Drilling For Jesus

This past October Luke spent two weeks in the hills of North Carolina learning the in and outs of well drilling and maintaining well pumps. These courses are run by Equip Ministries International a ministry based out of Marion, North Carolina that specialized in teaching missionaries appropriated technologies. The usefulness of these appropriate technologies is immensely needed in areas like Chikankata. Teaching Zambians these types of skills will ultimately result in their ability to begin to provide for themselves and their communities. The possibilities are exciting!

Yes The Whitfields Are Alive!

I know its been a LONG time since we have blogged! But Yes we are alive and WELL! We have enjoyed being back on US soil these last 2 months! We have been super busy and right now we are at orientation with our new organization.......CTEN (Commission To Every Nation) in Kerrville, TX! We are so excited for our future with them and all that God is going to do in Chikankata! Thanks for your prayers and we will keep you updated!


visit our website: http://www.eleeoproject.org

visit our blog: http://www.whitfieldwateringhole.blogspot.com

skype id: taziona6

Dear Friends

It has been a while since our last update and so we wanted to take a few moments to fill you in with what has been going on in our lives. I, Luke, specifically would like to share about a recent trip I took to Zimbabwe to attend a week long seminar to be trained in conservation farming with a Christian ministry called Foundations for Farming. It was an amazing experience to be a part of a group that represented 16 countries including places like India, Mexico, Ukraine, Sudan and many more. One of the coolest stories was that of a very tall man name Michael from Southern Sudan. Michael shared about his dream to take what he had learned and begin teaching school children in Southern Sudan so that through the younger generation his people’s future might be a bit brighter.

I want to start by sharing some statistics. Over the past 50 years it is estimated that close to 2.3 trillion USD has been pumped into Africa in the form of aid. Africa also possesses 30% of the world’s natural resources. Sub Saharan Africa (where we are) has a great climate, bountiful rainfall, fertile soils and plenty of people to work the land. Despite these facts Africa’s total Gross Domestic Product only represents 1.3% of the world’s total. Poverty continues to grip the vast majority of the continent’s peoples resulting in Africa’s population growth exceeding agricultural production. Bottom line, Africa continues to be the hungriest and most malnourished continent on the planet.

Foundations for Farming is all about seeing Africans go from being the world’s beggars to becoming a blessing to the nations. Since the vast majority of Africa’s population are small scale farmers the vision is to teach productive farming techniques to these individuals with the net result being the production of enough food for families as well as extra income to aid in the development of economic growth. At the heart of this vision is a focus on achieving these outcomes through a heart change of the people. Based upon a Biblical perspective promoting stewardship with what God has given them the course encourages participants to farm on time, at a high standard, no wastage and most importantly with joy! This is a very simple explanation of what Foundation for Farming is all about and we would encourage you to take a second and learn more about this amazing and revolutionary ministry by visiting their website at: www.foundationsforfarming.org .

So why are we sharing all this with you? As we detailed in our February update, 2012 will see some major changes in our ministry focus. Upon our return to Zambia in January of 2012 we will be moving down to the rural area of Chikankata to begin full time work assisting the chief of that area in expanding the Kingdom of God amongst her people. As we have planned for this shift one of the unanswered questions has been what would be the best way to enter into the community and gain the trust of the Tonga people. After my trip to Zimbabwe we feel like Foundations for Farming is God’s answer to that question. Our hope is that as we are able to train the people of Chikankata to be more productive and profitable in agriculture a door will be opened to share Gospel of Jesus Christ.

We will be sharing many more of the details surrounding this shift in the months to come and are excited about this open door God has provided us with to reach the lost in Chikankata. Again thanks for your continued support and prayers. We love and miss you all dearly and are looking forward to reconnecting upon our return to the States in July 2011.



Blessings



Luke (for the fam) <><

Michael from Sudan

Getting My Hands Dirty

Foundations For Farming

16 Nations!

February 2011 Update

Dear Friends

It’s that time again, time to get you all up to speed on what has been going in our lives over the past few weeks. As we write this correspondence the rains have slowed a bit which is blessing to the many Zambians who have to endure the spread of diseases like Cholera when the rains are heavy.

As far as ministry goes we recently received permission from the Lusaka Health Board to continue conducting clinic visits for 2011. Last week we started back with our regular visits to four Lusaka area clinics. Despite a couple months absence from the clinics we were welcomed back by the doctors and nurses of these clinics who questioned where we had been. It was such a blessing to watch God show up and to witness His power transform the physical and spiritual conditions of the patients we prayed for. One such patient was a lady whose family described to us that because of her sickness she had not spoken in a few weeks. The group gathered around her and offered a simple prayer of faith for her healing. Immediately after we all said “amen”, the women opened her eyes and began to speak much to the amazement of her family. What a testimony it was to them of God’s love and compassion for the suffering they were enduring. We are expectant that many more testimonies like this will be shared as we spend time ministering over the coming months to the many afflicted souls here in Lusaka.

Family ministry continues in the form of home schooling. As we stated before Luke has taken on the responsibility of teaching math to Macie, Emma and Payton. This is definitely a humbling experience for him and tests the limits of his patience. The kids continue to amaze us with their ability to grasp and retain all that we throw at them.

This past month also saw another answer to prayer as we were granted a non-immigrant visa for Chichi to travel home with us in July. This might not seem that significant, but after hearing countless stories from other families in similar situations tell us how they had been rejected, our receiving not just a single entry visa but a four year multiple entry visa confirmed to us the favor of God upon our situation.

As we close we wanted to share with you some recent developments concerning a new direction we feel the Lord calling us towards as we continue to serve here in Zambia. Many of you will recognize the name Chikankata. This is the area in the Southern Province of Zambia where we have worked over the past few years with the local chief in showing the Jesus Film to many of the peoples of her chiefdom. We have watched in amazement as each trip has produce testimony after testimony of how God is breaking the spiritual bondage of witchcraft in the lives of the Tonga people we have ministered to. Over the past two years we have wrestled with the idea of what it might look like for us to move down to this area and have a more permanent presence in Chikankata. Well, this past November God began to intensify that tug upon our hearts to where we currently have decided that upon our return to Zambia in January 2012 we will move our family to this remote area to begin ministering full-time to the peoples of Chikankata. There are many more details to share with you concerning this new direction and we are hoping to get a chance to do so over the next few months. We are also hoping to be afforded the opportunity to meet with each of you personally to discuss these changes while we are back in the States on furlough from July 2011 – January 2012. For those of you that would like a visual refresher of Chikankata and our previous work there you can do so by visiting our blogspot: www.whitfieldwateringhole.blogspot.com .

We will have more information about when and where we will be during our furlough, so stay tuned. Thanks for giving us the opportunity to ask you to pray with us as we continue to seek God’s call upon our ministry here in Zambia. Your partnership is crucial to the lives that have and are being touched by our presence in here in Africa. We could not do it without you. Until next time stay blessed and know we love you all dearly.



Blessings

Luke and Elise Whitfield and Family <><

January 2011 Update

Dear Friends



We wanted to start by wishing you all a very blessed New Year. Here in Zambia, we have officially entered into the big rains of the rainy season and for almost three weeks now have had little to no sun which can make life a bit sluggish at times. It has been a while since we last wrote and we wanted to just take a second to update you on what God has been doing in our lives.



This past December we enjoyed a two week visit with Luke’s Mom and Brother Noah. It was such a blessing to watch Mamoo (as she is known) and Noah reconnect with the kids who they had not seen in almost two years. We enjoyed just hanging around Lusaka but did get a chance to take Luke’s Mom into the main teaching hospital to pray for the sick and distribute fruit to the patients. Spending Christmas and New Years with family was such a treat for us and we appreciate all of you who covered Chris and Noah in prayer as they traveled.



January not only marked the beginning of a new calendar year but also the start of another wonderful year of homeschooling bliss (those who have home schooled know what we are talking about, hah!). This year the kids were introduce to a new teacher (Luke) who will help out by teaching the kids math. One of the biggest ways you could bless us would be to pray for us in this area. Specifically that God would give us patience and the ability to cater to each child’s specific learning needs.



The start of the New Year also ushered us into some new territory in the adoption process with Chichi. Next week on January 31st we have a meeting at the US Embassy to apply for a non-immigrant visa for Chichi. This is crucial as we will need one for him to be able to travel home with us this coming July. Please be praying that God would continue to give us favor and that we could walk away from the meeting with confirmation that a visa will be granted.



Lastly, as we mentioned above our next home assignment is tentatively scheduled for July 2011 through January 2012. While our return to the US is still a ways off, we wanted bring it to your attention as it will be our desire to connect, in person, with each of you during our time home. We will be both in Chicago as well as Dallas during our stay and will get you more details as they materialize. Would you also begin to pray specifically for God to provide a vehicle for us to use while we are back.



We love each of you very much and as always remind you that our last four years of service here in Zambia would never have been possible without your involvement. Your prayers and support mean more to us than you may ever know! Be blessed and we will be in touch soon.



His Servants



The Whitfield Family

November 2010 Update

Dear Friends

Whew! What a time the past few weeks have been. This morning, after a teary goodbye, we got Elise’s parents Steve and Kathy VanSinderen off to the States after a three week visit. What a great time we had ministering together and watching God continue to display His power and character through our obedience. So much to share, where do we begin?

The day after they arrived we jumped in the car and headed down to Chikankata to show the Jesus Film to a group of 250 Tonga’s who had never hear the story of Jesus in their own language before. It was once again an amazing time. Elise and teammate Brent Roberts prayed for an elderly man who had sight problems in one eye……true to His nature God healed the man’s eye right before their eyes. The best part, as a father, was to watched as the kids (Macie, Emma, Patyon and friend Caleb), prayed for many who were healed instantly. Caleb had the quote of the trip as he told his Dad, fellow missionary Brent Roberts, “Dad God healed someone the first time we prayed for them” (a child-like faith is what He desire from each of us)!

We also had a chance to visit Chanaima Mental Hospital with Elise’s parents. Again, God showed up in an amazing way as we experience an immediate response to the presence of God (which we are carriers of) from many of the patients. Almost immediately a young woman approached Elise’s Dad Steve and began to manifest demonically. This situation resulted in the demon talking direction to Steve and telling him that it did not want to leave the woman. After commanding the demon to leave it asked to be sent into some animal in a nearby field (sound familiar) -- 32 And he said unto them, Go. And when they were come out, they went into the herd of swine: and, behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters. Matt 8:32 (KJV)

Later in the week we visited the Pediatrics Malnourishment Ward at the University Teaching Hospital. We went with two pastors from our Action Pastors College Joseph Zulu and Patson Sakala. We arrived with about 40 pounds of bananas as well as a desire to see the works of the devil destroyed. It was an emotional experience, as it always is, as we loved on children and parents who were being tormented by common illness such as chronic vomiting and diarrhea. As has happened before, we watched as a baby we had prayed for moments earlier passed away in front of our eyes. We have learned that if God is sovereign (which He is) then just as we are not the ones who get the glory when He heals an individual, we also are not the ones who have to carry the burden when He does not heal.

Also, we had a great time as a family enjoying the wildlife of Zambia at a camp called Kiambi about 2 hours south of Lusaka. It was so nice to get out of the city and swim, go on a couple of boat rides and roast marshmellows around the campfire. We were able to see many elephants, hippos, crocs, and lots of birds on our boat rides!!! Us men went fishing with the older kids and we all just enjoyed playing together after so many months of being apart! We are so thankful for my parents who blessed us with this nice vacation together!



Overall it was a great trip and we were so blessed and found a new level of intimacy ministering together as a family. The Christian walk is so much more exciting when what we see in the Bible starts to happen in everyday life. Remember there is nothing special about us or the geographical location of Zambia. What is happening here will happen wherever there are human beings filled with the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead. The model of Jesus Christ (His preaching, theology, and signs and miracles) are not some great story to be marveled at but rather the ultimate example of what a man or woman, completely surrendered to the leading of the Holy Spirit can accomplish for the Father’s Kingdom. Why, because the Word tells us that Jesus was completely a man empowered by the same Spirit -- 5 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. 6 Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to.7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, 8 he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. Phil 2:5-8 (NLT)

Go Light Your World
The Whitfields <><

Dear Friends

Well it is time again for another trip to the bush of Chikankata. Some of you may remember that this is an area in the Southern Zambia where ACTION Zambia has been given permission by the Chieftainess to preach the Gospel freely to her peoples. The last time we went we experiences great outpouring of God power and saw healings and many deliverances as these dear souls responded to God's great love and compassion for them. We also saw the tearing down of a major wizard (witchdoctor) who had been tormenting the peoples through demonic oppression for over 50 years.

We leave today and will be staying on Friday night and returning Saturday afternoon. Elise's parents Steve and Kathryn VanSinderen will be going with us this time as well as Elise, Macie, Emma and Payton. Tonight we will show the Jesus Film in a remote area where reports of witchcraft are overwhelming. We are going determined that God has provided an opportunity to destroy the works of the devil and take back spiritual dominion that he has not right to possess. We go remembering that the ministry of Jesus means that all "authority in Heaven and on Earth...has been given to Him" and as a result also to us.............we expect great victories, salvations, miracles and deliverances to take place.....why, because He has gone before us and His Spirit is upon us!

So, would you partner with us by praying for this outreach........your prayers directly impact the work that will occur tonight and call into activation God's angels to function as ministering spirits. We will make sure to send and update upon our return. Thanks so much for you involvement, we could not do any of this without you all! We love and miss you dearly.

The Physician's Assistants

The Whitfields <><

visit our blog: www.whitfieldwateringhole.blogspot.com

Skype id: taziona6