Dear friends & family,
It’s been 9 months since we’ve left home, and it’s crazy to think how fast this year has flown by. We’ve been through Asia, Europe, and now we are finishing up our year in Africa. It has been nothing short of amazing.
We are living in our host’s home for the month, located in the foothills of Lusaka, the capital city of Zambia.
Our hosts are Bishop Obby and his wife Pastor Karen. They are parents of two sons and three daughters. This family carries joy, love, patience, kindness, and understanding as they love us seven Americans like Jesus does.
The thing is they just moved into their home one month ago. They don’t have beds, mattresses, or pillows. Only one burner on their stove works, and their sink has to be fixed. Their youngest son has a speech impediment that for years caused stress and depression, but he’s a musical genius on the piano. The piano and worship music has given him the confidence that he lacked before, but his keyboard is falling apart. Only half of it works. But he still shreds every night because that’s what brings him joy. Their eldest son dreams of being a doctor and is so smart, but without the funds will never make it all the way through his education. Bibles in their native language are expensive, so most members and people in the community don’t own them. Yet, they are so hungry for the word of God.
Bishop Obby and Pastor Karen personally pastor Mount Sinai church in the community of Kanyama. This is the main church we have been partnering with this month. It has four walls, some benches and a roof. This church is probably the size of a large kitchen in America. The roof is falling apart and the church members have doubled in size to about 200 people. The people come and stand outside just to get a taste of encouragement each Sunday. Their goal and dream is to expand this building to try and fit their people. They want to fix the roof because when it rains, it floods.
This isn’t to make anyone feel bad, it’s just to put in perspective and give insight that’s at the core of this blog post. In lacking some physical elements to living, they have gained everything we search for. They carry energy like no other, that truly can only be supplied by Jesus. They have the biggest smiles and the most joy because the one thing they do is serve others and trust Jesus.
Our team has set a goal of trying to raise $4,000 for them by September 26th. Before we leave, want to hand them the cash and bless them for the blessings they have been to not only us but the community around them.
This money is to help their family needs, the extension of the church and patching the roof, and to purchase bibles for their church members and those in the community.
So we are asking for any donations that you feel led to give. Even if we don’t reach $4,000 we are believing for what God has for them!
The only way to quickly raise this donation is to send whatever you feel called to give to our teammate’s Venmo account, which you can find at @Erin-Cummings-13. We will be collecting all electronic donations there, and then we will withdraw the amount that we raised here in Zambia and present it to our hosts before we leave.
We want to say thank you for all who have read this and for those who have partnered with us! God bless you all!
Love,
Greg, Alyssa, Vanessa, Maggie, Michael, Katie, and Erin
