Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Melissa!
We are so pleased to have Melissa, our oldest daughter visiting us here in Zambia. She took 3 weeks of her vacation time to visit the old parents! We are both delighted and blessed to have her here with us. Later this summer both Amanda and Elizabeth will be here to visit us as well, so we will be blessed 3 times this summer with our daughters! What a wonderful mother's and father's day and birthday and anniversary gift for Tim and I! Please pray for our time with the girls to be a time of spiritual growth and nurturing, as we do not always have the opportunity to be a part of their everyday lives. Thank you! God bless, Debbe and Tim
April 2010 Prayer Letter
April 2010
The past few months we have seen the Lord at work in every situation.
Through some very difficult times, His grace was there to get us
through. His grace is always sufficient, never late, and comes just when it
is needed. It will be there for those who love and know our Savior, Jesus
Christ. It excels at the times of our greatest weakness, when we have no
other resource, but God alone. He delights to show His power and mercy
to those who trust Him, to His glory forever! Second Corinthians 12:9
says, “But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My power
is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly
about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”
We lost a dear friend and fellow Christian in January—Carl Moyer—
who was like a grandpa to my girls growing up in Tanzania. The impact
of his life was so remarkable and awesome! The Africans came and
shared story after story about how Carl and Joanne were angels of mercy
to them. He was a bush pilot, learned how to pull teeth (because an infected
tooth can kill you), helped run a hospital, delivered babies, performed
eye surgeries, was a great dad and grandpa, a great preacher and teacher, a
great husband (he taught men how to love their wives and to be faithful),
he was a printer, and especially loved to get God’s Word into the hands of
people. He had friends who were white, black, Hindus and Muslims, and
he was friend to them all and showed them the love of Jesus—it did not
matter who they were! God gave Deb and me an unexpected gift two days
before he died, and while his health was stable, we were able to have supper
with him and to tell him how we loved and appreciated him. It was a
very precious time for us. I told him that if I could be a quarter of the man
that God made him to be I would be very grateful. I know he is in God’s
presence and would not want to return here. He will be truly missed by so
many who loved him. But the question we ask God and others...who will
take his place? Who will, by their life lived out a step, a minute, a day at a
time, will bring people to know our great God and Savior Jesus Christ?
In January, we were really under pressure from the government to finish
and meet the requirements for our school classrooms. During school
inspection the government insisted that we repair our present classrooms
and complete our two new classrooms in order to continue school. With
the Lord’s help we were able to meet and exceed the expectations of the
government. The Lord has exceedingly blessed the school by: allowing us
to begin grade 8 (which is the beginning of high school for Zambia so for
any community school it is an amazing feat!); all 23 students in grade 7
passed to enter grade 8 (another huge unheard of event for a community
school!); a Zambian teacher has come to volunteer in our school (again
an awesome gift because this has never before happened in our school!);
expensive books for grade 8 were given to us; a new teacher was hired for
grade 7; money was given to us by the government for repair of windows and doors; we were surprised with two new interns for our preschool, and the government has promised two new government paid teachers for grade 8 (Lord willing, they will start next semester); and we have been abundantly blessed to have Pastor Emmanuel, who has worked very hard to establish a good relationship between Grace Community School and the education department of the government.
In February, our seminars started. For the first seminar our goal was to reach into our community by training our church people and schoolteachers about AIDS. We were equipping them to respond to this problem through a two-pronged approach. They were taught how to deal with AIDS from a health point of view and how to meet spiritual needs of the families affected by AIDS (that in Jesus Christ we find the answer for those suffering from this disease). In March, Jimmy Moore and several presenters taught our teachers how to teach from a Christian worldview and that the classroom is a place where our students can meet Jesus. Just this last weekend Sally Roth taught a sign language seminar to communicate Christ’s love to the deaf. A combination of hearing and deaf students learned new ways to reach out to each other and to other deaf people. We are seeking ways to expand this ministry in Mufulira.
Recently, the church began a new project of building a parsonage on our church property. This has been both a burden and a blessing. The burdens have caused blessings by forcing us to work together as a church body and this has developed more unity. We are seeking God’s guidance as we work together. Pastor Emmanuel has been an awesome leader in this area. A special thanks to those of you who have given to begin this project!
Again, God’s grace has been shown to us by the relationships that have developed through our Sunday night Bible study. All of our three families are very involved when we discuss and share biblical truth and how God can use us no matter where we are and that His truth applies in any situation. It is fun to hear the kids share their insights as well as the adults. Another sign of God’s grace was the joy in having our youngest daughter, Amanda, with us this past Christmas. Lord willing, our oldest daughter, Melissa, will be with us in April and our middle daughter, Elizabeth, will visit with us in August. Please pray for our girls as they work and go to school and face all of the challenges as “orphans” in America! We ask God to care for our children in America while we care for His children here in Africa.
Thank you for reminding us of God’s grace by your prayers for us!! May you daily remember that God’s grace is sufficient for each one of us!
God bless you,
Tim and Debbe Meier
The past few months we have seen the Lord at work in every situation.
Through some very difficult times, His grace was there to get us
through. His grace is always sufficient, never late, and comes just when it
is needed. It will be there for those who love and know our Savior, Jesus
Christ. It excels at the times of our greatest weakness, when we have no
other resource, but God alone. He delights to show His power and mercy
to those who trust Him, to His glory forever! Second Corinthians 12:9
says, “But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My power
is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly
about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”
We lost a dear friend and fellow Christian in January—Carl Moyer—
who was like a grandpa to my girls growing up in Tanzania. The impact
of his life was so remarkable and awesome! The Africans came and
shared story after story about how Carl and Joanne were angels of mercy
to them. He was a bush pilot, learned how to pull teeth (because an infected
tooth can kill you), helped run a hospital, delivered babies, performed
eye surgeries, was a great dad and grandpa, a great preacher and teacher, a
great husband (he taught men how to love their wives and to be faithful),
he was a printer, and especially loved to get God’s Word into the hands of
people. He had friends who were white, black, Hindus and Muslims, and
he was friend to them all and showed them the love of Jesus—it did not
matter who they were! God gave Deb and me an unexpected gift two days
before he died, and while his health was stable, we were able to have supper
with him and to tell him how we loved and appreciated him. It was a
very precious time for us. I told him that if I could be a quarter of the man
that God made him to be I would be very grateful. I know he is in God’s
presence and would not want to return here. He will be truly missed by so
many who loved him. But the question we ask God and others...who will
take his place? Who will, by their life lived out a step, a minute, a day at a
time, will bring people to know our great God and Savior Jesus Christ?
In January, we were really under pressure from the government to finish
and meet the requirements for our school classrooms. During school
inspection the government insisted that we repair our present classrooms
and complete our two new classrooms in order to continue school. With
the Lord’s help we were able to meet and exceed the expectations of the
government. The Lord has exceedingly blessed the school by: allowing us
to begin grade 8 (which is the beginning of high school for Zambia so for
any community school it is an amazing feat!); all 23 students in grade 7
passed to enter grade 8 (another huge unheard of event for a community
school!); a Zambian teacher has come to volunteer in our school (again
an awesome gift because this has never before happened in our school!);
expensive books for grade 8 were given to us; a new teacher was hired for
grade 7; money was given to us by the government for repair of windows and doors; we were surprised with two new interns for our preschool, and the government has promised two new government paid teachers for grade 8 (Lord willing, they will start next semester); and we have been abundantly blessed to have Pastor Emmanuel, who has worked very hard to establish a good relationship between Grace Community School and the education department of the government.
In February, our seminars started. For the first seminar our goal was to reach into our community by training our church people and schoolteachers about AIDS. We were equipping them to respond to this problem through a two-pronged approach. They were taught how to deal with AIDS from a health point of view and how to meet spiritual needs of the families affected by AIDS (that in Jesus Christ we find the answer for those suffering from this disease). In March, Jimmy Moore and several presenters taught our teachers how to teach from a Christian worldview and that the classroom is a place where our students can meet Jesus. Just this last weekend Sally Roth taught a sign language seminar to communicate Christ’s love to the deaf. A combination of hearing and deaf students learned new ways to reach out to each other and to other deaf people. We are seeking ways to expand this ministry in Mufulira.
Recently, the church began a new project of building a parsonage on our church property. This has been both a burden and a blessing. The burdens have caused blessings by forcing us to work together as a church body and this has developed more unity. We are seeking God’s guidance as we work together. Pastor Emmanuel has been an awesome leader in this area. A special thanks to those of you who have given to begin this project!
Again, God’s grace has been shown to us by the relationships that have developed through our Sunday night Bible study. All of our three families are very involved when we discuss and share biblical truth and how God can use us no matter where we are and that His truth applies in any situation. It is fun to hear the kids share their insights as well as the adults. Another sign of God’s grace was the joy in having our youngest daughter, Amanda, with us this past Christmas. Lord willing, our oldest daughter, Melissa, will be with us in April and our middle daughter, Elizabeth, will visit with us in August. Please pray for our girls as they work and go to school and face all of the challenges as “orphans” in America! We ask God to care for our children in America while we care for His children here in Africa.
Thank you for reminding us of God’s grace by your prayers for us!! May you daily remember that God’s grace is sufficient for each one of us!
God bless you,
Tim and Debbe Meier
Mission Network News
Hello friends! Recently our work in Zambia was featured on Mission Network News. For a look at what was written, please check out this website: http://www.mnnonline.org/article/14086 The Lord continues to amaze us by providing support from around the world. Tim and Debbe
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