REPORT FROM KABANANA FAITH BAPTIST CHURCH

Brethren,

We are very happy to have this opportunity of sharing with you of what the Lord is doing with us. Of course we have had our own straggles in the ministry. However, the Lord God has been very faithful towards us. We thank Him for everything.

We are very happy for the Christmas period which we just went thru, that the Lord was ever on our side. We had a Christmas special worship service on the Christmas Day, for one and a half hours 10:30 up to 11:30 hours which attracted almost all our regular attendees. The total attendance was nineteen, including four children. Pray for us that next year we need to be more organized.

Concerning the last prayer item for a piece of land; we are about to purchase. I can say that every thing seem to be okay accept that there is a delay on our part. According to the people who are selling the land, they are just waiting for money. All the document details are with us. It is now a month since we entered into negotiations with them and in two weeks time they were able to reveal to us all the necessary documentations. It is only up to us to go and verify to the ministry of lands and then proceed with payments. Our church's legal practitioner says he will be available on Friday, 2nd Jan, 2009 and hopefully after we are done with verifications payments can be done. Pray for us, three days ago the seller was enquiring how far we have gone with verifications. Pray that they should not offer others to buy, as we know that land is on demand at the moment.

Pray for our regular attendee Ruth M.'s husband Kellis who was taken ill to Maina Soko hospital this morning. Kellis fell sick on Wensday last week and his condition is not improving. We have been praying for him and visiting him ever since he has been sick. Pray for Ruth she is a new convert and the husband is not. We have been witnessing to him on several occasions and he seems not to be ready. Pray that may be in this condition he may come to the knowledge of truth on Jesus Christ. In the same manner pray for my cousin Charles, who is also ill in Garden Compound. I have been trying to take him to the hospital and he used to refuse but now his condition has worsened and he is ready to face the people at the hospital. Pray that his condition does not reach to the non returnable condition.

We also have a very serious set back. One of our committed attendees took leave to Nyimba, Eastern Province for good. This man is Mr Layson P., the one who has been instrumental in our ministry. Following his conversion he was busy inviting people to our church including his nephews and nieces. Pray that has he keeps up with his younger brother. They parted company a long time ago when they were just boys.  Pray that he may continue with the work the Lord has began in his life without wavering. We have a reformed baptist work in Nyimba under the leadership of our friend and brother, Charles M., where I have directed him to be attending church worship services. We hope to hear of the Lord's doing with him while in Nyimba.

Please pray for our Faith Baptist Church. We have lined up a number of activities for 2009 and we are hoping that many will come to know the Lord Jesus Christ. As you may be aware we did not do very well because we began almost at the end of the first quarter and we were only able to do better in the third and fourth quarter. Pray for our coming year that the Lord might sent more conversions and growth numerically.

Our family is doing fine, and Christmas was okay for us. We did not take a break. Hopefully in May 2009 we will. By then our church will be more than a year old. This does not mean you should not pray for us. Fanny plans to rewrite some of her Grade 12 exams in 2009. She will need much prayer for she will concentrate more on her studies because much of her afternoon will be taken up. Nathan will be turning 5 and moves into pre-grade. He seem to have grown and knowing quite a lot of things. Pray for him that as he seats under our tutorage that the Lord might be gracious to him in many ways. Niza is only 10 months old. She still has a long way to go. Pray for her. Our nephew Raymond has been helpful to our ministry and next year the Lord willing enters the university. We still continue to pray for his funding, trusting in the Lord to come thru for us. Remember me in your prayers as I lead God's people. They are so much to learn and so much to do properly, I just need to be nearer to God, and in your prayers.

This has been your beloved servant in Christ Jesus,

Pastor Curtis C.
Pastor of Kabanana Faith Baptist Church