Our time in Zambia up! What a ride it’s been. The best way that I can describe this month was explained well by a teammate of mine; Zambia was our world race experience in one month. All of the countries that we have been to, all the experiences we’ve had, were had in Zambia. We had the spiritual warfare of Cambodia, the men from the red light district in Thailand, the harassment on the streets of Malaysia, the incredibly busy ministry schedule from the Philippines, and the relationship with the wonderful kids from our host family we stayed with this month was reminiscent of our fantastic hosts in Zimbabwe.
I was asked this morning what my defining moment was in Zambia. It took me a minute, then I immediately knew. The first, was how God broke my heart for the children in Chongwe, Zambia. I asked him for it, so it shouldn’t have come as a surprise, though it did. I wanted to take all the injustices away from their lives. Put shoes on their little feet, hug them when their parents would ignore them. Give them a safe place when they were beat or molested. I couldn’t do any of those things. What I could do was love them when I was there, draw pictures with them, make them smile, and most importantly tell them how much Jesus loved them. I did declarations with them, about who God says they are in him. He knows each of them by name, and loves them deeply.
The second defining moment ties in with a story. At the very beginning of the race, while we were at our launch location, I was told by one of our leaders that I had the gift of teaching. Now, I rejected the idea immediately because I’ve always hated talking in front of people and didn’t consider myself as someone who was good with my words, much less able to teach with them. But a small part of me kept this tucked away for later. I began to pray about it, but then didn’t hear anything major back from the Lord. So I moved on and my focus went to other things. He kept bringing it up, and so I prayed that this past month he would show me either what teaching looked like, or reveal that I did in fact not have that gifting.
So this month a teammate showed me that I had taught one way or another every month on the race. It wasn’t always our ministry, but I was asked or the opportunity came up at least once wherever we were. That looked like teaching english, creative worship workshops, leading devotionals, teaching books of the bible, and speaking/preaching at a women’s conference. And you know the funny part? I loved every second of it. It has become my favorite ministry to do. I get so much joy from it. I now remember leading a class back home for our hair clients, and loving it. The Lord has crazy plans for each of us, most what you wouldn’t expect.
To sum this story up, I have to talk about the treatment of women in Zambia. There is not as much freedom as back in America. Skirts are always worn, you get cat called or harassed on the streets often. They are expected to mold their lives around men. Heaven forbid making large decisions for their own lives. This was even evident for our team and what our ministry looked like. There was so much freedom not experienced in their lives, and the Lord put this heavily on my heart through the last part of the month. On the last day of ministry we were asked to give talks at the women’s conference our church was putting on. A teammate and I volunteered to speak, and God showed up! He gave me the topic of freedom and confidence in him, and so that’s what I went with. Y’all, God is amazing! How cool is that, getting the opportunity to speak to the women I felt so burdened for, sharing with them how valued they are, how powerful they are, and deeply saught after each one is. It was my final and biggest defining moment of the month. Many came up after and talked about how encouraged they were. Did I, as a person make a difference? No. Did the Holy Spirit move mightily? YES. None of the things I tried doing in my flesh have ever even made a dent, until I said yes to his perfect plans.
We are in our way to Malawi debrief, and then to our ministry there. Thank you for the encouraging words and prayers! God is moving mightily every where we go!
