April 2009
The rains have stopped, the mud is all but dried up, and the temperature has cooled so that we now close our louvered windows at night. We do miss sleeping under a soft breeze. We are in a malaria area, so we've been most grateful for our good screens. The Africans are cold now, most of them wearing blankets, sweaters or jackets, but not us—we are quite comfortable.
Taking the gospel into this vast continent of Africa is an unbelievable and miraculous mandate from the Lord. Every day we see that it is not humanly possible, and every day we see the Lord's hand revealed in some way that makes it a little more doable. Rand and I continue to stay a few steps behind our work load, which certainly makes us recognize our dependence upon the Lord as never before.
Singing the hymns and worshipping are synonymous in Africa. We sing in fervent voice with pioneers who cherish every hopeful, reverential word and melody; Sabbath-singing which brings renewed awareness of the eternal, and faith to press forward for another day. Master the Tempest is Raging has become our hymnal mantra. The raging calamities which have come upon Zimbabwe have sent rippling effects that have almost squelched the gospel's progress here in the neighboring country of Zambia. Because of Zimbabwe's devastated economy, our mission has had to manage on a cash basis which has not only opened the door for Satan to tempt good, but hungry Saints, but has slowed the work considerably. Counting and recounting and distributing and banking enormous sums of cash takes a lot of time, diverting too much attention from other needful things. We haven't taken this quietly. We have been extended an invitation to the African Area Offices in Johannesburg SA. In our bags we will be taking a full list of items for further review. We are all enlisted till the conflict is o'er, happy are we, happy are we.
The calling of a new District Presidency has brought restored focus and hope to this area. Serving with the new President, Harrison Lumbama, has been a delight. Turns out that one of the reasons Rand and he hit it off so famously is that they are both car dealers! The chances of that in Africa are almost zilch. Pres. Lumbama had been flying to Durban SA, buying a car and driving it back to Zambia to sell—exactly what Rand did for years, except his route was LA to SLC. Just recently, Pres. Lumbama was offered a job through a church member to work for an upstart NGO as its only fulltime employee, allowing him to quit traveling and to answer the Lord's call as District President. His boss (the church member) has been most understanding of the new demands on his schedule. The Lord's hand? Undeniably so.
We don't get the satellite broadcast of General Conference in Zambia. We were so sad to be missing Conference when we really needed it. Our internet would only pick it up sporadically. With heaven's grace, we had one steady breakthrough and that was for the exact minutes that Pres. Monson spoke, encouraging us to "be of good cheer" rather than discouraged or cynical because of surrounding challenges. It was the very message we needed from the prophet we love.
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