Africa!!
Leaving India, I was really excited. India was a very hard but very good season on the race. God started peeling back the layers of who I am. Layers and layers added by society, my family, my friends, my old lifestyle, my new lifestyle, my church, who I wanted to be, who I thought I was. He started revealing the depths of Himself, myself, and our relationship. We built a whole new foundation together. God spoke that Africa would be a place where I get to simply live out everything I learned in India. He spoke that it was going to be a place where He broke my heart for what broke His.
My team and I were placed at a church called, Word of Life. They have over 300 churches all throughout Zambia. The founder of the church welcomed us into his home. We had beds, a living room, and even a cute little dining table that we would gather at for every meal. We lived with about 20 different people… everyone is family here in Zambia therefore everyone lives together! The first day that we arrived, we went straight to church. Within the first 10 minutes I was brought to tears by the overwhelming presence of God in the church. These people treat church how I believe it was always meant to be, a huge party. When the choir would sing, I would close my eyes and just imagine the gates of Heaven opening wide. I was in love with the people here and the community they had.
My team and I worked with the youth as our main ministry.. we found out “youth” means ages 12-35. So it was pretty interesting. About 30 of us would meet under a big beautiful tree. We would sit and share our testimonies and the gospel. As I started to build personal relationships with multiple women there, I knew what God meant by “He will break my heart for what breaks His”. The youth here, especially the women, are very broken. These women opened up with me about all the sin that was taking over their lives. Most of them had a child or children in their early years of high school… some out of their own will but others were taken advantage of. Their lives were controlled by lust, drinking, and drugs. They weren’t able to get jobs or finish education because of their children. Some were single moms and some had husbands that would never come home. When I saw this trend in the youth, I was surprised because they were apart of such a great community. I realized the issue was they had one foot in the world and the other in Christianity. I had the opportunity to share with the women my past and how God came into my mess. I shared with them what it is like to walk in complete freedom and to be set apart from the rest of the world.
Easter weekend in Zambia is one I will never forget. The church leaders across the country gathered for a 3 day Easter conference. Two men from South Africa came to speak on the five-fold ministry. Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Teachers, and Preachers. I learned so much about the will of God for the church and for me. I got to be apart of so many miracles.. physical and spiritual. People that have been suffering from pain for years were healed! Backs, shoulders, knees, feet, and even the blind could see again! People that were suffering from depression and sin were healed! I got to give a message to the youth about Jesus’s sacrifice and what it means to us. God laid the verse Galatians 5:1 on my heart,
“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourself be burdened again by a yoke of slavery”.
We as christians, believe in and accept Jesus Christ as our savior. But we don’t live in complete freedom. We live chained up, in some sort of sin or burdened by something of this world… when Jesus already died for that 2000 years ago. So, during my message, I took a shovel and dug a hole. I handed out pieces of paper to everyone. They sat with God and themselves and wrote down all the sin that is putting them in slavery. They took their papers and threw them in the hole and physically buried them! They then received prayer that they would no longer live under slavery but be set free by Christ. It was liberating let me tell you.
This Easter was the second easter that I actually knew what the holiday was for and spent it praising our savior! I decided to write a little letter to Jesus about how His sacrifice has transformed my life! I wanted to share it with you, so I hope you enjoy!
Dear Jesus,
You saved me. I remember sitting in the back of YL listening to stories about you… outwardly, I was laughing at them and brushing them off. But inside you made me feel something. Something completely different. I remember being scared because I knew one day, it would change my life. As I was drowning myself in the world, you kept pursuing me. You chose me.. the ring-leader of sin in my friend group, you chose me. I listened to all the stories of you when you walked on this earth. The way you loved so gently but so loudly. The rebel you were. How you love the prostitutes, the sick, and the drunkards. I fell in love with you Jesus. Then, you showed me your your sacrificial, unconditional, and forgiving love. When you hung on that Cross… a debt you did not owe. Yet you cried out.. “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing”. In that moment, I knew I was going to dedicate the rest of my life to this love. After that, I left you.. not once or twice but hundreds of times. But every time you had your arms open wide, you never loved me any less. You would draw me back with your love and wrap me in your presence. Every time I had a living encounter with you, I was changed. When I accepted you, I was rejected by the world. But you, Jesus, encouraged me. I surveyed the glory from all your agony and rejection… it gave me the will to fight for whats before me. After many nights of crying because everything I knew was being stripped away, you comforted me. It was me and you… and thats all I needed. When I asked for community, you gave me it. When I asked for wisdom, you gave me it. You took my dry bones and breathed purpose into them. You set my soul on fire. You gave me a new heart, a new set of eyes. Today, you are sitting on your throne next to our Father. Your pleading for me, fighting for me. The best part of all of this is there is nothing I can do to pay you back, for sanctifying me, for giving me life. All you ask of me is to love… to love you and my neighbors. May my life be only to glorify you and your sacrifice. My friend, my perfect example, my savior, I love you!!!!!!!!!!
So that was my easter in Zambia! Reflecting and actually doing what He called me to do! Now, my team and I are staying in a hostel in downtown Lusaka. I get to see my mother, father, and my girl Angie in literally 5 days. I get so exciting just typing that sentence!!! Until then, God is going to be our ministry host. While we are in downtown we are just going to love on the people in the malls and the homeless on the street! So thats been my time in Zambia so far! My team is placed in a small village called Kazembe for the last part of my race. We are living and working at an orphanage! I cant wait to share these last 2 months with all of you 🙂
