"My wounds stink and fester because of my foolishness, I am utterly bowed down and prostrate...But for you, O Lord, do I wait; it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer. For I said, 'Only let them not rejoice over me, who boast against me when my foot slips!'...I confess my iniquity; I am sorry for my sin. But my foes are vigorous, they are mighty, and many are those who hate me wrongfully...Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation!" Psalm 38

Dear Family and Friends,

I'm sure some of you have been anxiously awaiting a follow-up report after my last update crying out for prayer.  Your prayers were heard and answered.  The Lord has worked marvelously, in our hearts and in our relationships with the village.

The Lord hand-picked a special team of 4 saints from Asheville, North Carolina to help answer your prayers. Tim, Cathi, Wayne, and Tasha arrived in Zambia just a few days after my last email.  Tim and Cathi spent 2 years in Ethiopia with S.I.M., and experienced far worse than us with the people and workers.  They were able to offer helpful counsel with genuine compassion.  Seeing Tim's tears of longing to be back in Africa, in spite of painful experiences, was also bittersweet.  Wayne is a carpentry contractor with an incredible testimony and contagious zeal; and Tasha is a sweet young lady with a servant heart, who isn't afraid of hard work, and befriended my daughter Alicia.

After giving them a day to recover from jetlag, we headed for the village.  Enoch was able to travel with us and help out for a couple of days.  First on the agenda was a meeting with our workers.  We sat for 3 long hours, discussing, re-discussing, and answering every one of their complaints.  In some areas they acknowledged that we were right, and in other areas we promised to be more thoughtful of their needs.  At the end of the meeting, I think they were all happy.  Throughout the week, Tim and Wayne joined us for daily Bible studies with the workers during lunch break.  Well, some days we didn't wait for lunch and kicked off the day with a devotional time.

Our first full day at camp, we also went to the big village to pay our respects to the headman, Nduna I., who just lost his son.  This son had spent some time with the local witchdoctor, trying to acquire his powers.  The powers of a sorcerer or witchdoctor (2 different things) are gained through possession by a "familiar spirit" (demon).  Possession by a spirit and its' powers comes at a price.  The candidate must kill anywhere from 1 to 3 of his closest family members by use of witchcraft.  In the case of I.'s son, the demon chose his mother, a brother, and a sister.  However, the man could not go through with it and kill his own mother.  Refusal to follow through also comes with a price.  The entire village knew what to expect, and it happened exactly as they expected.  First the demon drives the candidate insane and then they die of unexplainable causes.  In our last trip to the bush with the team from Hannibal, we heard about the headman's son roaming the bush, out of his mind, frightening everyone.  We offered our help, but nothing came of it.  A few weeks later, the man was dead.  This is the darkness in which we are laboring to shine the light of the Gospel.  How I wish that you could grasp the intensity of the spiritual warfare that we are engaged in.  How easily I forget it sometimes.

Ilwendo was touched that we came, and clearly honored that the whole team visited him.  I've never seen him look so sad.  Our hearts ache for him to know the hope and joy that are found only in Jesus Christ.  Later, Shannon took a gift of maize meal out to his home, and the headman showed unusual affection when thanking Shannon.

One other major item on our agenda was a visit to the assistant headman.  This man has been our biggest enemy in the village, working hard to convince the people that we are "no good."  We also suspect that he has made visits to the Royal Council in charge of our land case, trying to stir up trouble for us there.  Sadly, this is one of those with whom I have been rude and disrespectful.  All week he was gone to the city of Lusaka, but the day before we left camp, he returned home.  We searched for him until we found him, honored him with a visit from the whole team, then asked forgiveness for our sinful behavior, and presented him gifts to show our sincerity.  He seemed to genuinely forgive us and said that he had seen an improvement in our behavior.  He even invited us to come any day of the week to teach in the village.  We hope to host a Bible study at his home soon.

To cap it all off, Tim is a veterinarian (dogs and cats, not livestock).  Tim very graciously agreed to look at the assistant headman's sick cattle.  He bravely entered the corral, working his way through cattle with very long, sharp horns.  In doing so, he helped us gain favor in the eyes of this opponent.  In fact, when we returned to our vehicle, Vincent was laughing loudly and said, "Your enemy has now become your defender!"  May the Lord grant that this is true.

We, and our workers, were blessed by the team's eagerness to interact with the people.  They participated in 2 Bible studies in the villages, daily devotions with the workers, as well as visiting the homes of our workers - meeting their families, looking at their cattle, learning how they prepare food, etc.  Relationally, it was one of the best trips yet.

Now, let me summarize the construction progress with the help of build teams since March:

1.  South Africa - Pieterfrancois and Frans. In 4 miraculous days, we set the solar array, mounted and wired solar panels, wired the solar water pump, ran water line to the hilltop, and placed the pump in the river.

2.  Zambia - Kennedy and Enoch. Kennedy volunteered his truck and time to transport 2 5000 liter water tanks to the land.  Enoch helped us connect the line from the pump to the tanks, then run water line to the pavilion, and plumb an outside faucet.

3.  Hannibal, MO - Mark, Wendell, and Dave. Poured a concrete slab for the toilets, with a wall between.  Set and plumbed the toilets.  Ran septic lines and shower drains.  Started plumbing showers.  Helped us load and haul thatching grass.

4.  Asheville, NC - Tim, Cathi, Wayne, Tasha. Mounted bathroom sinks with a wall between.  Finished running all drain lines and fixing all my plumbing leaks.  Laid stone floors in both bathrooms.  Built an experimental solar water heater (still needs a bit of work).  Ran hot water lines.  Built the water system for our experimental earthbag "cool box" for keeping everything but meat and milk cool (fruit & veggies, eggs, cheese, etc.).

When we arrived at camp 3 weeks ago with the team, we saw our FINISHED thatch roof for the first time.  The end result of a 4 month battle.  What a beautiful sight!  Thank you Lord!  Other than warm water, the bathrooms are mostly finished.  The last big step in getting the camp operational for full-time living is kitchens.  We face 2 major obstacles there:

1. To build shelving and cabinets, we need a power drill and saws.  But our new generator has a mysterious malfunction.  One day it was running fine, then suddenly started blowing black smoke and running rough.  After troubleshooting, the genny started and ran fine.  But no electrical power.  Our mechanic says the diesel motor is running fine, but no electrical power is being generated.  There's no one in Livingstone who can fix it, so today Shannon is trying to track down someone across the border in Namibia to look at it.

2. During our 5 months of camping in the bush, preserving meat was a problem that constantly plagued us.  Our little electric camp fridges couldn't do it.  Even a propane freezer barely did it.  We must solve the riddle of how to keep food from spoiling for 2-3 week stretches.

Oh, one more interesting development in the struggle to finalize our land.  One of the elders of our church in Livingstone has been supervising the construction of a fish farm in Mwandi, the location of the Royal Council that we've been dealing with.  Brother Joseph just realized that one of the directors of the project, who he's been working with for months, is the man on the Royal Council in charge of granting land!  This man thinks highly of Joseph, who is now pressing this man to find out what's happening with the land issue for his church's missionaries.  Joseph has been promised that our case will be moved to the top of the stack.  We'll see . . .

Well, that's a big enough download on what's happening with us - spiritual warfare, improvement in relationships, and progress in construction.  The prayer needs are pretty obvious.  Our deepest gratitude for your interest and your prayers.

For His glory,
Sean