10 May 2011

“Kindness and compassion have led more people to Christ than proclamation alone.” Anon

I was moved when I came across the words in Genesis 5 where it tells us that Enoch walked with God. I feel that sometimes we can get so caught up with performing our religious rituals that we forget that God really wants us just to walk with Him through this life. Our religious rituals are not bad, but they are not in an end of themselves but should be the vehicle that aids us in our walk with God. As it was said in the Book of Acts people recognised that the disciples had been with Jesus. Is our walk so real that people are able to recognise that we have been with the Lord.

These past few weeks have really been busy but such a blessing. I, along with Steve, were able to fly down to Cape Town and participate in the Two Oceans Ultra Marathon. We joined some 8000 other runners to complete the 56Km course. To add to this special time we were also able to visit with our Church in Simon’s Town and share in the ministry there.

Arriving back I found that the company that had committed to helping us to move the container had once again let us down. So a very good friend of ours and some 8 able men somehow lifted the 20' foot container onto the back a truck and delivered it to us. Where there is a will there is a way! My hat goes of to their ingenuity. We were then able to finally hand over the old house where we had lived for 9 years. And so now we continue to get the new place into shape. It may take a while but we will get there.

It has been a wonderful privilege to preach the Word of God again in our local Church. We have been looking at the theme of the Ascension of our Lord Jesus and its implications for us today. We have also started to look at the Books of Poetry in our Wednesday night class. Job is always such a challenge!

In Mbala life is always interesting. Last week we bumped into Andrew, a Russian man, who has ridden his motorcycle all the way from Moscow to Cape Town and was now on his way back to Moscow. How interesting to talk to him and learn a little of modern Russia and some of the challengers they are facing. For a week he has been trying to catch a cargo ship to Burundi. Well this is Africa, we live in a time of our own!

We thank the Lord that as a family we are all healthy  and settling down well. In the next month we will be requesting a residence permit which will allow us to live in Zambia for as long as we feel the Lord wants us year. Up to this point we have had to apply for new permits every two years. After 10 tears you are then eligible for a residence permit. Please pray that we are able to be be granted this! God bless you!