Muli shani! ("How are you!" in the native tongue )
Mrs. Pope and I have arrived at the Kayfulafuta Baptist Mission and home of The North Star Bible Institute in Kayfulafuta, Zambia, Africa. Thank you for praying for the meeting tonight. To use an old Texas expression, we feel "rode hard and put up wet." The famous preacher of the Great Awakening, George Whitefield at times would say, "Lord, we are weary in thy work but not of thy work."
We left Monday, spent the night in Johannesburg on Tuesday and arrived at noon on Wednesday in Ndola, which is near Kayfulafuta. On the way to the mission, we were astounded at the people everywhere. Termite hills would ascend upwards to twenty feet in the air. You have to careful, we were told, when approaching one of these hills because the King Cobra loves to nest in them. We were informed that a Green Mamba had been killed in one of the mission houses (the most lethal snake on earth, also called the "two step," not named after the Texas dance, it means after bitten you have two steps before you die.) The missionaries tried to comfort Mrs. Pope by saying, "But it wasn't in the house you're staying." I still think Barbara may have a difficult time falling asleep with the thoughts of Cobras and Mambas in our geographical circumference.
This is an amazing continent. Hard to believe, in about a two hour drive, the famed David Livingstone died. The natives asked to keep his heart here and then they carefully carried his remains to the coast and laid him to rest in Westminster Abbey in England.
We are 7 hours ahead of you. So when it is Prayer Meeting time (7:30) at Christchurch, it will be 2:30 am on Thursday here. It is also winter time here. It is a very pleasant 75 degrees in the daytime and about 50 degrees at night. The windows are open and we are preparing for service, I can hear the African choir warming up. Oh Wow! I think we are going to hear some great singing tonight. Please pray for the meeting tonight. "Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ..." (Colossians 4:3).
I love you all.
Pastor and Mrs. Pope
P.S. The only way to contact us is through email; we have no phone service.
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