Ministry has Started

Steve has started going to the Maround Compound to do ministry in the afternoons.  Afternoons were picked because a lot of people are in their fields in the mornings.

Pray for Steve and his language helper as they do this.  For the past year of language we have been working with Christian people.  Most of our workers are Christians.  Steve is finding out just how dark it is here.  What he is doing now is like survey work.  Talking to people and finding out what they know of God, do they believe in heaven and hell, and such questions.  It helps him to know what method of teaching he will need to do.  Does he just go out and witness and then start discipling them.  Or does he need to start at the beginning of the Bible and teach them who is God and that he created everything. 

Pray for his communication skills.  He studied ciBemba.  I think he knows a lot, but to carry on a conversation is difficult.  He has all his questions written out in English and ciBemba, so he can read it.  He does read ciBemba pretty well.  The thing is this isn’t just ciBemba country.  A lot of people are Mambwe and they want to speak that.  He has come across a few other language too.

So pray for Steve as he goes out and does ministry.  Pray that God would open the eyes and ears of people and they would come to know the Lord as their Savior.  Pray for Steve’s language skills.

Also, a big thank you to the IMB for providing us with a 4-wheel drive vehicle.  Steve got stuck the first day.  A friend told him during the rainy season just to keep the hubs locked.  He forgot.  So they got stuck.  All it took to get out was to get out and lock the hubs and turn on the 4-wheel drive button and out of the water hole they drove.  I personally would prefer to avoid all water holes / big mud puddles, but that isn’t always possible.   You just turn on the 4-wheel drive and pray that you make it out the other side.  Steve has been using it every time they go out.

On a side note, it has been raining a lot here.  We had another gully washer yesterday.  I dumped out three inches of rain from my cup.  It rained several times in the night and most of the morning.  I just dumped out another two inches!q