Thursday, July 31, 2008

BIBLE SEARCH??? BIBLE FIND!!!

So I must say that this is one of the best entries I get to write. There has been so much going on that when the dust settled I was able to stop and take stock of all that God has done. I’ll TRY make this short and sweet!

At the start of this year I was on a bible search. I challenged people through the blog to give towards bibles and I have to tell you all that God has done a MIGHTY work. Our target to begin with (yes, to begin with) was 100 from within and 1000 from without. At the time I thought I should set a reasonable target… one that would not disappoint. The truth is I was using faith even then, even with the REASONABLE target. At the time I had nothing, not one. The idea that we could raise over 1000 bibles sounded crazy. I shared the need to get the word in the communities with the office staff and my brother bought 10 full life study bibles!!! Next, I shared it with a friend in Wales and she sent money for 65 new testaments for the youth! We were on the road. I was overwhelmed at the response. We separated the oversees partners and friends from the local partners and friends to encourage us to take a stand and not wait for our family outside the country to help before we did something ourselves! Altogether as the body of Christ from different places and spaces, we have raised MK 1, 206, 940.00 (US$ 8,683.02). This is within 6 months… if you did not believe in miracles, I want you to know that you have been a part of ONE. If you wanted your hand to stretch out and make a difference, I want you to know that you have!!! The greatest miracles are the ones that are seed… they keep on going! I am the most privileged of people as I get to see THE EFFECTS, but blessed are those who believe without seeing. I get to hand them out and watch their eyes as they own their very first bible! I can promise you that your blessing and sacrifice and effort and everything else you have put in together with us in seeing this come to life, I can promise you that God, who is El Roi, sees. He is the all seeing God and what you have done in secret He will reward you in public. I have cried all the joy tears I can. It is such a grace to know that so many will be blessed through you. At present our kitty is at MK 1, 121, 200.00 (US$8066.18). our plan is to buy different types of bibles. Below is the list of bibles

800 Bibles - for all who cannot get access to bibles
24 Children's bibles – for teachers within the centres and Sunday school teachers in some churches
20 Proclaimers – this is the ‘talking bible’ that is solar powered for those who cannot read and for the children to listen to. They are able to get together and have a group listen and study.
200 Full Life study bibles – for the many pastors who still do not have access to the bible!

Remember this, this is the beginning. Remember that so many remain in the dark without access to the Word that is light. Don’t ever stop caring about this because the Word of God is the lamp to our feet and the light to our path. The Word of God is powerful and the revealer of our heart condition. The Word of God is the crusher of resistance. The Word of God is food for our spirit. The Word of God is LIFE!!! IS CHRIST!!!

This goes out to all of you who gave, prayed, campaigned and believed with us. Together let us declare into the heavens that He that called us is Faithful!!!

Okay, so it wasn’t short but it sure was sweet!

Smile, that’s it! Just smile!

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Mngwangwa Explosion

I remember thinking when I arrived and found over forty or fifty people present, “who are these people?” I knew only two or three. As it was, the room soon filled with 180 people. Perhaps I should write that again… in words. One hundred and eighty. Yes, there were that many in the room. The thing is, I have never ministered to that large a number of people and it was a new thing for me. I ofcourse thought that they had come for something else that had not panned out and they ended up at our teaching. I was corrected at the end when Milanzi stood and informed us that every person present had come for the teaching. I was overwhelmed. There were grannies, I mean real grannies with the magnifying glass kind of spectacles. They danced and celebrated Jesus and once again I was reminded that this is a privilege, that these people, precious and beloved are KNOWN. Every aspect of their life is known and God values them.

We spoke about Ezekiel and the valley of the dry bones. We have been teaching about the Word of God. The object of our lesson was “chifukwa chiyani?” (why?). The Spirit of the Lord took Ezekiel and placed him in a valley… why a valley? Why not a mountain top? He made him walk about the bones…why? What was the purpose of this?
The entire time we were teaching about asking ‘why’ as we study the bible and being aware that God PURPOSELY uses words and ORCHASTRATES things with PRECISION. In view of this we aught to be mindful of WHAT He says and HOW He says it. Every statement we read brought a ‘why’ and every answer they gave brought a further ‘why’. Through laughter we were able to express the need to question and to seek the Spirit’s guidance when studying the bible.

The entire time I was close to tears because I knew that at the end I was to announce that I was taking a month and a half out from ministry. We had already informed the other groups but Mngwangwa… we had to go and teach and tell them in person. They took it better than I anticipated.

In an effort to serve I have sacrificed my relationship with God. Instead of walking in grace, I have stomped my feet in works and felt the effects. When the joy of serving becomes the mandate and burden of serving there is a moment when we must reassess. Even though I do believe there is a burden to carry… it should be light. He promised that His burden is light and that His yoke is easy so there is something to be said when the joy is gone and the strength cannot be found. Of course I did try cutting down the hours of ministry but that was MY way. God’s way was to take me OUT and saturate me once again in HIM that I become so full, my OVERFLOW feeds many. The true servant serves out of relationship. The extent of service is parallel to the depth of relationship. There are things you are willing to do for the ones you love; the greater the love the less burdensome the service. Love is the great burden lifter. Marriages face challenges sometimes because the service to one another has outweighed the love and it is now works rather than grace that keeps the couple together. The same can be said for a job. When the love for what do is outweighed by the mere responsibility to DO IT, trouble is on the horizon. There is a very short distance we can effectively go before we recognize that we have wondered off from dependency on the Holy Spirit. My consolation is that in recognizing it, we have encountered God’s grace and are available for transformation.

So, in truth, I have been benched because I am tired and not much good for the team at present. You see, our coach is LOVING. He intends to use us for a long time and so, He is a visionary, He sees past THIS game and to the next and the next. I know I am in the team for keeps. I am a warrior. There are many battles ahead and if I do not step back in this one to heal my wounds and feed my soul, I may not be of any use in the next. So, as to the village ministry… one month out. I will be back in 31 days. I will back, filled, fired up and saturated. I leave you with this thought… If you find that you are tired constantly and the passion for whatever you do is fizzled somewhat (it doesn’t have to be drastic), then perhaps my circumstance can be a propeller towards your renewal. Let us meet as soaring eagles, for the Word promises us that we will walk and not faint, run and not grow weary and above all, mount up as eagles.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Simisi Village

Simisi village. This village was far out of town, a road with many twists and turns. The closer I got the more uncomfortable I got and I was not sure why. With ministry so many questions come to mind. Am I prepared? Do I really have a word from the Lord? Am I meant to be here, you know, am I following the cloud or am I way off? All this is magnified because this is a new place.

As it was, I was right to be nervous. We arrived and the community began to assemble in an open field. As the chief begun to speak , I knew I was in trouble. He had been told by a pastor from his area that we were a ministry that did wonderful things for people and so they were assembled to ‘hear’ what we had to offer them. The words were said with an air of ‘what you got?’ So there I was, intimidated, wanting to dig a pit and cover myself within. I was tempted to tell Felix to get into the car and leave them all in the dust. And, yes, thoughts like that do cross my mind from time to time. There was a strong spirit pressing and pushing me out.

We sat down and faced the 70 or so people in the field. We sat and I begun to ask about salvation, still sitting. I was too weighed down to stand. How do you minister to people that are not gathered to hear the word? I guess that is the challenge to our comfortable lives. We are so accustomed to ministering to people that WANT to hear the word. But every one must come to the place where to minister to people who do not want to hear what you have to say. So we asked about salvation. What do you say it is? Religious answers ensued, “salvation is knowing what is good and bad and doing the good”. “Salvation is living a good life”. Salvation is this, salvation is that, salvation is work, work, work. So we asked the series of questions that help draw out the truth about salvation. What are we being saved from? Who is doing the saving? To where are we being saved? How can we be saved?

The chief kept looking back into the crowd and saying things to get them to laugh. This is ministry, facing opposition in the enemy’s favourite subtle way and standing you ground. Yes, eventually we stood! It took thirty minutes of challenging questions to get some of the group alert and leaning in to know the truth. The chief eventually stopped baiting the crowd and fell asleep. We used that to our advantage and preached Jesus. There is no greater message to bring than that of the simplicity of coming into relationship with Jesus, accepting His free gift and being made new. One of the greatest moments in my life is SENSING the atmosphere change and KNOWING that He is in control and has come to embrace those that would come to Him. So Jesus showed up and drew men to Himself. 29 people stood up and came forward to receive Christ. It was overwhelming for me because it was more than I had anticipated. All the while as I was teaching, I was praying, “Please Jesus, speak to someone’s heart”. I kept saying, “If you have an ear to hear, hear the call of God”.

Felix prayed with the group and our work was done. How many of the 29 had a true experience with Jesus, only He knows. Our job was to go forth with the good news of the Kingdom and we had. Our work is to introduce Jesus into the lives of those in the dark, what ever else transpires between them is between them. We returned to the city with rejoicing.

on the way home we talked a little with the pastor who had invited us to the village. he is native of the village but lives in the city. Too many pastors rush into the towns and cities, leaving this great void of a multitude of people feeling their way in darkness, searching for a way out. The thing is, there is not much the villages offer in terms of sustaining oneself. Pastoring in the villages is difficult, tithes are few and life is hard and so many called to the ministry run to the city, for a better life, for the PROSPERITY that so many modern minister talk of. not all are self seeking when they move to the city. every man has to feed his family. We asked the pastor with us why he was pasturing in the city when his village did not even have a church within an 8 kilometre radius. His response was that he went to the city to be able to do some business to take care of his family.

I think of the people who came to Jesus and I stand on the word that He that begun a good work in them, shall complete it at the coming of Jesus. i must believe that God has this, and I do. He has this. He always does.