Just a side note: We forgot to mention yesterday (Sunday) that one of the leaders of the Church at Mawawa was saved while he was in training to be a witch doctor. Isn't God good?!

Today (Monday) we visited the pastor and wife of a church in the bush community of Sefula. The church is a reed building with a thatched roof, about half the size of the church we went to yesterday. Very small! But it is actually very cool inside these reed structures.They had set up two visits in villages where members of their church lived. So, Todd and Christian walked with one of the missionaries and the pastor to one village and shared the stories. They had to share them three times because the people did not understand. When they were finished, they asked if anyone wanted to confess Christ as Lord. Some of the women wanted the missionaries to lead them in a prayer. But they refused and told them they could confess Christ on their own. (One reason for this is because the people put too much stock in the prayers of missionaries, as if they have a greater power than their own prayers.) Finally, one lady knelt down on the ground and raised one hand and began to pray in Lozi, confessing Christ as Lord of her life, and saying she wanted to turn away from her bad ways. Three more ladies then did the same thing. Michelle, Abby, Zach, the pastor's wife and one of the missionaries drove to another village where a visit had been prearranged. There was no road. We were already out in the bush at the church. But to get to this village, we had to go in four wheel drive and not stop once we started. We drove and prayed and nearly bogged down twice in the sand. When we arrived, they had chairs out for us to sit, and about 47 people gathered on reed mats around us. We shared our stories and then asked how they needed to respond. Two elderly women said they believed our stories and asked for someone to come visit them again for more teaching. One elderly man said, "Thank you for bringing the light to our village." These villages have never had anyone come to them with the gospel, so our visits are opening doors for the resident missionaries to return and teach them. Caleb, Gabrielle, and Danielle, with a missionary and a translator went walking to find people to talk to. The first two huts they came to told them they did not have time to hear their stories. That was the first time they had been told that. But the next hut they came to had a lady who had just had a baby 3 days ago, (after a dangerous pregnancy where mother and baby almost died), and her elderly parents, who do not live there but had come to see the new grandbaby. They listened and all three confessed Christ as Lord of their lives. They said they were so thankful for the visit. They did not expect a visit from missionaries today after they had just received a miracle when there grandchild was born safely. God had prepared their hearts before the visit ever took place. The fourth team, Josh, Jared, a translator and a missionary also saw several come to know Christ today. We praise God for what He is doing! Please continue to pray for our health and strength. Several members of our host family, the Lowes, are sick. There is always a concern about Malaria, so we are asking you to pray a hedge of protection about our family and the Lowes. Thank you so much. Also, those of you who are emailing us, please know that we cannot check our email until we return to the capital in another week. We are only able to update our blog from here.