One. Week.

WOW. So much can happen in just a short amount of time. Since I have left Zambia, I have been caught in quite a whirlwind. I have been in several airports, visited a mission team in Mwanza, Tanzania, saw Lake Victoria, safari'd on the Serengeti, eaten a legit bacon cheeseburger, ate Indian food for the first time, visited a church that played karaoke during worship, saw snake handlers during a Tanzanian cultural dance, made it BACK to Kenya, and have been wrestling with emotions during each moment of it. I could go into depth on what all has happened in the past ten days (my last post), but instead I want to discuss what has been on my heart to write about now.

This has been such a monumental few months of my life. So much has happened and so much has changed and so much will change because of it. During this time overseas, I have a) updated my worldview, b) changed my major, c) met people who I will remember forever, d) met someone very special, e) and have strengthened my relationship with my First Love, Jesus Christ. Needless to say, these past few months in Africa have been beyond important to me. I have learned so much. So much has been revealed to me. I do however miss home in a very real way along with all the people there. This has been the most torn I have ever been in my entire life. I want to stay in Africa. I want to go home. In a week's time some very big things will begin happening. I will be leaving Africa, I will be saying goodbye to the people I have spent the last few months with, I will be HOME, and I will be seeing people I haven't seen in such a long time. I am beyond excited about reunions with family and friends, eating foods I have been without for too long, sleeping in my own bed, having consistent and reliable and limitless internet, being able to not worry about mosquitos, drive, etc...But am I really ready to give up time with my group, the African culture, the African people, adventure, and what I have become used to? Am I ready to call this time of my life closed? I see God every day here...I see it in my group, I see it in the people I come in contact with, I see it in the situations He puts me in, and I see it during my times devoted to Him...But on the flip side, I have truly missed HOME. I miss spending time with my family. I miss my club. I miss Harding. I miss the CAF (that should tell you something). I miss Campbell Street. I miss my room. I miss Jackson.

One of my favorite shows of all time is Boy Meets World. In the final episodes of the show, the main character Corey is faced with a decision. Does he leave Philadelphia where he has lived his WHOLE life with his wife Topanga to New York, or does he stay put and play it safe and keep what he is comfortable with? Corey seeks advice from his mentor and teacher Mr. Feeny not knowing what he needs to do. (Please keep in mind that I am shortening and simplifying things...I would never take this as a complete synopsis!) Mr. Feeny hears the situation and uses a simple metaphor. Mr. Feeny points to a plant. He tells Corey that it was once a smaller plant in a pot that was in his living room. He took care of it, watered it, and readied for the next phase of its life. The day then came when it had outgrown its surroundings. He took hold of the plant and when he did, the plant tried to hold on by its roots. It resisted at first. He then moved the plant out into the outdoors and into the garden. After a time, the plant began to grow again and more than that, it flourished. He told Corey that if he hadn't moved the plant, it would have STOPPED growing.

It would be ridiculous to say that I have outgrown Africa. That just is not the case. I do, however, see that I am beginning to need to leave this "pot". My time in Africa for now is coming to a close. If I didn't leave when God was ready to move me back HOME, I would stop growing. And I have seen all that God has been doing for me as I have been here. I have been growing so much and so much has been revealed to me! He has done so much for me in such a short time. I am still a small plant. What all can He do through me when He puts me in a place where I can continue to grow? How then could I ever doubt that the timing is right for all that is about to happen? It will be hard. I will in many ways try to resist. But God is good. I know He is at work. I have seen it! I put my hope and trust in HIM.

Two days from now, I will be returning to a very special place in Kenya. I cannot wait. But I have seen and been reminded that God is EVERYWHERE. It does not matter where I am, what I am doing, or what the circumstance may be. So instead of being excited or scared or sad or whatever about what is to come, I will be focused on being filled with JOY in every moment. God is so good. I am so excited to see what all He has in store for me. But more than that, I am so excited about what all He will use me to do to bring glory and honor to Him.

I send all my love to you. I pray that God reveals Himself to you as much as He has to me. May God pour out His Spirit and blessings to all of you.

Brothers ALL Over The World

Today I did something pretty incredible. Because of my current laziness, lack of internet time, the fact that tomorrow is my last full day here at Namwianga (WHAT?!), and words just can't sum up the greatness of today, I will simply copy and paste my internship journal entry for today. It hopefully will point to the continued work of the Spirit in my time here and the power of God's Will put into work. I pray that everyone of you who read this are being truly blessed and are seeing God's Love for you in your life on a daily basis. I miss you all. I love you all. I will be seeing you all very soon. May God bless you and keep you.

"Wow. That is the only way to truly describe today… For the past few weeks, most everything has been fairly routine. I can honestly say that today was one of the most un-routine days since I have been here. It has also been one of the best. Yesterday at church, Webster (one of our amazing night guards) told a few of the guys as we were visiting him at his house (right next to the church) that he had wanted all semester to have us over. He was so sad that we had just run out of time. That is when the plan for today started to come together. Evan and I talked to each other and decided to ask Webster last night if we could perhaps come and see him and spend time with him today during the day. We had to be careful. If too many people wanted to tag-along, he might feel overwhelmed and try to do too much (which he did anyways…but I’ll get to that). We kept it to ourselves, and, after getting it approved by Webster and the leaders of our group, we put it into action today. Needless to say, we weren’t sure what to expect. Mostly, we knew that it was going to be as good as we made it and as good as much as we let the Spirit lead us. We got dropped off at Webster’s house and thus began our incredible day. We walked up and he immediately welcomed us into his home. We sat down, he poured us an orange flavored drink, and started preparing for dinner. He cooked dinner for us! It was your classic Zambian meal, just like we have had once a week since we have been here. However, it was honestly the best nsima, “soup”, chicken, and rape that I have had since I have been here. Webster truly showed us hospitality. It was an incredible thing to see. While we were there, we took a little time to play outside with his children and some of the kids there in that area. It was so much fun! But during our times with Webster as he cooked, showed us how to make nsima, poured water as we washed our hands, and as we ate, we almost never stopped talking. He answered our questions on culture, asked questions of his own on our culture, and just talked. Once we had eaten (the most I have eaten in weeks due to my lack of appetite), the best part of our time together began. He asked us if there was a word or encouragement or passage from the Word we wanted to share with him. Evan and I each shared an encouraging passage. Words just could never do justice for the next portion of our time together. He started to cry. He wanted so much to have these two passages recorded on paper. When we did that for him, he never let go of that little scrap piece of paper that I got from my Bible. He then blessed us. It was one of if not THE most sincere offering of love and blessing that I have ever witnessed. We are brought up reading passages that talk about how we have brothers all over the world. This has been a constant reccuring lesson to me as I go through my semester here in Zambia: those passages are REAL. I saw that through my time today with Webster. We then all three prayed over one another. This man got down on his knees and cried as he poured out his heart to God in our presence. This man taught me so much and it did not stop at Zambian culture. He taught me the importance of being a servant, humbling oneself, being sincere, and showing love to God’s Family. The rest of our time there and our walk back was a celebration of the amazing time we had had together. God is so good. He brought about this time today with Webster. We were all mutually encouraged. I needed today. Webster needed today. Evan needed today. It gave me that boost to finish. It gave me that push to be a servant, to be humble, to be loving, to be hospitable, to sacrifice, and to be sincere to the Lord without shame. God is so good. Tomorrow is our last day here at Namwianga. ALREADY???? Where has my time gone? I know without a doubt that God has used me here in this place and it just does not stop here."

Make It Count.

This one won't be long. Mostly I am updating in order to say that I did so for Mom's sake. However, I am reaching the end of my time here in Zambia and school work is at an all-time high. As I am finishing things up here, I will take the time to simply list some of my favorite things that have happened recently in my time here...I hope you all enjoy! :)

1. Tonight for dinner, I was able to have a bacon sandwich. By the end of the meal, I had eaten 10 pieces of bacon. Best dinner in Africa by FAR.

2. My sweet little Nicole fell asleep on me the other day for the first time. It was such a good moment.

3. I got to skype some of my favorite people ever in the past week or so. SO good.

4. I am getting close to finishing up my personal project for video production which will be incredible to be done with!

5. I got a tie made for me and it is the best. Wore it this past Sunday. Got tons of compliments. Yes.

6. For those of you that don't know, I have decided on a new major (Early Childhood Education with a minor in Youth Ministry) and I have started to plan my schedule for next semester. God is so good. I am so at peace about next semester.

7. I heard from my mother over facebook that Papa is improving and I am so incredibly thankful as I have been praying daily for him. I love you Papa!

8. Also, my facebook is not working right now and may not the rest of the time I am here. I am not ignoring anyone!!! I can see that I have notifications and messages but can't reply or read the notifications. I apologize!

9. I am missing home in a very real way.

10. I will miss Africa so incredibly much.

11. God is alive.

12. God is good.

13. God is working.

14. I hope you continue that God uses me here and that I can finish out here in Zambia in such a way that brings glory and honor and praise to GOD.

15. I love you all very much.

This One's For Mason.

Its been quite a while since my last blog. A LOT has happened. Obviously. However, I want to just tell of one experience. One day, I'll be home and you can ask me all about Zambia, and I assure you, I will talk until you are tired of listening. But while I have your attention, I'll recount one experience which is a little lengthy but might be the most cultural, terrifying, but real experience I have had since I have been here. Here it goes...

A few days ago, I had the most exciting, real, cultural experience of my entire time here in Zambia. It all began a week or two ago. My good friend Kelly Donaldson had a birthday coming up and when I asked her what she wanted for a present, she said she wanted me to find her a bunny. Ok. A little context might do everyone some good. Back in Searcy, one of my (and my friend’s) favorite past times was what we called “Bunny Hunting”. One night after eating in the Caf, we saw some rabbits on the front lawn. Without having to say anything to each other, we took off after them. Many nights last semester, we would go in search for these rabbits and chase them across campus. We never caught one. But it was such a fun thing. I guess it makes more sense when you experience it and when you are with those people. Just trust me: it is fun, it is cheap, and it caught on. Anyways, Kelly was one of those fellow bunny hunters. So she asked for one. Mostly it was a joke and originally I took it as a joke. Then after some time and some discussion with some of my friends here, we decided to just go for it. The day before her birthday, a couple of us guys looked at each other and said we wanted an adventure. We decided that despite it being a super long shot, we were going to go for it. We caught a ride in to town around 10 with part of our group (believe it or not Kelly was in the land cruiser with us and had NO idea). Once we got to town, we (Matt Dobson, Payton Parsons, and I) set off for what we thought was a decent starting point. Matt had gotten to know a certain man who worked in the market and had built a decent relationship with him. We called him “Uncle Mikey”. We knew Mike did not have bunnies for sale. However, we figured this would be a good enough source to ask about where we MIGHT find one. So, we get to the market and we find Uncle Mikey. After chatting for a bit, he and his stooges ask us what we are looking for today. We simply say we are looking for a bunny. First problem arises. They have no idea what we are looking for. They don’t understand us when we say bunny. Finally after a few minutes of frustration, I put my art skills (A in Art 1 Senior Year of High School!) and draw a bunny rabbit on a bit of paper they had with them. Thankfully, they then realized what we were looking for. And we were so glad we had come to them first. One of the men who worked with Uncle Mikey grabbed his bike and said to give him five minutes. We said ok and he took off. After waiting way more than five minutes waiting in this little stall in the market chatting with Uncle Mikey, the man comes back. However, just before he returned, Matt decided to go get drinks for us and Uncle Mikey and his stooges for being so nice and helping us. Payton too had left saying he was going to look in the market (close by) for some clothes he could possibly trade his for. So when this man returned and bid me to follow him, I was alone. And worried. What was I supposed to do??? Matt was gone and Payton was just somewhere in the market. Thankfully as I walked out of the stall, Payton was within sight of the place where I was. I called to him to come to me. Matt would be a while and we were told that where we were going was not far. We then made a mistake. We decided to follow the men and trust that Matt would be okay by himself. To be fair, of the three of us (actually of ANYONE in our group of Harding students) Matt was the one to be FINE by himself. We did not worry about that. But we should have stayed together for several reasons. Regardless, we left with three Zambians and said goodbye to Uncle Mikey. We wanted adventure. Here it was. We got it. They had told us it was going to be close, but it most definitely was NOT. After about a twenty-minute walk, we FINALLY made it to our destination. We just had to walk basically OUT of town to get to it. No big deal. Anyways, we find ourselves at a woman’s house that had a big pen in her back yard. We then realized we actually had successfully found bunnies in Zambia. Score. Then came the next hurdle. The woman brought out of the pen two grown rabbits. And one of them was just perfect...but WAY above our price range. Payton and I named the rabbit “Prayer” and hoped we could figure out a way to get it back. But like I said, the woman wanted more money than we had on us not to mention more money than either of us was willing to pay. Eventually (and I STRESS eventually as each part of this story took much time…we ARE in Africa after all), we agreed to pay what we had with us for the rabbit. It was a bit pricey still but we figured after splitting the price amongst all the guys and saying it was from all of us, it would totally be worth it. PLUS, we were getting a fantastic story from it. We then had the rabbit in hand and it was perfect and it was paid for and we thought we could finally go check on Matt who was by now alone in the market not knowing where we were. But we were wrong. So wrong. This woman then asked us if we wanted to see the other rabbits she had and if we wanted one of them instead. She then showed us a multi-tier pen full of guinea pigs and claimed they were the same thing. I am no rabbit expert, but those were NOT rabbits no matter how much she said they were! Hilarious in hindsight, slightly frustrating in the moment when this woman is hard to communicate in the first place. Anyways, we finally thought we had finished and the woman disappeared with the money. The stooges with us however told us to stay put, as the deal was not yet done. We ended up waiting another large bit of time. Let me explain this next part, as it was so confusing in the moment so I’ll spare you the confusion if possible. Apparently, she was not going to accept the price for her rabbit, but her neighbor had overheard and was willing to sell to us for the price we offered. Seems simple on paper but perplexed us in the moment. Finally, one of the men with us came back with her with a small box. She took Prayer from us, which was sad until we looked inside the box. Inside were two baby bunnies! They were perfect! AND we felt so much better about the price we paid if we were getting two! Perfect. Except, we still had to make the giant trek back to the market, find Matt, THEN make the big trek back to Namwianga and we were short on water. What odds. So we began our walk back to the market. One step at a time, right? We were told we were taking a short cut, but let’s be honest, to Africans that basically just means we were taking a slightly different route than before. We had only gone a short ways when Payton made a big decision. He decided that I would be fine following the stooges back to the market with the bunnies and that he would run ahead in order to try and find Matt quicker. This posed a very obvious problem though. We would all then be separated: Matt in the market (maybe), Payton running the streets of Kolomo, and me walking along with men I could barely trust holding a box of rabbits. Sure, in hindsight it was one of the dumbest things we could do, but hey…we did it. So Payton straps up his backpack tightly, rolls up his pant legs, tightens his chacos and takes off. The men with me are confused and so I do all I can to explain the situation. It would be wise at this point in the story to point out something very important: my Zambian English is just flat out horrible. I cannot for the life of me understand half of what the Zambians here are trying to tell me when they are speaking English. I just cannot do it! This posed a serious problem for our walk back. Mostly, it just meant that we would repeat the same conversation over and over and over again. We would talk about how hot it was, walk a ways, then repeat. It was hilarious looking back on it! I also had numerous locals come up to me and ask about the box. I would simply respond by opening the box and showing them the rabbits, which was probably not the best idea as NUMEROUS people began to come up. Eventually, I was able to get them to leave us be. Finally, I returned to town. As I got into the market (alone as the Zambians decided to stop at the bank and me find the way back alone from there…), I got lucky and found Payton pretty quick talking to a man at his shop. He quickly tells me that Matt is just gone. Great. What were we supposed to do? We then find Uncle Mikey who tells us that Matt left for Namwianga 30 minutes ago. What help that was. Like I have said before, Africans have a poor sense of distance and time. So when he said 30 minutes, that literally could have meant anything. Payton and I then made the difficult decision to go buy some water (as he had thankfully held a little money for water on the way back) and make the walk back to the mission and HOPE that Matt was there and would be fine. So after stopping at a gas station to grab a couple waters, we began the walk back. It was a trek. That was a very discouraging walk. We had just made it to the turn to start the 7 km walk back and we were already about to die. On top of that, we feared the rabbits could die of dehydration before we even got back. How awful would that have been??? For us to get back after all that we went through to have the bunnies die before we returned? So we did all we could think to do. Payton opened the box and sprinkled some of our precious water in for the bunnies. Then we realized all we had done was gotten them wet. Awesome. Thankfully, they both made it back. So did we. We got lucky and got picked up by a truck and were able to cut off part of the long walk back. We eventually made it back in one piece and then hid the bunnies in Payton’s room for the night. The next day we were able to bring them in and give them to Kelly who had no idea. What a way to spend a day in Zambia. Let’s just say it was something I will not soon forget. Plus, we now have to rabbits we can go play with every once in a while over by the girls’ house. I wanted an adventure. I got one. I also got dehydrated, sunburned, exhausted, an incredible story, a pleased friend, and 2 bunnies to play with. I’d call that an incredible success to the Ultimate Bunny Hunt.

Oh Happy Day

Today was such a cool experience that despite me blogging so recently, I decided to do so again just to tell about today. It was incredible. To save time, I will  once again copy today's portion of my Ministry Internship Journal. I hope it does an adequate job of expressing my joy to you.

"Today was a pretty incredible day. First, the majority of our group visited a gospel meeting going on in Kalomo. This was an incredible thing indeed. To give you a feel for how incredibly uplifting the singing and the whole morning in general were, there were over 1000 people there this morning in a small church building. How incredible is that?! The Lord’s Supper alone was an hour and a half long. The morning seemed to go on and on but at the same time I loved it all. I was truly able to see God at work there. One thing that stood out to me was one of the women who came forward. The story was not where I could understand it all, but basically the woman had lost her clothing and with all that was going on for her, she was considering suicide but instead came forward. The CHURCH then did something I just loved. They made a special contribution for this woman to buy clothing. Instead of just giving her hollow promises of prayer and a meaningless smile, they pulled together about a hundred thousand kwacha for this woman. What an incredible example! Tonight I read this verse: “If anyone has this world’s goods and sees his brother in need but shuts off his compassion from him—how can God’s love reside in him?” (1 John 3:17) This morning, I saw that verse being lived out.

Then tonight, we had our evening chapel with the George Benson students. Just a few songs into the evening, the power went off which made it difficult for us in the back to hear and understand all that was happening. It was obvious that Satan did not want the people gathered tonight to experience what was about to happen. Tonight, four young men gave their lives to Christ in baptism! I have four new brothers! I had the great gift of being called on to pray over them right before they were baptized tonight. What an incredible experience. God truly was at work today as He has been all the days before. What all does He have in store tomorrow?"

Getting Older.

First of all, apologies to all. Obviously, it has been quite some time since the last time I blogged. SO much has happened in the past few weeks so not everything can be fully discussed here. However, God has been working even harder in the past weeks to reveal Himself to me. I have been amazed!

For a quick review of what has been going on, I will post sections of my internship journal up till our trip to Livingstone this past weekend.

"Today I found myself finding somewhat of a routine in terms of my time in the afternoons at the Havens. I first go to my little Nicole in Haven One, of course. She is still my number one, and she is definitely remembering now. I get there in the afternoons to see her, and when I arrive she smiles at me. As usual, I just sat on the couch in the entry room and loved on her for the first hour or so that I was there. Then, I walked over to Haven Three where I spend time with a little girl named Mary. Mary is about one and is such a joy to be around. She too is starting to remember me. I love spending time with my girls! Tonight we had a pow-wow with the guys about our expectations in terms of devotionals. Let’s just say I have some work to do. I am however very excited about the challenge of being prepared whenever called upon. It opens up the door for God to work through all of us whenever He sees fit. I love that! In terms of work, the load is definitely a bit heavier. But in terms of possibilities, they are endless. God is definitely still at work."

"Today, a small group of us visited the Kalomo hospital. It was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do, walking through each ward and seeing the hurt there. I don’t want to write too much of it because it truly was too much today. Tonight when we had our weekly processing meeting and devotional, Lance and I had the hardest time telling everyone about the experience. Both of us became emotional. I will tell of one thing not only for the class requirements’ sake, but so I will never forget. In the isolation ward, there was a man who was dying of either HIV or AIDS right there on the bed. It was incredibly hard to see that. But the part that got to all of us was that his FATHER was sitting at his side with a hand towel, patting his forehead and wiping away the drool. This should never the role for a father to have to play. That is just not right. Why should a father ever have to sit there and watch his son in that condition? We all became emotional on some level. Lance and I each gave an encouraging word and prayed over the different wards. However, I experienced something today that I really hadn’t fully experienced since HUT. I just remember walking in and seeing that father and son and clutching my Bible with both hands knowing that there was literally nothing I could do to help that man physically. That was a very difficult thing to come to grips with. I had to sit there and realize that no matter what I said or did, this man would most likely continue lying there with his father by his side until he breathes his last. That was and is something I have had trouble swallowing. I remember at HUT the staff staged a natural disaster, and we were forced to care for the people who were affected by it. I am not a nursing student. I have no knowledge on caring for the human body. I could not do anything beneficial in terms of medical purposes then. Once again, I could not do a thing.

God, however, uses us. He takes us with what we have, what we know, and what we can do, and He uses us in powerful, real ways. Several different times today, I was called upon to pray. Throughout my life, I have noticed that I can distinctly feel the Spirit move when I pray. It is truly a gift from God. I am able to open my mouth and recognize that the Spirit is giving me words to speak that are appropriate, encouraging, and beneficial in every circumstance. God was able to use me today. No, I may not know how to cure that man. No, I may not be able to take away the pain of those who lay in those hospital beds. But YES, God can use me. Anyone can pray. Therefore, no matter what happens to me in this life, God can use me in a powerful way by means of prayer. I am excited to see what God has in store for the group and me tomorrow!"

"Tonight was a very special night. Tonight we were paired up with a Zambian college student (one for each of us) to be our Tonga tutor. I am very much excited about the rest of the time we have here in Zambia. After a large ceremony of drawing names, I was paired with a second-year student named Aubrey. He impressed me in just one short night. He is definitely a man trying to follow God. He taught me some Tonga phrases, answered some cultural questions, and proved to me that by the end of this experience I will consider him a close friend. I loved tonight. I am excited about what all will happen with that!

Earlier in the day, I spent a few hours at the Havens. I held Nicole and also spent quite a bit of time in Haven Three. Each day I spend at the Havens, I fall deeper and deeper in love with the kids there. In both things I experienced today, I can see how God can use me to love on people and reveal Himself to all parties involved. God is set to do some pretty exciting things. I can’t wait to continue watching Him at work!"

"This morning, I spoke in front of the church at the Basic School. It was an incredible experience to say the least. The whole time before I stood up, I was beyond nervous. I remember just putting my head down and praying that God would speak through me and give me peace. Yes, I am currently a Bible major, but I still get nervous every time before I speak in front of a crowd. However, I got up when the time came, and God immediately gave me comfort. My interpreter for the morning service was Ba Siaziyu who teaches our Tonga class Monday through Friday. I was then ready. After the service, we headed back for lunch. Several of people are sick and a good portion of our group was gone on a ministry opportunity, so lunch was a fairly small group. I then did a little homework and took a much-needed nap. I awoke when it was dinnertime, and the rest of the group had returned.

Tonight was a very special night indeed. The Sunday evening service was just flat out excellent. At the end of the service, they offered an invitation of sorts. So many George Benson students came forward. Two of that large number were baptized just behind my little bunkhouse. That was a truly incredible experience to be a part of. We watched as we gained a new brother and a new sister in Christ. What a great way to end the day! There’s a verse that talks about how we have brothers and sisters all over the world. It just doesn’t resonate as much as when you have a night like tonight. We truly have a Christian family that stretches all across the world. It was evident as we shook hands with all of those in the church this morning, it was evident when I heard compliments for my sermon from both my group and the church members, it was evident when we sang all together tonight, and it was evident when we added to that number. God is so good!"

"Today was our field trip to Mr. Mueller’s farm to film an interview with him for our video production class. It was beyond successful. The other two interviews we have done have taken more than an hour’s worth of tape to get all the footage we needed. In this one, we got away with just taking about fifteen minutes worth of film. What a great interview! After we finished we came back to the Mission for lunch.

After lunch, a group of us headed to the Havens. We spent a few hours there, playing with the children there. On the way back, I was discussing what we would be doing tonight with one of the other members of my team, and they said this (in reference to last night’s power outage), “I hope the power goes out again. I love it when that happens here. It would be such a good night if we could go sing under the stars again like last night!” This really caused me to think. No, the power did not go out tonight. And we actually spent our evening watching a movie as a group. But to be honest, I was a little disappointed. It would have been so great to have a night like last night. It is such a cool thing to see people wish that the few distractions we have left here would go away so that we could have uninterrupted time with God. That is so incredible! What a wonderful world we would live in if we lived in a constant state of wishing the power would go out! We should be that way all the time. We should be a people that desire more than anything else that undivided time with God! It is so cool to see a small sample of that here. Hopefully this will be a trend that sticks at least while we are here. I can’t wait till tomorrow!" 

"Today was an incredible day. It is probably impossible to get too into all that happened so I’ll be sure to at least get what we did down on record. After video production class, I spent a good two and half hours at the Havens. It was incredible to say the least. I first got to feed Mary. This was such a great experience! We then played together as usual. Then, I walked over to Haven One and got to see my little Nicole. What a good day with her. She smiled so much! I also got give her a bottle which was great. After lunch, I was going to read, take a nap, or work on my lesson for tonight. Instead, I was convinced to go to town with Payton and Matt. I have no regrets. This afternoon was one of the coolest few hours of my entire life. We got to town and did a little shopping in the market. What was different about this time was that Matt took us to a man who works in the market that he has visited every time and is now his friend. This man is a member of the church of latter day saints and gives Matt “discounts”. We figure we still get reasonably ripped off, but at least we are getting LESS ripped off than we would have. After our shopping there and stopping at a local convenient-type store, we headed back towards the Mission. We got sidetracked, though. We were walking along and we heard some singing. We walked towards where we heard it and it was coming from an Anglican church. Initially, we weren’t going to go in. Then a woman from inside the church who had seen us came out and invited us in. We had very little time but decided to go in anyways. I am so glad we did. The worship was much different than I expected, but I won’t focus too much on the differences in worship style now. The people there were small in number but large in heart. While we were there, we did not experience any difference in regards to the Scripture. They were some of the nicest people ever. When we walked in, we felt very inappropriate (which we were). We were all three wearing tank tops, our pants were rolled up, had on hats, and we were dirty. But they did not seem to notice at all. Before we were going to leave, the man who I assume was “in charge” walked over and sat down while some of the members there were singing a song to a drum. He introduced himself and told us we were most welcome. We told him we were from the Mission and he called us brothers. He told us he loved us. He told us to stay as long as we could but that if we wanted to or needed to go, we were free to do so. They supplied us with a songbook and a Bible while we were there. In so many ways, they showed us love and accepted us as we were. It got me thinking. Isn’t that what the church is supposed to be? Isn’t it sad that if the equivalent back home would offend me if I saw it?" 

I am sure very few stuck through all of that. This past long weekend, we had our first big travel/vacation time. We went to Livingstone and did many great things. However, as I sit here and consider writing all about it, in many ways it paled in comparison to the simple joys that have happened in our everyday life here on the Mission. If you really want to hear about it, ask me when I get home. I'll be sure to fill you in :)

God has been so good to me. He has blessed me on this journey in ways that I never dreamed of. Through His orchestrating of events, I have seen Him work in such a real way and I have been able to appreciate at least in part on how perfect is timing and plans are. Believe it or not, I do not feel as though I have been here as long as I have. God has provided me with a joy and peace about this place and time in my life despite my longings for Home and the people that reside there. I am perfectly fine with waiting until the end of this journey to leave this place. I even predict I won't want to leave at all. But God has proved that He has better plans for me than I could ever come up with. I see God in even the smallest things. . . whether that be seeing the sunrise as I walk from my little bunkhouse to my little outhouse early in the morning, the smiles on the sweet angels that reside in the Havens, the beautiful hearts of the members of my team, or even the times when I feel like just being done. In times like those, I see God in the peace that goes beyond understanding. I pray that God is revealing Himself to all of you as well in an equally powerful way. After all, the same God that gives me the strength to rise each morning is the same God that allows you to do the same. Blessed be the Name of the Lord.

There's Nothing My God Cannot Do

Today was just one of those days. I am going to share today's entry for my journal for my internship. I experienced God today in such a powerful way, and I cannot help but follow that with certain actions: praise Him, pray that He continues to work in such powerful ways, and share it with others. I pray that you all take the time to read this entry, and that you share it with others. Don't necessarily say my name, but instead use God's. Make sure that all honor and glory goes to God in EVERY circumstance. He is Lord. He is King. He is deserving of all our praise. I hope you are blessed this day. I love and miss all of you very much and pray that God is as obvious in His working as He is to me.

In my last entry on my internship journal, I wrote this phrase, “I can’t wait for tomorrow!” God did not disappoint in any way. I’ll back up a little bit and explain things.

Last night, we were informed that a small group of about five were going to get to go to a church for the blind for Sunday morning church. I immediately raised my hand when they asked who would be interested. I was selected along with four others. I was so blessed by the chance to go. So this morning, we loaded up in the land cruiser, and after picking up a few others (our translators) we made our way to the church, which was not too far away. Dr. Whittaker was set to do the message, Evan was in charge of the Lord’s Supper, and I was supposed to be prepared to speak if called upon (which sadly I did not). If you have ever been to Africa, you understand that time is a much more fluid, loose thing as opposed to America. Dr. Bob was almost through with his sermon, and there were still people coming in to that small building. Out of the whole church, there was about eight or nine men and women who were blind. That may sound like a small number for this to be considered a blind church, but imagine how large that number would seem for a “normal” church. The church itself was called a “blind” church due to the fact that it sat in a compound for the blind to live. For me, it was an incredible experience. When it came time for the Lord’s Supper, I watched as the men would take the hands of the blind and provide them with the bread and the wine. I then watched as the blind would hold their cups out for the men to take back up. But what stood out to me the most was the Offering. When the men passed around the baskets for people to put money in, ALL of the blind reached in their pockets and gave freely. For some reason, that really stood out and meant something to me. These people that live a life where they can’t see what lies in front of them see Jesus in such a powerful way and understand the importance of giving back to Him what He gave to them in the first place. As a college student, I struggle with giving of my funds. It was so significant to me of how much of a giving and sharing spirit each of these people held.

After this incredible morning, we ate our lunches quickly, and then the guys were given an incredible opportunity that (believe it or not) surpassed the morning I had already had. We got to go to a local prison and witness baptisms of men who were being held there. When we arrived at the prison, we were given news that was a little frustrating. Only four of us were allowed to go in. Thankfully, God saw fit for me to be included in the number that were allowed in. I could write pages and pages on the prison itself, the incredible message that Jared Mayes shared with the men there, the sound of the singing, the temperature, or the length of it all, but all of this would pale in comparison to the awesomeness that was seeing those men put on Christ in baptism. Originally, we were told that nine men would be baptized. In addition to those, four more were added to the number of baptisms (equaling thirteen baptisms!), and four recommitted themselves to Christ. I remember looking at the metal tub we used, before any of the men got in and noticing how clean that water was. After the men were baptized, that water was disgusting. It was dirty, and you definitely couldn’t see the bottom of the tub. We then emptied it into a trough type system that led out of the complex. It was an incredible symbol to see that happen! Christ took on their sins, made them white as snow, and sent that sin and filth as far away from them as possible! After each man was baptized, they lined back up in front of the rest of the men there (believe it or not, every man in the prison attended! Even for those who do not believe, what a seed to planted!!). I was selected to give an encouragement to the men after the baptisms were over with. How do you put into words how incredible this experience was? I pray that I was able to get out of the way and that God provided a great encouragement to those men through me.

Tonight we had worship in the Johnson Auditorium with the George Benson college students. The acoustics are incredible in auditorium. Imagine hearing the sweet voices of those many Zambians filling that room. I was able to truly praise and feel God’s presence. What an incredible feeling and chance to praise Him after feeling and seeing Him at work today! I love when God gives you those perfect opportunities to truly praise Him after He does something so big and obvious in my life. Today was one of the most powerful and most memorable days of my life. Praise be to God!!!