Last Day of the Year 2007

Many of you have asked to see a picture of Matilda, our house helper. So today, the last day of 2007, I was able to convince Matilda and our 2 housekeepers at the Guest House, Elistina and Esnart, to pose for a picture. Elistina has worked here for years, and she is a very hard worker. I am getting to know Esnart as she only works part-time. All 3 of these ladies are a joy to work alongside, and I hope we can be friends for a very long time.

In back: Elistina and Matilda; Kneeling: Esnart

Today I experimented with a new recipe from Lindy Howard - Flour Tortillas. You may be wondering why I didn't just buy tortillas from the grocery, but they are very expensive. Many missionaries have them brought overseas by volunteers or bring them back after stateside assignment. I had fun making them and Austin & Coby had fun eating them. Kelsey helped me in the beginning process, but then she went to a friends house to play. She ate her taco when she got home. I was very proud of myself, so I took some pics.

Ingredients:
4 cups Flour
2 tsp. Salt
1 Tbsp. baking powder
work in... 2 Tbsp. butter
Stir in... 1-2 cups water (make a soft dough). Form a ball, knead on floured board. Make balls size of eggs. Stand for 15 minutes. Roll out & place on hot ungreased skillet to cook.

Don't they look tasty?

And the finished product...


Kid tested and approved!

Christmas Past

Christmas morning at 5:30am (yes, that's when the kids awoke)

Today it has been raining, and yesterday it rained, and the day before that it rained... well, we are in the rainy season here in Zambia. We are trying to keep the kids from driving us CRAZY during the rainy season. Austin has found a game at the guesthouse called Risk, which is actually an old game, and when he brought it in, the directions were missing. Ricky says he used to play years ago, but doesn't remember how to play. Austin finds the directions on the internet (how great is our technology!) and so we have begun the game. I think this is the longest game ever... it has taken residence upon our dining room table. Coby and I keep taking turns playing against Ricky and Austin. Kelsey, in the meantime, is enjoying riding her new bike from Santa. Ozman, one of the guards, graciously worked on it a couple of times already since Christmas Day. Ricky and I are keeping the guesthouse renovations in order, although, today I have been sick so that has slowed me down some. I think it's just a 24 hour thing, but I appreciate your prayers to feel better soon. Planting grass in front of the Guest House...yes, that's one piece at a time in rows.

We celebrated Christmas Day at the Howards, with a fantastic Mexican lunch. The kids enjoyed playing with new friends, and Coby even had the privilege of getting his feet washed by Uncle Franklin after he stepped on a tack. He's fine, but the foot washing was more exciting since Coby is very ticklish. We sent a video to our family and close friends on Christmas Day, so I wanted to share it with you, my blog family. I recorded and Austin edited the movie. I hope it doesn't bore you to sleep!
Part 1 - Christmas Eve

Part 2 - Christmas Day

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas. We had a wonderful first Christmas in Africa. We look forward to sharing more in 2008!

Merry Christmas - Lottie Moon

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth - John 1:14

We wish everyone a very Merry Christmas as you honor the birth of God’s Son, our Savior.
We remember the days of Christmas back in the States, when we would be busy wrapping presents and baking just one more batch of cookies. We would have been to every Christmas musical and party in town. But instead, we are celebrating with new friends in Zambia. We pray for our families and know that no amount of distance between us will matter in the way we celebrate this special day. We anticipate a chance to share Jesus with those who have not yet accepted Him.
And of course, we wait with great anticipation as our children and other children around the world open their gifts with twinkling eyes and total abandon. Just imagine the paper flying! And if we are honest with ourselves, we love getting presents too.
Presents represent friendship and love from the giver. Every one of us longs for that love. Then when the frenzy is finished--the bows and paper piled in a mound as tall as the tree--we fully plan to write notes of thanks. Right?
The base of the tree now seems empty, but look again. Are there some gifts you didn’t see at first? Do you see the faces of hundreds of thousands of new Christians who are celebrating Christmas for the very first time this year? The roughly ten million church members in overseas congregations? What about the approximately 830 new missionaries, appointed this past year, who are faithfully sharing God’s love with the lost around the world? Being a part of this ministry of intercession is a privilege and gift the Lord has given to each of you. Give thanks to Him for the power of prayer.
Look closer, do you see Jesus? He is our ultimate, priceless gift. Today, as you write your thank you notes to friends and family, take a moment to write one more.
Dear God, thank You for the gift of Your Son, Jesus Christ.
And who could forget Lottie Moon, the namesake of the international missions offering, who has become something of a legend to us. But in her time Lottie was anything but an untouchable hero. In fact, she was like today's missionaries. She was a hard-working, deep-loving Southern Baptist who labored tirelessly so her people group could know Jesus.
Throughout her career, Lottie Moon wrote numerous letters home, urging Southern Baptists to greater missions involvement and support. One of those letters triggered Southern Baptists' first Christmas offering for international missions - enough to send three new missionaries to China. Here are some facts about the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering:

International Mission Board vital stats
• 5,148 missionaries (as of 7/17/07)
• 23,486 new churches*
• 475,072 baptisms*
• 590,890 new believers in discipleship*
*As reported in the 2006 Annual Statistical Report

Status of World Evangelization
• 11,362 people groups worldwide; 6.6 billion people
• 6,494 unreached* people groups; 3.6 billion people
• 5,900 Last Frontier** people groups; 1.6 billion people
*Less than 2 percent evangelical
**Less than 2 percent evangelical, no active church planting

Lottie Moon past and present
• 2007 goal: $165 million
• 2006 receipts: $150,178,098.06
• $2.8 billion given since offering’s inception
• $3,315 collected in 1888 for first offering, enough to send three women to China

How much does it cost to support a missionary?
• $40,866.61 a year
• $3,405.55 a month
• $785.90 a week
• $111.96 a day
• $4.66 an hour
• $.08 a minute
Support includes housing, food, children’s education, retirement and more.

IMB budgeted income 2007:
Lottie Moon Christmas Offering - 52 percent
Cooperative Program - 36 percent
Investment income - 6 percent
Hunger, relief and other income - 6 percent

Total IMB expenditures 2006 - $282.2 million
• Overseas missions - $244.0 million
• Missionary support - $202.2 million
• Field work - $41.8 million
• Stateside - $38.2 million

Please consider giving to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering this year in support of missionaries around the world just like us.
WE LOVE YOU ALL! MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Childrens Choir

A few weeks ago we visited Fairfield Baptist Church. They were celebrating Child Dedication Day, plus the Lord's Supper, plus a Thanksgiving Service for their church. The church members brought forth items of mealie meal, maize, sugar, rape (greens), bread, and water. These items were given as a gift to the church, and they were planning a celebration meal following the service. The child dedication was very similar to our services back in the States. All the children along with their parents stood before the church and dedicated their children to God promising to teach them the Way, and the church as a whole agreed to support the children and their families.

Near the end of the service, the pastor came forth to bring some news to the church. We were shocked to hear what he had to say. Basically he was letting the church know of a teenage member who had become pregnant. He didn't want people to gossip and spread rumors about this girl and her situation. He emphasized the importance of supporting her and her family during this time in their lives. He said he spoke with the girl and she knows the mistake she made, and she has asked forgiveness. At first, Ricky and I were a little taken-aback by what the pastor was sharing, but after some thought, we both agreed that he handled it well. I mean, isn't it better that everyone knows upfront what's going on, rather than everyone gossiping about it and spreading rumors. We could all learn something from this church and their faith in God and their love for each other.

The children's choir presented several songs, and luckily I had my camera. The videos are not professional since I had not planned to take the videos. I hope you enjoy listening to these precious children singing praise to our God.

This video works; just click on the big camera. ENJOY!

People we meet

In this ministry of running a Guest House, we meet people with very interesting stories. We like to hear their stories so that we can pray for them in their specific needs. One such guest, Laura, has been with us for several days at the Guest House. She has come from the States hoping to adopt a Zambian orphan. We have been following Laura's story for some time and praying for her each day. Praise God this week she got the final word that the baby, Sophie, is now hers. She still needs to complete some necessary paperwork, so we ask for your prayers as well.

We had the privilege of babysitting Sophie the other day while Laura was at court. She is a precious child with a bright future ahead of her. Sophie (her new name) was a twin at birth, but her sibling and her mother died during delivery. The umbilical cord was wrapped around Sophie's leg, so the doctors had to amputate her leg from the knee down. This does not stop her spirit, though. Laura has made arrangements in the States for an artificial leg for Sophie.

Please continue to pray for Laura and Sophie as they finish work in Lusaka and make their journey back to the States.

It's a Hard Life!

This past weekend Kelsey had the privilege of having Hannah over for a sleep-over. They played all night long dressing up with make-up and jewelry. Coby even fixed their hair for them. The next morning Hannah had to go out with her family, so Kelsey waited on the swing for her to come back. I knew she was outside, but I thought she was just playing with the boys. About an hour later, Ricky comes in and asks me, "Do you know where your daughter is?" I replied, "Yes, she's outside." He then told me to go look outside the window. She was fast asleep on the swing while waiting on her friend. I guess her and Hannah had a late night and she needed a nap!

Strange Stuff

I have been to a lot of places in this world, but until you live in a place you don’t realize how different societies are around the world. As I have traveled this world there have been many things I’ve seen and said, “Wow, that’s strange." You don’t realize til you live with them how strange, but normal these things are. They are strange because I’ve never seen them before, but normal because they have being done for centuries. Whether they are right or wrong is not for me to judge (but I often do in my own mind).
The first thing I have noticed is trash. It is everywhere! When walking down many streets you may be on top of six inches of trash. You sit there and watch people buy something and just throw the wrapper or packaging on the ground. There are few public trash cans and very little organized trash dumps. There is some, but not near enough for millions of people. Where you do find dumps you find bunches of orphan children digging through the trash looking for a treasure or food.
The next thing is how businesses are grouped together. If you need a hardware store you go to one section of town. No matter if its thirty minutes away. Where if they put them in different areas of town, you wouldn’t have to travel so far. One day I needed a certain PVC fitting and I went to Cha Cha Cha Road and went up and down the street in about fifty stores and never found what I was looking for.
Round Abouts are interesting parts of the traffic system. This took a lot of getting used to. I had never seen a Round About before except in the movie “European Vacation” when Chevy Chase went around the circle in London many, many times. I have to admit I have been around the circles more than one time. At first I could not figure out why anyone would want to have a Round About. After being here for a while I now see that it is an organized way of getting through an intersection without a traffic light (they call a traffic light a "robot"), and no where near as expensive. I now enjoy them and find them challenging.
LINES! We were taught from childhood to always form a line anytime you have a group trying to do the same objective. Here they have never had that concept. Whenever or whereever you go to buy something or get something you will never find a line. You have to find your way to the counter and hope they will pick you to be next. You may have been there twenty minutes and someone will walk in and try to get in front of you. As businesses develop it seems they are catching on a little. They are not trying to be rude, but it’s just in their nature of how to get service.
You may think by reading this, oh Ricky doesn’t like it there, just the opposite. We love it here and know God wants us here. There are always going to be differences, it’s just being able to accept those differences and realizing why you are where you are. There are so many people here searching for a meaning to life and we have the answer, so we must get past those differences and share Christ with them. It is Lottie Moon Offering time and for those of you who don’t know, this is our support from Southern Baptist around the world that keeps us doing our work. With us running the guest house we get to come in contact with so many of the missionaries and hear their stories of how God is working in mighty ways amongst their people groups. Please support our Missionaries where they can keep on working without having to worry about finances. The Gospel is on fire in many places around the world and we need it to keep growing. I hope to relay some of the stories we hear from our missionaries on the front lines. Thank you for being a part of our ministry.---posted by Ricky Cook

Weekend with the Rodgers

Saturday, Dec. 8th was Hannah's birthday, so we all went to the Croc Farm to celebrate. We also celebrated with Daniel Shaw and his family. The girls (Hannah, Kelsey, and Dorcas) enjoyed playing in the pool, on the swings, and the trampoline. Some of us had Croc burgers for lunch, but some of us had beef burgers. The boys enjoyed looking at the snakes and even holding a python. This was the kids second time at the farm, but Ricky and I had never been so we got the full tour of all the crocs, snakes, and beautiful surroundings. We had fun just hanging out with our mission family.

On Sunday, Dec. 9th we went to Chongwe (where the Rodgers live), and visited a church. We first went to see Justina Mwachimota who works with the Rodgers on the Eastern Harvest Team. Amai Mwachimota was featured in a 2001 Mission Mosaic article, and one of our friends, Barbara, from Alabama had been praying for Justina since that article. I was able to deliver a message to Justina from Barbara and she was very happy.

The church we attended had a special engagement service for a couple in the church. This was a new experience for us. It was set up similar to a wedding ceremony, except that the couple was only getting engaged. The parents of the man and the parents of the woman stood at the front of the church in support of the couple. The pastor asked the couple to vocalize their intent of one day getting married by saying "I do." The man gave the woman an engagement ring, flowers were presented, and many people celebrated by shouts of joy. This ceremony of committment to each other in front of the church family revealed a lot about the African culture. The church will help support this couple as they counsel with the pastor and remain faithful and true until the wedding day.

During the church service I noticed a familiar face. It was Kabinga, my Zambian assistant during 40/40. He was attending the church of his friend who was getting engaged. Kabinga's brother is also the pastor of the church. It was good to talk with him and catch up since 40/40. We hope to visit his church in Chongwe as well - it is a sister church of his brothers.

The afternoon was spent eating lunch with the Rodgers and just getting to know one another. The boys enjoyed taking a hike with Justin down to the Chongwe River, and they caught 2 baby fish... which ended up in the car back to Lusaka. Kelsey enjoyed playing with Hannah and looks forward to spending the night with her soon.

Amazing Voices Again

I wanted to post 2 other videos from the "Amazing Voices" from Zambia. If you like this group, they would love to come to the USA to perform. You can see one other video in my blog, just scroll down to Nov.24th posting.

These videos were taken from a personal camera, so the quality is not that good, but the singing is awesome (or should I say "Amazing"?)!

Ibis Gardens - Reward of Survival

Ibis Gardens is located about 1 hour north of Lusaka. Our team was able to relax and have some unwinding time before heading into our ministry work. It was also a time to evaluate the 40/40 experience. We did use our time in the morning to take in some language learning skills from one of our own missionary couples, Daniel & Sky Scott. They did a fabulous job teaching us at the end of this 40/40 when our brains were not working at full capacity. All of us were tired and ready to get home. So, thanks Daniel and Sky, for hanging in there!

Our final night at Ibis was a fun time to reflect on our month-long journey together. Because it was Thanksgiving night, we enjoyed a delicious somewhat-traditional meal (with chicken instead of turkey), and the kids performed a play that was absolutely the best.

Ibis Gardens is on our list of places to stay when we need a break from the guesthouse duties!

The 40/40 Team

Survivers of the 40/40 for October/November 2007!

Our Homestay

On Friday, November 16th we were taken into the Boma (the city of Petauke) where our hostess met us to take us to her home. When she saw the 5 of us and all our luggage, she knew we wouldn't make it walking, so she got a taxi. Okay, the taxi is a small 4-door car, and the driver insists he can fit us, our hostess, and all our luggage into the vehicle. He did it! I am still not sure how the luggage made it without falling out of the open trunk, but anyway we made it. Once we are settled into our rooms, we begin building a relationship with our host. Jezani and Patience Phiri along with their 3-year old son, Chiquandi (not sure if this is correct spelling), were gracious hosts. We observed how a family lives and experienced life as Africans. Coby was a natural with the kids that surrounded the yard when they saw the white people. He made them laugh and he looked like he belonged there. Kelsey and Niki had the opportunity to sit with the women and girls and get their hair braided. Niki was able to help out in the kitchen and learned how to cook "nshima". Patience was very proud! Niki even taught Patience how to cook scrambled eggs. The house they lived in was rented, and the landlord lived directly behind the house in a smaller, more run-down house. The husband, Jezani, is an accountant at the Nyika Motel in Petauke. They are planning to build a home in the near future. They will live closer to their church and they have a beautiful view of the mountains from their land. We have made life-long friends and hope to visit them as often as possible.

Camp Life

We were not looking forward to camping for 10 days without running water and electricity - (Spoiled Americans), but we survived and had fun doing it. It has been a long time since any of us camped, but having the kids and our missionary friends there with us, made it worth remembering. Kelsey learned how to carry buckets on her head, just like the Zambian women do everyday. Niki & Austin received bow lessons from Uncle Jack. Maybe one day we will use what we learned to kill a zebra or impala. Niki & Kelsey learned how to cook from scratch. Petauke was a rural place, but it was also a beautiful place where we met many friendly people. The people of Zambia are so friendly and open to talk with you. It was an experience that we will never forget. We were taken out of our comfort zone and put into a place of unknown surroundings, but God gave us the strength to survive. There were times of struggle with sickness and culture shock, however, those were minimal to the rewards and the knowledge we received in learning the African culture. Camp life was definitely challenging, but we now see the end result of living in situations very similar to our people group so that we can be better witnesses to them. God is working amongst the Zambian people, and Satan is fighting in ways most of Americans would not believe. We were introduced to some of the spiritual warfare that is taking place in Africa. Despite the negative that we see in Africa - the poverty, the uneducated, the lostness - Zambia is a very beautiful country. We are privileged to be here doing God's work, and we have a wonderful team of missionaries to work alongside. We have already learned from many veteran missionaries and pray that we will be life-long learners during our term in Zambia.