Dear family and friends,

Greetings once again from Zambia, in the name of Jesus, our Shepherd and Sustainer. He faithfully cared for His little Reece flock all the way from Zambia to Virginia, South Carolina, Illinois, Missouri, back to South Carolina, and back to Zambia.  He protected us over thousands of miles of travel by air and road.  He strengthened our weary bodies during a whirlwind schedule of non-stop running.  He strengthened our hearts through sweet fellowship with family and saints.  And, in answer to your prayers, He strengthened our spirits for the return to Africa. 

Our first stop in the States was HeartCry in Radford, Virginia.  What a warm welcome!  They loved on us and ministered to us.  We also benefited greatly from a very productive meeting concerning the future of the Lozi work.  Just as we had hoped, we came out of that discussion with confirmation of what we thought we were hearing from the Lord and a clearer vision of the path ahead.  I'll be sharing more in the coming days, but basically it boils down to simplifying our life and ministry here in Zambia - removing what we can in the way of distractions and drains on our time and energy.  Added to that is a focus on our very specific calling, and how our gifts and calling mesh with the strengths and experience of the indigenous Reformed Baptist Church of Zambia.

From Virginia, it was off to South Carolina for a wedding.  Having conducted dozens of weddings, I'm well aware of how stressful these events can be.  Isn't it strange how weddings and funerals bring out the worst in families?  Well, I thank God that this was not the case for Michael and Bette Jean.  The entire wedding week flowed quite smoothly.  Looking back, the happy couple couldn't think of a thing that went wrong.  The ceremony was simple, beautiful, and could not have been more Christ-exalting.  Of course, the entire event was more than a wedding - it was a huge reunion for us with family and friends from many locations.  We are so grateful to God and HeartCry for the privilege of being there.

After the wedding, we went "home" to Illinois and Missouri for sweet time with Joyce's family and mine, a wedding reception for family and friends that couldn't travel to South Carolina, and fellowship with precious saints in the Hannibal churches.  The trip wrapped up back in South Carolina for some post-wedding/honeymoon quiet time with Michael and Bette Jean.  While in Greenville, we enjoyed more fellowship with the saints there, and squeezed in a planning meeting for the next Lozi catechism.  Some really exciting ideas came out of that meeting, and we covet your prayers as the catechism project continues. 

While in the States, we were so blessed by the warm hospitality we constantly received. But more than that, I must confess we were totally amazed and humbled at the number of people who were so enthusiastic about the Lozi work.  You know how it is . . . I write these updates, wondering how many are actually being read and prayed for.  I am ashamed.  So many of you are faithful to follow these updates with intense interest, and I was deeply moved as I heard of times you called prayer meetings (even late at night) to help bear our burden.  May Christ richly reward your service to His Kingdom and to us.

We arrived back home in Zambia a week ago, and spent the next few days battling jet-lag, alternating between sleeping for 12 hours one night and 2-4 hours the next. In answer to your prayers, the Lord certainly helped our whole family in being ready to return to Africa.  Amidst all the inconveniences and annoyances of re-entry into the "third world," I feel such happiness, peace, and hope - proof that many of you must be praying.  We are particularly thankful for the grace that has enabled our children to be so content returning to our life here.

Now that our bodies are mostly back in this time-zone, it is time to get back to work.  We head back to the bush on Thursday for a short trip.  We plan to teach in Jacobo and Salamanu, and we are eager to see what the Spirit has been doing while we were away.  We are also planning a trip to Gift's village in early May. 

Our feet had barely landed back on African soil when we started getting exciting emails from the States. Two projects have come to our attention in the past several months which might really strengthen our relationship with Ilwendo village.  One is the construction of a playground for the village school.  The other is outfitting the local medical clinic in the village.  Let me explain.

There is a ministry from Belleview Baptist Church (the late Adrian Roger's church) that travels the globe helping indigenous churches build community relationships by constructing playgrounds for the children.  Having just returned from our entertainment-saturated country, I realize how difficult it is for most of us to imagine the joy a simple playground would bring to children in the village.  Lozi children live in a world of dirt, hard work, hunger, and extreme poverty.  There is very little fun or beauty in their little lives.  Playground equipment that we take for granted is beyond their wildest imagination.  We are working on long-term solutions for their hunger, but in the meantime, maybe we can add a tiny taste of fun to their lives.

Back in January, when we were seeking God's will for the future of our work, God led Shannon to visit the local medical clinic. The Catholics built a nice clinic building as part of their mission, but administration has been turned over to the Zambian government.  There is a clinic officer and a small supply of medicine, but the clinic is not equipped for overnight patient care.  I found this out the hard way when a drunk man from our village fell off a truck and his arm was run over.  Lusu Clinic could not help him and I had to drive him to Sesheke Hospital, an hour and a half away, in the middle of the night.  Lusu Clinic has rooms for a women's ward, men's ward, and lab, but they need beds, mattresses, mosquito nets, tables, I.V. stands, and other equipment. 

In the past week we have received emails from Belleview that they are trying to organize a team to come build the playground, and from friends in Shannon and Stephanie's home church who are committing to raise funds for outfitting the clinic. Exciting stuff!  Now, let me reassure any of you who fear that we might be slipping toward a "social gospel" of good works and humanitarian aid.  Don't worry, the preaching of the Gospel is and always will be primary in our ministry.  Let me give 2 good reasons for projects like the playground and clinic.

1.  Africa, for decades, has lived in dependency upon Western nations.  Missionaries have gladly fed this dependency in order to attract "converts." The result is that if you are a Western missionary in rural Zambia today, you are expected (even demanded) to give physical help to the community.  They don't value intangible things like knowledge from teaching.  They want physical benefits that they can see and touch (e.g. a building that outlives the missionary).  Many in the village have labeled us "bad" or "unhelpful" missionaries because of our failure to hand out free stuff.  Is this attitude wrong?  Yes.  But, as Brother Conrad Mbewe has reminded us more than once, there is a certain degree of working with what "is" as we work to change the thinking of the next generation through Gospel transformation.  "Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation." (1 PET. 2:12) These 2 projects, the playground and clinic, would be major steps in silencing the slander against us as "unhelpful missionaries." 

2.  Far more importantly, these 2 projects would stand as visible expressions of Christ's love for the poor and perishing Lozi. The medical clinic would certainly follow Christ's example of caring for the sick and hurting.  This compassion, by the way, was commanded of the first apostolic evangelists.  "Proclaim as you go, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.'  Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons." (MT. 10:7-8) Jesus was a living expression of the God who spoke in PS. 82:3-4, "Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.  Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked." Afflicted, destitute, weak, needy - you won't find a better description of the Lozi.  Do they have any right to claim any help from God?  As depraved rebels, of course not.  Doesn't that make God's mercy toward the poor even more amazing?  Shouldn't Christ's missionaries show that same particular love and mercy for the poor and destitute?

If the timing works out, we hope to have the next children's catechism, "There is a God of Light and Love," just before the playground team comes. Imagine if we could be teaching that catechism to the children as the playground was being built.  Every time they played on that playground, maybe they would remember that there is a God who loves them and knows them.  He cared enough to send His missionary servants to love and help them.  But far more important, He sent His Beloved Son to rescue them from their sin and the punishment they deserve, and open the way to an all-satisfying relationship with Him. 

Dear brothers and sisters, would you pray with us that it would please God to accomplish both these projects? Do you think the devil will just fold his hands as we show Christ's love to the people and gain favor in their eyes?  This is a war, and our strategic advances will not go unopposed.  Please plead for us (don't forget Enoch!) for supernatural wisdom, skill, power, and authority as we proclaim the Gospel in Ilwendo, Jacobo, and Salamanu, and as we begin to disciple Gift.  Cry out for a spiritual awakening in Western Province.  Thank-you for your faithful remembrance of us.

For Christ's Sake,
Sean