News and Notes - April 22

Once again we're having technical difficulties and can't load photos on the blog. Here's what's been happening in our world lately.

Three great guys from Arkansas have been here for the past two weeks. They are helping to build a new house for Louisa Duke and Meagan Hawley to live in. Brent Ruple, Lee Henson, and Ed Daughety joined the Zambian construction crew as they laid bricks. The team managed to get the walls up to window level during their time here. They also made some furniture to be used in the new house. The guys had many truly African experiences. Most of their luggage never made it here, so they had to buy, borrow and share clothes. They jumped into language learning and can spout several Tonga phrases now. Louisa arranged for them to preach in village churches on the two Sundays they were here, and they learned the joys of being crammed into the back of a pickup for a long, bumpy ride over our infamous potholed roads. We enjoyed having them over here for dinner and getting to know them. Besides getting some great work done on the construction project, the guys have learned to love this part of the world. We hope they'll be back again soon!

On Tuesday Richard Prather and Allen Neese from the American Zambia Mission Board arrived for a series of meetings and planning sessions with Namwianga leaders. They stayed with us and blessed us with great conversations and encouragement. We are thankful for their dedication and leadership. Their visist was a short one--we took them to Livingstone for their return flight today.

Tomorrow we are taking Brent, Lee, and Ed to Lusaka to catch their flight out. We'll have some routine maintenance work done on our vehicle and pick up our work visas as well. Another highlight of this three-day trip will be visiting our friends David and Lorie French at Mapepe Bible College. There are about ten former Namwianga students who are doing Bible training at Mapepe and we will be checking up on them.