The Rodgers Family

Prayer Walking

Aug. 24th, 2008

We went out in groups of 3 to practice what we had just learned together in the women's meeting. The topic yesterday was prayer walking. I used a very simple method using our hands to help us remember what to pray for. I just taught using the right hand this time which represents 5 requests that we can pray for while prayer walking. Next week, I will teach them the left hand which represents 5 different places you can go to pray in the community or village. The women really enjoyed the hand signals and knew them very well by the time we finished since I went over them a lot. After I finished we went out and prayer walked, each group going in a different direction. One woman fell behind a little in our group and when I looked behind me she was walking with her eyes closed. I told her she had better open her eyes or she was going to fall. It was quite funny. My group was the first to get back to the church so we just walked around the church a couple of times praying for their church. It was a fun afternoon!
The purpose of us going out and prayer walking is to tear down the strongholds in that area so that people could come to know Jesus.
Please pray:
1-That God would open heaven and reveal himself and his power to the people all around so that they will want to receive Him.
2-That people will have open hearts as they hear God's Word.
3-For open homes/huts. In many homes the people living inside go to the witch doctor, practice meaningless rituals, and feel hopeless because of their circumstances.
4-For open highways or paths so that the church will know how to enter into the villages and share God's Word.
5-That the people of the church will have open hands for ministry. That God would reveal to them acts of compassion or kindness that needs to be done where the people live.



Aug. 11th, 2008

10 miles per hour... that was the average speed on the trip I took this last week. That might not sound so bad if it didn't translate into 30 hours of the most grueling driving I have ever done in my life... I just wanted to take a few moments and update you all on our ministry here in Zambia and my recent trip to Mboshya. I do cover a large area, work with a lot of churches and drive a lot of miles (or kilometers as we would say here). We have a few hundred Baptist churches in our teams area, and to be honest we have reached most of the people in the places that are easy to get to. What that leaves now, is the places which are not. Mboshya is one of those places. This is a remote chiefdom which lies on the other side of the Lunsemfwa River from where we live. I have traveled there before by vehicle, but I drove to the river (several hours) and then crossed the river in a canoe and walked to the church. However, the people of Mboshya are very serious about evangelism and have planted two more churches called Tumbwe and Mwenda. I had never been to those churches and they were just too far to walk... especially since I wanted to take Jesus Film equipment and do crusades in those places. So, I decided I would take my truck and a couple of pastors I work with and try to drive in on the one road that gets there. This road requires you to make a big circle around because of the river and the most difficult mountains in Zambia (the Mchinga Escarpment). I had heard that the journey would be tough and you could not get there without a 4x4. Boy, was that the understatement of the century. It was by far the most difficult driving I have ever experienced in my life. It took me 15 hours one way to go about 200 miles. The stretch in the mountains was 60 miles and it took 6 hours. I was totally unprepared for the rough road, incredibly steep inclines, and narrow tracks just big enough for the truck with sheer drop offs along the side. There were a couple of times where I was afraid for our safety, and other times when I didn't think we would make it up a mountain. At times it took all the truck had in 4Low to make the climb. All I can say is thank you Southern Baptists and Lottie Moon for the truck to be able to get there. It didn't let me down and I was so grateful. My prayer life definitely improved on this trip, and it was prayer and God's grace that got us through. But God did more than just get us there and back safely, He also showed Himself faithful in the lives of the people we went to minister to. These three churches are so remote that there is no one who is really able to encourage them or help them. They basically have started all on their own with nothing but the leadership of the Holy Spirit and the word of God... and the most incredible thing is... they are thriving. They seemed to be three of the most dynamic, organized, vibrant churches I have seen in a while. We simply started on the edge and some of my guys started the first church... from there things have just spread all on their own. It makes you realize how much of what we do is God at work and us just joining in. I realized on this trip that I don't make much happen and it doesn't really depend on me; it is a God thing. I am thankful that we made it there and back, thankful to see the new churches which the Lord started, and thankful for the people who came to Christ in the crusades. However, more than that, I am thankful for what the Lord showed me and for what He did in me... even if He had to take me so far out there to do it. :-) It was only 4 days out in the bush, but they were four hard, stressful, wonderful days. Thanks for praying for us and thanks for praying for these new churches. You are making a difference in them and in us and in Zambia. If you would like to see some pictures of the trip you can check out the last couple of posts on Suzie's blog. (the address is at the bottom of this email) I especially like the one about the kids experiencing ice for the first time in their lives.
Blessings,
Kevin





Aug. 8th, 2008

This week Kevin traveled to a very distant place called Mboshya.  It took Kevin 15 hours to get home yesterday.  He got up at 4:30am, packed, and left by 5:30am.  He arrived home around 8:30pm and was very tired.  He told me many stories about his trip but this one really stuck out to me.  These people had only seen one other white person in their life, a Catholic priest that lives out there.  They don't have electricity, grocery stores, cell phones, or ice.  On the last day Kevin was emptying the cooler he had brought and all the kids came over to see this stuff he was dumping out.  As he began to explain what ice was he had to run and get his camera so you could see just how excited these kids were over ICE.  One of the men that went with Kevin explained what it was and gave a piece to each child.  Kevin said they all smiled and said things like "aahhhh" when they touched it because they were not expecting it to be cold.  I wish you could see the video he made but it is too big to put on here.  Wow!  What a reminder of how I take so many things for granted.
Suzie and Kevin



July 31st, 2008

"But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect." 1 Peter 3:15

As the women sat around me listening to Pauls testimony taken from Acts 26 and my testimony they knew it would be their turn next. They split up into pairs to practice and then we came back together again. Since my time was short I only had time to listen to a few share their testimony. I really should leave at 2:45 so I won't be late for my next meeting at another church so when I saw that it was 2:55 I told the ladies that I needed to go. Then one woman spoke up and said, "wait, I want to talk..." She then proceeded to tell me her testimony with a prayer request. Then when she finished another spoke up and said again, "wait I want to talk too..." She too told me her testimony. These women were eager to tell how God had worked in their life. Isn't it exciting to hear how God has worked in others lives to bring them to Him. How could I leave?? Now, it was 3:15 and I told the women I really must go but that I would listen to everyones testimony the next time we meet. I will not be able to go next week so at the next meeting they will share their testimonies with me and also how they did with their homework assignment. They are to share their testimony with 3 other people in the next two weeks. Pray for these women to be bold as they share what God has done in their life. Pray the verse above for all of us that we will always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks.
suzie


July 26th, 2008

Today at the women's meeting I told the story from Acts 10 about Peter being summoned to go and tell Cornelius and his family about God. The women really had trouble understanding this story until we started talking about their circle of influence. Our close family, good friends, and distant family are all a part of our circle. When I asked them how many people just in their close family did not know God many of them had to say that there were quite a few. The bible says that Cornelius and his family were devout and God fearing. Cornelius generously gave to those in need and prayed to God regularly yet he still did not know God personally. Every day we come in contact with so many in our circle of influence exactly like Cornelius. What kind of difference are we making in their lives? Are we taking the opportunities that God gives us to witness for Him?
After the lesson I closed in prayer. Then one of the women spoke up and asked if I would pray for her husband because he was not a believer. Then another asked if I would pray for husband as well. I then asked for all those whose husbands were not believers to raise their hands. 10 out of the 20 women said their husbands did not know God. They wrote me a list of their names so that I could pray for their salvation. I am now asking that you would pray for each of these 10 men as you feel led. I shared a story of a woman I know who prayed for her husband for 20 years before he became a believer. I challenged the women to persevere in prayer and not give up. God's timing is always perfect!

1- Martin Tembo

2- David Ngulube

3-F. Sakala

4- Sosola Phiri

5- Mr. Chitambo

6- Athony Mpande

7- Samson Mwiyenda

8- Mr. Lungu

9- Mr. Tembo

10- Mr. Lundika

Thank you all for praying.
Suzie


July 5th, 2008

The Team Is Back
Well, I am disappointed to say that my husband was the only one on the team who had a digital camera and he didn't take any pictures the whole time they were out. One of the team members said he would send us a disc of the pictures he took with his camera once he gets them developed, so maybe later I can post some pictures.
The team was all ready to travel back yesterday but Kevin's truck wouldn't start. I failed to mention earlier that we have been having truck problems for a while. We thought it had gotten fixed but evidently it had not. They worked on it for about 40 minutes trying every trick in the book until it finally started and they headed back to our house. Kevin dropped them off and went on to Lusaka to put our truck in the shop. Everyone took showers and then came in for lunch. It was so much fun to sit around the table and hear story after story of all that God had done over the last 6 days.

Cherished Moments...
-I asked the team if the trip was all that they had expected and they all said it was so much better than what they had thought it would be. They all felt like God had taught them so much personally from the people.
-Although the people are in hunger they sacrificed and provided enough food for the team(along with what Kevin took) and many who just camped out with them. The people came to watch the Jesus Film and brought a mat and then just slept there at night.
-They were amazed at God's creation. They were able to see crocodiles, hippos, a spitting cobra, a black mamba(snake), baboons, and lots of birds. God protected them from all of these things yet they still had the adventure of seeing it all.
-During the days they went out doing hut to hut evangelism. They were amazed at how much the people wanted to stop what they were doing and listen to what they had to share. As they were out sharing one on one, many prayed to receive Christ.
-At night they would show the Jesus Film to a crowd of people. Many prayed to receive Christ afterwards during the invitation.
-At the first location when they met for church on Sunday there was a crowd of about 120 people including children. Some of these were from one of our existing churches near by but there was still a good group of people that will become this new church body.
-At the second location there was about 60 people for the service. Kevin said that most of those were not in any church and will make up this new church plant.

...Fond Memories
- David is a pastor of a church in Arkansas. He came with a church member, Terry, and his youth pastor, Daniel. The first full day out witnessing hut to hut David walked a long ways. He could tell he was getting blisters on his feet but couldn't really do anything about it while he was out. When they got back to their camp he took his shoes off and he had two big blisters, one on each foot, about the size of a silver dollar. These two godly men from his church ministered to their pastor by washing his feet, draining the blisters, and taking care of him.
- Jimmy is a Director of Missions in this area where these other men live. He said he was out sharing the gospel and this one young man around 17 years old followed them around and heard the gospel at least 3 times. At the last stop he prayed to receive Christ. Later, he came up to Jimmy smiling very big and said how happy he was now that he was born again.
- As Kevin was in camp one afternoon preparing for showing the Jesus Film a woman came to him and said she had demons. After the film she prayed to receive Christ and was delivered from her demons that had been troubling her for many years. She came back later and said that she was so happy that she was free from the bondage of Satan.
-The four team members left this morning to go to Victoria Falls for a couple of days. They will go shopping, go on a game drive and see lots of animals, and see the Falls. They will return on Friday afternoon and then fly back to the states on Saturday. Pray for this team as they enjoy some more of God's creation in Vic. Falls and as they fly back to the states. Pray that the things they learned while here will forever be imprinted in their minds and hearts. Pray all the people that were saved would begin to grow in their relationship with God and that God would grow and bless these two new churches.



June 26th, 2008

Today, Kevin left Chongwe with 4 volunteers from the state of Arkansas. They will be traveling by car for about 2 1/2 hours and then by boat for about 20-30 min. They are going to try to start two churches along the Lunsemfwa River where we did the feeding project a few months ago. After they arrive they will put the boat together. Then Kevin will have to make several trips by boat to get these four guys, two translators, their back packs, and a little bit of food to the first location that they will be staying at for 4 days. This will probably be the toughest trip that Kevin has ever taken any of our volunteers on. "Why is that?" you may ask. Remember, we went there and gave out 2 bags of mealie meal to 100 families a few months ago because of flooding that had ruined their crops. These bags are all finished now. The people replanted along the river but the crops will not be in until July so they are in hunger once again. The team has brought MRE's to eat for lunch while they are out doing hut to hut evangelism but at night they will be eating whatever these people can provide, which may not be much of anything. Kevin did take a few things but because of space could not take that much. They are also going to be sleeping on the ground. Some of them brought those one man mosquito netting tents that they will set up under an open air rondoval. They will be drinking water taken directly from the river and then filtered through this little hand held filtering system that someone gave us. On Sunday afternoon they will pack up and get back on the boat and go back to where the truck is parked and have a crusade at that location for two nights. They will be doing hut to hut evangelism during the day and showing the Jesus film at night in both locations.
Prayer Requests:
1-Each of these men left their families in the states. Please pray for their families back in the states to not worry and to trust that God is going to take care of their husband/father.
2-Pray for physical strength and endurance for this team. They will be walking a lot, eating little, and probably will not be sleeping comfortably.
3-Pray for good health for the team as they eat little and drink from the river.
4-Pray that the team will clearly communicate the gospel to many people and that they will hear it with open ears and hearts for the first time. Pray many will come to see the Jesus Film and that many will receive Christ.
5-Pray that two churches will be started as a result of these men taking time out of their lives to come and volunteer in Zambia.
6-Pray for their safety. There are crocodiles and hippos in this water. They are also a long way from any medical care. Pray for God's protection among all these on this team.

Blessings,
Suzie and Kevin


June 24th, 2008 Divine Appointment at our Gate

We all know that God is sovereign and that He controls our lives and the circumstances of life. However, we often go through our day to day lives as if we are making it up as we go along. Sometimes, more than anything, we need a reminder that God is in control and that His kingdom is bigger (and more real) than what we can see, touch, taste, and feel with our limited senses. This is exactly what the Lord did for me a few days ago. I was up a bit early on this particular day and already dressed and moving around the house, when I heard a knock at our gate. It is odd that I even heard anything, because the dogs weren't barking too much, and most folks who know us now come to our back gate and not the front driveway gate. When I got out to the gate (the time was about 7:00 or 7:30 AM) I saw a man that I had never met. He was dressed nicely and spoke good English and I did not recognize him. This usually adds up to someone trying to work a scam. I remember a check in my heart as the Lord reminded me to not be so critical and jump to conclusions. You know when you have lived here as long as we have, and when everyone is looking to you as the answer to their emotional, spiritual (and most often) financial problems you begin to get quite skeptical. However, after that gentle admonition from the Lord I just listened to the man's story. His name was Paul Mukabe Mashala and he was traveling from Mozambique to Solwezi in Northwestern province. Apparently he had grown up as an orphan in Mozambique but was from Solwezi originally. He had been back to Mozambique to visit and was on his way home when he fell ill on the bus  in the Chongwe area. He suffers from TB and from HIV/AIDS and when he collapsed on the bus they took him to the clinic here in Chongwe. As people were helping him, they were also rifling through his possessions (this is not uncommon) and took his cell phone and money. He spent a few days recovering in the clinic and then was released, but had no way to get home. He went to the police and tried to find out if there were any Baptists around, because apparently he is a Baptist "church member" in Solwezi. They know me and sent him to my house and that is how he found me. As I listened to his story, I became convinced that this was probably a true story and decided to help him out. As I came out of the house with the money back to the gate (he wouldn't come in for fear of our dogs) I felt the Lord gently nudging me to witness to him. "What a shame," the Holy Spirit seemed to say, "if he was brought here and you helped him financially but he went away lost." As I talked with him, I asked him what made him to leave the Catholic church in 2006 and become a Baptist. He shared that he had realized that he was just a Sunday Christian and felt like he needed to really serve God. He met a Canadian missionary once on a bus who talked with him about his faith and encouraged him to find a good Baptist church. He had taken the man's advice and was now worshipping in this Baptist church in Solwezi. Yet, I asked him if he had ever repented of his sins and been born again. He said that he knew he should do that and he wanted to do that, but he never had. When I asked him why, he answered "we don't have a pastor at our church and the people said I should wait to receive Christ and be baptized when we have a pastor who can help me." To be honest, this is one of the most tragic things I have ever heard, and it lets you know just how much work and training we have to do here in Zambia, even among our own churches. I explained to him what salvation really was and told him if he wanted to he could pray and receive Jesus right there on that spot in front of my gate. I asked him if he would like to do that, and his answer really touched my heart. He began telling me the story of the Ethiopian Eunuch (I guess he had heard it in church) and how the Eunuch had said "here is water what would keep me from being baptized?" He said, that guy recognized his chance when it came and he was not willing to pass it up... "this is my chance," he said, "I would not want to pass it up, yes I would be grateful to receive Christ right now." And that is what he did... I shared the gospel with him in detail, made sure he understood, and then he prayed a prayer of repentance and faith right there in front of my gate with people walking by and staring. After he prayed, I prayed for him and went on his way. After reaching Solwezi, he borrowed a neighbor's phone and let me know when he had reached home safely, and has since called again to thank me for helping him and showing him how to know Jesus. What was so amazing to me is how he recognized the "divine appointment" in that Ethiopian Eunuch story all on his own, and was not willing to pass up his own "divine appointment." Maybe there are more of these divine appointments out there passing us by every day and we are just too busy or too blind to see it, and realize that God is really in control.

Blessings,
Kevin


June 14th, 2008  Struggles of This Missionary

A few years ago a friend of ours wrote us and commented that we always write about the good things that happen in our ministry and life. She wanted to know if we ever had problems of any kind and wondered why we didn't share those things with people. I have thought about that from time to time over the years and just thought that it was always best to have a positive attitude when sharing about our life overseas. However, in the last couple of months, God has been showing me that I need to be more REAL. You know sometimes I have a bad day too even though I am a missionary. Missionaries are real people just like you (whoever reads this blog, if anyone). So I thought that over the next few days I would share some of the things that I struggle with from time to time.

Struggle 1: We have lived in Chongwe since 2001 and since about 2004 we have struggled with having enough water. We have a bore hole at our house so inside our house our water is plentiful. We use Chongwe towns water for watering our yard which we may get one bucket a day if that much. So during the rainy season our yard looks pretty and green but during the dry season our grass begins to dry up and disappear in sections. At one point, we even paid Chongwe town to run separate pipes to our house and our neighbors so that we could have water. This worked for about one month but then stopped for some reason. However, we still get a bill for 50,000 kwacha each month(which is about $15.00) that we are expected to pay when we only get about 1 small bucket a day of water. Well, the other day I went out when the man from the water company brought us our bill and told him that we were not going to pay this bill until we start getting water. He said they are working on the problem which is what they say most of the time, but my goodness it has been years since we have had good water. As I talked with him I found out that it was not just us and our one neighbor right now without water it was all the homes below us also which is quite a bit. Now, I don't think they have been without water the years that we have because I think I would have heard about it by now. However, I realized after talking to him that I should be thankful that at least we have water from our bore hole so I can drink water when I want to, I can wash clothes, take a shower, etc. I know it probably sounds silly to want your yard to look nice, but I do.

Struggle 2: When we first moved to Zambia back in 1997 we lived in the capitol city of Lusaka. We lived very close to the local hospital and also in a house where missionaries had lived for a long time. Daily we had people coming to our gate asking us for food, money, blankets, transport money, etc. In Zambia, it is fine to ask for anything but it ok if you have to say no. As Americans we struggle with that because in our culture you try not to ask anything of anyone but if someone does ask you for something it is almost impossible to say no. I remember one particular day hearing someone knock at our gate and I just couldn't make myself go out there. I had become angry at the people who were demanding so much of us. The very people we had come to tell about Jesus, I didn't even want to see. Why did they come to our gate everyday? We couldn't possibly help everyone. Their needs were too great for us to handle. I remember sitting on my couch that day crying(literally) out to God and asking him to help me love these people. God showed me that day that we don't have to help everyone, only those whom He lays on our hearts to help. I learned how to say no and not feel guilty for it. I also learned to say yes when He told me to with joy. Now we live in Chongwe and we still have a gate but it isn't knocked on as much as it was when we lived in the city. We have been asked for many things over the years such as: a watch, clothes, food, a bicycle, a car, water, medicine, books, bibles, toys, shoes, transport, money, cell phones, transport for a deceased child from their home to the clinic, and a computer. If I sat here longer I'm sure I could come up with a longer list. It is amazing that they will ask for anything and I mean anything but it is ok to say no. I'm not here to be their Jesus, I am here to just point them to Jesus.

Struggle 3: Since we have been in Zambia our internet service has always been a struggle. We have had to pay for a long distance phone call everytime we wanted to check our email and pretty much just getting on the internet for browsing was unheard of. Just checking our email was costing us about 170.00/month because our service was also very slow. Recently, we were able to get wireless all the way out here in Chongwe but it is still pretty slow. Now we don't have to pay for a long distance call each time, we can surf the net, and we have unlimited time on the internet for about half the price that we were paying. Amazingly enough, this past month when Kevin went to pay our bill they gave him a letter saying that because so many people were joining with them and the service was even slower than when we originally got it that they were going to reduce our cost to just $15.00/month until they could upgrade their system. Wow! We were stunned! This has never happened to us in Zambia-to have a bill reduced because the service wasn't good. Sure wish that would happen with some of our other bills.
I can't imagine being a missionary before internet and having to depend on letter writing to stay in touch with family, friends, and prayer supporters. That is why it has been such a struggle for us because we were having a hard time and having to spend so much time just to stay connected with home. Thankfully, we can say that this area has definitely gotten better just this past year.

Struggle 4: Just so you will know these struggles are in no particular order, it is just what I feel like writing about at the moment. Today, we have been without power for 7 hours. This leads me to another struggle of mine, NO POWER! For the last year and 1/2 Zambia has been experiencing problems with their power situation. We have had to deal with load shedding throughout the country. You may wonder, what exactly does that mean. Basically, it means that certain areas are without power for part of the day and supposedly on a rotating basis. For several months our power went off every day for 6-12 hours/day. This can really wear on you after a while. Finally, Zesco(our power company) came up with a schedule that we could look up on the internet so at least we would know when our power would be out. I know that might sound funny, but it does help us if we can kind of know when it will go out. It just helps us to prepare better. Our area for the last couple of months has been scheduled for Monday, Wed., and Fri. evenings only for about 4 hours. Well, I'm not sure what happened but they are not following the schedule. Our power is going off just about every day. Why make a schedule though if you are not going to follow it? This is a frustration when you home school and you need power for the dvd player. It also always seems to be off when it is time to eat. Thankfully, we were able to buy some cadac propane burners so we can now cook when the power is off. I realize that probably 95% of the people we work with do not have power at all but they never had any to begin with. We have been use to it and now it has been taken away. Sometimes, I think I have gotten use to it and then there are days like today when you just don't know if you can take anymore of it. This has got to be one of the hardest struggles that we deal with just trying to live in Zambia. It is amazing how comfortable you get with your stuff at home, your power, your water, etc. but then when it is taken away, whoa it knocks you for a loop! I think I will request prayer on this one, it has been tough on our whole family. I am thankful that we do have power sometimes because there are missionaries that have it worse than us. When you pray for missionaries remember to pray for their physical needs as well. Sometimes we have to spend a lot of time just trying to make it day to day. One good thing in all of this is that I know that God is trying to teach me something and that He is molding me to hopefully become more like Him.

Struggle 5: We lived in Chipata for one year studying the language Chichewa. Chipata is about 6 hours east of where we are now. Our boss thought it would be better for us to learn there than to try to learn where we were going to be living because he felt like the people would be wanting us to do so much and we wouldn't have time to learn the language. We had a good year in Chipata and came away having gotten a good foundation in the language and culture of Zambia. However, when we got to Chongwe Kevin went one way to the east and started teaching TEE, Chronological Bible Storying, etc. in the language and getting practice everyday. He began to grow and learn more so that he is now very efficient in the language. I started going west to take the kids to school in Lusaka every day and would spend most of my day there. So I didn't use the language as much as he did. I did teach on Thursdays to the women and go to church on Sundays and was able to get out a bit but mostly my life was with the children and in our home. I say all of this to tell you that it is still a struggle with me not feeling like I know the language like I should. Oh, if I could just communicate like my husband does. I know that at this time in my life this is how it just is and maybe in the future that will get better so that is what I'm praying for. I have noticed that on Thursdays now that I'm going out twice to teach in one day I can see that I am improving more and more which is a good thing. If I was out everyday I feel sure I would get it but at this time in my life it just isn't possible. I know for sure that when I go out and speak it is not because of any talent that I have but only because God is helping me. Yeah, people laugh sometimes at some of the things I say but they also help me and teach me along the way too. Zambians just love it when you try to speak their language so I won't give up even though I feel like it at times. I will keep striving to learn.

Struggle 6: Like most people across the world Zambians have many problems and struggles that they face every day. It is hard to live in a Third World Country and not be effected by all that you see. The poverty, malnutrition, drunkeness, orphans, beggars on the street, people with and dying from HIV/AIDS. It is just tough. You know we don't even get the news at our house from the tv we get it from our friends and neighbors. Almost daily we get reports of people in our churches that are struggling with this or that. This past weekend we heard news that one of our pastors 4 year old little girl had fallen into a well without anyone knowing. It was sometime before the mother realized what had happened. When she got to the well and didn't see her daughter she just happened to look inside the well and saw that the bucket was below. She immediately went down into the well and sure enough her daughter was at the bottom of it. She brought her up and took her to the clinic. She was still living but was not awake. They rushed her to the hospital in Lusaka and pumped her stomach. The next day she returned home and even went to church. This story turned out good but a lot of times we hear stories that don't turn out so well. It is tough when you have poured your life into someone for a few years, they become the pastor of a church, and then they die of AIDS. Or you see that in a family the parents have both died and the grandparent has taken in those children to care for. Everyday we see how people try to survive and just get by. This is a struggle that we have to deal with in our own way. Our whole family experiences it and I feel sure that we are not the same people that we were when we first came. When I look at our children and see how they have done with this I am very proud of them. It is hard enough for us to see these things as an adult but to see it through their eyes is another thing. May all of our eyes be opened to the suffering and hardships that surround us if we will only see it.

I think this will be my last entry for a while about struggles that this missionary goes through. I hope that this has helped you see that we are normal just like you. I also hope it will help you know how to better pray for us and other missionaries around the world. I know earlier I said these weren't in any particular order but this one has got to be the biggest struggle of all. Enjoy!

Struggle 7: When we are in the states going around and speaking in churches people often comment about how much we sacrifice as missionaries. To be honest, many missionaries do have to make many sacrifices but I feel like there is only one sacrifice that we have made and that is being away from our families. Anytime there is a special event or a get together we are missing out on it. Christmas, Thanksgiving, Birthdays, dance recitals, gymnastics competitions, etc. just to mention a few. We are called to be here in Zambia but it sure is hard to miss out on times with family. I believe our families sacrifice a lot too by us being here. They have to miss out on seeing their children and grandchildren. They missed out on hearing their grandchildren read their first books, watching them learn to ride a bike, etc. This term we will be on the field for 4 1/2 years before we go home. Can you imagine how much our children will have changed in that amount of time? Zach will be 18, Justin 15, and Hannah will be 9. That makes me sad just writing it down.
It is tough too when someone in your family is sick and you can't be there to help. Like this term when my mom was diagnosed with Bladder Cancer. Everyday I had to pray and give her to God because I was just worrying too much. I couldn't see her or touch her to know that things were ok. Yeah, internet helps to stay in touch and I am thankful for that but at times like that you just want to be near them. During that time God really taught me about trusting in Him and He showed me that He loved my mom even more than I did. I knew that whatever happened it was part of God's plan.
This past Aug. Zach started going to a boarding school in Kenya. This has been a struggle for us too even though we know we are doing what we should in this situation. I better not talk about this one too much or I won't be able to keep writing. So, this last struggle that I talk about is just being away from family whether it be on this continent or across the sea. I'm sure every missionary would say this is a struggle that they face. So pray for missionaries that you know, especially during the holidays and special events that you know of that is going on in their families that they may be missing out on. Love your families and enjoy the moments you get to spend with one another. Don't take each other for granted.
Blessings,
Suzie

As I was coming home yesterday I was listening to a Chris Tomlin CD. As I listened to the words of the song I was reminded of all that I have written this week about struggles. As Christians when we go through tough times we should still praise God as hard as that may be at times. I wanted to write the words to this song down as an ending to "Struggles".

There is an endless song, echoes in my soul, I hear the music ring
And though the storms may come, I am holding on, To the rock I cling

Chorus:
How can I keep from singing Your praise
How can I ever say enough
How amazing is Your love
How can I keep from shouting Your name
I know I am loved by the King
And it makes my heart want to sing


I will lift my eyes, In the darkest night, For I know my Savior lives
And I will walk with You, Knowing You'll see me through, And sing the songs You give.

I can sing in the troubled times
Sing when I win
I can sing when I lose my step
And fall down again
I can sing cause you pick me up
Sing cause You're there
I can sing cause You hear me, Lord
When I call to You in prayer
I can sing with my last breath
Sing for I know
That I'll sing with the angels
And the saints around the throne.




April 21st, 2008

Hello Friends and Prayer Partners,
I just wanted to send you a note of reminder and ask you to be praying for our upcoming 40/40 program. This is the semi-annual orientation program for new missionaries that Suzie and I are now leading. Our next group of 41 arrives on Wednesday and will hit the ground running. They will be learning a lot, and we ask that you would pray for each one of them that the Lord would use this time in their lives to prepare them for the ministry to which he has called them. Also pray for us as we lead them and care for them over these next few weeks. Pray also for Jack and Judy Sprayberry and Mark and Janice Keeton who are our logistics coordinators for this program. They have the mammoth task of feeding, housing, and caring for each of our 41 participants in a variety of situations and locations. We will try to keep you updated, when we have access to email, and let you know how things are going. Right now one of our big requests is for Ebby Musika. Ebby is my assistant and also our resident cultural expert. He is the one who does most of the cultural orientation and helps me on a day to day basis as we run the program. Ebby contacted me this morning to let me know he was having some health problems. It seems that he has developed high blood pressure and has had a minor stroke. He feels fine, but has paralysis on one side of his face and will probably not be recovered in time to do much of the things he needs to do. Pray for him that he would fully recover and that the Lord would sustain him during this time of healing and recovery. Pray for me as I try to flex and cover his responsibilities as well. We are grateful for all of you and the ministry you have in our lives. Please also remember us as we had to put Zach on the plane for Kenya again today. It is still tough for us every time, and while he is doing great in Kenya, his mom and dad are not nearly as strong as he is. :-)
Blessings, Kevin



March 15th, 2008

"Is this not the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bond of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and that you bring to your house the poor that are cast out... Then your light shall break forth like the morning, your healing shall spring forth speedily, and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rearguard." Isaiah 58:7-8

Hot, exhausted, sunburned, and satisfied... that is how I would describe the team that just finished up our hunger relief project along the Lunsemfwa River. On Monday, we gathered at our mission office to load up 5 tons of relief food into a 4x4 flatbed truck in order to try and help feed hungry people in one of our most remote locations.

If you look on a map of Zambia, you will find the Lunsemfwa River running west to east as a border between two provinces (Central and Lusaka Province)... and as a border between two chiefdoms (Chembe and Shikabeta)... and as a border between two tribes (Lala and Soli). Yet the people along this river don't really see it as a border that separates them. As they talk you can hear them mixing about 3 languages interchangeably without missing a step. In fact, they see themselves as one people with many things in common. They all live in a very remote and isolated part of the world. They all face challenges that some of us could never imagine. For example, the village where the distribution took place has been in the news because a woman there was recently killed and eaten by a lion. This is something which is unheard of these days, but the lion had been wounded and unable to hunt so it turned to the only thing that could keep it from starvation. (It was later found and killed.) Yet, above all, the thing that binds them together is the Lunsemfwa river. This river is beautiful, pristine, and remote... it is full of wildlife; birds of all kinds, crocodiles, hippos, fish etc. and is a huge source of their livelihood. However, it can also become a source of disaster as it did this year. Zambia has had torrential rains this year and many rivers left their banks and caused terrible flooding. The Lunsemfwa was no exception. No one lost their lives in the flooding and the few mud huts that were washed away can easily be rebuilt, but the fields of maize (corn) that these people depend on for their staple food could not be replaced in time to keep them from starvation. Other places have been flooded, but other places also have access to roads and government disaster relief of some kind. The only hope these people had of receiving relief food was a 20 mile walk through the bush to the nearest road. I (Kevin) am able to work in this area because of a 4x4 truck and an inflatable boat w/ outboard motor that Southern Baptists have provided to help me get to these remote places. As I discussed the situation with the team, we felt like it would be a good idea to use this method to get relief food to a people who no one else was helping, and also enhance the evangelistic work that we were already doing on the river.

By Tuesday morning, our team had traveled to the location on the river where the truck would meet us to off-load all of the mealie-meal. A local Catholic priest, who has a 4x4 flatbed truck designed for just this kind of thing, had taken the 5 tons we had loaded at our mission office and made the journey about 100 miles to the drop off location. The last 20 miles of that trip is on a single track gravel road through rugged mountains, and is the reason we needed his help with that special truck! After we unloaded all 200 bags he headed for home and our team got to work setting up camp, assembling the boat, and organizing folks for the next 2 days of hard work. I was grateful for all the help that the Lord provided for this project. Van Thompson (a missionary on our team) and Ricky Cook (another Baptist missionary in Lusaka) came along and were a tremendous help in organizing things and preaching to the crowds who gathered for the distribution. On the first day, the folks who live on our side of the river came by foot to receive two 60lb. bags per family. As they arrived and formed a group, Van and a Zambian church leader (Luke Mwila) preached to them and saw many come to receive Christ. It was my job to drive the boat, loaded with mealie-meal, up the river about 30 min. to another location where folks on the other side could gather and receive their food. Ricky, (along with national pastors, Luke Buleya and Martin Zulu) preached to the folks that gathered on that side and saw a large number of people come to Christ. We switched the teams up a little on Wednesday, but basically did the same thing. As best as we can tell, we had about 50 people all together who made professions of faith over the two days we were there. I hope to follow up with these folks in the future and start new churches in their villages, where there is currently no gospel witness.

Suzie, Justin and Hannah also came along and did a tremendous job with so many things. They set up camp, cooked, took care of the team, taught and worked with local children who gathered, helped with anything that needed to be done... and in the middle of all of that Suzie found time to teach a bible study to local women who had gathered on our side! They also helped take care of the teams who were going out and doing ministry, and they brought food and water down to me when I would show up at the landing. I was thankful for this because the boat was small, and since I could only take about 10 bags at a time, there was no time to stop. I think I was in the boat for about 16 hours over those two days! The Lord was with us and we could sense your prayer efforts on our behalf. We managed to deliver to all but about 6 families because we finally ran out of gas for the boat. However, local people helped them out and have traveled by foot that extra long distance in order to get the mealie-meal to them. We saw crocs and hippos but didn't have any problems or close calls :-). The boat did well and everything went smoothly. I did push it a little too late on the first day and ended up coming back with the team on the river after dark (something I hope I never have to do again!), but the Lord was with us and guided us back to camp safely and without mishap. All in all it was a wonderful trip and I am thankful for what God did while we were there. I would ask that you would continue to pray for these folks and pray for the church planting ministry we have among these people. Pray that the decisions that were made, and the work that we did would continue to bear fruit now and into eternity. Suzie has done a wonderful write up about this project on her blog, so if you would like to see lots of cool pictures and further explanation about then check out her blog and our website. The address for both of those is down at the very bottom of this email in the signature part.

Blessings,
Kevin, Suzie, Zach, Justin, and Hannah


March 8th, 2008

Most people in Zambia live with a constant survival mentality. Each day is about trying to find enough food to make it through the day so you can wake up the next day and go through the process all over again. They really do live year by year, hoping against hope for a good crop so they can make it to the next year when they will hope again for another good harvest. It is never about prospering or planning, it is always about survival. Sometimes survival is year by year, or month by month, but for many it is day by day. You would think with such a survival mentality, Zambians would be very careful with what they have and very stingy in giving it away. However, that is not the case. In reality, Zambians are perhaps the most giving and charitable people on the earth. This was really brought home to me last Sunday as I went to church. This year has not been a good year for growing maize (corn) which is the staple food of all Zambians. Oh we have has lots of rain, but unfortunately we have had way too much. In many places flooding has wiped out entire fields of mature maize. In other places it has just rained so much that either the planted seed was washed away or things began to mildew and rot on the stalk. It is not a total and complete loss and in some cases it just depends on where you go. Some people’s fields are o.k. and they will harvest enough to get them through the year, but others will fall very, very short. This was the case I found out with Shanyinde, a local pastor at the Baptist Church in Mwamolo. We showed up for church there on Sunday and were warmly greeted as a welcome surprise. After the service, I chatted with him about the usual… how are you, how is your family, etc… and received all of the expected fine, good, etc. However, when I asked him how his fields had fared this year he let me know that things were not so good in that regard. He has lost almost everything and expects to only harvest about 5x50 kg bags of maize.  I asked him how many he needed to get his family through the year and he shared that usually they need about 20 to see them through one year. At that moment, I realized the reality of what he was facing. I told him I would pray for him and he said for me not to worry because he was sure that he could find odd jobs to hopefully buy food throughout the year and keep his family from starving. With a heavy heart I rounded up my family and began to say goodbye to folks, and head towards the truck to leave. Before I got in he told me I couldn’t go yet. He had prepared a gift for us and one of his children was still on the way to fetch it and should be back shortly. I was stunned when he presented us with about 10 cobs of fresh maize from his field. These were obviously the best he had… the first fruits, but the harvest from a field that was going to fall pitifully short in meeting his family’s needs. Yet in his heart of hearts he felt that he should give a gift to the missionary (who really doesn’t need anything and knows where his next meal is coming from). Needless to say, I was humbled and blessed. I seriously considered refusing and telling him he needed it more than me, but in reality what he needed was the blessing of giving; not giving from his abundance but giving from his abject poverty. Another member (following his pastor’s lead) also gave us a gift of charcoal (another important commodity), and with that we were on our way back to our home and our affluence (by Zambian standards).  I don’t really have any profound words of wisdom or divine application to this story, and perhaps it doesn’t need any. I think the story speaks for itself and you can make your own applications to your own life. Let me just remind you all to please be in prayer for the spiritual and physical needs of the people we work with this year. Monday through Wednesday I will be using the boat to do a hunger relief project on the Lunsemfwa River. This is the area I work in with the boat, and usually I am there doing church planting and evangelism. However, the river left its banks this year and the fields were flooded and they have lost everything. We decided that it might be best if we coupled our spiritual efforts at this time with a physical demonstration of God’s love and grace. We will be hauling about 5 tons of relief mealie-meal up the Lunsemfwa river 10 bags at a time. Please pray for us as we do this that God would watch over and protect us; that people would be ministered to physically and spiritually; and that things would go off without a hitch. Pray for us also that in the midst of this giving we would honor the sacrifices of people like Shanyinde, and ultimately the greatest sacrifice of all when God gave his son for the redemption of the world.

Blessings,

Kevin, Suzie, Zach, Justin and Hannah




March 6th, 2008

Dear Prayer Partners,
On March 15th-16th we would like to invite you to join our team for a special time of prayer.  On the 15th I will send out another email telling you which website to go to for a virtual prayer walk through our area.  You can go through it at your own pace but it will probably take about 10-15 min. to pray through each request.  If you can not join us at this time, the website will remain up and running to do at another time.  You are welcome to announce this in your churches or even use it somehow in your Sunday school classes or worship time.  We do hope that you will take the time to do this,  your prayers mean so much to us.
Thank you,
Suzie




Feb. 29th, 2008

Lauren Helgren was born Feb. 15th to the proud parents of Joy and Kendall Helgren.  She is now our youngest team member.  Please pray for the Helgren family as they adjust to having one more child in the family, as they wait for Lauren's passport so she can travel back home, and for Joy and Kendall as they continue to study Chinyanja.

Jan. 27th, 2008

Today we traveled two hours (one way) to go to a church at the Luangwa Bridge. It rained all the way there so we were not expecting a big crowd. After hitting a gong outside the church, within just a few minutes people began to come. There were probably about 40 of us all together. This area is known for 3 things: a place to buy fish, beer drinking, and prostitution. Kevin encouraged the church to start reaching out to others and sharing Christ, so the town would change and be a light house for God instead. After the service, they gave us gifts of 3 baskets and two straw hats for Hannah and Justin. We ate lunch with them, and then when we walked back up to the truck we found one of the members washing our truck in the sprinkling rain. It never fails that as we go out to encourage others, we instead are blessed by the people.
We saw something else interesting today that I would like to share with you. During the church service the rain poured down all around us, and even on us a bit. As you can tell from the picture there was just a grass roof, and it had a gap at the top where the rain just came into the church. They had placed a reed mat on the ground for the children to sit on, and the rain was dripping on about 5 of the kids. The kids just sat there and didn't move or complain, but were just happy to be there in the church. It was really kind of sad to me because it seemed no one cared that the children were getting wet. After about 10 min. of this going on, someone finally said that they should move the mat to a dry spot, so they did. What was amazing to me is that those Zambian children didn't even try to move out of the way. It was almost like they didn't think they had another option. I tried to imagine if my kids had been sitting there, or any other American kid for that matter. What would they have done in that situation? You all know they would have complained, made a scene, or at least gotten up and moved. Zambians grow up thinking that personal comfort is a privilege and not a right, whereas Americans are brought up to believe the opposite. Unfortunately, we teach this to our children when they are very young by giving them everything they want to make sure they are comfortable (plus more). I'm not saying we should not make sure our children are well taken care of and comfortable. I guess I am saying that we as Americans should be thankful for the things that we have, and not complain so much when our comforts are taken away... (like electricity, water, phone, good health care, and internet). Maybe you don't have to deal with those things being taken away from you in the USA, but here in Zambia it is something that we as missionaries have to deal with quite often. Pray for us that we would always be thankful for what God allows us to have, and that we would realize that the things we do have are a privilege and not a right.
Blessings,
Suzie




Jan. 25th, 2008

Hello Everyone,
I thought I would write a quick update on our family so that you would know better how to pray for us.  Many people have written and asked if Zach ever got back to school in Kenya.  Because of the political unrest in Kenya, RVA, delayed the opening of school until the 19th of Jan.  So, Zach flew from here to South Africa on Friday the 18th and then flew on the 19th to Nairobi, Kenya.  He started school this past Monday.  He got there just fine without any problems.  He said that the teachers have been giving a lot of work so that they can make up some of that time lost even though thay sent him some during the break too.  So pray for Zach and all the students at RVA that they will be able to get back into the swing of things and catch on to the material quickly.  Also, pray for the political situation in Kenya to get better.  We are thankful that we had 3 extra weeks with Zach though.
I'm attaching a picture of Zach and his roommate Nathan Dickard.  He and Nathan have been friends since Zach was 6 years old.  Nathan and his family were missionaries in Zambia until just a couple of years ago when they took a new assignment in South Africa.  Nathan has been on furlough with his family and just returned at the end of Dec. so he will be going back to school in the middle of the year.  Pray that Zach and Nathan will have a great term together as roommates.  
Some of you may have heard that there has been a big power outage in parts of South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Zambia.  In fact, you may know more about it than we do.  This past weekend the power was out all over Zambia.  However, for us here in Chongwe we have been having power outages since last Thursday.  Each day it has gone off for about 12 hours a day sometimes a little longer.  I believe they are probably doing load sharing throughout the country but it sure seems like we are getting most of it.  We have heard several different stories as to what is going on but no answers as to when it will get better.  Please pray that whatever the problem is that it will get fixed soon and that God would give us patience each day.  It is a little hard for Justin to do his home schooling when there isn't any power since he uses DVD's.  Cooking is a problem also because of the rains.  We have eaten a fair amount of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches this week.  If we could just know when the power was going off that sure would help so we could plan better. However, Zesco(our power company) doesn't feel they need to tell us personally. Ha Ha!
We pray you are all doing well.  Thanks so much for praying for us!
love,
Suzie and family


Dec. 24th, 2007

Merry Christmas Everyone!
We hope you are each enjoying the holidays with your families and friends.  We will be here in Zambia on Christmas day and then will travel to South Africa on the 26th so the boys can go to MK camp.  Zach will be flying back to Kenya from SA on the 2nd of Jan.  So keep us in your prayers as we have to say good-bye to him again.  
We just want to take this opportunity to thank all of you who give to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering each year.  It is because of those gifts that we are able to live here in Zambia and do the ministry that we do.  It not only supports us but over 5000 other missionaries all over the world.  When you give, you are impacting the world!  Then for those that pray for us on a regular basis we want to thank you too.  We can feel your prayer support each day.  Keep it up!
Blessings,
Suzie, Kevin, and family



Dec. 6th, 2007

Dear Friends and Family,
Throughout the last 10 years of ministry here in Zambia you have stood with us in prayer. It is really hard to believe that it has been that long, and as we look back on all the Lord has done we are amazed and grateful. We are grateful for God's hand on our lives and ministry, and we are especially grateful for your prayer support for us over all of these years. Because of the important role you play in who we are and what we do, we thought it important to let you know about the change the Lord has recently brought into our lives. We have been offered another job here with the IMB and have felt led of the Lord to say yes and take this job. In some ways it is a new direction for us in ministry, but in other ways it won't be too drastic a change for our family.

40/40 (or 40 days and 40 nights), is the "new missionary" orientation and training program for our region in Africa. This means that every new missionary who comes to the field here in the CESA region (Central, Eastern, and Southern Africa) has to go through this training program. The regional leadership has asked us to take the job of program director and be in charge of this important program. 40/40 is all about helping missionaries adjust to life and ministry here in Africa, and about making them more effective at building relationships with Africans and doing missions here in Africa. The program has been in transition over the last year or so and we have helped a little with it in the past. It is amazing how effective a training program it is, and we have been impressed by how much the Lord uses it to prepare our new missionaries. Many times, Suzie and I have remarked how we wish we could have had this type of training when we came to the field. New missionaries learn so many things in this 40 day program, that we had to learn the hard way over years of trial and error on our own. We are privileged to have been asked to do this new job, and ask you for your prayers that the Lord would make us effective in our work, and also give us grace and wisdom as we work with the other 40/40 staff.

Change is always difficult, but in many ways this change will not be so drastic for our family. First of all, the program takes place here in Zambia and we happen to already live in a perfect location for doing this job. For this reason, we won't have to move or leave Chongwe. I addition, the program does not run constantly throughout the year. There is time between sessions, that will allow me to still be involved in some church planting and in work on our eastern harvest team. Obviously, we will have to readjust our lives and give up many of the things we were doing before. However, we feel confident that we can maintain the work on the river, and do some church planting between sessions of 40/40. Please pray for us as we adjust our lives to meet the demands of this new responsibility. In many ways, we will just be feeling our way along until we get a handle on how much we can and cannot do. Thank you for continuing to pray for us and standing with us as you have throughout the years. We appreciate your faithfulness and are proud to serve the Lord here in Zambia.

Blessings,
Kevin, Suzie, Zach, Justin and Hannah


Nov. 15th, 2007

Hello Again,
Well the excitement is really building around the Rodgers household these days. As of today there is only one week left until Zach comes home for break. I would be lying if I said we weren't ecstatic. It has been a long 3 months and we are so grateful that his first term is coming to a close and that he will be coming home for over a month. Please pray for us that we can make it one more week :-) and that we will adjust well to life together again as a family of 5! We would also ask that you be in prayer for him. He has end of term exams over the next couple of days and he could use your prayer support as he tries to finish well this term. His schedule is as follows:
Friday, CIT (computer class), French, and History Exams.
Monday, English and P.E. Exams.
Tuesday, Biology and Geometry Exams.
If you could pray for him each day over those exams I know he would really appreciate it. As for us we are still busy doing ministry here and trying to follow the Lord's lead as he moves in new areas. This last week we had the privilege of seeing a new church born at a place called Mwaluembe (Mwa-loo-em-bay). This is a new church in the Chinyunyu association and to be honest the leadership of this association has done most of the work. I did a crusade there last weekend, to help kick things off at the new church, but work has been going on here for the last couple of months. It is simply what Zambians do best... local churches get a heart for some area where there is no evangelical work and they