Hello everyone, something pretty incredible is
happening with the young men and women around the Chikondi Community Center.
Sons of program ladies and their friends are coming together to form
their own youth ministry program. Elina’s oldest son Frank has asked me
(Wyatt) to help them to lead this small group but to be honest, these guys have
more to teach me than I could ever hope to teach. These men are
insatiably thirsty for the Word of God in their lives and they want to share
this gift with other young people, boys and girls. The passage of
scripture they’ve chosen as their foundation is the very same one that Clothed
in Hope was inspired by, Isaiah 61. They want to be a light to their own
communities, leading others by example. I cannot express enough just how
HUGE this is for the nation of Zambia. It’s a huge step taking place in a
small context. They want to influence the young men and women of Zambia,
starting with a small group in their own communities.
When I asked Frank what his motivation was in
starting up this youth program, he expressed his convictions saying, “I can’t
avoid it. It’s my responsibility to help other men (and women) to study
the Word of God and to help them to make wise decisions. At the end of
the day, it’s about discipleship and to introduce young people to Christ.”
Clothed in Hope has always been about
empowering, educating, and loving the women of Zambia, and many of them are
mothers of these young men. Though this youth group is not officially a
Clothed in Hope program, it’s such an encouragement to see their desire to
empower and disciple other youth. Teenagers in Zambia (and around the world)
are at such a crucial age as they begin taking the steps into adulthood. Many
teens here give up on education and choose a life of gang-involvement,
addiction, prostitution, and other destructive activities. The lessons they
learn now shape how they treat (or mistreat) their spouses, as domestic
violence is unfortunately a reality in many marriages. By influencing teens in
a positive way to recognize their worth and others’ worth in Christ, our hope
is that they will choose a life of dignity and respect, one that adds value to
the world around them.
One can’t help but wonder if Frank was inspired
because he saw the lives of his mother (Elina) and sister (Tresa) transformed
through CiH. It might not be through life-skills training, but spending
time building relationships with these guys and girls centered around the Word
of God is HUGE- an eternal investment.
Would you please join with us in praying for
this youth group? Not everyday is a group of young people so passionate
to disciple their friends. I, for one, cannot wait to see how God uses
this program to transform the lives of teenagers in Ng’ombe. We’ll be
keeping everyone updated with how this progresses.
What’s new with Clothed in Hope?
- The
short-term missions team from Midtown Fellowship from Columbia, SC purchased 2
new machines for the women! The ladies rejoiced, danced, and cheered as they
passed around the machines in celebration.
- The
micro-loan program has just begun. The approved recipients received an
intensive training in small business management and are ready to launch new
businesses and take others to the next level.
- The
chicken-raising project (still a secret to the CiH supporters), designed
to generate income for the skills-training program by selling eggs, begins this
coming month.
- Our
Holiday product line is being finalized and will be hitting the market very
soon. Everyone has been working hard on some beautiful new designs.
What’s new with the Bardi Party?
- We're
meeting new friends in and around Lusaka, which is a massive answer to prayer
for them for community, fellowship, and some great memories.
- We’ve
been working hard on paperwork for important documents to ensure that Zambia is
our home for the long-run. This process has been pretty crazy, but it’ll make
for some fun stories some day.
- The
biggest news: We’re coming home for the holidays! Well, our second home, but
we are really excited to reunite with our friends and family who support us so
lovingly and faithfully from thousands of miles away. We’ll also be continuing
to support raise as we’re currently at 65% of our goal. If you want to grab
coffee or lunch to catch up or hear more about our ministry here, just email us
and we’d love to put you on the calendar before it gets too busy. Email me at
wyatt.bardi@gmail.com and we look forward to it.
We have a wall in our home office dedicated to
people like YOU, featuring prayer requests from friends and family around the
world. We’d love to add your requests and be praying for you, too.
That’s all for now, folks. Until next
time, muyende bwino (go well).
W & A
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