JANUARY 2023 Letter LIVING WELL

We are all still glowing in the warm feelings of Christmas and looking forward to a new year. A new year brings thoughts of a new start, another blank slate to write on.

At Christmas, we think about the birth of Jesus. As Christians, we know that Jesus did not begin in a manger. That Christmas scene portrays His incarnation, the time that He left heaven and came to earth as a human.

 His birth did not turn out as many had expected. He didn’t come as a conquering king but as a suffering savior. He brings us great joy!

As we begin a new year, 2023 may not turn out as we expect or hope. For us it certainly has already taken a turn that we had not planned. We will not be able to go to Zambia in January. Ed is having a knee replacement instead. We had hoped to postpone it until after the trip but his pain prevents that. 

We appreciate your prayers for his surgery (January 10) and recovery. We are praying about what that will mean for the rest of the year.

WISDOM Christian School has baby chicks!

Baby Chicks - 1 day old

THANK YOU to the donors who have made this project possible! The building is complete. 

Upon completion of the building, we purchased 100 baby chicks and all that goes into raising them. 

Baby Chicks - 17 days old

Recently, we purchased another 100 chicks. The first group moved to a different room. 

They are presently separated. In about 4 more weeks, the first group will be ready to eat and sell.

The chicken project is a new endeavor that is still a learning process. Please pray for the wisdom of those involved in the project.

Every year as the school grows, we have more expenses. Their new school year begins in January. WISDOM Christian School needs at least $2,000 for supplies to begin the new school year.

Please consider LIVING WELL and WCS for your end of year giving! 

You may give by check. Mail to:

LIVING WELL

PO BOX 720828

OKLAHOMA CITY OK 73172

(if postmarked by December 31st, it will be credited to 2022 giving) 

Or online:

LIVING WELL

WISDOM Christian School

Please let us know how you are doing. Our office is only open by appointment but you can email us at info@livingwellokc.org. We are no longer taking new appointments, but will see people that we have seen in the past. THANK YOU again for your continued prayers, support, and encouragement. We could not do what we do without YOU!

Our love in Christ,

Donna and Ed Edwards

P.S. Please pray for year-end gifts for LIVING WELL and WCS. These gifts are vital for continued ministry.

OCTOBER 2022 Letter LIVING WELL

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever.  Psalm 107:1

We are entering a season that focuses on giving thanks. We are thankful for so much in our lives ...... but who do we thank?

As Christians, we thank God who is the source of all of the good in our lives.

Every good and perfect gift is from above .... James 1:17

After we thank God, we can follow Paul’s example and thank others. Did you know that gratitude in a marriage or any relationship can transform it?!

Shaunti Feldhahn is a Christian, a researcher, writer, and speaker. Her books are based on solid research. In several of her books, she writes about the power of gratitude and kindness in marriage. In her book, Surprising Secrets of Highly Happy Marriages, she shares, I heard these kinds of comments over and over in the interviews with highly happy couples. They were casual remarks about something that really wasn’t casual at all: a deeply felt gratitude. This “attitude of gratitude” can transform your marriage from good to great. Highly happy couples give their spouses most of the credit for their relationship success—and they live in regular, conscious gratitude as a result. Read more about transforming a relationship with gratitude at this link.

WISDOM Christian School is on its way to raising chickens – thanks to numerous donors. The building is almost complete. They will start with 100 baby chicks. As they grow, they will add another 100 babies. These chickens will be large enough to sell or cook in about six weeks. We know that it will be a learning process. Please pray for the wisdom of those involved in the project. [see progress]

We continue to pray that we will be able to return to Zambia in January. We are anxious to see all of the staff and the students! The needs have grown greatly since the secondary school was added. Please pray for the students, teachers, and their support.

Please let us know how you are doing. Our office is only open by appointment but you can email us at info@livingwellokc.org. We are no longer taking new appointments, but will see people that we have seen in the past. THANK YOU again for your continued prayers, support, and encouragement. We could not do what we do without YOU!

Our love in Christ,

Donna and Ed Edwards

 

P.S. Please pray for us to be able to return to Zambia, for protection and support of WISDOM Christian School.

JUNE 2022 Letter LIVING WELL

Do you ever feel like the world is spinning out of control?

First, the pandemic, a crisis that none of us have experienced before, which impacts every part of our lives. Then we add racial violence. On top of that, we add supply disruptions and an erratic economy. The politics of our country divide us. An aggressive Russian military kills many Ukrainians and drives millions from their homes to become refugees in other countries. Now, the horrific, growing levels of gun violence and deaths. Classroom killings of young children threatens to overtake our emotional exhaustion.

How do we endure it all? 

What do we do when life seems to be unraveling?

As long as we look at our circumstances, we can easily get depressed.

In the Bible, God uses the word picture of a “rock” to mean something or someone that is dependable and unchanging. The psalmist calls God “the rock” or “my rock.” The following verse describes who God wants to be in each of our lives.

The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. (Psalm 18:2)

He is The One who protects us, delivers us, and is our safe place. A rock is solid and doesn’t change. The description of Jesus portrays this concept. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8)

With a world that is in constant change, we have The One who does not change. When we are focused on The One, we can have peace and hope, regardless of how much our world changes.

When we seem overwhelmed, we can go to Him. We can seek Him through His Word. We can be assured of His love and compassion for us.

We continue to pray that we will be able to return to Zambia soon and start taking teams again. The needs have grown greatly since the secondary school was added. Please pray for the students, teachers, and their support.

Please let us know how you are doing. Our office is only open by appointment but you can email us at info@livingwellokc.org. We are no longer taking new appointments, but will see people that we have seen in the past. 

THANK YOU again for your continued prayers, support, and encouragement. We could not do what we do without YOU!

Our love in Christ,

Donna and Ed Edwards

P.S. Please pray for us to be able to return to Zambia, for protection and support of WISDOM Christian School.

The water that I will give him will

become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life. 

John 4:14b 

LIVING WELL is a life source, not a life style.

March 2022 Letter LIVING WELL

Wow! The last 10 years have been astounding! 

When we formed LIVING WELL ministry in 2003, our focus was on strengthening families here and in Africa. We have done that through personal guidance, classes, training church teams, and training pastors in Africa. We have tried to be faithful to take the next step wherever the Lord led.

In January of 2012, He presented a new mission endeavor. While we were in Ndola, Zambia, working with pastors on marriage ministry, our colleague there introduced us to a school in a slum of a slum. Another ministry had started WISDOM Christian School (originally named Wisdom Community School), but was leaving Zambia that month. The school was going to close without support – at that time, the need was $400/month. The school had one building made of mud blocks with two classrooms. It served 140 children in grades 1-4, who would not be able to attend school elsewhere. They had three teachers and a caretaker.

The Lord spoke to us about keeping the school open by raising support. We did that for the first year through the Bible study class that we taught at our church. Then God gave us a plan to continue to develop the school with more buildings, school supplies, and taking teams to give the kids a VBS type experience each summer.

As they say, the rest is history! 

We think it’s time to celebrate all the God has done.

He has moved at an amazing speed to grow this school and its development. We are so thankful for the people that He has involved, both in person and as donors.

We have lots of info on the WCS website about the growth and developments at WISDOM in the last 10 years. Please look at the 10 year celebration on the WCS website, you can see year-by-year summaries - lots of photos and info.

CAMP WISDOM Year-by-Year

We continue to pray that we will be able to return soon and start taking teams again. The needs have grown greatly since the secondary school was added. Please pray for the students, teachers, and their support.

Please let us know how you are doing. Our office is only open by appointment but you can email us at info@livingwellokc.org. We are no longer taking new appointments, but will see people that we have seen in the past. 

THANK YOU again for your continued prayers, support, and encouragement. We could not do what we do without YOU!

Our love in Christ,

Donna and Ed Edwards

P.S. Please pray for us to be able to return to Zambia, for protection and support of WISDOM Christian School.

The water that I will give him will

become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life. 

John 4:14b 

LIVING WELL is a life source, not a life style.