January 2007 - Covenant College Newsletter

Dear friends,

Thank you very much for all the good wishes and encouraging words by means of post and e-mail. Cards and family pictures are decorating our cement walls. We hope this update may find you well and encourage you to continue with your much appreciated prayers.

The passed month has added one to the period we struggle onward in our present condition. We have often thought it is impossible just to continue the way we do. But placed for an impossible situation, the Lord has graced us with strength to persevere.

Health wise, we are generally in good condition. Mirjam seems to benefit from the strict diet again; for the first time after we left in October she feels OK for a week.

The Lord spared both Joas and Rhode when they fell; Joas in the church and Rhoda out of a tree. Rhode’s hand is still hurting and we just hope that we are right in assuming no serious damage is done.

Life is never and nowhere easy, but especially not when you as a young family have to deal with the lack of so many 'conveniences', such as power, hot water, gas and not the least of all; a good house. By the grace of God we have persevered, even though from time to time we wondered if we could.

Although it was an extremely busy time, we felt very much blessed by Pastor and Mrs. Neels’ visit. We had good conversations and the presence of Mrs. Neels added not little to the blessing we both received.

We continue to preach wherever we are invited. We do miss the regular worship with one church. Two weeks ago we celebrated the Lord’s Supper unexpectedly as we visited a church of one of the Trustees. The elements of bread and wine help us to see the unity of the body of Christ. He shed His blood and gave His body for a very imperfect people in themselves; even for us! This is a grace that can be experienced here just as well as in North America

College Update

Visit

We would like to share some things about the past conference. It was a wonderful time; the Lord’s blessings were abundant. Cees picked the Neelses up from Lusaka on Saturday Jan 6, and brought them straight to the mission. It was dark when they arrived and it was still raining. We had about 2 weeks of rain, with only a few dry hours. Everything was muddy and I am sure it was quite a 'shock' for them to find our door in the pitch dark and heavy rain, mud flushing over the ground.

Sunday

After a good meal and night of sleep we headed off to the church on Sunday morning, visiting the Ref. Church of Zambia in a village. Joas and Rhoda were stepping from bench to bench, since the church-goers were still preparing in their huts and homes. Somehow Joas slipped from a bench and fell with his head on a bench, made from concrete. He was out and wounded. Mirjam, Mrs. Neels and the kids went back home right away. Joas had a concussion, observing his sleep-cry-vomit-headache cycle. He has improved a lot by this time. Pastor Neels was able to preach from James 4, about the frailty of life and how we need to reckon with God’s will in all that we endeavor. The people listened intensely and pastor Neels picked up some of the Nyanja language in the process.

Conference

On Monday we had to go to town, show the Neelses around and do all the shopping for the conference. That shopping on Monday always takes a couple hours since you also have to do many other things there, such as email, getting money etc, and you always have unexpected things as car-problems, picking up people etc.

Monday around 14.00 hours we opened the student-couples conference officially with a lunch and the introduction of the Theme: A Godly Church (and) Family. Cees set forth the general command for godliness, and showed the crucial relationship between the godly family and the godly church. The aim of the conference was to help our students in their teaching on this subject, but also to stress the importance of them becoming examples to their church and community.

After the topic we allowed some time to settle, unpack, make the beds and get acquainted with each other (the wives don't know each other very well since they all live very much spread out). After dinner we had an hour of prayer and singing, wonderful!!!

‘I love you’

Tuesday morning we started with an hour of worship and then pastor Neels did his topic on Biblical Guidelines for Marriage and Family. He offered certainly a lot of new thoughts to reconsider. “Wives, do you remember the last time your husband said to you: ‘I love you’?” This question was not so difficult for one of the older ladies. “That was when we got married in 1982.” On the other hand, a younger lady stood up and said: “I testify before everyone here that Banda (her husband’s surname) loves me very much, because I can see it in what he does.”

In the Zambian culture, the relationship between the husband and wife is much less important than between the woman and her family. Also, it is considered improper for the father to directly communicate with his daughters. In the daily practice, the interaction between the parents and the growing up children is very limited. Only a few students indicated that they regularly hold devotions with the whole family.

In the afternoon we had workshops on raising a godly seed. Mrs. Neels shared how we are called in our day-to-day life to train our kids in the ways of the Lord. We are very thankful that Pastor and Mrs. Neels could contribute to the college and acquaint themselves with out students. Very early on Wednesday they left with Anneke to Malawi, from where they flew to Uganda.

Pastor Mbewe

Tuesday and Wednesday Pastor Conrad Mbewe visited the college. He is a Trustee from Kabwata Baptist Church in Lusaka. Although the purpose was more in general to evaluate the College, he combined this with delivering two messages on the topic of the godly church from Paul’s letter to Titus. The students responded again with good questions and discussion. Just before lunch we concluded the conference. Each family received a gift certificate that they can exchange for a newly published Children’s Bible in their own language! Mirjam instructed them how to use it, in the home, the church and in the village.

After lunch, the men repaired and packed their bicycles for the journey. Mirjam provided shuttle service between the College and town so all women could catch a buss or walk home. The Trustees who were present met briefly, and Pastor Mbewe and Rev. Miti ‘drilled’ Cees for some hours to evaluate the College.

Rewarding

Overall, the conference was as hectic as rewarding on our own side. For three days, everything big and small seems to come your way and demand a quick and immediate solution. Because Mirjam and I had prepared it all together, Mirjam could step in when I was held up somewhere and the program had to move on. Our own children were a bit neglected and asked for attention too… The reward, however, was great. The students expressed great appreciation, not only for the few days break from the busy farm work they are now involved in, but especially for bringing this part of the Biblical call on our lives to the fore. Many confirmed they had heard things they never thought about before. We were particularly blessed with the resolution we read on many couples’ faces to love each other and their children and to seek to live godly in all these aspects. We were very much encouraged to meet them again and realized how the Lord has chosen us to minister to them. We thank Pastor and Mrs. Neels, Pastor Mbewe and Anneke for their assistance in this conference.

General

New roof lecture hall

The College has been a busy place over the last month. In December, we hired some workers to set a new roof on an ‘old’ skeleton. This required some skill, since the heavy wet grass had bent the roof structure quite a bit. For KW 3,500,000 ($850) the grass roof is replaced by a sink roof and so a wet and muddy lecture hall by a dry and clean one. At the conference we experienced the blessing of this work, although the rains now sound louder than before. When Mrs. Neels spoke and the rain fell heavy, we first paused for singing, but when the rain continued we employed student German’s loud voice for interpretation. The old students’ kitchen has a new grass roof too; the old one had collapsed.

In preparation for the conference much slashing had to be done to cut the tall grass. With that, the place looked much opener and habitable again. The farm provided and managed the job.

Electricity

In December we received a quote from Zesco, the utility company of Zambia. This means that the head office had approved with our request to bring power into the college and farm property. The quote was much lower this time than when it was requested in 2004. As soon as the payment can be made... the waiting starts for them to get to the job. We ask your prayers, that the Lord will control and provide also in this need.

New house

The construction of the new house is slowly progressing. The roof is completed and the inside plastering work is finished this week too. The supply of materials continues to be a concern. Paint and ceiling materials I all organized in Lusaka last week, with the truck to deliver it all. For weeks I have gone between three different suppliers of cement, in the hope we will at least be able to buy from one. The cement prices are going up because the trucks have to wait in long lines in the Lusaka factories. (Only now I realize how blessed we were in the beginning to have enough cement.) A new team (Oscar) will start working in the fence around the house next week.

Children’s Ministry

Despite the heavy rains, children have faithfully attended the children Bible hour. Often it was the only dry hour at a particular day! Mirjam would be cleaning the hall in the rain, but within half an hour after the rain stopped, children would stream into the lecture hall. It has tested our faith, to prepare all the details without knowing whether there would be any kids at all. However, in the end it proved to be a blessed time each week. Mirjam had taken them through the Old Testament promises and the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus’ coming to earth. John 3:16 was memorized and the faces shone when one was able to recite it just by him or her self. Now Mirjam inserted a short break, and we hope to continue in February.

Finances

New account

We are thankful to report that a Covenant College Zambia Trust account is now opened with Zanaco here in town. But since they put the wrong name with the account number in the beginning, we are still without any funds through this cannel. We covet your prayers for this, so that all the projects can continue. (Detailed information of the bank account is available upon request.)

Support

We are grateful for the support of the College from the various churches. We mention here the donation received from South Africa after the passing away from Pastor Graham Ebden and the funds made available from the Free Church of Scotland Continuing. This support covers the running costs of the College for the largest part. We also mention the beginning of donations received from the Heritage Reformed Congregations. In the coming years, we will call on our supporters’ generosity as some more building projects are pending (such as a new dormitory and lecture hall). This cannot be done without your help. Also, we need to save up funds to replace the College vehicle any time as it stops functioning safely and properly.

Conclusion

Dear friends and supporting churches, we appreciate all the ways in which you have convinced us of your love for the work of the Lord at Covenant College. Please continue to uphold this work with all its challenges before the throne of grace. The work of the evil one is present among us here and in the churches to destroy whatever is built by the grace of God. Also as a family we appreciate your prayers to persevere and be a blessing to the people around us.

Pastor Cees and Mrs. Mirjam Molenaar