WELCOME !

Welcome friends, old and new, known and unknown! It has been my desire to share with you how the Lord is working in my life as I serve the Lord on the mission field of Kabwe, Zambia. There is an old black and white movie called The African Queen. It is about a boat that travels down river. This blog is not about a boat. It is however, about my travels on the mission field of Kabwe, Zambia. By the way, did you know that my name means queen. For many years I have been burdened for souls in Africa. That is why some of my friends call me African Queen.



Sunday, February 26, 2012

Zulu Music

Karen & Don Kilmer
Don and Karen Kilmer are the missionaries I will be serving with in South Africa.
Karen and I were catching up with each other the other week on Skype. 
Skype from Pinterest.com
 She was telling me that Don was preparing for his Sunday sermon.
I asked her what she was working on.
Karen said that the passage that Don was preparing to preach on
 involved some verses about music.
Busi Mhlongo, known as the Queen of modern Zulu music
It is hard to provide the Zulus with godly music.
There is so much wordly music available to them.
Even the "Christian" Zulu music sounds like the world's music.

However, Karen did find a website with free downloadable Zulu music 
that is pleasing to the Lord.
"Free" is a missionary's  favorite price (I know it is mine).
Karen was making a few CD's to pass on to some of the people.

Keep in mind, that our electricity is not always on,
not everyone in the village has electricity or a way to play a CD, 
but also that a number of the people work in places where they have access to a CD player
 (as an added benefit, others will hear the songs of glory to God played for them to hear). 
Karen & Don talking with a Zulu kid
What a great way to support what her husband is preaching 
and to be a blessing to those who truly want to honor the Lord in thier music!

Below, I have placed the links for you to hear the Zulu & English version of a song.
They are sung by a South African group.
(Just click on the link to listen.)



 Colossians 3:16
 "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly 
in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord."

Latest Prayer Letter

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Friday, February 24, 2012

My Faithful Prayer Warriors

 I am so thankful for all of the people who hold me up in prayer.
Some of the dearest people to me are those who don't have much, 
but choose to give for the furtherance of the Gospel.

After hearing about a few youth groups and Sunday School classes that have taken me on for support, the 4&5 yr olds from my Master's Club class have decided that they too could support me for $5.oo a month.

You may say, $5.oo, how can that help a missionary?
I might reply, "Every little bit helps". 
That may seem a very simple answer, but it is very true.
Do you realize that if 500 people would pledge just $5.oo 
like these little children, that would cover all of my support 
needed for the mission field ($2,300per month).
Many times we do not give financially to our church or our missionaries because we think that what God has led us to give is very insignificant.


These little ones have given thier best.



Every week they look at the map on thier classroom wall.
 They pray for the Zulu people, 
that Miss Gina's support will grow so she can go,
for my saftey as I travel,
for the churches I am visiting to catch the burden for South Africa,
and many other pure hearted requests.

Each of the children are excited when I am able to attend thier class on Wednesday nights.  They want to personally hand me thier pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters (which usually come with a hug).
Ryan, is such a playful little boy, but is always 
ready to reciprocate any love that you share back to you.  
Last week, as he hugged me, he said, "I hope you get to Africa soon".
Jessica, is a talkative and very busy little girl.
She is always so inquisitive and ready to talk about everything,
including South Africa.

Evelyn, is such a joy to have in class.  
Her smile and happy nature are so fun and refreshing.
She is always ready to learn new memory verses.
Every time I see her, she comes over to me with a few cents in her hand.
With a smile she gives her "best" to me and says,
"Is this enough for you to go to South Africa?"
What simple faith!

Truman, has a sweet heart.
He truly cares about the needs of others.
When we have prayer time, he faithfully prays for 
"his daddy's job to not be too stressful".
I can only imagine how sincere his prayers are for me.

Eric, was quiet when he first came to our class.
Now he fits in as "one of the boys".
He refused to smile for this picture because he wanted to be silly.
I love having him as a part of our class!

As Ryan worked with Jessica on her verses,

 and as the teachers worked with their students
on memory verses, I was again reminded about how blessed 
I was to be one of the teacher in this little class.
They are my faithful prayer warriors!

There is a song that we some times sing called, 
Give of Your Best to the Master.
These little ones are giving thier best to Him.

GIVE OF YOUR BEST TO THE MASTER
by Howard B. Grose 1902

  1. Give of your best to the Master;
    Give of the strength of your youth;
    Throw your soul’s fresh, glowing ardor
    Into the battle for truth.
    Jesus has set the example,
    Dauntless was He, young and brave;
    Give Him your loyal devotion;
    Give Him the best that you have.
    • Refrain:
      Give of your best to the Master;
      Give of the strength of your youth;
      Clad in salvation’s full armor,
      Join in the battle for truth.
  2. Give of your best to the Master;
    Give Him first place in your heart;
    Give Him first place in your service;
    Consecrate every part.
    Give, and to you will be given;
    God His beloved Son gave;
    Gratefully seeking to serve Him,
    Give Him the best that you have.
  3. Give of your best to the Master;
    Naught else is worthy His love;
    He gave Himself for your ransom,
    Gave up His glory above.
    Laid down His life without murmur,
    You from sin’s ruin to save;
    Give Him your heart’s adoration;
    Give Him the best that you have.





Honour the Lord with thy substanceand with the firstfruitsof all thine increase:



Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youthwhile the evil days come not, nor the years draw nighwhen thou shalt sayI have no pleasure in them;


Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Love Is In the Air



Love is literally in the air at my house this week.
One of my favorite things to do is craft something 
out of the supplies I have just lying around.

With Valentines Day being today 
and the girls coming to camp this weekend to learn about 
True Love= Knowing Jesus,
 I decided to make something that would remind us of that Love.

The verse that God has really impressed on my heart lately is the verse below.
1John 4:12 
"No man hath seen God at any time. 
If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, 
and His love is perfected in us."


My love for those around me is far from perfect.  
It is a human love.
God's love is a supernatural love.


His love
breaks all ties,
calms all fears,
gives us boldness when we feel overtaken,
makes us strong when we are weak,
hides our sins in the deepest sea,...
I could go on and on about God's love.


Being single, I do not have anyone who loves me romantically.
God has been everything I ever really needed.
Though I am human and desire a physical love, 
the supernatural and perfect love that God shows to me is the greatest thing that any person could ever have.


He knows the desires of my heart,
my innermost thoughts,
my strengths and my weaknesses,
and yet -
He still loves me more than any other human being ever could.


What love!
How is it exemplified?
By the death of His Only Son 
so that I might be free from the penalty of sin - DEATH!

I John 4:17 shows me that God will perfect my love 
by the way He uses me to glorify Him in this world.
You too can have that 
PERFECT LOVE!

To see instructions on how to make this PERFECT LOVE banner, 
verses, and small hearts click here

Thursday, February 9, 2012

A Lesson in Silence



I have been working on a post that I have written in the course of the last 4 days.  
It has been something that has been deep on my mind and heart.  
Yesterday, I printed it off to proof read it.  You see, I wanted it to say 
exactly what it should say.  
I was very meticulous about making sure no one could read anything into it, 
that is was God-honoring, encouraging to the believers, and an inspiration for us to press on for Christ.  

After days of work, I finally felt it was at the place where I could post it.  
So again I reprinted it.  
The post was 5 pages long with scribbled notes here and there.  
I had some friends read it over.  
They started reading and said to me, "who did you write this too?.  
I said "Oh, I told you I am going to post this on my blog".  
They looked at me and then back at the pages and continued to read.  
"Well, what do you think?", I said.  
"Wow" was their remark.  
"You certainly were honest and brought out the truth, 
but I am not sure that your readers can handle this".  
After a bit of discussion, I decided not to post that article.  
It was too controversial.  

I know, by now you are intrigued and want to know what it was about.  
Well, in a nutshell - I shared my heart.  
The article concerned my disgust with 
the typical Christian singles "victim mentality", 
my personal struggles with being taken seriously as a missionary, 
the joy and peace that God gives you as you serve Him in your singleness, how He is with me in the lonely times, 
encouragement to all woman  to obey and serve God no matter your life situation (married and single), ....  and much more.


As you can see, the subject was very heavy and at times very personal.  Maybe one day I will publish it, but for now -
(as my friends say-) "the world is not ready for it". 
(Ecclesiastes 3:1,7 "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:"..."a time to keep silent and a time to speak.")
This is just not the season.


What made me desire to write such an article? 
The words from the mouth of a fellow missionary 
(kind of like the straw that broke the camel's back) 
gave me the desire to "set the world straight".  
It is sad how even God's people can 
hurt and discourage others with their words.


I know that there are people that I have hurt with my words.  
Lord, forgive me if I have ever been 
negative to Your leading in someone else's life.  
Each of us know how words can hurt.  
May we be sensitive enough to God, 
that we encourage the fellow believers, 
instead of harming them in the name of good.
There were even times in Christ's earthly ministry 
where He was so sensitive to God, 
that He did not even utter a word (Mt 27:12;Mk 15:3).  

God knows that these issues are heavy on my heart.  
Lord, help me to know when it is honoring to You 
that I speak and when to keep silent.

Saturday, February 4, 2012


Bad Buddy Boy!

Since I started this blog, some of you have become Buddy fans.
You are even writing requests to see more pictures of Buddy.

Here they are:
 He may look so cute.
He may even pose in a way that makes you wonder 
how he can contort his body that way.
He may even appear to be helpful at times.

But...

Sometimes he is my bad Buddy boy.
 Like when I come home to find that he pushed all of my card making supplies off the table and onto the floor.

Or when he feels he MUST sleep on this shelf.
Buddy thinks that the candle holder 
is taking up too much space on the shelf so he knocks it off.
Or he might decide that he is not getting enough attention 
so he eats the beads off the lampshade.
 Why does Buddy like to play in the trash?
Will I ever own a shower curtain that does not have claw marks all over it?


He can be very bad, but Buddy is still cute and lovable.
I guess it is just his nature and I love him for it!


You know we can get like that too.
God loves us more than a pet owner or parent,
after all, He gave His only Son for us.
Yet, we choose to be "bad" and sin.
We get into all kinds of things and think that He doesn't know or can't see us.
I wonder if He ever thinks, "When will Gina ever stop doing this?
I tell her over and over in My Word that it is wrong,
 yet she still does it again."


Praise the Lord for His everlasting love for me.
That love is shown everyday in many ways, 
including that He gave me my little Buddy to remind me of that love.