Having no Internet this month was exactly what I needed to soak up every minute in Africa. It could be so easy to check out and already be home in my thoughts. 6 weeks seems like no time after 10 months of moving around the globe.
A lot can happen in just a short time though, and the last 3 weeks have been packed full of building relationships with a new team, new contacts, and community. Enjoying a beautiful culture, lots of food, more kids than I can count and most of all sharing the message of true love.
House visits- we have spent many days walking home to home singing, dancing, laughing, crying, praying and loving the community here in Lusaka.
Revivals- speaking at revivals and meetings that people have traveled days to in order to be encouraged, taught and hear the gospel.
Baby coming- this month we have been living in the home of the pastor of the church we are ministering in. He has a beautiful wife, 3 boys with number 4 on the way. The girls on my team and myself had the privilege of blessing the family and taking them to get everything they needed for the baby that’s coming.
Family vacation – we took the pastor and his wife to Livingstone with us to see Victoria falls. We called it our big family vacation.
A good portion of this month was spent with children. The church has taken in 15 orphans and have a children’s home in a single room beside the church. They all live together with a beautiful mom who has given her time to taking care of them all. We have had an amazing time getting to know the owners of the orphanage and I’ve never been so encouraged by seeing a community take in the orphaned and employ the widows before.
“Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for the orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” James 1:27
This place runs on faith and once more support comes in, they already have a long list of kids waiting to come be a part of the home. If anyone is interested in finding ways to support the kids with schooling, building and clothing please contact me!
There are a few things I hope to leave Africa being a little bit better at. One is cooking. My family has always joked that I’m going to need to marry a man that likes to cook because my skills go a far as a microwave and toaster. This month I can see that things will be looking a bit tastier in my future after learning lots from not only the African women here but the girls and guys on my team. Seriously cooking is harder than it looks and I’ve learnt that even if it looks good it might not taste good. The other area where I might see some improvement by the time I leave Malawi would be my dance skills. Africans have the amazing ability to move their hips whenever they are singing, worshipping, celebrating and it has been beautiful to see hip movement not being done for the attention on MTV videos but simply for the Glory of God. After being called out on stage yesterday at a baby shower to dance I was left with this comment. ” Mazungu Jenny can preach and she can dress like an African but she still can’t move her hips like one ” (Mazungu means- white person.)
There are so many memories and so many blogs I could write about this month but I will choose one of my favourite days.
Two weeks ago Derek, Ken and myself were asked to go out to a village to speak at a church that had recently been planted there. Our morning started at 4am and we were supposed to return around 4 pm. After series of events like road closures, pushing our car out of mud and a beautiful thing called African time, we arrived at 1 pm at this little church in the bush village Chikankata. Not knowing if we still had a program we realized that the community had waited patiently for 4 hours and greeted us with singing, dancing and food. The boys stayed inside to preach and I was followed outside to a nice grassy patch by a group of 30 giggling little faces. I had a translator because many of the children did not go to school and only knew their village language. This also meant that they did not have a bible in their language. After singing some songs I asked what stories they liked and they asked me to start at the beginning. So I started with the creation of the world, then talked about Adam and Eve. After I had finished I stood there and was amazed at how silent these children were and how they really weren’t just staring quietly at me because I was a strange white women but they had never heard these stories before. I asked if they wanted to play some games or I could tell them more stories about Father in heaven. They all said ” more stories please”. I proceeded to spend the next 2 hours sitting on the ground sharing every bible story I knew from Genesis to Revelation. After, they fed us again until I couldn’t eat another thing and then we went on our bumpy way back home arriving at 11 pm.
Even though the day went nowhere near how I had expected. God proved once again that his plan is always beautiful and that if we were to give and turn back his love would not have been shared with that village and with those children. I went expecting to preach to adults but instead God brought me once again to the level of his children and I left learning more about his heart.
The gospel does not need to be spiced up, communicated in fancy sounding words with open ended promises of a better future in this world. Unless you become like a child, you cannot enter the kingdom of God.
But Jesus called them to him saying, “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly I say to you , whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter.”
Luke-18:16-17
Now this does not mean turn back to your childish ways or that maturity and growth isn’t something that is needed. It’s really understanding that as long as you live you are always a child. You are always His child. The bible says you are not given a Spirit of an adult but a spirit of a SON and of a DAUGHTER!
“For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!'” Romans 8:15
No matter how old you get, that does not change. Nor does your father’s love for you change.
“Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be Holy and blameless before him. In LOVE he predestined us for adoption as sons and daughters through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will.” Ephesians 1:4-5
Before we even made it into this world he loved us. But even though we didn’t stay pure and holy how our Father had intended us to be His love for us NEVER changed.
Instead He created us and WAITED………
Maybe for some of you He is still waiting……………….
You have yet to enter the kingdom and take a seat beside The Father. You have yet to fix your eyes on things above and not of this world because you have not found your Father. You have not yet become a child. You have yet to be adopted.
He says –
“Because you are precious in my eyes, and honoured and I LOVE YOU.”
Isaiah 43:4
He waits and he longs for you with his whole heart and is waiting with the same amount of love that created you. He has an inheritance for you in heaven.
In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved the elementary principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying Abba! Father! So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an HEIR through God the Father.” Galatians 4:3-7
A King passes on an inheritance to his son who is the next in line for the throne. Once he dies the son begins to reign and reaps the benefits of the Kingdom. So in order to gain the kingdom someone has to die.
Our king came to earth to die.
This king also had a Son spirit.
But this is where our stories are different. Resurrection =victory of death.
Our king did not die to pass on an inheritance of eternal life and love to be had after he is gone. He died so that our inheritance could be enjoyed with him.
This is a Father with so much love in his heart that what we have to gain is worth sharing with us TOGETHER.
“Behold, the dwelling place of God is WITH man. He will dwell WITH them, and they will be his people and God himself will be WITH them as their God.” Revelation 21:3
Our example to follow is a SON.
It’s easy when your a child to know that you have the spirit of a son in you. It’s even easier when you get older to forget that you are still a child.
He made it simple without complications. We get to remain sons and daughters forever so age shouldn’t change our faith, it shouldn’t change our understanding and it does not change the love our Father has for us.
“The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my Son!” Revelation 21:7
“Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.” Joel 2:13
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