6 Months in Zambia and July/Aug Prayer Requests

Today marks six months since we have been back in Zambia!

As we look back over these past 6 months, we see God’s sweet goodness and grace to us. We are so thankful for all of the support we have received over these past 6 months. We have felt very cared for, supported, encouraged and prayed for! We have read dozens and dozens of encouraging emails, Facebook messages, and blog messages from family and friends back home; received quite a few packages in the mail; and had sweet times with family and friends on Skype talking about what’s going on at home and what we are up to here. And we had our first visitor come and spend time with us in Zambia – Leah LaPine! We are so thankful to the Lord for all of you!

We are also thankful for all that God has been working out on this side. We have really enjoyed living in our house and feel that when we come “home” at the end of the day that we really are in our “home.”  God has graciously used all of you to raise the extra money needed to buy our vehicle here, which is has been working great and has been very helpful in getting us to where we need to go in ministry. We have also really enjoyed spending time with and feel so thankful for our AZ team here, both USA and Zambian workers! And for the most part we have enjoyed living and working in the city of Lusaka, even though we have our days of frustration (mostly while driving and almost getting creamed by a mini bus). And most of all, we are still really excited about the C.R.O.S.S. Project and have really enjoyed working with John and Eta and teaching in churches about Christ’s sufficiency in HIV/AIDS. Thanks again for all of your prayers and support, we are so thankful for God’s grace ministered to us through all of you!

Here are our prayer requests for July and August. As you can see, about half of our prayer requests are the same as last month. These are areas that we really feel that we need sustained prayer for. 

-Please pray for Eta and her family, as her father passed away a few days ago. 

-Pray for the two churches that we are just finishing up with teaching C.R.O.S.S. to, that they would take what they have learned and seek to glorify God and make an impact in their communities in the fight against stigma and fear in the church regarding HIV/AIDS. 

-Pray that the Lord would lead us to the right churches to teach next term for C.R.O.S.S. We are seeking three churches and hope to start mid to late August. 

-Please pray for in-the-moment wisdom as we seek to answer sensitive and difficult questions regarding HIV/AIDS in our C.R.O.S.S. lessons with churches.

-Pray that God would pour out His grace on the Zambian Church and that it would glorify God in how it relates to HIV/AIDS.

-Pray continue to pray for our language and cultural learning. It has been slow going and intermittent.

-Pray for our marriage, that the Lord would keep it vital and that it would represent Christ and the Church to local Zambian congregations.

-Pray for unity, endurance, hope, and joy in the Lord for the AZ team.

-Pray that we would trust in God’s promises.