From Phillip

I don't really know if there's very much new stuff to talk about. We just
had a surprise overnight Come Back Alive class the other night. We had no
idea it was going to happen, but they randomly sent us down into the Gorge
to spend the night with only a few items. We had no sleeping bags, tents,
etc .. we had to build our shelters, fires, and we had to use a GPS to find
where our food was.... which turned out to be a live chicken and a bag of
rice. It was really cool, because we've done a bit of all that stuff in the
bush so far, but this time we were alone and had to fend for ourselves. We
were divided into two teams, each having their own shelter and food. Someone
else beheaded our chicken on our team, I helped pluck it. Karina killed the
other team's chicken, but Tom the African gutted and cut it. I gutted our
chicken and got what little meat I could off of it, but it was skinny. We
slept around the fire and it got pretty cold. But we survived, and it ended
up being a lot of fun!

I've really gotten into Rugby and soccer. We play whenever there's time and
we watch the games.

Well, that's about it. I'll let you know when anything else happens.

From Karina

Our latest adventure was Come Back Alive. The 15 of us split into two groups. Our assignment was to survive the night by the Zambezie River, without any form of sleeping bag or blanket, nor food or fresh water. As a team we could take a total of 15 items. We took two pots, knife, two headlamps, water bottle, machete, camera, backpack, toilet paper, hand-sanitizer. Each team was given GPS coordinates to find our dinner. We approached the first place, there was a box of 5 matches (we got extra credit for the number of matches left in the box) and another larger box. We thought it would have some canned beans and stuff. Mark picked up the box. A claw came out of the bottom. All of us yelled out of shock. It was an a live chicken! We also found a bag of rice and salt. So we headed down the gorge, which is a major hike. Derek was the team leader so he assigned us jobs. I collected firewood while some of the others cut down small trees for the shelter. Derek and Tom constructed a teepee. We got water from the Zambezie and put it on boil to sanitize then cook the rice. I asked to kill the chicken. Mark held it for me. They all made fun of me for sawing the head off but my excuse is that the machete was dull. We then boiled, plucked and gutted it. We fried it in its own fat. The meal was really good except for some sand got in the rice and it was so gross when there was a crunchy bite. It was so cold (app. Forties). We all got about one hour of sleep. Again, it was so cold. Dan and Rachel came down to get us at 8:30. They graded us on stuff like moral, fire, shelter, etc. We then had to hike back up the gorge which took about 20 minutes of climbing rocks. But all in all, we came back alive!
We are sitting through lectures all day. The last hour of the morning session was filled with a 4-year-old’s screaming. He is the son of one of the Zambian workers. He has an infection in his finger and they were draining the pus.
It is noon and cold as all get out. I have 3 sweaters on. Winter is here.
I am learning a lot about team work and community living. It’s tough but fun.

It is a month from graduation. Next week we are studying medical stuff so I am excited.

Phillip: Back from the Bush

I feel so blessed to have been a part of what took place this week. We had the honor of attending a gathering unlike anything I've ever been to and may ever attend again. A gathering of over 100 headmen assembled to be taught leadership and the Word of God by several of the folks here at Overland Missions. We were able to help throughout the week and build relationships with the headmen. Among the things that we were able to help with, were helping the headmen fill out village assessment forms for all the villages that they oversaw, hoping to be able to assess their physical needs in addition to their people’s spiritual needs.

We held the meeting at Chief Nyawa’s palace, who we had the pleasure to meet. He was very kind and had a nice hat. We tried to show a servant heart by helping to harvest his maze alongside his children. There’s something great about working in a field alongside the Africans who spontaneously break into songs about Jesus and Heaven.

While there, we also traveled to the surrounding villages, trying to reach as many people as we could with the Gospel. I was able to share my testimony with a group of people after walking close to 5 or 6km to reach them.

By the end of the conference, over 70 headmen stood up and publicly renounced sin and chose to follow God. They made decisions to lead their villages under the authority of God and they want to continue to hold these meetings every year. These men hold the power over at the very least one entire village, others hold the power over a dozen each. Having them serve God with all of their hearts could mean amazing changes within their villages and a large chunk of Zambia! God is good, and only He could have set up such an amazing opportunity for the country of Zambia.

Thank you all for your continued prayers and support. God Bless each and every one of you. I will continue to write more as soon as I can.

~Phil.

In the welding shop

Heading out to the villages.

Hey folks! It's been a busy couple of weeks here. We've been blazing through classes lately and time seems like it's flying by.

Tomorrow morning we head out for another week in the villages. We're having a conference for all the headmen in the area around Nyawa. That means we'll be ministering to very influential men in several villages. This could mean wonderful things for the spreading of the Gospel.

Please continue to pray for the Holy Spirit to go ahead of us and work on the hearts of the people.

Pray for all of us going out to be effective in communicating the Gospel and to remember that we are messengers for the Lord.

Also, pray for the health of the team members going. Already, the enemy has tried to stop several of us from going tomorrow. A couple of us, including myself woke up vomitting last night and Jamie is now not going on the expedition, and I'm still slightly under the weather. At the same time, Renee fell down today and possibly bruised a rib. Pray for healing and for continued protection for all of us as we prepare to embark on the Lord's work.

Thanks again to everybody who is praying and supporting our ministry here. God bless, I will send an update as soon as we get back.

~Phil.