The Impossible became Possible
What we thought was impossible, became possible because of God. We are still buzzing with excitement because of all God has done this month.
- Students off to GWC
- New contract, new opportunities
- Faith like a mustard Seed
- Seeds for education
“The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped.
My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.“
Psalm 28:7
Students off to GWC
Rasford Zulu and Titus Chifita are finally at George Whitfield College (GWC) in Cape Town! It has been quite an adventurous journey. God has been so good and answered so many prayers in this matter.
Visa challenges
In the first week of January both student visas were still pending. This was their second application after being rejected once before already. Our hearts felt anxious but we were praying and trusting the Lord for favour. Just a few days before they were meant to be leaving for Cape Town, we were able to celebrate the good news that they had both received their visas. Praise the Lord! God made what seemed impossible, possible.
Transport challenges
With one hurdle behind us, we now had less than one week to raise the funds for their transport. We estimated that we could possibly scrape together enough for bus tickets but that would mean at least 2 days travel on a bus and a change-over in Johannesburg. This would mean spending quite some time in Johannesburg.
Due to the high crime rate and added costs that it could incur, we did not want them spending prolonged time at bus stations in Johannesburg. Our Zambian brothers are not used to the level of crime we often see in South Africa and this would make them so vulnerable. They could be robbed or harassed before they even knew what was happening.
Flying to Cape Town
A prayer request was sent out to our supporting churches and within 2 hours there was enough money raised to put both of them on flights to Cape Town. Ideally we wanted to put them on a direct flight, but those tickets were double the price so we just trusted God for enough money to get them both cheap flights to Cape Town. God moved powerfully in the hearts of his people to contribute towards their transport and enable us to purchase the cheap flights to Cape Town via Johannesburg.
But wait, there’s more…
The evening before their flight they received a call from Proflight informing them that they are being moved to the direct flight at no extra charge. God not only answered our prayers but He gave us abundantly more than we could have asked for. God made what seemed impossible become possible!
We celebrate with them as they embark on this new adventure. It will be hard work and includes great sacrifice on the part of their families but we are confident that the Lord is going before them.
We would still love to be able to raise enough funds to get their wives to join them in Cape Town as the prolonged separation would be unhealthy. This seems impossible, but we are trusting God.
Warm Welcome to Cape Town
People from our churches back home eagerly rallied together to fetch them from the airport and welcome them to the college. It was very special for us to witness the reach of God’s family across countries. We also recognise that these students represent the first fruits of your prayers and support.
“If God is your partner, make your plans BIG!”
~D.L. Moody~
New Contract, New Opportunities
With the new year came a new contract for Christ Church Lusaka with the Golden Peacock Hotel. The new contract came at a higher cost for the church but fortunately Michael has quite a knack for bargaining. He negotiated with them until they agreed that they could give us the use of the projector and sound system for our church services. The most exciting perk of our new contract was an extra room for us to use for children’s ministry. We were all so thrilled but to be honest I felt a bit nervous. How do we keep the children productively busy for the whole church service?
We have been training up our children’s ministry team since 2023 but we had only needed to prepare for a 5-10 minute slot on Sundays. A separate venue would mean 40-45 minutes with the children. How do we prepare for that? We would need a curriculum…
Faith like a Mustard Seed
We looked into various curriculums for Sunday school. We needed something that would cover various ages, contextually appropriate and biblically sound.
There was one curriculum that came highly recommended from trusted sources and catered for all age groups. It had also been mentioned during our GYD (Growing Young Disciples) training session in children’s ministry. The curriculum was called Mustard Seeds. I was actually familiar with it because that was what we had been using at Tokai Community Church when I was helping out with the children’s ministry there.
It seemed impossible...
The only problem with Mustard Seeds was that it was quite pricey and Christ Church Lusaka would not be able to afford the monthly or annual subscription. It was not too pricey for God though. He is so faithful! It so happened that around this time God had moved once again in the heart of someone to send money into our personal account which enabled us to purchase a year’s subscription to the Mustard Seeds program. This was such an answer to prayer and helps us to equip Christ Church Lusaka with a full 4-year curriculum of lesson plans and materials. All praise and glory to God for His faithfulness to us – He made what seemed impossible possible.
“And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 4:19
Seeds for Education
God has also provided for a young girl who recently gave her life to Jesus and whom we have been discipling along the way. She dropped out in her final year of school some time back and now wanted to get her life on track. In our discussions with her she expressed that she really wanted to go back to school and finish her final year. We prayed about it and God provided again through gifts into our personal account to pay for her year of schooling. She has now enrolled for her final year and we trust that God will use her in his Kingdom in the future.
“They will proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn – for he has done it!”
Psalm 22:31
Thank you for your part in the 'Possible'
God is at work growing his Kingdom and you are a vital part of that. Thank you for your prayers, financial support and love. We hope that as you read these newsletters you are also blessed with what God is doing here in Lusaka through your faithful support and prayers.
Lots of love,
Michael & Renée
Praise God For:
- Rasford and Titus finally being in Cape Town to
study and train - God’s provision for the ministry here in Lusaka
- The new contract with Golden Peacock which allows for an extra room for Children’s Ministry
- The continued training our Ministry team is receiving through GYD and Explore.
Pray For:
- The Children’s Ministry team at Christ Church Lusaka as we learn and grow in this ministry
- Rasford and Titus at GWC in Cape Town and their families doing life here in Lusaka without their husband and father.
- The discipleship one-on-one meetings that Michael and I do weekly
- Michael and I to serve consistently and faithfully in the roles God has given us here.
We are missionaries serving with SIM-Zambia. We rely totally on donor support to keep us in the mission field.
Please would you prayerfully consider supporting us financially. You can direct your support to us through SIM or directly to our personal South African bank account. Find out how you can support us here: