Truth is who You are: 2010

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

The End

So I am finally back in the United States and have sort of managed to overcome jet lag. Let me fill you in on what has happened since my last blog update.

2 Saturdays ago was our last day at the orphanage. We all gave our all to play with and have fun with the kids. We put on some more bible story skits, played some group games, and did a gospel presentation based on the color of the beads of a bracelet we passed out to all of them. It was a very tiring day but definitely worth every bit of energy we put into it. The end was very sad and hard to leave. A lot of kids would ask which day we were coming back and we had to somehow muster the strength to say that we weren't coming back, at least not for a very long time.

The Moffat situation also took some very radical turns. When I last updated as far as we knew Moffat would not be coming back to the U.S. with us, but because of some miracles things quickly changed and we were able to have Zambian Social Services approve his departure of the country and the U.S. Embassy granted him a Visa! The situation was probably one of the most growing moments for my faith on the trip. First of all, it brought me to a position of complete dependence on God; that is I was in a position where if God didn't come through, something I really wanted to happen was not going to happen. Secondly, it showed me that God is greater than every great and horrible thing that happens in life. He is greater than our best efforts, and he is greater than all adversity we face. Regardless of whether or not Moffat was able to return with us, these lessons would have remained on my heart, thankfully what I wanted to happen also was what God wanted to happen, he just chose to show bring us to a state of dependence and awe throughout the process.

During our last 2 days on campus, I was able to meet up again with my friend Chanda and do a bible study one day, and then sort of commission him to continue as a light on campus after I leave. It was really encouraging to see how eager he was to grow, and even after the commission how the idea of spiritual multiplication really made sense (he's a computer science major, just like me).

On Wednesday we bussed down to Livingstone which is where Victoria Falls is (one of the 7 Natural Wonders of the World) and let me just say that it was absolutely breathtaking. God's creativity and majesty was made even more evident because of my time at the falls. While at Livingstone I also had the opportunity to go on a Safari where I saw many wild animals up close like baboons, monkeys, elephants, zebras, giraffes, rhinos, gazelles, impalas, and probably others i'm forgetting. 15 of us also went bungee jumping off a bridge over the Zambezi River (same river the falls is part of). It was a ridiculously awesome faith exercise. The way I looked at it was that if I have the faith to believe in God and His death on the cross, then it should be a way easier step of faith to jump off that bridge after having seen many successful bungee jumps.

After Livingstone we bussed back to Lusaka and then started the crazy trip back to the U.S. We left Lusaka at 12:45pm (6:45 am Eastern time) and arrived in Chicago on Sunday at 2pm Eastern time. I then had to catch 2 flights back to my home near Cleveland. I did not make it back until about 1 a.m (Monday). So needless to say I was quite exhausted. Saying good-bye was pretty hard and something I didn't want to do, but it is a part of life and we all share a bond that nobody will ever take away from us.

This is most likely the last post I'll make, I don't really know if I will use this blog for anything else...who knows. Thank you so much if you read one post, some posts, every post; I am extremely thankful for you and your prayers. God is good, all the time and all the time, God is good. This trip has grown me in so many different ways, many of which I have mentioned in this post or previous posts. As far as prayers, you can pray that this trip doesn't just become an experience that I use to tell stories from, but that it has a lifelong impact on how I minister to others, as well as for my own growth. Pray that we all continue to remember and believe what Jesus said to his disciples before he departed from them in Matthew 28: 18-20. "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Friday, July 16, 2010

Free Day

Hello everyone! Got a free day today so I decided to give you some bonus coverage of what's going on in Zambia.

Basically this week has been pretty routine with our ministry at UNZA. We went to campus Monday through Thursday in the afternoon and either went sharing or followed up with students we had met before. I had the privilege of meeting up with my new friend Chanda for bible study twice this week. It has been a real growing experience to be put in a position to teach some truth, as well as learn some truth from the people I've been meeting with. This week we focused on growing as a Christian and what that looks like (Holy Spirit, reading the Word, praying, fellowship, ministering to others).

Aside from our normal campus routine, there have been some discouraging events that have taken place this past week. For those of you who don't know, our director has been working for many months trying to work it out so that one of the boys at the orphanage named Moffat, who is blind in one eye and losing vision in another, would be coming back to the U.S. with us next week and potentially have a transplant surgery and hopefully restore his vision. The full story is here: http://zambiahope.com/updates/ Unfortunately as of yesterday it appears that this will not be a reality because of all the hoops we are having to jump through to get his visa approved by the U.S. Embassy and other issues. Thankfully all hope is not lost, there is still a decent chance that he could come at some other point in time, but we just won't have everything set up for him to return with us; so keep praying for him as this is obviously a disappointing time for him, and that the process of making his trip to the U.S. would go smoothly over the next few months.

We also have been expecting a huge aid truck to arrive in Lusaka so that we could distribute food, clothes, etc to the slum the orphanage is in. We found out the other day that the truck was in a bad accident and flipped so the bin with the aid is currently in a ditch on the side of a road. Please pray that they are able to get the bin on another truck and that the contents have not been too badly damaged, and that it arrives in time for us to deliver to the slum.

Lastly, one of the guys on project, Chris, fell quite ill (mainly vomiting and dry heaves) last week around Thursday, and this Wednesday we finally had to take him to the hospital because he had not gotten better in nearly a week. 2 by 2 members of the team were with him for his entire stay, including Jesse and I who spent Wednesday night with him. It was actually really good to see him at the hospital because he was getting hydrated and able to have a lot more energy. Our time with him was a lot of fun. He came home Thursday afternoon and is feeling a lot better!

Tomorrow will be our last day at the orphanage, which will obviously be a ton of fun, but very very sad when we have to leave. We will just continue playing games and doing bible story skits for the kids. My time at the orphanage has really wrenched my heart and I know that it won't just be an experience I can tell people about, but it has really grown my compassion for not just orphans but people with all sorts of troubles. The bible is pretty clear that as Christians we are supposed to care for those who are fatherless, widowed, lame, blind, crippled, poor and that whatever we do for them we've done for Jesus, and whatever we don't do, we didn't do for Jesus.

Next week we will be on campus for 2 days, and then we will be taking a bus down to Livingstone for 2 days. While we are there we will debrief and process everything that God did during our time in Zambia. We will also have the opportunity to see the Victoria Falls (one of the 7 natural wonders of the world), go on a safari, and maybe even bungee jump! It will be a great way to cap off our trip to Zambia and hopefully lead to some wonderful fellowship with the team. I am really going to be sad to say good-bye to everyone.

My next update might not be until I am back in the states, but thanks for reading and praying!

Sunday, July 11, 2010

4 weeks done, 2 to go

this part of the blog post is always formatted differently...

Let me start off by informing you that after having a nice American meal last Sunday (hot dogs, burgers, fries) we were finally able to catch/kill a rat that had been plaguing one of the girls' rooms at our guest house. They can now sleep without worrying if they are going to wake up with a rat nibbling at their hair (which happened to one girl the night before).

Monday through Thursday we walked to UNZA during the afternoons to either share the gospel with random students, or meet up with people we had shared with previously. One of the days I went sharing with one of the staff guys, Jonathan, and we were able to meet a student named Chanda who I met up with later in the week. He told us all about how he had been growing in his faith since he had been at UNZA because of his involvement with a christian fellowship on campus. We planned to meet on Thursday at 14:00 and when I went to his room he had left me a note saying "Kevin and company, I was here at 14:00. just left for a bit, will be back at 14:20. PLEASE wait. Chanda" I was really encouraged that he cared enough about our meeting to leave me a note making sure we still met. Many times members of the team will be stood up with appointments they make to meet with students.

Jonathan also is my discipler for this project, meaning he is an older guy who will spend time with me one on one to talk about God, life, etc. He's pretty awesome and is only a few years out of college so he can relate to a lot of the things I am going through, and has been pretty wise with the advice he has given me. He's also hilarious and a ton of fun to be around. Just another way that God has blessed me this trip.

Two days in a row this week I spent my entire day on campus in a conversation with Jehovah's Witness (a different one each day) about what we believe to be true. The first day we talked about what happens after people die. JW's believe that there are 144,000 who will be able to be in the presence of God after they die, and then the rest who have believed will remain on earth in a world cleansed from unrighteousness. Those who have not believed will just cease to exist (they do not believe in Hell). The second day we had a really good/long conversation with another JW about the trinity. As I think i have mentioned before, they do not believe that Jesus is fully God, or that the Holy Spirit is fully God. Part of this might be because the bible they use has certain differences (i.e. John 1:1 says that the Word was a God instead of the Word was God). We talked about these discrepancies and pointed out that JW's had predicted that Jesus would return the 70's and that never happened, and other errors with their doctrine that are quite easily disproved. Nonetheless he did not budge on his position, and he refused to believe that the trinity existed. While the conversation was seemingly disappointing, it really grew my faith in that I was more sure of what I believed and more sure that it was the truth.

Speaking of the trinity...I did some research (in Jesse's copy of "Systematic Theology" by Wayne Grudem) about where we get the whole idea of the trinity, as it is never explicitly mentioned in the bible. It is really really interesting but basically the scripture indicates three truths. 1. God is three persons (father, son, holy spirit) 2. Each person is fully God 3. There is one God. The term trinity is just a way to express it. The tricky part is explaining this to someone who doesn't believe in it, especially because there are no perfect analogies for it. There are a ton of imperfect analogies for it (water, egg, person who is father, teacher, son) but these are in fact all perfect analogies for heresies, which is something I never knew. The most common heresy is Modalism which is the belief that there is one person of God, but 3 different manifestations which lines up with the 3 analogies I mentioned above. After learning this I grew to love God even more than before; it is pretty humbling to just faithfully believe that God is who he says he is and that He is more complex than we can logically express, but extremely beautiful.

Friday we had a free day so a few of us met up with a girl from UNZA who took us to a market where I purchased a fake AC Milan jersey, and a pretty legit (looking) Barcelona jersey. It was quite the adventure!

Saturday we were very blessed to go to the orphanage and spend the afternoon with them. We were also joined by some people we met on the plane ride from London to Nairobi who were traveling to South Africa for the world cup. They stopped in Lusaka for the weekend and wanted to see the orphanage. One of them was the son of the Nigerian ambassador to Zambia, and he plans on connecting his mom with the orphanage so she can help them with her connections ( she used to run an orphanage). God sure works in crazy ways! The afternoon was a great, half of us played games outside with half of the kids, while the other half was inside putting on skits from bible stories and other activities for the others. I was outside doing games like duck duck goose, red light green light, etc. I also got to give away roughly 30 beanie babies that my mom so generously sent with me, which the kids LOVED. thanks mom!

Last night we met up with our friends from the plane at a restaurant to watch the 3rd place game. They told us that yesterday was the best day of their summer because of their time at the orphanage, and this was after they just saw some world cup games! We had a sweet time watching the game with them, and even got in some good conversations about faith and other stuff like that. I can only say with confidence that 1 of them was a believer, although most of them probably go to church, and one was agnostic, but searching. Hopefully spending the day with us and seeing the orphanage will be used by God to work in all of their hearts.

In other news, I saw Toy Story 3 for $3...heard that lebron is now in miami (NOOOOOO!) and I am pulling for the Netherlands tonight. God has still been doing great things in the lives of people we meet with, and in our own hearts. I've definitely started to love God more and more throughout the entire project, as well as grow in my compassion for the people who are far worse off than myself, and those who do not know Jesus. I've also been growing in that I can't always explain everything about God logically, and that I have to believe it on faith. But that shouldn't be a surprise because I am saved by grace through faith.

also sorry for any typos, i don't proofread

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Happy 4th of July!

So this week in Zambia...

Monday of this week was our first day doing ministry at the University of Zambia (UNZA for short). It has about 10,000 students but the campus is HUGE! it is a lot of ground to cover on the days we go sharing, but I think I have started to have the general layout memorized. This week each of the students spent 4 days on campus, and 1 day at the orphanage (my day at the orphanage was Friday along with 3 other students...more to come on that later). Most of this past week at UNZA was freshman move-in and orientation activities, so the campus wasn't in full swing yet. Unfortunately for the freshman, only a small percentage are assigned rooms, and the rest are forced to fend for themselves and find a room to squat in. We helped these guys move into their room and found out that 6 of them were staying in one room, and there were only 2 twin beds! A typical day at UNZA this week consisted of walking to campus around 1 p.m. and then going around and finding people who were around campus, and initiate spiritual conversations. It was a lot like at Copperbelt, except we haven't started going door to door yet since not a lot of people have moved in yet. (Classes were supposed to start tomorrow, but they were delayed a week, so this week might be similar to last week as far as not having a lot of rooms to go to with occupants). The conversations were pretty easy to start, and the gospel was shared many many times. I had a lot of conversations on what it takes to gain salvation. There are a lot of people who believe the equation is Faith + Works = Heaven but Ephesians 2:8 - 9 would beg to differ, so we would show them scripture and explain that Faith = Heaven and the works are a natural outflowing of us already having salvation. We got some contacts (mostly phone #'s because most didn't have rooms yet) that we will hopefully be able to use use to follow up with and spend some time studying the bible together. Thankfully the days are only 4 hours on campus, so we are not as worn out as we were at Copperbelt.

Wednesday of this week we had a USA vs. Zambia soccer game that consisted of 11 of the americans vs. 11 of the kids from the orphanage. The game took place near a slum called Ng' Ombe and was mainly used to draw attention to the Jesus Film that we showed after. I was lucky enough to be one of the 11 to play the game and it was a blast! We put up a good fight but due to an offsides call and an own goal we could only manage a 3-4 loss. The kids from the orphanage loved it and our director told us that the game was probably something they'd remember for the rest of their lives. I'll gladly take the loss if it means that they can tell all of their friends about the time they beat the Americans in soccer. After the game we all walked to where a projector and screen were set up to show the Jesus Film, which was shown in their native language, Nyanja. The turnout was pretty stellar and at the end of the movie there were so many who prayed to receive Christ as their savior, too many to count! One part of the film that really touched me was when Jesus appeared to the disciples after rising from the dead. The Zambians cheered and cheered when he first appeared and it really shook me how spectacular and wonderful it is that Jesus is who he says he was, and that he rose from the dead to prove it.

On Friday I met up with a team from our director's church who was in Zambia this week specifically working with the orphanage. 3 other students and myself led a devotional in the morning about focusing on Christ, and letting him be our motivation and source of power for the work we were doing at the orphanage. Believe me, it is really easy to get satisfaction out of helping others, but if we aren't doing it in the name of Christ, then it is basically in vain.

After the devotional we all went to the orphanage and continued working on some projects that they were trying to finish this week. They included new windows, an outdoor bathroom, and steps leading to the front door. We made some progress on both of these and as of today everything is pretty much done, except for some last few things with the bathroom. We also had plenty of time to play with the kids again, which was a joy like usual. I had a lot of tickle-fights with some of the younger boys, as well as some good juggling circles with a soccer ball.

Friday night I watched possibly the best soccer game I have ever seen, with Uruguay defeating Ghana in PK's. We went back to the same restaurant as we did when the U.S. game was on, except this time we all were rooting for Ghana. It was a sweet atmosphere teaming up with the other Africans as they held on hope to the last African nation in the world cup. Sadly they lost, but it was still a really fun time.

Last night we went to dinner at the house of the Zambian national director of campus crusade for Christ. His wife prepared a wonderful meal for us, and it was good to relax at the end of the week and enjoy the company of the team from Larry's Church as well as the other Zambian crusade staff members.

Today we went to church and are planning on having a 4th of July dinner, complete with hot dogs, hamburgers, and baked beans. While we are all loving our time in Zambia, we still miss America. Hope you all have/had a wonderful 4th of July!

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Africa vs. U.S.

So this post will not be about the fact that the entire continent of Africa was rooting against the U.S. as the last remaining African team in the World Cup, Ghana, defeated the U.S. last night 2-1. It will mainly be about all the differences I have noticed in my first two weeks in Zambia. So let's get started:

1. They drive on the left side of the road, and the driver's seat is on the right side of the car. I think I said this before, but it's the first difference I noticed.

2. The idea of waiting in a line or queue does not exist in Zambia. My first experience with this was when we were stopping to get lunch on our way to CBU. All the Americans were waiting in a line leading to the counter to order food, and all of the Zambians kept going straight to the front and ordering ahead of us. Didn't take us long to figure out how to take advantage of this system.

3. Football (soccer) is by far the favorite sport. I do not think I have seen any Zambians playing anything except football. This does not seem to favor us this week as we have a USA vs. Zambia football outreach.

4. Time in Zambia is on the 24 hour system. So right now it is 15:27...not 3:27 pm. It actually makes a lot more sense to me to do it this way, I might permanently make the switch.

5. With just about every meal you are sure to have a side of nshima (pronounced sheema). It is basically corn meal mixed with water and looks a lot like a clump of mashed potatoes. It's kind of bland but I enjoy eating it, it's pretty filling.

6. The culture is extremely friendly and hospitable. At the university we could knock on a door and instantly be invited in to sit on their beds and talk. We were even offered some nshima if they were cooking some. They also were very willing to talk about whatever we wanted to talk about. In the states the opposite always seems to be true. People are often "busy" and typically not interested in what you have to say if they don't know you.

7. People believe in God and are seeking the truth about him. This is really really encouraging with our ministry, but sometimes it can be very saddening when someone's pursuit of God has led them to believe false teachings. However there is definitely no apathy about God and Jesus, which I often find with people in the states.

8. Time is not nearly as valued in Zambia as it is in the states. If someone says they'll meet you somewhere at 11 a.m., you might not see them until noon, and that's not rude or strange. It has taken some getting used to because I hate being late, but I think I have adjusted and gotten used to "Zambia Time."

9. The currency in Zambia is called Kwacha, and as far as I can tell, it is only paper currency; there are no coins. Also, about 5,000 Kwacha is equal to $1. It feels really weird withdrawing 200,000 Kwacha from an ATM ($40).

That is about all I can think of for now, and I am paying for the internet again so I will wrap this up with what we've done since returning to Lusaka.

We got a few days of rest after a grueling 5 days at Copperbelt University. It was much needed and definitely taken advantage of. On Friday afternoon we went back to the orphanage again to visit and play with the kids. Half of us took the older kids out for ice cream to get to know them better. The rest of us stayed at the orphanage and played games/read stories/put on bible story plays for them. I stayed at the orphanage for the games. It was a sweet and the kids were so grateful for our attention. It is sort of hard to take it all in and realize that they are so starved for attention and love from someone older that they just grab our hands and hug us as much as they can. The afternoon was extremely fun but really exhausting, especially after a few rounds of "catch the white guy." In case you can't figure it out one of us would just run around and were chased by 40+ kids who eventually caught us and brought us to a halt, until we pointed to their new target. It was a blast! Once again they made it very difficult to leave with so many hugs.

We also got shown how to get around the city if we need to. The main modes of transportation are mini-busses, taxis, or good old fashioned walking. Mini-busses usually cost about 3,000 Kwacha and can hold about 16 people. It doesn't look like it can hold that much on the outside, but that's how many people get crammed inside. There are bus stops all over which you can wait at and then when a bus comes, a guy will do his best to fill the bus to capacity. Taxis are a little different, and the line between hitch-hiking and flagging down a taxi is extremely blurry. I have taken two taxi rides so far, one picked us up right at the front of our guest house as we held our thumbs out. It drove us to a restaurant to watch the soccer game last night for 30,000 Kwacha (split 4 or more ways). I am pretty sure this was just some guy looking for extra cash (don't freak out mom, I wasn't kidnapped). We got a ride back from with a taxi as well, and I think this was more legit because the guy was outside asking if people needed a taxi.

Today we are at a market, where people are selling all sorts of African things like purses, wood carvings, stone carvings, table cloths, etc. It's been fun but kind of tiring bartering prices. Hopefully I don't get ripped off! I probably won't be on for another week so Happy 51st Birthday Dad!!! (June 30th).

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Copperbelt University

Hello again!

I just spent the past 5 days in Kitwe, Zambia at Copperbelt University. We went to campus every day and got to share the Gospel, the spirit filled life, and just get to know some of the Zambian students. I have come away with many new facebook friends and e-mail addresses of students who want to keep in touch.

The very first day we got to campus I was blown away by how open the Zambian students were to talking about faith. In the U.S. I frequently come across the attitude that what you believe is for you and what I believe is for me and we shouldn't talk about it. In Zambia the students are the exact opposite. They are very eager to hear about what we believe. We would go through the dorms and knock and doors and without fail every one would open their door and instantly invite us to sit in their room. I had so many wonderful conversations this way. (Side Note: At the university the students live 4 to a room, with two twin beds...so two per twin bed. That really put into perspective the complaining we do in the states about having to share our rooms)

We met students who were not sure about their salvation or about the Christian life, so on a few occasions I was very fortunate to be a part of sharing the Gospel with them, and I even got to see two people dedicate their lives to Christ and accept him as their Savior! As of Sunday we had seen 10 people come to Christ, and I know more have done so in the past 2 days. It has been unreal and my passion for sharing the Gospel has exploded in the past few days.

We also met some students who were "born-again" Christians, but had been experiencing "backsliding" in their faiths. This provided an opportunity to share our own experiences of not walking consistently in our faiths and how to remedy that. It often meant sharing that there was no sin that God could not forgive and that if we bring our sins to him he is faithful and just to forgive us. We also would share how they could be empowered by the Holy Spirit to continue walking daily and not only turning from our sin, but also letting our life demonstrate the fruits of the spirit. Several of the students seemed to really need to hear what we said and were very glad we met with them.

Over the 5 days I have met some amazing Zambians who already have wonderful walks with Christ. One in particular is Eddy. We met him on our first day when we were sharing our faiths with some of his friends. He walked into the room in the middle of the conversation, but soon chimed in with perfect answers that the other students had asked. We ended up staying in that room for about 2.5 hours and really got to share what the bible says about things like homosexuality, politics, and changing the world. The next day we met up with Eddy again, and he took us to a room next-door of 3 of his friends who all bought into and preached the prosperity gospel. The prosperity gospel very very similar to the true gospel, except they tend to believe that if you have enough faith you will be blessed with things such as material possessions or health. We talked with them for a good 3 hours going back and forth with different scriptures and eventually ended with the conclusion that we understood each view point, but disagreed on the interpretation of scripture. It was at times very frustrating to know the truth and not have someone agree with you about it, but at the end of the conversation we were able to agree that we all had Jesus Christ's death on the cross as the payment for our sins, and we all were pursuing knowing God the best we could, with what he would reveal to us. We all prayed for wisdom in reading the word and for guidance with the rest of our trip. So what had been a very frustrating conversation ended on a pretty positive note (not to the extent we had hoped, but positive nonetheless).

Today was our last day on campus, and we went to meet up with a guy we met on our first day named Tom, who had told us that he was not sure why God would or should let him into heaven. We shared the gospel with him the first day, and he said that he had already accepted Christ, but lacked assurance. So we planned on following up with him today and going through some scripture to assure him that he could not lose his salvation if he truly had asked Christ to be his savior. We got to the room and the plans changed, one of his roomates, Criford (spelling?), and he was a believer who was very solid in his faith and knowledge of the word. He told us all about a mission trip he was going on to Malawi. He also praised the work we were doing in Zambia and got so excited to hear about all the wonderful things God had been doing through us. He was extremely encouraging to us and I think it was clear that God intended to use that time to rejuvenate our spirits. We have been spending 7-8 hours on campus each day (except Sunday, because Church goes from 10:30am to 1:00pm) and it has been exhausting and at times very discouraging. The discouragement mainly came from meeting people who were misled in their beliefs, and our efforts were with out results. In Zambia there are a lot of Jehovah's Witnesses who have sort of similar beliefs to Christianity except for heaven and hell, that Jesus is God and they also have their own translation to the bible. I never had a positive conversation with a Jehovah's Witness on campus. So basically Criford's encouragement was more needed than I realized.

One of these days I am going to post about all the differences between Zambia and America, because there are many, but I am about out of time on the internet so I will just post what God has been doing at CBU. Thanks for reading and please continue to pray for the new brothers and sisters in Christ and that their walks would grow with the fellowship of other believers on campus.

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Welcome to Zambia!

So I finally have had access to internet today at Copperbelt University, so I will try my best to update you with all of the amazing things that have been going on since my Summer Project started (I have about 24 minutes left before the time I paid for expires).

I met the entire Zambia team Sunday afternoon after two short flights from Canton/Akron to Chicago. I was first greeted by our amazing and hilarious project director, Larry Conover. He then guided me to a shuttle which took me back to the hotel we would be briefing at for the next two days. When I walked into the hotel I was greeted by my very good friend (some might say best) Jesse Mentz who goes to USC, who proceeded to hug/tackle me, since we haven't seen each other in about 6 months. I then met the other men on the project, and they were all awesome, I am so blessed to have gotten to know them very quickly. I then quickly met and got to know the rest of the women and staff.

Briefing was a lot of fun and really helpful in understanding what project would look like. I found out about the different ways we would be doing God's work, which included going to some universities and spending a lot of time at an orphanage (see post below). We also played get-to-know-you bingo to help everyone learn names and get a feel for each person's personality. Basically my team is filled with 27 wonderful people who love Jesus and are committed to following him!

Monday evening the crazy trip to Zambia began, and it started with us finding out that 8 of the people on the team had their reservations on the flights lost (including the project director and his family). From this experience we got to practice what Larry had told us is the most important rule: "Expectations are your enemy, and flexibility is your friend." So 19 of us continued on without them under the fearless leadership of the rest of the staff (don't worry, they made it a day after us). Even though we spent roughly the next 36 hours either on a plane, or in an airport, I actually had a lot of fun just talking and getting to know my team better; Although I probably only slept about 6 hours of those 36.

We finally landed in Zambia around noon (6 am in the states) on Wednesday and made it through customs quite quickly and thankfully all of our luggage arrived too. We were also greeted by the Zambian staff, which was quite a relief since we had no cell phones, or idea what to do when we got to the airport. They helped us gather our things and drove us to the guest house we would be spending our time at while in Lusaka. The house is quite big, it sleeps all 27 of us pretty comfortably. I share a room with two other guys, Jesse and one of my new good friends Brendan who goes to Northwestern.

I got to see Lusaka on the first day with another student, Jason and Jonathan when we went to go buy water, toilet paper, and mattresses. It was really cool to see a completely different city. It was extremely busy, with people driving and walking everywhere. Also cars drive on the left side of the road (so they drive from the right side of the car...so I keep freaking out when I see a moving car with what appears to be no driver). The first two days were basically a time to rest from our travels, keep getting to know each other, and enjoy some euchre or watch the world cup together.

On Thursday the rest of the team arrived at the house, and we got to finally go to the orphanage we had been hearing so much about. As our bus arrived in the neighborhood tons of kids started pointing and yelling and running after us! It was incredible to see how excited we made them, and we hadn't even met them yet. We all got off the bus and were greeted by children and adults from every direction. The orphanage then put on a little singing performance which was seriously the most precious thing I have ever seen. Soon after that we started playing with the kids (from the orphanage and a lot more from the neighborhood who heard the commotion). "Playing" included taking pictures with our cameras and showing them, which they found absolutely hilarious. I also let some of the kids take pictures with it, so i have roughly 100 pictures of everything from other kids, my ear, the sky, and someone's finger nail polish! They loved it and I loved seeing how excited it made them. Others on the team also had balloons which they would fill up with air and then let go so they would rocket around the area, which would quickly be followed by a stampede of children trying to catch it. We also got a chance to kick a "football" around with some of them, which was fun for me since it's my favorite sport but also amazing to see how good they were for their age, and how willing they were to share with each other. I was very sad when the night was over and I had to leave, especially when all of the kids were grabbing/hugging/and everything they could to stop us. I can't wait to go back!

I'm almost out of time so I will update you on our Copperbelt stay next time! Keep praying for us and know that God is moving!

Friday, June 11, 2010

Zambia HOPE

While my team is in Zambia we will be spending a good amount of time at the Deborah Christian Mission Orphanage and School. Please visit the web site and watch the video below to get an idea about what Zambia HOPE is all about.

Sunday, May 30, 2010

The Beginning

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog!

After nearly 3.5 months, I have finally met and surpassed my goal of $5900 raised to go on Summer Project in Zambia. This past week, I received the final portions of my support, and then some more, so I am officially over 100% support and am set to go to Zambia in just about 2 weeks!

I am very thankful for all of the people who committed to support me either financially and/or prayerfully and how God provided so much more than I ever could have mustered under my own strength. My support team is made up of a very very diverse group of people. There are 71 people/families and they vary in age from students at Miami University to my Grandparents. They live all over the hemisphere in places like California, Texas, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Florida, Ohio, Indiana, Kansas, and even Honduras! Some of them are very close friends and family, and some of them I have never met in person before. But they are all joined together on my team because they trusted God and supported my project in Zambia. A wonderful example of how big the body of Christ is!

So this is the main way I will be communicating what is going on in Zambia back to you. I have entitled my blog "Truth is who You are" after a song by Tenth Avenue North (if you haven't heard it, check out their new album The Light Meets the Dark) because it really resonates with me and why I chose to commit 6 weeks this summer to what God is doing in Zambia. The song is about how Jesus is actually the Truth. He's not an idea, or a thought we just came up with. He's not a belief that needs our defense, and he's not a hope we just hold on to. He's real. He really lived and really died on the cross to pay the penalty for all of mankind's sins and he really conquered death and rose from the dead. So if I know this is true, what should my response be? To tell people about it!

So the realization that Jesus is the Truth has pointed me to obey the Great Commission in the most literal of ways. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus approaches the disciples after he has risen and says, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matthew 28:18-20, emphasis mine) So that is why I am going to Zambia, to share the good news that Jesus can be your savior, all you have to do is accept the free gift of salvation that he offers us through his death on the cross.

Thanks for reading this first post and for all of your prayers throughout the support raising process. Please keep praying for these next two weeks as I prepare spiritually, mentally, and physically (packing) and for safety as we travel to Zambia. Hopefully there will be quite a few more posts while I am there!

Truth is who You are