Alive In Africa

Taking a sabbatical from myself

2012-01-31T12:42:00.000-08:00

While waiting for my shuttle in Denver, I found a nice little spot to do emails. There was only one other woman sitting three seats away. Perfect. Except, she started talking. And talking. And talking. She was on lunch break from airport restaurant job. I figured she was on lunch break so I could sacrifice a few minutes from my selflessness. Perhaps she knew that too. She could talk and talk and then their was an end. From her multiple divorces to son dying of Leukemia to struggling grown children and her medical condition. Her life was a mess, a beautiful mess. And I heard all about it. "My son asked me, "Mommy, what is heaven like?" and then she broke into tears. Silence. And then more talking. I may have gotten in a few words. Otherwise I just smiled and listened. She told me how when people looked troubled as they came through the airport, on the way to funerals or other hard things, she can tell they aren't doing well and so she asks them how they are doing and then gives them hugs. I was reminded of a gal yesterday at Costco who said during her job, "I am bored to tears." And here was this woman, a cashier, in her 60's, trying to "give more than I get." A woman, living alone in her trailer park, trying to make sense of this life. I was thinking just a few minutes earlier as I was walking to this little private quiet place in the airport that I need to be available to people and not just go into my world. So glad I listened. I just had a thought. Maybe I should consider this whole next few months as me just taking a sabbatical from myself.

Hurry up and wait...

2012-01-31T12:27:00.000-08:00

(Underproofed. Thanks for the grace.)
I am on my way back to Colorado today. Back for another conference. This time a sabbatical workshop. One of the directors we met at MTI with really encouraged my wife and I to consider this next step in our lives as a sabbatical. A sabbatical had never crossed my mind before. I am doer and ready to start planting a church tomorrow... But, it seems for a number of reasons that God is indeed saying wait, a purposeful wait. Both my wife and I are in agreement that our next step of faith is waiting. A sabbatical is not a holiday or vacation, but rather a time set aside to look back and look forward as to what it is that is next. It will include times of reading, writing, ministry shadowing and resting. It will include rejuvenation and reflection and studying and praying. This is why I am in Colorado for the second straight week, to learn and start this sabbatical off, in the best way I can. The Navigators have been holding these kind of workshops for 10 years now and really have a great way and plan for helping people get the most of their sabbaticals. It feels super crazy and dangerous to put aside job hunting for a time while we still have support. But, God is indeed proving to us that He is in this... On the day we decided to take a step of faith and take a sabbatical, we sold our house, out of the blue, with a great offer. Just a simple little reminder to us that God is in control. If he can sell the house out of the blue, he can provide a job:) So after 15 years of ministry, we are taking a break to prepare for the next, Lord willing, 15 years of ministry:)

Debriefed and Renewed.

2012-01-28T21:47:00.001-08:00

It was a great week in Colorado Springs and I can't believe it is over...
Some great memories and friendships were born. Looking back over my last
few blogs, I knew they came out a bit heavy. Sometimes you just don't know
what it is inside until you have the space and time and people to let it all
out. We are doing well. Encouraged. Hopeful. Refreshed. Unpacking.
Relaxing. Looking forward to worshipping tomorrow. More thoughts to come.
Thanks for your prayers...

Do you understand me?

2012-01-26T08:00:00.000-08:00

Click on the picture to read some of the daily stressors.

(underproofed but I'm publishing it anyway:)

We are at Mission Training International for a week long, um, well, time. I have been struggling over the past few weeks explaining what this place is and why we are coming. I felt a bit vindicated as the director of our time this morning said, "This isn't a retreat. It isn't a conference. It is debriefing. It is unpacking." Yes. Debriefing. Unpacking. First off, if you know a missionary or are one, you need to come. Now. Seriously.

O.K. second, it has been so healthy being with people who understand. Just today we were writing five different types of stressors, from the daily hassles stressors like Black Mambas in your yard or Government offices or people knocking at your gate who are starving or friends whose babies die, to traumatic things like getting robbed, kids getting sick to so much more. And as we began to put these things on the charts for all to see, we all just shook our heads in understanding. We understand each other. We feel understood. Finally, some people who have been to Mars (Zambia/third world countries feels like Mars sometimes) and know what it is like up there. Life is stressful for all people, but there are just daily stressful things that just build over time as a missionary that are just life. I felt after seeing all these things on these list like "Well, no wonder." No wonder we feel numb and empty and tired and marginless. We have never really identified all the 'normal' things you endure in the mission field that are just life. What I am beginning to see though is how as we unpack our hurts and stresses, we are learning how the stress affects every part of our lives. When I get angry for no reason or feel despair, it usually isn't the thing in play, but something/multiple things that have happened that has triggered this alarm. Yesterday we shared our stories of brokenness. Today we are identifying why we feel so broken. Tomorrow we look at how to transition through this and process what we have been through. Thursday we look at how to care for the soul back to health. One of the things that I have seen in all of this is that every stressful situation challenges and reveals my understanding of who God is... Is He sovereign? Is He good? Is He there? Is He loving?

Hearing the stories here are incredible. One missionary lost 13 friends to various violent deaths. Another endured 2 years under a brutal director and has returned broken. Another will have lost both a mom and a dad within a year. Accusations. Political upheavel. Witnessing horrible abuse that you can do nothing about. Loneliness. Stress after stress. Challenges. Normal life. There is some incredible work going on by the people here but there is some incredible hurt as well. The stories are amazingly hard and painful. And, we understand. And we feel understood. That alone is worth it being here. And being understood allows the healing to begin.

I get it.

2012-01-26T07:39:00.000-08:00

I get it. I understand why the Israelites wanted to go back to Egypt. When the future seems so hard and unknown, you forget the hard and bad of yesterday. All the potholes and black mambas and sickness and suffering seem a welcome reprieve to the unknown future. I wrote down a list of all the things I would not miss in Zambia. Government offices. Unjust police. Being white in a black land... All of it. Hard. But, it is so easy to forget all the hard when your future is unclear, when you feel like you are waiting in the desert, when you just want to go back to the comfortable. If you at all understand what I am saying, you've got to watch the music video... Amazing...I saw it during our missionary debriefing here in Colorado. I so get it.

Puzzling?

2012-01-21T21:33:00.001-08:00

(These blogs are not proofed… Just raw and real and ‘ritten by Steve. Life is busy…:))

I'm not a big puzzle guy. Bradyn loves puzzles. Stephanie, too. I guess I just don't have the patience to sit and try each piece in their color, shape and size. This particular puzzle was a gift from Uncle Shawn, Stephanie's brother, to our children. It's a personalized picture of all five ladies plus their Boggie and Bumpa. It was a real doozy. 1000 pieces and lots of skin color, lots and lots of white, and wow, I think I may have done one of the 1000 pieces and it took me a good while, too. A puzzle is what our life feels a bit like right now. We know the puzzle picture is already completed. Church planting. We have about 150 pieces done. So, we can see it beginning to form, but not enough to answer the questions we get often: what is next? Where are you going? Any idea on your future? But, it is coming together. But slowly…

I sensed from the Lord that I was going to be like Abraham – By faith, setting out, not knowing where I was going. It has been like that. Lots of options but not clear peace.

It is just amazing how when the options are endless, it is freeing...And overwhelming. So the only thing we can do, honestly, is wait. Pastor Jerry at Crossroads really encouraged me the other day when he said, "Don't settle. Wait on the Lord." Waiting is so hard sometimes. Not just for its obvious frustrations. No one likes waiting for anything. Waiting is so un-American and so contrary to everything and everyone around me. The hard, humbling part is that waiting can be confused and judged as laziness and doing nothing and sitting around. I would much rather do anything than nothing. So, how do I purposefully wait?

I was ministered to by a song the other day written by Roby Duke at church. "Behold, the God who leads us, Day by Day, to worship His Son." That is God's ultimate leading will for my life. To worship Jesus. The rest are details.

I heard another song which has encouraged me and probably so many others. It was written and sung by John Waller...

Here are the words:

I'm waiting

I'm waiting on You, Lord

And I am hopeful

I'm waiting on You, Lord

Though it is painful

But patiently, I will wait

I will move ahead, bold and confident

Taking every step in obedience

While I'm waiting

I will serve You

While I'm waiting

I will worship

While I'm waiting

I will not faint

I'll be running the race

Even while I wait

I'm waiting

I'm waiting on You, Lord

And I am peaceful

I'm waiting on You, Lord

Though it's not easy

But faithfully, I will wait

Yes, I will wait

I will serve You while I'm waiting

I will worship while I'm waiting

I will serve You while I'm waiting

I will worship while I'm waiting

I will serve you while I'm waiting

I will worship while I'm waiting on You, Lord

I love this idea that I am waiting and yet while I am waiting, I am serving and worshipping God… And so we wait and serve and worship and wait…

And just in case I am not the only one, waiting on God for anything, here is a verse for you…

Psalm 27:14

¹⁴Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!

We leave tomorrow for a Debrief and Renewel retreat for returning missionaries at www.mti.org We will be back on Friday…

Thanks for praying!

Steve

1001 is the new one

2012-01-16T23:16:00.000-08:00

It wasn’t my fault, really. I didn’t realize how much I should have kept writing this past month. Finishing at 1000 just seemed the right thing to do. Culmination. But, it seems to me now that the end is just the beginning. There is so much going on in this little mind of mine and no way for it to get out, to be processed, understood, and lived out… So, for those of you still around, would you permit me just about 100 more blogs to process my way through this wilderness of reentry…

And what better way to start off this #1 blog than with our baby, JoJo, front and center, #1, holding that mic while she belts out Takwaba at our church missions presentation. Hilarious!

Steve and Stephanie Allen

www.hopenations.com

Our 1000th Blog!!! Reflections on four years of ministry with ACTION Zambia

2011-12-02T01:36:00.000-08:00

Four years of memories in just under 8 minutes... God is faithful!!!

Four yearsago, our family embarked on the adventure of a lifetime; to be missionaries inAfrica!!! We shared our story with churches and friends, we raised support, andwe were sent out with prayers, blessings, sympathetic looks and envious smiles. We arrived on African soil, eager and ready tochange the world. We had ideas and vision on how we could save Africa.The world had never seen such amazing missionaries. We proposed manyideas to our director Tim Hilty. We wanted to do a child sponsor ministry. Wewanted to bring short term teams in. We wanted interns. And a funny thinghappened on the way to saving the world, our director said “No.” No tothe child sponsor ministry. No to short term teams. No to everything, it felt. I fumed for a while. I felt stifled, held back and restrained. Do theyknow who I am? A few months later, I began to understand. And fouryears later, I really understand.

How gratefulI am to Tim and his wisdom to make us settle in, and learn and listen andwait. I have seen other missionaries over the past few years who were notas fortunate to have such a wise leader. They are burned out, over-committed, and done, (figuratively and sometimes, literally). I have learned that for God to really change lives in Africa,it will take time, lots of time, andpatience, lots of patience, and a relentlessrefusal to remain unmoved from the purposes and goals of the mission.

I liken it to planting a tree. There is not much to write about while atree grows from a seed to seedling to a plant to baby tree to a tree to fruitbearing tree. And yet, ACTION Zambia hascommitted to taking whatever time was necessary to intentionally shrink theministry so they could dig down deep, long and far enough so that we couldhave lasting change. AZ may not be able todo everything, but what we are going to do, we are going to do well. There’s a reason Jesus took three years with a small group ofdisciples. (He did have his 70 and 120 and multitude which we also had, but the majority of his time was spent with the 12.) There is much to do and undo when it comes to working the wordof God into and out of a culture. A lot of money and time were sacrificed for fifteenpoor, mostly uneducated, struggling pastors here in Zambia. Was it worthit? Could we have done more? Should we have done more? There is so muchneed and opportunity. Change the world, Steve. Don’t waste your time onthese guys. Think big!

Well, anotherfunny thing happened on the way to changing the world. We were changed. Because we could focuson just a few guys, we really got to know them, the needs they had, the thingsthey suffered, their churches and friends and problems and burdens. We werethere when their kids died, when they were robbed and sick and hurting. Wecelebrated when they got a plot for their church or put another brick on theirbuilding. We visited their churches and their homes. We got to know theirkids. They rubbed off on us in many ways and helped refine us. Astheir teachers, we learned how to learn. We laughed and cried and prayedand ministered together. And it was those “wasted” moments, that earned trust,that opened doors, that helped us learn best how to love them and teachthem. And we did teach. Because we knew them, we knew how toteach. We got beneath the soil and removed the weeds and put down a newlayer of fertilizer. The word took root. And is taking root. And now theyare ready to give away what they have learned, as they have already done. Theyare ready to unite as a network of pastors that have crossed denominationallines. They trust and love each other and pray for each other. They are readyto teach and lead and go, confidently against the grain of their culture andsociety. A lasting ministry that makes lasting changes couldn’t havelasted without intentional, small, unhurried, wasted hours teaching and loving them.

So, though Ileave ACTION Zambia and return back “home”to pastor, I am changed. I covet thisexperience for all pastors. My ministry back home will be different because ofmy ministry here. So, thank you ACTION Zambia, Tim, Tracy and teammates,for teaching me how to teach well. Thanksfor enduring me and refining me and sending me back to the States with lastingmemories and enduring lessons.

Our 999th post - Graduation and Baptism and Safaring and Goodbyes

2011-11-28T12:13:00.000-08:00

We had a very busy weekend... Thought I would shove it all into one worthy of your time post. We had a great final lunch with our two faithful workers and friends for the past four years. We shared stories of the girls and laughed a lot and even cried a little. We are/were so blessed to have a two great workers who really cared about us, were honest and faithful to the end... Thank you Lord for Mwape and Mirriam!

We enjoyed a family dinner after graduation.

Graduation was a looong day but a great day. The graduation was dry inside but what a torrential downpour we had leading up to it. We all got soaked.

The first part of the graduation was combined with Twin Palms Baptist Seminary. It was a service of much pomp and formality and it added a real, official feeling to the graduation of our 15 guys.

A picture with my buddy Patson.

After the first ceremony, we had our own reception which included lunch, and a 1.5 hour program which included handing out diplomas, sharing about each student, watching a video, and sharing about the program. We gave away four awards, including faithful pastor award to Manuel Simuyemba and faithful disicipler to Anderson Jere. In this picture below, Tracy is sharing some really kind words about me and Stephanie.

We gave the wives a degree; a PHT (putting honey through) to thank them for their faithful support.

It was special to give half of the pastors a diploma and to share a bit about them.

I got one last group picture with the pastors in their snazzy graduation robes. I actually did this whole process, of getting the design, finding a tailor, buying the robe material, getting the money and guess what, nothing went wrong. They were done on time, for the agreed price, exactly how we agreed. This was a serious and first ever TINA (this is NOT africa) for me.

The next day was another busy day for the Allen Family. Stephanie led worship, I preached, we were sent out with prayer by the elders and friends at the church and Kamryn and Bradyn were baptized by me and the pastor Chris Henderson in the pouring rain. Whew... A great morning.

Monday was Chaminuka Safari Lodge with the pastors and their wives as a way of celebrating the last three years. We had a great time, mostly because they had such a great time. Another TINA, the bus that picked them up was on time, didn't break down and well, amazing. It really was amazing seeing elephants, giraffe, pythons, buffalo and much more. For many of them it was the first time ever seeing wild animals, riding in a boat, or even eating at a restaurant type setting. So many smiles and lots of laughter was all the evidence we needed that they were having a great, great time. And, to top it off, one of the pastors said, "This was the best day of my life." What a blessing to be a part of something like that.

It was emotional saying goodbye the pastors... Lots of hugs and almost tears which is saying a lot for guys:) It seemed surreal to say goodbye. I have seen them at least three days a week for the past three years. Thank you Lord for this life changing experience...

The last post for the ALIVEinAFRICA.com blog will be on December 3, the day we leave Zambia. It will be a video recap of the past four years. If you have 7 minutes and 33 seconds, come back this Saturday... Thanks again for your many prayers and support this work in Zambia...

Zikomo Kwambili!

Graduation Day!

2011-11-26T07:00:00.000-08:00

We started our ACTION Pastors College three years ago with a hope and a vision to spend a lot of time with a few in number. We report today that the plan of Jesus set up so many years ago still works today. May God be glorified as we graduate 15 students today... Enjoy this look back in video of our pastor and the memories that were created.

A great day...

2011-11-24T13:09:00.000-08:00

I had a great day with Jay, my father in law as we visited with our pastors
for breakfast and in their places of ministry. Jay and Carol joined us at
class with my family to celebrate our last day of class. And then the
pastors tried on their new gowns... I am sure today will go down as one of
my favorite days in Zambia... To God be the glory!

Boggie and Bumpa

2011-11-22T09:19:00.001-08:00

Our daughter Kamryn named her grandparents on the Stephanie side, Bumpa and
Boggie, when she was very, very young... And the name has stuck. They are
here visiting for the pastor's graduation. It has been a 10+ months since we
saw them last, so you can imagine, the reunion was very sweet!

Farewell Church Part IV

2011-11-20T10:31:00.000-08:00

Today I finished off my farewell church tour with three pastors and
their churches, Pastors Patson Sakala, Alfred Mwanza and Peter Zulu. I
really only spent about 30 minutes at each place; just enough time to say
thanks and share a word of encouragement from the scriptures. It was
meaningful and special to hear each pastor share about how much they value
my friendship and encouragement.

It is always interesting to see what women are carrying on their heads. This morning I saw one lady carrying a battery on her head and another had a huge bag of something.

Patson and I posing for a picture, successfully taken by Julia.

Patson's daughter, Cherie, really wanted JoJo to come to church today. It made for a bit of stressful morning having this active little lady in my Church Farewell Tour without a mom to help out... But we survived.

My second church stop was at Alfred's church. I came in during a time of worship and prayer, so know one really saw me come in. I love this picture of Pastor Alfred and his wife Setilda kneeling in prayer on the ground. Notice my little buddy Obey looking at me. I loved watching the youth lead worship. It has been very encouraging to watch the progress of this church

My third stop was with Peter Zulu. He told me as I was entering the church that he was mixing things up today, after a challenge I had during class last week. That made me smile.

These 20 or so kids followed us from the street into the church.

A great picture from the perspective of what it is like to be a blond girl in a compound church:)

Chikumbuso (re)visited

2011-11-19T01:51:00.001-08:00

A few days ago, my family visited the Chikumbuso ministry that I wrote about in the Underdog story... My girls wanted to buy some bags to bring back to America. You can check out the ministry here, but in short, the women make beautiful purses and carrying bags of recycled plastic bags from the grocery stores to support themselves and the community school they run there. AMAZING!!! I just wanted to show a picture of the ministry and a cute picture of how a bag should not be used.

An underdog story for the ages

2011-11-14T00:27:00.000-08:00

Everyone loves a good underdog story and I am no exception. I love the David taking down the Goliath in sports, business, and life. But, when you get to watch an underdog story, up close and personal, happen to a good friend and the nicest person you’ll ever meet, you have to blog about it. Dailess Nalwamba, our babysitter, a former nun, the sweetest and most gentle and hardworking girl you’ll ever meet, has such a story.

The story starts many years ago when she moved to Kenya to start her formation to be a nun. It was her calling and her desire to spend her life in a convent, serving God. But she got sick, so sick that she had to move back to Zambia. Discouraged, she tried to move forward with a new life. She started cleaning houses and working with her aunt in a ministry called Chikumbuso. Chikumbuso reaches out to the most vulnerable in Zambian society, widows, orphans, young single mothers, young men, and grandmothers. One of the income generating activities of this organization is that the widows are trained to crochet beautiful handbags out of recycled plastic bags. Some of you have been the recipients of these bags that Stephanie has brought home. Dailess is also our girls favorite babysitter. She is sweet, funny, firm, and faithful. Anyway, an American named Bob Keating decided to open a café called the Blue Moon Café. He brings in bagel sandwiches, blizzard milkshakes and Snapple. It became one of our favorite places to go. So, Bob, instead of hiring people from the marketplace, partnered with Chikumbuso, to bring in some of the women who made handbags and train them to make coffee, sandwiches, and handle money.

Dailess is one of those young ladies, and she was introduced to the world of coffee. Not just drip coffee, but espresso......cappuccinos, lattes, and macchiatos. She practices, she befriends her customers and soon Dailess is a mainstay. Until, she almost wasn’t. A year in, Bob had to make some cuts. Dailess was afraid she was going to lose her job. She prayed. She asked us to pray. And she stayed, thankfully. She was part of a barista competition last year. She didn’t even make it out of the semi-finals. “It was my first year. My first time competing and I was nervous,” she shared with me later that night on the way home after babysitting.

Dailess wanted to be a nurse. She had saved money to go to school. One day she was waiting to deposit many babysitting nights and housecleaning days worth of work into the bank. The line was long and she decided to go to a different bank. Someone was following her. Watching her. This thief came by and ever so gently, slid a knife right under her purse. All her saved money, gone. Her friend’s computer hard drive. Everything. Gone. We found this out the day she was going to babysit for us. That night, she made a record amount for just four hours work.

She kept making cappuccinos and lattes, working two to three days a week. We would see her there on occasion. But usually it was for an afternoon Blizzard splurge so we didn’t get to experience the progress she was making in the espresso world. We didn’t know what a knack for steaming milk and coffee she had developed.

Another setback. I was on kid duty and had all five kids with me on an afternoon after horseback riding. It was supposed to be Rhoda’s special day. She wanted Ice Cream. We stopped by Blue Moon and I asked Kam to take the other girls for a walk while I enjoyed my chocolate milkshake with Rhoda. Dailess was working and came over and sat down. She wanted to share something with me. She shared of some difficult circumstances that her family was facing. I won’t go into the details in this blog because they are personal to her.

“There is another Barista competition coming up. I don’t know when but I will let you know when I know,” Dailess told me. After missing the last competition, I had wanted to be there to see her compete. I was at Blue Moon one day, and I saw them putting up signs for a barista competition. It was an in-house competition to see who would represent the café at the Zambia Barista Competition that was to happen in November. Stephanie was asked to judge. I had class so I was out. Stephanie judged two baristas but wasn’t needed for Dailess. We got a text the next day saying that Dailess had won. The Zambia wide competition would be in a couple of weeks.

The competition was held at Rhapdody’s just a few minutes from our house. Dailess said she would text us when she was about to begin (We had learned that we could literally sit for hours if we showed up “on time” for something). She texted saying, “Come now, I’m almost on.” We gathered five children, shoes, clothes, two parents, car keys, shoes,(only one child didn’t show up with shoes...not bad.) We made it just as she was preparing her station. She finished, smiled at us and readied herself. The four intimidating judges sat down, unfeeling, unsmiling. The music was playing so loud. Everything is loud in Zambia except the voices of Zambians. She started her prepared speech, nervously twitching. She practically screamed to the judges, 2 feet away. I heard only one word. Confident. She was confident in her signature drink, an espresso shot with orange zest, liquid sugar and chocolate sauce, served with a small candied orange peel dipped in dark chocolate on the side. She had to make her 4 specialty drinks, 4 shots of espresso, and 4 cappuccinos in just 15 minutes. All of her other competitors saved their “specialty” drink for their last drink, but Dailess gave it to the judges first. “I wanted to be different,” she said.

And away she went, working hard, confidently. The judges reveal nothing. They look, shake the cup, stir, sip. We watch nervously. Kamryn whispers, “Wouldn’t it be amazing if she won?” I rolled my eyes. I just wanted her to do well. Make the top 6? Don’t get your hopes up. “Yes, it would be so cool.” So cool, because the winner was awarded not only the distinguishing notoriety of being the best barista in Zambia, but also would receive 400,000 kwacha ($80 dollars – or almost a month’s salary) and three all expense paid trips to represent Zambia in Ethiopia, South Africa and Austria.

She finished in her allotted time. How did she do? No idea. She breathed a sigh of relief. Smiled nervously. The girls swarmed her with hugs. Kamryn later told me that she saw a judge’s score sheet, and noticed it said under the cappuccino, “needs improvement.” We saw Bob, the owner, there. He was smiling proudly. I said, “Thanks Bob for giving these girls a chance. She would never have had a chance like this to compete had you not partnered with Chikumbuso.” He deflected my praise, pointed at Dailess, “It’s all her.”

It is important to note that Dailess has never had any formal training or schooling to learn how to make espresso. She works only two to three days a week. She cleans houses, still. And recently decided to give up her dream of nursing to get a diploma specializing in project management. She has saved up 6 million kwacha or $1200 dollars (an unheard of amount for a girl living in the compound, a testimony to her drive and focus). She filled out the application and was accepted. She would begin in January.

We received a call that night. All I could hear was my wife saying, “You made the top 6. Oh, congratulations!” She would compete in the finals, tomorrow. If the story ended there, it would be an amazing story. Obviously, there is more.

We didn’t make it to the Barista championship the next day because we were at horseback riding, a mere hour away. We texted. We called. No return or anything. “How did she do?” my kids asked continually. We were praying against hope that she would make the top 3. There was some good things that could come out of that. So, that night, finally, Dailess called. I hear my wife again, “You got first place. CONGRATULATIONS!!!” Words on paper don’t really convey the joy we all felt then. My only disappointment was that my kids were already asleep. I would have to wait 8 hours to tell them.

She was calling from home, late. She had gotten home from the party to celebrate all the contestants and could finally call us. Turns out, she actually left the party, her party, early, without telling anyone, because she was tired. Tired from the media, continually hounding her for stories and pictures and interviews. Tired from the people. She wanted to see her family. She got a call at 10 asking, “Where is the champion? We need you here.” She spoke timidly, but firmly. “No I am tired. You can interview me tomorrow.”

The calls came all day. From her boss who wanted to congratulate her again, and make sure she wasn’t leaving Blue Moon for another job, a better paying job. When she got the call, she was cleaning a house. Being a champion doesn’t change her faithfulness. He said there were people who wanted to take her to dinner. She chose us, instead. Her church put on a special Mass just for her.

At dinner last night, she shared her conundrum. She wanted to go to South Africa and Austria and Ethiopia but she also wanted to go to school. Coffee was nice but she has a future to look forward to and follow through with, starting in January. When the trips would happen. Just like she doesn’t need fame, she doesn’t need adventures either. Her family needs her. She shouldn’t go on trips when her family still suffers. I shared with her last night that God had made her a champion. “Sometimes he closes doors, like you being a nun, with something hard, your sickness. But sometimes he closes doors, you going to school, with good things. He made you a champion, in coffee, and you will have an opportunity to meet people and improve this skill that you didn’t know you had, that you do have.”

Later that night, I was talking with Stephanie. She said, “I don’t know if she should go. Who will go with her? Hold her hand?” And it is true, the innocent, talented, hardworking young lady is really delightfully simple and innocent. It is obviously not up to us, but, how many people would give this up? It testifies to her character of who she really is. In essence, how she handled the winning is actually the climax of this story. No big head. No name dropping. No compromise from who she is or deterring from what she wants to accomplish in life. I have met few people who have done more with less.

Regardless of what happens, Dailess is a winner. And what a joy to be a part of it.

Saying Goodbye

2011-11-13T07:56:00.000-08:00

The goodbyes have begun, or at least continued. On Saturday we went down and
said goodbye to Rhoda's former orphanage. It was really hard for me (Steve)
to say goodbye. I think it was just the finality of realizing I just can't
drive down the street anymore to see these cute little faces anymore. It
makes me want to adopt them all and to give them a home. A few of these
kids we have been walking with for a long time now and so there is an
attachment that is harder to severe than I expected. So many children, left
with no one to love them, to tuck them in and kiss them goodnight. So many
orphanages. Finality is hard and life continues...

Church Farewell Tour, Part III

2011-11-13T06:59:00.000-08:00

Wow. What a day. I knew I would say that expecting it was going to be 95
degrees in a hot, cramped, crowded school room with 15 other churches
worshipping nearby in other classrooms with sound systems turned on high. I
knew I was going to be speaking in a room at the heat of the day with noises
through concrete walls that were louder than I could speak. (Check out this
video of the room next door.)
I knew that I would be saying goodbye to a
beloved church. And still, today was above and beyond all that I could
imagine. I preached on unity, using the amazing story of David at the brook
Besor in 1 Samuel 30. The pastor is praying for unity for his church as they

struggle to find a new place to live. They are praying and giving
desperately to get a plot of their own. But, they have so little in terms
of resources. I mean, so little. The city they are located is so densely
laid out and the property is expensive. It is a near impossible feat, if I
am to be honest. And so they are stuck in an elementary school with 15 other
churches. I see the pastor every class looking through the newspaper looking
for land, thinking to myself, he is never going to be able to find land
where he lives.
After the service, we went to the pastors house for some juice and crackers.

After talking about the service and the church in general, the pastor says
to me, the elders and leaders want to say some things to you. The first man,
Mr. Kaluba, shared with me how he was moved by the last time we were
together, when we taled about how I was going back to America to plant a
church. He shared an illustration with me how a seed must get into the dirt
and germinate and when it does, it produces two stalks. There is seed in the
stalks and that produces more seed and so forth. "When I heard you were
leaving," he says, "I wanted to give you just a little seed to help you
plant your church." He hands me an envelope. I feel the bulk in the envelope
and it appeared that there was some money in it. I asked if I should open it
now or later. The pastor said now is great. So, I opened it to find 6 $100
bills. I was overwhelmed. We had just spent the morning talking a lot about
a fundraiser they had had last night, where they raised 1.5 million in cash
(300 dollars) and 8 million in pledges (1600 dollars). And in my pocket,
this man had sacrificed and somehow given me $600 to help plant a church in
America. I shared about God's call to me to plant a church and how I
resisted for so long. This was an amazing confirmation to me that God would
indeed provide for me in the least likely places. So, I now have some seed
money, $600 to plant a church when I get home. I have supporters in America
who sent me to Zambia and now I have supporters in Zambia who are sending me
back to America. Amazing.

Sanctuary Bible School

2011-11-11T01:21:00.001-08:00

I just wanted to share something really cool that made my day. During my
Thursday morning pastors breakfast, we were talking about finishing up our
school in the next weeks and what was next. Somehow the conversation got
onto starting a Bible School and I just challenged the four of them to
consider starting a school together. Now, this idea of working together in a
Zambian context is very difficult. There is so much pride and ego that
seems to always run amuck. I suggested this so that some could teach, and
others could have a break, some could run the administration, etc. since
they are working, pastoring and running their family. And what was amazing,
they loved it. In fact, they had been talking about it. They see the need
and they want to train up pastors with the training they have received. One
pastor said, "We have received this training for free. We are accountable to
give it away."

They had received a call from a pastor named Shadreck from the 2:7 class in
previous years to do a preaching conference in Kabanana. They had heard that
they guys had done a conference before and wanted them to come and teach in
his compound. Out of that grew the idea to use a conference as a platform
to select 15 guys to start a three year Bible school, doing just what we did
with them. I am emailing you this so you can rejoice, obviously, for their
Spirit of unity and desire to multiply what we are doing, but also just to
let you know what these guys are thinking.

After talking with Tracy a few days later, I was able to see how important
it is that these pastors, first, establish their young churches so that when
the do have this Bible school, they are training pastors from experience and
not just giving head knowledge. But, overall, I thought their hearts are
right and I look forward to how God will use them to encourage and train up
pastors in the future...

Technology helping pastors stay in touch

2011-11-11T00:46:00.000-08:00

During a Thursday morning breakfast with the four pastors whom I meet weekly
with, we were talking about us going home. How are we going to keep in
touch? EMAIL! The problem is that they have no email, no computer, and no
way for the wonderful ways of technology to help us stay in touch. Hmm...
What to do? I know, get them an email and teach them how to use it. So,
last Thursday, instead of breakfast at our house, we went to Manda Hill to
the Bread Café to get donuts and then go to the Internet Café right next
door for internet. The problem was the donuts weren't ready for 30 minutes
and the internet was down. Hmm... We tried Post Net. Down, too. Went to
Vasilis! Score! Got donuts and pastries. And then mosied down to Zamtel
where we went online to help the pastors navigate their email worlds. I
brought Kamryn to help me and help she did. Hard to help all three pastors
at the same time:) It was a good time. They now have emails, growing
knowledge of how to email and with the help of the internet cafes, the
ability to now stay in touch. The big world is getting smaller all the time!

Our vacation in the bush

2011-11-07T11:14:00.000-08:00

Hi there guys! Thisis Kamryn, signing in again! This time,I have a very long and exciting blog to write about! It is about my family’s trip to Nsobe, whichis a 4 hour drive away from Lusaka, where we live. We went with this really fun family calledthe Dewets, who have two kids, Anna and Paula, who are 14 and 12. This trip was especially special, becausethis is one of our last get-aways in Africa (because we are coming back toAmerica soon.) We had the best time,and I am excited to tell you all about it! But bear with me, because you can’t really sum up a 4 day trip, nonetheless a really eventful one, in one paragraph! So here I go!!!

Day 1- Thursday: Wegot up really early, really excited! Itwas raining, so we all very quickly ran and got in the car, not too wet, exceptfor dad, who was loading the car. Wewere ready right on time, and then we were out on the road! We drove about an hour, stopped forbreakfast, and after about a 2 hour drive, we arrived! Me, Julia and Anna stayed in a chalet, andBradyn, Rhoda and Paula stayed in one. The following is a picture of mom and dad’s chalet, but it helps you geta feel for what the others looked like. And the bathrooms were awesome!! My chalet’s back was facing the bush, and because no one would bewalking past, it was totally open! Youcould sit on the toilet and watch the birds fly at the same time!!!This is apicture of mom and dad’s bathroom, but if you imagine away the wall, that iswhat ours looked like!!! So besides thechalets, there was this dining room, right in the middle of the chalets. That is where we ate and relaxed. And from the dining room you had a perfect viewof the feeding troughs filled with food where the animals would come and eat. But I think the moms relaxed the most, becausethere were these people that did our dishes, set the table, and prepared allthe food for us! Not to mention makingthe beds, cleaning, and making fires!!!

Well, a while after we arrived, we decided to take a walk through thebush! We saw impala, a sesabe, andbirds. Here are some pictures fromthat. When we got back, we had anamazing dinner, a game of capture the flag, and then bed time. I slept great!

Day 2- Friday: I wassooo excited for this day!! Ever sincePaula and Anna told me about the lake, I couldn’t wait! And this was the day we were going! So werushed through breakfast, (or I did) and us older kids decided to leave earlyso that we could walk part of the way to the lake. It was 4 kilometers away, and we made 3kilometers out of 4. Rhoda and Jo wereriding on the top of the car, and when the adults caught up to us, we piled inthe back of Paula and Anna’s car. Thatwas fun! So we arrived at the lake, we immediatelyran to the canoes, and got in!!! Thiswas my second to third time canoeing, but I caught on fast!!!

After canoeing for a bit, we headed to thesnake park, where we held a crocodile (baby!) and saw some really coolsnakes. Then we went up to the birdpark, and there we held some guinea pigs, rabbits, got bit by an owl (onpurpose of course) and some really cool African grey parrots. But we were really anxious to get back tothe lake so we didn’t stay long. We canoed,and then we found this surf board that Anna and Paula had told us about. So we got on it, paddled out to the middle of the lake, andtried to stand up all at the same time!! The results were hilarious and fun! Pretty soon we were all swimming round in the lake, which Dad wasn’t tohappy about, because there is this disease called Bilharzia (I think) that is inthe water sometimes and you get it from swimming. Well, we didn’t see one snail,(which you getit from), and the Dewets had swum in it alot before so we assumed it was alright. Well, after a lot of fun, we went back to camp and played capture theflag, and soon after had dinner and then we slept. Julia fell asleep early, and so Anna and I playedon my kindle.

The somalia's students in their burkas... Very interesting.

Day 3-Saturday: Todaywas a day of relaxing. Early in themorning, we set out to try and find the giraffe, and we had no idea where wewere going!! So when we actually found the giraffe, we knew it was God! We got really close, and there were 2 babiesand 3 adults. So after another trip tothe bird and snake park(where I was bitten by a brown house snake, my firstever snake bite.) Then we decided to goto the lake again, so we set out walking at 3:00, because we wanted to getthere before the adults. But no. We had alot more fun swimming, and then we decided to go back. We had an awesome dinner, and then went tobed.

I got bit by an owl and a snake this weekend:)

Day 4- Sunday: We gotup, cleaned our room, and stipped the bed. Then we went on our final walk through the bush, where we saw no gamebut a meerkat but found a lot of really cool stuff. At 12:00, we set out, and at 3:30, we arrivedat home. We had such an awesome time,and I hope you enjoyed reading this!!!!

Found this outside our house...

2011-11-06T09:19:00.000-08:00

Thankfully, I am not telling the truth. We saw this on our amazing adventure
of a bush holiday (behind a glass window:) that I can't wait to tell you all
about, tomorrow:)

It's what the hot Africa summers can do to you

2011-11-02T05:07:00.000-07:00

Farewell Church Tour, Part II

2011-11-01T01:48:00.000-07:00

I visited Bruce Kaumba's church in Kanyama with my family this past weekend.

Now to appreciate that simple sentence, you will have to look at this link, and then this one, and then especially this one and this one and then this one to get a full appreciation of who Bruce is, the perseverance of his church plant and the journey towards a building...

They have a cool little prayer time for all of the children, and so my kids went up.

The view towards the front, beyond the church, to people getting water out of the pump on the church property

Did you check the links? Especially the especially ones?

And, so we went as a family, knowing that it was going to be around 96 degrees that morning. And it was.

But there was some good news. It didn’t feel 96 degrees because there was a wind blowing through.

But the bad news was that the wind was really, really strong, and it rattled the plastic that was around the church so loud that whoever was speaking couldn’t be heard. And it blew up the dust and dirt something fierce so that our clothes were covered. And we had to squint or close our eyes during the strong winds so that it wouldn’t get in our eyes. But, poor little sick JoJo, she kept crying out when the dust would get in her eyes, so Mom had to sacrifice her glasses for little JoJo.

So, when the singing was done and the announcements covered, I preached. They had to move the podium out of the direct glare of the sun and a little more into the shade. I had never gotten a sunburn preaching before. But, there is a first time for everything. Bruce provided translation for me as I preached about the fear of God. Thankfully the wind did die down as I got up to preach, but I still competed with the flapping tarps and had to talk loudly (see: yell) and I kept the sermon nice and short.

This church was special to our family because it was the church we had visited the most as family. The ride to the church across town was an adventure. Driving through compounds never cease to amaze us. We brought a bunch of softies (soda) and cookies to celebrate this last time with them. I had one left... So thankful I wasn’t short!

So, witnessing the wind first hand, I told Bruce that I would donate $100 dollars for 100 bricks if his church would match that 100 to make 200. With 200 bricks, he should be able to at least cover that brutal corner where the wind was whipping through... Pangono, pangono... (bit by bit)

I told him afterwards how proud I was of him. He has persevered and the church is growing. There are a great mix of young and old, young men and older men, and a lot of kids. Having been with him through the four years, I have seen the struggle and the ups and the many downs... Praise God for faithful pastors like Bruce!

Remember - Learning to live what we already know - Chapter 7

2011-10-26T04:46:00.000-07:00

Chapter 7

So, what is the secret toremembering? There are whole boatload of memory tricks and tactics to help youimprove your memory. There were 22,900,000 hits on Google when I typed in “secretsto remembering,” and maybe some of them even work. I once bought an e-book onhow to improve my memory. It probably would have helped had I read it. But, when we are talking about remembering,we are going to need more than a memory enhancer book to help us. In fact, when it comes to spiritual things,there is nothing an e-book can do to help us in this department. The truth is that we need to remember withour heart before we remember with our head.

God indicates as much in thefollowing verse:

Jer 31:33 “But this is the covenant that I will makewith the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my lawwithin them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, andthey shall be my people.”

Why do we need the law within usand why does our heart need to have the law written on it? Shouldn’t it be enough to just remember withour head? In fact, it does not seem to be the way. Look at this verse a fewverses before the previous verse:

Jer 24:7 “I will give them aheart to know that I am the Lord, and they shall be my people and I will betheir God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart.”

Why do we need a heart to knowGod? Shouldn’t reading the Bible, His word, be enough?

Psalm 77:6 “I said, ‘Let meremember my song in the night; let me meditate in my heart.’ Then my spiritmade a diligent search:[.]”

This verse in the Psalm 77indicates that remembering is actually something your heart does. In this psalm both meditating and rememberingare similar and the heart is how he will remember.

The point I am trying to makehere is that we need more than just head knowledge to remember God. Kind oflike that old saying, the way to a man’sheart is through his mouth. Well, maybe not at all like that, but it couldbe like this: The way to remember in thehead is through the heart. The key to remembering with the head is toremember with the heart. But, the truereality is that if it is up to our heart to remember, we are in big trouble.Look at the Bible’s indictment on the heart.

Genesis 6:5 “The Lord saw thatthe wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of thethoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

Genesis 8:21 “And when the Lordsmelled the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, ‘I will never againcurse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil fromhis youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as Ihave done.’”

Ecclesiastes 9:3 “. . . thehearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their heartswhile they live, and after that they go to the dead.”

Jeremiah 4:14 “O Jerusalem, washyour heart from evil, that you may be saved. How long shall your wicked thoughtslodge within you?”

Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart isdeceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?”

Ezek 16:30 “How sick is yourheart, declares the Lord God, because you did all these things, the deeds of abrazen prostitute, . . . .”

Matt 15:19 “For out of the heartcome evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness,slander.”

Mark 7:21 “For from within, outof the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,. . . .”

Luke 6:45 “The good person out ofthe good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of hisevil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouthspeaks.”

It is pretty clear in the versesabove that our hearts are evil. Why is this significant? Because our heartsdetermine our steps. We usually do what our heart thinks, feels, and wants todo. Even when we know that it isn’tthe right thing to do, more often than not, we do it. Our heart is the want part of us and out of the heart,the wants are evil, wrong, and sinful.

It is always the answer for thereason we sin. Why do we do it? Because our heart wants to.

So, even if we did remember God’sword or His commands in our hearts, it probably wouldn’t help. The verses below show this all too clearly:

Jeremiah 3:17 “At that timeJerusalem shall be called the throne of the Lord, and all nations shall gatherto it, to the presence of the Lord in Jerusalem, and they shall no morestubbornly follow their own evil heart.”

Jeremiah 7:24 “But they did notobey or incline their ear, but walked in their own counsels and thestubbornness of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward.”

Ps 81:12 “So I gave them over totheir stubborn hearts, to follow their own counsels.”

Heb 3:12 “Take care, brothers,lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fallaway from the living God.”

So, to remember with our head weneed to remember with our heart. But our heart is evil. And does not want to doanything God wants, let alone remember anything that would change ourways. So, what now? It is like trying toobey a command to overcome gravity or a need for air. It is impossible.

We need a serious heart surgery.More than just a bypass, we need a heart transplant. Something has to drasticallychange in order to restart this dead, evil heart. Something has to change if weare going to remember our God with our heart. Thankfully, God knew that and He let us know that, as well. And that isjust what He did, He gave us a new heart.

Ezekiel 36:25-26 ²⁵“Iwill sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all youruncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. ²⁶And Iwill give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I willremove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.”

What a clear, indicting, amazingpicture for us to grasp. Our heart islike stone; it is lifeless, impenetrable, and unfeeling. God is going to makeit flesh. He will make it alive. He will penetrate it. He will allow it to feel. To remember, we simply need a new heart. We need a heart that wants to remember, thatwants to do right. It is God who performs the heart surgery. It is God whogives us the ability and the want to do what He commands. But, how does theheart surgery work?

Well, honestly, I wish God wouldhave used a different metaphor to describe this heart surgery. Paul uses sports like running and boxing toexplain his points. Jesus uses seeds, fish and walking on water to explain hispoints. Peter uses gold to explain one of his points. But, God chooses to usesomething that is well, a bit embarrassing and uncomfortable to talk about,especially as a male. Circumcision. There, I said it. Over here, in Zambia,circumcision is all over the place; billboards, brochures, signs and buildings.They are encouraging all men to get circumcised as one simple way to avoidgetting HIV and other sexual transmitted diseases. But, as you can imagine, thecircumcision line isn’t exactly overflowing with people. There is no waitingline at the door. No one is beating down that door lately. Circumcision ispainful for all who must encounter this medical procedure. I know one guy whowas not circumcised until his high school years and he was angry with his parents for months.

With any cursory reading of theOld Testament, it will be impossible to avoid this concept of circumcision. Infact, in the Old and New Testament, the word circumc-something is found 73times. God first commanded circumcision in Gen 17:10 for every male. It was forall males, 8 days old, which medically speaking has been revealed is the bestday to do this procedure. It was to be a covenant between humans and God. Godgave this command to Abraham when he was 99 years old. Yeah, exactly. Ishmaelwas 13 when he was circumcised. He could not have been very happy about thisnew “covenant” that God decided to wait thirteen years to instill, not tomention the men and slaves in his family. Isaac lucked out; he was just 8 daysold when he underwent this procedure.

There are a bunch of storiesthroughout the Old Testament about different situations regarding circumcision.In Genesis 34, Simeon and Levi destroyed the entire Hivite nation that wasrecovering from being circumcised. Hamor, the Hivite, was love sick andultimately defiled their sister, Dinah, the daughter of Jacob. The twoconniving brothers, Simeon and Levi, made a deal with the Hivite people sayingif they were circumcised, then Hamor could marry Dinah, the girl of his dreams.Well, during this inevitable healing process, Simeon and Levi killed all themen and plundered them as a revenge for defiling Dinah.

In Exodus 4, Moses was about tobe killed by an angel of the Lord because Moses had not circumcised his son. Itwas the wife of Moses who circumcised the child and then touched Moses’ footwith the foreskin that saved this great leaders life.

And if you thought that was acrazy story, check this one out. Joshua had to stop his pursuit and conquest ofthe Promised Land for everyone to be circumcised before he crossed the river. Canyou imagine? The entire generation of Israelites who have wandered their wholelives in the desert They finally get a chance to go and conquer and they aretold they need to all be circumcised. The entire nation was circumcised andthey waited until they healed.

These are indeed crazy, weirdstories. But, what is crazy is that there are more verses about circumcision inthe New Testament than the Old Testament. Both John the Baptist and Jesus arecircumcised. But, the bulk of talk on circumcision is, ironically, about thePharisees. It turned out the Pharisees became prideful that they werecircumcised and the Gentiles were not. It became a physical thing. We arecircumcised. You are not. And they totally missed the point. You cannot miss the irony of this. ThePharisees were the most trained, dedicated, and committed Bible scholars oftheir time. They read, taught, memorized, debated, and meditated on the Torahlike no else. They knew all the verses about circumcision and they knew why Godcommanded it. They could remember the word better than anyone. Many, if notmost, would memorize the entire Old Testament. If you asked where you couldfind circumcision, they would rattle it off for you. And yet, somehow theymissed the whole intent of the verse. We need heart surgery because we can’tremember because we don’t want to remember. We need heart surgery because weare sinful, prideful, and self-centered. The truth is, we cannot remember because we don’t want to remember. Sotake all of the circumcision context and look at these next verses:

Deut. 10:16 “Circumcise thereforethe foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn.”

Uh, what? How do I circumcise theforeskin of my heart? Oh, metaphor. There is something that needs to be cut offso I can have a heart that keeps me from being stubborn. God loves us and wantsus to love him, but we can’t and so our heart needs to be free to love.

Check out this next verse whichsays kind of the same thing:

Jer. 4:4 “Circumcise yourselvesto the Lord; remove the foreskin of your hearts, O men of Judah and inhabitantsof Jerusalem; lest my wrath go forth like fire, and burn with none to quenchit, because of the evil of your deeds.”

If our hearts are not changed, weare destined for wrath. That is thesimple truth.

Now, there is one thing thatneeds to be said, though I cannot speak with experience here, and that is, youcannot circumcise yourself. I am pretty sure that has never been done and I willbe willing to bet just about anything on that statement.

Thus God makes a significantstatement here:

Deut. 30:6 “And the Lord your Godwill circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you willlove the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you maylive.”

Why will he circumcise theforeskin of our hearts? SO WE CAN LOVE HIM. With all of our hearts.

That was the point of the lastchapter. Loving God and loving man sums up all the laws, but we cannot lovewithout the heart. And we cannot love with our heart as it is. So, God says, “Iwill make it possible. I will circumcise your heart so you can love me.”

What God purposed in Abrahamfinally has come to fruition. Paul writes about it in

Romans 2:29: “But a Jew is oneinwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by theletter. His praise is not from man but from God.”

Circumcision is a symbol of acovenant and a metaphor to speak about what God does to and for the heart. Thissymbol shows us how God will change our hearts and the result of that changedheart. Because of this change of the heart,man has gone from wrath to praise. We canobey the greatest commandment because God has made a great commitment to us, tochange us so we can please Him. We canlove Him. We can remember to love Him.

So, how does that work itselfout? How do we remember Him into each day? It’s all about to come together.

We're comin' home to see you in 51 days...

2011-10-25T01:24:00.000-07:00

Farewell Church Tour, part 1

2011-10-23T07:04:00.000-07:00

It seems a bit surreal, that is for sure, to be starting a farewell church tour. I picked a hot time to do it, 95 degrees today. We have just 53 days left before we come home and I wanted to get to a bunch of churches before I left. So, I started today, visiting Pastor Jere's church in Valley View. It was a special day to be there for a number of reasons. My friendship with Pastor Jere started at pretty much the inception of this church. I preached and visited several times when it was in its rented location. And then this happened. And slowly but surely, they have built up this church. The outer walls are complete and they are getting it done. But what was more amazing to me was what is going on inside the walls. The church has grown and there are many young men are in the church. Pastor Jere is an amazing leader and trainer and pastor. Here is just one example from a previous blog. What is so uncommon in Zambia, in training other leaders, Pastor Jere has focused entirely on and it is paying off huge. It is amazing how understated and quiet this man is and yet what a legacy of leaders he is leaving in his wake. I hoped to encourage them in my preaching, but I left way more encouraged than I could have ever given.

Timing is everything, or Our Rite of Passage

2011-10-18T10:38:00.001-07:00

Greeting blog friends, I asked Kamryn to write this blog today. Figured our
lives were getting a little too routine that we needed something to awaken
our yawning readers, a little blog rating boost for you today. Enjoy!
Hey guys, Kamryn here. We have a major blog on our hands, hence part of the
title. This blog is about Dad's and all of ours right of passage. Hence
the title again. But why the "timing is everything part?" Listen closely.

It was a Tuesday, a hot one. Dad and Julia were sick, and our gardener was
at school. Aunty Mirriam was swimming with Jojo, and I had just finished
helping Rhoda read, when Aunty Mirriam rushed in with Jojo, her face white.
And she said,"(Listen guys, this part is important)There is a huge snake!!!"
So I ran out to the porch with her. The snake was in the bushes, and pretty
soon mom joined us. She said, "What is it? " "A snake" we all said. Now,
Aunty Mirriam doesn't exaggerate. So when she says huge, she means it! And
when that thing slithered out of the bushes, I knew that was the biggest
snake we had ever seen in our yard. Let me rephrase that. The biggest
snake I have seen in Lusaka. I am not joking.
Now do you see why I said timing is everything? Dad was sick. Mwape gone.
What do we do? Get dad.
Poor sick dad in his room, was texting mom. He was oblivious to the chaos
going on outside. This is what he was texting," I am sooo sick. I feel
like..."and that is when mom burst in.
"A snake!" She panted. Guys, this is Non-fictional! True story! And it
only gets worsen (although it does have a happy ending!) So my poor sick dad
leaped out of bed, and ran down the hall. Meanwhile...
The snake was getting away!!! I was getting ready to throw something at it,
Aunty Mirriam was saying, "Where's Daddy?" Rhoda and Bradyn were holding on
to Jo who wanted to go see "her snake." And then daddy arrived. Aunty
Mirriam scurried off to get some rocks, while Mom went across the street
looking for someone to help dad get it. But it was me and Bradyn who
managed to get some people. When the guy came, the first thing he said
was," That snake is VERY dangerous. It is very poisonous." Well thanks,
Mister.
SO they started throwing rocks. The snake shot out of the bushes, and the
men were throwing furiously. Dad got it once, but it didn't stop. They
chased it up the yard, and the snake slithered into a crack between the wall
and the guardhouse that was full of junk. What to do, what to do? I know!
The man walked out of the gate and went back to the house where he was a
guard, and came back with another man and a long stick(plus a hoe.) They
got all of the stuff out of the crack, to find the snake standing straight
up in a crack in the wall. Great. Go in there to get it, and never come
out again.
While we were standing there pondering, a random guy from the street came
in. "Hello" said mom. But this is just what we needed. One of the men
had such a brilliant idea. Why not climb onto the roof of the guard house
and to pour paint thinner down the crack that the snake was in? BRILLIANT!
BRILLIANT, I tell you! The paint thinner would burn the snake, so he would
have to come out! Then we wouldn't have to go in! So the guy got up there
and did it. It slithered out, and dad screamed," Its coming!" And then
I... climbed on top of the car. Not my bravest moment, but really, what
should I have done? And then POW! Dad nailed it with a rock! And then the
other guys hit it with sticks and then Dad flattened it's head with a
shovel! You know, the only time I appreciate snakes are when they are dead.
Especially BLACK MAMBAS that are FIVE FEET SEVEN INCHES LONG!
OH YA BABY!
So, that's our morning. A classic day in paradise!

We finally killed a BIG DANGEROUS snake all by ourselves! We have earned
our rite of passage to being a proper Zambian! Which of course, isn't easy
I assure you!

Well, since our guard Mwape didn't know about the occurrence that day, we
missionaries decided to do something which would scare the skin off him! We
laid the snake in front of the door in our gate, and we waited. No, I
waited. And I say from personal experience that the result was TOTALLY
AWESOME!
BYE!

So, Steve again... Check out the video and let it be known, that Stephanie was indeed the first one to pick up the snake... Brave girls I live with!

Looking back...

2011-10-15T11:38:00.000-07:00

Only 2 months from today until we return home...

Answered prayer observer

2011-10-06T23:10:00.000-07:00

This is an awesome picture of Patson and my daughter Jo-Jo! Patson came
over for breakfast the other day so we could talk about his school and help
him write up a plan for the future. There are some great ministries
wanting to be involved in helping him with the school in the area of
training teachers and building construction, but the first step is really
putting his vision on paper. We are are working together to help think
through what the logical next steps should be. Patson is a dreamer and I
have seen God answer incredible, crazy, way out there dream/prayers. So, I
find a great bit of tension with helping him think through what is logical
and what is faith because I don't want to squelch but I also want to help
him be able to get to the next step. Anyway, all that to say, please pray
for Patson and his school/church. He is on the cusp of some amazing
progress and needs your prayers. He has 77 students in his school, two
volunteer teachers, no money for a feeding program so instead he just shares
from the food his family makes and he also shares with the 77 kids, his one
pit latrine. So, as you can see, there are lots of needs. I am hoping to be
able to be a liaison and help out however I can next year.

The countdown begins...

2011-10-05T23:51:00.001-07:00

My blog tracker shows me that this is blog 978. Crazy. My goal is to have a blog #1000 on December 15 when we leave. It will be a sweet video recapping our 4 years in Zambia. I also put a timer thingie on the blog, counting down the days until we leave Zambia. Only 69 days until we board the plane. We are looking forward to seeing our family and friends and our church. But, I am not sure why I did it, because it isn't like we dying to get out of here... We love our friends and our "home" here which is crazy when we reminiscence about how hard it was when we got her, a little over four years ago. I remember at times, (here comes the honesty) hoping we would get sick so we could come home, because it was so hard in so many ways (I heard another missionary say that one time on a tape so I don't feel too sinful:) And now, I say we are leaving to the children and their lips puff out in a pouting look. So why leave if we like it here? Because we have prayed and we believe God is calling us home. What is he calling us home too? Not sure exactly. The one thing that is clear is church planting. That is abundantly clear. But, where, how, when, and what isn't so clear. So, we just step out, no, more like leap out on another adventure in trusting God. The landing may not be as comfortable as we would have hoped for, but after seeing how God turned the Africa Adventure around, it has built our faith. But a building faith is only as good as it is remembered, so by reminiscing, our faith is strengthened, and as our faith is strengthened, we can trust God even though we return to a tough economic environment and with the unknowns of our return. God is with us. This much we know. The rest are just details.

Just another drive through town

2011-10-04T22:07:00.000-07:00

I love the adventure of driving around. Never a dull moment. These pictures
are as followed: a construction pic of Bread of Life Church, soon to be the
biggest church in Lusaka. Never thought a tire that big would fit in a
truck that small. Mad Max. Since my middle name is Max, I have a special
affinity to this store. If you are going to sell something on the street, I
am thinking this umbrella is a pretty good thing to sell in both the sun and
the rain. Random, I know... But, pretty funny, too!

Church at our House

2011-10-02T21:38:00.000-07:00

We invited our church over to our house for the morning... It was simple
church. No projection, no sound system, nothing. Just a couple guitars, I
preached loud and we had extra time to eat and fellowship and play... It was
a brilliant morning (as my UK friends in the church like to say)... Our
community church is truly multi-ethnic, though there are definitely a white
person dominated church. We have people from Germany, Belgium, UK,
Australia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, U.S. Canada, Zambia, Singapore and many
more... It has been a great experience becoming the body of Christ with so
many different nationalities.

Flowers in the hot season...

2011-10-01T11:43:00.000-07:00

Flowers of the season, courtesy of Kamryn:) Keep in mind, it hasn't rained
in months!

Let there be light!

2011-09-30T09:32:00.000-07:00

So, I mentioned something in a previous post about a really cool solar light idea, especially for third world countries where a lack of windows and electricity keep a house dark, no matter what time of day it is. Well, Patson and I really wanted to try this and so we decided to experiment on this pit latrine (or outhouse). You can find the link here!

But, first, we needed to make a roof for the pit latrine.

Here is the bottle we will be using. Just water and a bit of bleach. You'll be amazed at how this will work!

So, we made the roof.

And put it on.

As you can see, now with the roof on, it is pretty dark inside. Once he attaches the roof and puts cement in between the roof and the base, it will get even darker. Kind of important to see what you are doing, especially in this specific room.

Dark as dark can be!

With the pieces of wood supporting the tin roof and Patson's weight, he was able to make the markings for where the bottle should go.

He made a few nail marks and then chiseled a circle just a little smaller than the bottle.

You can see the wood under the circle, helping prevent major dents in the roof. His son held the board up to the roof.

Let there be light!!!

What a difference it made!

We got some thick wire to help keep the bottle snug in the hole and then he will use silicone to keep the water from leaking in.

Pure 55 watts of solar light, straight from the sun. Hard to get more green than this.

So we decided invite a neighbor over to look at it. We told her we would do her bathing room/toilets for free so we could continue to practice. She was very intrigued, but needed to ask her landlord.

Needless to say, Patson was very excited about the improvements and I put together a little flyer for him to advertise his new business:) You can see it below! We'll see where it goes from here! Needless to say, this could be a huge, huge blessing and opportunity for Patson and the community! Let there be light!

Being "on mission"

2011-09-28T10:30:00.001-07:00

I have been back from my trip to Kenya for a few weeks. Even though it was
such a quick trip, it continues to affect me. I have been on a lot of
mission trips as a student and as a youth pastor. And now I am a
"missionary." I see a lot of people come to Zambia to "do" missions. It is
a very different perspective watching short term missions from the mission
field. So it really messed with me, when, I, a missionary, went on a
mission trip with another short term mission trip people. I remember what
it is like to be on mission trip. You are focused. You are all about other
people. You are working together. You are "on mission!" You notice ever
kid. You love the culture. You are adventurous. So, when I went to Kenya, I
was "on mission." And I was. Except, it was weird because I knew the culture
and I was comfortable in poverty. I had an advantage over the short term
mission people. And here is what has been messing me up since. My life is
to be "on mission." I am a professional missionary. It is what I do. And
yet, Lusaka is now comfortable. I have subtly settled into life as I did
back in Bellevue or Bellingham. I have my pastors I teach. I have my
preaching and my ministry. But, what the trip to Kenya did was reawaken my
heart for doing mission here in Zambia as a missionary. I have seen some
changes since I returned. I notice the kids. I love the people. I am
listening to what God wants to do in me. (Or at least I am trying to.) I
have noticed that simmer down a bit but it still is sticking. I guess the
point I am making is that whether you are a "missionary" or a normal person
living in your familiar land, we are all called to be "on mission"
missionaries. Our work is our mission. Our home is our mission. Our
neighbors are our mission. We are to live with eyes open and hearts open and
lives open to mission. Life can be such routine and in some ways, that is
good and normal. But, let us not forget why we are here on earth, to live
the great com"mission", to love people into the light of Jesus. That
grocery clerk is not just there to scan your meat. The nurse is not there
just to check your blood pressure. The friend of your kids is not there just
to occupy your kid. We are always on mission, sent by God to bless people
for the glory of God. And take it from me, if a missionary can forget to
live missional, how much easier is it for those living in the norm. Stretch
yourself, pray for people, take a different way home, stop and help a
stranger... Live missional and enjoy the mission life, every day.

I think the most important thing though on living is missional is doing it
with people. The mission trip was such a huge success because we were on
mission together. Co-Missional living. Most missional ambitions usually end
the same way new year's resolutions do. Unless you are walking with people
through it all, it won't last.

Lastly, you can do missions without even leaving your couch. Pray. Never
underestimate the power of prayer to change a nation...

Read it and weep as y'all fall into winter!

2011-09-27T00:04:00.001-07:00

Students teaching students teaching...

2011-09-26T10:00:00.000-07:00

2 Timothy 2:1-2 - ¹You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, ²and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

This verse is such a motivator for us... We teach so others will teach who will hopefully teach others... We enjoyed a couple of Veritas graduations this past month and I thought I would share them with you as a reminder of our greatest goal, is that our pastors would be entrusting faithful men who will teach others...

Steve and Stephanie Allen

ACTION Zambia

www.aliveinafrica.com

Sata wins

2011-09-22T16:42:00.001-07:00

We were just awoken by a Zambian friend at 1:00 am in the morning that they announced that Sata has won in a historic transfer of power... Even though the Zambian economy has grown 6% over the past few years and there is more infrastructure and new buildings than ever before, the people want change. Goes to show that even though the rich are getting richer, the poor are still suffering. They have a voice. And their voice is heard. And what is crazy, from our house, we can hear the celebrating... What does this mean? Wow. Who knows...

Here is the election news:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15029463

And, here is the wiki info on our new president:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Sata

All I know is that Abraham Lincoln has nothing on this man’s perseverance; four times he has tried for president and finally, at age 74, he has won...

It ‘s a new day in Zambia that has begun very, very early for us;)

I am tempted to go see the celebration. But, I think I will choose to listen to it instead!

More later!!!

Steve and Stephanie Allen

ACTION Zambia

www.aliveinafrica.com

Bet you won't find this in your grocery store

2011-09-20T08:00:00.000-07:00

Making do

2011-09-19T12:11:00.001-07:00

We see a lot of creative making do in the compounds around us, but I had never seen this. A bubble making invention, blowing something through a cut off hose. Not sure what the brown liquid was that enabled them to make the bubbles, but some questions are better not asked. I recently saw another invention and I want you to click the link here so you can see how these solar lights could transform the Zambian houses where there is no power. I am hoping to try my first one next week and dreaming even of helping some pastors get some employment through these lights... I’ll keep you updated!

Sayin' Goodbye isn't fun

2011-09-19T08:00:00.000-07:00

We have been saying our share of goodbyes these past few months for a
variety of reasons as people head back to the states for furlough or babies.
The Hiltys were our latest and Rho is pictured hugging her friend Ireen
with all she's got. They are leaving next Saturday for the states until
January.

Someday

2011-09-18T21:13:00.001-07:00

Someday I hope you get a chance to worship with my wife when she is leading
a church service. This has been one of the highlights of my time in Africa
is to see her blossom into a gifted, humble, Spirit-led worship leader...

Don't Kubeba

2011-09-18T07:43:00.000-07:00

Well the presidential election is a few days away and campaigning has
reached a feverish pitch. Here are a few pictures of a stream of Sata
supporters five kilometers long. I don't think many need to learn how tense
elections are in a country in Africa. There are so many issues at hand and
the threat of violence has caused most to cancel classes, ministry, work and
their plans this week. Please pray with us for peace and fairness to
abound. We would love to report back at weeks' end how great things went...
Oh, "don't Kubeba?" What does that mean? It is the slogan for the opposing
party which means, "Don't tell" anyone you are voting for Sata. Honestly, it
is a brilliant slogan that may do some damage against the current president,
Banda. We'll see what happens. My predictions: If Rupiah Banda wins in a
landslide, there won't be much rioting but if he wins close, the Sata
supporters will riot because they will fear that the voting has been
tampered with "again". Banda is like the Republican president and Sata is
like the democratic president. Sata is favored by the poor as a man of the
people where Banda is favored by the rich who is bringing in lots of
foreigners along with their money and investment. Some have compared Sata to
Mugabe in Zimbabwe which has many in his country a bit nervous, especially
the foreigners. Anyway, there is the political landscape in a nutshell.

My Trip To Nairobi in Video

2011-09-15T12:53:00.000-07:00

My Trip To Nairobi ( click this link to watch the video!)

I went with Patson Sakala to Nairobi, Kenya last week for 5 days. After a short term team from Indiana came a few months ago (http://www.aliveinafrica.com/2011/06/helping-brother-out.html

http://www.aliveinafrica.com/2011/06/10-years-in-week.html)to help Patson paint and complete his community school, they wanted Patson to visit Kenya and get a vision of a ministry that has the same heart and passion, but is about 10 years ahead. So, it made sense for me to go with him (I know, rough life), since he had never been on a plane, never been to an airport, never been in a hotel room and a bunch of other nevers... What a great time I had, seeing an amazing ministry, loving my time with the Trader's Point Mission group, enjoying Patson's awe of being in a plane for the first time, and just his general passion for life. We also saw some incredibly hard things as well. I took over 350 pictures, and condensed them down to a short 40 or so, put some music in it and there it is... Take a few minutes to enjoy this video. I am pretty sure you will be encouraged and moved...

If you are interested in learning more about Mission of Hope, click here...

I hate goodbyes...

2011-09-08T23:03:00.000-07:00

I have had a great time with Jeff but all good things except Heaven must end
sometime... So, I said goodbye this morning and I am left to relishing the
memories... I included a bunch of pics here... You know it feels a bit
awkward at times always putting these safari pics in, like I am trying to
rub it in. It is a little rough of a life to have to give people who come
over a chance to see the other side of Zambia, but someone has to do it...

Here is a picture of Jeff speaking at the Ngombe pastors' fellowship.

Our last day here, we went golfing. Why not? Jeff loves golfing and we had a good time! Now he can say he has golfed in Africa.

Jeff taught in Romans 6-8 to the Action Pastor's College.

On Tuesday, after class, we had to give Patson a ride home because his bike was broken, really bad. Jeff decided then and there that Patson had to have a new bike. And he had just enough money to make it happen. Normally Zambians are very reserved but Patson was so overjoyed he gave Jeff a monster hug. Knowing Patson and the financial struggle he is under continually, this was a huge, huge blessing!

We went to Livingstone and went on a safari. This elephant right here wasn't happy about that and sufficiently scared us something good.

We saw a baby Rhino with his mommy. AMAZING!!!!

You can see if you look closely, Elephants crossing the river and the spray from the Victoria Falls just behind it...

Jeff getting a kiss from a giraffe!

Preaching x 4

2011-09-05T22:32:00.000-07:00

It is always a tricky job hosting a pastor from the states, to know how much is too much and yet balancing that with the desire to give them a full experience. I am not sure I will ever learn the exact balance but I do know that our Sunday was FULL. With two preaching messages at two different churches and two messages at a leadership conference, needless to say, Jeff was a bit beat at the end of Sunday. But, many were encouraged by his teaching so we are thankful for that.

Pastor(s) Mumbi(s) leading True Worshippers Bible Church in Kanyama... A cool father and son duo leading this church are in our ACTION Pastor's College!

Here Jeff is preaching at Sanctuary of Grace Church in Makeni, just up the street from Mumbi's church. This church is led by Bruce Kaumba who is also in our pastor's class.

Here Jeff is talking with Pastor Bruce about the land where his church tent was stolen.

We had a time of prayer with Bruce and his leaders about this land and the future of the church.

Bruce and his wife Christobel had a son 11 days ago!!!

Jeff preached at the conference about Gospel Transformation.

After the conference, we gave the Veritas Graduates their certificates. Always a fun time of celebrating.

Here is a picture of all the people who graduated from the second module in the inductive Bible study course that we taught Bruce and that Bruce taught these students. Our prayer and challenge to them is that they will then teach others. A good day!

Fitting right in!

2011-08-30T11:37:00.001-07:00

My good friend Jeff is here visiting and ministering to the pastors in our
program... I didn't give him much rest today, as we had breakfast with five
our pastors, visited their houses and churches and then had lunch with the
ACTION Zambia team and then gave him a tour of Ciyanjano!!! Amazing how he
just fits right in with the pastors and our family!

It's all about us

2011-08-28T13:29:00.001-07:00

We, my five girls and two friends, arrived a bit late to Bible Study tonight. As I got JoJo out of the car, we heard the singing in the meeting room. JoJo looked at me with surprise mixed with dismay, “Them started without us.”

And then during announcements, JoJo interrupted the lady giving announcements and said something out loud to the lady.

The lady didn’t quite understand but thankfully Julia gave the interpretation to the Jo tongue and said, “You started without us.”

Everyone got a big laugh out of that. It was pretty hilarious. How dare you begin before we get hereJ It is, after all, about us.

Steve and Stephanie Allen

ACTION Zambia

www.aliveinafrica.com

Trust me when I write this...

2011-08-27T21:21:00.001-07:00

Psalm 143:8 - ⁸Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.

Psalm 112:7 - ⁷He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord.

Psalm 62:8 - ⁸Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us. Selah

Psalm 37:5 - ⁵Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.

Psalm 20:7 - ⁷Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.

You can trust God, wherever you are, in whatever circumstances you are in.

He is trustworthy...

Good Night, Lusaka

2011-08-25T02:47:00.000-07:00

Yet another beautiful sunset in Africa.

I did, I concur, I do, and it's true

2011-08-24T12:17:00.000-07:00

Proverbs 31:10-14 - 10Who can find a virtuous and capable wife? She is more
precious than rubies. 11Her husband can trust her, and she will greatly
enrich his life. 12She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life.
13She finds wool and flax and busily spins it. 14She is like a merchant's
ship, bringing her food from afar.

I did - Find a virtuous and capable wife
I concur - She is more precious than rubies
I do - I trust her.
It's true - She has GREATLY enriched my life

A homeschooling mom of 5 little ladies, a wife, a worship leader, an amazing
cook, and adding to the list of capableness is what I witnessed on Tuesday
at the Veggie Market. You should have seen her wheeling and dealing like she
owned the place. I hadn't seen her in this element before, her element.
Usually this blog is all about me. But, I tell you what, maybe I will
videotape her next week:) I honestly was so proud of her. I say all of this
knowing she will just shake her head, because she has learned through a
difficult trying year, the truth of God's saving and enduring grace in new
and profound ways. Amazing grace saves and mazing grace prevails...
Blessed be the name of the Lord! So, thank you for blessing me and thank you
for your persistent, enduring care for our family... I love you!

Pray for the Elections in Zambia

2011-08-23T14:12:00.001-07:00

I have to tell you that I hate election time. In America, signs everywhere
and soooooooo much wasted campaign money that could make a difference in the
world. It is a bit nicer here, not as many signs or wasted money, except
when people get hurt and even killed in the violence over candidates.

Please read this article as posted in the Zambia Daily Mall. So far I
haven't seen any violence, but we are all praying... Would you join us?

THE Patriotic Front (PF) has unveiled a campaign of spontaneous terror
targeting MMD supporters in Lusaka and the Copperbelt as the main means of
winning the September 20 tripartite elections.
And the PF Chongwe parliamentary candidate Sylvia Masebo has castigated her
party's cadres accusing them of being lazy for allowing the MMD to outshine
them and regain its popularity in Lusaka and the Copperbelt, while Kabwata
candidate Given Lubinda has threatened to mount his own campaigns.
PF secretary general Wynter Kabimba instructed party cadres, some of them
wielding machetes and catapults, at a public rally in Lusaka near the
Freedom Statue on Sunday to attack MMD cadres and take over markets and bus
stations.
The mostly drunken cadres went on rampage, stoning motorists on Independence
Avenue in response to Mr Kabimba's instruction.
Mr Kabimba instructed the PF youths to go round Lusaka markets and bus
stations and force the MMD members out so that the opposition party can
regain control of the trading places.
He told them to "viciously" deal with the MMD cadres as if they are
criminals because the police are allegedly not adequately securing the
campaigns.
"Here are the instructions from the party leadership: deal with the MMD like
they are criminals because the police are not protecting you. Do not give
them any chance and wherever you will find them, hit them hard. You are the
foot soldiers of the PF, and in fact you are in the majority.
"The MMD should not dominate the markets and bus stations because we have
more youths than the ruling party. We do not want to hear that you are being
outnumbered," MrKabimba said.
And as Mr Kabimba was spelling out the chilling instructions to the youthful
party zealots, PF youth chairman Ashell Kampengele grabbed the microphone
from him and instructed the youths to immediately run to Kamwala market and
beat up all MMD cadres who were campaigning in the area.
The beer-reeking youths, some of them wobbling on weak legs while
brandishing machetes and catapults, abandoned the venue and instead rushed
to Independence Avenue where they started throwing stones at motor vehicles,
causing panic among motorists.
An MMD campaign vehicle was pelted but the driver managed to elude the
missiles by meandering through heavy traffic and melted away into the city
centre.
The PF cadres were heard saying they are incensed that the MMD is freely
flying its flags in all the markets and bus stations in Lusaka and the
Copperbelt, the areas that have over the years been perceived to be the
opposition party's strongholds.
And the PF has castigated its cadres accusing them of being lazy for
allowing the MMD to outshine them and regain its popularity in Lusaka and
the Copperbelt, with MrLubinda threatening to mount his own campaigns.
MsMasebo wondered on Sunday during a district rally why her new party's
'foot soldiers' in the capital city are sleeping while their MMD
counterparts are wooing voters by the thousands as the country moves closer
to next month's tripartite elections.
The rally, mostly attended by drunken youths, failed to impress MsMasebo who
did not hide her fears that the PF is fast losing its steam in the capital
city.
"You people in Lusaka have a problem. You must wake up and work hard. This
is war and you must not take it easy. You have been thinking that you have
already won the battle, but the MMD, through William Banda, have been
working. You have not been serious with work," an upset MsMasebo said.
She accused the PF members of not being serious with campaigns and told them
that it will not be easy for the party to reclaim its dominance in Lusaka
because the MMD "has done its homework".
She expressed disappointment that she has become stronger in the PF than the
members she found, saying the signs are not encouraging in the city.
The MMD has lately taken Lusaka by storm, swelling its ranks with droves of
prospective voters who are defecting from opposition parties at colourful
public rallies organised by the party's provincial executive committee.
This has forced the PF to admit that the MMD has done its homework by
mounting an elaborate countrywide campaign that has left the opposition
parties flatfooted.
And MrLubinda, who was visibly not happy with the number of people who
attended the rally, said he will embark on addressing his own rallies in
Kabwata in view of the PF's poor performance.
The PF leaders dressed down their cadres at a poorly attended Lusaka
district rally near the Freedom Statue in Kamwala area attended by secretary
general WynterKabimba, MrLubinda and former Mandevumember of Parliament Jean
Kapata.
The other leaders in attendance included parliamentary candidate for Matero
Miles Sampa, Professor NkanduLuo for Munali and Edgar Lungu for Chawama.
Some of the few adults who attended the rally said they are disappointed at
the calibre of the PF candidates at local government level, and were heard
murmuring while the candidates, most of them youths, were introduced.
"We have little problems with the calibre of MPs, but the calibre of the
aspiring councillors is worrying. We are going to have a council full of
young boys, and this is not good for the party.
"These young men do not even understand why they are standing apart from
shouting slogans," one man said. - By WALLEN SIMWAKA and CHARLES CHISALA

Tyler leaves his mark

2011-08-16T21:21:00.000-07:00

Tyler Dingman is such a great guy. What a blessing to have our future missionary here for a short visit for the Ciyanjano Dedication. He took pictures, reunited with all the pastors, and just served as he does so well. He loves on our kids so well, too. We all hated to see him go and here’s hoping and praying that God raises the money he needs to get him over here soon! We need him!!!!!!

Immigration and happy endings.

2011-08-16T21:19:00.001-07:00

For all those people like me who spend time daydreaming during the day on how things could be better on the road, in the office, in the stores - if only they asked you, this blog is for you... The funniest thing happened at immigration today. But, you have to read this blog first to fully appreciate it...

When I arrived at the desk where you collect the work permit extensions (Desk 12 – the last desk at the very end) I was asked if I could be interrupted by seven suit wearing Zambians. I didn’t really have a choice, so I smiled in angst. (I was on a tight time schedule...) So, I sat there, surrounded by these Zambians as L. Banda, the Work Permit giver guy explained his job in detail to this other Zambian suit wearing men. Mr. Banda explained the whole process and I listened in interest. He was asked at the end, “What part do you wish you could get rid of?” Mr. Banda said, “The two recording books.” And then, one guys out of the blue asked about the book. You know, “THE BOOK” where you have to find your name amidst a million other names in no order, amidst bad handwriting and random date assortment. You know, the book that you have to come in for, to wait in line to look at the book, to find out, nope, it isn’t there and you have to come back again later. That book! One official asked, “What if there is 20 people and 1 guy is looking and the others have to wait?” I was nodding my head profusely. They noticed me and took interest. And then someone said, “What if they just got a SMS or email when their work permit extension was ready. They wouldn’t need the book.” More nodding of my head profusely. And then another guy said, “Yes, if they are in other parts of Zambia, they come all this way and their permit is not ready.” At that point, I couldn’t contain myself anymore. I raised my hand. Yes, I did. I explained about my friend in Kalomo where I had to come in 3 times for him and his name was there but her name wasn’t, etc... I didn’t tell him the other three times I came in and had to wait for hours and my permit was lost and how I wished they would just have a computer to look up a name and directions on how this things is supposed to work. Anyway, they seemed encouraged by their mutual great ideas (they were great ideas!) and how they could streamline the process and then the senior guy said, “Get his number” (meaning me) and said I could be a “Customer consultant.” I couldn’t stop laughing in a delighted kid kind of way. They care and they want my opinion. For all those times when I wanted to suggest a better way, I just might get my chance!!! Anyway, thought you might appreciate how my day was made!

Ciyanjano Dedication Weekend

2011-08-15T11:00:00.000-07:00

There are quite a few pictures here, but we just wanted you to see the
amazing weekend that was the Ciyanjano Dedication. So much to say and yet
the pictures really do capture the two days spent out at Ciyanjano with our
pastors and their families. We sang, ate, cried, prayed, and dedicated the
property to God for His glory over these two days. It was such a beautiful
time, especially having Glenn Ripley there to celebrate with us. It was his
vision, dream and sacrifice that was a catalyst to making this dream a
possibility. My favorite time of the weekend was taking this picture of the
plaque. Here is a couple who sacrificed so much for the this retreat center
and it inspired me to realize how important it is that all I do be for
eternity. That is what will last forever. I am so looking forward to what
God will do in the place over the ensuing years.

Ever been on an Ox-Cart ride? We have!

Signing the guest book is sometimes funny in Zambia.

Tim giving a tour of Ciyanjano to the many Zambians.

All the AZ kids looking goofy!

Sooooooo cute!!!

Roasting a pig!!!

Looks kind of gross but tasted yummy!

Cooking Nshima isn't for a weak woman!

We are definitely all about Green here!

We had a huge awesome bonfire completed with amazing singing...

The dedication was on Saturday morning. Tim is here speaking to the 90 or so gathered.

I was the M.C.!

And I have a beautiful wife.

Glenn Ripley and I!

After the dedication, we spend some time praying before we laid the plague down in the Ripley Center.

The choir was amazing!!!

Pastor's Conference

2011-08-15T09:30:00.001-07:00

I wanted to say a huge, huge, huge thank you for all those who prayed for
this pastor's conference. It was a significant, special time for all that
participated and attended the conference. We spoke on the gospel and how it
transforms us, daily, from the inside out... I was the Master of Ceremonies
the first day, and opened the conference by comparing the gospel to air.
When we are born and we take our first breath so we can live. But, after
that first breath, we don't stop breathing. The same air that gave us life
is the same air that gives us life. The gospel is air to our lives. Each
talk was built around this theme on how to apply the gospel to our lives.
Glenn Ripley and Bruce Gallaher each spoke twice and Tracy and I each spoke
once. My talk on the second day was on the glory of God and how to live for
the glory of God and not for the glory of others. Anyway, thank you for
praying...

Tracy and Derek sharing about the HIV/AIDS ministry.

The attenders...

Tyler, Tim and Tracy - The three T's!

Bruce Gallaher did a great job!

And me being my animated self!

Dayzed

2011-08-12T00:22:00.000-07:00

You could make my day by reading about my day. It was such a crazy day that I don't even want to relive it and I know it would take forever to write about it... So I am utilizing the work of my friend and former intern and soon to be partner in ministry, Tyler. (But more on that later)

It started at 5:15ish, when I sat down with my wife for a morning time in the Bible to have the power go out... At 5:15 it is still dark, so we got our kindles and prayed. Thankfully the coffee was already done, but no power meant no hot showers.

And then the day went like this (as written by Tyler):

What a day. A day in Zambia is as unpredictable as Wall Street and I experienced the ups and downs today.

The Good – one of our pastor’s (Patson) mom has been having incredible pain in her eye. Steve and I took Patson and his parents to the eye doctor. I was trying to wonder what this old woman, who was in obvious pain, was thinking as she was driven around in some mzunugu’s (white person’s )car. We took her to the eye clinic where there was literally, a slow lane – cost to enter 30,000 kwacha or about $6 – and a fast lane – cost to enter 150,000 kwacha or $30. Talk about two-tiered healthcare….Obviously, the slow – aka the poor – lane was packed and they could have waited all day and still not been helped, so I paid the $30 plus a little for extra medicine. Since Steve and I weren’t in the room with her we don’t know what exactly was the problem but it is an eye infection. Please pray for healing.

The Bad – Steve took me to a place where a guy could unlock my iPhone which was downtown. Parking is scarce and it’s dangerous to leave your car alone, so a grassroots industry has started, where guys will direct you to a parking space and protect it for a dollar or so. Well, where there is a place to make a buck, there is a place to scam another buck, so what Steve and I found out was that the “parking attendant” and the parking police have a nice system going for you. The parking guy directs you to a spot where you are told to park. You go in, run your errands and come out to see a traffic boot on your wheel because you parked in an illegal spot. Not only is the parking attendant not around to defend you or take blame for it, when you fork over the cash to get out you see him and the parking police guy laughing together. Well played sir, well played.

The Ugly – One of our errands today was to stop by and visit with one of Steve’s pastors, Bruce, and talk about Ciyanjano. Steve told me that they recently got a tent to have church in. Zambians are very particular about their churches. They believe that the better the physical amenities are, the better the church will be. So, if a church doesn’t have a cement floor, or bad pews they will not come. Bruce’s tent was in a prime spot on the corner of 2 major roads with new houses being built all around them. This tent was great and new people were coming from all over, the potential was amazing.

So as Steve and I drove up I noticed 2/3rd of the roof was gone and the walls were made from black plastic tarp. Something didn’t look right. Steve said that someone had stolen the fabric for the walls but they have been recovered by the police. Bruce met us there at the church site a few minutes later and he said last night thieves came and cut off the bottom of the roof and ripped the top off. To say we were devastated would be a gross understatement. We stood there in utter silence, the only sound was the torn plastic flapping pathetically in the wind as if to taunt us. It was a sucker punch to the soul. As Bruce began to cry I could not imagine what he was going through. The 4 grand it took to buy the tent was donated by a church in the US and for the Zambians to raise that much money it would take a miracle.

Talking to him about the situation not once did he complain about what he was going to do, how was he going to feed his family, or how was he going to pay for the medical costs for his pregnant wife. As a pastor his only income is dependent on the meager donations from his church and if people stop coming because the tent was stolen he’s not going to have any income.

Please pray for Bruce and his church. He is an amazing, kind hearted spirit, with a gift for pastoring people. Pray that God would guide them through this extremely difficult time and a solution would be provide.

AND,

Back to Steve

That didn't include our water going out because I was a whopping 16 days late paying the bill, costing us k100,00 reconnection fee (thankfully it came back on later after paying the bill) and the power going out again later that night...

I hadn't had a day like this in awhile. It was a good thing Tyler was with me, as he prepared to move back here after he has raised his full support. Check out his blog here to learn more about his journey. All in all, we survived. Just thought it would make my day if

Sweet Reunion

2011-08-09T11:10:00.001-07:00

I know I have written a lot about Patson Sakala but in essence, what I have
written is hardly enough. He is such a interesting guy with so many
interesting life experiences. And, the stories, well, they just keep
writing themselves. In this chapter, I am showing you pictures of his
parents. I guess that it isn't too interesting except that he hasn't seen
his mom in 22 years or his dad in 10 years. So, in essence, Patson
introduced his mom to his children and his wife. Crazy, huh? She is here
from Mozambique for an eye problem. So, when Andy and Beth Rice were her
visiting, we went over and prayed with them. The picture of Patson with his
uh, brother. (He is the son of his father and his other wife. So what do you
call that?)

Sunday church visiting

2011-08-07T12:23:00.000-07:00

I took Bruce and Glenn to three churches this morning of pastors in our program that Glenn had worked with when he first began the Bible school program, some 11 years ago. I took along Kamryn and Bradyn for the fun, sweet and joyful ride.

Patson is showing Glenn and Bruce the progress that Trader's Point Church made on his church during their short term trip here a month ago.

Say Nshima!

Love having my girls join me at churches like this!

Glenn wasted no time in his preaching... Amazingly gifted as a preacher.

The church was all ears and eyes!

We then went to Alfred's church.

Thought this was funny... The two tall Mzungus in the front!

It is very cultural and traditional that the "honored" guests sit in the front!

Glenn greeted the church and Bruce preached a great message on love.

Kam, Bray posing with Pastor Alfred and his wife Setilda.

This is Obey Mwanza, the grandson of Alfred. It is a significant because Obey's mom and little brother both died, leaving him technically an orphan, but he is cared for by Alfred and Setilda. I try to love on Obey whenever I can...

The last stop was visiting Pastor Peter and his church in Garden. (and of course, little Steve in Peter's arm.)

Martin, a pastor in our program (yellow jacket) was also one of the first pastors in Glenn's class, way back when it first started.

There were about 20 street children who joined us in the service. Dirty, malnourished, unsightly - it was wonderful to have them in there as Glenn preached another good message and really tried to love and focus on these kids during his preaching.

I am not sure if you can see the color of this girl's hair, but it is a reddish brown, which means she is malnourished. So sad...

Bruce is amazing in his ability to connect with the people in the church, both in his speaking and his care for each person.

Glenn sharing with the pastors about life and trials... Good morning had by all!!!!

Graduating

2011-08-07T11:13:00.000-07:00

We had a Veritas discipleship course graduation on Saturday. These graduates
were all trained by Patson who was trained by Tracy and myself. My
encouragement during this graduation was to keep it going, to train other
and pass on the learning! It was a sweet time of singing, and rejoicing in
the completion of another module. There were two who completed the first
module and received a Bible. There were four who finished module 2 and there
was one who finished module 3. All in all, a great time of celebrating!

Welcome back home.

2011-08-05T11:58:00.000-07:00

Welcome home, Glenn! The founder of ACTION Zambia, Glenn Ripley arrived today for a ten day visit with his pastor, Bruce Gallagher. They are here among other things to speak at a pastors conference that we are hosting on Monday and Tuesday. Glenn is also the guest of honor for the dedication ceremony of the Ciyanjano Camp and Ripley Center. It was great to see him today. Glenn is the main reason why we came to Zambia so we owe him much for this life-changing four years of our lives. It will be great to show him all the fruit of his many years of sacrificial sowing over the next 10 days. He had only one request, to hear the men sing a worship song... He got his wish and I got it on video. Well worth a 27 second watch!

Watching the sunset

2011-08-05T10:01:00.001-07:00

Sometimes, you have to do whatever you have to do to see the sunset. Our
neighbors, Melody and Ruella, joined Kam, Bradyn and Julia in the tree near
sundown. Watching and wishing were Rho and Jo at the bottom of the tree.
And, grandparents, yes this was a one and done experience:)

Visiting friends

2011-08-03T10:00:00.000-07:00

I spend the day with Andy and Beth Rice from Virginia last Monday. They are
here checking out the ministry and praying about how Zambia might fit into
their future. I introduced them to a couple of pastors on Monday as we
visited their schools and homes. Because Beth is a teacher, I wanted to
show her how my pastors are doing what they can to provide schools for
vulnerable children in their neighborhoods. I included a couple of kids
that were hanging around us to just give you an idea of how dirty and
discouraging it is to see children with no school, no clothes and nothing to
do all day and then to contrast that with kids who are in school, learning.
I also wanted to show you little Steve:)

Adoption Party

2011-08-02T10:27:00.000-07:00

We celebrated the official adoptions of Mutale and Ethel to Kelly and Tricia
Huckaby out at Ciyanjano last week. And not just us and them but a ton of
little Zambians from the girls former orphanage! It was a full party and a
lot of fun for all...

Bless me!

2011-08-02T01:55:00.001-07:00

I preached at Grace Baptist Church yesterday, a church pastored by one of the students in our class. I have been there before and confessed my sin of this being one of my favorite churches to attend. They are such joyous believers, dancing, singing, and enjoying each other and their God. I slipped in the back and so I was able to really enjoy this with them not even knowing I was there. There is a great mix of old and young in this church and they really exude a love for the Lord. Emmanuel Simuyemba, the pastor, is a great man and so I am not surprised that if his flock models him, they will turn out solid. I preached on blessing. But before I share my message in this blog, I wanted to share a funny little story. I printed out my message and then realized I could just email to my kindle. So, I did. And grabbed my kindle and off I went. The only problem was that I didn’t turn on my kindle to download the email. So, when I got to the church and turned on my kindle, there was nothing there. And I didn’t bring the printed paper. So, what did I do? Well, I turned on my kindle app on my Iphone. But, that didn’t work either. I then opened up gmail on my Iphone, opened the desktop version, and went to sent mail and YES!!! So I copied the email to my Iphone notes program and voila, problem solved!

Anyway, Pastor Simuyemba wanted me to speak on giving, so I did, in kind of a sneaky way.

I asked if they wanted blessing and they all said yes... I told them that I also like blessings. In Zambia, the prosperity gospel is very, very prosperous leaving many souls impoverished and empty bank accounts even emptier. I recognized how we normally think of blessed as being a big house, big car, and lots of money. But, I said, that is not a biblical definition of being blessed.

I then told a story of a woman who was unlawfully pregnant, called a prostitute, her son a bastard child his whole life and her fiancé wanted to leave her. And she said, "I am most blessed." BLESSED? I then said, that was Mary! She wasn't blessed according to the world, but she was blessed because she was full (literally) of God.

I then asked, "What is blessing?

The greek word is Makários which means Blessed, possessing the favor of God, that state of being marked by fullness from God.

I like that definition... being marked by fullness from God.

Here are some more definitions.

The believer is indwelt by the Holy Spirit because of Christ and as a result should be fully satisfied no matter the circumstances.

Makários differs from the word “happy” in that the person is happy who has good luck (from the root hap meaning luck as a favorable circumstance).

Makários is the one who is in the world yet independent of the world. His satisfaction comes from God and not from favorable circumstances.

Hmm... So I said, “You can be blessed without looking blessed and those who look blessed might not be blessed. In fact, financial “blessing” can often keep people from experiencing true blessedness. In the Old Testament, blessing was material. Here in the new testament, it is the ability to be blessed apart from external circumstances.

2. Where does blessing comes from?

Romans 4:7-8 - 7“Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. 8Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him.”

Blessing comes from being forgiven of your sins and having your sins forgiven in such a way that they will never be counted against you!

John 20:28-29 - 28Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” 29Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Jesus said that those who believe even when they do not see God are blessed.

Luke 11:27-28 - 27As he said these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!” 28But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”

Jesus also said, those who hear and keep the word of God are blessed.

1 Peter 3:14 - 14But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened.”

If we suffer for what is right we will be blessed.

James 1:12 - 12Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

And if we persevere in trials, we will be blessed.

Luke 6:22 - 22Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.

We are even blessed when men hate us because of Jesus.

That is quite a different way to look at blessing then most preachers here in Zambia seem to preach (and Americans seem to read, alsoJ)

I then told a story a pastor’s wife who in one year lost a grandson, a daughter, almost her own life and her husband’s entire capital and tools to theft. I saw her at the end of that year and asked how she was doing. She said, “I’m blessed.”

To live a blessed life is different than what we think of when we are wanting to be blessed.

A blessed life is one where rewards are eternal, secure and independent of earthly life...

Giving – if blessing is not getting, than where do we find blessing? After all of that teaching on this word “blessed” I then busted out the kicker!

Acts 20:34-35 - 34You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. 35In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”

We get blessing when we give.

I then read them these passages:

2 Corinthians 8:9 ⁹For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.

2 Corinthians 9:6-11 - ⁶Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. ⁷Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. ⁸And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. ⁹As it is written: “He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.” ¹⁰Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. ¹¹You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.

In the Old Testament, they were commanded to give 10%. But in the New Testament, no such figure is given. Instead we are commanded to so generously, cheerfully, in our own heart. And when we give, we are promised that God will give us back more so that we are able to give more. By faith, we give, get and give some more, and all the while, amassing BLESSING! Why do we cheerfully give? Because we are blessed!!! Who doesn’t want to be full of God!

If you want to be more blessed, give away your money, your time, your faith...

Of course there was more in there than just that, but that was the gist of the message. I think they appreciated the challenge. I know I did.

Culture capturing

2011-08-01T06:27:00.001-07:00

More fun with Rho and Jo!