FEBRUARY 2013 Letter - LIVING WELL

We’re back! We thank you for your many prayers and support! As we write this letter, we returned less than a week ago. Besides the physical recovery from the long trip, we have finished writing and presenting for two events here in OKC since our return.

We enjoyed seeing the children of Wisdom Community School again and many of our pastor friends. We were able to spend time at the school, getting to know their community and the children better.  We spent time learning from people who are running community schools.

Please read Ed's letter about God’s message to him while were there! We are already planning our next trip. [see details] God is giving us a big mission for this summer! Please consider whether God may be calling you to be a part of the mission.

We also made some significant progress towards providing year-round, clean drinking water with a new well for the children of Wisdom. Please pray with us that the project will go forward. What a great opportunity for those children! Right now, they drink from a hand-dug well that is dry during three or four months a year (no water to drink or wash their hands).

At the follow-up to our pastors’ conference, we heard many testimonies from pastors of what has happened since last June when they spent a week with us. One young pastor shared how he took four couples in his church through the material that we had taught him. Now those four couples are teaching other couples.

A well-dressed, articulate man got up to speak. He said that he had something to say even though he had not been at our conference and was not a pastor. He shared that his pastor had been at our conference and had taught his church the lessons on marriage. The man identified himself as being a high court officer in their government. His office processes divorce requests. He explained to these pastors that the number of people seeking divorce now in Zambia is increasing at a staggering pace. In his government office, using what he had learned from his pastor, he had been able to reconcile three couples! He also challenged the pastors to spend more time strengthening marriages and help slow the growing swell of divorcing couples. What an unexpected blessing we received as we heard him speak and challenge these pastors!

We are leading a team that is presenting an event on February 23 to celebrate marriage. Together Forever is open to the public (for married/engaged/seriously dating couples) and is featuring Michael O’Brien, a Christian recording artist. We heard Michael sing and share his marriage testimony a few years ago. His music appeals to all ages and his testimony is very powerful. Our evening includes specialty coffee bars by Café Evoke (and other drinks), photos (photo booth, portraits, party pics), great door prizes, and exquisite desserts. We will honor couples who have been married 50+ years and encourage those who are in their early years. The event is at Putnam City Baptist Church; contact us or visit the church website.

You are a valuable part of our ministry! We love and appreciate you and your support of what God is doing! Our love in Christ,
Donna and Ed Edwards
P.S. Please pray with us about our next mission to Zambia. 

Christmas Gifts for Children of Wisdom

After ministering at Wisdom Community School, outside of Ndola, Zambia, last summer, several of the mission team wanted to send Christmas gifts to the 175 children who attend Wisdom. They inspired their friends at Putnam City Baptist Church to give toys and candy for the children. We acquired all of the children's ages and gender, so age appropriate gifts could be sent.

The group packed 12 boxes full of Christmas love for the children.

The boxes were mailed near the first of November and have successfully arrived in Ndola. They recently arrived. The children go to school year round; December is one of the months that they take their break. Before leaving for break, the children were asked to return on December 21st to receive the gifts that our team has sent.

Hot Wheels and Trucks abound!

And myriads of dolls!

Pat Foster, Tommie Clemmer, and Martha Battle
Sort and pack LOTS of gifts!



Pat is packing them in!




12 Boxes of Gifts
Each box number corresponds to a list
Telling which age & gender receives the gifts

Ron and Kathy Jackson, part of the Zambia Mission 2012, were the impetus behind putting together the boxes. Their friends not only purchased and packaged the gifts but also gave $900 to cover the shipping of the boxes.

The generous heart of these people demonstrates the love of Jesus to these children who live in a slum and are predominantly orphans. We pray for their well-being!



LIVING WELL Zambia Mission Team Shares

LIVING WELL Ministers at Wisdom Community School

Wisdom Community School, in Ndola, Zambia, is operated by Better World Ministry, headed by Brother Charles Mwila Mutambala. The school is in a slum area, called Twapia (means "we are very broke").

Home in Twapia

Ed and Donna Edwards, of Living Well, visited the school in January, 2012. They learned that the school no longer had funding for the teachers and caretaker. They presented the need to their young married Bible study class at Putnam City Baptist Church. Several members of the class committed to provide the $400/month funding needed for 2012. Because of their contributions, the school is able to remain in operation.



Market in Twapia

Most of the children are orphans or "twice orphaned" (both mother and father have died) and live with a grandparent, older sibling, or even a neighbor. The families cannot afford the uniforms, books, meals, and materials that have to be purchased to attend public schools.

Children in area came to meet us
as we came to "preview" the school.

The school is for grades 1-5 and teaches 160 kids in two rooms without electricity or running water. Living Well is partnering with Better World to help Wisdom Community School continue to operate. Many more children in the neighborhood are not attending school, but Wisdom Community School is now full. The school is adding a grade each year to be able to teach the children as they move to the next grade.

Since Living Well began partnering with Better World Ministry in January, the Lord has provided several of the needs of the school through donations and the MISSION ZAMBIA 2012 Team.

The eight on the team plus Ed and Donna as the week
at Wisdom Community School begins.

Eight team members from the Oklahoma City metro area travelled with us to Ndola at the beginning of June, 2012. Three team members (John Holinsworth, Lois Jeffries, Karen Russell) painted the school inside and out, as well as doing repairs, replacing the doors and locks, and working in the flower bed. Previous to the trip, Living Well raised the funds to plaster the school on the outside in preparation for painting.

Five team members (Darla Holinsworth, Mary Kay McCormick, Norma McKinney, and Ron & Kathy Jackson) provided Bible teaching, crafts, music, and recreation for 160 children for 5 days.

So far in 2012 ....

MISSION accomplished:

• Monthly monetary support for three teachers, one caretaker amounting to a total of $400/month (commitments for 2012)
• Painting the interior walls (materials/supplies cost: $500)
• Cement plastering the exterior of the building to prevent deterioration of the earthen bricks (cost estimate: $1000 labor and materials)
• Painting the exterior walls after plastering (materials/supplies cost: $500)
• Teaching materials (books, paper, pencils, teaching aids, etc.)
• New doors and locks
• Recreation equipment - soccer balls, etc.
• Music equipment, hand instruments
• New Testament for each child
• Books and bookcases
• Toothbrush and toothpaste for each child (thanks to Dr. Russell Danner and Dr. Glenn Ashmore)
• A week of Bible teaching, crafts, Bible stories, music, and recreation

We did a lot of work, accomplished a lot, and left them with a lot .... but the reality is that we were the ones who benefited the most.

Before we took the mission trip, some people asked if it wouldn't be better just to give the money to have local people do the work. Our answer is that then you wouldn't have the experience of ministering to these children.

Much more is needed at the school. Will tackle that one in the next post.

His Heart Belongs in Africa

"God had only one Son,
and He was a missionary.”
David Livingstone

Zambia enjoys the great history of David Livingstone exploring and bringing the gospel to their land. David Livingstone died in present-day Zambia on May 1st,1873, from malaria and internal bleeding caused by dysentery. He took his final breaths while kneeling in prayer at his bedside.

Britain wanted the body to give it a proper ceremony, but the tribe would not give his body to them. Finally they relented, but cut the heart out and put a note on the body that said, "You can have his body, but his heart belongs in Africa!". Livingstone's heart was buried under a Mvula tree near the spot where he died. His tombstone in Westminster Abbey reads, "Brought by faithful hands over land and sea, David Livingstone: missionary, traveler, philanthropist. For 30 years his life was spent in an unwearied effort to evangelize the native races, to explore the undiscovered secrets, and to abolish the slave trade."

David Livingstone was the inspiration for many missionaries going to Zambia, Africa. They have been heavily evangelized and are somewhere between 50-75% Christian. The Zambian constitution even declares them to be a Christian nation.

Unfortunately, these factors do not translate into Christian lifestyles in all aspects of their lives. Sex outside of marriage is common, which has become the means by which HIV/AIDS is spread. Zambia has one of the highest rates of HIV/AIDS. About one in every seven adults is HIV+. The life expectancy is around 50 years old (up from 39 years at the height of the epidemic).

Children have been much affected by the AIDS epidemic in Zambia, where 120,000 children are estimated to be infected with HIV. In 2009 there were 690,000 AIDS orphans in the country and made up half of all orphans in the country.

In 2003, it was revealed that increasing numbers of child rape cases were being fuelled by the "virgin cure" myth (which wrongly claims that sex with a virgin can cure AIDS). Older men will have sex with a younger girl, a virgin, thinking it will take away the AIDS. The reality is that it further spreads the disease.

The church can be one of the most effective means of changing the direction of the epidemic and ministering to those who are affected by it.

APRIL 2012 Letter - LIVING WELL

Spring has come early to our part of the country! We see tulips and daffodils popping up from the seeming lifeless ground. They remind us that the dead-looking soil holds new, living, beautiful creations. These spring flowers are a powerful picture of the Easter story.

Jesus Christ died and was buried. Out of that physical death came a new life, a resurrected life. Because of His death and resurrection, we have hope for our own death and new life. We do not have to wait until we die physically to experience the new life. As we receive Him as our Lord and Savior, we die to our sin and gain a new spiritual life while still on earth. 

After His resurrection, He ascended into heaven. However, He didn’t leave us on our own. He left us with a promise. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. (John 14:18) His Spirit came to indwell us. His Presence lives within us.

What is like to be an orphan?

An orphan is someone who has lost one or more parents. We both had two wonderful parents, who loved us and gave us direction as we grew up. Now, we have each lost one of our parents. We no longer call them up or spend time with them or ask them for guidance. We miss their presence in our lives.

Jesus was saying in John 14:18 that when He left earth He would send someone to be with us, someone to talk with us, someone to give us guidance, someone to express the love of the Father to us. We don’t have to wander around, feeling alone or lost. We don’t have to rely on our own resources to make it through life. When He comes to live in us, we become a child of God. Each of us is truly an orphan in this life until God becomes Our Father.

As we prepare for our next mission trip to Zambia, this concept becomes especially meaningful. Part of our mission is to minister to 160 orphan children at Wisdom Community School. Our theme for the week is God as Our Father. We will focus on different attributes of God each day - loving, forgiving, kind, compassionate, and merciful.

Because a person forms his view of God from the characteristics of his earthly father, someone who doesn’t have a father may see God as distant or uninvolved or even unloving. When the father is present in African households, he is often emotionally and physically harsh to his children. He is not involved in their lives and doesn’t express love and kindness to them. We want these children to know God as He truly is - as a perfect Father who loves His children.

We are excited to have on our Zambia 2012 team: (l-r, bottom to top) Karen Russell, Lois Jeffries, Norma McKinney, Donna Edwards, Mary Kay McCormick, Darla Holinsworth, Kathy Jackson, Ed Edwards, John Holinsworth, and Ron Jackson. Part of the team will do physical work (painting, etc.) on the school and the others will be ministering to the children with Bible activities, music, crafts, reading, and games. [read more about the mission]

By faith we have already shipped 160 Children’s Bibles and 50 Study Bibles (for our pastors conference). We have already sent funds to have cement plaster put on the outside of the school, so it will be ready for paint when we arrive. We are shipping crafts, children’s books, and musical instruments this week.

We are responsible to raise the funds for the school project, for both the physical work and for the Bibles and other materials, as well as funds for the pastors conference, and our own transportation, lodging, food, etc. We have already purchased our plane tickets!

Please pray with us for this mission - for the planning, preparation, people, and for the funding. We still have about $14,000 to raise before we leave.

Our love in Christ,
Donna and Ed Edwards