The rainy season has started in Zambia. The fiery flamboyant trees are in full bloom, as well as the colourful frangipani trees scattered all over Lusaka. Everything feels fresh and beautiful and it stirs our hearts to praise and thanksgiving for all that God has accomplished this past month.

“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
1 Thessalonians 5:18

On the first Sunday of this month Christ Church Lusaka gave us an early farewell party. While we will still be around in Lusaka until we go on Home Assignment, the church community wanted to say thank you and goodbye to us before the Madsen family went on their home assignment to the States. It was a really special time of fellowship with this community of people that we have grown to know and love. As we prepared and shared a meal together, it became very real that our time in Lusaka was coming to an end. These people are going to miss us and we will miss them. Our prayer for them is God will walk with them and strengthen them. Pray with us as we leave for the next season God has for us, that the church will take ownership and responsibility to step into those roles that they have been trained for.

Pilgrim Songs

This month Christ Church Lusaka started a new series in the book of Psalms. This series is on the Psalms of Ascent, also known as the Pilgrim Songs. Michael managed to squeeze in an opportunity to preach Psalm 121 in this series just before setting off to Ghana for a week, and another sermon on his return on Psalm 124. It has been a blessing to still have opportunity to serve at Christ Church Lusaka when we are available and the need arises

“My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.”
Psalm 121:2

Michael’s Trip to Ghana

Michael was invited to attend the Langham Africa Leaders Consultation in Ghana from the 9th till the 16th of November. He was excited for this opportunity to learn more about Langham and see how better to implement it here in Zambia. We were also anxious about how this absence from home would affect Caleb. And boy did it upset the applecart!

For the first two days after Michael left, Caleb was not himself. He had quite a few major meltdowns which is not in character for him. By the third day we seemed to find some sort of equilibrium with fewer major meltdowns. I was thankful to see how connected Caleb was with his dad. It was also a surprise to see what an impact the absence of one parent can make on a toddler. During this time I just tried to keep his routine as consistent as possible with many activities to distract from his missing his dad. A call from his dad every day as well as video notes to Caleb on WhatsApp really helped to tie Caleb over till Michael came home.

Michael found this training to be very impactful. He felt God speaking into areas of his life through the messages that were brought there. It also gave him a better understanding of the vision of Langham. It has ignited his passion for moving it forward in Zambia.

He has written more about this on his blog which you can read here:

A Special Thanksgiving

On Thursday we celebrated the American Thanksgiving with our SIM team here in Lusaka. It was such a special time to reflect on all that we are thankful for this year. For us it was easy to choose just one thanksgiving to share. We are thankful for Caleb. God has given us a wonderful gift in this amazing boy and has been with us every step of the frustrating process.

Caleb’s Paperwork Update

I’m sure you are all waiting anxiously to hear the progress on Caleb’s paperwork. We can only confirm that we still don’t have the adoption certificate at the time of writing this newsletter. But we have been promised that we should have it early December. The good news is that we are getting the adoption certificate and the new birth certificate together. That’s a huge relief. We will then apply for the expedited passport which we hope to have before mid-December. This means that we can start planning our home assignment with some measure of confidence.

Plans for Home Assignment

So with careful optimism we can say that we will most likely be in Durban from the 1st–15th of January and in Cape Town from 1st of February till the end of June. Our plans are still not set in stone but we would like to start tentatively planning our meetings. So… if you’re in Durban from the 1st to 15th and would like to see us, please let us know. We would like to plan for that for our time there.

“I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy.”
2 Timothy 1:4

We continue to praise God for you. You are precious to us. While we serve God here in Zambia we constantly think of you who make it possible for us to be here. This encourages us even in the most difficult and overwhelming times. Your prayers, generosity and notes of encouragement lift our hearts and draw us on in our service to God here in Zambia. We look forward to seeing many of you when we are on home assignment next year. Please let us know if you are available for a visit.