On Mission to the BaTonga People of Zambia

December 2010

“Prayer is the key that unlocks all the storehouses of God’s infinite grace and power.” R.A. Torrey

Each year, when Christmas comes near, we start feeling homesick, even after all these years of living in Zambia. Although there are some signs of Christmas approaching, they are not the same as those in America. When we go to Lusaka, the capital city, we see Christmas decorations in the shops and hear Christmas music playing over the loud speaker in some of the shops, but here in Gwembe there is little to remind us of Christmas. But, one reminder that Christmas is near is a flower that blooms only in the rainy season. If the rains start on time, as they have this year, this beautiful red flower can be see grow-ing wild on the side of the road in the month of December. Recently, Wes brought one of these flowers home. He was so excited to find one of these rare and special flowers to bring to me as a gift. I don’t know the real name, but we call it the “Christmas flower.” This one beautiful red flower brings joy each time I look at it sitting in the middle of our table. It reminds me that long ago, God sent His one and only Son into the world to bring true and lasting joy to millions of people throughout the world who look to Him for their salvation. This flower will eventually whither, and I’ll have to find something else to put on my table that brings joy to my eyes. The Christmas flower brings temporary joy, but the true meaning of Christmas brings everlasting joy. May you look upon Jesus, the Savior, this Christmas and throughout the year to come, and may He bring you lasting joy!

Merry Christmas from our house to yours.

Please notice the change to our blog address: www.wilcoxzambia@blogspot.com

“Prayer is not difficult to understand, but it is difficult to do. We are a generation that avoids pain at all costs. This is why there are so few intercessors.” Henry Blackaby.

The three wise men brought gifts to baby Jesus of gold, frankin-cense and myrrh. Many of you have given, or are praying about giving, to the Lottie Moon Mission’s Christmas Offering. The wise men gave gifts to honor the new King who had come to save the world. As you give to missions, you are giving to the work of the babe in the manger, who would later send His followers into the world to make disci-ples, baptize and teach them. Your gifts to missions help mission-aries throughout the world carry out the Great Commission of the King born so many years ago.

November was a busy month, and as a result, we failed to get out a newsletter. One of the highlights of the month was the arrival of a team from First Baptist Church, Clanton, Alabama, to help us to do a survey in an area called “Pemba.” Pemba is on the main road, and we have traveled through this small town many times over the years. Recently a policeman asked us, “When are you going to come and share Jesus here? There is a lot of evil in this place. As we surveyed, we found that there were many people who go to church, but many people who do not have a relationship with Jesus. One young lady who accepted Christ called recently to ask, “When are you coming back? Pray for us as we gather the information from the survey, and send out an invitation to the many people who said they would be interested in starting a Bible study.

Fifty years ago, two young couples arrived in Zambia (known as Northern Rhodesia) to begin Baptist work in a country where only a few evangelical churches existed. Little did these two couples know how the seeds they planted would grow and blossom into over 1,500 Southern Baptist churches country-wide.

On November 29, the Baptist Mission celebrated fifty years of missions in Zambia. It was a great day of looking at the past, the present, and the future. It was a great time of celebrating the work that God has done in Zambia in bringing people to Jesus, raising up disciples, and planting churches. It was a great day of remembering the faithfulness of God through the past fifty years. It was a great time to remember those who have gone before us.

I (Laurie) had the privilege, and very challenging task, of putting together a display table for the reception, showing an overview of fifty years of missions in Zambia. It was a lot of work, but, I’m glad I did it. As I researched the past fifty years and read the stories of the early missionaries, I was encouraged. They had successes, failures, good times, and bad times, but through it all, the Lord was faithful and used their labors to bring people into the Kingdom. We are just a small part of the bigger picture, to God be the Glory, great things He hath done!

When we were in Lusaka for the 50th Celebration of our mission, we were out at the seminary setting up the display table. While there, a young man came up to Wes and asked him, “Do you remember me?” Wes did not remember the young man, whose name was Richard, as he had only met him once, years ago when we were the guest speakers at a youth conference in another part of Zambia. Wes had called this young man to the front to help him with a demonstration on commitment. Richard shared with Wes that because of that lesson, the Lord convicted him of his need to get serious. He then when on to explain that he was in his third year of seminary, and that it was because Wes had come and shared what God had laid on his heart. Sometimes in ministry, we need such words of encouragement to realize that all the struggles we face are worth it if lives are changed for eternity. Pray that we will remain faithful to the task, even when we don’t always “see” results.

Kizito and wife being baptized The Gwembe Church meets in a very simple open structure with a grass roof. One Sunday last month, we were sitting in church waiting for people to arrive. It was going to be a good day, as we were planning a baptism after the service. Kizito and his wife, new believers, were there with us. Both were to be baptized that day. As we were waiting, we noticed some ladies from the Catholic church walking down the path. The Catholic church is one of the largest in our area, and is just up the hill from our church. The ladies knew Kizito and his wife, who used to attend the Catholic Church. As they approached our church, they made the sign of a crazy person and pointed to Kizito and his wife. Wes heard Kizito respond, “No, you are the ones that are crazy.” Kizito has told Wes that all his life he has believed and taught his family to believe lies. He is hungry and excited about learning the truths of God’s Word, and wants his youngest children to know the truth as they grow up. Pray for Kizito and his wife to grow in their new walk with the Lord. Pray that they will not listen to people who tell them they are crazy.

The scripture, “Unless the Lord builds the house, the builder builds in vain,” is true. Recently, we have had the ministry of working with a couple (who we will call J and T) whose marriage is in trouble. We had two counseling sessions with them before we found out that the problems were a lot deeper than we thought. The husband is a believer, but there is no indication that the wife knows the Lord personally. We have been praying for her for some time, and she is the one that first called us to come and counsel them. She does not want to continue, it seems, because she doesn’t want to hear the spiritual part of what we have to share. God has been putting many Christians in her path lately, and she is not happy about this.

Please pray for T, that she will be open to the truth about her spiritual condition and believe and accept the good news for her life. Pray for J as Wes disciples him. Pray that this difficult situation in his life will strengthen his relationship with the Lord. Pray for J’s father, who causes them a lot of grief, that he will come to know the Lord. He says he is a believer, but his actions show otherwise. Pray for us to have God’s wisdom as we give them counsel.

Below are five prayer requests for this month.

• Pray that we will have wisdom to know where and when to begin a Bible study in Pemba. Pray that we will be able to get the word out and that the people will come. Pray that god will provide a good meeting place for this Bible study.
• Pray for Kizito and his wife to grow in their new walk with the Lord. Pray that they will not listen to people who tell them they are crazy. Pray that the weekly Bible study in Kizito’s area, will develop into a new church, and that the Gwembe Church will take on their responsibility in helping this new church to grow.
• Please pray for Wes as he has many team leader responsibilities to wrap up before the end of the year. Pray for wisdom and strength to complete the tasks before him.
• Pray for God to do a miracle in the lives of J and T and in their marriage. Pray for us to have wisdom to give them godly counsel.
• About 14 years ago, when we first came to Zambia, we met an older couple, Bokkie and Maxine Greyling. Maxine accepted Christ and Laurie discipled her. Wes played Cribbage with Bokkie and witnessed to him every opportunity he could. They moved back to northern Zambia where they had come from. Two weeks ago, Maxine called to say that Bokkie had died. As I write this, we are on our way to visit Maxine. Pray that God will give us wisdom to minister to her in her time of sadness. Pray that God will give her comfort as she is now very alone; her only daughter living in South Africa. Pray that she will have the strength to go without her husband.

Thank you for your prayers.

In His Love,
Wes and Laurie Wilcox