We spent the month of February in Kitwe, Zambia. Team IGNite had a house to ourselves. The only problem was it was about the size of a shoe box. All 7 of us were crammed into a room with a tiny living room, the smallest kitchen I have ever seen, a bathroom, and two bedrooms. The five girls were in one room and the two guys were in the other. We had mattresses, but they barely fit in our room. The entire floor was covered except for a small area so the door could open halfway. The living room had no furniture. The kitchen had a sink and a stove and only one burner worked. The oven was out of commission. I felt like I was in Peru all over again living in another broom closet.
It was the second month with my new team. This team makes me laugh, frustrates me, and teaches me. Month 6 was kind of a weird month. We were really busy for a week doing door-to-door evangelism and then the other two weeks we barely did anything. We would visit church members at their homes and talk with them for about 30 minutes and then go home. Some days we would hand out tracks at the grocery store for an hour. Convenient because we used that time to buy groceries for dinner that night. Despite the living conditions and the scarce ministry, Zambia turned out to be a month of growth.
One night, six of us stayed up talking late into the night. It started off with all of us joking around about who knows what, but quickly turned into a deep conversation. We talked about the Bible and different things that are in it and about being a “lukewarm” Christian. It really got me thinking.
A lukewarm Christian is something that I don’t want to be. Through our discussion, I learned that in the Bible it talks about people who will cast out demons, heal others, and do countless other things in the name of Jesus, yet they will no be in heaven. It’s something that I don’t really understand. But I do know that being a lukewarm Christian won’t cut it. It’s not enough to give your life to Christ but then continue to live your life the way you always have, to live your life according to just the things that you want. Through our discussion I learned that it is so important to be on fire for God. I started grasping just how much he paid for us. His sacrifice of his only son for us was a gift that we will never deserve, but yet we don’t have to do anything for him to give it to us. We should love God and be on fire for him for this reason, for that ultimate sacrifice. Not because we are scared of the fact that we may not get into heaven.
After this talk, I began to realize how important quiet time is. This is a time to read your Bible and pray. A time to strengthen your relationship with God. A time to ignite that fire even more.
Our team name is fitting. It started off by me joking. Typical. We were told that we had to think of a team name. So I said, “I don’t know. I got nothin’.” Then we joked about how that should be our team name. Team I Got Nothin. It turned into Ignite. From there, it was changed to IGNite. I Got Nothin, ite. This sums us up perfectly. I have nothing. I have nothing to give or to offer. I have nothing with God’s sacrifice. I have nothing without Jesus. The fire in my heart was ignited in Zambia. I want to continue to build that fire and grow everyday.
My word for Zambia is grow. My verse is 2 Peter 3:18, which just happens to be the verse that my pastor chose for me when I was baptized when I was seven years old.
“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever. Amen.”
