A letter from Dustin and Sherri Ellington in Zambia
November 26, 2012
Dear friends,
Family photo Sept. 2012
Thanksgiving has just passed. Here in Zambia we battled electricity and water outages to arrive at a lovely candlelit celebration with fellow missionaries and other friends. We even had a turkey this year. Hopefully your celebrations were blessed as well. We feel thankful for your friendship, and for your support of our ministry in Zambia, which allows us to be here doing a task we love: training leaders for the African church. The Justo Mwale Theological University College year has just ended, and graduating students are being sent out to churches across Zambia, Malawi, and Zimbabwe. It’s exciting. Soon students in the new women’s pre-theology program arrive for a two-week course of study. Then things will quiet down—most faculty will head to their farms to plant the annual maize crop—until the new school year starts in January.
Looking back on 2012, here are a few things we are thankful for:
Dustin – Getting to teach and train pastors here at Justo Mwale, which I really love to do. Also, pastoral ministry with the students, through relationships and through leading a spiritual companionship group.
Sherri – For God’s guidance in our lives, and that his thoughts are higher than our thoughts; his ways higher than our ways.
Clayton – Good youth group; good friends; good school; good family; a fun and productive year.
Christopher – Building my tree house, zip line, and trapeze; a good school; good friends; good activities like reading and playing outside.
Christmas approaches. The lead-up to Christmas is a season of waiting, especially for children! But there are also other waits: shoppers waiting in line, or to find a parking place; people looking forward to loved ones’ visits; our Zambian friends waiting for the rains to come in full force, and then for newly planted maize to sprout and show itself. In the church, the season of Advent has twofold meaning: on one hand, it is a time of empathy with the Jewish wait for the Messiah; on the other, it expresses our own longing and waiting for Christ’s return, and for all things to be made right. As we wait in this Advent season of expectation, we pray for the fulfillment of all the Lord’s plans in your life, family, and community, as well as in ours, and in our world.
Blessings on you this Christmas.
With love from your friends in Zambia,
The Ellingtons
Sherri, Dustin, Clayton, and Christopher
“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those
on whom his favor rests.”
—Luke 2:14
The 2012 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 105
The 2013 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 115
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