Mills in Mkushi

Well, to say we’ve been having a bit of a fiasco with the old 4x4 we bought is a bit of an understatement! The car ran out of gear-oil a few weeks ago because of an unknown leak and suddenly came to a noisy halt. The only place that said they could help find a replacement automatic gearbox was a roadside ‘workshop’ and having had it for several weeks they finally told me it was ready. However, when I took it for a test drive I quickly realised things weren’t quite as I’d hoped!

This week was our long awaited adventure camp at Beulah for a school of children who are visually impaired. We weren’t sure how poor their eyesight would be but soon discovered only one or two had any sight at all… but wow, they are amazing kids!

What a week! It’s actually been pretty good - welcoming back our friend Lastone from his 2 month trip to Cambodia and hearing how a Buddhist had become a Christian after hearing his testimony, clearing the rubble and debris from the back of our house so the garden is a bit more of, well, a garden! But there was one morning I woke up with some bites…

We are finally back Zambia after 5 weeks of travelling in the U.K. (including a beach trip!) and this morning I’m feeling very thankful. While still tired, just waking up this morning in our new house and making a cup of tea, knowing we don’t have to pack or travel anywhere today is such a good feeling.

Since 2020 I have had it on my heart to visit Pastor Rodgers in Nsanje, Malawi. I have been there 5 times in the last 20 years and kept in fairly regular contact. But Nsanje is HOT, and with lots of mosquitos and not much breeze, fellow Malawians even ask the Pastor (he's actually a bishop - overseeing around 300 churches) why he chooses to stay there. There are no supermarkets, no plumbed in water, and at this time of year it doesn't ever really cool down. His answer is simply that while he could leave, the people and the need for the gospel would still be there. So he stays. And I guess for similar reasons I headed into the 43degree heat for my 6th visit! 🥵

It's 20 years since I, Tim, first came to Zambia and its been really good in the last couple of weeks to see God weaving things from the past and present together. The above photo is of me with a guy working at the side of the Mufulira Road where Kaniki Bible College and Kapumpe Christian Primary School are located. Like last year, we were glad to go to Kaniki with the DTS students to see how we could help the school and orphan project we established back in 2012/3. Plus as trustees for the U.K. charity that still supports the projects we also wanted to do what we could. 

The lecture phase of this year's DTS is almost done and so in just a few days the students will be beginning their 8 weeks of outreach. It's been so good to see them grow in faith and to baptise 5 of them on Sunday afternoon! 

It seems a long time since our last blog update but that's partly because the last few weeks have been so jam-packed with activity. We've been living out of rucksacks while putting our 13 DTS students through their paces - filling them with Bible knowledge as well as challenging them physically and spiritually (including taking them on the near vertical ride to the bottom of the Lunsemfwa gorge riding inside a 'skip').

As we prepare to launch the 2024 DTS next Monday, it’s been great this last week to run and host a youth camp for the church we’re part of.

My brother always joked with me that the promised land - a land flowing with milk and honey - must also surely be a land full of cows and bees! Well, it’s quite common to find cows filling the roads here when we’re on our way to work and now it seems it’s the time for bees!

The last couple of weeks have been a welcome change, with my (Tim’s) parents coming to visit Zambia for at least the 10th time since 2005.

If Jesus was a carpenter then I’m guessing he was a pretty good one. High quality work, done on time and I’d assume pretty much perfect! Yet since being in Zambia, and there being no local Ikea round the corner (surprise, surprise) we’ve so far tried out 3 different carpenters with very differing results!