Friday, July 27, 2007

Beautifully Reckless




How are you? I am so pleased to announce that I have finished AMT! I graduate tomorrow and I can’t tell you how pleased I am to see all that I have learned in the past three months. It is thanks to you, both your prayers and financial support, that has trained me to be a missionary in the most remote regions.

To finish up our classes, we went out in the remote bush. We went to a village that had been reached for the Gospel but had not been revisited in some time by the outside church. As we walked for five days in these remote areas we were greeted by so many amazing and intriguing questions. Questions like “How can I walk in Spirit and in truth?” and “How can I ask for forgiveness if my neighbor won’t speak to me?” I was so amazing. It reminded me of Paul’s journey to visit the new churches:)

We also held a Pastor’s conference and brought all the local pastors in for a day of teaching and fellowship. We slaughtered a goat and cooked in as a curry and served it with nshima (nshima is the staple dish here in Zambia. It is a corn based substance that provides little nutrition but does fill the belly). I preached on the law and freedom and my fellow classmates preached on hearing the voice of God and the joy of giving to others. The people were screaming and shouting with excitement at the great news that the Gospel is! We saw so many salvations and healings but the most exciting part was the buttressing of the local church.

Now to the business of my whereabouts for the next adventure: I had been seeking God’s will as to where to go next. I thought that I understood that God had said to go to Tanzania. That made me wonder what God was doing because at the time there was no openings for Tanzania anywhere on the horizon. The next day in class the instructors said, without me telling them what God has said to me, that they had been led to open a trip to Tanzania. Wow! So I signed up and they asked me to help lead it, so off I go. We will be focusing on the islands off the coast, namely Zanzibar and Pemba.

A little about these islands: They are 99% Muslim and quite devote. There is a small history of Catholicism there but the Christian world, especially the protestant message of the Gospel, has only recently begun to penetrate. We are going to be working there with a pastor who felt called to come to the islands about 13 years ago when he realized the need there. It is an uphill battle because the areas that are not completely Muslim are heavily into witchcraft. As prior Christians have tried to enter the island of Pemba, the inhabitants waited on the shore and threatened them with both weapons and curses. I am planning on doing some reconnaissance work on Pemba, visiting the churches in Zanzibar, and doing door-to-door evangelism in the rural villages of Zanzibar. I am so excited and amazed that I am going to have this opportunity.

So enough for now:) I have so many more stories to tell! It has been so exciting here and we have seen God work so powerfully both in me and through me! I am constantly learning so much about what it means to be an ambassador for Christ. What an honor! Each time I see the light of the Gospel become real in someone’s life, I thank God for you and your constant prayer for me.

I will be in contact when I arrive in Zanzibar. God Bless and thanks!