Mills in Mkushi

A while ago at a birthday gathering someone started a conversation about what brings us joy. My fairly prompt answer was 'sitting on my veranda with a good cup of coffee and looking at the birds'. I've been fortunate both when first living in Kaniki many years ago (on and off from 2004-2016 and now in Mkushi for these past 3+ years to have such pleasant surroundings I can enjoy.

A special class of pupils 👆🏻who we hope to see much more of… please keep reading to find out why!

We have been so busy since June that we haven't had chance to post anything but on Friday Gemma started writing this and wants to share it with you now.

The last two weeks have been pretty full on. It started with a recce trip to Lake Tanganyika to explore outreach opportunities for our upcoming DTS.

The recce this week went well. Here's a link to a video of the few days we were away. 🙌🏻

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!