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|| Newsletter Archive ||
January/February 2007
Dear Partners In Ministry,
Despite our stench of wickedness, He loved us, and sent our only escape from eternal ruin - a baby unlike any other, yet a genuine baby indeed! We cannot forget what we centered on just a couple months ago simply because it is February. Someone had to pay for our wickedness and sin, and it was this baby, who became a man, who went to the cross, to do what none could do but God. There is none more vile than we before a holy God. To despise the wicked around us, who live in darkness and enjoy the pleasure of sins’ seasonal delights, is to diminish the pit from which we have been dug. May our sinful, redeemed lives humbly find connection with other sinners around us.
Let me quickly update you on some of the recent happenings. Samaritan Purse Christmas boxes were distributed to needy and thankful children and orphans - around 400. We also gave out about 150 Christmas stockings supplied and stuffed with gifts from our supporting churches, all distributed through village Baptist churches. We continue sharing the Gospel at our local government school every Thursday morning. Kopano Baptist Church is averaging around 55 in attendance on Sunday and there is a sweet spirit of joy and thanksgiving at every service. We were recently able to purchase 15 chairs and a large African drum with our offering money. We are planning our first baptismal service this Sunday - baptizing in the Apes River - but we have much brush to clear today and tomorrow so the snakes don’t think they‘re invited. I saw a large cobra today, about two yards long, dead on the side of the road just by where we plan to have the service.
We continue to be involved at Central Baptist, with Kevin leading the worship every other Sunday and Sarah teaching a Sunday School class. Next week, Kevin meets for the second planning meeting for ministry in Zambia this coming June. This year, Pastor Dan Miller from one of our supporting churches, Eden Baptist, will join the team in teaching African village pastors in Kafulafuta the book of I Timothy. We also are looking forward to open doors with Bible College students who want to go on mission into Mozambique this coming July. Two couples from the Samaria Mission team, out of Christ Baptist Church, Polokwane, South Africa, will be ministering at Pillsbury Baptist Bible College, Prior Lake Baptist, and Cornerstone Baptist in Minnesota during this month. Right now, we have three college students and a team from Parkers Lake Baptist Church who are Mozambique-bound. Dan and Nancy Bjokne will join the Zak Pak on the 15th of this month and Pastor Craig Muri will be with us the following week after he teaches up at Zambia’s Central African Baptist College. We love having guests in our home as it is truly a blessing for the entire family, however, if I get into the March schedule I might have a brain freeze. : )
We have been privileged to have a graduate of Baptist Bible College in Clarks Summit with us for the past 3 weeks. Anna has been helpful with the home schooling activities like flash card drilling, helping Luke with his stretching exercises, as well as washing clothes with the ladies at Kopano Baptist and ministering at Jubilee Hospital counseling the sick with Mama Jane. Here are a few words from Anna Doenier:
“Greetings from South Africa! I hope you are all enjoying your winter while we slather on the sun block and try to keep cool! It has been a huge blessing to me to have spent these last few weeks with the Zaks. They are a special family. They have given me many uniquely African experiences, including beautiful scenery, and exotic animals to see and eat. I have loved all of these things but my favorite times have been spent on Sunday night at Kopano Baptist Church. I have visited numerous churches in the States, but would be hard-pressed to find so much conviction and passion in one local body. The people are loving and welcoming - I felt right at home singing! Though they are not all on key, I have rarely heard anything more beautiful! It is raw, honest worship to our God. Sunday nights - meeting, interacting, and worshipping with these people have been such a blessing to me and I will be sorry to say good-bye to them. Thank you for your part in helping the Zaks begin this church ministry!”
Luke says, “Did I get a letter from anyone on the computer, Mom? Did Mary Lou write again? (Mary Lou was Luke’s bus driver for public school in Owatonna, MN several years ago. She is pretty special to still stay in contact.) I guess I better write to my friend Grant and see if he is okay. I sure liked playing with him when we were in Minnesota last year. Anna has been doing a lot of stretching exercises with me - I think it is helping my legs. I don‘t like doing my schoolwork - it is getting harder! I really liked going to Gold Reef City on Wednesday. It is an amusement park with roller coaster rides - I got to go for free. Well, I am going to go get my shoes on for Blast Off - it is my favorite thing every Friday night - junior youth group at church. Bye and keep smiling!”
Below is a picture of our first youth activity of Kopano Baptist. As you can see, it was well attended and consisted of swimming, the “Tests of Toughness”, a scavenger hunt created by Krista Smith, and a time of testimony and Bible challenge. Also pictured are the pastors who went with Kevin to the first African Pastors Conference - that hopefully will be a yearly event. There were about 30 African pastors who participated. These are some of the men your supporting dollars, through our Township Projects fund, are assisting in ministry. We have been helping supply new converts in village Baptist churches with Bibles in their own language, getting these pastors equipped with Bible Study tools, giving bikes for transport where needed, and supplying some of the teaching materials for their churches. Please pray for wisdom as we seek to encourage and see God’s ministry go forward through the lives of these men without creating a deadening dependency on Western funding.
Serving the King with Gladness,
Kevin, Sarah, Benjamin, Nathan, Caleb, Luke, Cortney, Jacob, & Josiah
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African Churches Rooted and Built up in Him. - Col. 2:6,7
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