Zambia Slideshow
Monday, July 6, 2009
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Update from Zambia (Butch and Janet's Newsletter)
Friday, May 29, 2009
Wooooohoo!
We're having an incredible time out here in Zambia. For the past two weeks we've been doing village ministry in Katubiya and Sekute every morning, doing VBS with the kids, and visiting the Lubasi home in the afternoons. The Lubasi home takes in orphans, raises them, and pays their school fees until the children are of age. It's been such an honor to work there. On Tuesday, we helped with the gardening, which made Phil deliriously happy :). Shelly and Matt played netball with the kids, and Colleen and Phil shamed the USA with their pathetic lack of futbol ability. Seriously, five-year-old Zambians play exponentially better than we do. It's embarassing.
Last weekend our team had the opportunity to minister with Butch, our contact, at an open-air crusade. After worship, led by our friend Pastor Dominic's church, Butch preached a short message on Mark 2, on the man who was healed and forgiven after being let down through a roof. Our team was part of the ministry group who prayed over those who came foreward after the message for healing. God moved powerfully: one girl who came with hip problems, on crutches, walked away on her own, completely healed; older women with back and leg problems were healed, and many others. Our whole team was so excited to be a part of it. God is good.
Village ministry in Sekute this week was great. The children there are less needy than those in Katubiya: they were better fed and better clothed and better loved. In Sekute there is a chief's palace as well as a school and a clinic. The connection between education and development was so clear in the difference in retention between the children in the two villages. In Sekute, the children learned quickly and memorized easily; in Katubiya, we had to work a lot harder to get each lesson across. On a personal level, we probably connected more deeply with the Katubiya kids, simply because they were a whole lot more eager to love us and to be loved by us.
We've been learning a lot as a team the importance of loving people, not as they love you, but as God loves you. This has become especially pertinent in Sekute, where we had to work a little harder, reach out a little more, to get the kids to open up. Loving these kids makes us push past the love that comes from our need to feel needed, to see that though the children in Sekute seem to be more privileged, they are as desperately in need of the love of Christ.
The gentlemen of team Zambia were feeling a bit under the weather today, but, praise God, they were all recovered in time to eat Katie's sweet potato fries and Shelly's brownies for dinner. Also, Janet and Butch's long-awaited truck arrived, prompting a ride around the block to test her out, and a music/naming party that resulted in a car wash to christen her: the name, by the way, is "Lady." Thank you, Tom Jones.
In other news, we were invited to a "bri" (read: barbeque) at the neighbors' house. Arthur and Leisl are missionaries from South Africa. Janet, our contact, helps their little boys reading and writing (Leisl homeschools). The team consensus is that all barbeque should be South African style. Colleen whipped up a marinade (side note: one of the pleasant surprises of this trip has been the opportunity to expand our culinary abilities) and Janet made her famous cole slaw.
The trip is half over already, and we can't believe it! Time has flown by, and we're believing the Lord to make the second half even more increible than the first. Tomorrow will be our second Saturday facilitating a low ropes course for some youth groups in the city. Last week went really well: we've been combining the ropes course with abstinence training from Janet. It's a powerful and desperately needed message in a nation riddled with AIDS, HIV, and orphaned children. Please keep us in prayer. God is faithful!
Colleen
We're having an incredible time out here in Zambia. For the past two weeks we've been doing village ministry in Katubiya and Sekute every morning, doing VBS with the kids, and visiting the Lubasi home in the afternoons. The Lubasi home takes in orphans, raises them, and pays their school fees until the children are of age. It's been such an honor to work there. On Tuesday, we helped with the gardening, which made Phil deliriously happy :). Shelly and Matt played netball with the kids, and Colleen and Phil shamed the USA with their pathetic lack of futbol ability. Seriously, five-year-old Zambians play exponentially better than we do. It's embarassing.
Last weekend our team had the opportunity to minister with Butch, our contact, at an open-air crusade. After worship, led by our friend Pastor Dominic's church, Butch preached a short message on Mark 2, on the man who was healed and forgiven after being let down through a roof. Our team was part of the ministry group who prayed over those who came foreward after the message for healing. God moved powerfully: one girl who came with hip problems, on crutches, walked away on her own, completely healed; older women with back and leg problems were healed, and many others. Our whole team was so excited to be a part of it. God is good.
Village ministry in Sekute this week was great. The children there are less needy than those in Katubiya: they were better fed and better clothed and better loved. In Sekute there is a chief's palace as well as a school and a clinic. The connection between education and development was so clear in the difference in retention between the children in the two villages. In Sekute, the children learned quickly and memorized easily; in Katubiya, we had to work a lot harder to get each lesson across. On a personal level, we probably connected more deeply with the Katubiya kids, simply because they were a whole lot more eager to love us and to be loved by us.
We've been learning a lot as a team the importance of loving people, not as they love you, but as God loves you. This has become especially pertinent in Sekute, where we had to work a little harder, reach out a little more, to get the kids to open up. Loving these kids makes us push past the love that comes from our need to feel needed, to see that though the children in Sekute seem to be more privileged, they are as desperately in need of the love of Christ.
The gentlemen of team Zambia were feeling a bit under the weather today, but, praise God, they were all recovered in time to eat Katie's sweet potato fries and Shelly's brownies for dinner. Also, Janet and Butch's long-awaited truck arrived, prompting a ride around the block to test her out, and a music/naming party that resulted in a car wash to christen her: the name, by the way, is "Lady." Thank you, Tom Jones.
In other news, we were invited to a "bri" (read: barbeque) at the neighbors' house. Arthur and Leisl are missionaries from South Africa. Janet, our contact, helps their little boys reading and writing (Leisl homeschools). The team consensus is that all barbeque should be South African style. Colleen whipped up a marinade (side note: one of the pleasant surprises of this trip has been the opportunity to expand our culinary abilities) and Janet made her famous cole slaw.
The trip is half over already, and we can't believe it! Time has flown by, and we're believing the Lord to make the second half even more increible than the first. Tomorrow will be our second Saturday facilitating a low ropes course for some youth groups in the city. Last week went really well: we've been combining the ropes course with abstinence training from Janet. It's a powerful and desperately needed message in a nation riddled with AIDS, HIV, and orphaned children. Please keep us in prayer. God is faithful!
Colleen
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
VBS in Katubiya Village
The road we take to the village
Zebra...of course
Giraffe!
Team Photo Shoot
Bwanji from Zambia (That's hello)!
So much has happened in the past 5 days! We are going into our fourth day of VBS in Katubiya and cannot believe how awesome these kids are! We have been telling them the Bible story of Joseph and how God was always with him and how that is the same God today for us. They have taught us so many songs (and yes, I now know the correct words to "There's No One Like Jesus"). We went to Victoria Falls 2 days ago and saw giraffes and zebras...AWESOME! We are helping lead a crusade on Friday and then leading a Ropes course this Saturday for a church for about 60 young adults. We are learning so much from Butch (our contact here in Zambia) as he is teaching a series called the "Elijah Challenge" for 3 nights on the authority we have in Christ. So applicable to our time here in Zambia and will be great for the crusade. A few of us have/had colds so keep team health in your prayers. Thanks!!! It's off to bed for me...we'll post another update Sunday afternoon!
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Zambia--Week 1 (Actually, half-week 1...)
We.
Are.
Here!
Notes for the future well-being of travelers to this beautiful and glorious land:
-unless you LIKE dealing with South African customs officials, try to avoid layovers in Johannesburg when traveling with donations. It made our getting to Zambia with everything intact...interesting. Shout out to Jeffrey, and Shelly's "Team Zambia" t-shirts.
-look into bringing humidifiers for trans-atlantic flights. The air on the plane was drier than the flames of "a very hot place underneath the earth" (Phil).
-cankles are unavoidable. Unless you maybe use ace bandages and wrap your ankles beforehand, or maybe exhort your calves to stay where they belong and not embark upon a road of physiological imperialism. It's worth a shot.
-local food is so, so, so worth trying. And eating.
-despite your delusions, you will not be pronouncing the tribal languages correctly. Case in point: Phil's attempt at singing praise songs was actually closer to this: "Take a guava and mango for Jesus, a guava and a mango for Jesus!" mmm. Mango.
-all Zambians are better than you at football. And by that I mean soccer. This includes the 8-year olds.
Zambia is wonderful. God is teaching us many things, and starting next week we'll be doing VBS in the villages. Please keep us in prayer!
New Friends!
Singing the Zambian Anthem
Before we played soccer
Giving clothes and shoes to Ebenezer from Runners for Africa!
Lubasi Home - Children's Orphanage
Phil is so ripped...like Arnold Schwarzenegger. Team joke :-)
Outside market - picking up dinner :)
Flying to Livingstone, Zambia from Johannesburg
Glasses Time! Getting ready to sleep on the 19 hour plane ride
NSHEMA!!!! So Good!
Finally in Zambia!!!!!!!!
Getting ready to board our plane to Zambia
Waiting in the Johannesburg Airport
Flying from Atlanta to Johannesburg
Monday, April 20, 2009
Less than 3 weeks till we board the plane on an amazing adventure to serve God's children in Zambia! What a process we have been through leading up to the trip! The Lord has been faithful through it all! We are getting all the last minute planning of games, skits, sermons, songs, and resources ready! A brief overview of what we will be doing will include the following:
Making necklaces for VBS during my (Phil's) 2007 trip to Zambia.
- Leading VBS for an entire week in a village
- Painting an orphanage
- Helping lead a Ropes course for teenagers
- Speaking in churches and youth groups
Making necklaces for VBS during my (Phil's) 2007 trip to Zambia.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
An Update...look how good we are at this!
HAPPY EASTER!
God is so good...in less than a month our team will be leaving for Zambia!
For all of you who so generously donated to our team funds, we were among the first of the ORU teams to reach the 100% fundraising deadline! That means that we've been able to focus more on preparing ourselves to go overseas and less on frantically trying to get funds in...which is, of course, a very good thing.
Next week we are looking forward to talking to Butch and Janet, our contacts, over Skype (God bless technology!). Butch and Janet have been working with AIDS orphans in Zambia for ten years, and we are so blessed to have the opportunity to learn from them. Needless to say, the whole team is pretty crazy excited. We'll be spending the next month compiling songs and skits and games to share with the children, as well as preparing sermons and messages to share with the churches we visit. Please pray for us, because a lot of this ministry stuff is somewhat intimidating for some of us (I won't mention names but it rhymes with mine). Nonetheless, God is faithful, and we've already had some terrific messages shared within the group during our weekly prayer meetings.
We'll be updating this more frequently as D-Day approaches. Please keep Zambia in your prayers!
God is so good...in less than a month our team will be leaving for Zambia!
For all of you who so generously donated to our team funds, we were among the first of the ORU teams to reach the 100% fundraising deadline! That means that we've been able to focus more on preparing ourselves to go overseas and less on frantically trying to get funds in...which is, of course, a very good thing.
Next week we are looking forward to talking to Butch and Janet, our contacts, over Skype (God bless technology!). Butch and Janet have been working with AIDS orphans in Zambia for ten years, and we are so blessed to have the opportunity to learn from them. Needless to say, the whole team is pretty crazy excited. We'll be spending the next month compiling songs and skits and games to share with the children, as well as preparing sermons and messages to share with the churches we visit. Please pray for us, because a lot of this ministry stuff is somewhat intimidating for some of us (I won't mention names but it rhymes with mine). Nonetheless, God is faithful, and we've already had some terrific messages shared within the group during our weekly prayer meetings.
We'll be updating this more frequently as D-Day approaches. Please keep Zambia in your prayers!
Friday, April 10, 2009
Sunday, April 5, 2009
The Vision: This is Why
At one of our team meetings, we took some time (individually as well as corporately) to seek the Lord and ask what his heart for our team would be. We talked it out, and this is the result: a compilation of our personal visions and our team vision.
Team Zambia 2009: One Vision
The Individual Vision:
I expect God to do beyond what I can ask, think, or state here. I expect to be twice as broken, to be driven twice as hard, and to bear twice as much fruit as a result. I expect to see His miraculous power at work. I believe that the power of Christ Jesus is made perfect through and despite my weakness, and that as I humble myself before Him, He will be glorified in Zambia.
I believe that God’s anointing in boldness and confidence will work in and through me, giving me the grace and the courage to proclaim His Good News to all who will listen. I will rely on His Spirit to guide my decisions, taking time to listen for His leading in every situation.
I affirm that any spirit of fear will be powerless to halt the progress of God in me as a leader and as a minister of the Gospel. I seek to have the heart of a servant, giving without expectation of reward. I will live the power of the Cross without inhibition.
My expressions will be expressions of faith. When I speak, my words will be such as glorify Him. I will fear neither the opinions of man nor the attacks of the enemy. Rejection will have no hold on me, and discomfort will be no detriment to my cause—to His cause.
I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.
The Team Vision:
In name of God and by the grace of Christ, we declare that Team Zambia will be a family, bound by the blood of Jesus and baptized in the Holy Spirit. We will be a family in name as well as nature, to the best of our individual abilities contributing to the group. In our interactions we will seek to explore and experience God’s unifying power. Our communications will be characterized by love, humility, and vulnerability. We will not be afraid to show weakness just as we will not be reticent to offer strength.
We will affirm one another daily in prayer, for ourselves, for one another, for our contacts, and for those to whom we minister. When we speak, our words will be “seasoned with salt”—edification and encouragement will be our goal.
We are small, but we have strength. Our strength will come from the closeness of Christ, through drawing together in friendship and in His freedom. It is in this unity of faith and love that we find the freedom to bear one another’s burdens, to be open, honest, and real with our brothers and sisters on the team.
We will come together with one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the Gospel, striving always to catch the beat of God’s heart for the people of Zambia. What one does not hear, another will; what one holds a piece to, another completes. We cannot do the full work of God in Zambia without one another, and we refuse to allow any intrusion of pride to thwart His will.
God will use our team, united, as He could never use five fragmented people. Our effective ministry will depend on our utilizing each other’s strengths. We will operate cohesively and smoothly in the Spirit, all going the same way, all listening to the same Lord. We expect the love of God to shine abroad from our hearts—that from us there come such a strength of love, laughter, and compassion that we would not be able to contain it.
Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace; where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood, as to understand; to be loved, as to love; for it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are
pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life. –St. Francis of Assisi
Team Zambia 2009: One Vision
The Individual Vision:
I expect God to do beyond what I can ask, think, or state here. I expect to be twice as broken, to be driven twice as hard, and to bear twice as much fruit as a result. I expect to see His miraculous power at work. I believe that the power of Christ Jesus is made perfect through and despite my weakness, and that as I humble myself before Him, He will be glorified in Zambia.
I believe that God’s anointing in boldness and confidence will work in and through me, giving me the grace and the courage to proclaim His Good News to all who will listen. I will rely on His Spirit to guide my decisions, taking time to listen for His leading in every situation.
I affirm that any spirit of fear will be powerless to halt the progress of God in me as a leader and as a minister of the Gospel. I seek to have the heart of a servant, giving without expectation of reward. I will live the power of the Cross without inhibition.
My expressions will be expressions of faith. When I speak, my words will be such as glorify Him. I will fear neither the opinions of man nor the attacks of the enemy. Rejection will have no hold on me, and discomfort will be no detriment to my cause—to His cause.
I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.
The Team Vision:
In name of God and by the grace of Christ, we declare that Team Zambia will be a family, bound by the blood of Jesus and baptized in the Holy Spirit. We will be a family in name as well as nature, to the best of our individual abilities contributing to the group. In our interactions we will seek to explore and experience God’s unifying power. Our communications will be characterized by love, humility, and vulnerability. We will not be afraid to show weakness just as we will not be reticent to offer strength.
We will affirm one another daily in prayer, for ourselves, for one another, for our contacts, and for those to whom we minister. When we speak, our words will be “seasoned with salt”—edification and encouragement will be our goal.
We are small, but we have strength. Our strength will come from the closeness of Christ, through drawing together in friendship and in His freedom. It is in this unity of faith and love that we find the freedom to bear one another’s burdens, to be open, honest, and real with our brothers and sisters on the team.
We will come together with one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the Gospel, striving always to catch the beat of God’s heart for the people of Zambia. What one does not hear, another will; what one holds a piece to, another completes. We cannot do the full work of God in Zambia without one another, and we refuse to allow any intrusion of pride to thwart His will.
God will use our team, united, as He could never use five fragmented people. Our effective ministry will depend on our utilizing each other’s strengths. We will operate cohesively and smoothly in the Spirit, all going the same way, all listening to the same Lord. We expect the love of God to shine abroad from our hearts—that from us there come such a strength of love, laughter, and compassion that we would not be able to contain it.
Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace; where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood, as to understand; to be loved, as to love; for it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are
pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life. –St. Francis of Assisi
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Being His Hands & Feet...
John Wesley once stated,
“Do all the good you can,
That is our desire! Team Zambia's priority is to follow God's will by serving His people. James 1:27 states, "Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you." With 1/3 of all people in Zambia suffering from AIDS, there are many orphans who do not have the love of a mother or father that so many of us take for granted. We will be working closely with a missionary couple under Light of Africa doing many different services: painting three orphanages, teaching AIDS awareness seminars, teaching the basics of hygiene and many other things. Please be a part of this ministry opportunity by helping us serve the children of Zambia and click the DONATE ONLINE button above! We appreciate your prayer and support. We are scheduled to leave May 11 and will be back June 11.
“Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.”
That is our desire! Team Zambia's priority is to follow God's will by serving His people. James 1:27 states, "Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you." With 1/3 of all people in Zambia suffering from AIDS, there are many orphans who do not have the love of a mother or father that so many of us take for granted. We will be working closely with a missionary couple under Light of Africa doing many different services: painting three orphanages, teaching AIDS awareness seminars, teaching the basics of hygiene and many other things. Please be a part of this ministry opportunity by helping us serve the children of Zambia and click the DONATE ONLINE button above! We appreciate your prayer and support. We are scheduled to leave May 11 and will be back June 11.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Why We Do Missions...
"The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has set me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion - to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor. They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations. And you will be called priests of the LORD, you will be named ministers of our God."
Isaiah 61:1-4, 6
Isaiah 61:1-4, 6
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