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.



Saturday, March 30, 2013

Lesson from my "differant"day

This past Wednesday was just differant.

Do you know what I mean?
Do you ever have one of those "differant" days?

You know, the kind of days when things are just, 
I don't know "not normal",
just "differant"?

Every once in a while I have one of  those days.

Sometimes they just seem to pass by, 
but mostly I think they are "differant" 
because something during that day made it memorable.

Wednesday seemed to be a normal day.
I got up,
did my devotions,
household chores,
made some phone calls,
studied my Zulu,
prepared for my discipleship lesson,...
...normal Wednesday things.

Then I did my rounds of picking up the kids for discipleship.

During discipleship, I was amazing as we reviewed, 
with what the children were remembering.

It just encourages you to see spiritual growth in children.

We really had a wonderful and productive time.

Don't you just love those times when you meet together with believers 
and noone wants to leave, because you all feel like a family?

That is how our group feels about one another.  
It is truly a blessing!  A small jewel from Heaven.

Oh, I forgot to mention that at the end of the Bible lesson,
a teen boy talked with me about assurance of salvation.
He realized that he was saved, but not growing.

After, discipleship, the whole group walked out to my car.
In a matter of seconds it was full of the first batch of children to take home.

As I got in and started the engine, I noticed a group of people standing around the shop where I was parked.

Normally, that many people are not there.  
What a great opportunity!

Being the only "umlungu" (white person) in the area,
people always notice me.
I smile and greet them in Zulu.

This time as they looked at me, 
I felt the opportunity to give them some Gospel tracts and John & Romans.

I turned the car (full of kids) off,
opened my trunk,
and got out all of the literature I had.

Wouldn't you know,
it was exactly enough for each of them!

After talking a little in my broken Zulu with them,
I got back in the car to take the waiting children home.

Just as I was getting ready to pull away,
Londiwe reminded me that I promised that teen boy I talked with, a Bible.

Turning the car off again,
I went to the trunk of my car and handed him a new Bible of his very own.
He was happy that he could now read his very own Bible.

Finally, I got back in the car and drove the first batch of kids
 down the hill to where they lived.

On the way down the hill,
one of the girls asked me for some tracts.
I told her that I had given them all out.

But then, I remembered that I had a stash of English tracts
 in my glove compartment.
I told her I only had English.
She smiled and asked for some.
I gave her and some of the other kids some to hand out.

I really wasn't thinking about what I had just done before taking them home.
I was wondering why she was asking for tracts all of a sudden.

After dropping those kids off, I went back for the rest.

On our way home, we saw people carrying the tracts 
that I had just given to the kids.
They were handing them out to their friends and neighbors.

I guess my mind was so busy with what I needed to do 
to get the kids home safely.
It wasn't till I got home and had a chance to reflect on the day's events,
that I realized what had happened.

Earlier, when I stopped to give the tracts and John & Romans to the people at the shop and also when I stopped again to give the Bible to the teen boy,  
I had forgotten.

What had I forgotten?
I had forgotten that I was being watched.

Watched by who?
A car packed with Zulu children.
They had listened to me teach them during discipleship - 
how to grow in the Lord,
how to explain salvation to others,...

Now they were like a captive audience.
They watched me stop everything to reach out to lost souls in need of a Savior.

I wasn't even thinking about them watching.

I had been so focused on reaching out to the people,
 that I didn't realize that I was teaching those children by my actions.

Thankfully, my actions were Christ-like.

What a powerful lesson I had learned that day. 
God has really used the fact that those kids saw what I was doing 
and they wanted to mimic my Christ-liness.

It was not their Bible teacher they wanted to be like,
they were reflecting what I did - reaching out in Christ's love,
because I was reflecting His love to others.

God's love in our lives is so powerful.

I love the passages in John where it talks about God's love being perfected in us.
I John 4:12 "...If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, 
and His love is perfected in us."

God's love is perfected in us when we, who are undeserving of God's love, 
reach out to others who are also undeserving of our & God's love.

It is God's love working in us that empowers us to love the unlovely.

What are children seeing in your life?

I know this particular event on this "differant"day really made me think.

How about you?




Friday, March 15, 2013

My 34th Birthday



A week before my birthday
this great big envelope and a few other things came in the mail for me.

I was so excited!
My mom told me I could not open any more mail until my birthday
("Oh, mom, why did you have to say that?" Mom knows I love surprises).


It was so hard because I walked past them all the time.
The night before my birthday, I hung the bithday banner
(that is a tradition my mom started when I was growing up).
I was so tempted to open just one card the night before,
but then I remembered what I promised my mom.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okay, I am going to be honest with you.  the week before my birthday, I kind of had one of my meltdowns about turning 34.  Maybe it was a little bit more like a pity party than a melt down.

GINA"S DEFINITIONS:
              "melt down" - involves anxiety, bouts of crying, pitifulness, helplessness,     
                                  the feeling of being over whelmed, ....
              "pity party" - booo hoo, I am still single, poor me, what is wrong with     
                                 me; may involve the overwhelming longing for a husband 
                                 and children and/or the overwhelming need for snacking 
                                 (always seems to help :)). 

(I'm sure you've never felt that way.)

As I wrestled with myself about turning another year older and being without those things I desired, I thought of this verse -

Jeremiah 29:11
" For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end."

When I was a teenager, I thought that when I was in my 30's I would be married to a godly man and be raising a brood of children.  After all, when my mother was my age she had a 10 year old and an 8 year old.  
Do you ever sometimes wonder, why the Lord has not given you the desires of your heart?  Sometimes I ask Him just that.  I even quote that verse back to Him.  I may say something like this - "Lord, in Psalm 37:4 You say, 'Delight thyself also in the Lord: and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart.'  Lord, I do my best to walk in Your power and to delight in You.  This is Your promise, Lord.  I know You keep your promises, so I will keep trusting, but Lord, I want You to know it is hard for me to trust You to keep this specific promise, because I have waited so long."


Now you know I am human and struggle with many of the things that you also struggle with.  Usually after I have a talk with the Lord and He encourages me with His Word, I am ready to move on.

Now, about my birthday - - -

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So many of you have asked me "What did you do on your birthday?"

I decided that I would not just tell you, but also show you.






Very early, on my birthday morning, I went out to my favorite place to spend some time with my favorite person- the Lord!







After my quiet time and a cup of coffee, I opened the long-awaited package.




As you can see, the envelope was full of birthday greetings from home.
WHAT A BLESSING!
It was like receiving my very own party!
Each card and letter was so very special.

They contained birthday greetings, but each was personalized with kind and encouraging words, Bible verses, poems, hand drawn pictures from some praying children, pictures & a card with foot prints from my cat (Buddy) that I left behind, letters with news from home, devotional papers, short stories, picture of friends and family,.....

I think it took about 2 hours to open all of those cards.  What a tremendous blessing!  It felt like each person was here with me to talk for a while on my birthday - THANK YOU!

As most of you ladies know, housework and daily routine does not stop for your birthday.




There was laundry to hang...






       ...dishes to do...

... and school to get ready for.


Do I look another year older???               How about now????

Then I drove down to the city of Durban to go to my Zulu class.



This is the university I attend - Howard College, a division of UKZN
(University of Kwa-Zulu Natal).



On the way home I picked up some groceries...


... then, had a special birthday dinner with my fellow missionaries - the Kilmers.


They took me to a delicious seafood restaurant - YUM!


After our dinner together,  I went home to finish making my birthday cake.
I made my favorite - chocolate with peanut butter icing.


As I iced each layer and put the cake together, 
I thought about the 34 years of my life that the Lord had given me.
My life was like these layers.
Since salvation I had built my life on God's Word.

Yes, there have been hard times (and there will continue to be).
Times when I felt like my life was falling apart
or like I cannot be delicious to God,
but yet He continued to love me 
and make me that "delicious" person He wanted me to be.
Psalm 34:8 "O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in Him."


I thank the Lord for all He has done in my life.


It was a blessing to reflect on all He has shown me 
and ways He has been with me during the trials of life.


Thank you also to all the family friends, 
and supporters -----


--- for making this birthday---


---a very memorable one!


You have truly ministered to me in WORD & DEED!!!