Still Waiting!

Well, the due date for Amos' arrival has come and gone. But we are not surprised, since our other children were all 9-10 days late. We greatly appreciate your prayers as we (try to) patiently wait for Amos to come. We do have an induction scheduled for Monday (28 July) if nothing happens before then. We'll definitely post pictures and details once Amos comes! In the meantime, we are enjoying our stay in Johannesburg as we fellowship with Mama Dee & Grandpa (Dawnya's parents) and our Journeyman friend, Kristy. We've shopped at the malls, eaten delicious game meats (kudu, eland, ostrich, impala, crocodile, etc.) at Carnivore Restaurant, went on a game drive at the Lion & Rhino Park, celebrated Dawnya's birthday (a few days early), and of course, LOTS of playtime with the kids.

40 weeks, 3 days pregnant "COME OUT AMOS!"
Mama Dee & Grandpa blowing bubbles with 3 of their grandcritters

Mama Dee with grandcritters on our game drive at Lion & Rhino Park

Isaac wore out from a busy day


Grandpa with grandcritters doing a little hand puppet show

A Grandma Remembered

How do you capture the life of someone you love? She had tight cury black hair and steel blue eyes! She would giggle all the time. She would get tickled everytime we kissed her on the back of her neck. Did I mention she was a tiny woman? But we must remember that dynamite comes in small packages!

She was such a sweet woman, sweet as the many pies that she made for us to eat. I even remember those little treats she use to make with the scraps of the pie crust. I have tried to teach my wife how to make those things, but I guess it took Grandma to make it just right. I remember playing Crazy 8's with her and her saying "Let's let Ned read" when it was her turn to go.

I remember one time when as a small child my sister and I stayed at GaGa's and Grandma's house and she made homemade macaroni and cheese. I had never had homemade macaroni and cheese untill that day! I decieded that I would teach Grandma how to make REAL macaroni and cheese from the BOX. Boy was I wrong... hers was the best.

She was a patient woman... I remember doing things that would rile up any parent or grandparent, but not Grandma. Ok, maybe my sister could get her riled up just a little.

She always made me laugh. She would tell me that she did not eat chocolate because the doctor said she could not. But when she would come to visit at our house she could not get enough of those chocolate peanuts that Daddy kept around. I even caught her with chocolate on her mouth and asked her if she had been eating chocolate and she denied it until I told her that there was some on her mouth. She was a funny lady. Did I mention she was a tiny lady?

How do you explain how someone has touched your life? How could someone that tiny have such a big impact on my life? I remember those knobby knuckles would spend such time and care helping me and hugging me. She was a gentle woman.

How can she have so much impact on me?

She has a Savior that showed her how to love a little boy/ young man/adult man like me!
She has a Savior that showed her the sweetness of His love.
She has a Savior that showed her how to have patience.
She has a Savior that showed her that laughter was like a good medicine.
She has a Savior that touched her life.
She has a Savior that was gentle with her.

It all comes down to SHE HAS A SAVIOR! This tiny little woman is standing face to face with this Big Savior that had so much impact on her life.

Thanks for the impact Grandma! Thank you My Savior Jesus for giving me a Grandma like that!
By Blake Kimbrough, in memory of my Grandma, Loyce Kimbrough (1926-2008)

Isabel's New Look!

Our oldest child, Isabel, experienced her first loose tooth this week! She discovered it while eating pancakes on Sunday morning. After a closer inspection, we actually saw 2 loose teeth! Words cannot even begin to express her excitement of having her first loose teeth! We did have some jealousy to deal with, as 4-year-old Abigail wanted to have loose teeth too! But then Abigail, taking after Mommy, saw it as a great opportunity to celebrate...with cake, of course! Yesterday, that first loose tooth came out, with a little bit of help from Daddy! And we had a wonderful celebration last night with a delicious "1st Loost Tooth" cake. Enjoy her "before" and "after" pictures!

Transport Troubles

Ever feel like people are just missing the point? We've been struggling with something lately. The people in our area are striving to gain from us what they think is most important--transport. Many people know that Blake makes several trips to Katete Village each week for Bible study. The problem is that many people from Isoka have been demanding transport (a free ride) to the village. Their idea is that a missionary is supposed to come and do things for free to help them. When Blake is unable to do the things they are asking for, he is told he's not a good missionary. Blake explains that he is here to share the Gospel, not be a transport driver. But they say things like, "I won't become a Christian if you don't take me." There have been at least 30 people lined up outside with their luggage, huge bags of mealie meal, etc. expecting the white missionary to give them a free ride. They think we are here to help them, and we definitely are. But we are not here to act as a minibus to villages within the Isoka District, rather we are here to help point them to the Saviour! In addition, many villagers are wanting a free ride into Isoka, which is causing problems with the Bible study and many people attend for the wrong reasons. But God can even use wrong motives to bring people to Himself. Please read our blog about Fester, our new sister in Christ!

Fester, our new sister in Christ!

Meet Fester, a young mother from Katete Village. She came to the Bible study last Friday with the SOLE intention of getting a FREE ride from the missionary. But little did she know that her SOUL would be changed by the truth of God's Word! She accepted the FREE gift of salvation and received the ultimate FREE ride to heaven and eternal life! Pray that Fester will grow closer to the Lord and be a strong witness to her family and friends.

Missionary Family

I want to start by saying that there is no one who could ever take the place of our loved ones in the States: Grammy, Mama Dee, Grandpa, Uncle Blu, Aunt Darbi, Caedmon, Cambree, Uncle Chris, Aunt Jennifer, Kaitlyn, GG, Great Grandma W, just to name a few. But we do want to express how much our missionary family can help fill in the gap, showering love, care, and support, when we are so far away from our biological family who we miss so much. This is especially true with our children, who need love and care (even spoiling!) from others besides Mommy & Daddy. During our stay in Lusaka this week, our kids have had a blast playing with their missionary cousins and being spoiled by their missionary aunts...bubble water play, baking peanut butter cookies with Aunt Debbie, playing in the new playscape, swinging, going to Sandy's Creations for play & lunch with Aunt Lee, etc. We thank the Lord for the friendships, love and support He has provided for us here in Zambia among our mission family. Isaac with Uncle Randy and Cousin Austin. Isaac was too busy outside to help make cookies!
Cousin Daniel helped the girls put the criss-cross on the peanut butter cookies!
Aunt Debbie supervised the cookie making with Isabel, Abigail, and Cousin Kelsey.
Isaac with cousins Austin and Coby

Maternity Clothes, Zambian Style!

This photo of me at 31 weeks gives you an idea of what Zambian style maternity clothing looks like. But I must say this is rather fancy maternity clothing and many Zambian woman would probably not own a beautiful chitengi suit like this. Most women would continue to wear a chitengi and simply a t-shirt, which is honestly not too different from my everyday around-the-house maternity clothes. But my friend and fellow missionary, Amy Bowman, gave me this beautiful suit and I absolutely love to wear it to church. Except I'm outgrowing it very quickly! :-)

Pregnancy in Africa

Being pregnant in Zambia has been very different from my pregnancies in America. Besides the concern of malaria, there have been very few prenatal appointments. But we praise the Lord that He has protected me from getting malaria and Baby Amos is growing healthy and normal. I am honestly a little concerned because according to a sonogram on Monday here in Lusaka, his head is still up. But we will just pray that he will turn around in time for delivery in about 2 months. Another difference is that I will have to travel to South Africa at 36 weeks (27 June) for delivery. But there is fantastic medical care so Baby Amos and I will be in good hands, although we grealty miss our beloved Dr. Barber from Texas! Plus I'm a wee bit excited about my Mom & Dad coming to Johannesburg to be with us during this time!

Searching for Truth

My name is Fred. Over the last few weeks, my only two children have died. I’m searching for the truth. Did someone in my village witch my family? I need to find the witch finders (witch doctor) to see if they will consult the spirits (demons) to determine who has cursed my family. I’ve gone to 8 witch finders so far, but none of them has helped me. I came to a Bible study the white man was leading in Katete Village, but I was too distracted to hear what he was even saying. I left in the middle of the Bible study to search for another witch finder. I am in so much pain; my only two children are gone. Who’s done this to me? Maybe if I find out who cursed my family, I can seek revenge. Then maybe this pain will go away. I’m still looking for witch finders, but I’m getting no answers. But I find myself returning to the Bible study that the white man is leading. Will you pray for me, that I might find peace and that the truth might be revealed?

Katete Village

These pictures were taken on the road to Katete Village, deep in the bush of the Isoka District in Northern Zambia. Just a few months ago, the road was washed out, virtually impassable by vehicle. But praise the Lord it got repaired, therefore Blake and the new believers from nearby Luwalizi Village have been able to access Katete Village and they began a Bible study there about a month ago. Many souls have been saved, with a handful of those faithfully attending the weekly Bible studies and growing in their walk with the Lord! Can we get an "AMEN"?

Egg Games

What's great about homeschooling little ones is that we can basically choose any topic to study and have a blast with it! Since we have 3 laying hens in our backyard, I decided several months ago to do a very simple unit study on chickens and eggs. My sweet Mom was able to send me some books geared for preschoolers to teach about chickens and eggs, plus some fun stories. Like I said, we kept it VERY simple, reading a few pages each day and doing a fun chicken or egg craft. The culmination of our chicken/egg week was some fun egg games in our backyard, complete with "Principal Fife" (aka Daddy)! In the pictures, you can see the kids having fun with an egg toss, egg spoon race, pushing the egg with their noses, and trying to move the egg just with their feet. If we were to give a prize, it would have gone to our Awesome Abigail, as she successfully made it to the finish line on each activity and never gave up.

Note: A fake egg was used for our games. There's no way we could justify wasting real eggs from our chickens, who faithfully provide us with 3 eggs each day.

Abigail's Blueberry Birthday

Our precious 2nd born daughter, Abigail, celebrated her 4th birthday very creatively on May 11th. As the kids are getting older, we let them choose their birthday theme. Abigail chose to have a "Blueberry Birthday Party" and we say a huge thank you to Mama Dee & Aunt Darbi for pulling it off! They sent us all kinds of blueberry decorations, from balloons to party favors to personalized plates for the guests! And speaking of guests, Abigail was delighted to share her birthday celebration not only with Isabel and Isaac, but with the Bowman Family! What a special day of celebrating the sweet blessing God gave us 4 years ago!