It's All About Jesus

In just over two weeks I will be headed to South Asia to minister to girls and women of a slum in one of the larger cities. As I'm preparing to go on this six month "adventure" I'm reminded of why I'm going, what led me to do this, and the reason for it all. It would be really easy to let my motivation for going on this trip to be for social justice. The young girls and women who I will be opening up my heart to are stuck in a very oppressive caste system. They are outcasts, told that they are nothing and should not seek to become anything. They live in conditions unimaginable to us here in America. It's easy to feel bad for these women because of their lack of material wealth, and opportunities to make a better life for themselves. I could so easily stand up to defend these oppressed women, to advocate for their social justice and a better life for them. After all, the word says, "Learn to do what is good. Seek justice. Correct the oppressor. Defend the rights of the fatherless. Plead the widow's cause." Isaiah 1:17. I have to remember though, that's not why I'm going, and if I let that be my motivation for this, no matter how honorable it might seem, I will be going in vain. I'm not saying that I'm not supposed to seek justice for those who are oppressed, I think that the word plainly says that I am, and my heart deeply longs to do so. I have to be reminded though, that it's not about justice. It's not about "rights" and "should haves". It's not about the girls and women I will spend these next six months with. It's not about me or the teammates going with me. It's about Jesus. All of this is about Jesus. It's about a Savior who desires to be praised by every tribe, language, people, and nation on this earth. A Savior who died for the sins of the world, so that we might have life in Him. He is worthy of my praise, my devotion, my life. And He is worthy of the praise, devotion, and lives of those who have never heard His name. But, "how can they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? and how are they to preach unless they are sent?" Romans 1:14,15 So I hope to share with these women the greatest story of the one true God, so that they might come to know Him. I pray that throughout my time in South Asia I don't get so heart broken over physical conditions that I'm not heart broken over souls, desperately needing the redemptive love and salvation freely offered to them. I pray that my one desire will be for these people to deeply know Christ, and surrender their lives to Him. May my eyes not for a second come off of what is important. It's all about Jesus.

Prayer Request

We found out today that through some circumstances that some of our ministry is on hold. We're not sure right now what ministry we will be able to continue for the remainder of our time here, and what we will not. Please just pray for our team and that God opens the doors that need to be opened and that Satan will not be able to use this as a tool to get our spirits down. We know that God can work through any circumstance and He is sovereign over any situation. We're trusting that He will be glorified through this. Love you all!

A New Heart For The Nations

Throughout our time here in Zim, God has been working in the hearts of our team just as much if not more than He has been working through us. As we've been going through Acts over and over we've been reminded of the boldness and urgency we're to have in sharing the gospel, both overseas and at home. One illustration that was in our group bible study has particularly spoken to me, as well as many on our team. The illustration was that if you were standing by the bank of a stream, and some little children were drowning, you wouldn't need to wait for someone to tell you to go rescue them. You would not wait for an officer to come by with a legal document personally designating you to rescue them, to jump into the stream. You would despise yourself if there was a possibility of saving them, and yet you stood on the bank waiting for a specific "call" or for someone to push you to do so. So many people have treated the missionary "call" just like this.  Myself included. The bible however, doesn't say "Go tell people about me if I call you to a specific place" "Go preach the Gospel only if you "feel called" to do so". The Bible says "go". Over and over in the word of God there are accounts of preaching the word with such boldness. In Acts Paul doesn't sit at home while he waits for God to instruct him where to go specifically, he goes out and preaches among the nations until God sends him to the next place. Yes, missions at home is also very important. If we can't minister to those around us and share the gospel at home, more than likely we won't be willing or effective to share it overseas. But the longer I've been here, the more He has been revealing Himself to me through scripture, and the more I have begun to see God's heart for the nations, and the urgency to spread His name among people who haven't heard it, and don't understand it. He has begun to make in me a heart for reaching the lost in places other than just the U.S. God has shown me over and over this summer that He calls His children to have boldness and reckless obedience for His name sake. He has commanded us to share this live saving news with drowning people all over the world. We just have to be obedient and go do it. One verse He has specifically laid on my heart this week is Romans 15:20 "and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else's foundation, but as it is written, 'Those who have never been told of Him will see, and those who have never heard will understand." I don't know the specifics of what God has in His plan for me to do in the future, far or near, but I pray that I will have the obedience and boldness of the first Christians to do what He has commanded me. He may call me to stay at home, but He has already commanded me to go.

A Little Bit Of Heaven

Whenever I think of what Heaven will be like, my first thought is people who are different colors, from every people group, speaking every language, just praising our gracious heavenly Father with no ethnic, language, or cultural boundaries. I've always loved the thought of this, but Tuesday God gave me a taste of what a beautiful sight it really will be. Our team left for a village called Pagamani early Tuesday morning. We weren't really sure what to expect, all we knew was that we were spending a few days in this rural African village. After 5 hours of driving through the bush, a few flat tires, more driving through the bush, having to get out and push our van through sand, and then more driving through the bush, we finally arrived. It didn't take long before people began coming out of their huts and heading toward the thatched roof church we were staying at. We were so blessed to spend this day getting to know some of these beautiful people and as soon as the sun started to go down (about 6:30), we lit candles and began to worship together. I have never heard anything as beautiful as that night. It didn't matter that we all came from completely different backgrounds and lifestyles, or that our skin wasn't the same color. For those hours we were all one. One family, there for the same reason: to glorify our Lord and saviour. We sang hymns and prayed in three different languages. It didn't matter that the person standing next to you didn't speak a bit of your language, because the heart was so evident. We were all unified under one purpose, under one God, and it was absolutely beautiful. What a small, yet such a sweet taste of Heaven it was.

Photos from Zimbabwe







Rural Village

Our Guest House

Our Guest House

"Nothing But the Blood" in Ndebelle Hymnal

A School in Mawabeni

A School in Mawabeni

A School in Mawabeni

A School in Mawabeni

A School in Mawabeni

A School in Mawabeni

A School in Mawabeni

Walking in the Neighborhood





Walking in Town

The Soup Kitchen

The Soup Kitchen

How Deep The Father's Love For Us

How deep the Father's love for us,

How vast beyond all measure

That He would give His only Son

To make a wretch His Treasure

These song lyrics have been in my head, as well as several other teammates, for the past week and a half. With every day that passes, it seems He shows me more and more what this even means. For the past two days we've been going to a school called Lighthouse Christian Academy. LCA is a school for kids that are considered vulnerable in some way, many of them being orphaned. Most if not all of these kids are way behind in school for various reason so they are on a special accelerated program for their schoolwork. This school is such a blessing! They go above and beyond teaching them or catching them up on their schoolwork. They even pay one of the girls to make the daily porridge so that she can attend school and still help provide for her family. Without this, she would be forced to quit school all together and more likely than not, resort to selling her own body as a means of making money. The one thing that is different in this school from many of the other places we've visited, is that these teenagers know that they are loved, and not just by the staff. While we were there one of the boys wanted to sing and play guitar and worship with us. Of course we all loved the idea, but we had no idea of the blessing he was about to be. He immediately began singing of God's love for him. He did not just simply sing words of how great God's love is, he meant them with every part of him and it was so very obvious. He then decided to share a song with us that he wrote. This part blew us away. This 17 year old orphan, who was still on about a 6th or 7th grade education level began to sing that even without the love of an earthly father or mother, even when his sisters and his brothers abandoned him, he would praise God for the vastness of His love that covered all that could ever go wrong in his life. He thanked him for his trials because "through this I found Your love". It's one thing to sing and know that God's love is enough even if we lost everything we had and everyone we loved, but it's another thing to actually lose it all and still come out on the other side saying, "God, you can take away even more, and I will still praise you!" He showed us more and blessed us more than we could have ever done for him.

"that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have the strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."

Ephesians 3:17b-19

Living With A Little Less

One thing that I've learned in the short time I've been in Africa is how little we actually need things. Even though I am mostly in a city setting, things that we consider necessities like daily running water and power, aren't always available here. And I love it! We only have running water 4 days of the week, and power 5, but even when we do, we use it as sparingly as possible due to shortages in the country. We've already become used to washing our clothes by hand in a small tub and hanging them to dry. We cook our food over a small gas stove while in the city, but anywhere else we just cook it over a fire, and we have it good The people here aren't worried about having a hot, 20 minute shower everyday, or having the convience of an electric stove or microwave, and they certainly aren't worried about having a working washer. The only kind of dryer they sell  here is two poles and a wire. Not everyone has a cell phone, and even those who do use it sparingly as minutes are not cheap and few people have an actual plan. There's no McDonald's on the corner, or Walmart to run in and just get whatever you want or need. People here have to be very resourcefull, and they just make do with what they have, not worrying too much about what they don't. And again, I'm in a larger city in Africa the majority of the time. I find myself being convicted daily of how materialistic I am, and how much our society puts importance on having lots of "things". I can be so worried about having "necessities" that aren't necessary at all, when I should know that God tells us He will provide for His children. Basically, I'm spoiled rotten.

"Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than a rich man who is crooked in his ways" Proverbs 28:6

"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?" Matthew 6:25-27