Happy New Year!! We hope this newsletter finds you full of excitement for the year to come, and thankful for all that the Lord brought to you and brought you through in the past year! We're a bit blown away that 2018 is already over. December 16th marked one whole year of marriage for us (crushed it), and we can't wait for the next one! |
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As some of you may have seen on Facebook and/or Instagram, we're officially farmers. Haha, no not quite, but we did get to plant our very own field this year! Alongside other members of our team and five interns, we planted maize and beans in soil that is considered "finished" by everyone in the village around us. We can't wait to show them the restoration power of our God for the land, the harvest, and for every part of their lives! The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, and its abundance is for our provision and His glory! (Psalm 24) |
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During this season, we're doing a lot fewer conferences and a lot more field visits. Most farmers are in their fields, and most Zambians are farmers! So instead of gathering people together to teach them Farming God's Way, we spend this time following up with our leaders who are already practicing. Bornwell (with his youngest son, Harry) has been practicing Farming God's Way for years. He lives close to a dam, so he can grow maize even in drier seasons. After a leader's conference we held in October, he showed one of his neighbors the experiments we did mimicking the runoff from a field with mulch and from one without. She immediately recognized the benefits and mulched their maize as well! Bornwell said that this year she and her husband want to learn all of Farming God's Way. |
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One (or should I say five) of the parts we find so exciting about our lives right now is the Indigenous Mission Training (IMT) we're a part of. These awesome young men and woman are with us at the training center for eight months. At the end of their time with us, they'll have completed a ministry school certificate, a full farming season in their own fields, and a slew of other classes and ministry opportunities designed to build confidence in these powerful people to take the gospel wherever they go! We're so thankful to be a part of teaching them and getting to know them. Keep them in your prayers as they complete this course and move into full time ministry! (Left to right: Grace, Moses, Chrispin, Bernerd, Shalom) |
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We'll be moving again soon! Not to a new location, but from a tent into a house. The couple we live and work with, the Finneys, are building a home and it's almost done! We'll be moving into one of the guest rooms. A good friend of theirs who is a contractor came and helped us get so much done! We had a fun time helping with the electrical work. |
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It occurred to us in writing this newsletter that, while we may have had the chance to sit down with most of you in the past year and a half or so, everything we do might not be super clear! Instead of sending you all a novel on how we got here, where we are, what we do, why we love working with Overland, how you can come visit us, and so on, we would love it if you felt free to send us any questions you might have! So please, whether specific or general or seemingly silly, if you're curious about anything we've mentioned (or not mentioned), we'd love to hear your questions. |
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We're so thankful for you all, and so thankful for the technology to keep in touch across continents! Thank you for your continuous prayers and support, for loving us so well. Let us know how we can be praying for you! With love, Branden and Lauren |
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