Taking ground is never easy
Greeting in the name of Jesus,
I write this newsletter to testify and thank you all. This past Saturday I was close to the edge out of nowhere. I began to feel weak, feverish, and quickly became cold, only to begin to shiver uncontrollably to a point that I began to cramp so badly. To draw breath was difficult. Immanuel and Angela sent out prayer request in between covering me with blankets, a hot water bottle, and socks. That very hour God’s hand was upon me. The chills stopped and I began removing blankets one by one. By the time the doctor had come I was out of bed sitting up.
Good news – my blood pressure is the best it has ever been and my blood sugar was perfectly normal. We praise God for his healing hands and for the prayer warriors that stood in the Gap – not today, devil! Not today.
“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
Ephesians 6:12 NKJV
“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh.”
II Corinthians 10:3 NKJV
Why now?
Later this week the container consigned to Kenya arrives,
I travel to Kenya and South Sudan in two and half weeks.
An attack of a different nature occurred late last year as we had the South Sudan container arrive in east Africa.
As we step out into new nations and doors open there is kickback.
The devil is out to stop us as we bless and equip those preaching the gospel, planting churches, and blessing the poor. It is a battle!
I travel on the 10th of October. I have felt that I need to not have any fixed agenda with this trip, but to go with open eyes to see, heart to feel, and ears to hear God. It’s better I run with His plan than mine. I will be traveling with a small team to document the testimonials (another chapter of Uncontained Love is potentially in the wings).
That is where the kickback comes because there nothing as powerful as a testimony.
And to be honest it seems the others had more than their fair share of attacks and struggles as well.
“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.”
Revelation 12:11 NKJV
The testimony of God’s love in action is something the devil fears as it is devastating to him.
So, from 10 -22 October I will be away. Please pray for us – Jude, Carrie- Anne, Whitney and I – as we travel, and Keep Angela and Immanuel in your prayers as well to protect them in my absence.
But as we go, can I make an honest appeal? I really could use financial assistance. To go comes at a cost and a stretch of finances and faith. If you can give any amount, it will help! But I need at least $1400 AUD. I don’t go as a burden but as a blessing. To not just hear about a need, but to be that answer to prayer.
You can make tax deductible donations to the following account:
His Harvest Ministries
BSB: 064 166
Acc#: 10549841
Reference: TTN (first three letters of your first name)(first three letters of your last name) Kenya
e.g. If your name is John Smith, your reference should be “TTN JOHSMI KENYA”
To receive your tax receipt, please email your name, physical address, phone number, and the reference you used (e.g. “TTN JOHSMI KENYA”) to [email protected]
Tax receipts are only issued in the first week of July each year. This is a requirement of the Auditor and the ATO.
Thank you.
Lukunga swamps
Lukunga swamps is going well. A key part of our strategy is self-sufficiency, and the first part of the church/school construction was the small shop.
It is open now and from the very first day trade has been going well. This has given the community the capacity to be self-funding. This goes to school supplies, teachers’ wages, etc. But the shop also becomes the focal central place for the community, which is great for church growth. We will soon open the small guest room to offer accommodation to those that come to the swamps to buy fish – another income stream opportunity.
Soon we will finish the main building which will be the church/school.
We are looking forward to the water project taking off, providing clean drinking water, which is cholera free!
The community has done the background work on group registration and, depending on the capacity of the boreholes, they will look to set up irrigations for women and youth co-ops to farm small crops (tomatoes, onions, kale, cabbages, etc.). Sadly, the swamps are overfished, so this is a timely intervention. Trade has been our strategy even since the days of Livingstone.
Chaplaincy
Pastor Chilekwa on the Copperbelt has taken the chaplaincy even further by running medical outreaches in the community, taking the gospel and health to the people. From the hospital ward, to training chaplains, weekly radio programming, and medical outreaches into the community.
Well done, Sir! Well done.
Changkosa
This week sees another medical outreach to Changkosa. I will take time to have a few other things finished while I am there.
Caleb Centre
Sadly, one of our family Mabelo recently passed away from ongoing health complications. She was loved and will be missed.
We are in the process of upgrading our administrative structure at the Caleb Centre, as well financial protocols. This type of thing is well beyond my capacity. The truth of the matter is we are writing strategic plans not just for small schools of 40 children but writing strategic plans for a nation. We have been gifted 10 ha of land to develop the Zambian National Key Centre for Neurological disorders and applied behavioural learning. So that’s a big step in every direction, but the difference between just being an idea and reality is requiring so much background work it is mind blowing. Simply for thousands of children across the country it has to be done – to fail is to fail them (no pressure at all!).
Wonderful update
Over the years we have worked with genuine men of God across the country that have heart for The Great Commission. Pastor Ken Wigglesworth was recently in the country connecting with some of these men.
It’s with great joy we see the continuation of leadership training.
A Missionary’s life
On the home front it’s a bit like camping. Nationally, things are tough. As a nation we are in load shedding so 6 hours (officially – but realistically 8 hours) a day we have no electricity. This also affects water supply for a similar time frame as well. Should be a penny saver but since the electricity company has less power to sell, they are increasing the tariffs somewhere between 75 percent and 200 percent.
The common things in life like washing, bathing, flushing the toilet, ironing, cooking, charging phones, using a computer, building tools, charging batteries, wifi, printing, cup of tea, keeping food fresh, have their own set of challenges. I find myself having to spend so much time just making sure everything is charged, water storage is full, etc. I have my two solar camping showers heating each day. I had to chuckle when we wanted to catch up with someone their response was simple “I have power and water today I can’t come”. Life has become a bit like that and with us ‘til the new year depending on the rains.
So we have become unwilling participants in earth hour – just ours is 8 hours a day 7 days a week!
Thank you for all your support and prayers.
In His Grip,
Christopher Shadbolt
