Catastrophe in Zambia

I received this email this morning from my friends ministering in Zambia:

Dear Prayer Partners,


Yesterday, at 5pm a horrible storm swept through our area of Ndola and destroyed our church structure, injured our pastor in training, ripped a fourth of the roof off of the library/institute building, soaked most of the library books, and destroyed a portion of the church property's wallfence.

The devastation is severe.

Our pastor in training was in the church tent (40 feet x 30 feet) with the church treasurer when the wind picked the structure up and slammed it back into the ground. Part of the steel frame hit the pastor in the head and opened a large wound. When we arrived at the scene his church shirt was covered with blood. I checked him for a concussion and sent him for treatment.

The tent is a total loss, the steel frame is wadded up and bent into an unrecognizable shape. The tent itself is torn and and in places literally shredded. The church benches are undamaged, but the hymnals, pew Bibles and other church documents are lost.

The library/institute building had the asbestos roof and purlins peeled off. About a fourth of the roof on both sides was completely swept away. The rain then poured into the library and ruined probably a third of the books. We had a supply of donated Bibles and New Testaments in this building also, all were damaged by the water. We lost over 50 Bibles and over 500 New Testaments. The library and institute is now closed.

A portion of our wallfence was also blown down. This is a very sturdy cinder block wall that was properly built and reinforced. It was pushed over as if it were nothing.

We praise the Lord that the pastor in training is doing better today and that no one else was injured. The ladies had been holding a special service in the afternoon, but thankfully they were already home when the storm hit.

We will continue on.

I have received a personal loan from a local businessman and have already today began repairs on the library/institute building. The library/institute will have to remain closed until after our furlough. This will allow the church (which is our priority) to be able to use the library/institute building for services.

The loss of property from this storm is well over $10,000.

Please. please pray with us.

Already rumors are circulating that this is a curse from God on our church. People are often swayed by these type of malicious rumors and it concerns us to have this disaster after the church fire 3 years ago.

This has hit me and Jill especially hard. Emotionally, we are drained. We are doing our very best to serve the Lord here alone and it seems that we are visited again and again by disaster. Please pray that we will be spiritually and emotionally encouraging to one another and to our budding Christians.

The same storm knocked out the power to our home and so I am at an internet cafe writing to you. We are not sure when we will have power again.

Again, please pray for us and for Calvary Baptist Church.

On another note, please also pray for Andrea, she has been very sick with a stomach flu or food poisoning. On Saturday evening she vomited over 30 times.

Thank you so much for your partnership with us.


No Turning Back,
Andrew S. Schultz

Please pray for Andy & Jill and consider sending them money to help them recover from this terrible loss. They are preparing to leave the country soon for a furlough. Consider how incredibly difficult this will be for them to leave the local church in that state. You can donate money to their ministry by clicking here or by mailing a check to BIMI using the following address:

Andrew Schultz Family #821
c/o Baptist International Missions Inc.
P.O. Box 9215
Chattanooga, TN 37412 U.S.A.

(NOTE ­ when using this method, please be sure to designate your gift in the memo section: Andrew Schultz Family #821 in ZAMBIA)