Beene's Wedding and other happenings...

Saturday 27 October my good friend Beene Mutondo got married!!! Ah, where to start... Wednesday was the beginning of our wedding rehearsals and we continued rehearsing until Friday night! Here in Zambia the bridal party does different steps to enter into the church and into the reception, so that is why we rehearsed for so long. I really did enjoy it though. I had a great time getting to know those that were on the line-up with me. The night before the wedding we all stayed at the matrons house. We had a lot of fun, but didn't get much sleep! After the wedding ceremony at the church we went to Mwandi Inn to take pics and then we headed to the reception! It was such a fun day!!!

Here are some more pictures from the wedding...

Lubasi, Kali, Me, and Beene

Sunday morning Helen picked me up and took me out to Kakolo with her. I wrote last time that she was taking care of some newborn twins whose mom had passed away after giving birth. Well, the father is unable to care for the twins and no one else in the family could afford to care for these little girls. They asked Helen if she would care for them for 4-6 months until they could eat porridge. None of the orphanages here would take them because the father is still living, so Helen agreed to help. A couple weeks ago the Dunphy's volunteered to take care of them for a week. During that time i went over for 2 nights to help out so that Beth could sleep. The twins are now back with Helen in Kakolo which is about a 45 min drive from me. Its not so easy to get there... Sunday she was already here so she came and picked me up so i could help her out for the day. I spent the night and came into Riverside in the morning with the kids from Faith Childrens Village. I am going to go out again tomorrow night to help. Please pray for Helen that she would be able to get the sleep she needs! She runs a clinic on Tuesday's and Friday's and also helps with the administration of the orphanage so she has many responsibilities. Please also pray for these two little girls. They are now 3 1/2 weeks old! They are growing but please pray for their continued strength and health, but more importantly that they would be saved at an early age. Also for the father and family of these girls that thru the contact of Helen and Pastor Mwanisa they may come to know Christ as their Savior.

Here are some pics of the girls.... Helen has named them Leah and Rachel.

Leah

Rachel

Leah and Rachel

When i got back from Kakolo Monday morning this is the present Isabi left for me...

Tuesday night i had some friends over to play Settlers of Catan! We had a great time!!

malaria

I couldn't avoid the malaria any longer... I finally had my first case of malaria on Thursday last week. I had been experiencing some pain in my back for about 4 days and just wasn't feeling quite normal. My friend Helen, who is a nurse, recommended that i go get a blood slide to see if it was malaria. I wasn't feeling particularly sick that day so i thought if i still wasn't feeling good by Monday i would go get tested. But, Toni was already taking her girls in for malaria tests so she offered to take me. I went, and got tested and it came back positive for malaria. I was a little surprised cause i sure didn't feel that sick. I went home and took the medicine and thats when i started to feel real sick. Mostly just queasy and a slight headache but very tired. I tried resting during the weekend and to me i did, but, it was probably still a little much. Friday night before Young Adults Bible study we played a game of football/soccer. I love playing and don't get many chances to play so i did! I didn't run around too much tho. Then Saturday i was feeling fine so i cleaned my apt then helped my friend make final decisions on the deocorations for the wedding in a couple weeks, but after that, i was beat. I slept for a bit then went to Teens Bible study. After that we headed up to the playing field as normal and i played just a bit of volleyball then walked up to the Petersons house for a birthday dinner with Carissa. Then home to sleep! But the malaria medicine kept me awake until 12 or after. Then Sunday a friend came over in the morning to make 2 cakes for her brothers b-day then i went for church. I wasn't feeling too well, a bit dizzy and tired but i thought i would be fine cause you only have to sit in church. Then my friend Beene came over for lunch and after we headed to where she will be having her reception. We wanted to check it out so that we could make final decisions on the deocrations. After that i was sooo tired. It was so hot out and walking around made it so much worse!! Needless to say last night i slept real good. I think i am over the malaria, i still am a bit tired today but overall i feel much better. Thank you to those who were praying for me!!

It's been awhile since i posted anything so i thought i would give a quick update on whats been going on!

During our mid-term break i was able to go out to Kakolo to spend time with Helen. I went with her to ladies Bible Study there in Kakolo and also helped a bit in the clinic on Friday. Mostly just packing medicine. On Thursday we went out for a walk. Some of the famers had begun to burn down their gardens so that they could start fresh again. We came upon a house that looked as though their grass roof had caught on fire and was smoldering in the house. We didn't see anyone there so we thought maybe it was planned, but still thought it strange. When we passed on our way back we found the family standing there so we went to find out what happened. They said they left that morning to do the farming and had just now come back to find that their home had burned. The fires that were started to burn down the fields spread and somehow a spark had jumped and caught their grass roof on fire. It then fell into the house and burned all their mattresses, blankets, clothes, and food. Thankfully Helen had some extra blankets at the house and some clothes and food to give them.

The second week of mid-term the Haflers invited me to go camping with their family. We went to Nsobe which is about an hour and a half away from Kitwe. We had a great time!! I actually caught my first fish ever!! I was also able to take the kids out canoeing and we got to see a monitor lizard!!

This month has been a bit busy and will continue on that way! My good friend Beene is getting married on 27 October and she has asked me to be on her line-up! I feel so privleged to be a part of her special day. So the past few weekends we have been busy getting everything organized for the big day! Last weekend we went to see what they could do with my hair since it is a bit different ;) We went to one of salons in town who assured her that they new how to do "mazungu" hair. It turned out ok, but she would like it to be better so we will try again soon!! I can't wait, and don't worry i will take lots of pics so that everyone can see!!

Last week on Thursday i got a text from Helen saying that she was taking care of newborn twins!! The mom had passed away after giving birth and the father asked Helen to care for the twins for a couple of days till he could arrange for someone else to care for the girls. Of course i had to go visit to see these precious little babies!! Sue and i drove out on Friday afternoon to bring some formula and nappies. They were so cute!!! Helen named them Leah and Rachel for the time that she has them. The family was to come today to get them, but i have not yet heard if they came. Here are some pics of the babies....

Me and the babies

Leah and Rachel all bundled up and sleeping!!

Helen and "her babies" ;)

Eva, Jolintha, and Anna Knipe...

Oh whoops... just trying to drive here...

Prayer Letter

11 September 2007

Dear friends,

One year ago today I stepped on the plane and headed for Zambia Africa. I can remember the feelings of apprehension, excitement, and sadness. I was nervous about going because I didn’t know what to expect, yet I was excited because it was something I have dreamed about for a long time, and I was sad too because I had to leave those I love. Looking back, I can see that God has done some amazing things in me. He has shown me more of who He is and I am truly overwhelmed by His faithfulness to me. I am so undeserving of His love, but I am truly grateful for it.

Central Africa Baptist College is on mid-term break for 2 weeks. The first six weeks of this semester have been very busy. We started off the term with a block class on the book of Hebrews taught by Dr. Allan Patterson. The second week into the semester there was a mission’s team from Mt. Calvary Baptist Church in SC that came to minister in the college. During their two weeks here they were involved in ministry which our students were also able to participate it. The students also benefited from listening to lectures from those on this team. I also greatly benefited from this team as one of the team members was a librarian from Bob Jones University.

This semester we have 6 new students from the Kitwe area making our total number of students 21. Next year we are looking forward to more students from Kenya coming to join us and also a student from Mali.

The library project is still quite the project! We have several students here who are on work scholarship. There wasn’t enough work to keep them busy at the college and so we were able to place Andy in the library. He has finished labeling the first 1,700 books that were entered and is now working for 2 hours each day on entering the books into the database. I then export that information and assign the Dewey Decimal number. It is a long process but by him helping me it is going much faster. I am so thankful for his help!!

Please continue to pray with us for the construction of our building. We are still meeting in a house that we use for the dorm and classrooms. Our building is near completion but we are still waiting for the roof to be done. Please pray that the remaining amount needed will be supplied and that the roof can be completed before the rains come. It is our desire that we are able to fully move into this new building by February of 2008.

Last month I was able to participate in an activity for the teen girls of the 5 different Faith Baptist Churches in our area. My friend Mulenga from the college and I wanted to teach these girls about different life issues that we knew these teen girls were facing. We both have had a burden for the teen girls to see them more established and secure in their walk with God. It was great to hear from them after that they were challenged from God’s Word to change things in their lives.

This past weekend we had a “Trip of a Lifetime” for the teens here at my church. We did not tell the teens where we were going, they just came, got on the bus and we went. It was a great time of fellowship and of course eating!! We had a barbeque with all kinds of meat and of course potato salad and coleslaw! It was a great time to get all the teens together and enjoy God’s beautiful creation!

Thank you all so much for your prayers and support! I am so thankful and blessed to have so many people that pray for me each day!

God bless you!

Brianne

Isabi = Cockroach & Bird...

Isabi, my lovely cat, has put me thru quite a bit the past day. Last night i woke up to see Isabi chasing a big ole' cockroach that was crawling across a pillow that was next to my head!! only at the time i didn't realize it was a cockroach cause i was half asleep. I saw him knock it to the ground so i didn't bother cause i knew he would kill it... well instead he decided to play with it for a long while. Then he would put it in his mouth and fling it up to play some more. and he almost flung it up on my bed!! i was too tired to actually get up to do anything about it, and he had gotten it stuck between the dresser and nightstand so i went back to sleep. then this morning when i was sweeping is when i realized it was a cockroach!!! i was soooo disgusted!! that thing was on my BED!!!! i don't know if it came in on its own or if he brought it in, either way its disgusting!!!!!!!

this is the dead cockroach!!

THEN... i was getting ready to go to teens Bible study when i hear something out on the porch. i step out to see Isabi walking thru the doorway with a live bird in his mouth!! so, i started yelling at him to go outside to no avail... then he takes it under my bed!! he was trying to play with it under there but i wasn't so keen on that!! Thankfully my friends Chopo and Chawa were around to come and get it out of my room for me!! i don't really like birds, especially when they are in my room under my bed!!!!!

i just wanted to share that all with you! i thought about kicking the cat out, but i like him so he is staying! =)

Construction Update

Here are some of the pictures from our new building that is being built. This week the ring beam will be finished which means the roof can go on soon! Please continue to pray with us that God will supply the money needed and the right workers to complete this building before the rains come!!

Uncle Brian supervising the work being done!

16 August 2007

On 4 August I was able to participate in a Teen girls activity. My friend Mulenga and I worked at camp in April and felt a burden for the teen girls. We decided to put together a time where certain questions could be addressed from the Bible. Mrs. Dunphy also helped us organize it all. We had a panel to answer different questions regarding relationships, appearance, devotions and many other topics. I was on the panel along with some visiting girls from the USA, one of the pastors wives, and Mrs. Dunphy.

We were so thrilled to hear from the girls afterwards that they really enjoyed their time and learned a lot. So we Praise the Lord for that!!

Mulenga and I

A missions team from Mount Calvary Baptist Church came for 2 weeks and while they were here we had a game night with all the college students and some of the girls from FBCR. First we played a game of soccer. I was so excited cause I love to play! And I scored my teams only point on a penalty kick! =) Then we went to the school and played some more games inside. We had a great time!!

The girls after...

The 6th of August was Farmer's Day here in Zambia so we had a field day at our playing field. There was a big basketball tournament and also a soccer tournament. I was keeping score for all the basketball games! It got so hot! But we had lots of fun! Mr. Case who was visiting with the Mt. Calvary team was able to share the gospel during our break.

Here are some of the pictures...

Joy and I keeping scores...

Slam dunk!

My friends watching the games....

In a couple weeks I will be heading to Lusaka for a conference held at Kabwata Baptist Church. I am really looking forward to it. I hope to get some good ideas on how to help our conference here run better!