Doug & Barb Petersen Newsletter (Winter 2025)

Dear Family and Friends,

Greetings from a cold Florida!  It is a bit of a surprise since the cold has hung on longer than usual.  We trust wherever you are that you are safe and staying warm and cozy.

I (Barb) love the verse at the top because it is like an open check.  His Word says, that if He gave us Jesus, won’t He also freely give us everything else? Imagine the Father giving His best in all of Heaven for us and now He is saying so why would He withhold anything else?

Now some family and  TMI news.  Doug is doing a lot better than when we last wrote.  Some of you may know that Doug, after being home and trying to get appointments with doctors,  ended up being referred to an oncologist.  He was the first doctor who told us the diagnosis is stage 4 bone cancer.  He came to that decision from seeing the lab work he had been sent.  At that very first appointment, he started treatment.  The doctor got meds available for him by talking to the manufacturers.  He also got Doug into a trial program and so far there have not been any costs.  We can see that God has really been working behind the scenes.  We see His hand in everything.  After two months into the treatment, Doug’s labs are now within normal ranges.  The doctor was so excited when he was reporting to us last week.  Doug has no pain, his appetite has returned, he sleeps well, and he is looking forward to being a bit more active. As for his heart issues, he has a pacemaker that is read by his phone and the results are sent in routinely and automatically to the doctor’s office to be monitored.  They called and wanted to see him. They checked and told him he had six more years left on his battery and everything was working fine.  We came out of there laughing about the six-year news and Doug living life on his battery.

We DO give God all of the Glory for the good reports.  We have been standing on the familiar words, “By His stripes, we were healed!”  We thank God for His Word which is a Rock and a firm foundation.  God is so good!  It is all about His grace, His love, and His work on the cross for us.  

Another topic on our mind for this is to update you on the food relief for Zambia.  When we heard about their need our hearts were so heavy.  These are our people and our orphans at our places and the children were beginning to starve and come to the Rescue Units saying they couldn’t go to school because they were too weak to walk.  The reason was that they barely had one meal a day, if that.  Doug and I thought about our own full pantry.  Steve shared this news with other staff.  Then Teen Missions put out a goal on social media and Steve stated a goal of $100,000 dollars, which made me gasp!!!  But guess what, God provided and it was met in a very short time! Actually $120,000 was raised. PTL!  It seems there is now enough money to continue to help them get through to the next harvest.  We will share an update in our next newsletter.  

So far, the rains this year in Zambia are really good right now.  It is raining a lot.  The Kariba Dam is starting to fill. It has been so low it was not generating enough power. The power has been off at the base much of the time.  Now it is on four hours a day and they are rejoicing for even that much.    We hear that the dam will take more than one good rainy season to get back to normal levels.

Doug and I are both still on staff.  We praise the Lord for that.  We work from home.   Doug talks to the Zambia finance people on most days receiving finance statistics to put in his record keeping here at home.  They are doing all the primary bookkeeping in Zambia and sending in their reports to the US office regularly. Doug also is available if they want to discuss things that they are going through, having Zoom meetings etc.  I am teaching Pauline Epistles this term at our Sojourner School of Ministry. I really appreciate their eagerness to learn and the sweet spirit that I see in every class.  It is a deep joy for me and I thank the Lord for His goodness for this opportunity. 

Again a big thank you to our faithful prayer and financial supporters. God is so good.  May He bless you back many times over for your love and graciousness to us and the ministry in Zambia.  So many of you tell us you are praying for us and the work and it really blesses us and makes a difference.  To God be all of the Glory!

As we have been saying a lot lately, “One plants, one waters, AND GOD GIVES the INCREASE!”  Thank you, Father God, for your faithfulness.

We send our love to everyone!

Thank you for joining your hands together with us,

In His Harvest,

Doug and Barb Petersen

Mt. 6:33  Gal. 2:20