“Thank you for leading my brothers to Christ!”

What a roller coaster these past three weeks have been for me as I remain in Africa working on finalizing our adoption of Samson.  Some of what I have experienced emotionally was self-inflicted.  I have had two false starts as far as leaving Kitwe for Lusaka each time with my hopes high and each time disappointed.  I now know I was too optimistic as to the time frame and requirements to complete the adoption abroad with the USCIS (Citizen and Immigration) office in Johannesburg and the US Embassy in Lusaka. At this point, I have no idea if my last submission of Samson’s Under Five Card (quasi birth record) and Affidavit have been accepted or rejected.  The Embassy said in their paperwork that the approval of the adoption petition could take 2 to 4 weeks.  If ours is going to take 4 weeks, I have 2 weeks to go for the approval and another week of final visits in Lusaka.  I have readjusted my hopes and expectations, and I am hunkering down here for now.  Besides the major disappointment, I have two tough situations right now.  I am starting to feel lonely and isolated as a “single parent” right now because I do not have many options to go anywhere by myself and as much as I love Samson and have seen the hand of God powerfully upon his adoption I have only known Samson for a short time.  Lets just say we are getting to know each other real well these days!  Along the same lines I miss the rest of my family so much.  It is not the same here without them.  Not at all.  I have not seen my oldest three daughters in nearly two and a half months!  It has now been over three weeks since I have seen Shelley and the other three children.  I miss them so much right now.  The other challenge with the new realistic time frame is my lease runs out on my home this week, and I have to be moved out by Wednesday.  Oh Joy!  I don’t know where to go right now.  I have considered going to Lusaka and waiting there so I will be closer to the Embassy when I do get the approval but I do not know anyone there.  If the USCIS office makes more requests for information there is a strong chance I would need to be in Kitwe to complete it and Lusaka is a grueling 6-hour drive or bus ride away.  I know so many of you have been praying for Samson and I here.  I have felt your prayers and appreciated them so much.  Please pray that I have the wisdom to navigate through this situation, for sweet times with Samson, and for staying single minded and pure in heart.

Let me tell you about my last week.  It was filled with difficult but sweet good-byes.  Samson and I had to say good-bye to the orphans on Monday.  I am sure Samson could not grasp the magnitude of all that was happening as I lead them in one last Bible Study and then said our good-byes.  I grasped it all.  I think Samson was a little confused and I was numb.  Spending hours every week with the orphans is addictive.  From a physical or worldly view, they do not bring anything into a relationship and they have nothing.  They do not have parents. They do not have a family, at least that they know anything about.  They do not have a home.  They have no money.  They do not have an inheritance.  They are often sick (a runny nose is common) and at times hungry.  They can be very dirty. They have absolutely nothing to offer anyone.  It is in their nothingness that they bring everything.  They have what we who have everything this world offers often lack.  They have what we need as believers.  They are orphaned by the world and have a nearness to God that oozes from them because God has not abandoned them.  They have Christ’s grace that abounds, and they have God’s love overflowing from them. They have what we need and having been with them was an honor, a joy, and pure delight.  Leaving them each week was hard but now leaving them permanently is awful.  I love them dearly and praise God for the chance that I had to be near them for a season.  I have a photo at the bottom of the post of me with a few of them!

After I left the orphanage, I met our Associate Pastor from Agape Baptist and his wife and they took me to dinner.  Their names are Harry and Fridah Chinkumbi.  Harry and I became very special friends and so did Shelley and Fridah.  What made the evening meaningful besides all that they shared with me about my ministry and my family’s ministry in their lives is that they had been saving money for weeks to take me to dinner!  They never go out to eat.  They do not go out for lunch or dinner ever.  They wanted to make a special evening for us! They are such a delightful couple, and we had a very special time together.  Harry’s much younger sister lives with them, and she watched Samson at home to make the evening possible.  I saw Harry for many hours every week.  We will be friends, I am sure, until heaven.  I was reminded that night of how many quality relationships God blessed us within just a year in Africa.  This is truly only something possible for those in Christ!

Tuesday night I ended my Bible Study with the six young men that live within our walled fence. These are the guys many of you have been keeping up with and praying for so faithfully. Thank you! As you might remember, this Bible Study began from the family evangelistic outreach we had started in our home the last night Lydia, Mary-Frances, and Virginia were in Zambia.  As we were ending Tuesday night, we all felt like we had been meeting for a whole year as a group because some weeks our study met two and even three times due to their hunger for the Word.  In the flat next door, there is Andrew who is a member at Agape and a growing young Christian. Also living there are his three brothers: Chasha, Masiliso and Sanjese.  Then in the two flats across the street there is a boy named Wesley and in the other flat a boy named Greenwell. Greenwell is also a believer and growing strong in the Lord.  As you recall, after a month of Bible Study Chasha and Wesley surrendered their lives to Christ.  Shelley and I were overjoyed that night! That very night was when Masiliso said publicly that he was not ready to repent and put his faith in Christ.  As you know from Shelley’s last post, while I was in Lusaka I met twice with Masiliso.  God was pursuing Him, and I had the privilege of leading Him to surrender his life to Christ.  As the Bible Study ended, the guys deeply encouraged me with their gratitude for the investment I had made in them.  For the last two studies, I had two different men from Agape Baptist come who I am handing the Bible Study off to.  They were able to hear what the guys said and see the power of God in our midst. The greatest comment however came from Andrew who has been living his Christian life for a while now alone in his home. Not any more.  Andrew said to me, “Thank you for leading my brothers to Christ!” It doesn’t get any better than that! Actually when I stop and consider all the ways God has worked through us here, it is overwhelming and deeply satisfying. What an awesome God we serve!

I will end by telling you that I did something last night I have never done before.  Very spiritual!  Are you ready for this?  I cooked dinner for Samson and I and six of the sweet younger children that live in our wall fence!  When I told Shelley on the phone this, she started laughing.  I don’t blame her because I still have no idea how it happened but it was a great dinner! Afterwards we all cleaned up, and then they (plus more children) watched “Finding Nemo!” on my laptop.  They had never seen that movie, and they loved it. It truly has been wonderful to live and “do life” with the Zambians.  They are wonderful people.  I have included a photo from last night. Samson is the one on the couch in the red shirt!

Besides my family, I also miss so many of you and cannot wait for great cups of coffee and times of sharing and being together when I get home.  Many of you have given sacrificially for us to be in Africa and have also prayed so consistently for us.  How can I ever thank you enough for this?  You have demonstrated a love for missions and for God’s work in Africa that has humbled my entire family.  Thank you so much.  “Now may Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of His glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever.”  Amen! (Jude verse 24)

Dave