Hey, it's good to be back home again!

August 1-3: The trip to Livingstone had been hot and bumpy, making the eight hours seem much longer. Still, we were grateful that we'd be arriving soon to Fawlty towers, our old, comfortable and welcoming lodge. It would be good to see Miriam, Ernestine, Wilkin, Elisa , Joy, Timothy and other staff who are always so good to us.

Regrettably, as we drove into Livingstone, Abby came down with the stomach flu which was to sideline her for several days. She was really quite miserable and unable to join me in the scheduled training which made her pretty sad. I, also, was to get a milder case over the weekend, but I was able to teach in between rests.

Pastor Fred leads worship at Kingdom Impact Ministry.

August 4-6: Pastor Fred of Kingdom Impact Ministry welcomed Percy and me on Friday evening (see video above). Fred had worked with YWAM for some time, but in recent years has been planting a church for the "broken and confused." His worship center was donated to him by a night club owner who had became a Christian and Fred's congregation has many young people in it. We had a great time of worship and training with about 10 young Christians, focusing on the Gospel's power to deal with our guilt, shame and fear.

Saturday evening, Percy and I met with Fred's elders and the focus was on Christian leadership. We pushed them as we discussed how Jesus turned the traditional understanding of leadership as power upside-down. We used John 13:1-17 as a paradigm for Christian leadership, as Jesus takes the lowest position and washes the disciples feet. The elders were extremely open and responsive. It was a worthwhile session.

Sunday morning, Percy, Muyunda and I worshiped with Kingdom Impact Ministry and I preached on the nature and cost of discipleship. Again, we were well received. The congregation was lively and responsive. Interestingly, Pastor Fred is spearheading an effort to plant a large garden on a couple of acres on the church grounds to help make the church sustainable.

John Zulu, one of our amazing students, now leads an interdenominational prayer ministry.

Sunday afternoon, Percy and I traveled to our old student, John Zulu's interdenominational prayer gathering. This group of 30-40 Christians from a number of Livingstone churches meets every Sunday afternoon from 2-8pm for teaching and prayer. John launched this ministry after our training last year and it's going really well!

John had asked me to teach the group what I had taught in my keynote at The Rise Missions Conference earlier this summer when I had taught on the nature of discipleship. John had been able to join us in South Africa and had heard my talk there. So, I did. According to Percy, they were still talking about what I taught for several days after the meeting. Apparently, I struck a chord and John was spot on when he asked me to address this topic. I am grateful.

August 7-9: Abby and I were on the mend and we were able to meet with Percy daily to discuss our plans to reach into Angola with our training next year. On Monday evening, we celebrated Percy's birthday with his wife, Muyunda, and daughters, Natasha, Thabo and Nsala. We had a wonderful evening together. On Tuesday evening, Percy joined us at The Old Farm House restaurant for a lovely dinner around a bonfire. On Wednesday, Abby and I enjoyed a late afternoon trip to Victoria Falls to see the sunset. Amazing, as always! Then, it was a final dinner with Percy before our Thursday morning departure.

August 10-11: Thankfully, our trip home was relatively uneventful and we arrived on schedule. Our dear friends, Robert and Cyndie Howard picked us up at the airport and we enjoyed a meal together. When we arrived home, our Lake Forest Church mission support team members Lisa Hunter and Virginia White had stocked our refrigerator for us which was great. In addition, Cyndie had given them some home grown tomatoes and cantaloupe for us. Delicious!

Please pray for Percy and his family and all our dear friends in South Africa and Zambia. And please pray for us as we sort our our trip and try to discern all the Lord wants us to learn form these seven weeks. And, as always, thanks to all of you who support our work. Your presence on our team makes all the difference! Thank you!