January & February 2007
...builds the house,
its builders labor in vain.
Psalm 127:1
Putting thatch on a roof is a team effort
In Africa there are an amazing variety of houses. Every tribe also has its own unique style of building. People of the Soli language build round houses from a framework of sticks and mud. Maasai houses are square and made from cow dung. Pygmy homes are dome shaped and made from sticks and leaves.
Houses can be made from almost anything except for wood. There are just too many termites. Termites can eat an entire house in a month. I was in a home once and you could actually hear the termites eating it away. In the tropics, where there are lots of insects and rain, houses may last for no more than five years. Then it’s time to build another one. Everyone is invited, and this is a fun time to join together to help.
Whatever their shape or style, Africans enjoy having visitors in their homes to build friendships.
Traditional houses can be made from:
A framework of sticks and mud
Mud blocks
Baked bricks
Stone
Cow dung and urine
One house we saw has its foundation made out of old engine blocks.
Roofs are made from thatch, leaves or metal sheeting.
Soli home we visited in January
Photo: Mark Karan
Pygmy home made
from leaves
"’Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me?” says the Lord. “Or where will my resting place be?” Acts 7:49
The Old Testament tells how King David wanted to build a house for God. But the Bible declares that God does not live in houses made by men. No building could contain Him. Yet God has always sought to dwell with us. Not in a building —– but in our hearts. That’s why you’ve sent us to Africa to do Bible translation. Nothing speaks to the heart like someone’s own mother tongue. Nothing prepares a dwelling place for God like the Bible in the everyday language of the people.
Thank you for being a part of the worldwide Bible translation effort. You helped to prepare a place where God can make a home in hearts. Over 20 more languages have received their first Bible or New Testament in 2006.
Houses in the
Congo
Today as I heard the Word of God in my own language, my heart began to sing."
A Russian musician when first receiving
the Bible in her own language
We are hoping to be back in the USA later this year to visit with you. Then after at least a year of home assignment we plan to return to Zambia.
Over the next few months we will be busy packing up the home we rented in Zambia. We have to put everything into an 8 x 8 x 20 foot metal container. Imagine packing everything you own for a family of five into a container this size!
We are also training Zambians to continue the work here until we return to Zambia. We certainly need your prayers during this busy time.
Isaac will miss playing with his African buddies.
Many nations will come and say,"Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths. Micah 4:2
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Ken & Sue
Elisabeth, Sarah, Isaac
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