Arrival of the brick-maker

Newsletter Mar/Apr 2010

Hello friends and family-

    Well, I know it has been some time since you last heard from us.  I am sorry about that, life just seems to get ahead of you sometimes.  I think I will keep this short because we are coming home for an extended period of time in just a few short days.  I hope to see all of you while we are home and share with you what God has been doing in Zambia and in our hearts in person. 

    Lets start all the way back to March.  Life was the same as usual for most of the month.  The most exciting news of that month was that Mat had a birthday, Ba Chanda made it home safely from his travels to the USA, and we received our hydraform brick maker!  We celebrated Mat’s birthday with some missionary friend of ours fishing in the Kafue River.  We did not catch anything but had a great time.  We then went back to our house for some brownies and ice cream; it was a lovely evening.  Just a day or two after Ba Chanda came back to Zambia from a one month visit to the USA the brick maker arrived.  It was a sight to see.  This is a very big machine, it took about 10 men an hour to move it from the truck safely into the orphanage.  Ba Chanda also held a leadership conference shortly after he returned at which Mat gave a talk about the brick maker.  The people of the churches here were very excited to learn about it and are very ready to give of their time and energy to supporting this new form of ministry and business.  We were all very blessed and are excited to see the Lord move as he opens new doors for Chande Orphanage.

    April was a month of great blessing and busyness.  Chande had two teams from America.  The first was a large group from Texas who came to Chande to do a vacation bible school with the children.  The children loved it.  The team also brought a full bible for every child that attended which blessed me so much to see.  It was nice getting to meet so many new people.  I got to know a few of the women during their stay here.  Their testimonies and the time they spent just chatting with me blessed me so much.  They were a great encouragement to me.  I have been feeling lately (long before the teams came) that God wants me to go through a season of deeply studying his word on what it means to be a godly wife and mother in preparation to teach the young women in Zambia who are preparing for marriage.  One women I got to know from Texas gave me a book she had brought with her about the mission of motherhood. I was so touched by this gift and thanked God for giving me another tool to dive deeper into his word.  The same day the Texas team left we were blessed by the presence of  a small team from Wyoming. This team was made up of some old friends and a couple of new faces.  The men on the team went to Congo to do a pastors training conference and the women stayed in Kitwe to teach the women from the book of Esther.  Both Mat and I were asked to teach alongside these teams.  It was such an honor and a blessing to join them as they brought God’s word to so many people.  The team in Congo had a wonderful trip and came back with many stories of God’s awesome work being done there.  My time with the women was amazing.  I love my Wyoming sisters in Christ and was so thankful to spend time with them.  The teaching from Esther also went well and I think it was a time of growth for Americans and Zambians alike.  I also can see God opening the doors for me and teaching the women here.  I know I must spend time sharpening my sword first, but I am encouraged to see the way God used both these teams to open doors for ministry to come. 

    The team from Wyoming left just over a week ago.  Since that time we have been getting things in order for our journey home.  It has only been one year but it is already so hard to leave.  There is a lot to arrange for while we are gone and I know I will be missing my Zambian brothers and sisters very much.  I am, however, very excited to see all of you as well.  It has been equally as difficult to be away from you.  We are leaving for Lusaka after church on Sunday and flying from Lusaka on Tuesday.  We arrive in St. Louis Wednesday morning.  We will spending a week in St. Louis getting our sweet little boy adjusted to his new environment  before we head up to Chicago for my sisters wedding on the 30 of May.  After that we will spending a good chunk of time in St. Louis and a good chunk in Wyoming, all the while traveling here and there to speak at churches that will have us and visit loved ones.  Mat is retuning (God willing) to Zambia alone from late July to late September to continue in our work here in Zambia.  He is then coming back to USA for the birth of our second child due on October 15th.  We will be traveling back to Zambia as a new family of four in late November (God willing yet again).  Please pray for us during this time.  We have seen God work many miracles in providing for our family physically and spiritually and have faith that He will do it again, but prayer is an essential part of life and we need all we can get. 

    There is another prayer request and praise I would like to share with you all.  My brother Ryan and his wife Amber had the their first baby on Mother’s Day.  The gave birth to a baby boy named David Ryan Kinner, who I hear looks just like my brother.  Right now David is in the baby intensive care because he is having some heart problems.  I am told that he is doing well and the doctors think that he will pull out of it on his own, but please keep this sweet baby boy and his parents in your prayers.

    Thank you all so much for your prayers and support this past year.  God has used you all in a mighty way and for that we thank you very much.  God bless you all and hope to see you very, very soon!

Love,
Amy, Mat, William, and baby Peanut Kountz

Newsletter December 09’

Dear Family and Friends-

Welcome to the year 2010! We have now spent almost 7 months here in Zambia . A quick reflection of our time here could be described as humbling, gut wrenching, exhausting, frustrating, and more. To leave it at that would give you all an impression of despair, but that is truly not the case. I would like to report to you all that this last year has been one of overwhelming joy and praise and an abundance of God’s work being done in major and obvious ways. That is always the temptation, and though I cannot honestly say that is true in a worldly sense, I can most definitely tell you of the work God has done on our own hearts and I think you will find that the above statement is in fact true.

Our time here started with many meetings on the potential projects and possibilities that lay before us. I was immediately struck with the feeling of anxiety. The amount of things that needed to get done were and are endless. In my American mentality I felt like everything was just one step away from being accomplished and in no time we would be done with certain projects. That is not what happened. We still are prayerfully and with faith pressing into matters we feel the Lord is calling us to. We are still fighting with the Lands Secretary about the banana land, still waiting for the orphanage to be complete so children can start to move in, still trying to reach the people in Maposa (the church in the bush just outside of Kitwe), and still trying to find the right way to be Godly spouses and parents. While I know that these things are never ending jobs I must admit the struggle has been one of great difficulty. I think in America we sometimes force things because we can and the resources are there for us to do that. Here, however, forcing things brings immediate and sever consequences. The hardest part has been struggling to find the Lords will and walk in it no matter what. There is always the temptation to please man, to get fast results, to give up and live a life of the comfort you are use to, or to go to a place where you are just looked at as a person and not loved and hated at the same time for your skin color and the stereo types involved with all that. I find myself questioning to what extent will I follow the Lord; do I truly love God’s people in Zambia more than I love myself? Am I willing to give up the things I hold most dear to bring the only cure to this sinful world to the lost people God puts in my path? Some days that answer is no, but by the grace of God some days that answer is yes!

While complications with the banana land, completing the orphanage, and trying to reach the people of Maposa has been hard for me, my biggest struggle has been giving encouragement and support to Mat as he deals with these things on a much more personal level. When everything around you is going nuts sometimes you try to hold on to the one thing you can have control of…your home life. Our first few months here I was not the kind of submissive, strong, capable wife my husband needed me to be. As I lost comforts I was fond of I grew very selfish. I looked to Mat to make things normal again for me. I did not even realize it at the time, but the strain and stress he must have felt on my account was huge. He needed me to be at home taking care of the household like I am called to do in Proverbs 31, but I wanted to be apart of everything going on. This mix up caused immediate strain on our marriage and I think we both felt hurt and confused by each other. Before we left our pastor, Chris Oswald from St. Louis , gave us a lot of great discipleship resources. Mat showed me an article written by a woman about the importance and higher calling of being a house wife. What I read really gave me great perspective on the role of a house mother/wife and just how important it is to the kingdom of God . I began asking the Lord to accept my cleaning the toilet, scrubbing the bath, and doing dishes as an offering to Him. I asked the Lord to see me staying home and doing these things, as simple as they may seem, as a sacrifice I thankfully gave to do His will. Immediately I was not just cleaning and changing poopy diapers because I needed to, but I was also joyfully and with a thankful heart serving the Lord, my husband and my child. The change in my heart once again brought a sense of normalcy to the day. By submitting and surrendering just that small comfort to the Lord I no longer felt alone here, my veil was removed, I could see God’s light and it brought me a greater comfort than any that could ever be taken from me.

Besides the spiritual struggles, Zambia comes with its fair share of physical trails as well. As I am sure you all know this place has diseases that we are not use to in the US and can at times (especially when the mines are shut down and everyone is out of work, like right now) have a lot of crime. Being from the US we are a little more susceptible to both the crime and disease. I am not trying to tell you all this to scare you, but to not share with you the miracles I have seen in these areas would be wrong. The joy and security I have found in the Lord is like Old Faithful about to erupt! I am amazed at what the Lord has done, and to truly share with you my heart and what we have been through you must know this side of it as well.

One night we were sitting with William and out of no where he started to vomit. He had never been sick like this before so we called our friend Dianess to find out where the clinic was. We rushed William in the car and went to pick up Dianess’s son Kelvin so he could show us where to go. By the time we got to Dianess’s house William was unresponsive to talk and touch. When Dianess saw him she told Mat that there was no time and he must go quickly. I could see the worry in her eyes and I immediately got very scared and started crying and praying. So many things were going through my head. When we got to the clinic they immediately thought it was malaria. They did a blood slide and it came out negative, but showed that he was fighting a bacterial infection. The doctor gave us an antibiotic and treatment for malaria as well. The medicine to cure malaria is the same that they use to prevent it so there was no harm. After a week we took him back to the doctor for a check up. William still had a fever from time to time so they did another blood slide. This time they found that the bacterial infection was gone, but he did in fact have malaria! You can imagine my shock; we always used bug spray and kept him under a mosquito net. As I pondered everything that happened I could see all the ways the Lord was providing for us and taking care of us in a time when we did not know we need to be taken care of in that way. God got us to the clinic and put William on malaria medication before the disease even had time to hatch in his blood stream. I was so thankful for the miracle that God gave us and praised the Lord for his faithfulness! We truly can trust in God’s word and believe that He does work all things for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.

As most of you know our pastor’s wife and children were robbed a gun point about two months or so ago. The full story of this event is amazing, but for now I will just tell you that due to this robbery Mat and I were an expected next target and began planning to move out of the orphanage and into a more secure neighborhood. One thing you must know before I go any further is that our night security guard at the orphanage was almost always sleeping when we would arrive home. Mat would have to lock me and Wil in the car, jump the wall, and wake up the night guard to open the gate for us. The night before Thanksgiving Mat and I pulled up to our gate and to our surprise the night guard was waiting for us gate open and everything. We happily pulled in, bid him a goodnight and pulled around back to our house. The next morning when we woke up we went to greet the workers and wish them a Happy Thanksgiving. When we were talking to them we were told of a story about the night before. After we pulled into the gate and our night guard had just closed the gate another car pulled up to the orphanage. Our night guard questioned the men in the car. They replied, “We know you have white men in there, now let us in or we will hurt you.” Our night guard immediately told them no and said that he could not let them in because he did not know them. He then called to the people on the street and asked everyone to come look at the men and see if anyone knew who they were. When a crowed started to form the men in the car got scared and drove away. When we heard this story we felt two things, one was overwhelming thankfulness for our safety and very lives, and two was an immediate rush to find another place to live. This event was truly a miracle for many reasons. The Lord’s hand was over us in ways would could have never dreamed. Not only was the night guard being there a miracle in its self, but in most robberies of this nature the robbers will block your car in and either force you and them through the gate or get to you before the gate is opened. We are not sure if they followed us there or if they were waiting for us, but the fact that our car was in the orphanage with the gate shut before they arrived is a miracle all its own. Just 3 days later the Lord also provided for us a house in a safer neighborhood with great security! I am still shocked by the Lord’s goodness.

As you can see I have never felt so small and insignificant, never been so tired, never had such little control, never had to face the trials I am now facing, and I am thankfully and joyfully praising the Almighty Father because of it! These are just a few of the ways God has grown us since we came to Zambia, there are many stories and testimonies of His grace and goodness and one day I hope to share much more with you. Until then I hope you all will be encouraged and praise God for what we have seen Him do in our lives spiritually and physically.

On a more current note, we had a very wonderful Christmas. We had an early Christmas dinner with some fellow missionary friends of ours from Korea named Daniel and Grace Kim. They made us a traditional Korean meal which was very tasty, it blessed us very much. We spent Christmas Day with Chankwa Church in Maposa. We asked everyone from the church to bring food to share so we could dine as a church family after the service. Only one woman and we brought food to share. (This same woman also came early to church to sweep it out, she blessed us so much.) Not even the volunteer pastor of the church, Zachariah from Chamboli church in Kitwe, brought food to share. When we pulled up to church no one was there. As we sat and talked with Zachariah we found out that he was planning on announcing he was done working with this church because the people don’t care about the Word of God. Mat encouraged Zachariah to pray about this decision further and reminded him of Jesus working with us over and over again and of Paul’s struggle with the Corinthian church. We then began the service and Mat gave the sermon. It was a powerful sermon. The spirit was working in a mighty way through the words He gave Mat to speak and one woman accepted Jesus as her Lord and Savior. As we left to go back to Kitwe , Zachariah was filled the joy of the Holy Spirit. He was singing and once again felt excited about God’s work in Maposa. That night we had some other missionary friends of ours (the Speedy family from the US and South Africa ) over for a cup of holiday cheer. It was a very nice Christmas.

Mat also went to Congo in the early days of December. This trip had been pushed back time and time again since October for many different reasons. The morning they were set to leave, Ba Chanda announced that he could not go with because his father was very ill and needed his help. Mat was the one who would lead the team to Congo . The men who went were Mat, James Kiria, and Peter (Bashi Mpundu). This trip was meant to be a short one to meet with pastors and plan a program for 2010. When Mat arrived he unexpectedly was set up to do a two day pastors training conference with some of the men in the area. The Lord provided abundantly; this was a great growing experience for Mat and he came back so thankful to serve the Lord in those ways. Mat was so excited and encouraged to see that the 36 churches that had been planted the last time Ba Chanda was in Lubumbashi had grown to almost 50 and were doing very well. The harvest is ripe and it was such a blessing to see God once again put together all the pieces to a very mixed up puzzle.

Well, I think that should be enough for now. Last week there was another break in at the orphanage and the rabbit-modem that we used for our internet source was stolen; please forgive us, but we might be a little hard to get a hold of for while. We also picked up Mat’s mom and Uncle Henry from Lusaka on the 4^th of January. It has been so nice to have family here and to have someone who laughs at our jokes other than William. They will be with us for the rest of the month and we will be doing some medical classes and heath check ups with the kids of Chande. I think it is going to be a great month! God Bless you all, you are always in our thoughts and prayers.

Love,

Amy and the rest of the Kountz Family

Newsletter Jan/Feb 2010

Hello Family and Friends,

We hope and pray that 2010 has started off well for you all. Ours started with a needed breath of fresh air. Mat’s Mom and Uncle Henry spent the month of January with us. It was such a blessing to be around family again and just to show those we love where we live and to have them meet our dear Zambian and fellow missionary friends was such a joy. We spent the month working as usual with company to join us and help in whatever came along. Uncle Henry gave us a lot of great advise on how to run our farm when we are ready (he is a farmer in Ohio) and BK (Mat’s Mom) taught health classes at all of the Chande schools and did health check ups on all of the orphans (she is a nurse in Wyoming). They also pitched in around the house. It was awesome! I cooked only 2 times, and barely touched the laundry and dishes for an entire month! Praise the Lord for a break! They also sent Mat and me on 2 dates while they stayed home with William. We had a slight bought of missing the baby, but had so much fun it passed pretty quickly. We ended their stay with a trip to Livingstone to see Victoria Falls in southern Zambia. The Falls were magnificent, a true sign of God’s glory and majesty. The locals call them Mosi Oa Tunya or Smoke that Thunders, and they really do thunder. We also did a very successful self drive safari through one of the national parks. William slept through the falls and a good chunk of the safari, but woke up in time to see monkeys, birds (his favorite), antelope of a few variety, zebras, water buffalo, giraffes, a wild boar, a crocodile, and even a hippo. We had a wonderful trip, but like all things, they must come to end. After our visit to Livingstone we took our guests to Lusaka and sent them on a plane heading state side.

Mat, Wil, and I spent a few extra days in Lusaka working on the Chande Nut Butter project. We were able to find better labels, cheaper containers, and the right kind of packaging that interested wholesalers in Kitwe need to sell our product. Mat also talked with the national managers of Shoprite and Spar (big chain grocery stores throughout Zambia) about what it would take for them to sell Chande Nut Butter. They were very helpful and seemed interested in the product as long as we get barcodes on our labels. One manager who tried it said that it was the best and smoothest peanut butter he has ever tried. We left Lusaka with a new excitement, many possibilities, and a lot of hard work yet to do. As we were nearing Kitwe the sun was going down and you could just start to see the buildings appear. Mat and I looked at each other and said, “Home sweet home!” We were so thankful to see Kitwe again and to greet all the friends we missed so much. It was so nice to hear about everything that happened while we were gone and to share with them the events of our travels. We shared the compliment about the peanut butter with the women who make Chande Nut Butter. They were so thankful and excited. We also told them to be praying that the Lord would work all this out if it was His will to do so. They all got on their knees and said they would be praying very much about it. I love those women; they are always a joy to me. We also were welcomed to Kitwe by 5 packages from loved ones back home waiting for us at the post office; it was such a blessing to receive them.

The rest of February was work as usual. We spent the month continuing work on peanut butter projects, the child sponsorship program, bananas, and working with the church in Maposa. We had a very lovely Valentines Day. Mat took William and me out for pizza. It was so nice; we got dressed in our nicest attire and had a very wonderful evening. We also bought a couple chickens out in the bush; we named them Susan and Oliver. William loves them; he helps us feed them every morning and night. Ba Chanda (Chande’s director) left for the states in the middle of February. I know a lot of you will be getting to spend some time with him while he is in the US. We are helping in anyway we can while he is gone. So far everything has been running very smoothly, praise the Lord!

Well, that was the months of January and February, but of course every month comes with a new spiritual battle, and some well needed pruning by the Holy Spirit. After reflecting back on this last month I have decided that the biggest lesson I learned was about enjoying the goodness of God. As silly as that sounds it was a much harder task then my spirit was up to at times. Let me explain further… When we were heading back to Lusaka after our trip to Livingstone there were many police stops. As we pulled up to each one the police questioned us until there was reason to pull us over and give us a ticket. Three tickets later and a dent in our wallets we got waved to the side of the road by police once again and given a speeding ticket that the police had no proof of on their scanner (they usually have a print off), no receipts (you have to pay on the spot), and they were asking for a bribe of 50,000 kwacha (about 11 dollars) to let us go. Mat refused the bribe and told them that he would go to the police in Lusaka to pay the ticket. As we entered Lusaka I was tired and very frustrated at the day’s events. Mat kept his word only to find that our case had not been reported to the police station by the police giving the ticket. We were driving away still slightly bitter about the situation, but thanking God for taking care of it when we got a text asking us to come back to the police station. When we got there we found that the reason they could not find our case was because the police that filed it wrote that we were from Ndola, not Kitwe, on the form. The police men talking with Mat continued to mock him for about 20 minuets. They were accusing him of trying to corrupt the Zambian police, calling him a lying missionary for the Ndola mix up, and laughed at the thought of possibly getting to arrest him. Mat gave up his fight of trying to show that he was not guilty, paid the ticket, and left. When he got to the car he told me the story, he was still upset and now my bitterness from before flared to sinful un-forgiveness. In my heart I was enjoying my anger and felt sure it was a right reaction to the situation at hand. As I realized this I was immediately convicted by the Holy Spirit. Why was I so mad at those police men? The name of God was not being profaned; the only thing hurt was my pride. I asked God for help to forgive the men who hurt my husband and asked God to forgive me of my pride and un-thankfulness. God answered my prayers and I was immediately impressed by the goodness of God and the true joy in Christ it brought me. What an awesome thing it is to enjoy the goodness of God!

Speaking of another aspect of God’s goodness, we recently found out that we are expecting another baby! We are so excited! We were able to have an ultrasound done which put the due date of our second bundle of joy on October 15, 2010. Please be in prayer with us about this situation. We have a major decision to make with which I have been praying God would make the answer very clear. Our choices are to have the baby in Zambia or have the baby in the US. There are complications with each side, but I know God has a plan for this. Because my blood type is O- I have to be at a hospital where they have the Rogam shot (a medicine designed to make it safe for my blood to mix with the babies if the baby gets a + blood type). While that is not a problem in the US we have not been able to find a hospital here that carries this injection. This might make our decision very easy. We are also coming home to the US from mid May to mid July for my sister’s wedding, the birth of my brother’s first child, to speak at churches about Chande, and to raise support for our next year in Zambia (God willing), and of course to see dear friends and family. If we have the baby in the US William and I will be home from May to November. Mat on the other hand will need to come back to Zambia for about 2 months of that time. While I am so blessed he will be back for the birth of the child I and William will miss him terribly. I do not like being away from my husband for even a day, let alone 2 months! I do find comfort in the fact that every time the Lord has called us to be apart in the past it has been a time of great growth for us both. The other down side to this route is that my Dad and Step-mom will be working with Chande for 2 weeks in August. I wanted so much to be there for that. All these things aside we want first to serve the Lord in whatever way He has called us to. Jesus said in Matthew 10:37, “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” It is a diffcult thing to follow the Lord, but always worth it.

Well, I think that is all for now. Please let us know if there is anything we can be in prayer about for you all too. We love you all and can’t wait to see you in May:) God bless.

Love,

Amy, Mat, Wil, and baby peanut

Newsletter November 09’

Dear friends and family,

I hope you all had a happy thanksgiving. We did. We had a long weekend of celebrations. On thanksgiving Thursday we had cinnamon rolls for breakfast (Amy made them from scratch), then we had a traditional meal with chicken instead of turkey, and even some butternut squash from our garden. It was delicious. The following day, Friday the 27^th was Williams birthday. We made him a carrot cake and he made a great mess. He had many presents from around the world. His friends Binwell, and Jane even gave him some apples and oranges for his birthday. It was his first time having an apple and he loved it. He would bite it, chew it, spit it out, and repeat. We took him to a picnicy place down by the Kafue River, and got to see a couple of wild hippos. On Saturday we hosted a bunch of missionaries for an American thanksgiving and had the privilege of meeting many new people who are doing missionary work in various parts of Zambia (mostly the copperbelt like us). So this is the merriment side of the month, but there were also some hard times. Don’t worry though it all turned out well.

A few weeks ago pastor Chanda’s house was robbed while he was out. Armed men came in and took all his money. One man tried to shoot Beatrice Chanda, but miraculously the bullet hit one of the burglars instead, and they all left. This was a tremendous blessing because money can be replaced, but Beatrice could not. Her life was saved, and the Lord has shown his great provision in already replacing the lost money. This caused us to cancel our trip into Pweto, or rather delay it. The Congolese are missing us, but it worked out well because at this same time that we were scheduled to go to Pweto, the pastor there, pastor kabamba, had to rush to help his son who was in trouble. We should be going to lumbumbashi soon, as we planned…. An other reason the delay turned out well is because while we would have been gone, we were in kitwe having meetings with the minister of lands about our farm. It turned out that on that week he was more open for meetings. For our third meeting (this Monday God willing), we will be going to the farm land and walking its parameter with them to show where we propose the demarcations to be. So hopefully that will lead to us obtaining the land. From our meetings we have found that there is no opposing claims on the land yet. We’ll go to as many meetings as it takes I guess…. The police suggested that ba Chanda move to a place more secure because of the robbery, and that Amy and I should as well (thinking that the orphanage has very poor security, and because they were after Ba Chanda it might be the next target). We started looking for a place and were blessed by finding a great two bedroom flat. This place is much cheaper then our old rent, and much bigger, so it will help us with our budget, and also afford me room for an office. We are very pleased with our new abode. Many of you prayed for us to find a place and the prayers were answered beyond expectation. Thank you for your prayers, and thank you God for your prevision. Ba Chanda is still looking for a place, please pray for him to find the perfect one. One more blessing that came from this robbery is that many people in the community were curious about the happenings, so they came to church that Sunday to see what the story was, but instead they heard the gospel, and two women where saved. The Lord can always make good out of bad, and in all of this He showed Himself to be glorious and loving.

So… Needless to say our month was eventful, but otherwise we spent our time in very fulfilling peaceful pursuits. At the orphanage we put up some steel doors to heighten security, and planted about 80 new banana trees on the grounds. These are not the hybrid strain that we will plant at the farm, but an unknown strain from chilube island. Ba Chanda brought one tree back with him when he went there a couple of years ago, and they produce small shoots that we are transplanting. They produce nice fruit, and seem to be disease resistant, but we are only planting them to feed the kiddo’s and workers. These ones are not set to be a cash crop (maybe in the future).

The work in the church at maposa is going very well. We are gaining solid members, and our Wednesday bible study has been amazing. We start at 2 pm, and it could go on all night. The only reason that we have been stopping is because Amy and I forgetfully plan things at 6 or 7 at night. I am shocked, and blessed by their desire to hear, learn, and discuss the bible, and all its implications on our lives. This area is in need of a lot of prayer though. I can see the people in this church making a tremendous impact on their community. There is a man who has been a regular at the church on Wednesday, and Sunday, and one day he asked for a ride home and it was about 10 kilometers away. I was impressed by his steadfastness, and willingness to travel so far to be taught, and to have fellowship. Wednesday and Sunday services have been great, and we really see some people maturing. Thank you for your prayers.

We went with the Chamboli choir to Lusaka for a crusade, and music festival where they where asked to sing. The money for the trip was stolen in the burglary, but God came through and provided for them to go anyway, and they sang amazingly, and the crusade was very successful.

My meeting with the youth on Sunday afternoon is still going well. I have been able to gain a lot of insight into what their life is really like, and how I can better minister to them. I am seeing a select few who are very dedicated to learning the bible, and I want to focus a lot of attention onto them in providing what I can from my side for their growth.

In the last newsletter I told you about our plan to visit children who have slipped through the cracks. We were headed to Emmanuel Banda’s house. Well we met with him, and discussed the reprocussions of what he was doing (not coming to school), and encouraged him, letting him know we were there to help. His mother is a widow who cares for him and two of her sisters orphaned children, so she is having a hard time providing, so we are trying to help. We have all three students coming to our school free, and we provide all their supplies, but sometimes they just need some more personal encouragement. This is our new Friday routine, to find children who haven’t been coming to school. It is getting hard though because school is now on break and a lot of the children are going to the bush to help out on farms. Last Friday we went to mulenga compound (treacherous roads) to try to find a boy named terry, but he was gone. We will still keep at it, but I am sure it will go quicker when the school is back in session in January. While we were out doing this it became clear to us that some of our orphaned children were showing signs of aids, and we are trying to make sure that they get the treatment required. Please pray for all these children. In Zambia nobody wants to admit that they have aids because of the stigma’s attached, and superstitions, so they don’t get tested, or take there meds, and they die very early. We are making a program to make sure that any children with risk are being tested, and getting the required treatment. Please pray for this work.

The house we were in before was already furnished, so we didn’t really have much for furniture, so now we are buying furniture, and appliances, and stuff, and it is going really well. William loves the new house, and because our bed is on the floor for now he loves to crawl on it and take naps. We are being blessed in so many ways, but because this is getting long I will cut it off here. I hope you have a great Christmas, and we are praying for you all.

Love,

`The Kountz Fam

The New Face of Chande Nut Butter

Newsletter September 09’ sorry wrong order

Dear Friends and Family,

Well the month of September was great. It was very, very hot, but great. We do not use blankets or even a sheet to cover up at night. We have placed a fan to blow intermittently onto both of us while we sleep, and we still wake soaking wet. The rains are not supposed to come until November or late October, but we have had some the last couple days and I think it is a special blessing from God to help people from cold climates like us. Amy, Wil, and I like to sit on our front porch at night to breath in the rain smell and watch the lightening. William is 10 months old now and is not walking yet, but he is very mobile, and has learned to climb on things. He has started to brush his teeth, say “bye bye” while waving, and pick his nose, unfortunately. We gave him his first haircut about a week ago, and I even cut his mothers hair (thanks for the lessons Ang Oswald). We are adapting to Africa more and more as a family, and are learning to manage our time and take care of each other. No tropical diseases this month, or venomous bites (even though when Binwell and I were working in the bush he did almost step on a cobra barefoot), or car break-downs. I would count us very blessed.

The peanut butter is going very well. We found a plastic manufacturer in a city near by, that is now making our containers, and a newspaper company that is printing our labels. We no longer have to rely on the U.S. for any part of the P.B. production and this is very exciting. The orphanage is moving one step closer to monetary self sufficiency (One of our main long-term goals). I have also searched out cheaper ways of producing, and by getting wholesale ingredients in different places we have cut our production cost by about 30%. We have hired another woman to make peanut butter, and a full-time saleswoman to help move the product. I am very excited to see all of this coming more and more together, and just to see women who have lost their husbands get a good job to take care of themselves and their family.

We are still having trouble with our banana land. The permanent secretary is part of a group of men who have been commissioned to write a new constitution for Zambia. He has told me “ I want Zambia to have a constitution that will stand the test of time, one like the United States has”. This is a good thing, I think, but it means that he keeps canceling our meetings so he can be in Lusaka (Zambia’s capital) for meeting on the constitution. I have not given up hope, and continue to pray that it will work out very well.

At the youth meeting we went to at the end of last month, one of our churches, Chamboli, did very well at the singing competition. They have been asked to go to Lusaka to compete at a national level. They sing beautifully and I think they will do very well.

The pastors from the churches in Congo have traveled to Lumbumbashi for a leadership seminar led by Pastor Chanda, and a team from Inglewood Baptist Church in Texas. While he is there, pastor Chanda is getting some Swahili bibles for our next trip into Pweto, and the regions around. It is best to get the bibles there I have learned, because the dialects of Swahili, and French are different then those of eastern and northern Africa where most bible translations come from. We will be heading into the pweto area again around the first week of November. I think that on this upcoming trip we will be going into moba to scout it out as we plan to plant churches going in that direction.

The Orphanage school in Ndeke, Kitwe has got a new teacher named Barnabas, who is doing classes using audio and video. It has proven very effective, and the pupils are enjoying it a lot. I think he will be a great addition.

We got a chance to meet with several missionaries in the copperbelt for dinner a couple weeks ago. There was about ten of us from places like: Sri lanka, Holland, England, South Africa, Australia, and even the good old U.S.A. It was very nice to spend some time with people and not have the heavy language or culture barriers that we are used to. We met a nice couple of missionaries at the beginning of the month, and they have a 15 month old son (Micah) who has become fast friends with William. Having these contacts has already been a big blessing, because we can all learn from each others experience, and sympathize with each other when needed.

Amy has been very busy trying to create profiles on all the orphans chande supports, and has been spending long days at the schools trying to get things that are very unorganized, organized. It has been great to get to know all the children, and their stories. Some of the orphans are being supported by people in the united states, and Amy has been arranging letters to be sent from the orphans to their supporters. This has been nice to spend time with them, and learn their likes, and dislikes, and just to encourage them however we can.

Recently I have been spending some days in the bush in a village called “maposa”. There is a school and a church there that was started by chande. A team from wyoming came and put a new roof up to replace the broken down school/church building. The villagers job was to put up the walls. It is months later and nobody has done anything, so a man from church named Zachariah, and I, are trying to fill in. We have been mobilizing the people, making bricks, and trying to get the building constructed before the rains set in hard. I have been bringing volunteers from the youth meeting I started on Sundays, and they have been happy to serve. This church has also recently been left without a pastor, and has slowly fallen apart. The kountz fam has been out there every Sunday. I am preaching a series from Matthew 5-7, and trying to teach some basics of the Christian life. It will probably take a couple of months. The youth from my group are excited to help with this church. Binwell has been translating for me, and many others have offered to come to help build, help evangelize, to sing, and just to encourage this church. Our hope is to get the church a full time pastor to disciple and care for it. I feel very strongly that Zachariah could fill this position (he has been preaching there off and on for a while), but the Lord chooses who will be pastors, and he will have to be called for that to happen. I am very blessed and encouraged as I see this church growing and being revitalized. Please pray that we would get the building up before the rains, and that the Lord would raise up a pastor to fill that position.

All in all things are going well. It is a rollercoaster ride, but we know that God will work all things together for good. Thank you for all your financial, and prayer support. You are all such an encouragement to us. We will keep you all in our prayers, and let you know as things are moving forward…. I also have set up a blog to put little things up for people to see, and publish old newsletters for those who have missed them. If you want to visit it, it is www.kountzfamilyzambia.blogspot.com we love you all.

In Christ,

`The Kountz Fam in Zam