A letter from Wes & Laurie:
"Approximately seven years ago, God began placing a burden on our hearts concerning the many orphans in Zambia. God kept placing orphans in our path, and we could not ignore the situation. At first, it was Wes who began to feel that God wanted us to work with orphans; specifically, opening an orphanage. At first, we were not in agreement as we knew it would mean leaving the IMB and the work we were doing.
Wes shared his vision with a young missionary couple, Blu and Darbi Tidwell, who were working under us at that time. They were preparing to go home after two years of working with us, and Blu made the statement, “If you decide to open an orphanage, we will be your advocates in the states.” They returned to the states to at- tend seminary, and that was the last we talked with them about the idea.
During all of this time, Wes was praying about the orphanage situation and that if it was God’s plan, we would be in unity. Toward the end of our second term in Zambia, things were changing to bring both of our hearts together concerning His plan.
Meanwhile, God was doing some great things in putting together a long-awaited team of missionaries to join us in working among the BaTonga People. Therefore, as we went home for our second stateside, the orphanage idea was drifting to the back of our minds. We were excited that we were finally going to have some team members in some strategic places in the Southern Province of Zambia, and as we spoke in the churches, we were able to share that our team was growing.
It was during our stateside (furlough) that God revealed His plan. We went to visit the Tidwells to ask them to join the Tonga team, but they gave us a surprise instead. When we asked them what they were going to be doing when the finished seminary, they told us they were coming back to Zambia to open an orphanage. Our hearts sank a little wondering if we had failed to accept God’s call, and now He was giving it to another. But then they said, “We need another couple to join us, and we want that couple to be you.” Our hearts were overjoyed, and we knew immediately that this was God’s plan. He gave us the peace we both needed.
We prayed about the when of leaving the IMB, and told the Tidwells we felt the Lord wanted us to return and complete one more term. We wanted to finish strong and help our new team get settled in. Our term is now coming to an end, and we have prayed much about when to resign. We had considered going home and resigning after our stateside was complete, but could not get a peace about this, so we are submitting our resignation, effective April 18, 2011.
We hope to continue to work hand-in-hand with the Baptist Mission of Zambia to continue to reach the Ba- Tonga People for Christ. It is not our goal to do only “social ministry,” for we realize that our priority must always be the Great Commission.
Looking for Ministry Partners
We will be in the states from the end of April until the middle of September. We will spend part of our time visiting family, but we also hope to be able to share our new ministry with our friends and church family throughout the states, in hopes that many of you will feel led to continue to partner with us in our new adventure with the Lord. Although we are more than willing to share what God has done in our ministry the last 3 years, our focus will be to share what God is doing with the new ministry that we are joining. If you are interested in having us visit your church while we are home, please contact us as soon as possible so that we can make our plans.
Thank you for your prayers,
Wes & Laurie Wilcox
Wilcox@zamnet.zm
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