Loudon, John: Matthew 28; ~ Missionary Report

That the Lord, uh, kept us safe throughout our, our whole travels, um, tra- traveling across the country. We arrived in the States in, in Michigan in, uh, Jan- in July, and then, uh, we went up to Upper Peninsula Bible Camp for Family Week. Drove her, after that we drove directly to, um, CMML in New Jersey and spent a couple weeks there, then back to Michigan, and then, uh, the first of November we drove out to, um, California and spent a couple weeks out there, and then we just arrived back from there yesterday, and we had one terrific snowstorm and ice storm, uh, through Texas. We didn't, we we came the southern route not expecting snow and ice, but, um, anyways, we're here safely, and we thank the Lord, uh, for his mercies in traveling. Um, we just, um, um, uh, well, we, we thank the Lord that we can spend, uh, some days here with, uh, my father George, and I'm, I'm sorry, I mean my brother George and his wife. I always get that confused. It's good to be, uh, with them, to spend a few days with them. Um, before I show you a few pictures, um, of Zambia and the work that we are doing there, um, I'd just like, uh, you to turn with me to, um, Matthew chapter twenty eight. mhm Matthew chapter twenty eight, verses, uh... verses nineteen and twenty. ah I'm sure you know them very well, but I'd just like to read over them, um, which says, go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all the, the things that I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. And um, um, this verse, as you well know, most people, most Christians, uh, consider this the, the missionary verse. Um, this is uh, verses that uh, for missionaries, um, to go out who have been called. But um, actually, uh, I would just like to say that I, I believe this verse is, uh, speaking to all of us, all of the, all of us who desire to follow the Lord, um, as his disciples. Um, now it tells us here to go and make disciples. Now, what is a disciple? Well, that's a question I'd just like to, uh, propose to you. Uh, before we can make disciples as his word commands us, we must know what is a disciple. And so, um, that's just a question I'd like, uh, for us to answer. A disciple is a student or a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, before we can, we must learn to follow, as the twelve disciples did, uh, during the, the three years that he spent with him, uh, the three years that the Lord Jesus spent with them. They followed him. The Lord says, come and follow me. Those were his first words to, to um, to them, come and follow me. And his last words were, go, go and make disciples. And so, uh, but before we can go, we must learn to follow. A disciple is a Christian who is abiding in the word. John chapter eight verse thirty one, One who is abiding in the Word, as it says, uh, as the Lord, uh, spoke to those who believed in him, um, if you abide in my word, then you are my disciples indeed. Are we abiding in his word? And, um, if we are, then we are his disciples. But we also, but we, excuse me, we must be growing in conformity to Christ. Um, Romans chapter twelve, verses one to two. Um, as uh, this verse is very well familiar to you as well. I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Now, many may say, well, you know, how can, how can we put this verse into practice, um, um, to live a, a, a living sacrifice? Um, it's a, it's, it's not an easy thing to do, especially in nowadays, uh, when, when so many things are before us. Um, but uh, to, to, to, um, to not be conformed to this world, we are constantly bombarded, uh, in the world today, um, with things of the world. And so it's very difficult, but um, so the Paul exhorts us to not be conformed to this world and uh, to be transformed. So how can we not, how can we live a living, a living sacrifice, is the question. By not being conformed to this world. How can we not be conformed to this world? By being transformed, by, um, by being transformed. How? By the renewing of our minds. And how can we have, how can our minds be renewed? Um, by knowing, by proving what the will of the Lord is, and that is in his word. That is by abiding in the word, and that is, um, how our minds can be renewed, and, and, and therefore it will help us not to be conformed to this world. And also we rely on his Holy Spirit in our lives. The third thing is, um, uh, a Christian who is achieving fruits in evangelism, Matthew four nineteen, as the Lord says, um, that he says, um, follow me and I will make you disciples, um, I will make you fishers of men. Okay, and also the last is working in follow-up to conserve his fruit. Not only should we, um, make fishers of men, but then we need to, um, teach them how to fish. We need to follow up, uh, what, um, what we have planted, what, uh, we have sown. And so, uh, uh, that is the same verse that we have just read in Matthew twenty eight eighteen to twenty, that, um, we need to go and make disciples. So I believe this is speaking not only to those who are called to the mission field, but those to all born again believers, is to to follow the Lord and to make disciples. Um, and uh, this is just my exhortation, you know, I to you this this evening, but um, if you notice, uh, I put only one percent there. I read someplace that it's estimated that only one percent of evangelical Christians are doing this work of follow up and making disciples, and it's something that is extremely important, something that we are lacking in the churches throughout the world. This is the master's plan of evangelism, is to, um, to not only lead someone to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, but to follow them up, to spend time with them, to nurture them in the word of God, to disciple them. And so I'd just like to encourage you, um, uh, to to uh do what the Lord has commanded each and every one of us. Now, I'd just like to give you an illustration, um, one day that I, um, I got out my calculator one day, and I thought to see how this would work. Um, are there any mathematicians here? Uh, I, um, I compared, um, two different types of Christians, I suppose you'd say. Um, I, uh, because, uh, there is addition when you, when you lead others to the saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, they become saved. People, uh, are added to the Lord's kingdom, to his, um, uh, to his family. Thank you. And, um... But then there are those who are, uh, involved in follow-up and making disciples. And so I thought, well, let's try this for an example. Let's say, um, for example, there's one man who, uh, obeys the Lord's command by going out and making disciples, and say, um, the he, let's say for the example, the first year, um, there's a man who's saved, and he leads two others to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, but he doesn't stop there. He continues teaching them God's word. He disciples them, um, he follows them up. Compared to another man, say, say a pastor of a large church, and and um, this is kind of extreme and p- and usually not likely, but say a thousand year, a thousand people were saved during that first year, um, but without follow-up. And so after the first year, uh, the, the man who is making disciples at the end of the th- third year, at, at, at the end of the first year, uh, he's maybe teaching them on a weekly basis, having Bible studies, teaching them how, um, to, um, to train others, to, um, um, uh, to witness and, uh, to follow up and also make disciples. Say, so after the first year, say you have, um, uh, the original disciple, and then you have two more added, um, compared to this pastor who wins a thousand to the Lord, but really without any follow-up. So after the first year, you have three versus a hundred and one, or a thousand and one. Now, this is all hypothetical, understand, but I'm just, uh, trying to, uh, show you an illustration to, to, to compare multiplication with addition. After the second year, and and each of these three go on and to do this work of discipleship and follow up, then each one, including the three after, uh, two years, there would be a total of nine disciples compared to two thousand and one. Okay, let's take another year, twenty seven. verse if it continues along this way, uh, while this multiplication vis- or this man with, uh, just doing follow-up and discipleship work, just working with these, uh, in two individuals each, um, at the end of the third year, you'd have twenty seven versus three thousand and one. Well, this one, this guy, this pastor or whoever, who he's running all kinds of souls to the Lord, but really not continuing with follow-up. And so you can see after, as the years continue, it starts out slow, but then it starts to catch up. And so after four years, eighty one compared to four thousand. After five years, two hundred and forty three compared to five thousand. Well, this guy, uh, winning a thousand people to the Lord is way out ahead. Now, this is all hypothetical, but let's, let's jump ahead five more years. Well, five more years after then at ten thousand, you have fifty nine thousand disciples versus ten thousand converts. Okay, well, let's jump ahead another five years. You have fourteen million disciples compared to fifteen thousand converts. Let's jump another five years. Well, then we have almost three and a half billion disciples compared to twenty thousand. Let's just add one more year. Ten, almost ten and a half billion people di- disciples. Now you can see how multiplication versus addition when it comes to spreading the word, when it comes to, um, uh, just evangelizing compared to evangelizing and also discipling and following them up. That is the master's plan of evangelism. That is what the Lord intended us to do. Uh, unfortunately, um, very few are doing this work, uh, not only just evangelizing, but, uh, even less, um, by following them up and, and spending time with them, nurturing them in the word of God, and discipling them, and teaching them to teach others. That is what we need to do, to teach others to be teachers, to teach others how, um, how to teach the word of God, to teach them how to evangelize and, um, and to help them to grow. And so, um, we all, you know, well, some me- many may say, well, I don't have the gift of teaching. Well, we don't have to have the gift of teaching, and we anyone can teach what they know. Anyone can share, um, the things that the Lord has, um, shared with us, uh, has the things that the Lord has taught us. Just as, um, that verse in Matthew twenty eight, and it says, um, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And so all that the Lord has taught you, we also need to go and to teach them. So, um, this is just my encouragement to you and, um, um, as Christians, as disciples of the Lord, is to, um, um, to to take this verse, Matthew twenty eight, uh, personally, and not only say that it's only for missionaries, because we are all called, uh, to be missionaries. I I remember, um, I remember back, uh, many years ago, when I was thirteen years of age, that, um, you know, I, that it brought back to my mind, um, when we sang that song, Master, When Thou Calls, that, uh, I remember when the Lord, when I felt the Lord, uh, speaking to my heart, uh, to serve him as a missionary when I was thirteen years old, and that is, um, I read the book, uh, Jungle Pilot and Two Gates of Splendor. Um, and, uh, you know, I'm pleased to see Marge here with us, and, um, um, I, um, just always remember, uh, reading those books, and, uh, the Lord, through reading those, the Lord has used those books as speaking to my heart to, to serve him as a missionary pilot. And um, uh, I'd just like to share with you, well, as probably most of you know, that we went out, I went out in eighty four, met, met, met my wife in Nairobi. There we were married in Nairobi, and then um, um, that was eighty four. We spent five years in, in Kenya, and then um, we spent seven years in Tanzania. I flew with MAF, and now we've been in, uh, Zambia for the past, um, uh, five years, since ninety five, uh, working with, uh, CMML Flight Service, as we call it. Um, and so, uh, it's a privilege to be able to serve the assembly missionaries there in Zambia. There's, as you probably know, there are many missionaries, many assembly missionaries in Zambia, and so, um, we were able to set up a flight service there, which started in ninety three. Um, but so as, um, so looking at the map, uh, here's a picture of Zambia in the pink country there. We live at the mission station called Kaleni Mission, which is located right there in this corner, which is, which borders, which is very close to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola. And also, as many know, that Sakage School is located right there as well. That was the ideal location for the school, uh, because back when it was first started in nineteen twenty five, um, there were many assembly missionaries in this part of the, of the continent in Angola, uh, Angola, um, Congo, and Zambia. So that's where the school is, and that's where Kalaney Mission Hospital is also located. So, um, here's Kalaney Mission Hospital, uh, in nineteen oh six, Dr. Walter Fisher, um, from the UK, first established the mission on top of this hill, Killani Hill, and um, then I believe in nineteen thirty five, I think it was, it uh, they moved down to the bottom of the hill. The, this is actually the airstrip, uh, right along here, but the mission is just over here at the base of the hill, uh, which they moved down in nineteen thirty five. I guess, you know, there's less mosquitoes up there and less malaria, but um, um, it was difficult for the patients to climb up the hill to, to be treated, so they did move down. And um, uh, as I mentioned, Sakage School is nearby. It's about um, oh, as uh, as we fly, it's uh about eight miles as the crow flies, uh, it takes five minutes to fly there. By road, it takes about forty five minutes to an hour, depending on whether it's rainy season or dry season. But anyways, um, this is Sakage School, and that's our son Nathan, um, studying hard for, uh, a test. And w- we're very fortunate to be close to Sakage School, you know, where our children are. This is, uh, Jeannie, this one here, uh, who's with her friend Erica. And, uh, so we are privileged to be, uh, nearby to to be able to visit them once in a while, but they are boarding there, uh, with other children from various, uh, where their parents are serving in various places. Uh, here's Karen in the local village near Kalani. Uh, Karen is, uh, the tall one here, um, and, uh, we were just visiting with our friends there in the village. And uh, while we were there, Karen had the opportunity to get involved in uh, helping prepare some nshima, it's called. nshima is, is their, their staple diet, their what they eat two times a day at least. Uh, it's like a, it's cassava, or another name would be manioc. It's a root crop that they, they uh, soak for seven days in, in a pond, and then it, then uh, they dry it, and then they pound it in this thing, and it becomes like flour, and then they cook it over a wood, uh, a wood fire. And uh, and they eat that every, every day. It kind of sticks to my ribs when I eat it, but it's, uh, really sticky. But, uh, what one of the relishes that they like to eat with it is a nice bowl of worms. Sorry, not worms, of caterpillars. Sorry. They, these, uh, caterpillars, they sort of grow on the trees, or they they climb up the trees, rather, and they, uh, pick them up every, um, uh, season, and they climb the trees picking up all these caterpillars, and they really like them. Good source of protein. I, I, uh, in fact, I got a picture to prove it. Uh, people ask me, well, have you ever tried one of them? And so I did try one just before we came home. It was the first time I had one. It's my last time too. It was, uh, kind of bitter, and, uh, but my son, uh, Joshua, who, who at that time was about a year and a half, and, uh, he was just put popping them in his mouth, he didn't know any better, I guess. Anyways, um, back at Kaleni, uh, we have a, a mission lorry, they call them lorry, or a truck. Um, this uh, lorry was um, is used to uh, travel to town, which is probably, it takes about um, a good long day, uh, sometimes two days to travel to town to get supplies, or, uh, this tra- truck is ready to go to pick up supplies and also, uh, in this tank here to collect, uh, a load of diesel, uh, to keep the mission station running. The station's out in the middle of the bush. We don't have electricity or, or, uh, telephones, or we do have a satellite phone that we use, but, um, um, we need to, uh, uh, get our own water supply and our own, uh, generate our own electricity. This is our generator that, uh, the Lord has graciously, graciously supplied, uh, provided recently. It's a, it's a new one, uh, and it put- puts out a lot more power than our old one. Our old one, it was breaking down almost every night. I'd have to run out to the power st- to the engine house and get it going again. It would overheat probably because it was overloaded or it just couldn't handle it, and it was very old. So we're very happy to have this one, and and it uh has enough power. It it is very expensive to run, however, but we we thank the Lord for it. And we we run it about three hours a day every night, uh, from about six thirty to nine thirty. Um, but when the power, when the engine generator is not running, then we have an alternate source of power, which are, um, like these in, in these batteries. Each home has a set of batteries, uh, that we use for, for providing our, our light bulbs. We have light bulbs, um, that are twenty four volts DC. So we hooked the couple of these batteries up in series and provide twenty four volts DC, uh, and we also have, uh, them hooked up in twelve volts, uh, DC for connecting to a inverter, which gives us, uh, hundred volts AC to run our American appliances, uh, because the generator puts out two hundred and forty volts AC. So, so we have four different volt- voltages that we use, uh, and uh, so throughout the day we're able to, um, uh, have the power that we need to run various appliances and so on. But, um, the hospital and and um, uh, the mission station, our homes are re- reliant on, you know, you know, diesel and supplies and even a maintenance station or maintenance department. Uh, this is our maintenance department, and as you can see, our maintenance department is also in need of some maintenance. Um, and we're urgently praying, uh, that the Lord would provide, uh, someone to come to, uh, Kaleni to work as a maintenance man, to supervise, uh, the operation there at Kaleni to keep things running smoothly. We do have Zambian workers who are, um, mechanics and carpenters and builders, uh, but, uh, they need someone to oversee and supervise all of this. I'm a mechanic, but my time is so wrapped up in the, the flight service, uh, keeping the f- the flight service going, uh, and then, uh, the, uh, other things around the mission station break- breaks down. Uh, so we are urgently praying for someone skilled in, in maintenance to come and help. Um, as I said, I'm involved with the flight service, and uh, here we're just putting in a new engine for the plane. We actually, we put this in a year and a half ago, and already the engine has run about, um, oh, probably nine hundred to one thousand hours. We're, we're getting close to that, and, and it's due for another change in about 600 hours. Uh, every 1600 hours, the engine required by the, uh, Department of Civil Aviation to, uh, put in a new, um, uh, or a remanufactured engine, as this one is. Um, and so that's a major undertaking. So probably about a year from now, I would guess, is when the, the next engine would be due to install. Uh, one of the m- many things that we do for, uh, um, as a flight service is being there close to the hospital, Klamath Hospital. We, um, transport patients in and out of the hospital or transferring them to mission hospitals, uh, where whatever the need is, um, we, uh, just before coming home, we transported this man to another hospital. This other hospital, uh, is is more equipped and has more skilled doctors, uh, who can attend to certain things that we are not able to. So we, uh, flew him for an hour and a half to Wukingi Hospital, um, where he was able to get treatment. If he had gone by road, certainly he would have died along the way, um, but we were able to get him safely there, and I, I believe he's doing fine. Um, this is again at just after landing at Mukingi Hospital, uh, transporting this patient. Actually, he was, um, he had broken legs and internal hemorrhaging. Uh, what had happened was he, um, uh, he had a visitor in the, in the night and, um, someone coming to ask for a glass of water. So he invited him in, gave him a glass of water, then the man went out, got a big stick, came back in and beat at the man for no reason, apparent reason at all. So, uh, anyways, um, um, we're thankful that the Lord, uh, provided the transport for him to, um, to, uh, attend to his injuries. Here's just another map of, uh, Zambia. Again, uh, we're located up in this top corner here, Kileni, which is also very close to Sakaje School and also borders, uh, Angola and formerly Zaire, now Democratic Republic of Congo. Uh, here's all the stations. This blue line, by the way, is um, uh, the Zambezi River, which uh, the source is right near Sakaji, uh, not far from there, the source of the Zambezi River, and then it goes through Angola, down again through Zambia, and tumbles over the Victoria Falls, then through Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and empties into the Indian Ocean. But anyways, um, these um, uh, places with the red cross here are uh, assembly mission hospitals, uh, Kaleni being one of them, Chuvuma, Chitokoloki, Loloma, and um, Mambalima. And uh, there's other stations where we have uh, airships, uh, uh, where we have assembly missionaries working, the majority of them being in this area, but then there's some over in this area. This area is called the Copper Belt, and that's where our truck goes every, uh, every month. And, uh, here's Lusaka, the capital of Zambia, and we fly. It's about a three-hour flight one way to Lusaka, and we, uh, often fly, um, uh, volunteer missionaries or, uh, or those working full-time. And for many reasons, we're, we're flying back and forth to Lusaka. Uh, we do run a guest house in Lusaka for those traveling, um, back and forth, uh, through the capital for various reasons. Um, here's Karen, my wife, involved in the radio work, in flight following, keeping track of where I'm at when I fly, uh, doing all the, um, taking the details of, um, uh, the flight details of such as, uh, departure times and, uh, how much fuel we have on board and, and, uh, our destination and our ETA and so on. And then I give her a position report, our, our coordinates, uh, during the trip every half an hour. And then again, before landing, uh, she, uh, we, I tell her that I'm landing, and then I tell her that we're safely on the ground. But, um, for our work, our, you know, the, the flight's really never complete until the paperwork's done. Um, there's lots of paperwork done in running a flight service. Um, we have, uh, some cute computers to help us, and, um, just to keep track of all the, the paperwork involved with the, the, the director of civil aviation, uh, the maintenance records and, and just, and, and all the flight schedules. Uh, we, we do, uh, we take, uh, the flight schedule using email. Uh, like I said, we have a satellite phone that we have to use for our computers to be able to do email, uh, which is very expensive. Our local access is, uh, is in Australia, so that's a long distance call just to uh, and and the satellite phone is only, the the modem is only twenty four hundred baud rate, so it's very slow as well. But uh, at w- at least we're able to to uh uh have the privilege of using email, and we do a lot of our bookings with um the email, and so there's that means a lot of letter writing and uh uh letters going back and forth to arrange for the flight. And so we're just uh, so we, uh, keep a schedule for, for six months here up on the board, um, of, of the details of the flight, where we're going, and so on, and keeping a tr- uh, place to keep of all the paperwork in binders there. Um, we do have the privilege of ministering God's word here in the assembly at Kalaney, uh, Chapel, and uh, uh, it is very, it is a privilege to to be involved with the assembly there. I wish, uh, we had more time, you know, being, uh, my my main work is as a pilot, um, running the flight service, uh, with my colleague Bruce Poidevin, um, but uh, when he's gone, then we're extremely busy, uh, but uh, we do have the privilege of, um, uh, when we get a chance to, to minister there in the assembly and to, um, um, and to have Bible studies and so on. I did have a discipleship class and uh, and uh, also an English class, um, on Sunday afternoons. Um, and then we also have camps and conferences during the, uh, during the year, during the summer months. Uh, here we're out in a bush, uh, having a, a camp or conference, and, uh, it's a, it's very interesting. It's a good time of fellowship. Uh, some people from the assemblies all around are, uh, come to hear, uh, the word of God to be ministered to. Um, and so this camp, you know, we we went up to UPBC, Upper Peninsula Bible Camp, when we just got back in. We actually got to stay in nice cabins, you know. Here you have to make your own cabin out of sticks and, uh, grass and and whatever. But, uh, just a a few pictures to show you, um, um, what it's like, and, and I put some the verses, the verse as I shared with you in the beginning, to go and make disciples of all nations. And, um, let's see here. And then to, um, uh, to see followers of the Lord, to, to obey the Lord in baptism is a great opportunity to, uh, during this time, to be a witness to those who are observing. I, I like this verse, to observe all that I've commanded you. And so we get, there's many people who come who are just observing. They're not with the assembly there, but they see what's going down, going on during the, uh, down there at the river, and, uh, they, uh, uh, it's a time for witnessing, uh, and that's actually what we're doing to um, uh, to testifying of our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, this is, this is the one I like, uh, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And so I just um, like to um, finish with this as um, to thank you for your prayers and and and never to give up, uh, praying for us, but, uh, but we thank you, and we are encouraged when we go out that the Lord is with us wherever we go, that, um, this is the whole key to this verse. It's not our work, it's, it's the Lord's work. Uh, we cannot do it on our own strength, but we can only do it, uh, because he is with us, uh, wherever we go and whatever we do. I remember when we went to, to New Jersey, um, uh, there was a on Dean, it is called Dean Street Assembly. Uh, it was on Newport, Long Island. It's right near Manhattan and, and not far from there. And so I, I drove there from CMML. It took two and a half hours to get there, and uh, I was uh, I, I went by myself. I had to read the directions by myself in this busy traffic, uh, and uh, there's all these parkways and and turnpikes and other busy roads that I had to travel on, and and I've never been there before, and I was a a wreck when I got there. And my, I just had white knuckles the whole way. You need, you know how it is, uh, and uh, especially coming from the bush, you know, and it uh, and not really driving there uh much in Zambia, but then to come out and and to to, uh, get, uh, drive on those roads. And so this, uh, this dear old lady, uh, at the assembly came up to me, and she said, isn't it dangerous out there in Zambia? I said, I said, no, I think it's more dangerous here. And that was before September eleventh. And now it's... so we can't wait to go back. Anyways, um, but thank you, uh, for your prayers, and um, I just, uh, I'll just put this up for a second, uh, I won't go over it, but in the back there, um, uh, uh, I'll put out a, a list of, uh, there's of things to pray. People like to know specifically what to pray for, and, uh, so I just put, um, uh, typed this out, and and I'll put some copies there in the back, and if you need more, you can, uh, make some copies yourself, but, uh, just things to pray for. And as you will notice, as you go through this list, that that that, um, most of these needs are for personnel, for for, um, uh, more staff, more, uh, people to come out to the mission field to work um, uh, in either uh for the, with the hospital as uh um in the, in the medical work or in the uh uh or on the mission station as a maintenance man or, or Bible teachers, uh, with the flight services, pilots, mechanics, accountants, office workers, you know. I, you know, some people, we have one airplane with the CMMO Flight Service, and many people say, um, do you really need two pilots if you only have one airplane? Well, I said, no, we need three pilots. We need one to fly the plane, one to go on furlough, and one to get sick. And, uh, so because it, and then many, many more to do the paperwork and, and all that, the maintenance and all that other, uh, things that are involved with, uh, running the flight service. And so, um, pray for the church and for, uh, as each assembly needs prayer, you know, for for their elders, for spiritual growth, for unity, and and, uh, those to minister God's word. Pray for Sacajae School. We don't know if they, uh, that we got an email not too long ago saying that, uh, they may have to close the, the doors because of lack of teachers or staff to, to work there, dorm parents. Um, uh, pray urgently, um, uh, earnestly pray for Sakaji School, especially our children are going there. When we go back, um, actually what we, when we got that email, and since we live so close, we, uh, decided to, to go and volunteer our help. Karen is a, is a, uh, certified teacher, and she has volunteered to help with, uh, the school to help keep it going next year. I will continue with the flight service, uh, running back or flying back and forth, uh, from Sakaguchi to Kalani, but, uh, uh, we can only, uh, commit our, uh, time for about one term, maybe about three months, and but pray, uh, urgently for, uh, to- for teachers, uh, dorm parents or whatever, um, uh, for personnel there at the KG. And we appreciate your prayers for our family. So just pick up one, one of these or make some copies of it, uh, so that you can know how to pray more intelligently for us, and we do thank you for that. Maybe we should just close in a word of prayer. Father, we, we thank you for this time together that we can spend together in your word and to learn more about, um, Zambia and the work that is going on there. We pray, Lord, uh, that you, Lord, the Lord of the harvest, would send out workers, uh, to this field in need. Uh, so we thank you, Lord, that, um, um, that you are in control and that you are with us wherever we go. We pray for the, the, the work here going on, uh, at Park of the Palms and various other assemblies in the States. We commit them to you. We pray, Lord, that each one of us would be faithful, w- that we would each be faithful missionaries by going out, uh, to wherever it might be and making disciples. Lord, help us to, uh, uh, follow in your footsteps. Help, help us to follow you and then, uh, to go as you have called each of us to do. So we commit ourselves to you this evening, and we give you thanks again for this time together, where we pray these things in our, in our name, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.