Sendoff

Brentwood Oaks, our sponsoring congregation in Austin, knows how to treat missionaries! Every step of our experience in Zambia has been blessed, prayed for, and supported by the generous and loving members at Brentwood.

We had daily opportunities to enjoy this blessing during our furlough as we were hosted for meals time and time again. We were repeatedly assured that our friends pray for us. Many admit to being avid blog readers who share our joys and disappointments through the internet. Others committed their resources to helping the orphans and needy at Namwianga Mission. There were countless hugs and words of encouragement at every turn.

We thought it couldn’t get any better. But we were wrong.

Last Sunday night the congregation had its monthly Sunday night singing devotional. They had announced that there would be a reception for us following the evening service, and we looked forward to that opportunity for one last time with them before we left to return to Zambia on Tuesday.

What they didn’t tell us was that the congregation had secretly learned to sing “Wabota Munzi Waba Jesu,” our favorite Tonga song (and the first one on the Namwianga Sings! CD). Michele Broadway had written out the music and the phonetic pronunciation of the words. She provided each Care Group leader with copies of the music and words, as well as a recording of the Namwianga choir singing the song. The Care Groups learned the song at their meetings and then the congregation practiced singing it together on a Wednesday night while we were away traveling.

At the end of Sunday evening’s devotional, one of the elders called us up to the front and had us stand as he led the congregation in singing a beautiful, stirring rendition of the song—in perfect Tonga! We stood there and watched even little children singing the words with confidence, and we were touched to the heart.

As it was when we first left for Zambia in 2005, leaving our loved ones behind to return was a wrenching experience. We are comforted and strengthened as we see a description of our brothers and sisters at Brentwood expressed in Philemon 1:7 – Your love has given us great joy and encouragement, because you have refreshed the hearts of the saints.