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It was another joyous graduation ceremony at Zimbabwe Christian College. Fourteen students received their diplomas. Families rushed forward, grabbed their graduate, picking him or her up, shook them several times while carrying them down the aisle. There was ululating, whistle blow- ing, scarf waving and group hugs. When the last candidate had finished this rambunctious process, the whole assembly broke into hearty singing and danced for ten minutes to lively music. I am going to miss them. It surprised me how going through conflict and getting things straightened out, drew us together and gave us a greater appreciation for one another. It can be a big transition from college to church work. May God give them wisdom to deal Vol. 21 June 2015 No. 3 Class of 2015 Principal Ringstone Daniel with the harsh realities of selfish leadership and the “don’t ask us to work hard” attitude of the member- ship that they will face in the churches. It was good to meet many of the graduates’ spouses and chil- dren; knowing these families will be reunited once again now that they have finished their education.
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A z newsletter, june 2015

Aug 15, 2015

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Page 1: A z newsletter, june 2015

It was another joyous graduation ceremony at Zimbabwe Christian College. Fourteen students received their diplomas. Families rushed forward, grabbed their graduate, picking him or her up, shook them several times while carrying them down the aisle. There was ululating, whistle blow-ing, scarf waving and group hugs. When the last candidate had finished this rambunctious process, the whole assembly broke into hearty singing and danced for ten minutes to lively music. I am going to miss them. It surprised me how going through conflict and getting things straightened out, drew us together and gave us a greater appreciation for one another. It can be a big transition from college to church work. May God give them wisdom to deal

Vol. 21 June 2015 No. 3

Class of 2015

Principal Ringstone Daniel

with the harsh realities of selfish leadership and the “don’t ask us to work hard” attitude of the member-ship that they will face in the churches. It was good to meet many of the graduates’ spouses and chil-dren; knowing these families will be reunited once again now that they have finished their education.

Page 2: A z newsletter, june 2015

In Chinhoyi we have seven Shona churches; most of which were started by one of Dale Marshall’s evangelists. Two of these churches split away because they wanted independent leadership (their own preacher). Now (seven years later) they would like to fellowship with the other five churches but they are being systematically excluded for their “sin” of not being under the leadership of the domi-nant evangelist. Believe it or not that evangelist has died, but the divide still carries on through his fam-ily and friends. Please pray that God will give the Christians who wish to create peace between these factions the courage and wisdom they need to heal this rift. It is amazing how easily Satan can divide believers over emotional issues. How have you and I been doing in this matter? Are we peace makers and net workers who guard unity or do we criticize and create tension? Do we promote harmony in our homes, team work at our jobs and an atmosphere of love and honor at church?

Once again I have started a college class in Chin-hoyi and invited the Shona churches to attend. Our first meeting had some hiccups. The electric-ity went out and the back-up generator didn’t have enough power for both the lights and my projector. So the students ended up taking notes by the light of the projector, which worked but was not ideal. Also I was expecting more than 20 students from a church across town and not one of them turned up. I visited with the leaders of that church this week-end and hopefully we have it all worked out. If we proceed as planned then there will be 40 students, (mainly elders) from five or six churches studying 1 & 2 Thessalonians together twice a week. We will also cover the proper steps to doing a thorough topical Bible study. I am excited about this, since it is the elder’s job to guard the teaching of the church and to train younger believers in the way

To help financially, please designate your contributions to A-Z Christian Mission and mail it to our Forwarding Agents (address on the letterhead).

A-Z Christian Mission is a ministry of Twin Falls Community Christian Church in Twin Falls, ID, in sending the Adams to Chinhoyi, Zimbabwe, Africa.

of the Lord. Traditionally our elders have not had much in the way of Bible knowledge or systematic Bible study.

Maybe I am strange but I have always wanted to see the poisonous snakes of Africa. This year I finally got my wish. Six months ago I kill a snouted cobra down by the school kitchen. Then, on Sun-day afternoon, Lindale called to tell me “The girls say there is a snake in the hedge.” I grabbed my stick (about 6 ft long) and headed to the entrance of the dorm. They pointed to the short hedge (about 3 ft tall) and said it was hiding on the third bush of the hedge. Lin & I bent down and looked. We couldn’t see anything for a while. Finally it moved a little and I saw a six inch piece stretched between two branches. Since there are poison-ous snakes here I usually kill it first then identify it later. So I swung good and hard. “Whack.” Out of nowhere this 8 foot long black mamba appears on the ground in front of me. All the girls start scream-ing and running. The mamba has his head up and black lined mouth open. They are one of the most feared snakes in Africa. Their bite will kill most mammals within 20 minutes and the snake is fast. It raises up high and will strike multiple times. By the grace of God the first swing had broke its back close to its head so it was unable to move much. I finally got to see Africa’s most dangerous snakes!