“It’s all about Jesus! Everything we do-It’s about loving people like Jesus does.”
Hearing words like these from our new contacts in Livingstone, Zambia charged me up for a month full of serving and loving on this community of Africans. We are working with “J-zone” (aka Jesus-Zone) Ministries and several other ministry outreaches they partner with. So far, ministry has looked like teaching about Jesus, playing games with kids, singing and dancing at an orphanage, leading bible studies and discussions with young adults at a local church, participating in a worship and bible study meeting with widows, hanging out with kids in the Awana program (international Christian kids program), and door-to-door evangelism in nearby neighborhoods.
Livingstone is a safe and modern city. It attracts tourists because one of the seven natural wonders of the world is located here: Victoria Falls. My team hasn’t gone to see them yet, but we see the mist that rises from it from the street outside our house. Strangely enough, the part of the city I live in reminds me more of home than probably anywhere else I’ve been on the Race during these 10 months. The local shopping plaza has a grocery much like mine at home as well as an ATM and several other stores and cafes. Zambians speak English as one of their primary languages, and their cultural norms are not so different from Americans’. I don’t have to worry about not pointing the bottom of my feet at somewhere because it was offensive like I did in India or calling my elders “uncle” and “aunty” out of respect like I did in Nepal. I’m pretty free to act like normal here and it’s easy to act like normal because my environment seems familiar to me.
As I listened to our contacts describe their work here and what seemed like an impossibly huge amount of outreaches they led, and as they continuously made it clear that Jesus was the reason for it all, I made the mental connection between the name of this city that they are spreading Jesus’ love around and Jesus’ identity as the Chief Cornerstone. He is the one we should build our entire lives around. Nothing will stand without Him. He is the true Living Stone, because without His placement as the cornerstone and foundation of our lives, the one we do everything for and spend all our time serving and seeking after, we will have no idea what it really means to live. If we feel something is missing in our lives, it’s likely making Jesus our cornerstone, our Life-giving Stone.
Another note of importance: I have a new team. I was sad to say goodbye to my old Team Unashamed, but am blessed by the ladies on Team Hephzibah and happy to be with them. Our name means “The Lord delights in her”, in Hebrew and is used in the Old Testament. Please be in prayer for each of these ladies on my team: Elizabeth, Brittany, Andrea, Charlyn, our team leader Kim, and myself. We are also blessed to have our squad leader Natalie with us this month as part of our team. I am excited for God’s plans for this team and for us individually these last two months.
