June 2012 Letter - LIVING WELL

Just a few days left until we leave for Zambia!

Thank you so much for your prayers for our preparation and support! We are almost finishing preparing and God has provided the funds! We just received the remaining amount needed! We value your prayers while we are gone! Our mission dates are May 30-June16.

What do we do to prepare a team for a mission such as this one?

First, we pray that God will raise up the people that He wants to go with us. Once someone has indicated an interest in the mission, we share some of the basic information about the time and financial costs. If they are still interested, we meet with them to share more details about what the mission would entail. Then, they pray and we pray.

Once the team has been finalized, we begin meeting with them as a group. We do the best we can to prepare them for what God is going to do spiritually in them, in the group, and in the people we will meet. We pray for love and unity within the team. We believe that God does more in each of us than the people to whom we minister .

We pray and decide what part each of us will have in teaching, leading, and work. We ask them to read materials about international missions and the objectives of short-term missions. They prepare a testimony to share. We develop VBS materials appropriate for their culture.

We spend a lot of time going over logistics - long flights, airports, how to dress, weather, packing, varying weight limits on airlines, food, water, money exchange, medical preparations (shots, medicines to take), hotels, and schedules.

A large part of our training is to prepare people for the culture. We give them materials to read about Zambia in particular. As we show them pictures of previous missions, we try to communicate some of our experiences. We hope to help them understand aspects of the African culture that are different but also to see it isn’t wrong or bad.

We pray together and have prayer requests during the days leading up to the mission.

We do all that we can to prepare them for the mission. BUT …. Through all of the preparations, we tell them, “There are some parts that we cannot prepare you for, you will just have to experience them.” For us, one of our greatest joys of the mission is seeing new people experience Africa and her people for the first time. As some tell us who have gone with us more than once, it is really hard to internalize and enjoy it all the first time. They really get the full experience the second time. The sights, sounds, and smells can be overwhelming.

Our mission teammates have always returned with a new heart in their own walk with the Lord, a new vision of what the Body of Christ looks like, a love for the African people, and a shift in their thinking about wealth and possessions.

We were very excited to learn from our contact in Zambia that we already have the maximum number of pastor couples signed up to attend the pastor’s conference. The plastering is finished at the school and waiting to be painted. The 160 children and teachers are ready for us to come. All of the Bibles, books, and materials, which we shipped, have arrived.

Please pray with us for this mission. As we prepare to leave, pray that we get all of the remaining materials in our luggage and have some room left to take our clothes! Pray for the hearts and health of our team and those we will meet!

We will post updates on this blog as we are able to get internet access.

Our love in Christ,
Donna and Ed Edwards


Previous post on mission trip, read here....
Read mission details here.....

Mission Zambia - June 2012

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. James 1:27

On our last trip to Ndola, Zambia, God touched our hearts with that verse.

We visited Wisdom Community School in a slum area outside Ndola. In two rooms, they teach 160 children, grades 1-4, who could not attend school otherwise. The kids are orphaned or twice orphaned (both parents died). They live with an elderly grandparent or an older sibling. The school has no water, electricity, or toilets. They have very few books but can read and speak English. The school is community-based but Christian sponsored. The way out of poverty for these kids is to have an education . . . . . . . unreachable in their present circumstances, without this school.

The school has many needs that we believe God wants to meet through our ministry. The school is made from basic earthen/cement bricks and a tin roof. The first need is to put on cement/plaster on the outside to preserve it and then paint the outside and inside.

• We are assembling a team to take with us to do the painting. We are raising funds to have the plastering done before we get there and to buy the paint.
• We are assembling another team to work with the children while the team is painting the school. They will do VBS type activities, Bible stories, and soccer. 

In conjunction with the Water 4 Foundation, we are evaluating the possibility of drilling a well and providing toilet facilities. We may not be able to complete that part of the project on this trip, but will in the near future based on feasibility.

The children at our church are donating new (or slightly used) books, which we will ship over and give out when we arrive. We also want to provide a Bible for each child.

When we visited there, the school no longer had funding for the three teachers and one caretaker. Our young-married Bible study class took on the funding of the teachers and caretaker for 2012 at the cost of $400/month.

While the teams work at the school, we will teach a pastor’s conference on marriage and family as we have done over the last 10 years. We provide study Bibles for them and fund all of the expenses for 50 pastor couples to attend.

We pray that you will consider being a part of our team to go or to send. [see our website for more information]

John Piper said, “There are only three kinds of Christians when it comes to world missions: zealous goers, zealous senders, and disobedient.”

Our love in Christ,
Donna and Ed Edwards
P.S. The cost of each team member is over $4000, we have to pay $3000 each by the end of this month for our plane tickets. Please pay that God will provide the funds.

To donate.....

JULY 2011 LETTER - LIVING WELL

“We have already started enjoying the fruits of that Seminar. My wife and I, are already living in Paradise. May I report to you that our marriage is and has never been the same up to this point I am writing to you. Just after the Seminar, I had to immediately organize the married couples of our Church. On Sunday the 5th of June, 2011, we had a decisive and successful meeting. We resolved as a Church, to have a Marriage and Family enrichment program, starting from this June up to July, 2011. Once again, we thank you Ed and Donna for the material you gave us. We promise to make full use of it. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you, Ed and Donna; Phil 4:23.”  Sostern Banda, pastor 

Joy to our hearts! And answers to your investment of prayers in this mission. Thank you!

We received this testimony upon our return along with the report from the ALARM - Zambia office. This mission endeavor exceeded our expectations! ALARM country director, Charles Mwila Mutambala, did an excellent job of planning and preparing for the conference. We planned for 50 couples, we had at least 53 couples. We asked for pastors and spouses to come together and they did, almost 100% attended with their spouse. They were consistent and attentive. They appreciated everything we taught and the gifts we brought. We bring small gifts for each of them, which we use as visual aids for them to remember teaching points. We also give them a 100 page notebook and study Bibles.  Charles added his response in the report:

“As ALARM-Zambia, we expect Living Well Ministries to have nationwide impact among the ministers in the Zambian Church. The Lord willing, there would be great need to take this important ministry to Zambia’s Capital city, Lusaka, during the same time, next year. If it were possible, we would suggest that the number of participants be increased from fifty married couples to about a hundred. Besides, we would further suggest that two mission trips per year, from Living Well ministries would impact the Zambian Church significantly.”

The pastors in Ndola speak English well, which made it more enjoyable to dialogue with them and facilitated more opportunity for feedback. We had them write down how God had changed their lives through the conference. (see some of their responses here) We also gave them an opportunity to write questions for us (anonymously). Men use blue cards, women use pink—so, all we know is their gender. Some of the questions are answered during our teachings, some are addressed separately, some will be addressed during a follow-up conference by the ALARM staff. You can read some of the questions they asked here; it also gives you a good view of the challenges faced there.

Ed preached at an international church (some Africans, some from India and other countries) on the Sunday before the conference started on Monday. Then we split the teaching times each day. By the end of the week, we were very tired!

Then, Ed had a one-day men’s conference scheduled for Saturday. What were we thinking??? The Lord enabled him to teach that Saturday in a condensed format. Rather than doing three, full, one-hour sessions over an all-day format (interspersed with worship and testimonies), he taught all three sessions straight through and was finished with his part by noon. The men stayed and discussed his points and shared their testimonies on overcoming sexual temptations and being godly husbands and fathers. The organizers came by to see us that evening and shared how meaningful the time was to 100+  men who were present.

Logistically, all went well—we made all flights connections, we had no lost bags, adequate accommodations and food. And we didn’t get sick! We took some time to rest before our return. After coming home, we had one day of recovery and back to work! Then we spent a week receiving training in Dallas.

You are an valuable part of our ministry here and in Africa. We love and appreciate you and your support of the work God is doing through Living Well!

Our love in Christ,

Donna and Ed Edwards

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For more on the Zambian mission, see:

• Anniversary Celebration
• Pastors Express Appreciation
• Their Words
• Questions, Questions
• Ndola, Zambia, Family Enrichment Conference
• Conference in Ndola, Zambia
• Conference Begins

Anniversary Celebration

We had a wonderful day! June 2nd was our 38th anniversary and they had quite a celebration for us. At lunch, they had a beautiful flower arrangement. Then they had a procession of women as they all sang "Come and See."

They presented us with a cake, a bouquet of red roses, cards, and gifts. Then they had us stand and let everyone come by in a receiving line to shake our hands and give their greetings. They certainly know how to celebrate! They are very gracious.

At this hotel, they have their own band that plays, usually in the evening. When they heard about the size of our group at lunch, they started playing at lunch, for tips. On Wednesday, they sang and played  John Denver's "Country Road." Very interesting to hear it sung with an African accent! But we really enjoyed it. Our hosts saw our delight and made sure they sang it again for our anniversary celebration.

We had a pastor and his wife sit with us at lunch on our anniversary. They had both been married before but have been married to each other for 41 years. He confessed how he and his wife had argued and would say bad things to each other - even saying, "I know now why your first husband left you." They talked about how much our teaching had helped them.

For dinner, our hosts took us to an Indian restaurant, owned by one of their church members. We have not eaten Indian food very often. The owner made suggestions for us; they had too many options for us to choose. We enjoyed all of the dishes they served.

At dinner, we learned about our host, Rev. Charles Mwila - his time of study in the U.S. and his participation in writing a new constitution for Zambia. Very sharp guy! And a real man of God and gracious host.

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For more on the Zambian mission, see:

• Pastors Express Appreciation
• Their Words
• Questions, Questions 
• Ndola, Zambia, Family Enrichment Conference 
• Conference in Ndola, Zambia 
• Conference Begins

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

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For more on the Zambian mission, see:

Their Words

Questions, Questions

Ndola, Zambia, Family Enrichment Conference

Conference in Ndola, Zambia

Conference Begins

THEIR WORDS

Since this group of Zambian pastors/spouses knew English, we ask them to write out for us how God had been at work in them during the week. They didn't have to sign their names. We are including pictures but they do not correspond to the testimonies.

God has changed my life in this way:
(spelling and wording are their own)

“Before this seminar started or was even announced to me, I was planning to leave my wife because things were hard. I was not getting along with my wife on daily basis. The situation changed when me and my wife attended the seminar. God has changed my life. My wife and I believe through His grace, I and my wife shall not be the same.”

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 “My house is completely healed through this conference. I’ve learnt a lot of things which I never came across in my life. We need more again.”

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 “God teaches me to be faithful to my wife. My marriage passed through hardship, I was not faithful to my wife but this time I sat down with my wife and I openly apologize to her for my behavior. Praise God I am a changed person.”

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“To me it is God fulfilled mission and touching the Father’s heart—absolutely a breakthrough—saved, delivered, restored and revived again. Almost lost my marriage due to being busy with the ministry and yet I was burning out and stress up. My life saved and my marriage refreshed. God bless you, Edwards. I never forget this glorious refreshing.”

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“It can be difficult sometimes to strike a balance between our cultural beliefs and principles with Biblical principles. This conference has helped me know better because Ed and Donna made a Biblically sound presentation that was eye opening.

I also feel much conversant and well equipped to help other marriages teaching them what I have learnt and also making use of the written materials that have been used in this training.

I thank God, Donna and Ed, as well as all the Living Well partners and supporters for this great and rare privilege that has so blessed my heart. God bless you all, Thank you!”

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“I never used to have time for my wife and children. I tell you from now on I will be a good husband and a good father as well as a good pastor. Ed and Donna you are a bless, God has used you to change my life. I pray that He Almighty God will continue to shower His blessing on you and all the people supporting this precious ministry.”  -----

“I built a very strong wall between my wife and I. Every time an argument arose I ran out of the house and came back after hours just to sleep. But now, that wall was broken the very day Ed and Donna spoke to me about the need to tackle arguments by allowing each person to express themselves.

I am more interested to hear my wife speak and I have learnt a lot from her. My marriage will never be the same again after going through the seminar.”

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“This seminar has exposed dark spots in my married life. Consequently, it has placed on me, the personal responsibility to take action, with the view of allowing God to effect corrections in my life.

This seminar has availed my wife and I, and open opportunity, to interact forthrightly, with truth regarding the hidden areas in our relationships, which we could never address or face up to, without a deep verbal or emotional confrontation.”

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Praise God for the work He did in the hearts of the people!

For more on the Zambian mission, see:

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.

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

MOROGORO Tanzania 2010 Mission Trip