Senior Boys' Camp & Other Camps

The Long weekend - is the traditional time to hold our Senior Boys' Camp - here is just one shot from that weekend. A great weekend - thank you for praying. Please continue to pray for those who trusted the Lord. Two boys there who said they were Muslims but on the last day one of them declared that he had now decided "to follow Jesus".

Bruce Mukwatu was the speaker and gave very challenging messages. A few days after the camp he came thru to us here in Kabompo and spoke on two consecutive evenings to a packed hall. Bruce had also been one of the speakers at the Marriage Conference and although I was still in Lusaka at that time, awaiting the transport back to Kabompo - I am still hearing comments about that conference and the effect it is having in some lives. It was good to have Bruce and his wife Alice, stay with us - it is many years now since they had their wedding reception in our back yard and spent the first night of their married life, in our caravan! Currently they are both in Angola for outreach there and after returning to Zambia, Alice will, Lord willing, be speaking at our Senior Girls' Camp.

This is monday morning - our Junior Girls' Camp begins on Thursday afternoon and we are thankful that Daisy Hanna of Loloma Mission, has agreed to lead the main sessions there. I have been hurrying to try and finish all the printing before our Electricity company's diesel runs out - what a relief to learn that the diesel has arrived and to actually be able to have our electricity come on at 06.00 hours . Praise the Lord for His grace and mercy.

Some years ago we had a little granddaughter born during our Junior Girls' Camp - on another year - a young Zambian widow, who was like a daughter to us and was living with us - came thru to camp and that weekend, decided to give birth to her little daughter - so I spent quite a bit of that weekend with her. This weekend however, promises to be the other end of the spectrum. Our little lamb, Elysha, will shortly be going home, it appears, and so most probably, the weekend of Junior Girls' Camp, this year, will be the time of her funeral. The picture above is one I took in hospital at the time when I had made the short trip back, expecting to attend her funeral - still so beautiful but unresponsive. It has been a long road, especially for Richard and Katherine, but we are so thankful for the wonderful support they have had from friends and family - especially the family of God. We are thankful that we had opportunity to know her and o enjoy her beautiful smile - and that I, Elva, had opportunity to spend that little time with them and so appreciate some of what they have been going thru over these past weeks.

Wonderful to know that she will soon be "safe in the arms of Jesus" - but we know that for Richard and Katherine, their arms will be empty. We continue to pray for them as they look forward to the arrival of another little one in December D.V.

Does anyone of our friends or prayer partners, read this blog?

I sometimes wonder - but perhaps you have become weary of checking here and finding nothing new. I am about to add another item or two. I think the title of this page is very appropriate - as the past year seems to have been a lot of moving back and forth!
Currently tho - we are both in Zambia - but our hearts are stretched across the miles!
Little Elysha is still hanging on - waiting the call of the Good Shepherd.
A comment I read the other morning:
"If He is omnipotent and omniscient, (and we know He is) then there is no way to improve upon His ways and timing.
And so we trust and wait on Him.
Thank you to all who pray for Elysha, her parents and for ourselves and the rest of the family.

A brief update.

Life has been a bit of a whirlwind, and access to internet and computers has not always been possible. currently Elva's computer is away for repairs. We are presently in Port Colborne and are happy with our new home here. It has been well "broken in" by Rachel and looks quite African in some areas.
Due to the fact that Elva's Dad was so unwell - Elva left Kabompo earlier than we had planned and spent some weeks in N.Z. before being joined by Don in Feb. Elva is thankful for the good days and the not so good days she was able to spend with her Dad and other family members. When it was time for us to leave and continue our journey to the USA - Dad was far from well - but we continued anyway - and made it to Lincoln with just a days to spare, before Nehemiah Walter Van Essen "marched forth" on March 4. Dad was well enough to be very thrilled that his latest Great grandchild had been given his name. Very shortly after Nehemiah was born we were told that Daddy only had days to live. We arranged to shorten our stay slightly so that we could get to see little Elysha before Elva returned to N.Z. for her father's funeral. She was able to get a cheaper flight out of Buffallo and so after only 2 1/2 days in Canada, she was on her way back to N.Z. where the funeral was held 2 days after her arrival. She was thankful to be able to take back photos and first hand report of these little ones - to family and the many friends who had been praying. She was very thankful to be able to be present for this funeral since she had missed her mother's funeral.
It was great to be with Sarah and Matt and family - time went very quickly and of course was quite busy. Before we left, we were blessed with some lovely days that enabled us to go with all the children and Sarah, to the park. We did enjoy being able to witness some of their cuteness first hand - we will treasure those memories in the days ahead when the distances are even greater.
It was wonderful too, to be able to meet Elysha first hand - she is a little lamb - such a sweet little smile - it is a busy life for her parents too with tube feeds, injections and illeostomy care - but they do a great job. They have just moved into their new home in Milton - very thankful for more space.
Richard and Katherine brought us to our new house in Port Colborne and it was lovely for us all to be together and share a meal - before I took off again to N.Z.
The ticket which I purchased enabled me to spend about 11 days with my sister Marilyn and we went thru a lot of dads and mothers things to gether - many memories. Was amazing how much time and effort my dad had put into Bible Study and note taking - even during this past year. All the more special when we knew that reading and writing never came easy to our dad.
We are thankful for the good year he had following his diagnosis with Myeloma and for the wonderful care he was given by the staff at the Rest Home where he stayed. They loved him and devotedly cared for him when his situation deteriorated.
Thank you to all who prayed for us and who have so faithfully prayed too for Elysha. Richard and Katherines web page will give you more information but she will be in hospital again next week for a cardiac catheterization.
We are travelling between Port Colborne and North Bay - with appointments and meetings. Time is going very fast and it will soon be May 11th and time for us to leave again.
If you want to contact us - please continue to use dandebrooks@gmail.com

The News Letter

20 December 2007 P.O. Box 140083, Kabompo, Zambia. E-mail dandebrooks@gmail.com

New "Home" Address as from Mid Jan, 2008: 73 Maple St, Port Colborne, ON, Canada L3K 6G7

If you still have our zamsat address in your address book – please delete it.

Dear friends,

Our minds are frequently in the book of Romans these days as we are studying it in our home Bible study on Tues evenings. So frequently we are drawn back to Chapter 8 and at this time of the year, and many other times, we are reminded of the blessings that we have in Christ. He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not also, with Him, freely give us all things…..Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? …I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor things present nor things to come…..shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. What a comfort these thoughts are as we face many situations both here and with our families and friends at "home".

Assembly wise, we have been very aware of a change in the tone of ministry, the Lord’s name has been uplifted and there has been a greater freedom to worship. We thank the Lord for this and continue to look to Him for the raising up of Godly elders. Two brethren are helping Kayombo and Don in the day to day activities in the assembly. We are currently going through a series, with a chart, explaining the different Judgements and when these will take place. There is great interest and we trust it will help some of those who have not been well grounded and have little idea on how to "rightly divide the Word of Truth". A comment from an older brother: "I have never heard this explained in that way before". What a privileged people we are – that Christ bore our punishment and in addition, gave us His righteousness – what a GIFT. Another comment last night, after our home Bible study–a young brother, still in High School: "I have learned a lot tonight – that was a good study". So, we are thankful for those who are learning and growing. Please do pray for Kayombo, that the Lord, in His time, might bring relief to his back problem however, it may be that he will need to have surgery on his disk. He has a young family.

Don’s knee is much better since his arthroscopy – and the doctor told him last week, when he went for post op check – that his knee is fairly normal for a 68 year old J !! (for those who don’t know – that does mean rather premature ageing! Elva’s eye pressures too were satisfactory which means that the Glaucoma treatment is working for which we thank the Lord.

We are in school holidays and appreciating the time to attend to a real backlog of things, which have been waiting long for our attention, including correspondence. Mornings, in particular, can become quite full as elders have been coming regarding the application for exemption from registration of the local assemblies – an old law which is now being enforced more seriously. In addition Elva has been quite involved with various patients.

This has been an eventful year for us, both in our families and in the assembly and camp and conference work. The year began with the wedding of our first born- Richard, to Katherine. Betty attended this and was looking so good. We treasure now the lovely photo taken on that day –sometimes it is hard to believe that her situation changed so dramatically and on July 19th she was promoted to glory. Her funeral was a celebration of her life of service. Don was able to attend and spend time with all the family. Elva remained with the exam marking in Kabompo.

The camp and conference season was mostly without the usual help of our missionary brethren since they were on leave or in other parts– but it was real encouragement to us to have such able and willing help from so many of our Zambian brethren.We saw the Lord's blessing and are thankful for seed sown and teaching given. We have already alluded to the assembly - but what a joy to have a wonderful working relationship and to be able to enjoy fellowship and a spirit of unity.

On Oct 27th little Elysha Elizabeth Brooks was born – it was already known that she had major heart defects which would require major surgery – but the Lord graciously allowed Richard and Katherine to have her home for these past 6 weeks and even to attend an early Brooks Christmas celebration. However, Tues 19th, due to low Oxygen levels, she was admitted to Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto and is to have Open Heart surgery Thursday, sometime. This is to put in a shunt between the Pulmonary Artery and the Aorta in order to improve her oxygen levels, in the hopes that she can reach closer to 6 months, before having the "big surgery". Recently the Cardiologist had talked of the possibility of heart transplant, but today they said that that would only be as a last resort.

During this year too, my dad’s home in Christchurch, has been sold – a sad note – for him. However, even in Canada we have some changes looming too. When Don was home for Betty’s funeral, a house came up for sale in Port Colborne – two minutes from Rachel’s work place (Gospel Folio Press) and from the assembly and which met all of our requirements. The Lord graciously kept this house on the market until we were in a position, thanks to Betty, to be able to make a further offer on it and we are in the process of purchasing that with possession to take place in January. This will be an ideal situation for Rachel and a much more central place for our family when we are home. Situations have changed with our house in North Bay, which has been used by students during their school year, and with Betty selling her Eagle Lake home –there is not the same pull now, for the family to make that extra trip to the North. (although we do still feel very connected to the North Bay assembly) Due to many factors it seemed the right time to make the change and so our North Bay house is on the market. Our new home address will be (and Rachel’s address will be):- 73 Maple St, Port Colborne, ON, Canada L3K 6G7

At school, as usual the third term was very short due to external exams and insufficient furniture. We received a new teacher just before end of term bringing our number up to 3 Zambian teachers and we feel that this is the Lord’s provision to enable us to leave the school work in their hands for the first term, allowing us to visit Elva’s dad in N.Z. and also a few assemblies there. Then also to be able to briefly visit North America, a few Ontario assemblies, and close up the house. Of course, in addition we hope to be able, D.V. to visit Richard and Katherine and little Elysha and to welcome Sarah’s number 6. We had already made these plans and had tickets in place to leave here Feb, when we received word that Elva’s dad was not well and subsequently was admitted to hospital. He was allowed home the day Elysha was admitted –but his infections are not completely cleared and with his myeloma – his immune system is already compromised. D.V. we plan on being back in Zambia for second term and the main season for Camps and Conferences.

The SU group this year was one of the best we have had for some years as seen not only in the commitment throughout the year of several members but also the very good spiritual emphasis at the year end gathering. Monthly Bible Readings at Mbulundu have been in the book of Isaiah, recently looking at the Servant Songs. The Kabompo readings are in the book of Hebrews – Don and another brother have shared these responsibilities.

As we finish this letter, our little Granddaughter is already in surgery (went in around 1.00pm Canadian [EST] time) – thank you to those who are praying and will be praying for her. (P.S. Elysha is out of surgery and they think it has been successful- she is likely to be a sick little girl for a day or two as she adjusts to the new anatomy. All praise to the Lord. They hope that the shunt will last for 6 months and that is the time they need, before attempting the next surgery.

Thank you too to the many who supported us in prayer and wrote cards and emails, at the time of Betty’s illness and homecall.

Your fellowship and support is precious – the Lord is no man’s debtor and we appreciate very much, the sacrifice made by many to enable us to serve the Lord here. Please pray for grace and wisdom - daily, we are faced with not only the spiritual needs but the physical needs of many. e.g. a child here, with major heart problems and who needs surgery, just as our little granddaughter needs surgery - but they are asked to find money (K24,000,000) in order to have their child sent out of the country for surgery. This child lost his father and then the uncle, who was the head of the family, passed away just 2 months ago!(This is just one of the cases Elva has been dealing with in the past two weeks and pulling at her heart strings!!) We need great wisdom and discernment. Thankfully, Elva has a good relationship with the Govt doctor here and can call him so that he will see problem cases directly, as the general standard of care in outpatients - leaves a lot to be desired.

We praise the Lord for His Grace and Mercy and for His faithful care – We know that He does not fail and so we trust Him for all that is to come.
"Because He lives, we can face tomorrow"
And we stand "In Christ Alone"
Don & Elva Brooks,

P.O. Box 140083,Kabompo,Zambiadandebrooks@gmail.com (this is now our main email address)
Cell 0979510011/91
Landline (21) 8 375 036

Richard Brooks family shot

4 Generations