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Bishop Evariste Numbi and Pastor Elie may not be allowed by the Zambian authorities to travel to Kabwe.

Pastor Elie’s passport isn’t expected to be available before March and the documents he can get for next week only allow him to travel 100 km into Zambia. So a few of us would have to travel to meet these two men in Ndola.

They have done so much in ‘easy’ and ‘veryeasy’ French for Africa, as unpaid volunteers, to set a wonderful example that this would weaken this conference. They would, of course, still be principal speakers in November and even this February conference with 14 or so delegates will move ahead.

BUT PLEASE LET US PRAY TOGETHER THAT THEY MAY GET PERMISSION TO REACH KABWE.

Thanks to Richard Johnston and friends from Bradford, UK for this stronger product. Please note the two Gospels in easyChichewa in the left-hand photo – we rejoice in 4 teams (3 Protestant and 1 Catholic) working together on this language.

The latest version of my itinerary is :

I arrive at Lusaka Airport on Feb 2^nd and stay 2 nights with Italian Roman Catholic missionary Fr Gian Battista Moroni. I met Fr Moroni twice in Rome last year. He has been a missionary in a Chichewa speaking area of Zambia for 28 years.

I’m also met at the airport by Steven Kaombe who will travel from Mozambique and be my companion throughout my time in Zambia. Steven travelled to Lilongwe in Malawi for ‘easyBibles’ meetings in 2008. He is a very talented translator, particularly into Chichewa and Yao but also Portuguese. With his wife Grace he is also doing Nyanja – one of her mother-tongues.

Feb 4^th – we move to Kabwe, Zambia and meet with 15 translators and checkers of ‘easy to read’ Bibles from 8 nations (DRC, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Malawi, Kenya and possibly Lesotho) at Acts Bible Church in Kabwe, Zambia from Feb 4-13^th. Rev Ignatius Chumwe, the pastor and the congregation are providing very generous hospitality.

Please pray that Bishop Evariste Numbi (African Inland Church, DRC – Lutheran) and Pastor Elie Kakudji will get permission to travel further south than Ndola and join us in Kabwe.

At this preparatory conference we shall listen to one another and hope to improve our abilities to produce, check and field-test the over 20 languages represented. I shall start as Chairman but hope to hand this over as the Conference progresses. Please pray that God will take hold of these meetings and surprise us – for His Glory!

Email partners – because of distances and costs – are Ethiopia, Egypt, Uganda and possibly Southern Sudan (I met a wonderful Bishop for this new country last Thursday in North Wales).

Then if all goes well, in November, or earlier, the aim is to meet again – as a larger group from even more countries – with African leadership – each language having completed at least the 4 gospels at the ‘easy’ level and 100 gospel stories at the ‘veryeasy’ level for a FULL AFRICAN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE FOR ‘EASYBIBLES’.

Feb 13^th – Steven and I travel to Livingstone in Zambia seeking contacts from Botswana, Angola and Namibia.

Feb 18^th – Back to Lusaka

Feb 19^th – fly to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to meet Abraham Getachew and 2 friends to move Amharic and Oromo forward; then to London.

LATEST NEWS!! Two friends – one from Nairobi,  Kenya and the other from near Arusha, Tanzania have already said that although they’re not able to come in February – they hope to attend in November. Praise God!!

Delegates have to find their own bus fares as well as doing the work as volunteers in the first place. This time i’m only paying bus fares for 2 people -who are working fluently for the poor people in their own languages.

Please email me if you wish to contribute – some people have helped already; BUT i’ll also be raising funds for the ‘book printing and posting’ CHARITABLE CLUB in the Britannia Building Society in March. Obviously it is best to help Africa by getting the printing done there. As i travel, i shall be seeking information from printers like the African Inland Press i once visited in Mwanza, Tanzania.

Below next to the spirally-bound light blue book in ‘veryeasy’ French – made with the generous help of Ian Melton (Cefni Computers) and Richard Johnston, are 4 books from my old friend Phil Roberts a professional printer and FIEC pastor from Stoke, UK.

The bottom 2 books are inside and outside of the same book – ‘veryeasy’ Chin Bible Stories – translated and ordered by Pastor Hmung, a Baptist General Secretary from Mandalay, Myanmar.

After i’d put in the order, Phil told me that he’s visiting Myanmar  in Feb. Another of God’s coincidences!

The yellow books in the photo are more than 10 years old and they are very strong. I carry one with me on all my travels.  We shall experiment with both systems and also soon – with printing in Africa.

Lydie from a French-speaking part of Switzerland has agreed not only to check the easyFrench from DRC – BUT TO OVERSEE FRENCH FOR EUROPE.

Please pray for her hip operation on Feb 9th. Lydie has spent 15 years as a missionary in Tanzania – please pray that she will be able to return.

My host in Lusaka is gradually improving from pneumonia – please continue praying for Evaristo.

Rev Ignatius has wonderfully mentioned that his church in Kabwe will find at least 12 free beds for the duration of our Africa Conference for ‘EasyBibles’. Feb 4th to 13th.

I can now realistically call it an ‘African’ conference today – after my Egyptian friend Fr John, who has been doing veryeasyArabic has agreed to be an email partner – and my Scottish Comboni friend  (also Fr John) having just returned from Kampala has told me of a distinguished Ugandan friend who will make another excellent email partner.

That makes a total of 8 countries hoping to attend Kabwe and 3 countries who wish to be ‘email partners’ – so far!

Only 4 weeks till Wed Feb 1st when i fly to Lusaka then on Sat 4th move on to Kabwe for our conference.

Please pray for the Holy Spirit to increasingly inspire us and overcome our weaknesses.

Whether 10 or 20 people can gather – may it be the correct group for this PREPARATORY MEETING before our FULL MEETING later in 2012 – probably also in Zambia – ‘the Heart of Africa’.

Please pray for the health of Bishop Evariste who has battled with diabetes for many years – and for his family.

Please pray too that Rev Elie – one of our leaders – will be able to visit Kabwe and not just Ndola. If that does not happen, some of us will spend Mon 6th with him in Ndola.

Also next Wed 11th Jan i visit my friend in Stoke, UK – who will soon travel to encourage our Burmese team doing easyChin.

2012 is keeping me busy! An English friend is soon travelling to Myanmar (Burma) where he will meet Pastor Hmung, who is already doing veryeasyChin and will soon move onto Luke’s gospel in easyChin level A. They will meet while i’m in Zambia. Please pray for many possibilities.

We rejoice in a Wonderful 2011 - God is Faithful, when we are not. It has been a year of much travelling and many promises.

A few of these promises are already being fulfilled as people deepen their relationship with God by helping the poor and encouraging those who are disabled or marginalised.

As we scroll down this blog, we see Lucy with Downs Syndrome – dancing to worship God and to encourage US ALL.

This morning i was phoning another Lucy – a nurse from Lesotho – who is helping to arrange for a young friend from her country to get to Kabwe, Zambia in February. A long distance to travel!!

Which brings me to the Kabwe Conference itself (Feb 4 – 12) :

Every day, i thank God for Bishop Evariste and Pastor Elie from DRC, Steven Kombe from Mozambique, Mark Kayenda and Bishop Jamali from Malawi, Felix and Reuben from Zambia, Abraham Getachew from Ethiopia (an email partner for Kabwe), Cleto from Zimbabwe (and his website), Frank, Sauli and Samuel Mpanilehi from Tanzania, Lucy from Lesotho…..

WE’RE ALL PRAYING THAT THIS CONFERENCE AND A FULL CONFERENCE IN ZAMBIA IN NOVEMBER WILL RESULT IN ‘EASYBIBLES’ COMING OF AGE AS THE TEAM FORMS STRONG RELATIONSHIPS TO ENSURE THAT ‘FOR AFRICA ‘EASYBIBLES’ IS RUN BY AFRICANS.’

Please watch the U-tube of Lucy’s dancing. She has Downs Syndrome is 26 years old and is self-taught :

<iframe width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/OQxFs_LYN8A” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen></iframe>

Praise God for people like Lucy!