Embarking on our Last Expedition

I can't believe it has gone so fast!!  Here i am with less than 2 weeks away from returning to TEXAS!!  My experience in Africa has been life changing and as we embark on our final village expedition I don't expect anything except God showing up in a mighty way.  

Our last expedition, which we leave on in the morning at 8a.m., will consist of us holding youth, women focused, men focused, and pastor focused meetings.  My buddy Mark from the U.K. and i will be leading the pastor focused meetings.  We will teach leadership principles and be able to share the amazing love of our Savior.  I am truly excited as we prepare to do this.  

I would ask that you pray specifically for the villagers.  That their eyes would be opened to the love of Christ.  We will be ministering to several hundreds.  Also pray for the pastors.  Pray that they would be encouraged and strengthened throughout these next four days.  Pray that they would walk away knowing the gospel and be able to share that with the people they are shepherding.  

I know it has been a while since i have blogged.  Internet access here is sometimes fishy.  Know that i love and thank you all for supporting me through prayer, love, encouragement and financial giving.  It has been and will continue to be an Ebenezer stone in my life.  I will update once i return on Monday.  Thanks again and God bless you all!!

Back from the Village

Let me just say that God moved mightily throughout our team this last week. I will give you a day by day account of what happened each day.

Day 1
We arrived on Wednesday evening and setup camp. Now when i say we set up camp we really did. When we arrived our campsite was in the middle of 8ft. grass and huge trees. When we got finished it was a nice open area of tents and a bush kitchen. Let me tell you it was a beautiful sight. We ate grilled chicken and rice that night. Decadent!!! Thats the only words to describe the chicken. We then gathered around the fire and had a time of prayer and worship. There is something about being out in God's open country and worshiping Him underneath His vast and starry universe!!

Day 2
We woke up and had some fantastic oatmeal. After our meal me and 3 other guys began walking to the chiefs palace. It was about a half a mile or so to the palace from our campsite. We arrived and stuck out like a sore thumb. When 3 makuas walk into an African village, heads turn!! Hehehehe. It was awesome!! The Chiefs palace is a huge piece of land with farms and village huts surrounding the whole property. We walked around for a while and then were met by the chief. The chief is a short chubby man that wore a peter pan like hat. It was a totally cool hat!!

After talking with the chief we then were greeted by most of the headman that were there for the leadership conference. Zambians are some of the nicest people you will meet on the face of the earth. The rest of our team showed up and we began the conference. The conference consisted of us sitting amongst the headman and learning abou them and their villages. We then sat back and listened to Jake the sector manager from Overland teach the headman about Vision.

After the conference had come to an end for the day we headed back to our campsite. God had really been heavy on me all day abd i knew he wanted me to approach the group and challenge them. I talked with Dan our AMT leader/teacher and one of my buddies who is a pastor in England named Mark. They to had been given the same direction from God. Its amazing how God will say the exact same thing to people when He wants something done. We then proceeded to have worship and then approach our team about what God had been telling us.

I told the team how God had been speaking to me all day and calling me out to step up and take charge. He had called our whole team especially those who had ministry experience. He had also called me to not let fear grip me any longer. The final thing He told me was to step up and preach His word to a people who were hungry and thristy for truth. For so long i had let fear take control and i for sure didnt want to get in front of people and preach. For one i didnt think i was good at it and for two i was scared. Thats when God's truth overpowered my thinking and showed me that His word and salvation are more important than my comfort. These people needed to hear His good news and He was asking me to tell them.

The thing i learned this day was that everyone who has had their life changed by Christ has some good news to share with everybody they come into contact with.

Day3
I woke up and was so focused. I was focused on the mission God had given me to do this day. We left our campsite and headed out to the chiefs palace. From the chiefs palace we headed out to work in the fields of a nearby village. We harvested maize and then walked 3 miles to go and preach to a small village. When we finally arrived we only had 20-30 minutes to preach because we had to be back for the conference. 2 of our team gave their testimonies and then i preached.

I preached what God had done in my own life. I preached about the Grace that God gives and how you dont have to work for it. I talked about how you cant serve to masters. You cant go to the witch doctor and also trust in Christ. Its Christ and Him only!! I also preached on the amazing love God has for us. After getting done i gave them a chance to receive this amazing gift of grace and love. We set in silence for about 5 seconds and one lady stood up and said she wanted that gift. My heart lept for joy!! I knew now God had put something inside of me and i could no longer shrink back and hide. It was Christ in me and nothing of myself.

We had walked a total of 6 miles once we returned to the palace and all i knew was it was totally worth it. It reminded me of the lost sheep. God left for the 99 for the 1. We walked forever and one lady received the greatest gift of all. Wow!! Thank you Jesus!!

Day4
We left our campsite and headed back to the palace for our last day of minstry at the palace. We arrived and headed straight to the cheifs fields. About 6 of our team went to a Seventh day adventist church and preached the Good News to them while we were in the fields.

After finishing in the fields we headed back to the conference and greeted all the headmen. We said our goodbyes and went back to our campsite. Once we arrived all of the guys went to the soccer fields to play a game. We played until there was no energy left. We beat the other team 2-1. Yes we have gotten better!! After the game we presented the gospel to the guys from the village. All of them stood up to either be prayed for or recieve the gift of salvation. It was totally not what i expected but once again God does what we think is impossible.

Day5
We woke up tore down camp and headed back to the Overland Base.

Closing Comments
As i have mentioned spiritual warfare is very prevalent here in Africa. We had come in contact with a boy who was demon possessed. The crazy thing is 2 weeks ago he was totally normal. When we came into contact with him he went crazy. We prayed for him for 2 days straight. I would ask that you would pray for this boy. I know in the U.S we dont see these cases that often or at all. I know i havent always considered it to be a big deal, but when you see it first hand it becomes more real than ever. It has been easy in the states to kinda beleive in demons and spirtual warfare, but since i have been here i know its real and i know we are in a battle. The good news is we win!!

Another thing is that at the conference all the headmen came together after we left and began confessing sin to God and each other and praying with one another. God truly did amazing things. He not only gave me favor with the chief. In fact me and the chief held hands for a while. In Africa this is a common thing for men to do with each other, but when you put a Texan in Africa with a short chubby man holding his hand its a little weird at first. The truth is i held my cool and knew that it was a cultural thing and just rolled with it.

As you can see God truly gave us favor. To Him be the glory forever and ever amen!!

Back to Village Life

Wow!! Its already going fast. We have a little over a month left for our training. It has truly been a blessing to learn from some great people.

Well tomorrow morning we leave at 8 am for the Bush (remote village). This time around we will be staying in tents next to a school. Our ministry will consist of serving the villagers by helping them in their fields or around their houses. We will also be helping with a Christian Leadership Conference. I can't tell yall enough how big of an opportunity this is for our team. God has truly favored us in our journey thus far, but to bring this opportunity is a once in a lifetime chance for some.

The reason this opportunity is so big is because we will be staying next to Chief Niawa in the Niawa Kingdom. This is perhaps the first time in history for this kingdom that we get to share the gospel to the leaders in the Niawa Kingdom. Attendees at the conference will consist of all the village Headmen of the Kingdom. There will be hundreds of men from all over Zambia at this conference. No other Missionary group with Overland has had this kind of opportunity.

We will be helping at the conference and building relationships with all the headmen and the chief. We will get one on one time with the headmen to share our stories and life together. We will also be holding evangelistic meetings every night at the conference and villages.

I can't stress enough how much we need all of your prayers. Pray that God would use each of us to impact the lives of the headmen, chief, and all we come into contact with. That Jesus living inside of us would shine through to them. Pray and give thanks to God for the victory we have in Jesus. This same victory is what we want to share with all we come in contact with. I love you all and thank you all for your prayers and encouragement. Yall rock!!

We will be gone from Wednesday to Sunday evening. Once i return i will update you with the great news from our ministry journey. Grace and peace to you all. Much love!!

One Month

Its hard to believe its already been close to month since i've been gone from the states or let me say the state (Texas). hehehehehehe. When anybody asks where i am from i tell them the country of Texas. I love my state!!

Well alot has happened in only one month. I have lived the village life along with starting our in depth Training course which involves diesel mechanics, welding, bush cooking, leadership, preaching, survival training, along with many other emphasis. It has been a blast!! We are just now finishing diesel mechanics. We have a final exam tomorrow where we will be tested over the basics of a diesel, gasoline and 2 stroke engine. Im ready!!

At the end of this week, we will start welding along with presenting our own sermon for our preaching class. Im not the greatest preacher, but hey im willing!! This is a busy week full of test, reading and quizzes but it does make the time fly. In the next couple of weeks we will prepare once again to leave and go to a village for a week or so. Village ministry is really amazing. Its hands on and very relational.

Since i have been here, I have been challenged in several areas of my spiritual walk. I have found that out here it is not as easy to be rescued by someone. I have had to choose to trust fully on God. In the states i am surrounded by friends, family, and mentors that can, for lack of a better term, rescue me. Out here its not as easy. This has pushed me to not trust in theology, doctrine, denomination, or man, but has instead pushed me to trust and rely on Christ. I have literally had to take a huge step back and start from the basics. Who i am in Christ, what Christ has done, etc. God is continually stripping away my pride and continually bringing up circumstances to where my trust is in Him and nothing else.

Im not gonna lie, it is hard but good. The process of this is painful, but the outcome will make me fall more in love with Him and more in love with people. This is a process i think we all have to go through at some point in our lives and maybe more than once. Well, probably alot of the times more than once.

Well i have to go for now, but i thank each of you for praying and helping me to get to Africa. It has been an awesome journey thus far and i know it will continue. I love and miss yall. Thank yall for the feed back and encouragement!!

Oh yea, since uploading pictures on my blog is kind of a hard process, i have and will continue to put pictures on facebook. The internet connection here is kind of slow at times and doesnt always allow me to blog or get on the internet for long periods of time. I promise you that i will continue as much as possible to keep you updated. Thanks again!!

Village Life

Wow, I'm back. Sorry its taken me so long to write. The bandwidth on our server is very small. It is sometimes hard for me to get on the internet. I also have some pictures that i will post very soon, hopefully this week,

Well let me get down to business...

Day 1
We left sunday may 10th. We arrived in a small village called Siachombo. When we arrived the villagers greeted us with songs and dancing. It was totally awesome!! I got a little emotional watching how they greeted us and welcomed us in for the week. After this we unloaded our truck and set up camp. We ate some stew and then bedded down for the night.

Day2
We woke up ate some oatmeal and then headed out to work in the fields with the villagers. My group worked with one of the leaders in the village named Solomon. On our way out to the field and 8-10ft. Black Mamba slithered right in front of us and went across the trail. In Africa this is a very unique thing to see. Black Mambas are very territorial and can stand up to 3/4 their length. They can also strike at least that far. The good thing is that the snake left quickly and moved on. Well, after seeing the snake we were all very cautious as we stepped through the maze fields that were all taller than us. We harvested ground nuts (peanuts) for about 2 hours and ate frsh watermelon while we were out. We then headed back to the camp and stopped by Solomon's house before we got there.

Later on this day we got to slaughter a goat. I know for some of you this will be hard to take but this is a way of life for villagers here. We ate the goat that night.

Day 3
We headed into Nyawa Village to do some ministry there. We slaughtered chickens for food that night along with a goat. Im sorry i have to add all of this in there. We had a church service with the villagers and then played a soccer game with the young men of the village. We lost by one point. After the game we had a n evanglistic presentation where a couple of people gave their lives to Christ. After this we had a huge meal with the Villagers of Nyawa. Their staple food around here is Shema. Shema is a corn mash like substance.

Day 4
We headed out this day and my team worked with a widow and helped her around her home. We helped her buiild a shelter for her to keep the maze in all year. We then heade back to our camp and got ready for our evening evangelistic meeting. At this meeting my eyes were opened to a whole new realm of spritual warfare. In the villages they have witch doctors. These witch doctors use different means of healing. A lot of the warfare that goes on in these villages is demon possession. The villagers open themselves up to all kinds of evil and curses. Many people received salvation at this meeting along with some people being healed of different ailments.

Day 5
We headed out this day and went to another village nearby called Siamani. Here we worked in the fields for a couple of hours and then headed back into the village to do some evangelistic ministry. There were 2 or 3 people saved at this meeting. Every village has what is called a headman. The headman is in charge of the village and answers to the chief. The chief is on charge of the whole kingdom. In these kingdoms there are several villages. Some of the headmen are in charge of 8 or more villages.

Day 6
We then went to a village named Natiko. There we met at the school forst and then headed out to the fields to harvest maze. We harvested then headed back into the town to play soccer against the young men of the village. We lost again by one point, but i do have to say that our team had gotten better since the last game. We then held our last evangelistic meeting and 3 men gave their lives to Christ. We then headed back to camp and had a huge meal with our village.

Day 7
We said our goodbyes. It had been a great week of ministry and we had really connected with the people. Our ministry there had started and now will continue to go on with Overland. Jake a guy who is in charge of the villages we minstered in will now continue meeting with these villages and disciple and raise up leaders and in the future plant churches in each one.

I know this is a lot to read but i just want to keep everyone informed. It has been amazing and challenging all at the same time. God is continuing to challenge me in every area of my life. Continue to pray for our team here and the ministry that will be done. I love you all and will continue to keep you posted on African life.

I will hopefully post some pictures this week. Love yall!!!!!