"Woe to you when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets." Luke 6:26

Dear family and friends,

Hello again from Zambia. We recently returned from our third family trip to the village with exciting news to share. For most of the trip I was wondering if there would be anything to write home about. The first two days were another lesson in trusting God's sovereign providence in our daily schedule (a lesson that is becoming all too familiar but not much easier!). Our time was spent running around trying and failing to gather groups to teach. One intended teaching session was diverted as we transported a very sick friend to the medical clinic. Other attempted sessions were thwarted by nearly vacant villages (most of the people were busy in their fields or helping with a building project). We were puzzled - we had invested time, money, and effort to come and preach the Gospel, but almost no preaching was being done. Once again we struggled to be at peace (with a bit more success than in recent days) - the Lord knows; the Lord is in control.

On the third day God was kind in allowing us to see some encouraging developments (He is by no means obligated to let us see what He is doing). We returned to teach in a village in which we had preached for the first time on our last trip. This village had asked Dominic to bring us back because they had questions for us concerning the Bible. We arrived in the village, anxious to hear their questions. My high hopes were initially dashed to the ground.First question - "Who did Cain marry if God only created Adam and Eve?" Second question - "If God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, how can the Bible say God is one?"Typical questions asked by unbelieving skeptics everywhere. My anger and pride began to rise. I left everyone and everything in the U.S. and came to Africa to preach Christ, not answer questions about Cain!

As I later expressed my irritation to Dominic, my hasty misjudgment of their motives was revealed. I asked Dom if those people were really troubled by the identity of Cain's wife. Did they really lay awake at night trying to understand the Trinity? Or were they just playing ‘let's try to stump the missionary'? Dom's answer pierced my heart: "No, I think they were testing you to see if you really know the Bible. I think you passed the test." Hmmm, wasn't expecting that from what I had presupposed was an uneducated animistic culture.

Two things confirmed Dom's assessment of the Q&A session. First, there was a similar comment by another young man named Maurice, who has recently joined Dom's Bible study group. We saw Maurice when we took our friend to the medical clinic on Day 2. We mentioned that we would be teaching in the village next to his on Day 3, and we encouraged him to spread the word. After the Q & A on Day 3, Maurice was all smiles. He said to me, "I told the people in my village to come and hear you teach, and told them that you would answer their questions. Now they see that I told the truth. You can answer their Bible questions." Second, Dom's assessment also seemed to be confirmed by the order of the questions themselves. After the curve-balls about Cain and the Trinity, question 3 was "Could the people who crucified Christ be forgiven and saved?" Finally, a question perfect for preaching the Gospel! With joy I took them to Acts 2 and showed them that we are all guilty of crucifying Christ, yet grace is freely offered to all who repent and believe.

Yes, I think Dom is right. For years these villagers have seen false teachers who claim absolute authority but don't know their Bible. They can only parrot the false teachings of their superiors. They are utterly incapable of explaining a text or answering hard questions. How exciting that these precious souls were not willing to just sit politely and listen to us just because we were white! We may have to endure a few tough (and seemingly trivial) questions about Cain in order to earn the right to answer the truly important questions. Please pray for us that words will be given us in opening our mouths boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel as we should.

Later that third evening we received more encouraging news. Dom told us that the local leaders of the New Apostolic cult, the Seventh Day Adventists, and the Catholics are getting worried. They are afraid that they will begin losing members to the Bible study group with the whites (us). They have begun to talk negatively about us in the villages. Dom finds this quite amusing - "why are they jealous if they are teaching the same truth as you?" If we are being clear enough to concern the false teachers, this is good news to me. The next morning, the concern of the false religions was echoed in a somewhat humorous way. Let me give some background first. There has been a crew of 7 Lozi men working on our land, building a rock wall and leveling a permanent campsite for us. On Day 1 of this trip, we gave Dom and his best friend Vincent copies of "Seeking God" by Jim Ellif, and a booklet on baptism also by Jim Ellif. (Jim was very generous in sending literature on our container to Zambia.) Vincent, who comes from a Catholic background, told us that the chapter on infant baptism was very helpful for him and now he can see the truth clearly on that issue. He let another man on the work crew, with SDA background, borrow the book and read the same chapter. The man came back and told Vincent, "This is a very troublesome book!" And Vincent responded, "No, this is the truth, this is the good way." He reasoned with the man from Scripture and the man seemed persuaded that the book was indeed scriptural truth, and that infant baptism does not save anyone. Praise the Lord. The man expressed interest in attending Dom's Bible study group, and even openly admitted to Vincent that the SDA people ignore whole passages of scripture. Vincent laughed as he told us, "Imagine, they pretend as if whole portions of the Bible are not even there!"

The son of our village headman (Nduna I.), Elvis, has also been working alongside Vincent for several days on this building project. He said to Vincent, "I've been watching those men (us) for some time now. I think I want to ask them some questions about the Bible." Vincent can sense that Elvis is intimidated about talking to us and told him, "No don't be afraid. Those men would be happy to talk with you." Vincent also thinks Elvis is interested in joining the Bible study group.

And so the Spirit continues to draw a group of young men from villages all across our area...

And so continues the lessons in God's sovereignty over our schedule. Even as I type this, I look back on those two seemingly unproductive days and, looking back, I can see a book given on Day 1 and a divine appointment on Day 2 that bore fruit on Day 3. Please pray for these young men as Christ raises an army among the Lozi to fight for His truth and His glory.

Sean