It's the simple things.

It is August now. The weather begins to warm up after a chilling month of July. I can say I am sad to see the cold weather go...While our daily activities begin to hit a rhythm, the two of us are different people who do them. The Lord continues to be our refuge as we worry, panic, become angry, and grieve. God continues to use the humbling and difficult circumstances of our life to shape us into new people...changed people...and hopefully, two people who more fully reflect his love, grace, and compassion.

Most recently, Kyle was able to have his police bond extended in hope of criminal charges being dropped. It is acknowledged by the police that this was clearly an accident, but pressure from the family can push them to press charges regardless. Last month we met with the family, the police, and our insurance agent to find a settlement for the family's loss. The meeting went smoothly and all the paperwork has been completed. We did our best to communicate with the family, but language continues to be a difficult barrier. Our prayer is that the family can find peace and rest as they grieve this loss. We also pray for the Lord to reveal the truth of the incident to their hearts and see that it was an accident. Please pray for the Lord to act as our advocate in this matter.

WORK

Kyle continues to work with the remaining projects in Chipata. Please continue to pray for the school as they navigate through changes in senior staff and management. Pray for new replacements and for the Board to have wisdom and conviction in running the school.

The Farming project completed strategic planning last week as an organization. Please pray for their ability to implement new ideas in the future of their programs. Pray that we are able to support them and identify the areas where we can meet their needs.

Beginning next week Thursday Kyle will spend about a week with visitors from the United States. They will be traveling in Zambia and Malawi for about 7 days. Pray for successful meetings and safe travel.

LIFE
(Preparing pumpkin cookies for a gathering. I was wearing four layers because it was so cold that day.)

Over the last few months, Kyle and I had been praying about different opportunities to be involved with other people in the community through prayer and mutual encouragement in faith. Two opportunities have presented themselves in the last month.
1. We were chosen by our ex-pat Bible study to facilitate and organize our meetings since the former facilitators moved back to Canada. This is a multi-national group that meets together every other Sunday. Currently, we are working our way toward finishing a video series. The meetings are often full of lively discussion and mutual learning as we share our personal experiences and reflections. Pray that we have wisdom and God's leading as we are the youngest in age AND length of time in Zambia!
2. The pastor of our church asked us if we would start a prayer/Bible study cell on our side of town. Uncomfortable with holding such a formal meeting at our home we spent time in prayer, and decided that this could be a great opportunity to develop a more organic, Acts style church meeting. Our first scheduled meeting is tonight at 5:00pm, Zambia Time. Pray that God can use this time to minister to us and teach us to know and love Him more.

We are also developing deeper and closer relationships with different ex-patriots here in Chipata. We have spent many evenings together sharing meals, making pizza, and celebrating important milestones in our lives. Pray that the Lord would continue to teach all of us to love one another more deeply and to love the people here in Zambia with whom we work.

(these are some of the pizza toppings)

SHUMBA

Finally, I have included a story Kyle wrote about our cat that I thought you all might enjoy. Our cat continues to be a blessing and reminder to find joy in surprises and appreciate the simple things...

On Friday night we went out to the only decent restaurant in town with two German friends and their Kenyan and Brazilian wives. Its always interesting hanging out with these friends since everyone's english is at a different level and we all come from different backgrounds. After a late night with them, we were dropped off at our house. As we were getting ready for bed, Bethany saw that Shumba had caught and was eating a cockroach, which we are always grateful for. Then Bethany yells to me to come to the kitchen because she sees something furry. I reluctantly come and we shine a flashlight to see a mouse is stuck between the cabinets. Of course, Shumba knows this and is ready to hunt. After looking at it more, I conclude that it is probably not stuck, but just as far away as possible from Shumba. We don't want it to get out and not sure of Shumba's skills yet so I stuff I plastic bag to keep it there. We decide to go to bed and at this point its around 1 am. We continue to hear little noises so after restless sleep for two hours I get back up and Shumba is still waiting right where the mouse is. I decide to get this thing out so I put up barriers to keep it in the kitchen. I quickly pull out the plastic bag and see that the mouse had been chewing at it. Then there was a standstill for about 45 minutes as Shumba sat waiting for the mouse to come out. I kept it dark so the mouse would be more likely to come out and I had my headlamp with me. Finally, the mouse went for it and Shumba caught it instantly in her mouth. She jumped over my barrier and ran into the living room with the mouse. Then she basically played with it for another half hour as it ran around our living room with Shumba catching it and throwing it in the air. Then the mouse found a crack in our front door, but the crack was not big enough so it got stuck. Shumba was scratching at it, but couldn't get it. I waited awhile and it seemed like the mouse was about dead so I went back to bed. After a bit longer, I heard noise again and Shumba somehow had the mouse again. It was barely alive so finally she killed it. Then she played with it for another half hour while it was dead! Bethany was up with me by this time. I tried getting the dead mouse from Shumba, but she wouldn't let me have it. Finally, she started biting it more as we heard the crunching and we discovered she was beginning to eat it! She took it near her food bowl and all of the sudden she had eaten the whole thing, even the tail! We were shocked especially at how fast she ate it. After that we could go to bed in peace, but we didn't want Shumba sleeping with us with her mouse breath. We slept in a little, but still probably only got about 4 hours of sleep. It was quite an interesting night, though, and in the end Shumba has truly proven her value to our household. Since Shumba has caught and eaten two more mice (only these she catches outside and brings inside!).