In 2008, The Vineyard Church here in Kenner entered into a long-term partnership with Vineyard Boise and Vineyard Church of Columbus in an effort to come along side local Vineyard Churches in Zambia, Africa to see long term transformation and to see the Kingdom of God fully present within the life of this country. Whether its building deep water wells and biosand filters with Seeds of Hope International, training lay leaders at the local churches, or simply praying for the sick and the marginalized, we long to see the Kingdom of God break in and renew this little part of the world. This blog is a place where you can join us as we seek to accomplish this mission.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Monday, May 3, 2010
More Team Stories....
On the bus ride back to Ndola from Kasempa we were asked to give 10 of the leaders a ride to their home town. As we started out they began singing and worshiping on the bus for an hour. It was like having a Zambian symphony playing live and we got to join them. - Sandra Files
On Tuesday, Shawn and I led a conference for about 60 Vineyard Pastors and Leaders from the Kasempa Region. Some of them had to travel for more than 2 hours. It was amazing to learn that some had traveled by bike and foot and when they arrived they slept on the church floor for two nights. Their desire for training was so strong they were willing to deal with many hardships to get it. In the US, people are willing to camp out or travel great distances to meet a celebrity or see a concert, but few of us would go to those extremes to see two unknowns, but they did just that. Their enthusiasm was inspiring. - Robb Klipp
I feel God is showing me how to totally rely on him for my needs. While having VBS with the children, I noticed a gentleman standing outside the property. I approached him and spoke, he just nodded his head. I went back to the children. Sometime later one of the children grabbed my hand trying to tell me something, but I was not able to understand him. One of the older kids came and said he was telling me that his uncle wanted me to pray for him. He led me to that same gentleman standing outside the property where we were having VBS. - Clint Ward
Saturday, May 1, 2010
We are almost home!!
To Sandra, Robb, Janet, Rich, Dave, Scott, Clint, and Ana I enjoyed every minute with you and will be forever grateful for the bond that we have together through this experience. My prayer is that you will never lose a passion for the people of Zambia and the memories of this trip will be forever fresh.
Blessings,
Shawn
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Team Stories
"It was such a God moment when we pulled up to the Compassionate Vineyard in Kasempa and the leaders were inside worshiping. The sound was so beautiful. I was amazed at how well they harmonized together. It did not matter that I did not know the words; worship is worship no matter where you are." - Ana Rich
"The children in Kasempa were truly amazing! Being my first missions trip, and not truly knowing what to expect, I was blown away. I've never seen kids so excited. Just something as a touch or a smile meant everything to them. God is truly working in this place." - David Gooch
"We have come over 10,000 miles to pray fro the sick, bring clean water to the people and encourage them. Although, we came to give, we have received from them. They have showed us how to have joy and peace when they have very little according to our standards. We Americans have so much to learn." - Rich Cabiro
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Sunday (April 25th) Update
Rich and David went to Pastor Felix's church in Twapia Compound. Rich did a teaching on healing and share his testimony of how God had healed him several times in his life. Afterwards Rich and David prayed for healing for a number of the church members and saw God do some amazing things in the lives of the people there.
Robb and Janet went to Pastor Francis' church in the Mapalo Compound. Robb did a teaching on the importance of every church member being involved in the work of ministry. This was Robb's third year to teach in Mapalo and it was like a home homecoming.
Shawn and Ana went to Pastor David's church in the city of Kitwe. Shawn did a teaching on the fact that God made all of us Missionaries and that we all have a calling to go out and share God's love with the people around us. It was an exciting time of teaching and prayer. After the teaching Shawn and Ana prayed for a number of the church members who wanted to commit their lives to God and share God's love in their own cities and villages.
Sandra, Clint, and Scott went to Pastor Damas's church in the City of Ndola. There they each shared a little testimony of what God has been doing on our trip and then had the opportunity to hear Pastor Damas teach.
We all had a great time today spending time with our friends here in Zambia!!
Saturday (April 24) Update
Today Robb and Shawn taught 25 Vineyard Pastors and Leaders from around the Ndola area. We had a lot of fun teaching and sharing with them. We are always amazed at how much they trust God even with all the challenges they face.
The rest of the team did a VBS (Vacation Bible School) in Mapalo for 100 kids. We had not planned to do this but Pastor Francis requested it so everyone felt like we needed to make it happen. They did an awesome job of putting together a program for the kids. The kids were very excited to see the team and spend time with them.
Arrived in Livingstone.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Week 1 Update
MONDAY – WEDNESDAY
The team spent the first part of their week in Kasempa.
Here, they held a pastors training conference for 60 Vineyard pastors and leaders to help assist, train, equip, and empower local pastors and leaders in the local Vineyard Churches in the area.
The team also held a one-day VBS (Vacation Bible School) for 100 kids with games, crafts, and songs.
They traveled to a leper colony in Kasempa, bringing food and cooking supplies to a group of about 40 people who are basically shut out from the rest of society. Both Robb and Rich were able to share a short message from Psalms and from Philippians. They prayed for each person in this community.
As they were preparing to leave Kasempa and travel back to Ndola, John Chelingi, the pastor of the local Vineyard Church in Kasempa, asked them to lead worship at their Wednesday night church service. The team had to explain that none of them were musicians nor could they sing really well and politely declined. But later that afternoon, the team felt like God was telling them to go ahead and do it anyway. So they practiced singing a few songs that afternoon, and that evening led worship for the church. During the first song, as they were singing the chorus the second time around, 60 Zambian voices joined with them worshiping and praising God. That same night, they prayed for people and people were healed!
THURSDAY
Thursday, they traveled to a compound called Kosango that has about 400 residents. Here they installed 20 bio-sand filters, followed up with other families who already had bio-sand filters, and were able to pray with each family they visited with.
FRIDAY
Friday, the team went to the Vineyard Church in Ndola. The church was damaged severely in last year’s rainstorms, and the team helped Pastor Damas and other local Zambians with some construction and were able to help clear a field for the church. Later, they went to the Mapalo Vineyard Church to connect with Pastor Francis and see some of the sewing and knitting projects the church is hosting.
The team is doing really well and is so excited about all that God is doing in and through them. You can really hear it in their voices (even with the static and the 5 second delay). Please continue to pray for them and the advancement of God’s Kingdom in Zambia.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Day 2 in Africa
Arrived in Jo'Burg
We leave for Zambia at 9:45AM (2:45AM back home). We will have a slow day Sunday to prepare for our 8 hour bus ride to Kasempa.
We will post again soon!
Thursday, April 15, 2010
24 Hours to Departure
Our next post will be from the Atlanta Airport!
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
2 Days to Departure
So here we go:
Leper Colony Outreach - For the last year our Partnership has assisted in providing food for a group of 35 Lepers in the Kasempa Region. This colony is made up of men and women who have been forced out of their home villages because of this disease. While there our team will bring some basic food supplies like cooking oil, salt, sugar, dried fish and Nshima. We will also have the opportunity to pray for each resident of the colony.
Seeds of Hope International - Our team will have the opportunity to work with our partner SOHIP installing Bio-Sand Filters and possibly assisting on a drilling project. It still amazes me that there are people that do not have access to such a basic necessity like clean water. We are grateful for the opportunity to work with SOHIP and serve the people by bringing clean water into their homes.
Leadership Conference's - We will conduct three different Leadership Conferences throughout Zambia while we are there. It is important that we not only equip the existing pastors in Zambia but, we need to work on raising up and training the next generation of leaders. Robb Klipp and I have prepared a number of teachings on Basic Vineyard Doctrine that will help the Churches align themselves with the story God is telling in Zambia.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
3 Days to Departure
Monday, April 12, 2010
4 Days to Departure
Sunday, April 11, 2010
5 Days to Departure
Saturday, April 10, 2010
7 Days to Departure
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Monday, March 8, 2010
You Can Help!!

1 in 6 people on the planet do not have access to safe, clean drinking water - that's 1,000,000,000 people. It is estimated that 65% of the population of Zambia lacks access to clean water. Lack of clean water is the main cause of a recent cholera outbreak that has reached epidemic proportions over the last few years.
Imagine that every glass of water you drink is full of sickness and disease!!
YOU CAN HELP!
Over the next two weeks in the Vineyard Church Lobby, starting March 13th, people from our Missions team will be selling bottles of water for $5. 100% of the proceeds will fund clean water projects in Zambia. In addition, you can purchase a bio-sand filter for $85 that will provide clean water for a household of 8 for the next 20 years.
Training Week #2 (March 4th)
One of the things we are all sensing as a team is that God wants to heal people on this trip. It could be healing for people on our team or healing for the people of Zambia but we feel strongly that this is something that will happen on our trip. To specific, Rich had a word that we would lay hands on the Lepers and see them healed. We are praying that when the time comes we will step out in faith and respond to what God is doing.
At our next training (March 11th) we will get our shots that we need for the trip. There is nothing like coming together as a team and being stuck with needles. It is such a bonding experience!!
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
The Journey has begun......
Thank you for your continued prayers and support!
The Team:
Shawn Rich
Robb Klipp
Sandra Files
Ana Rich
Janet Klipp
Rich Cabiro
David Gooch
Scott Muller
Clint Ward