with heavy hearts.

To our dear family & friends,

Last week we traveled to Lusaka to meet with some of our friends and colleagues. It was a fairly successful week as we consulted with a children's home not connected with Partners Worldwide on a business project they had. We also briefly visited with Villages of Hope and got an update on how things are going there. Then on Saturday, the 20th, we had a meeting with the business group in Lusaka to discuss their potential plan and budget for the upcoming year.

After the meeting we were on our way back to Chipata. About half way into our drive we were involved in an accident just outside a rural town. There was the usual congestion of bicycles, pedestrians, and goats. One bicyclist was in the middle of the road. Kyle honked at him. In accordance with traffic law, Kyle expected him to go left. He seemed to start to go left, Kyle veered right to avoid him but the cyclist changed his mind or got scared and veered left colliding into our vehicle at the front left (passenger) side. We immediately stopped and called out for help. The bicyclist was still breathing. A young man came and directed us what to do. We rushed him back to town in our car, first stopped at the police then we rushed him to the district hospital nearby. Being a rural hospital there was little to nothing they could do. We returned to the police and began the reporting process. This required returning to the site of the accident and then to the hospital. When we arrived at the hospital, there was a confrontation with some relatives and the police had to keep us from the family. It was there we found out the man had died.

There was some further conflict with the family and the police decided to keep us at the station for a couple hours before walking us to a guest house. We had to stay the night. In the morning, we settled with the family and agreed to pay for the funeral costs (funerals can devastate family finances). Then we started a long process of giving statements, etc. It was hard to go through. When we finished we drove back the 3.5hrs to Lusaka to visit the embassy Monday and to work things out with the insurance to get the vehicle repaired.

Although the police assured us that it was an accident Kyle still had to go through some formal procedures and his case will go to the court to be decided. It could be months to a couple years for it all to get resolved since it takes a while to go through. We are trusting in God and praying to understand how this can be redeemed. We have asked "why" many times already and probably always will. We already thank God for little ways that he has helped us and sustained us. We have experienced the love and concern of friends here in Zambia as well as our loved ones back home.

We are staying in Lusaka with a dear brother in the Lord, Zaaka. Last night he prayed with us and said, "We know not what Satan had planned, we know only what God ALLOWED." Somehow somewhere, this will be redeemed. We are trusting that God will work all things out for His good purpose (Romans 8:28). Justice and the future are in His hands. We appreciate your prayers during this time and have already felt the peace of God covering us. Thank you for your continual support. We love you all

Kyle & Bethany