For the Kingdom is theirs

"Anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes not only me but also my Father who sent me." -Mark 9:37

Home Sweet Home

I want to post about all of the amazing things the Lord did while on our trip to Zambia. The stories of the beautiful orphan children, the sweet widowed women, and all the people who received Christ. There is so much to say I don't even know where to start. I got home on saturday and I was so glad to finally be back in the US. It was such a bitter sweet moment because I loved africa and did not want to leave the family I had made on project. I was really nervous about coming home and being lazy about my faith. On project its so easy to live a life fully dedicated to the Lord. We had assigned quiet times, service times, and gospel sharing times. But at home I actually have to put effort into it. I am having a really hard time processing everything. Im still jet lagged and adjusting to the time difference but five days later it all seems like a dream. The Lord taught me so many unbelievable things in africa and im trying to figure out what to do with all of it. But I have already noticed the smaller things such as a hot shower. I have showered every day since I have been back and that may seem normal but its such a HUGE BLESSING! We don't technically need showers that often, trust me I know. Six days without showering. Sweating in the african heat and covered in dust. Praise the Lord for wet ones! And I have a toilet seat! For some unknown reason, Zambia does not have toilet seats everywhere you go. And every new hostel we stayed at I always got the room with no toilet seat. The Lord definitely broke me of my diva-ness on this trip. Like I said earlier, there are so many stories to tell but I want to start with our stats:

254 people received Christ

127 people rededicated their lives to Christ

743 people were shown gospel media presentations

1,642 people heard the gospel

Praise the Lord for his greatness! These numbers are unbelievable and I still cant believe how powerful our God is. One of the staff members confessed he had hoped for 50 people to receive christ because that was a pretty good number. But God had different plans and revealed himself to be unfathomable once again. I am so grateful I got to be apart of 254 more people entering into the kingdom!

The first day we went to Zambia Hope was a day ill never forget. I previously blogged about this day before but I want to tell a little more about this amazing place. Zambia Hope is an orphanagethat is located in the slums of Lusaka. As we walked down the dirt road everything was exactly as I had imagined it. There was trash everywhere and the houses were smaller than my bathroom at home. As soon as we arrived we started playing with the children and singing songs. I was taken back by their joy and excitement to play a simple game. They were all so beautiful, covered in dirt, smelly, and runny noses. I saw the cutest little baby so I immediately picked him up and he peed on me. I just laughed and wiped off with a wet one because he was so cute I couldn't even be grossed out. As i talked with the children and women, I realized these people aren't super heroes who are trying to save the world. They just Love God. And not once did I hear anyone complain. It was odd to me because if we would of been in America all we would hear is complaining. The living conditions would not be suitable to any of us here. I will be the first to admit what a complainer I am. I always knew i grumbled too much about meaningless things but the Holy Spirit opened my eyes to something I wasn't quite ready for. I feel as if he opened the flood gates and revealed many of my sins. One of the main ones being complaining. As I stood there watching the children run around with smiling faces, I thought I would be pretty upset if I didn't have any shoes, if I had to sleep on the floor, or I had huge holes in my clothes. But no one said anything. The children and keepers of the orphanage reminded me of this verse Always be joyful.-1 Thessalonians 5:16. I have read this verse many times and thought I understood it but these people actually live it out. They understand their true home is in heaven and not on this earth. I was truly blown away by their love for the Lord and their joy.

Some of the children sang us a few songs and they brought tears to my eyes. Shekiwe is the lead singer and here is a video of one song

Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to care fororphans and widows in their misfortune and to keep oneself unstained by the world.- James 1:27

He is a father to the fatherless and an advocate for widows. God rules from his holy palace.-Psalm 68:5

Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys." Luke 12:33

'He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me?" declares the LORD." Jeremiah 22:16

The Lord tells us many, many times throughout his word to care for those who are in need. I do believe the Lord calls us to different services but caring for the poor and needy is not a calling. It is a command. Even if the Lord has not called us to children ministry we are still expected to care for those as he does. If we believe this verse in Genesis, So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. How could we ever look at any human being and not love them?

This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.-1 John 15:12

I am praying that God will continue to move my heart as yours as well. This link is for the Zambia Hope website. You can read the story behind them, look at the children, and receive updates on how to pray for them. I would encourage everyone to look at the children and their stories and pray about what organization the Lord wants you to partner with through prayer or financially. http://zambiahope.com/

Sweetly Broken

The past three days have been pretty crazy. Ill start with sunday and church. The church we have went to the past two sundays is in n'gwombe which is a small compound in Lusaka. I will post pics later but we have to walk this dirt trail then walk across this little bridge over a stream. It so beautiful and honestly picture perfect. The walls are made of blocks and they have dirt covered floors with a few wood benches. The service usually last 2 and a half hours and people share testimonies, sing, and the preacher gives a sermon. Its a HUGE difference from church back home. But worship is worship. No matter how we do it were still praising the same God. Five little girls were sitting behind me and mary cannon and kept grabbing our hair then giggling. They have never felt white people hair before and its so funny because they absolutely love it. Then they started scratching our backs and playing with our hair the whole service. They were so sweet and loving. Just a simple act as that truly showed me and mary cannon love. I love this church for so many reasons. One is the Holy Spirit is so present there. He fills the dirt room and takes my mind to a different place of worship. there are no lights, no music, no fancy clothes. Just God's children crying out to Him asking to see his face more and more. This church family has taught me so much about the body of christ. From the world's view i should be helping them, but each day they end up being the ones who are helping me the most.


Monday we went to campus and I was just tired and exhausted. I was sharing with Mary Cannon that day and it was our second time to be together. Its been so amazing because at home we've never shared together.But yesterday neither one of us were in the mood and just needed a break. Campus ministry has been one of my favorite parts of this trip but I hadnt been in the word the last two days and when I dont get my daily bread I get drained really fast. So we talked to a few girls and just prayed over the campus. then we went to angelas room. Angela is a student mary cannon met earlier in the week and she is a solid believer. We talked about life, her fiance, school, and our faith. It was so refreshing and just what i needed. Angela is so in love with the Lord and inspired me in so many ways. Her face just glows with radiance from the Holy Spirit and his love just pours out of her. For example, I started feeling really sick with my stomach again. Im still not completely healed from the parasite and my stomach will cramp and just make me feel super sick. So i laid down on her bed and just shut my eyes while she read psalm 18 to me. This was such a blessing! Here I am sick in africa, in a random zambians room and she is comforting me by showing me love through the word. She is 30 and getting married next year. She has known tedye for 10 years and they have been dating for 5 years. As we were talking about the wedding she said my bridesmaid dresses are going to be the color red. They will represent the blood of Jesus Christ. And I will wear white to represent purity since I have waited 30 years so I could honor the Lord and bring glory to him. So that just gives you a little idea of how amazing angela is. I was so blessed to meet another sister in Christ and praise his name together.

Today we went to life missions school and I will be posting about that soon. I have so much to share and I cant wait to post the pictures of the cutest kids you have ever seen! Well besides the newest rebel addition,hardy cole. Thank you so much for all your prayers. They definitely are making a difference for the kingdom. Each day the Lord is teaching me something new through his word, our team, and the zambians. I couldnt be more blessed. We havent had water in a few days at the place were staying at so no one has been able to shower. My clothes smell, my hair is beyond nasty, and I dont even want to think about my dirty sheets. Some people today jumped in a pool and then washed off but I am holding out as long as possible. So continue to pray for the spreading of the gospel, our team, and hopefully we can have water soon! But even if we dont it doesn't matter. Our satisfaction comes from God and God alone.

I love you, Lord;
you are my strength.
² The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior;
my God is my rock, in whom I find protection.
He is my shield, the power that saves me,
and my place of safety.
Psalm 18:1-2

Faith and Love

The past few days have been super crazy. My mind cant comprehend everything the Lord is doing. I have had moments where Ive thought six weeks is too long for a project but now im so grateful because its taking me from emotions to really dealing with certain sin issues in my life. Lat post i discussed worry and fear. I feel like im only at the tip of the iceberg with this huge struggle in my life but sanctification is such a beautiful process. The Lord is revealing to me what a lack of faith I have. I pray these timid prayers such as God if you decide to do this, or if you did this it would be awesome. Jesus did not come for us to hope for big things. He came so we would see his power in EVERYTHING. I serve a huge God and his power is beyond my comprehension.

The Love that zambians have for others is so unusual and could only come from a supernatural place. They remind me of this verse:

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. ⁸ Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. ⁹ This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. ¹⁰ This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. ¹¹ Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ¹² No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

It still blows my mind that we cannot even love without his help. Our world is so based on morals and good things. We produce nothing good. Everything that comes from us is sin. the only way we can produce good is guidance and empowerment from our Heavenly Father. The Holy Spirit is revealing to me how much i dont love people the way I should. Im going to post more on this later because God is teaching me so much so Im still trying to process through everything.

Ministry here is so unbelievably similar here to back home its crazy! I havent met one person who said they werent a Christian or didnt go to church. But as I discuss more with them I see there is no real change in their lives. I did this for many years. I was baptized as a child and went to church but my life didnt look any different than a non believer. Its not enough to "know" about God and do good things. If we are still breathing, its because God is allowing it and has a purpose for our lives. One of the outreaches we had was a movie showing of Disneys Tangled. We related the movie to the gospel by explaining how God has a plan for our lives and so does Satan. If youve seen the movie you know the evil mother has a plan for her daughter rapunzel. She was meant to be a princess and do great things. But when the mother took her away from her intended life things drastically changed. It is the same with our lives. God has planned many good works through us so he can be glorified. But satan also has another plan:

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.-John 10:10

God is so gracious in his mercies. Every day they are new and alive. His word is the only place we can find truth and discern what are satans lies about our life. Being in zambia has made me realize what lies we believe in america.

1. we dont need God, we have every material thing we need
2. Good works get us to heaven
3. there are good and bad people
4. morals define our relationship with christ
5. we deserve good things

These are all huge schemes from the enemy to distract us. In romans it says No one is righteous;not even one. We believe we are good people because we read our bibles,pray, go to church, give some money left over if we have it, and we havent killed anyone so were not that bad. LIE. The truth is we are all sinful, desperately needed a Savior and dying each minute that we do not have him in our hearts. The first breath we took we entered into a life of sin. John piper describes it as this:
"Before u accepted christ everything you did was sin.If you were brushing your teeth you were sinning. If you helped a poor person in need you were sinning. If you did a kind act for another person you were sinning. When you were sleeping, you were still sinning. This changes everything we in america like to believe. We need to realize how sick and sinful we are or we will never see the Glory and graciousness of our savior. Once we have him all of our sin is gone. Praise the Lord for sending his Son to shed his blood for my sin. The sinless spotless Lamb is now seated on high. I pray our lives would represent this great gift weve been given. His love is unfathomable and unconditional.

He never sinned,
nor ever deceived anyone.
²³ He did not retaliate when he was insulted,
nor threaten revenge when he suffered.
He left his case in the hands of God,
who always judges fairly.
²⁴ He personally carried our sins
in his body on the cross
so that we can be dead to sin
and live for what is right.
By his wounds
you are healed.
²⁵ Once you were like sheep
who wandered away.
But now you have turned to your Shepherd,
the Guardian of your souls.

John 15:5

There are so many things I want to write about and share with everyone. I know I will have time when i get home but im so eager to share now. We are finally back in Lusaka and will be going to the college campuses to share the gospel and help build their crusade movement. Last week we were at copperbelt university and God did so many unbelievable things. Unfortunately, I missed the last three days on campus because I was really sick. Let me start off by saying if anyone shouldnt have gotten sick it was me. Ive been the most careful and cautious of the food and water. I dont even wash my hands with the water here. On tuesday my stomach starting hurting and I thought it would go away in a day or two. But then i developed a fever and  just got worse. I have never experienced stomach pains like that in my entire life. If childbirth is worse then I cant imagine having a child! I went to the doctor and after some tests he told me I had a parasite. I dont know where I got it but it comes from bad food or water. One of my biggest fears coming here was that I would get sick, and I did. But everything is ordained by the Lord and works according to his purpose. I believe the Lord is showing me DO NOT FEAR. I am in control of everything and no matter what you do I will still guide your life. He also is teaching me so much about fear and worry. I stress about the small things in life and sometimes these thoughts consume my mind. I always wonder "what if" and expect the worst. God wants us to be from worry and anxiety. When we do not trust him and worry we are sinning. I had no idea what a huge problem I have with this sin issue until now. I am so grateful He is strengthening my faith by purifying me with trials and struggles. Our time on earth is so short. Who cares if we get sick or miss home. If we are following Jesus our lives should look like His. He is worth sacrificing everything. The Lord is showing me that NOTHING matters in this life except the advancing of his kingdom. Whether im in africa, oxford, or hattiesburg one thing remains the same. My God is everlasting. the King of Kings. Lord of Lords. My savior, redeemer, and payment for my sin. I hope whoever is reading this will be encouraged to seek the Lord today and follow the spirits guiding for THIS MOMENT and today.  And not to worry about decisions or your future. God has each moment planned out before we were even born. He is in control and will always be faithful. We are not promised tomorrow. Let us life a live worthy of the gospel every breath of every day. Thank you for all your prayers and please continue to pray for the Zambians, our team, and against sickness. Satan is trying hard to divide our team and bring down our spirits by sickness. But our God is greater and praise him for already defeating the grave!