Notes for your prayers …Here are some of the big moments in our trip.
We are very conscious of your support and prayer, as well as the privilege of representing the Congregational Federation.
So this is a good time to say thank you from the whole team:
Hannah, Katie, Nadine, Anikó, Joe, Faith, Becca + Stephen
Saturday June 26Meeting with Richard Chimfwembe, Mission Secretary. We ask for grace and wisdom for those attending: the Zambian team; and our advance party of Katie, Hannah and Stephen. Please pray especially for Stephen as he leads this important session straight after an overnight flight from England.
Sunday June 27 - Tuesday June 29
Please pray for safe journeys – both for the main group, and especially for Joe as he travels out alone via Nairobi. May people have peace of mind about visas, lost luggage, ash clouds, missed connections and other worries.
Tuesday June 29 – Friday July 2
Work at St Mark’s UCZ School, Woodlands, Lusaka. Please pray for Katie as she oversees the development of a play space; and for us all as we lead lessons and organize other activities. Please pray for the congregation at St Mark’s, for their inspiring HIV/Aids programme and their commitment to provide education for disadvantaged children. Give thanks for those who have been raising funds so successfully for this school, following our 2008 visit.
Saturday July 3-Sunday 4Youth meetings and church services. May God’s joy be experienced in all its richness, especially by those who normally worship in very small fellowships and are in for a shock! May everyone learn and grow from this meeting of cultures in Christ’s name.
If people are missing home during this first weekend, we pray that the sense of God’s love connecting us even with those who are far away will sustain us.
Please pray for Anikó as she travels out via Addis to join the team after the end of the Hungarian school year. May she quickly find her place and may the rest of us make room for her in our hearts and life as a team.
Monday July 5- Friday July 9
We split into two groups. May people be content with the choice they have made and may each person’s unique gifting shine out more than ever as they work in a smaller team.
Please pray for the rural ministry team based in Solwezi (Katie, Nadine, Joe and Hannah) and for Roydah Chileshe, their host.
Please pray for the orphanage team based in Kitwe (Stephen, Anikó, Joe and Faith) and for Bishop Sydney Sichilima, their host. Give thanks for those who have supported us as sponsors, so that we can buy timber for a new floor at the school in Twatasha and pray for our safety in this and other hands-on tasks.
We pray for trust that the work and the hosting in people’s homes may be a blessing to all. We give thanks for the kindness of those who will welcome strangers into their lives.
Saturday July 10 – Wednesday July 14
We rejoin in Lusaka and travel together to Choma. Please pray for the refurbishment work we hope to do at the rural health clinic in Njase; and the classroom work at the nearby UCZ girls’ boarding school.
Please pray for the local congregations, especially for the children’s evangelist and youth praise team at St Andrew’s. May their high expectations of our visit be fulfilled in some way not dependent on our strength, but on God’s grace. And may the young people there see us as humble and eager fellow disciples, rather than as rich and proud representatives of a wealthy continent.
Thursday July 15 – Monday July 19
The group separate again, as Hannah and Katie leave for urgent appointments in the UK. Please pray for grace to see one another’s needs as some leave and others stay. The rest of the group go by public bus to Livingstone for two days’ relaxation at Victoria Falls before flying back to Lusaka for a final meeting and journeys home.
Please pray that all of us may see God’s purpose in everything we have experienced, as we find time for rest and reflection.
Thank you again,
Yours in God’s love,
Stephen Haward