Papaw's Cowboy

Papaw Adair gave Hutch these boots over one year ago, and he is finally able to start using them for fun shoes. They still are not a perfect fit, but he can get around pretty good in them.

lubatisho

We were blessed to be able to baptize 6 people this past week. We had baptisms in two separate churches. The first was in a village called Kabwe where we had four men receive baptism. This was a great experience and we passed fresh hippo tracks from that morning that lead into the river. It was the beginning of the church in Kabwe. Unfortunately, Mary Margaret was not there to take pics.
Our second baptism was in the main part of Kaputa where one man and one woman received baptism. The church there is growing and really starting to get the focus of evangelism. These are some pics of that day.

???

This past week we had to postpone the baptisms because of the rain! God sent rain on this thirsty land and we're thinking He wanted to add to the numbers of those baptized! So tomorrow we'll have the baptisms and we'll post the pictures!

Here in Kaputa, there is a very large presence of Jehovah's Witnesses. The congregation in America has sent some very large donations to Zambia for buildings, even materials that are passed out each month for free. These booklets have colored pictures and cover popular topics. One thing we've seen throughout these books is the misuse of scripture.

The books take scripture out of context, making it say what they want it to. This is very frustrating becuase we believe the Word should be read as a whole, not just one verse. For example, one verse they use to show their works-based salvation is James 2:26 "faith without works is dead." However, we know that the root is faith, and it says in many places that it is by faith alone in Jesus Christ which saves you! We also know that this verse, when read with the rest of the chapter and book of James, clearly says that we live out our faith, by our good works. The works don't save us, but our faith does and our works are just a reflection of our faith!

Another discussion we constantly have is over the deity of Christ. They believe that Jesus was created by God, but is His only Son and Savior of the world. This is where I'd like to ask you to help us! We've started searching the Scriptures to find proof that Jesus is in fact fully God! Places like John 1 saying "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning." We'd like to compile a list to be able to present when challenged with this question, "is Jesus equal to God?" This week I was approached by a JW girl who left a book with me. In this book they ask that question and show with very few verses that Jesus is not equal with God.

Now we know that these conversations should ALWAYS go back to salvation. Showing every person we encounter the only Way to God the Father and that is through faith in Jesus Christ. Confessing with our mouths and believing in our hearts that He is the only way. I was just wanted to include you by asking you to help us provide a list of reasons why we believe that Jesus was fully God and fully man! Will you leave your comments and tell us what you think/find? God is good all the time and we are so grateful to be part of His ministry here in Kaputa. We are so thankful for you who support our ministry!

Growth All Around!

We have had an exciting week at church. There are 2 more people waiting to be baptized! This coming week we'll have another service down at the river, so watch for more pictures! This is a really encouraging time for us, to see these new believers take this step is awesome! We are so happy to be part of this.


Hutch has been having some good play time! One of our gaurds (Isaac) has left to go to Kitwe to the college to study to become a school teacher. His wife brought over their six month old boy Lee to see Hutch and they had a great time, we had to put them in the green grass for a photo op! Hutch also has a new puppy that he loves to chase! And thanks Mamaw for the boots, he can finally wear them!


We'll have more pictures next week of the baptisms!

Name that Baby Poll

Here's what we've been throwing around. Names for this baby. We are having a hard time nailing down one name for each. The middle names we think will come easy once we've picked the first names. Since we're not finding out, we are coming up with four girl names and four boy names. This is what we need from you, your opinion. So tell us what names you like Best! For both the boy and girl lists! The results probably won't be final, but we really want to know what everyone thinks...

Boy Names:

Liam
Jackson
Colin
Wyatt

Girl Names:

Lulie
Savannah
Maybelle
Frances

Hutch is just excited about having this baby, he told us that he'd be happy with whatever name! He just can't wait to see his baby sibling!

Tough Guy

Today at church we had some excitement. We had just started the sermon when Hutch walks over to the door and nosedives down about a foot into a cement block. The whole church quickly gave there attention to the white child as MM rushed to survey the damage. What was found was minor, but enough to provoke an "OH MY GOD!" exclamation from the frantic mother. (Thanks to the language barrier and thick American accent I am confident that few if any were able to decipher the expletive.) As I ran outside MM was sure he had broken his nose and was on the verge of tears. I gave him a quick examination and reassured her that it was just a scrape. The scare however, had already had its impact as MM began to cry. Then I began to panic as I feared all this excitement would trigger early labor. Johannesburg, South Africa is a long way from Kaputa, Zambia so the fear of going into labor is always in the back of my mind during the third trimester. MM soon after added some fuel to my panic fire when she felt some "contraction type" pains .
God was in total control of the situation and is watching over MM, Hutch, and baby#2. I am happy to report that we are confident the the pains were only Braxton Hicks and mom and Hutch are doing just fine. Hutch even has some battle wounds to boast from the experience.