Last Pics of The Kids in Kaputa

Here are a few pictures of our last few days at home. It seems that the pictures we take are always in the same place, but I'm not much of a photographer, so when I take pictures it's because I see the camera right here, turn around and snap some of the babies. Sorry for the lame background!
Lulie is a speed crawler, she goes so fast and wants to follow me all over the house, or follow Hutch to get whatever toy he has!

Hutch loves to explore, so whenever Lulie is sleeping, we go on walks around the neighborhood and see fun things. Usually we find kids playing soccer and Hutch has to steal the show, but they love it, so I don't mind. Hutch is also a pretzel junkie, he loves the eat them and even says, pwesel, which we know is pretzel. He's just so adorable, I don't even know what to do!

Our Last Week in Kaputa for 8 Months!

This is our last week. We are so excited to get to go on this long exciting trip to America, but we are sad to leave our home for so long. It's hard to say goodbye to our friends, even though we'll see them again in a few months, it is still sad. This Monday, James went to Nsumbu, a town right on Lake Tangenika, to visit a teacher from Ndola, who wants to start a church there. They rented a boat and went to the village. *Pray for George Mugala, the teacher, and the village he's been called to teach, Munshi village. It was an adventure for Mr. Mumba, Mr. Chomba, and Mr. Mkungu! The lake is so clear that it looks like the ocean! Hopefully next term we'll be making many trips there!



Then on Wednesday, they had a four come to be baptized from Kamuchanga village! God is good!


Then Thursday, he had his last study at Chenchilebwe village. These kids are too cute on the bench!

Going to the Bible Study in Kamuchanga

We love going to the village with James to hear him teach and see all those coming to the Bible studies, but it's hard because we attract sooo many children that we are usually more of a distraction than help! We always enjoy seeing everyone, so we don't mind the audience!

So this day the audience wasn't too bad and as you can see, Hutch is totally comfortable!
*Pray for these in Kamuchanga, that there would be a strong leader that would feel the burden to keep these believers encouraged and doing the work by spreading the Good News!

The Rain

The rain is here! For the past week, it has been overcast, and raining at some point every day. The temp has gone from the 100+ to the mid 80's! Whew! We are really glad to have these clouds, because it makes it easier for us to live! Here is a picture of Hutch playing, he really enjoys jumping in the puddles!

In the Pool, Again...

Another day, another pool time!

Marriage Conference

This Saturday, James taught the first every Marriage Conference. He'd been really wanting to do this, and since we're going stateside soon, we thought this was the perfect weekend. There were about 50 people there and they all had a really great time. They studied what the Bible says a strong marriage should look like, what went wrong from the beginning and how marriages have been under attack from the beginning, and what major problems can hurt marriages. They were encouraged to see that God wants every marriage to succeed, and gives us the tools in His word to do that! It was a blessing to see so many Zambians come to hear and learn about having a strong, Christ-based marriage!

I came and went all day, having to take care of the babies, but I was able to get some quick pics during lunch.

More Pool Pics

Love that smile!
Lulie is sooo close to crawling!

Hutch and Lulie love the pool, Lulie mostly tries to eat the grass that Hutch brings in, but they do have fun together. She doesn't even mind getting splashed a little. We are enjoying rain at night, which helps to calm down the heat at night! Thank you, Lord, for the rain here!

Kabwe

Here is a picture of the church in Kabwe. Pray for the members that they would continue to encourage each other, as well as reach out to those in their community! Pray that they would be strong while we are away, and that God would bless them!

BGR

I can't say enough good things about the BGR. The ability to help those around us, by meeting physical needs is such a blessing! Here is another woman who is home-bound because of her disabilities, enjoying a few comforts to make life easier. She lives in Kamchanga, near the lake. God provides!

Week in Review

I don't know why I haven't updated the blog this week. I just forget as the days fly by! Ooops! We had a nice visit with the Bowmans from Luwingu, Amy put cute pics on their blog of our time! I never have my camera when I should, so I have no pictures of our time together! It is so nice to be with them, they are a lot of fun. Of course, the kids had a blast playing with them. We are very thankful for their friendship! They really encouraged the church here!

James is baptizing Bana Chileshe on Tuesday in Kabwe, pray for her! The church there is still small, pray that more people would come to join and follow Jesus!

Our women's group is going great. Each week, I am encouraged by their desire to study God's word! At the end of last weeks meeting, we were visiting, and the women started talking about how so many people here put different kinds of lotions on their skin to lighten it. They said they wanted to look like me! I thought about how many times in my life I wished I could change something about myself. It just goes to show that no matter what culture/country you live in, there is still the desire to be different! I told them how beautiful I think their dark skin is, but they just laughed! We all want to change and be different in some way, but one way we can change is by letting the Lord mold us into the people He wants us to be. Then we can be happy just the way He made us!


Hutch and Lulie can't wait to come see everyone! Here are some ways we are keeping busy as we count down the days! Less than two months now!

Pool buddies

My Bailey Babies

I wish this one wasn't blurry, but he loves his sister!

More Home Care Kits

James was able to give another home care kit to a woman who lives down at the salt mines. She's Congolese and is blind. She and her husband came here a few years ago to live and work because of what was happening in their home country. She speaks little Bemba, so everything James said had to be translated from English, to Bemba, to Swahili! Try explaining how to use a thermometer to take your temperature going through all those languages! James said it was very interesting. They are really suffering and it is such a blessing to get to share these things with her!

This is their house, only for a few months each year, because they can't stay here when the rains come. The river bank floods, so they go to the nearby village to live and find work until they can go back to mining salt.

The Flight

I forgot a picture of Hutch and the plane. He had a bit of a bumpy ride on the way to Lusaka, but coming back was a piece of cake!
This is his cheese face.

Update

We had a whirlwind trip to Lusaka on Sunday. Our inverter (which charges our batteries, enabling us to have fans at night) burned up Saturday night! So after not sleeping that night, we called around on Sunday and got the opportunity to fly to Lusaka on Monday. We drove to Kasama on Sunday, then Monday after lunch we flew to Lusaka. After getting a new inverter and a few items from the grocery store on Tuesday, we flew back to Kasama on Wednesday morning. From there, we got in the car and drove the rest of the way to be home Wednesday night! Whew!! We are thankful for the means and opportunity to do this!

Today we had our women's Bible study and 5 women came! We have started on the book of Romans and all the women are very interested in learning! We are praising the Lord for this good group of women, *pray with us that it continues to grow!

Hutch and Lulie playing in some boxes together. They sure do like to have fun!

Hammers and Bows

It has been very hot here these days. That's nothing new, it's always hot here in October. However, James and I haven't been sleeping well because of the heat. Two years ago, we bought some air conditioners in South Africa. They are supposed to be "portable" but you have to open a window to stick a big hose out in order to let out the hot air. I hated these things, so I put them away. We got one out and James cleverly put a hole in the wall to let the hose release the hot air. Ok, Hutch loves to do whatever James is doing, what 2 year old doesn't? So while James is hammering away on the wall, Hutch brings his hammer to help. James couldn't resist a good picture. We were thinking of saying, Hutch got carried away with his hammer playing (that's Pat from Handy Manny), but I chickened out.


Lulie finally has enough hair for a bow. But I'm not crazy about the Pebbles look, so I think I'll keep waiting until I can put it slightly on the side. This red hair is so pretty, everyone comments on it where ever we go!
Also, Lulie has two teeth now. They've come in during the past week or so. I didn't really notice a change, one morning the first one just appeared! This picture, you can see them really good, even though Hutch is making a funny face. I don't know why he closes his eyes! He's such a little comedian!