God's People Show That He is Busy Amongst Them

Every country is different.

Some are hit hard, while others still have not been 

fully reached by this pandemic.

Zambia has just begun to see this virus.

A month ago President Edgar Lungu, 

announced that schools and churches are not allowed to meet. 

Our church started sending messages by phone to people 

to encourage them during this time.

Every Sunday, they send us a morning and afternoon sermon to listen to.

Not everyone, of course can listen, because many are poor 

and lack the type of phone to hear the messages 

(believe it or not, people here are still using the old Nokias).

In that case, Scriptures are sent for them to read 

and church people will visit them.

In fact, I am encouraged to hear how the faithful are praying more, reading their Bibles to find answers, and are taking time to call of visit others. 

Most people gather their family and 

neighbours on Sundays to listen together to the preaching.

They sing together, pray together, and listen together.

God is truly reaching people.

It has always been Him and not ourselves that makes people change.

This past Thursday was the first time we were allowed

 to have a small group gather for prayer meeting.

What a blessed time to sing and pray with God's people.

The sincere gratitude in their voices as they expressed praise to 

God for just these few brief moments.

I know God was moved by the hearts of His people.

We continue to only be allowed short, small meetings, but believe me,

 God is still busy.

Matthew 18:20

For where two or three are gathered together in my name, 

there am I in the midst of them.

Philippians 1:6

Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

Every weekday morning I...

Every weekday morning, I pray for the school students'day.

I ask the Lord how I can be the influence that He wants me to be, 

on these precious children.

I ask Him to give me wisdom in knowing how to deal 

with things as they come up.

I ask Him to show me how to assist these children 

in their individualized learning.

 I ask Him if He could give them the desire to learn new things.

I ask Him to bring joy to our classroom.

I ask Him to prepare their hearts for the Scripture 

from each subject, 

that they will be confronted with.

I ask Him for souls to be saved,

the saved to be discipled, 

and for these children to be the next generation at out church.

A Bumpy start to the 2020 School Year

BUMP - In the beginning of December 2019, one of our Zambian school teachers left our church and school.  Later the next week, our missionary pastor and his family left Zambia.

BUMP -That meant that our school went from having 4 full time teachers, to one.

Just me.

It also meant that we had to find a way to make school still available 

to the students we had invested in.

Months earlier, our pastor had decided to downsize from 4 classes, to 2 classes.

How can this be done with only 1 full time teacher?

I prayed and prayed and pleaded with the Lord to give me wisdom.  

BUMP- I could not see how He would allow me to make

 5 children that we had invested in leave.

4 of which, do not come to  our church, so I have been witnessing to their families for years.

After a week of interceeding about the solution to this problem,

God told me what to do. 

Those children would stay in our school.

I had a plan! (which I will share with you in a future post) 

Now that we knew our direction, it was time to plan for school. 

With only 2 of the 4 classrooms needed, we dismantled ALL of the classrooms,

sorted everything, and put everything into the two rooms we would be using.

Luckson and I did all the necessary paper work.

We wanted to make sure that all of our permits were up to date.

Luckson working on permits.

Day after day, we went in to the school preparing for the day when we could finally open.

Miss Jennipher sorting PACES

It was so exciting going in each day.

Alot was getting done and the people worked together as a team to lighten my load.

BUMP - I had so much work that needed to be done.

There were curriculum orders to place.

(FYI- school in Zambia starts in January.  We were a little behind, 

as we did not get permission to start school till January first.)

Files needed to be organized and updated.

PACEs needed to be sorted.

Tea and work make a nice combo

The church became an army of cleaners, organizers, and encouragers

(I honestly do not know how it would have all got done, if it wasnt for them).

Older students painting the desks

After weeks of work, I can say that I truly learned alot about God being my strength, giving me wisdom from above, and the encouragement of serving together as believers.

Classrooms ready for the first day of school.

Praise the Lord that we get to train these children in academics, 

as well as, the things of God!

BUMP - We started school on the first Monday in February, 

but without our school curriculum. It still hasn't arrived.

UPDATE: the school curriculum arrived 2 weeks later.

Choices

I can remember that day, like it was yesterday.  My father took me by the hand. Mother and the other children followed behind, as we walked out into the crowd. 

My little mind did not understand everything that was happening that day. I  knew there was war and talk of war, still my world was filled with familiar things like cooking, cleaning, feeding the livestock.

Even still, I knew that something important was going to happen. I quickly glanced around to see if I could spot some of my friends. Yes, there were some familiar faces. Sadly, after that day, I never saw some of them again.

A hush fell over the crowd, as I heard a voice all too familiar to me. It was an older man whom my father greatly admired. When he spoke, it was with the authority that you could tell was not his own. He spoke about our father Abraham and of Isaac and Jacob. He also spoke of Jehovah in a way that I have only heard few people speak. It was as if he had spoken to God personally.

People around us began talking amongst themselves about what he was saying.
I could tell that he was saying something important, because I felt a change in my father's hand that I was holding.
My thoughts came back to what the man was now saying.

"Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: 

and put away the gods which your fathers served..."

 The whispers stopped. 

My father and a few other men cheered, while others remained shocked and silent.

Now the eyes and ears of the crowd were glued on the speaker. It seemed as if we all knew what would come next was the most important part.

"...choose you this day whom ye will serve;

whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood,

 or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell:

 but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."

It was as if he had drawn a line in the sand. 

We had a choice. 

For my father, it was not a decision he had to think about. He knew that the only One to serve was the God whom he loved.

- - - - - - -

Years have passed since that day.
Many families were happy to choose to serve God, while others reluctantly chose because they knew they should.  Many of those families have died off or become slaves to our enemies as a result of their sins and greed for worldly gain.

My family has survived from generation to generation, because we have learned from our father to put God first. 

They say we will soon be able to enter the Promised Land...

Yes, that day seems like only yesterday, because it was the day our whole lives changed.

- - - - - - -

The previous was a thoughtful, but fictional account taken from Joshua 24.

The day that Joshua challenged the people to choose truly changed their lives. 

What a great challenge for us today!

Joshua challenged the people to turn from their familiar traditions to serve the Lord God.

Our challenge should be the same.

If Joshua had addressed that challenge to me, would I be willing to choose serving God over my family and cultural traditions?

As you ponder that thought, I leave you with the closing remarks from this passage in Joshua.

"And the people said unto Joshua, 

Nay; but we will serve the Lord.

And Joshua said unto the people,

 Ye are witnesses against yourselves that ye have chosen you the Lord, to serve him. 

And they said, We are witnesses.

Now therefore put away, said he, 

the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the Lord God of Israel.

And the people said unto Joshua, The Lord our God will we serve, and his voice will we obey."

Trading Places

This past week,  I was in the church of the woman taking my place on the mission field.  She is there so that I could come to the States to report and rest.

As I was chatting in the hallway to one of the ladies, a little boy came up to greet me. He was the son of the woman I was speaking to.

His mother began telling him that I was the lady from Zambia that Miss Amy went to help. He looked a little confused.

We then told him that another lady had to take Miss Amy's place at their church, so that Miss Amy could take my place in Zambia.

"They traded places", we said.
His face smiled then.

We knew then that he understood what we were saying.

Trading places, living someone else's life- sounds like a movie, doesn't it?

No, it is real!

People all over the world do it, so that God's ministry continues and so that missionaries can do what they are commanded to do.

I looked at the little boy and asked,
"If you could trade places with anyone in the world, who would it be?"

He looked at me and then ran away.
Where did he go?

In a few minutes he returned and said the name of a missionary in the Arctic.

I had expected him to say the name of one of his heroes,  but instead he ran to the missions wall to decide who he might trade places with.

Innocence and sincere love for God are reflected in the heart of that little boy.

His mother and I just looked at each other, knowing that at that moment God planted the seed for the possibility of being a missionary in that little boy's heart.

Let me ask you, "If you could trade places with anyone in the world, who would it be?"

Would it be someone rich and famous?

Would it be with someone who has a nice physic?

Would it be with someone serving the Lord?

Maybe you wouldn't trade, because you are content in God's will for your life right now.

If you are not where God wants you now, then where should you be?

What Makes You Grow?

"Bloom where you are planted",

"Read your Bible, pray everyday
and you'll grow, grow, grow..."

You have probably heard these phrases before, but have you ever thought about how differant plants need differant climates to grow?

African Flame Lily

Take the African Flame Lily, for instance.
I have only ever seen this beautiful flower bloom in the midst of a dry African plain in the wild bush of Zambia.  Such exquisite beauty!

Over seven years ago, when I first started deputation as a missionary to Africa, an experienced pastor shared with me some words of wisdom.

He said, "A number of years ago, my wife and I were young missionaries at a conference with other missionaries.
One of the older veteran missionaries asked me, 'So why are you going to __________?' Before I had a chance to respond, he answered, 'I know that you are going to say that the people of ___________ need to hear about Jesus.'  Again, before I had a chance to respond, he said, 'But isn't it every Christian's duty to tell others about our Saviour?'
He was right, in Matthew 28, Jesus commands all believers to 'GO'!
The seasoned missionary went on to ask another question. 'Did you ever think that God moves His people to differant places to help them to grow?'"
That thought has stayed with me all of these years.  After serving over 5 years now in Africa, I can certainly say that I have grown tremendously because of the things that I have gone through and experienced.  I have only grown in certain spiritual areas of my life, because the Lord has 'planted' me in Africa.
I still live a 'normal' life like you do here- going to church, teaching at school and Sunday School, helping my neighbors and community, telling people about Jesus...all things that a child of God should do, only, I do it in another country.

Have you ever thought that God might be prodding you to be a foreign missionary because He knows you can grow more closely to Him by the things He can only teach you there?

How are you growing?

Where are you growing?

Does God want you to move yourself into His will in order for you to grow?

Are You Available?

Since arriving in the States, there have been a few pockets of time to relax and rest from being on the "front lines".
But mostly, I have been busy,
not even home for a whole week at a time.

Don't get me wrong, part of the reason you come home on furlough is to report to supporters and share the ministry in new churches.
I have really enjoyed the fellowship.

With all of the travel, I am not at my sending church very often. When I am there, I get asked one particular question by at least 5 people each time.
"Are you available to do something with me this week?"

Sometimes I am available, but sometimes I have other things that are top priority to get accomplished.

As I have been pondering missions, I have been thinking about the lack of people who are committed to going out into the "highways and hedges". 
My thoughts took me to the fact that people are really not available.

People are so busy with what they want to do, that they are not available for what God wants them to do.
It may be that people are doing good things like -
working a job to support your family,
traveling out of town to visit family,
going to get groceries,... 
These things are good, but they don't bring souls to Christ.

Could it be the we maybe need to rearrange our schedules, so that we are more available to serve our Saviour?

When a couple is first in love, they will move anything aside to do something for the other.  How does our love for Christ motivate us to arrange our schedule to be availble for the things of God?

On the thought of availability, also comes the qualification to evangelize.
We know that first of all, we must be saved in order to tell others of the Saviour.
I could go on about this, but I would like to focus on the fact that a Christian must be saved, seperated and serving.

How can we start serving if our personal lives are not consecrated (set apart), for our Master's use?

We cannot be used of God if our vessels are not empty, clean and ready to be filled by the Lord.

Do you have a daily, personal walk with the Lord?

Are you growing by learning more about your Saviour, daily confessing sin in your life, and by waiting to hear your Saviour's leading?

What is my attitude toward God-given authority?

Am I listening to the Bible preached by my pastor and obeying the Word that he has preached? (After all, God is the One who gave him that message for me.)

What about service?  Am I willing to serve in my local church?
Am I making myself available to be used by God?

Many in our churches are unavailable.  Why?

Because of sin in thier lives,
because of financial debt that would prevent them from going to a mission field,
because of investing so much time and money in earthly possessions,
because of a weak homelife that is not right with your husband, wife, parents, or children,
because of love of self and money,...

Are you available for God to use you?

If not, what can you do to make yourself more available to God?