Final update from our six month team.

Sunday 30^th June-Sunday 14^th July:

Sunday started with all of us going to the church here on campus, NCF. It was strange after such long Zambian services for church to be finished at 10:30! We enjoyed an afternoon resting after a busy week. Monday morning Tim and Jim went to play golf with our friend Canadian Kris to celebrate Jim’s birthday. They both hit some nice shots but they were vastly outnumbered by the bad shots! While they played the girls relaxed at home and made the most of the last we will see of the sun for a while! Natalie and Jo started making their Zambian bathroom mats with scraps of material.

Tuesday Jo, Natalie and Tim went to the last ever hut-to-hut. It was the most amazing one of them all! We saw the awesome power of God as we cast 4 demons out of a woman who used to come to the church. It was a really special way to end what has been an incredible ministry. In the afternoon we celebrated the public holiday with Bill and Marci by playing board games and just hanging out with the very poor street boys.

The rest of the week saw our last lecture on Jeremiah with Henry and our last ever cell group in Kamfinsa which was a really joyous time. Jan and Jim spoke on prayer and then the hosts provided us with coke and sweet potatoes. It was so humbling.

Friday saw us visit the lifeline play group for the last time and we decided to bless them by buying some new toys and a sturdy toy box to keep them in. That should be an improvement on the broken cardboard box they were in before! The children were amazed at the new toys and didn’t stop smiling the whole time. Tim and Jim also went round the township to fix some of the pumps they have been installing.

Sunday was a sad day for all of us, our last service in Kamfinsa. Natalie led the word of encouragement and Tim preached. We gave them our presents and left with heavy hearts and tears flowing.

The final week:

The final week we continued to say goodbye and started the unenviable task of packing up all our gear! We have all had such an amazing journey in the past six months, learning more about God and ourselves. We have had some amazing highs and some sad lows along the way, but it has been worth it to see what God can do in these communities. We have LOVED our time here in Africa and without a doubt it has gotten under our skin and into our hearts so watch this space! Thank you for reading and all your support- we are looking forward to telling you about it in person when we get home. Please pray for safe travels and we will see you soon!  Jo, Tim and Natalie fly home 14th  arriving 15th.  Jim and Jan follow on Thursday 18th after visiting Mambilma where Jim grew up!

Remember, GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME, AND ALL THE TIME GOD IS GOOD!!

Love from

Soapbox AQ team 2013

24^th – 29^th June

Can you believe we only have 2 weeks left - the time seems to have flown by!

Monday 24^th

Our day off was much appreciated, as we were all feeling tired.  In the evening we provided a lovely meal for Andy and Eira Patching, the big boss and his wife from Isubilo, involving lots of great stories and laughter.

Tuesday 25^th

Back to our usual ministries.  Tim and Natalie went to Isubilo to continue with the mural in the shape of a Cross, and to paint a blackboard onto one of the walls.  Jim went to Kamfinsa to see Pastor Albert and Jan and Jo went to St Anthony's, where the children were so excited to see them after 2 weeks away. Jan went into the school room to help the teacher. It was wonderful to see them all again. In the afternoon we were once again inspired by Lene's lecture on Fasting.

Wednesday 26^th

Jim, Jan and Tim went to Farm Fresh while Jo and Natalie painted some animals in the bigger room at Isubilo. In the afternoon we had a change of programme as we went to Marcie and Bill Hoover's to work alongside her ‘nephews’ who are Bus Boys.  Jim, Tim and Jan had a great time helping them make crowns following on from the story of Esther.  The girls arrived in time to see the nephews sing happy birthday (The BIG 60! or as the boys sang 3 * 20) to Jim, followed by the traditional Zambian soaking with water.  Bill and Marcie invited us to stay for an evening meal, where we played Trivial Pursuit amongst many hysterical stories of their life before mission!

Thursday 27th

At Kamfinsa this week the team helped with shelling the maize, getting the ears of corn off the cob.  It was very dusty work, we called it African Snow!  In the afternoon, Tim, Jo and Natalie went to Isubilo to continue painting while Jan and Jim did the week's shopping.

Friday 28^th

We all went to Lifeline. Jim and Tim tried to help Royd fix the pump at the playgroup, but too much rubbish had been thrown down it and it will need cleaning out before being fixed.  Jo and Natalie went off with Elizabeth and the volunteers to visit a HIV lady suffering with achy legs and blurred vision. They gave her some words of encouragement and prayed with her before joining the rest of the team playing with the children at playgroup.  In the afternoon the whole team went to St Anthony's. Tim played football, Jo and Natalie cuddled the babies, and Jan and Jim played with the children in the Cerebral Palsy unit.

Saturday 29^th

Jim hired a minibus to take members of Kamfinsa church to a conference in Luanshya.  We had been told there would be a maximum of 14 passengers, there ended up being 24! This meant a couple of trips to get them there. The blue minibuses are very common in Zambia but not usually driven by a 'musungu' white person, Jim got lots of attention with people trying to flag him down for a lift. Meanwhile the rest of the team went to Isubilo for the morning where Jan and Tim helped to harvest the Maize with the children while Jo and Natalie continued working on the painting, it is very nearly finished.   The evening ended with an Indian meal to celebrate Jim's birthday.

PRAYER POINTS:

Energy for the team to finish our ministries well.

Fidis’ Foot Wound.

Finalising the projects for the summer team