Tuesday, April 29, 2008

It is hard to believe that we are half way through the monthof April! Kids are getting antsy inschool (at least ours are) as the school year is coming closer to an end. The rain here has stopped and I am sure the rains have started in the states. Zambia’s cold season is soon beginning and the summer is soon beginning where many of you live. We have always looked forward to the change in seasons no matter where we have lived.

This week we wanted to share about our Easter party that we had with the orphans and share some pictures with you. On Easter Sunday in March we had a big party for about 40 people most of them orphans. Five of the orphans were from EFH Kanyama where we visit and the other children were from New Horizon’s. New Horizon’s is an orphanage that our friends and fellow team mates the Allen’swork with. The party was held at the Allen’s home and we had such a blast with all these kids. They played relay races, rode bikes, had an Easter egg hunt, ate dinner, watched a movie about the resurrection, ate dessert, and just had fun altogether. Also our new teammates Brent and Kerri Roberts (and kids Caleb, Grayson, Maddie) helped out and joined in on the fun. We are so thankful for the Allen’s holding the party at their home and that we could all love on these kids together.

My Bible study is continuing out in Kasupe at the Farm. There are about 5 semi-consistent women that come and that I have grown to know over this past year. It is hard to believe that we have been doing the bible study for a year now. Time has gone by quickly. We are starting a new schedule to change things up for this year. This past week I showed them how to make biscuits, next week we will have Bible study and the following week the women will show me how to make a Zambian dish. We will see how this new schedule goes and if more women come to find out what is happening. I am so thankful for my teammate Liese Ripley who has been teaching the last couple months and appreciate her help to keep the study going. Kerri has also been joining us and we are excited to have her input and for the ladies to get to know her.
(Kasupe Women's Bible Study)
Two weeks ago we visited my friend Teresa(also in the bible study) who had a baby the end of March. We went to her home and brought her a few clothes and new chitenge. A chitenge is the traditional wrap that most Zambian women wear over their skirts. There are many uses for a chitenge such as carrying your baby on your back or front, wiping a snotty nose, using as a blanket or cover or something to sit on in the dirt/grass. It is tradition here that a new mother should receive a new chitenge for her new baby. I was blessed to receive 2 chitenges from two of my Zambian friends, Katherine and Stella. So in turn we gave a chitenge to Teresa to celebrate her new baby Frank!!!!
(Elise and Frank)

(Teresa and Tazi)

As far as the Whitfield gang goes we are doing great and have adjusted quite well to having little Tazi around!!!! She is growing quite quickly and is a whooping 11 lbs. She is a very content little girl and loves all the kisses and hugs from her siblings. She is sleeping great and so am I!!!!! Thank you all for your continuedprayers! We definitely feel them. God bless you all and please keep your e-mails coming!!! We love hearing from you! Love Elise for all the Whitfield gang!!!!!!!!!!!!

Monday, April 7, 2008

Whitfield Update

Dear Family and Friends

Hope you are enjoying the Spring and all its new beauty!!!!!!! We are enjoying our new little “beauty” Tazi and it’s hard to believe that she is almost 7 weeks old. She has grown so much these past weeks and is catching up for lost time in the womb. She is over 9pounds and looks a lot like Macie as a baby. You can see for yourself in the pics on our blog!!!!!!

We have not been very diligent these past weeks with our weekly updates and hope to be more consistent in the months ahead. Thank you for your patience. We want to share a little more in depth about what we have been up to these past two weeks. We are partnering with a small church called Great Commission Baptist Church and Luke will be helping them with their evangelism and discipleship program. Luke has also met with the pastor Michael Kandella in our neighborhood and evangelized from home to home. They have been able to see many come to Christ and last week four of the new converts came to church at Great Commission! We praise God for his faithfulness. Luke has also been meeting every Tuesday or Thursday with Chiluba and going down town and sharing the gospel on the streets. They have also seen such a hunger for Christ and many come to accept Him as their personal savior. A handful of these new believers also came to church the following Sunday. Luke has been encouraged by this response and the hunger of the Zambian people. These dear Zambian brothers have also taught him how to approach Zambians and what some of the spiritual problems are here in this city.

I am excited to be able to work with the women at this new small church and hopefully helping in the music department too!!!! Luke and I also have the opportunity to encourage and disciple young couples in this very young church and look forward to encouraging couples in their marriages through the scriptures. There is so much potential here at Great Commission and so many opportunities and we can’t wait to see God work!!

We also wanted to update and let all you that have been praying for the orphans at EFH know that the waters have finally subsided and last Friday, April 4th, they return to the orphanage at Kanyama. It was such a blessing to see how happy they were to be back at the place they know as home. Please keep praying as water is still an issue and in the last couple of week there has been some 40 reported cases of Cholera in Kanyama. The concern here is that the reported causes are never a clear picture of the actually population affected and with many of the pit latrines in the area full and overflowing the situation looks to only get worse. We know God is in control and we continue to rest in knowing He has a plan in all of this. It is such a testimony to us when we observe how many of our Zambian friends continue to trust the Lord even in circumstances like we have mentioned above. What a conviction to us when we find ourselves complaining about trivial things like power outages or weird tasting foods. It is so evident that we have much to learn from our Zambian friends in how to rejoice in the Lord always!

Lastly we wanted to again get the word out, quite a bit early, about our upcoming furlough. We have secured tickets and will be arriving back in Chicago around the first of December and remain home until sometime, March-April, in the spring. Our plan is to be in Chicago through Christmas and then make a trek down to Dallas for a month or so. We will then return to Chicago for the remainder of our time home. The reasoning behind sharing so far in advance is that we don’t want to miss any opportunities to meet with you all. We are home to share and fellowship with you our friends and supporters and look forward to meeting with any of you that are interested. More details will follow closer to our departure but please be thinking, yes even now, about opportunities that may exist for us to share about what God has been doing through our partnership here in Zambia.

As always we treasure and appreciate your continued involvement and support of our ministry. God’s Word tells us that we are all a part of the Body of Christ and each of the parts are necessary and important. This truth has become so real to us over the last year and a half and we remind you that your involvement is essential to the survival of His work here in Zambia. God bless all of you and PRESS ON & INTO HIM!!!

(Pictures are as follows: EFH (orphanage)family with Elise and Luke at Easter party / Chiluba (far left) and Luke (taking photo) witnessing to some vendors at Soweto Market / Of course pics of Tazi --Enjoy!)
His Servants

The Whitfields <><