Category: Uncategorized

OurHalifa’s “little mother” (his aunts) come to the teaching this week. On this picture she is listening to a MP3 solar recorder to the lessons she has missed. We are so excited to see here there! Continue to pray for the influential as well as the very lowest of the society to come to a […]

How great is our God! We are anew aware that He is faithful and trustworthy… and so aware of our own inability! He can really trust Him for our lives, our practical needs, our children and our co-workers. We can trust that He has a plan for the Mwinika and that this is their time […]

The Bible lesson development is still going strong. Francois finished up to lesson 59 last week. He is discussing very difficult concepts with his helpers and we ask your prayers for them all! The helpers are learning that ancestral worship and witchcraft are not God’s way; that the possession of spirits (demons) is not “normal”, […]

We have been encouraged by co-workers and friends who came to visit us in the last week despite rain resulting in having to cancel one afternoon’s teaching. On this picture Francois is asking questions at the beginning of the teaching to make sure that everyone is tracking well and understand what has been taught the […]

#1 This is a picture of a Nsepa ceremony. This is a healing ceremony that the Mwinika perform to “chase” the bad spirits – believed to cause the sickness – away. If a person has been identified with a sickness caused by “nsepa” (a specific spirit), a witchdoctor that has knowledge about the nsepa must […]

This man is the main “king” or “chief” in our area. In the Mwinika culture he is a big clan leader over other clan leaders and therefore has much power. He not only is a “king of kings”, but he is also the reigning political party representative (called a “secretary”). We (the Hattinghs) live in […]

The party… Heide-Marie is turning 10 years old this week-end! She has been so excited that we decided to have her party today (Friday, April 1) during our normal Mwinika team meeting time, although her birthday is April 3. Our family tradition is to wake the birthday girl (or boy) up with “happy birthday!” gifts […]

In preparing the Bible lessons, Francois was teaching our helpers this week from John 3… This includes verse 16: “for God so loved the world…”. Wow, imagine the impact of these words to a people who have never heard that God loves them!! Thank you for your prayers for the Mwinika! Please continue to pray […]

We have asked you before to pray for our helpers, but want to take the time to introduce you better to Salimo. Salimo is our main helper in translation and Bible lesson development. He has a extraordinary talent for communicating his language and culture and learns super fast. In fact, he types faster on the […]

Heidi’s birthday party was a huge success! Last night she declared that it is the best 10th anniversary birthday party she has ever had! 🙂 #1 (IMG.1527) On this picture (from left to right): Elias, Elin (Henderson), Waldo (trying to be funny!), Francois, Heidi, Nadia, Franco and Callie. Phil was taking the picture, but we […]