Stories from Zambia...

Most names have been changed in these stories for the sake of the people.

We thought we should share some of our stories from Zambia so far, I know many of you have been asking for “God stories” from when we came.

We have seen alot of hopelessness, disease, death, and poverty around us in the last three months. As we have always said, we are thankful we carry Jesus, because He is the only one who can make a difference in those lives.

Friends of ours have been married for a year and a half now, and were expecting their first baby in October, Glen is a teacher at a high school, and Breanne is a social worker in Lusaka. She was 7 months pregnant -- 3 weeks ago, when she felt she was going into labour early. They went to the main hospital in Lusaka the University teaching Hospital, many people see that hospital as a place to go and die, because when you are there it’s the end of the rope, others traditionally always encourage there kids to go there because of familiarity. Anyway, most of the stories from this hospital we have hear end in trauma or death. This time it was death of their baby. Breanne went into labour too early, in the tradition of the hospital the husband is not aloud in with the wife, so she was in with the nurses. But as she was not going into active labour the nurses just left her, waiting.... for more then 12 hours, they checked the babies heart beat and even told her the babies heart beat was going down.... and yet they still left her. After being induced she gave birth to a dead beautiful baby boy. He could have easily lived with a C-Section, which they give in Zambia everyday... but she didn’t know, and the nurses were not offering any other alternative. When we heard the news after coming home from Malawi we were so devastated, and mad at this unfair, cruel circumstance, if they were in one of the private hospitals it probably would be different. Now they are left with no baby, and she is still healing from the birth of her baby boy. Our hearts break for this couple, and we are trying to be a support for them, sharing the little we know of loss, encouraging them to hold on to Jesus, and grieve now, not to put it aside and be tough. Please pray for healing in their hearts, especially Breanne (God knows her real name), pray that they will be blessed with a baby, pray for strength and inspiration.

Last week an older lady told us her grandbaby was very sick, the same age as Taliah, vomiting and diharea for the past two days. That concerned us right away knowing how many babies die of those symptoms everyday. So we took her and the baby to the local clinic closest to us. (the one that is OVER RUN with patients) She had been diagnosted with malaria without a blood slide, meaning a nurse looked at her and said she has malaria, they gave her tablets to be dissolved in water and given for the malaria, but she was just throwing them up. When we took her in vinjelu asked for a blood slide, and the nurse said no they couldn’t do one because the d already given her medication and it would not be visible anyway (which is true) SO WHY GIVE MEDICATION if you don’t know what it really is!!! Since meningitis has very similar symptoms as malaria, and babies can die of that in 48 hours. Vinjelu was also shocked to find out the grandmother thought every man in the clinic was a doctor! Down to the guy emptying the garbage. The implications of this are huge, since she would listen to any of them, believing they are all doctors! Not good.
Anyway, after a few days of treatment and trips to the clinic the baby is on the mend praise Jesus! This story is repeated hundreds of times a day in our area.

Another two reasons we want to get our clinic finished!

We would love to fill the clinic with staff who love the patients, who see them as people no matter the money in there pocket or clothes they wear. Please pray with us for a Doctor who is a Jesus follower, who believes in the healing touch of Jesus and is also a VERY GOOD DOCTOR! We need lab technitions, nurses, receptionist, people who love people!

From Prison to Jesus...
We had two guys come to the base to inquire about our discipleship school, both express their desire to follow Jesus and be in His ministry, we also found out through the sharing and conversation they have both spend more then ten years in jail! I will tell one story at a time ok. First guy who I will call Jeff, shared that he had been part of an armed robbery when he was a teenager, he shared the pressures of being poor and wanting to face up to pressures of looking good at school and having pocket money. He and his friend were interrogated and beat to the pulp asking where the gun was, eventually they lied that a different man had it, out of desperation to get out of the beatings-- that man was killed by the police, an innocent man. He will forever live with that guilt. After being pardoned 3 year ago Jeff became a christian and has been following Jesus ever since. He wants to fight for the rights of prisoners in Zambia, as the living conditions are well below human standards. He shared that the men could never sleep in their cells, they were too full with double the prisoners then the prison capacity. He said the guys would sit up squooshed in the cell waiting for morning when they were let outside where they would stretch out and sleep.
He wants to do DTS with us, please pray for the voice of the Holy Spirit to speak clearly to us during this time of walking with Jeff.

Now for the second guy who came asking about DTS, he wants to devote him self to missions, spreading the gospel of Jesus. I will call him Michael, he was also involved in an armed robbery but he was put on DEATH ROW, to be hanged! Now to put it into perspective, at that time armed robbery was getting totally out of control in Zambia, people were being killed in their homes, women were being raped, etc. So the government came down VERY HARD on armed robbers, even if they were stupid youth. He was a youth when he went into prison on death row, for 10 years he waited to die. He got a review from President Mwanawasa, and he told them he deserved to die, he was guilty of what he did, and he was not going to beg for his life. After his review he was pardoned and freed. He became a christian in the prison, and since his life had been spared he wants to do nothing else but serve God in missions. He also wants to do the DTS we are running in March. Please keep him in your prayers as well. We were talking to him about rehabilitation of prisoners who went into prison as youth and come out as men with no money, education or money. He advocates for education in prisons now, and wants to work with youth who are at risk already, before they end up in prison. Again please pray for wisdom with these two men with hearts to follow Jesus.

And for our last story. There is a man who back in 2001 told vinjelu how he does not feel like a man, he felt like a totally failure, with no job and business always failing for him. His wife had a job, but he couldn’t make anything work. Back then Vinjelu encourage him to hold on to Jesus and one of these days things would turn around, that Jesus hears his hearts cry. We met him yesterday and he gave testimony after testimony, they have been able to renovate their house into a four bedroom house instead for a one bedroom with room for kids and family. They own now a few businesses, and are enjoying blessing on blessing. And he kept reminding Vinjelu what he had said to him year sago, and that he held onto those words for years. It was encouraging to hear that, and it blessed Vinjelu.

Those are all for now, not all our stories but some of them.

Another few prayer points:
Please pray for total health for the Muyaba family.
Pray for the couple who lost their baby boy
For the clinic staff we will need for our clinic
For the rest of the money needed for the clinic
Pray for wisdom for vinjelu and kathryn as they prayerfully accept students for next years DTS.
Pray for those two men who are now out of prison, and are seeking after Jesus.
Pray for the anointing to fall around us, for people to be healed, and transformed!

Blessings to you all.

Vinjelu and Kathryn