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