Where in the World is ZAMBIA? and 10 Facts about ZAMBIA

Yes, Zambia is on the continent of Africa

(please tell me you knew that).

As you can see, the country of Zambia is located in 

what is considered Southern Africa.

Zambia is further North than I was serving before.

Since it is closer to the equator and inland, 

the climate will be more tropical.

As you can see, Zambia is landlocked by the 7 bordering countries of:

NAMIBIA, ANGOLA, REPUBLIC OF CONGO (ZAIRE),

TANZANIA, MALAWI, MOZAMBIQUE, and ZIMBABWE.

10 Facts about ZAMBIA-

1. Zambia is slightly larger than Texas
2. The nearest ocean is 600 miles away
3. Zambia’s name comes from the Zambezi River.                                                  Zambezi is from a local word yambezhi “heart of all”
    
4. Northern Zambia is FULL of beautiful waterfalls
   
5. From November to April, Zambia experiences severe rainstorms                            (the equivalent to the Asian monsoon)
6. Zambia is considered to be tropical”
7. Zambia has a mild climate, rarely reaching 35 degrees C (95 degrees F)
8. Termite hills in Zambia often “grow” to be as big as a cottage
   
9. One mushroom native to Zambia grows nearly a yard in diameter,                        making it the world’s largest
   
10. Livingstone was Zambia’s first capital

 Come back tomorrow for 10 more facts about Zambia!!!

Going to Zambia!!!

        I am excited to share with you that I will be going to Zambia!!!

          For the last few months, I have spent much time in fasting and prayer, in communication with the Adam Rich family, and in meetings with my pastor and his wife.  The Lord has shown each of us that it is His will for me to join the ministry at Independant Baptist Church in Kabwe, Zambia.

          I greatly appreciate your prayers and support while I was seeking the Lord for direction and also now as I do much preparation to help in a new ministry.  I have posted some new prayer requests to the right and for the next 20 or so days, I will try to post something new about Zambia every day so that you can catch the burden I have for the Zambian people.

 "I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: 

I will guide thee with Mine eye."        ~ Psalm 32:8

Home on Furlough

Dear Praying Friends & Family,         
            By now, most of you have received a letter to let you know that I have come home from South Africa on a furlough.  The ministry that I was helping with no longer needed me.    I have made many inquiries and have visited other ministries.  By the counsel of my pastor,    I have come home to seek the Lord on His clear direction of where to go next, meanwhile, serving at my local church, getting some further training to be even more effective on the mission field, etc...  My heart is in Africa and I know these few months will fly by till I can go back there to serve.  I would appreciate your prayers!
                                                                               In His Service,
                                                                                   Gina A. Frey

ZAMBIA : Visiting in the bush

One morning, We headed out of town into the bush

to visit a family from church.

Some of the roads in Zambia are paved, while others are dirt.

Some people walk,

others ride bicycle,

some drive a homemade donkey cart,

and others drive (like we did).

The road conditions in Kabwe are very bad.

Below is a video I took while driving in the bush.

Sometimes, you have to stop and ask for directions.
Without proper addresses for the people you are visiting,
you have to ask if they know where "so and so" lives.
A little while later, we found a woman who knew the lady we were visiting.
She walked in front of us to show us where she lives.

Faith, one of the faithful woman from Independent Baptist church,

speaks in Bemba to the woman of the house.

(Bemba is the official language of the Bemba people.  

Although it shares the same root family of the Bantu language as Zulu,

 it is VERY differant.)

Carole speaks to the daughter of the house.
She had not been attending church recently.
We found out during this visit that she was not coming to church,
because she had no shoes to wear.
This was an easy problem to fix,
we found shoes to give to her so that she could attend church again.

Even little Hazel likes to visit with the Bemba people.

This is a typical Bemba kitchen.

Carole & Faith do a wonderful job visiting the ladies.

It was a blessing for me to go along with them and to see 

how the people in this part of Africa live.

Please pray for the missionaries & people from the

Independent Baptist Church in Kabwe

as they visit people in town and in the bush.

Visiting a Ministry in Zambia

With my ministry in Durban, South Africa coming to a close,

my pastor and deacons recommended that I travel to Zambia

 to see another ministry.

So I went to visit Pastor Adam and Carole Rich 

on January 20-Febrary 3rd to see their ministry

at Independent Baptist Church in Kabwe, Zambia.

Kabwe is known for its lead and zinc deposits. 

There are over 203,000 people living in Kabwe,

which makes a perfect location for Independent Baptist Church.

The church is close to the center of town.

Here is a video of what you might see while driving through Kabwe.

The church owns this brown building.

Outside the church auditorium.

PREACHING MINISTRY

NURSERY MINISTRY

Church Nursery sometimes has 26 babies & toddlers in it.

SUNDAY SCHOOL

Taking attendance as the children arrive.

On this Sunday, there were around 196 kids in attendance.

BAPTISM SERVICE

Along with regular church services,

Independent Baptist Church has a productive visitation ministry.

They meet every Saturday afternoon to pray 

and go out to visit others in the community.

The church also has a vision to start a Christian school in 2015.

Please pray that the Lord will provide the finances, administration,

 and teachers to make this possible.

Also pray with me, as I seek the Lord concerning where He wants me to serve.

***Be sure to look for more posts about my visit to Zambia including:

-visiting in the bush

-life on a farm in Zambia

Life Lessons from Living in South Africa:The Mist

There is a natural phenomenon that happens in my area.

It creeps up on you and then you can't see a thing.

This natural phenomenon is what we Hillcrestians call "The Mist".

This "mist" does not occur anywhere else in Durban, 

but when you get to Hillcrest you see it.

It might be a very beautiful. clear day with not a cloud in site.

Then, you can feel the weather shift rapidly.

You look out your window and see this.

Here it comes!

Once it has arrived, the "mist" makes it hard to see anything.

The "mist" reminds me of how satan attacks us sometimes.

Life can be going well, but then all of a sudden a "mist" rolls in.

The "mist" (satan's attack), makes it hard to see through the darkness.

This attack seems to cover our life making it feel dark and dreary.

Praise God for His Word to light our path!  

Use God's Word to help you  and lead you through the hard times!

Recently, while reading my devotions, 

the Lord made the following verse stick out to me:

 "For thou wilt light my candle: 

the LORD my God will enlighten my darkness." 

Psalm 18:28

Life Lessons from Living in South Africa: Growing or not?

I have struggled with my gardens while living in South Africa.

My friend, Bethany, & I planted the garden 

only a month after I moved here in 2012.

After that, it began to grow and flourish.

Add caption

Then the predators began to come.

The monkeys would steal the tomatoes, potatoes, and even eat some flowers.

Mama monkey carrying baby

They would uproot my root vegetables, leaving the half eaten carrots on top.

~~~

As a missionary, my goal is to share the Gospel, 

lead people to Christ and help them grow in their spiritual walk.

My garden often reminds me of the spiritual growth in 

myself and the South African ladies that the Lord has put into my life.

The Gospel was planted & watered.

The seed took root and appears to be growing.

~~~

A little while ago, I was sitting in the front room studying for my Zulu class.

I briefly looked out the window to see a monkey thief 

pulling out all of my beautiful carrots.

I ran to the window and clapped my hands to chase it away.

Then, I returned to my studies.

After a few minutes, movement from the window caught my eye again.

That monkey came back to pull more carrots out.

This time I got up and opened the veranda door and threatened him 

with a shovel in my hand.

He calmly looked at me, grabbed a few more carrots, 

and climbed back up on the roof.

I was frustrated with that bad monkey by this time.  

My carrots were not as big as I wanted them to be,

so I was not ready to dig them out yet.

After mumbling a few words about how I wanted to kill those pesty monkeys,

I sat down to continue my studies.

Just as I sat down, I saw that the monkey thief

 had already returned to the carrot patch.

That was it!

I had to do something more permanent about it!

No, I did not kill the monkey.

(It is illegal to do that here.)

I bent down and picked up all of the uneaten carrots 

that the monkey had pulled out.

Then I dug out all of the rest.

~~~

Although, the carrots were all planted at the same time,

I immediately saw the drastic difference in their growth.

This reminded me of the difference in the spiritual growth

 of myself and those around me.

Everything may look the same of the outside, 

but it is what is below the surface that God is concerned about.

Week after week, I have invested in the spiritual growth of others

 by teaching Bible Studies and discipleship courses.

Yet, there is an apparent difference in the growth rate of each individual.

This life lesson from my garden reminded me that 

there are hindrances in each of our lives to spiritual growth.  

It is our duty as Christians to go before the Lord 

in prayer asking Him to examine our hearts, 

cleanse us with His Word, and help us to grow as He sees fit.

It is not the rate with which we grow that is as important as 

the fact that we ARE growing!