1 ambia MesgQnqerNews from Dean, Judy, Jim, Cyndee and David Davis

W FIELD ADDRESS: FORWARDING AGENTS:^^^J 2184 Mr. and Mrs. SkipAllen

A Tiifinkn 7nmhia P.O. Box 611 {UVX' King.NC 27021

"AMBASSADORS FOR CHRIST" IN CENTRAL AFRICA. (II Corinthians 5:20)

Februafy, 1979 Number 1

During construction

The last door was put on the hinges and the lastlock installed. The paint was all dry and the floorpolished when the building, fire, and healthinspectors visited the Chawama church building afew weeks ago. After ten minutes of inspectionthey gave us the occupation certificate and thenleft. God has blessed and soon the dedicationservice will be held for another building which willbe used for the glory of God in Zambia.

There have been delays due to various reasons

9

Chawama church in front of new building.

but it is finished, and the people of ChawamaChurch of Christ are proud of their new buildingand have already planted flowers around it. Theattendance has more than doubled and almostevery Lord's Day we receive reports ofmore peoplecoming to Christ. It is a proven fact that(especially in the cities) the churches here advanceat a remarkably faster pace and have greaterstability once they have their own buildings. Thisis the reason we have followed the policy of

subsidization to help the Zambian churches havetheir own buildings. However, once the building iscompleted it is turned over to the local churchwhich is totally responsible for maintenance.

Because of the concern and faithful support youhave given, this valuable gift is available for theZambian Christians and it will speak for manyyears to come of your love for them and your desireto see men and women come to Christ in Zambia.

n

Children's Sunday School class at Chawama.

CHAWAMA SAYS

"THANK YOU"

Dear Brothers and Sisters in America:We members of the Chawama Church of Christ

say to you a THANK YOU for sending Mr. andMrs. Dean Davis here in Zambia to teach us theGospel. You have done a very good work to sendthem here and to build for us such beautiful placeto praise our God. We can think every day as welook at Chawama church building how much dothe Christians in America love us.

We are pray for you dear brothers and sistersthat God will help you not to sin. We are pray thatGod will give you good life for Jesus Christ.

CLASSES RESUME

Due to the tense situation that resulted frombombing near Lusaka, and especially near ourhome, all Leadership classes and Ladies classeswere stopped during November and December.

In January weekly classes at Mungwi,Chawama and Kafue were resumed. Dean alsogoes to Kapyanga every other Wednesday forclasses with men of that area who meet togetherfrom five churches. Kapyanga is about 60 mileswest of Lusaka and the churches there wereestablished by Bro. Don Mechem who is now in theU.S.

Men from 5 churches in Kapyanga area.

We send greetings to all of you in the name ofJesus Christ.

Faithfully Yours,Christians at Chawama

THANK YOUWe never cease to be amazed at the kindness expressed to us at Christmastime, The many cards

and notes of encouragement are a special blessing to us. Several of you sent boxes of goodies —and as far as we know they ail arrived before Christmas this year! ~ and gifts that are so verymeaningful to us. If ever we forgot, we are quickly reminded by you that the best people in all theworld are God's people. "We're so thankful we're a part of the family of God". THANK YOU forsharing this past Christmas with us.

SITUATION CALM

As we reported in our December letter, due towar activity near our home we were forced inNovember to move from the mission farm into thehouse in Lusaka formerly occupied by the DonMechem family. At this writing the situation iscalm but the future for this area of the world isuncertain and we pray that what we areexperiencing is not "just the calm before thestorm".

Since we will be leaving in a few months forfurlough we will not take the time and trouble tomove back to the farm but will remain in Lusaka.We are hoping to rent the houses on the farm for ayear or so until they are again needed by missionpersonnel.

Many of you have expressed your concern forour safety. We want you to know that weappreciate that concern and your prayers on ourbehalf. God has answered those prayers andsupplied abundantly our every need.

FURLOUGH TIME

In June we will have completed our third term ofmission service in Zambia. We are lookingforward to seeing you and visiting all those whohave prayed for us and supported the work inwhich we are involved. We will be available forspeaking beginning August, and are nowdeveloping our itinerary. Ifyou would like for us tovisit your congregation please write AIRMAILdirectly to us at the field address on the front ofthis newsletter.

Jim preaching at Lubuto Church In Ndola.

DAVID'S CORNER

I want to say hello to you over there. What areyou doing?

We have 4 puppies now. They were born threedays after Christmas. They are cute. We had funon Christmas because Jim and Cyndee were here.I got a nice big canoe and I have fun in it at theswimming pool. I got some nice presents from youin our Christmas packages and I want to tell youTHANK YOU for them. Bye for now.

David and his puppies.

Mungwi Church

Christmas was an exciting time for us this yearand we pray that it was for you. Because of thebirth of Jesus so long ago, we have so much forwhich to be thankful. Without the miracle of Hisbirth, the forgiveness with His death, and thepromise of eternal life with His resurrection ourlives today would be so much different. Butbecause of Jesus everything takes on newmeaning.

We are thankful because for the first time since1974 Jim, Cyndee, David, Dean and Judy celebrated Christmas together. Jim arrived on Dec.15 from Johnson Bible College. His plane was afew hours late but nothing could have dampenedour spirits that evening.

Our family

Being in Zambia doesn't mean there isn't plentyto do around Christmas time and we foundourselves busy every day with different churchand school activities. Cyndee directed a play andcandlelight service at the Woodlands Fellowshipon Sunday night Dec. 17. This fellowship is madeup mostly of missionaries and their children inLusaka, but there are many others who worshipwith us, American Embassy families, Christiansfrom other countries who work here in Zambia,Zambians, people passing through, etc. We meetevery Sunday night from 6:00 to 7:00 and havereally appreciated the opportunity to have aservice in English. On Dec. 31 Jim preached forthe service on the "Joy of the Christian Life" andwe were so proud of both Jim and Cyndee as theyshared their talents while here in Zambia. Cyndee

has been with us since July, and was really a bighelp with anything that needed doing, not only tous, but to other missionaries in Kasama andKitwe.

The first week of January we went back toNdola, which is always a joy for all of us, and Jimpreached at Lubuto. The Christians there werejust shocked to see this big six footer get up behindthe pulpit, because this was the little boy who hadgrown up in Ndola. This was the little boy whohad "helped" his daddy in the construction oftheir church building. They were so happy to seeall of us again, but especially to hear Jim preach.They want him to hurry and finish school so hecan come back and be "their" missionary.

Time stands still for no man, (not even ourchildren) and Jan. 11 rolled around all too soon.Jim and Cyndee left to go back to J.B.C. then totake up their studies.

Please pray for our children that they may knowGod's will for their lives.

We look forward to June when we begin ourthird furlough. Plans are for us to live inKnoxville, Tenn. again and we are happy we willbe close to the kids the year we are in the States.

Our prayer for you is that 1979 will be a goodyear as you trust and serve our Father in Heaven.

V 7

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^mbiaMessonqQrNews from Dean, Judy, Jim, Cyndee and David Davis

W FORWARDING AGENTSJ P'O. Box 2184 Mr, and Mrs. Skip Allen JL

t<^/^ Tu«5a]cfl Zamhia P.O. Box 611aS King, NC 27021

"AMBASSADORS FOR CHRIST" IN CENTRAL AFRICA. (II Corinthians 5:20)

April, 1979

DEDICATION SERVICE HELD

They came walking, singing on the way, to the"opening of the church" (dedication) atChawama. Some came by bicycle, some by bus,some by car, but all came with one purpose ... topraise God for the new building at Chawama anddedicate it to be used for Him by His people. Manyof the Christians from Kafue (35 miles away) cameearly in the morning and one of the men from therepreached at the morning service. Others beganarriving at 12:30, having left their own churchesimmediately following the service and missinglunch in order to be present when the dedicationservice began at 2:00. Cokes and buns were servedto the visitors as they arrived and then at 1:30 thechoirs began one after the other to sing theirpraises to God. At 2:00 the service began withpeople still coming in. Before it was over therewere more than 300 people in the new building tocelebrate its opening and dedication to God.Charles Delaney gave a challenging message tothe congregation encouraging them to manifestmaturity in Christ through their faith, hope andlove. There was a joyous climax to the afternoonas a young lady confessed her faith in Christ andwas baptized for the remission of her sins.

Just three weeks later most of the same people

joined together for the dedication of the Materochurch building where Dean brought the message.By the time you read this another new churchbuilding will have been completed in Gardentownship and plans will be underway for a thirddedication service. How we thank God for thesethree churches and the witness they are making inthe Capital City of Lusaka.

Charles Delaney preaching at dedication of ChawamaChurch building.

Dean talks with visitors after service.

Gathered in front of the building.

People worshiping.

Judy with some of the ladies after dedication.

? PROBLEMS? ?Often in our classes there are questions or

problems presented with which the people arestruggling in their Christian lives. They wanthelp and we are thankful they are coming to thechurch for Christian answers instead of the

village elders who many times would only leadthem into greater difficulty. As you read theseproblems remember that their whole lives aresteeped in spirit and ancestor worship and inwitchcraft. The strong ties of the extended familymake it very difficult for them to defy advice fromtheir relatives. Becoming a Christian is a radicalbreak, not only from sin, but from strong religiousand traditional ties which often bind them.

1. My wife put mankwala (African medicine) inmy food to make me love her more. It almostkilled me. What can I do with her?

2. A polygamist became a Christian. Both ofhis wives want to be Christian. Can webaptize them?

3. Twenty year old boy - I visited a certainvillage where a girl lives. Her father andbrothers beat me and said if I wanted thegirl then I must take her. They made me sleepwith her so she would have a man. I was

forced to take her to my home where I kept her

3 weeks. Now I have chased her. I don't want

her, so I have taken another wife. Now thefirst one wants to come back. What can I do?

4. What can we do about a church leader who

took another wife, was put out of the church,and now wants to repent but still keep bothwives?

5. My wife and I have been married one yearand still there is no child. We love each otherbut our parents are forcing us to divorce. Herparents say I'm not a man and my parentssay she is not fertile. How can we continuewith all this pressure from our parents?

6. My child died. All the relatives are accusingme of killing the child because as a ChristianI refused to allow the grandmother to putAfrican charms on the baby to keep away theevil spirits. Will you pray for me and my wife?

7. What does the Bible teach about eating bloodor meat with blood in it? We have alwaysdone this and we like it very much. We havebeen taught that it will make us strong.

8. Can a woman be a teacher or a preacher?

A MISSION TO MISSIONSSince 1966 Mission Services has been printing

and mailing the ZAMBIA MESSENGER. Wewould like to take this opportunity to express ourthanks and appreciation to them for rendering usthis valuable service. We like to know what othersare doing for the cause of Christ around the worldso we can pray for their needs and rejoice in theirvictories. We have found no better way of beinginformed than reading HORIZONS. Throughreading HORIZONS we become informed,inspired and challenged to do more for our Master,Mission Services deserves your support andHORIZONS deserves your reading. Why not senda gift and subscribe today?

DAVID'S CORNER

I like going to my school. It is nice. I playfootball (soccer) every Thursday. It is fun. Most ofthe time there is a draw (tie) between the twoteams. But sometimes we win. That makes mehappy. And sometimes we lose.

We are coming to America in June. That makesme excited because we are going to Egypt, Israeland Germany on the way to America. When I getto America I want to see Daniel Overdorf. I wantto see Grandpa and Grandma Mitchell, GrandmaDavis, Aunt Coral and Jim and Cyndee. Oh yes, Ialso want to see Uncle David and Aunt Margaretand Philip and David and Linnie and Aunt Kayand the Morgans. I will be happy to see Carl andJenny Metz too. I will see you when I get back toAmerica.

Subscription $6,00

HDRizoN^Magazine

Publishing (22 issues yearly) trends andevents in Christian missions relating to theundenominational fellowship of Christian

churches and churches of Christ.

MISSION SERVICESBox 177 Kempton, IN 46049

Publishers of missionary educationalmaterials emphasizing the impact of the

Gospel worldwide.

Just a few months after we arrived in Zambia Iwrote about shopping and the prices and theavailability of certain items. That was early in1968. Now, eleven years later I've comparedtoday's prices with those and found to my surprisethat although prices are higher, they haven'traised as much in eleven years as food prices in theStates. The biggest difference we find today isthat most of the items we bought in 1968 in thestores are not available today. These staples canbe bought mainly in the wholesale depots if you'relucky - flour, sugar, soap, milk, butter -- andrarely, if ever, seen in the shops these days.Because we are a mission we can buy at thesedepots, but wholesale does not mean "wholesaleprice" as it does in the States. Zambia has a pricecontrol, and prices are fixed so if you buy in thestores the prices are almost the same -- maybe anngwee (cent) or two difference. Wholesale simplymeans if you get there early enough you can standin line and hopefully the supply is as long as theline. Sometimes it isn't. Most things just are notavailable any more.

We raised a pig, chickens, and a cow and a biggarden on the farm but now that we are in townwe'll have to try to buy from farmers. However, wehave not suffered at all when it comes to eating.We have learned to substitute, improvise, and

Dean and Judy

"make your own", and the biggest difference is thetime it takes to make it. This week Dean wasoverjoyed to discover that loquats{ a tropical fruit)tastes almost like a cherry when slightly underripe. We have a huge tree of these in our yard! Sonow we can even have cherry pie, the one thingDean missed the moat. The pies I've made -adding a little red food coloring - have fooledeveryone. They all have asked "Who sent you acan of cherries?" So I've frozen "cherries" thisweek that the Lord has provided for Zambianweather.

1968 1979

Chicken 0.75 pound 1.00 pound

Hamburger 0.75 pound 1.90 pound

Bacon 1.20 pound 3.81 pound

Coffee 1.65 pound 3.07 pound

Potatoes 1.30-10 lbs. 5.08-10 pounds

Apples 0.65-dozen 0.60 EA. (neverseen)

Tea , O.75-V2 lb. 0.80-half pound

Eggs , 0.87-do2en 1.27-unit of 10

gasoline (not for eating) , 0.90-gallon 2.85-gallon

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^mbia MessQnqerNews from Dean, Judy, Jim, Cyndee and David Davis

J FIELD ADDRESS; FORWARDING AGENTS:^ T P«0. Box 2184 Mr. and Mrs. Skip AllenZ A Tiijsaka Zambia P.O. Box 611Zambia 27021

"AMBASSADORS FOR CHRIST" IN CENTRAL AFRICA. (II Corinthians 5:20}

Volume 13 June, 1979 Number 3V—v—1—Y—11—1^—i-?i—>—1=>:

CHURCH GROWTHLast week we visited the Mungwi church and were pleased to see many faces in the congregation that we

did not know. An old man who has been a Christian only one month preached an excellent message fromGod's Word and one young lady was baptized into Christ. One of the young men led a children's choir,which we didn't know existed, in some beautiful singing. The buiding was more than half full and theyinformed us that since we had been there on Sunday five weeks earlier there had been six adults baptizedinto Christ and some from nearby villages who have indicated strong interest. Also a smalldenominational church meeting about a mile from Mungwi has expressed a desire to join them. The leadersof the church are still discussing this possibility with them.

The Chawama and Kafue churches, as well as the Matero and Garden churches with which Delaneyswork, have also had a recent surge of growth with reports of people coming to Christ almost every week.Attendance in the services and in the classes of all the churches has more than doubled since the first of theyear.

These reports confirm again our roll as missionaries in Zambia. Wecan plant churches and continue aprogram of teaching and training, but

PRAYERS FOR WORKERS ANSWERED

Almost a year ago we sent a prayer request toour Prayer Partners asking everyone to pray for afamily who would come to Zambia for at least ayear and work with the churches in the Lusakaarea while we are on furlough. God answeredthose prayers with two families, making itpossible for someone to be in Kitwe with theEnglish speaking work while Jim and GingerConley are on furlough as well as someone here inLusaka. Ken Tyner, a third year student atJohnson Bible College, and his family will be inKitwe for a year.

Mike and Brenda Dumler from Oklahomaarrived in Lusaka April 25th and have quicklybecome acquainted with the churches and thework with which they will be involved. We thankGod for sending this dedicated couple to the workin Zambia. Mike and Brenda have alreadyassumed the teaching responsibilities for men'sand ladies' classes in the churches of Lusaka andKafue. Their Christian witness will be a greatblessing to the Zambian Christians.

We ask you to pray with us for the Dumlers andTyners as they minister among God's people inKitwe and Lusaka.

Mike and Brenda Dumler

THIRD FURLOUGH

By the time you read this ZAMBIAMESSENGER we will be on our way to the UnitedStates for our third furlough. We leave Zambiawith the same feelings we experienced when weleft for our first furlough in 1970. Our work inLusaka is just beginning to blossom and producefruit and, selfishly, we would like to stay andnurture the growth and encourage the newchurches as they develop in the faith. However,experience has taught us that a break from them isgood for both them and us.

While on furlouygh we will be living on thecampus of Johnson Bible College in the home ofMr. and Mrs. Ken Tyner, students who will bespending a year in Zambia as we spend a year inthe States. We look forward to being close to Jimand Cyndee, both students at J.B.C., for the year.We are also looking forward to visiting all of youwho have faithfully prayed for and supported thework in Zambia.

Judy and Dean

CONFERENCE

A few weeks ago Charlie Delaney and Dean hada meeting with leaders of churches in theMumbwa district. This area has 10 churches,scattered in a radius of about 45 miles, that havebeen mostly on their own for the past few years.Their distance from Lusaka has prevented aconsistent close relationship with missionaries.Since none of us lives in that area it is necessaryfor us to travel long distances to be with them.These church leaders are hungry for Bible classesand encouragement more often and more regularthan we are able to provide. A man recently said tome, "please bring a missionary from America tospend his time with us in this place." The need forsuch a man is certainly evident and we would liketo find someone who would accept the challenge.

But back to our meeting. At the end of themeeting the men said they wanted us to help themwith a conference on a certain week-end. Becauseof previously made plans both of us had to say thatit would be impossible for us to be there. We did,however, encourage them to go ahead with theconference by themselves. That is exactly whatthey did and we later learned that more than 340people attended, most of them traveling longdistances to get there. They had a good conferenceand all the churches were encouraged by thefellowship they enjoyed. We are praying forsomeone to work full time with these enthuiasticChristians in the Mumbwa district.

FURLOUGH ADDRESS

Johnson Bible CollegeKimberlin Heights Station

Knoxville, Tennessee 37920

DAVID'S CORNER

We have some new missionaries and theirnames are Uncle Mike and Aunt Brenda. One dayUncle Mike took me to go see Superman. We hadfun. I like it a lot.

Aunt Brenda helps me with my schol work andmy reading. She made me a word box and Icolored it pretty. I have lots of words in it that Iknow. We put some new words in it almost everyday. I like studying with Aunt Brenda. It is fun. Iwill be glad to get to go to school in America nextterm. I hope to see you soon.

Weddings are always a happy time, and themarriage of Ronald and Feeby was no exception.Even though most weddings are somewhatdifferent than ours, we still rejoice when aChristian chooses to marry another Christian.Ronald and Feeby were both members at Materowhen we moved to Lusaka. Ronald began helpingus with the new church at Chawama and was a bigencouragement both to the members there and tous. Almost a year ago he told Dean he wanted toask Febby to marry him. He asked her first if shewas interested, and then asked both his and herrelatives if a marriage could be arranged. Afterthe relatives all agreed the arrangements started.First Ronald paid some money to Febby's familyas a "gift". Then the lobola (bride price) was setand agreed upon by all parties. When it was paid,according to tribal custom they were man and wifeand the celebration ofthe marriage by the familiesand friends could take place. But Ronald andFebby chose to wait and be married in the Churchand have their marriage witnessed by all theChristians.

On the wedding day, the groom was there first,very nervous. This was also the day for thededication of the new church at Garden. The orderof the day was as follows, morning worshipservice, wedding, coke break, and then thededication service. At eleven o'clock the bride stillhad not arrived. By this time the groom wasoutside, walking up and down. Finally she came,but no parents! The wedding could not take placewithout family represented on both sides. Deanwas enlisted to go and get Ronald's Aunt, hisrepresentative, and then Febby's parents. Whenhe drove up with the parents everyone relaxed.One final problem remained however. Thepreacher of the morning service was stillpreaching! Finally one of the leaders sent him anote telling him to stop -- he ignored it! ThenCharlie Delaney stood up and pointed to hiswatch, so he finally stopped.

The wedding ceremony itself was short, buteveryone sang, clapped and rejoiced. Led by thechoir, everyone who had a gift brought it to thefront. Gifts were mostly money, but among themoney was placed a song book and a Bible, thebest basis for beginning a marriage. Theneveryone got up and formed a line and "danced"all around the couple singing "Chimwemwe MwaYesu" --There is Joy in Jesus -•and I thought thatall of the traditional wedding music I've heard inthe States this was the best I'd ever heard. Theneveryone loaded up in our two trucks, and a buswhich was hired for the occasion to take the brideand groom to their new home, a couple miles away.When we had all arrived, the church leaders and

Ronald and Febby the day of their wedding.

their wives all lined up behind the newlyweds andwalked to the door oftheir house. Then all the menand women gave them some words of wisdom andthe couple entered together. At that pointeveryone started cheering, and clapping. 'Then,singing again "There's Joy In Jesus", they allclimbed back in the trucks and we all went back tothe church for the dedication service.

Ronald and Febby are a part of the nucleus forthe new congregation at Garden. We pray God'sblessing on this marriage and the newcongregation of which they are a part.

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