastically changed in many different ways for all of us, including missionaries and those in vocational ministry. However, we must remember that the Lord still sits on the throne of the universe and he still governs its affairs, including how our lives and ministries have been affected by the current events.

Our Current Situation and Plans
As many of you already know, we are currently in Mexico because of the pandemic. Around the first week of March, Paola and Everett traveled to Mexico for medical checkups, to renew Paola’s passport, and for Everett’s vaccines. Unfortunately, things got bad very quickly and the passport offices closed the day before she had her appointment and her flights back to Zambia were also cancelled. She was supposed to have been gone for just over 3 weeks, but she was not able to travel back. Therefore, after more than 2 months of being apart in two different countries, we decided that Asher and I would travel to Mexico to be together as a family as we waited for the passport offices to reopen, as well as some of the airports that were closed. One thing that also made it difficult for us to return to Zambia earlier is that the government had mandated that everyone coming into the country would be quarantined at a government facility for 14 days; that was not an option for us since their facilities are not very safe and we did not want to put our family through that, especially with two small children. Thankfully, that requirement was lifted and also, by God’s grace, my wife’s passport was considered a priority case by the authorities, so she was granted her passport a few days ago and we will be traveling back to Zambia on the 2nd of August  (this time it will be a 4-days journey). We do covet your prayers as we travel so that the Lord would keep us safe as we transit through five different airports.

Central Africa Baptist University
Even though we had to leave Zambia for a while, much of our regular work with Central Africa Baptist University continued moving on. Since the government of Zambia mandated the temporary closure of schools because of Covid-19, we moved our classes and work to a very basic online format; our goal was to at least finish the semester. Unfortunately, because the students could not be in our premises, we had a few students that were not able to continue because of lack of access to internet, especially those who live in very rural places. However, the majority of our student body was able to complete the semester satisfactorily and our institution was granted permission to begin regular classes, which will start in a few days. Please pray for the start of the new semester, especially for those that will be traveling back to our campus from afar, so that the Lord would grant them protection and a renewed desire and passion to study God’s Word as they continue their theological and ministerial training. Finally, we plead with you to pray for the Lord to provide students with the means to continue. Most of them get a sponsorship but they still have to pay a minimal amount, but because of the current economy of the country, many are struggling to make ends meet.

Kitwe Church
As far as the work at Kitwe Church, we thank the Lord for what he continues to do among the brethren there. Sunday services have been going on again for a while now, though not yet fully in the regular way. Our building can sit around 120 people with a proper distance, and by God’s grace, the attendance is up to almost 90, which is a blessing considering the current situation. We will also soon resume our normal Sunday school classes with the children and we ask you to pray for that. We would also ask you to pray for the spiritual growth of the believers. As you can imagine, Zambia is undergoing a very difficult time financially, which was already bad even before the pandemic started. Unfortunately, because of the lack of jobs in Kitwe and the fact that the mines are not operating normally, many people have left the city in search of job opportunities in other places. This has affected the ministries of our church deeply because we have lost several families from our church, including three of our deacons that relocated to a new place. I do believe that this should encourage us to continue training and discipling more members, as well as reaching the lost with the Gospel in Kitwe so that we may see more people added to the church.
Moreover, we remind you that we still have plans to begin a new church plant. We know that it has been something we have communicated for the last 2 years, but it is clear that the Lord wanted us to wait. We were ready to begin last year but Paola got pregnant and things got very complicated. Then, we were planning to begin this year, but this pandemic has changed all the plans we had, though we are fully certain of the Lord’s control over that. We are ready to begin when the Lord shows us the right time, but we do have to wait until things improve. In the meantime, we continue our pastoral and missionary work at Kitwe Church alongside our two other fellow pastors. Please, continue praying for those plans.

Family Life
As far as our family, by God’s grace this time has served us to grow in love for one another and to spend much time together, which is very necessary when you are in the ministry. Our boys are growing up too fast. Asher just turned 7 and Everett just had his first birthday on the 19th of July. However, we ask you to continue praying for us, especially for Asher since he has had a lot of emotional struggles in the last few months, even though he may not realize it. The last few months have brought many changes to his short life, such as having a baby brother, being separated of his mom and brother for some months, traveling to and from Zambia, saying good bye to people dear to him, etc. Above all, please pray for his salvation; not a day goes by that we do not pray together for his salvation and we constantly share the Gospel with him, however, he has not yet understood the significance of it and has not given his life to the Lord yet.

We thank you all for your prayers and faithful support. Our family has had a crazy year, but the Lord has been gracious and we are thankful for those who intervene before the throne of grace on our behalf

Prayer Requests

  • For our upcoming trip back to Zambia, especially since we will be in transit for almost 4 days.
  • For the start of the new semester at Central Africa Baptist University and for all the students that will be coming back
  • For Kitwe Church and its many needs, especially for the process we have begun of finding new deacons.
  • For our evangelistic efforts in the City of Kitwe.