Ndola Pastors Express Appreciation

PASTORS AND WIVES MARRIAGE ENRICHMENT CONFERENCE

ORGANIZED BY ALARM — ZAMBIA AND LIVING WELL MINISTRIES

VOTE OF THANKS

On behalf of my fellow conference participants, I would like to take this moment to sincerely thank Ed and Donna Edwards for the wonderful teachings.

We haven’t just gone through the teachings, but the teachings have gone through us as we have been admonished in the last Five (5) days.

As a result, the teachings will impact us greatly in two (2) ways:

1. In our Marriages: We will stop enduring our marriages, but we will start enjoying our marriages.

2. We will be more informed (Marriage) teachers and counselors in our churches

COMMENTS:

I would like to comment that the Clarity of speech, Conviction and Simplicity you exhibited was excellent to us.

Your accent as well was clear to us, bearing in mind that most former British Colonies like Zambia find it hard to understand American English. Also on this, Ed and Donna you have been excellent to us.

LESSONS:
Many lessons have been learnt during this conference.

One of them, for me, includes: The fact that Eve was not the one to blame for what happened in the Garden of Eden. I have always thought and believed that Eve was the one to blame for eating the forbidden fruit which brought about sin, death and suffering in the whole world. But in this conference, I have learnt that “God spoke to Adam first that he should not eat the forbidden fruit even though it was Eve who was the first one to eat the fruit. Meaning that Adam was responsible for all that took place and the resulting consequences because Adam was a leader — who received God’s command." 

I will now stop blaming Eve, women & my lovely wife. This will also help us as participants to change the notion which has been in the minds of many people in Zambia. For example, a circular musician sung a song which said in part in one of our languages — ‘Bemba_' that: ”Wamona Eva, Naine wine cine nka fwa, iye wayo...” meaning; "You see now Eve, because of you, me too I will die one day...". Therefore as participants in this conference, we are more informed on matters like this one and will go and correct such wrong notions in our churches and communities.

Fellowship:
The fellowship among Pastors and wives has been wonderful. I want to admit as Secretary of Ndola Christian Ministers’ Fellowship (NCMF) that we as NCMF have never brought Pastors with their wives for a long time in this manner. Let us clap for Ed & Donna and ALARM Zambia for the job well done.

Food:

The food here at Savoy hotel has been very good. We have not only enjoyed the fellowship, but the ‘swallowship’ as well.

Gifts:

On behalf of my fellow participants, I would Iike to THANK Ed & Donna for the Ball points (Pens), Arm Bands, Teaching Materials, Marriage & Attendance Certificates, Bibles, just to mention a few.

Ed & Donna, we have already started missing you. We have enjoyed your warm and sweet spirit. You are sincere, humble, and practical. It is sad for us that today is the last day, but all the more, we pray that the Lord shall continue to be with you even as you travel back to the USA.

I will also be failing in my duties if I forgot to acknowledge the good work of the host of this conference, i.e.; Rev Charles Mwila, His wife and together with the members of staff of ALARM Zambia. I want to admit that the organization of this conference has been excellent. Please, keep it up.

In closing, I want to mention one of our local language proverbs which says that “Do not thank the king too much with so many words, or else you will end up insulting him”

With this remark in mind, I end Vote of Thanks.

Thank you.

Presented on June 2011 at Savoy Hotel by:
Bernard H. Hanamwanza (Pastor)
Conference Participaht / NCMF Secretary

------------------------------------------------------------

For more on the Zambian mission, see:

Their Words

Questions, Questions

Ndola, Zambia, Family Enrichment Conference

Conference in Ndola, Zambia

Conference Begins

Conference in Ndola, Zambia

We had the best attendance and most attentive group that we have ever had on any of our trips. They received the message with great interest. Many things that we teach are against their cultural values, but they are very committed to the Lord. They receive the teaching because they recognize that everything we teach is Biblical.

In their culture, men dominate women. Men make the decisions and don’t consult their wives. A husband doesn’t tell his wife how much money he has; he just gives her money when he wants her to have some. She doesn’t know where it came from or how much he might have. One pastor who had been at our 2006 seminar there admitted that he practiced that with his money. He said he was going to change in that regard.

We give them a chance to write questions anonymously. We just ask that the men use blue cards and the women use pink cards. One wife asked what a wife was to do when her husband went away for 40 day fast and prayer. He didn’t leave her any money to feed the family and said that the Lord would supply what she needed. Also, one wife asked about whether it is okay for her husband to beat her.

Their culture allows a man, even a pastor, to beat his wife and children. Many wives know that is not right. But some believe that her husband doesn’t love her if he doesn’t beat her. This belief is not held by everyone but it is very common.

They also believe that a wife should bear a son and if she doesn’t then she may be rejected. Or sometimes the parents of the husband encourage him to find another wife. One wife at our conference had 4 daughters. Her husband was very understanding; he told her that they didn’t need a son. She said to him that she thought that she had a boy inside of her. So, they had one more child and it was a son!

At the end we had them write something about how God had changed their lives during the conference. Two people admitted that they were planning on leaving their spouses before they began our conference, but now they had changed their minds and were going to work on their marriages. One pastor admitted that he was very irritable at home but now he was being nice to his wife and they had a new marriage already.      

We will share more testimonies soon. Thank you for your prayers, rejoice in the Lord with us over what He has done in Ndola, Zambia.

Once again this year the Lord is calling us to the mission field. He has given us the task of presenting our Pastoral Marriage and Family Enrichment Conference in Zambia. This mission trip will be our third opportunity to minister in Zambia. This year’s conference will be held in the city of Ndola from May 30 – June 3. Living Well will partner with Africa Leadership and Reconciliation Ministries (ALARM) to facilitate the event. ALARM staff on the ground in Zambia make all the local arrangements for us and will present a one-day follow-up seminar with the participants later in the year.

Of the east African countries where we go, Zambia is the hardest to get to in terms of time. We take five different flights each way, covering over 22,000 miles to get to/from Ndola! [see map] We go because the Lord has given us the mission to encourage and train the pastors and their wives. These dear servants of God have very little resources and almost no opportunity for training. Please see this post for the fact sheet on the mission.

Following the pastor’s conference, I (Ed) will have the opportunity to teach several hundred men at a one-day seminar in Ndola. This event will be held at one of the largest churches in the region and the teaching will focus on moral purity, family leadership, and faithfulness in marriage. The topics are especially appropriate since Zambia has one of the highest rates of HIV/AIDS in the world.

The task is huge! As you can imagine, the cost of such a mission trip is great. The total financial need is $22,000. This amount includes Ed and Donna’s expenses for air and ground travel, food and lodging; and all expenses for the pastor couples to attend the conference. Although the $281total cost per couple to attend the conference is not that great, this amount is well beyond their means. Fifty pastor couples representing fifty churches will attend the conference. Although the cost per couple is relatively small, the impact on their lives, their churches, and their communities is priceless.

We ask you to join our team by supporting the mission effort with your prayers and donations.[to donate] God has ordained this work and called us to it. His mission effort will succeed through the generous support of His people. Please join us as we obey the call and allow Him to work through us in touching many in His Name. All contributions are fully tax deductible and you will receive a receipt.

Blessings,
Ed and Donna Edwards

Zambia Mission 2011

OUR MISSION:

• To partner with Africa Leadership and Reconciliation Ministry (ALARM) to teach and train pastors and their wives in Biblical principles of marriage and family, so that they can strengthen their own marriage, model a godly marriage, and train others in marriage and family. Five day conference, May 30-June 3.
• To teach several hundred men a seminar on moral purity, family leadership, and faithfulness in marriage. Ed will teach the one-day seminar on June 4.
• To bring resources to strengthen and encourage pastors and their wives in their ministry and their marriage.

THE MISSION FIELD:

• The pastors and wives in Zambia, which is in south-central Africa. Zambia is a country the size of Texas. Zambia has a population of 13 million people. We will be in Ndola, the 2nd largest city in the country, where we ministered in 2006. The average life expectancy is about 40 years old (men and women).
• The religious beliefs are estimated to be Christians (50-75%), Muslims (24-49%), and indigenous beliefs (animism, 1%).
• Unemployment is 50%, with a 70% poverty rate.
• The averange annual income is $ 395; the cost of the conference per couple would be more than 50% of their annual income.
  Because of their low income, we have to provide for the expenses of the conference, as well as our own expenses.

OUR NEEDS:

1. Prayer
2. Team Funds: $3958 each ($7916 total) for Ed & Donna Edwards (includes transportation, food, and lodging)
3. Funds for pastors/wives: 50 couples @ $281/couple = $14,050 (includes Study Bibles & conference notebooks/shipping, food, transportation, translators, and fee for conference venue)
   
   TO DONATE

THEIR NEEDS:

• Zambia has been heavily evangelized but the pastors have little or no training in any area, but especially the area of marriage and family.
• The rate of HIV/AIDS infection is very high, but the shame and misinformation related to infection is also high. The epidemic is spreading primarily through heterosexual contact. The need for pastors, church leaders, and their wives (some are HIVpositive) to talk to someone who will not condemn them is also great.
• Zambia is a Christian nation by constitution but has a growing Muslim population. Among Christians leaders, they have difficulty integrating their faith with long-held cultural beliefs. The need for teaching and training in living out the life of a devoted follower of Christ is acute!
• Through Ed's personal ministry to a church leader in 2006 (HIV positive, addicted to pornography, in debt,and travelled away from family for work), that man got out of debt and broke free from immorality. As Ed continued to minister to him from the U.S., first, the man helped a group of six other men break free from pornography. Then, he began speaking to men's groups in churches on moral purity. He is now studying for vocational ministry.

Morogoro, Tanzania

Justin Kiwovele, country director of ALARM, Tanzania, introduces this video by sharing the impact of the Living Well ministry in Morogoro, Tanzania, June, 2010.

The pictures give a glimpse of the attentiveness and involvement of the pastors and wives attending the conference. For the first time, we had Masaai pastors attending our conferences.

A special thanks to all of those who support Living Well, so that we can continue ministering in east Africa and to Rhett and Megan O'Briant for completing our team. Their teaching, their heart, and their serving spirit came through at every moment.

Pastor Fabian, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

The best part of our trips to Africa are the relationships we build. Last year, Pastor Fabian and his wife attended our conference in Bagamoyo and then our workshop in Dar es Salaam. Then, we were fortunate enough to meet at their church with them and some of their church members.

At that time, Pastor Fabian was already planning a marriage conference after receiving our training. He is a very sharp guy and very creative.

After his conference, he was asked by other churches to teach there. A bishop asked him to meet with his son and his fiance to counsel them before marriage. The bishop expressed that he wish he could have the same teaching, even after years of marriage.

Pastor Fabian's wife testified, “I thank God so much for the last seminar in Bagamoyo. I thought that these teachings have come specifically for me and my husband, to fulfill our passion and desire for marriage ministry!

Traditionally pastors and their wives do not teach or minister together, but separately. But now we have crossed that barrier very freely. We are ministering together and are getting good feedback from people saying that we are ministering together well.”
 
At our follow-up session this year, Pastor Fabian came with his wife and brought a special gift which he made for us.

He made this himself, a man who doesn't even have electricity. He cut the letters from leaves and varnished them to the wood.

Obstacles in Marriage, Tanzania

During each of our Pastoral Family Enrichment Conferences in east Africa, we give them a chance to discuss the challenges in having a successful marriage. Most countries express the same obstacles which the pastors in Morogoro shared this year.

When asked to detail the obstacles in marriage in Tanzania, they said:

1. Male dominance (this issue rose to the top time after time)
2. Customs, culture, and traditions: the people don’t know biblical principles, leaders have marital problems and don’t model godly marriage
3. Traditions don’t encourage closeness with wife, don’t eat together, etc.
4. Lack of biblical teaching about marriage in churches, not enough emphasis on marriage, more focused on evangelism.
5. Poverty, Unemployment: husbands and wives transfer from region to region to find work and they are divided by their jobs.

Donna Edwards, Nickson Kalinga, and Ed Edwards teaching at Pastoral Enrichment Conference
Morogoro, Tanzania

Maasai Pastors, MOROGORO

A new experience for us was having Maasai tribesmen at our conference. We were able to recognize them by the large holes in their earlobes.

Maasai tribes live in rural areas around Morogoro. The Maasai are known for owning herds of cattle (they think that they own all the cattle in the world) and for their colorful, red garments.

Some of the Maasai men, still wearing their red garments, have moved to towns and cities to do security work, with the goal of going back to their rural home and cattle.

Some of these traditional tribesmen have come to Christ and become pastors.

The pastors are sorting out their traditional beliefs and their devotion to Christ. Their familiar red-draped fabric, beads, and enlarged earlobes are traded for suits and ties. But often they go back to their culture dress; we thought that their dress was interesting. The Maasai we encountered wore short or long pants under their familiar red, draped fabric. But other Africans explained to us that the Maasai traditional clothing leaves them “practically naked,” when they drape only one cloth around their shoulder in the most traditional way.

We did not address their attire but a more significant issue - the marriage. Their major shift in thinking is what they confessed to be a mistreatment and neglect of their wives. Their sincerity showed through the intensity of their listening and speaking.

This conference was the first conference arranged by ALARM that the Maasai pastors had attended, opening the door for them to attend many more. The Maasai pastors were so enthusiastic about the conference that they asked ALARM to come to their villages to teach.

Daniel and his daughter, MOROGORO

Daniel’s daughter attended the conference with Daniel and his wife. She was the most well-behaved child we have ever had. Daniel treasures this little girl .... but her birth did not have an easy start. Daniel had gone into deep debt trying to buy a bigger house. Then, his wife had their daughter prematurely. He was unable to pay the bills along with his already existing debt; he ended up going to prison. Daniel testified to the group about how much the lesson on money meant to him and he committed to live according to God’s plan for finances.

Rhett and Megan O'Briant, Living Well Team in MOROGORO

When travelling on a short-term mission trip, the people on the team can make an enormous amount of difference in the outcome and enjoyment. Rhett and Megan O’Briant accompanied us two years ago to Zambia. We appreciated their teaching skills and support overall to the mission effort. On this trip, we expanded their teaching role and the Africans loved them. Even though they are younger than most of those who attended, they were well received because of their openness and candor about their own marriage. Their willingness to do whatever was needed, from operating the video camera to carrying luggage through airports, endeared them to us forever.

Rhett and Megan at the Bethel Church with Nickson Kallinga, the pastor

Rhett and Megan use a visual aid, two large hearts and smaller hearts for each particpant. They are using the hearts to demonstrate what happens to our hearts when damaging patterns of communcation exist in our marriages.

They end with showing how God can heal those hearts through forgiveness.

From the O’Briant’s: “The participants came with an unmatched desire to learn and leave with a commitment not only to improve their marriages, but also to create marriage ministries within their churches. God’s hand was in each detail along the way.”

Group Discussions

These pastors and their wives enjoyed getting to know each other as they discussed a case study about a pastor who put the priority of his ministry before his wife and children. These couples strongly identified with the pastor in the case study - a man who spent six out of seven evenings in church ministry and was not involved with his family. Their priorities changed, putting theri marriage and children above ministry, but most of all, putting their relationship with God first. Many of them realized for the first time that the activity of ministry is different than their personal relationship to the Lord.

MOROGORO Conference - Group Photo

Group Picture of Family Enrichment Conference
Presented in partnership between Living Well and ALARM

Photo includes Anna Kiwovele (left end, second row) and Justin Kiwovele (left end, front row), country directors for ALARM; Ed and Donna Edwards, Megan and Rhett O'Briant, Living Well team

A Teacher's Delight

As teachers, we love to have a group who sits attentively, takes notes, and enjoys learning. These African pastors and their wives will sit in hard chairs all day long and come back the next day, ready to do it again.

Having a toddler on her back, was no deterent for this Tanzanian woman. She faithfully took notes, even in such an uncomfortable position.

Ed Edward, Living Well, gives one of his visual lessons, while Justin Kiwovele, ALARM Tanzania Director, translates to these Tanzanian pastors and wives.

Couple Time in Morogoro

The couples are learning to look at each other and express their love and commitment to each other, while they hold hands - a very new idea to them!

We teach them to say "You are God's perfect gift for me!"

GRATITUDE from MOROGORO Pastors

The pastors at the Morogoro conference composed a letter of gratitude for our team. This pastor, Peter, read a copy in English. Then another pastor read it in Swahili. We were overjoyed to receive the letter and to hear what God had done in their lives.

They felt as though they had a honeymoon because they were able to stay at a "hotel" with private rooms, running water, and meals - all paid by the generous supporters of Living Well.

Another highlight of their week was being able to meet many other pastors from different denominations. We work interdenominationally at all of our conferences.

The conference teachings on giving to your spouse, priorities of the pastor, and finances spoke to these couples in a very powerful way.

"Generally the whole seminar has become a healing and a challenge to all of us in many areas of our Marriage relationships."

They ended by saying:

"We promise that we will be teaching this seminar material to our church members and fellow Pastors who have not been able to attend this seminar. May the Almighty God Bless you richly."

MOROGORO 2010 NEWS

It is just like I have been born again, because I can see that I was sinning against my wife.

Justin Kiwovele, ALARM Tanzania

Many pastors in Morogoro conveyed this message after our conference in Morogoro. Our host, Justin Kiwovele, the ALARM Tanzania country director told us, “Many people came, flocking to me. Telling me about Ed and Donna coming to that place [Morogoro]. ‘It is just like I have been born again, because I can see that I was sinning against my wife.’ This is the problem with our African culture. They have adapted from our culture that man is superior and that the wife is just a servant. Now, when they come to be told of God’s model of marriage, it’s just like a new thing. That’s where the husbands see that they have been doing wrong to their wives. And feeling like that they should be born again.”

That statement is why we keep going back to Africa. Thank you for your prayers and support! You were there with us - your prayers, God’s spirit speaking through us, and your support.

We never know what God has for us when we go to east Africa, but it is always more than we could ask or imagine. We had a room full of people, every chair taken. We had people who sat attentively, took notes, asked questions, and made comments through the whole week. We had pastors who had never had any teaching on marriage and a few that had studied it more extensively. One pastor had studied in the U.S. and still marveled at what God taught him. Again and again, they conveyed their belief in the teachings because of the evidence of the truth in God’s Word.

New for us at this conference were several pastors from the Maasai tribe. You may recognize them as the tall, thin Africans that herd cattle and wear bright red and blue cloth wrapped around them. They often have a large beaded necklace. The Maasai men have large holes in their earlobes, which are put there from a young age. We had several pastors in our group who wore American style clothing but also had large holes in their earlobes, illustrating the dichotomy of their lives. The Maasai are strongly patriarchal, so the marriage teachings, which elevate women to a position right after their relationship with God, bring a new level of understanding to their roles as a pastor, husband, and father. Many Maasai are coming to Christ and some are becoming pastors in their villages. However, some continue their cultural traditions including the traditional dress, which was described to us as being “practically naked.” The pastors were eager to see the truth of what God teaches about marriage and the role of ministry compared to their family priorities.

We convey the results from our trip, not to commend ourselves, but to exalt Christ who works through us.

Donna brought back an intestinal, African bug with her, but is fully recovered now. Otherwise, the team did well overall with the trip and the logistics went well as we travelled. We cannot begin to thank Rhett and Megan O’Briant enough for all that they added to the teaching and the team.

Thank you for your love, support, and prayers. Our love in Christ,

Donna and Ed Edwards

P.S. Praise God for His blessings during our conference.

MOROGORO Tanzania 2010 Mission Trip

LIVING WELL VBS in Bagamoyo, Tanzania 2009

Video of the VBS for local children in Bagamoyo, Tanzania.

Tanzania Mission 2009 Highlights

Ed and Donna Edward meeting with churches

We had two very good meetings today with churches. The church this morning was a good size and very active. We had to ride down this very narrow "street" to get to the church. It is in the middle of a residential area and has reached very many people. The pastor of the church was very touched and excited by the weeklong conference and by the workshop. He has offered to pay for the "photocopies" of the lessons from the conference (about 90 pages) for the other churches who did not attend the conference but attended the one-day workshop on building a marriage ministry. He spent most of the day going to get the copies made.

Our meeting this afternoon was in the home of the pastor rather than in their church. We always like going to their homes and see more about how they live. One of the people in the meeting was a woman, who is the female leader of the elders there. She was very expressive and had some very good questions. She wanted to know more about our own testimony about why we were coming to Africa and how we got involved in marriage ministry. I told her that, if I could speak Swahili, she was the kind of person that I would like to have as a friend.

She also asked our interpreter a couple of questions about America and didn't want him to translate it to us. So, he spoke to her first, knowing a lot about us and our views before he told us about the conversation. She wanted to know if it was true that Obama supported abortion legislation. She also wanted to know if we supported that view or supported him. She also asked about divorce in America and the condition of the family. She said that Africa is learning from America. She communicated that what Africans see Americans doing, then they think it is right for them also. We were very clear about our support of Obama, because he is our president, but that he has some views that we do not agree with. It seemed to help them a lot to get a bigger picture of the culture of America.

Thanks for your continued prayers for us.