Happy New Year! Here in Zambia, people have been telling us “Happy New Year!” to this day. I really appreciate that that greeting lasts beyond January 1st. But to get to the real juicy goodness of this blog, here is a Big Picture look at our month in Zambia!
WHO:
This month, I’m stepping into two teams: Team Mike and Ikes and Team Possible. It’s been such a blessing to be with two different teams with pretty different dynamics, one is co-ed and super laid-back, the other is three of the most passionate women I’ve ever met. All nine of us are partnering this month with Africa for Jesus, or A4J for short. Our hosts are three Zambian twenty-somethings, Godly men who are living out the call Jesus has on their lives to love their neighbors as themselves, and dang, they do it well.
WHAT:
All of our ministry is relational/community ministry: doing home visits to encourage and edify believers in the neighborhood, hosting Bible studies and kid’s clubs, and hitting the streets for more traditional evangelism. We also did a very small amount of talking at the churches we’ve gone to, but a large amount of worshiping, which has blessed my soul to no end.
My SQL ministry this month includes ministering with the teams, joining team-times for bonding/devotions/feedback (the first half with the Mike and Ikes and the second with Possible), having weekly calls with leadership in the States, preparing for debrief, placements for Zimbabwe, and doing lots of one-on-ones!
WHEN:
We’ve been in Zambia since the January 3rd, and will do ministry here until the 26th. Then the whole squad, including our incredible coaches from PA will gather together for four-ish days of debrief and preparing for the next month.
WHERE:
This month we’ve been in Livingstone, Zambia – home of Victoria Falls!! Our neighborhood is about a ten minute taxi from downtown Livingstone and about 20 minutes from the falls.
WHY:
Africa for Jesus was founded several years ago as a discipleship school in South Africa, and now has locations in Lesotho and Zambia, and are working on planting bases in other countries in Africa as well. They disciple believers and non-believers through intentional living and teaching at the bases, but also live in the call of the Great Commission to go and make disciples of all nations, including the people in their own neighborhoods. It has been incredible to work with them and know that the work they do impacts eternity.
FUN NUGS:
Some fun things that are happening this month:
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leading worship at Kingdom Impact church three services in a row
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making friends with all the neighborhood kids so that they come to our gate and ask for us by name
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starting every day with worship and devotionals as a team
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marveling at one of the seven natural wonders of the world – Victoria Falls!!
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see zebras casually cross the street on the way to Vic Falls
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hosting a Women’s Tea for the women we’ve met in the neighborhood
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cooking traditional foods with our hosts
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white-water rafting in the Batoka Gorge on “The Mighty Zambezi!”
I hope this gives you a better understanding of what my January looks like! Thank you always for your support through prayer, and through blog comments and emails. It (literally) means the world to me. 🙂
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ML
