This issue brings a message from Zambia.

MESSAGE FROM ZAMBIA
We finished our first day of ministering in a village near Lusaka. This is my first trip to Zambia. Already it’s been quite an experience. Zambia is south of the Congo and Tanzania. Although “officially” a Christian nation, it has been decimated by HIV Aids. The copper mining industry is no longer thriving and most people eek out a subsistence living any way the can. Many of the young girls have turned to prostitution. In the village where the women in our group ministered, you must pass through street after street of Sodom and Gororrah before coming to the church and school where they helped to equip 20 women who had chosen to find a better life through Jesus Christ. I was told that the village had about 7 thousand residents, and I swear everyone of them was on one of the roads in the center of town- very bumpy and dusty dirt roads lined with small shack-like stands selling anything and everything amid the sounds of all kinds of music, the cries of the vendors, and the aroma of who knows what being cooked over open fires. I’ve never seen anything quite like this. With so many vendors, it’s no wonder they can make only a few dollars on a good day. This is the normal day (and night) for these people. Yet, despite the poverty, Zambians, like other Africans I have met, are extremely friendly people.
 
Every American needs to experience something like this at least once in his life. It’s a real reminder of how good we have it, even in the midst of tough economic times.
 
Another phenomenon is worth noting. The Muslims are infiltrating the region little by little. Backed by Muslim businessmen in India, they are providing seed money for people to start their own businesses. This money is also being used to provide food and clothing at the local mosques. People are flocking to the free goods and are being absorbed into the Muslim faith and culture. They are also providing scholarships for young people to go to college, usually in Iran or Saudi Arabia, where they soon become fanatics. Through the mosques, Muslims are adding daily to their numbers. It is sad that they are doing what Christian businessmen should be doing. A little well placed money would grow the ranks of the Church and drastically turn a lot of people’s lives around.
 
Hopefully, I’ll have more observations next Saturday.

ON THE LIGHTER SIDE
Mosquito: An insect that makes you like flies better.