UNO!!

Today (Thursday), we spent the day on a water and land safari. It was so relaxing to enjoy the beautiful creation of God and reflect again on the past two weeks. We saw many animals: crocodiles, hippos, birds, lizards, elephants, and giraffes to name a few. It was incredible to see the animals in their natural habitat. We all had a great time together.

As I type tonight, I can’t help but feel bittersweet. These past two weeks have definitely been life-changing to say the least. We came to bless, encourage, and serve; however, we’ve received many blessings, encouragement, and to my surprise, the people serving us in return. I think it’s safe to say, that we are all taking something back in our hearts. As I gaze at my new 8 family members – big brothers, mamas, and a papa – it’s incredible to reflect back on how God brought this team together of different ages, experiences, and backgrounds. Yet despite all the differences God was able to use us as individuals and as a team, together.

Tomorrow we begin our process back home of 3 flights and a 7 hour time difference. Please lift us up in prayer for safe travels home. We want to thank you all for joining us on our journey whether through prayer, thoughts, or just reading along. Since you’ve heard many viewpoints from me (Michelle), I want to encourage you to talk to the other team members, and ask them what they are taking back from Zambia. You never know, you might learn what all these p.s.’s stand for!
Please life up the team in prayer as we will begin to fully process what God is teaching each one of us from our experience.

I leave you with the last words that Pastor John left with our team, “This is only the appetizer!”

p.s. Are we there yet?

Zambia ‘11

Our Plan vs. God's Plan

Today (Wednesday) we did our last outreach with Pastor Best. We traveled to a village called Skiunzwe outside of Livingstone. Pastor Best has partnered with Pastor Kalaluka who is the Vineyard pastor in the village. It’s so encouraging to observe churches helping churches, and the church being the church by helping the people in the village. It was really neat to hear the history of his church. He began meeting under a tree by the main road, and only a few people would meet with him. He then began to build a church building himself using mud, tree branches, and elephant grass. He then said that the church grew, and he now has about 140 people meeting in a small building. The pews in the church are just merely branches off of trees, and there are so many people in the church, there are not enough branches for the people to sit on. He is planning on building a bigger building to accommodate the growth. Pastor Kalaluka had also shared with us that he currently has Malaria. As a team we were able to pray for healing for the pastor, for the village, and for the church. Please lift them up in prayer, as they have gone through many difficult times from floods, poor harvest, and sickness.

We brought the village mealie-meal, sugar, salt, and cooking oil. Pastor Kalaluka had shared with us that the people did not have a good maze season, and there was only a 2 month supply of food left. How awesome that God was able to provide for them and extend their food supply longer.

We were supposed to have a teaching and ministry at the church, but we were told that a young man in the village had passed away early in the morning. Pastor Kalaluka brought us to the village, and we could feel the sorrow the village was experiencing. We were able to pray for the father and father in law, and Molly was able to share an encouraging word, as she could relate with the fathers. Jon also led us in a song to give some comfort to the fathers. We prayed for the village and the fathers for their loss and also gave food and funds to help with funeral costs. We had come with plans, but God had greater plans to meet the needs of the village. Amen!
We then spent the afternoon at Victoria Falls. How incredible the falls are! How beautiful, strong, and majestic God’s creation is! It was a fun, relaxing time to reflect on all the wonderful things God has done and is doing in Zambia as we observed His creation.

We ended our evening by accepting an invitation for dinner at Pastor Best’s home. His wife, Agatha, cooked a delicious meal of chicken, sauce, beans, rice, nshimi, sweet potatoes, and greens. Restaurants are nice, but there is just something about the comfort of home cooking! As our team sat with Pastor Best’s family in their living room, we fellowshipped and shared with one another. Pastor Best shared with us, that our visit was a great honor to the village and that many people will possibly come to church. The villagers will talk about the white men singing and visiting for months. What an incredible divine appointment that our team was able to experience today. We then ended the night with prayer. What a blessing!

Please lift our team up in prayer, as we are quickly approaching the end of our trip, and we begin the transition from Zambia to America.

p.s. I’ll trade you a pair of socks and a pen for a hippo!

p.s.s It’s raining, it’s pouring, Papa Rich is snoring.

Learning to Receive and Dance

Today we spent the morning/day at the Vineyard church in Livingstone. Robb, Janet, Sandra, and Shawn shared their teaching of restoration through the book of Romans and Ruth again. During the teaching, and my experience at the church, I began thinking about two topics: receiving and worship.

Preparing for this trip, I (Michelle) had the attitude of giving, not receiving. To be honest, on this trip I don’t think I’ve always had the right attitude in receiving. Today, I have forgotten that I am a guest here. I didn’t think this young Cajun girl should be served a meal first or have special seating, since I am thinking, “I am here to give.” I also felt like I was not worthy of this type of honor. Today, as I sat in the front of the church eating my rice with utensils (which is not African culture), I had a great convo with a friend that made me realize receiving is giving.

I began to think, if I had a guest in my home, how would I treat them? How would I want my guest to receive this treatment? When I give someone my best and it is done in love, I don’t want to be rejected. To me, the best part of giving a gift to someone is the reception. I love seeing the joy that comes to the receiver, for it gives me joy in my heart. Is not receiving also giving? Can’t we serve one another through giving AND receiving?

Then I began to ask myself, is there something that God wants to give me that I am not receiving? Am I feeling like I am not worthy to accept what God wants to give me? If so, why? How am I making God feel by rejecting His gifts? What about you? What are your responses to these questions? What are your reactions when receiving?

Secondly, I’d like to talk about the worship in song here in Zambia. When you don’t understand the language, you begin to observe things other than words. I’ve really enjoyed seeing the passion that the people express while in worshiping the Lord. To me, it’s more like a celebration! The people here dance before the Lord. Now, I know dance is a very loose term – I guess you will just have to ask a team member to demonstrate. Nah, just kidding! They like to sway to the music, clap to the beat, and make a few hand motions – nothing that would disturb others around them from worshipping. So I began to think, why am I so reserved in my worship in song? Do I think that worship in song cannot be fun and just enjoy being in the presence of our God? If you can’t tell by know, I’m a thinker, and I can get caught up in my head and forget to worship also with my heart. Why must I focus so much, and worry of what other people may think? Why can’t I just let it go, and enjoy the moment with God? If people didn’t understand the language I’m singing, would they still see the passion in my worship? What about you? Would other people see your passion for God in your worship?

p.s. watch out for those giraffes at Zig Zag!

The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round

We had special guests last night (Sunday) at the Healing House and I asked Janet to share a few words about it. Hope you are enjoy!

Mama Glenda (Pastor Damas’ wife) and four ladies from the church came to visit with the women from the team. To our surprise they came to thank us for the day of ministry together on Saturday evening. They spoke many words of encouragement and blessings to us. As the four of us sat and listened to what God had done through the teaching and prayer ministry time we all became overwhelmed with the outpouring love of their hearts.

To our surprise, Mama Glenda had been praying for two years for God to show her how to bring the women together in order to minister and grow together in relationship. This first women’s conference did just that for her. These women with Mama Glenda were the ones whom God had shown her would be the ones to walk alongside her in raising up “Women for the Nurturing”. After approximately an hour and half of conversation, in addition to lots of love, affirmation and encouragement being poured over us four ladies, we were in awe of God’s Grace that had been so lavishly given to us.

Mama Glenda and the other women then committed to praying for next year’s women’s conference and all stood in agreement for it to come to pass. BUT, it didn’t end there; these incredible women brought us gifts of Chitonge’s (skirt wraps) for us to take a piece of them and Ndola back with us to the U.S.

We laughed and cried together and said our farewell’s with hearts full of rejuvenated hope and anticipation of what God will do over the next year. We four ladies would like to ask the ladies of our Vineyard to open their hearts to pray for this God birthed vision.
-Janet

Today (Monday) we took 11 hour bus ride to Livingstone. We have settled in for the night and will take the evening off in order to rest for our upcoming week.

Upcoming preview: Tomorrow, we are having a pastor’s conference in the Livingstone area. Please lift up Robb, Shawn, Sandra, and Janet in prayer as they will be speaking.

p.s. I am a princess.

p.s.s. Someone had a weally wild bus wide on the wheel well.

Get Your Preach On

Here are a few words from Rich and Jon on Pastor Patson’s Vineyard Church in Masala:

This is a newly planted church outside of Ndola with about fifty people attending. They are meeting in a school classroom and other churches are meeting in adjacent classrooms. Pastor Patson was sent out to plant this church to expand the Vinyard since the Masala area is too far for the people to travel to Pastor Damas’ church for services. They are hoping to have their own building soon because their church is growing. They are serving the people of Masala very well.

We enjoyed worshiping with them in both English and Bemba. Then they invited Jon to lead and they joined in. The people loved Jon’s leadership in praise and worship. It’s amazing how worship is the same no matter what language is used. Rich was invited to give the message and he told of God’s plan for us to live in His kingdom which is here now but not yet fully. They were quite receptive to this message and many of the people came forward for prayer. Rich believes the Kingdom broke through today when so many asked for prayer for healing. Jon had encouraging words for Pastor Patson and he thanked us and the Vineyard Church of New Orleans for our support and encouragement.

-Rich and Jon

Here are a few words from Michelle on Pastor David’s Vineyard Church in Kitwe:
This church meets in a school classroom also with other churches meeting in adjacent classrooms. There were probably about 30 people in attendance. We joined the congregation in worship, and then Shawn taught a message on patiently waiting on God and allowing God to prepare us for all that he has for us. He talked about his personal story of trying to have a child and what that kind of waiting looks like. Pastor David then shared how the church is being patient about God providing a building of their own. Amazing how time after time God’s word is speaking in relation to what the people need. We then had an opportunity to pray for those who needed prayer. The service ended with refreshments so that we could visit with our new friends.

Scott, Shawn, and I then went to the future site for Kitwe Vineyard. The plot of land is a very nice size, and Pastor David plans to build a church building and an orphanage. Today, I was able to really see the connection Shawn has with the pastors, specifically with David. It’s very hard to explain, but you could just see the humbleness, encouragement, and brotherhood being shared.

We also visited a mal-nutrition clinic for children and the mother’s shelter that is supported by Umweo Bags and their patnership with the Kitwe Vineyard Church.

-Scott, Shawn, and Michelle

Here are a few words from Molly on Pastor Damas’s church in Ndola and Pastor Francis’s church in Mapalo:
Today, Robb spoke at both churches. The first church was Pastor Damas’s Vineyard Cathedral. The praise was very joyful as the sun shone through the beautiful windows of the newly built church. Robb gave a powerful message about how we are all called to run the big race. We must rain hard, have purpose, and passion. We must take off anything heavy of this world that’s holding us back. Unlike a marathon where there is only1 winner, we all will receive the prize when we finish!
The second church was at Pastor Francis’s church in Mapalo. What a contrast. It is a very humble, small church. The open air windows let us see the sky and feel the breeze. This church was even more boisterous and jubilant in their singing, dancing, and praising. Robb’s message was strong there as well.
The people of both churches welcomed us with such love and acceptance that I will be forever touched.

-Molly, Janet, Robb

Here are a few words from Sandra about Pastor Felix’s Vineyard church in Twapia:
I had the blessing of doing a teaching at the Oasis Vineyard Church. Pastor Felix, Agnes, and Alice taught me so much about powerful prayer, worship, and hospitality in that we are all the same. There are no words to explain the expediential experience I had today.

The Oasis Vineyard Church in Twapia opened their doors, their arms, and their hearts to me today. I was broken open and richly poured into by their worship, prayers, and blessing. They send this ALL back to the Vineyard Church of New Orleans.
-Shandra

p.s. “this has.…weighs....got...um...yeah.” (before coffee)

p.s.s “Well, let’s see there were 15 chairs on one side and 15 chairs on the other side, so there are approximately about 47” = Rich’s math.

p.s.s.s. I forgot my passport…I don’t know what’s in those bags?

Let It Rain

Last night we had dinner with about 40 people at Pastor Damas’s house. The people gave us a very warm welcome as we entered into the pastor’s home. It was supposed to be outside, but oddly it has been raining here the past couple of nights. (It is currently their dry winter season.) Pastor Damas shared what a blessing the rain was since it forced everyone into close quarters under the car port so that it was easier to fellowship with one another. The women cooked a pot luck dinner, and our team separated ourselves among the people during dinner. I (Michelle) spent some time getting to know a married couple. Joking around, I found out that the couple was experiencing conflict. Robb was our speaker for the night and he spoke on communication and conflict. Amazing how God places people in the right place at the right time. Afterwards, Jon led in worship as we broke up into smaller groups to have conversations and prayer for one another. What an opportunity that I had to be able to pray for the couple about their conflict problems. The structure of the evening reminded us about our Alpha class at the Vineyard. This evening I was reminded how God could take something that we might think is negative (the rain ruining our plans), and turn it into something good (closer fellowship). What are some negatives in your life that you can bring to God so that they can be turned into positives?

Today (Saturday), Robb and Shawn held a conference for the men at the Vineyard Church of Ndola. They both taught through the book of Romans.

For the first time at the Vineyard Church of Ndola the 4 women of the team held a woman’s conference for about 15 women. It began raining very hard as soon as we arrived. The rain made it very difficult to hear one another. Even with the rain, the women began to worship God in the church – just lovely voices, hand claps, and a tambourine. The rain silenced right when Janet and Sandra shared a teaching on Ruth. We then handed out a heart sticker to each woman that had the word: Faith, Love, He Lives, or Rejoice. We wanted the women to have something to remember the special evening. Glenda (Pastor Damas’s wife) called each group of women up by the word on their heart. The women who had the word “Faith” prayed for future women conferences. We prayed for the women who had the word “Love.” The women who had the word “He Lives” prayed for us. The women who had the word “Rejoice” danced and sang. We then ended the evening with a time of ministry and prayer. We prayed for each woman present. We definitely felt the Lord’s presence this evening. We felt very rejuvenated as the conference ended.

“I met my Zambian Momma Joyce!” – Janet

Upcoming preview: Tomorrow morning our team is splitting up into 4 different locations – to attend 4 different churches. Please lift up Sandra, Rich, Robb, and Shawn in prayer as they will be speaking at these churches.

p.s. The Apostle Robb said, “If everybody in the world were more like me, it would be a cuter world.”

p.s.s. We are anxiously ANT-icipating another week in Zambia!

p.s.s.s. Sorrysorry yesterday’s blog was so late.

Zambia ‘11

TGIF in Zambia

Friday morning we worked along with Seeds of Hope. Our team helped the women (who normally make the filters by themselves) make about 15 filters.
This is part of the building process: butter the frame (to avoid the filter from sticking to the frame), mix cement, pack the cement in the frame, insert the pipe (where the clean water will come out), and form and smooth the bottom of the filter.
The women would teach us the process through demonstration, and they were great teachers too! Many of the women live in a nearby community and have bio-sand filters in their own homes. Our team really enjoyed visiting with the women and learning about their family, as we got a little dirty making the filters. But despite all the hard work, we did have a little fun since one of the women, Stella, showed us a dance move to help hammer on the filter so the concrete would settle. Needless to say, Stella had better rhythm than I (Michelle) did.
We were given a tour of their facility, and they showed us how they clean the rocks and sand for the filters.
Rich and Jon were able to present two representatives, Linda and Samson, from Seeds of Hope with a fake check from Jon’s daughter’s (Kaitlyn) school.
“I was so proud to present the check from Airline Park Academy to Seeds of Hope today. I told them the story of Kaitlyn’s essay and how her teacher said that they wanted to support us in our trip to Zambia, how Rich and I went to the school to give a presentation and how the school responded by raising $1350, enough to provide 15 filters to families in need of clean water. They were so appreciative. As you’ll read below, we had the chance to visit some homes where filters have been installed and witness firsthand how important and how big of an impact they have on the lives of people. Words just can’t express how grateful I am to Ms. Sara, Mr. Matrenga, and everyone else at Airline Park (faculty, students, and parents). And I am especially proud of Kaitlyn! I love you baby!”
Next, we were able to go into a community and visit a few of the homes that contained bio-sand filters. Most of these homes had a filter installed about a month and half ago. We were able to speak to the people inside of the homes, and we learned that the people are using the clean water to drink, cook, and wash. It was very encouraging to hear the people say that they once were sick from drinking contaminated water and now are no longer sick. We also had an opportunity to pray for healing for a grandmother in her home and a little boy with an ear problem.
Even though our main purpose was to see homes that had filters, I can’t help but blog about the children. The children here in Zambia have really captured my (Michelle) heart. As our team moved from one house to the next, we probably had about 20-30 children join us for our journey walking from house to house. Our team does a really good job at trying to give each child individual attention through a hand shake or a hello. I love making eye contact with a child and smiling at them. I receive the most beautiful bright smile back. Another thing that I’m learning on this trip is that something as simple as sharing a smile is sharing the love of Christ. Sometimes I can get so wrapped up in thinking that only big projects or events bring heaven to earth, that I forget that God can use someone like me to bring heaven to earth with just a smile. Have you been smiling lately? If not, give it a try. You never know what response you may get back!

p.s. Mitchell, you’re fired!

Upcoming preview: This evening we will be having dinner at Pastor Damas’s house and Robb will be doing a teaching.