Africa 2013 Day Six

Again this morning we were out and on the road by 6a.m. to a small airstrip just outside of Lusaka. When we arrived we met Guillermo with Flying Mission Zambia a full blooded German who grew up in Mexico. We loaded our luggage and boarded his single engine Cessna 206 on what turned out to be a beautiful day with perfect weather for flying. The trip was very smooth and neither Nathan or I got airsick (even though we had our barf bags in hand just in case.) Flying at an average speed of 110 knots at approximately 8,000feet we got a bird's eye view of the vastness of the sub Sahara landscape. It was breathtaking. We landed in Mongu and were picked up by two sweet single missionary ladies in their matching Toyota 4 wheel drive pickups. (Yes, Dillon they were new Tacoma pickups although they do not call them Tacomas when they export them to Africa). We drove about an hour into the bush to the clinic where they minister several times a week in addition to many other ministry activities including church planting. These two awesome women of God have both served here for over 10 years now. Gerry is a career missionary and Melissa is as well having given up a career in the states as a nurse anesthetist.

We arrived at the clinic and already there was a very long line of people on the front porch. Some come from nearby but some have walked a very long way to get to the only medical attention they may ever receive. I watched with tears in my eyes as mothers brought their newborns and grown children brought their aging parents into the clinic. Most of the problems they deal with are completely curable like ringworms, malaria, and severe colds. Occasionally they get people with much worse conditions and they refer them to the local hospital even though it is a very long drive and there is little chance they will follow through. I was so glad that in my backpack were rolls of stickers and although they are not much to us they seemed to put smiles on the faces of sick kids. Sometimes it is the little things. It was like music to hear an African national pastor out on the front porch presenting the gospel passionately to those who were waiting for their chance for medical care. People are saved here every week through this faithful ministry. In talking with Melissa, the nurse, something hit me so hard. You see, since this activity is outside the main strategy of church planting, she receives no funding from the International Mission Board's main funds. Instead she relies on special donations from organizations like Baptist Global Response and special gifts from individuals and FROM THE LOTTIE MOON CHRISTMAS OFFERING. Here's where it ceases to be just another announcement in church for another offering. The fact that so many of the 46,000 Southern Baptist Churches have stopped promoting this offering is resulting in falling funds and real ministry cutbacks. Melissa shared with me that without additional funding from special gifts, she will find herself still coming to the clinic, still seeing patients but having no medicine to give them, Just think- God has strategically placed a well trained nurse out in the middle of the bush and now, all that training and all the knowledge she possesses will be for naught without the funding for medication. And- I was shocked to find that she is only talking about $5000 to keep her in all her basic meds for 1 full year! I am praying now that God will raise up someone who will step up and meet this need so that she does not have to say "be warmed and filled" without giving them what is absolutely essential for their lives. If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. James 2: 15 - 17 On another note, it is so good to spend time with our own missionaries and see how these two single ladies manage to do so much ministry while also having to manage their own houses. One bonus blessing for me came when I heard them talking about how they had paid a "plumber" three times to come and fix their toilet and it still wasn't working properly. So, I grabbed Guermo and my trusty Gerber all purpose tool and we tore into it. We ran to a nearby store that amazingly had a repair kit and within an hour the toilet was as good as new. Again, things we take for granted can become a real burden for single ladies on the mission field. I know that fixing toilets was not why you sent me half way around the world but you should have seen how excited Melissa was that this nagging problem was solved. Tomorrow we will board the plane again and go even further into the bush. Again we ask that you earnestly pray.

Africa 2013 Days Four and Five

Africa 2013 Days Four and Five We hit the road at 6:00a.m. this morning and drove 3 1/2 hours from Lusaka up to Siabonga to visit James and Marcia and their three awesome kids who are career missionaries with the International Mission Board. They live on the edge of Lake Kariba, the largest man made lake in Africa. They are surrounded by extremely poor villages that survive off what they can grow on their small patches of land and what they can catch in the lake. This is the second phase of our trip which is quite different. As a trustee of the International Mission Board, Nathan has been asked to meet with and encourage our missionaries in this region of Africa. I have to say that my heart has been moved after seeing a missionary family up close and personal. This family is one of the most joyful Christian families with which I have ever spent time. (and they have three truly awesome kids!) It is clear that they have been called by God to be in this remote place and they feel so blessed to live here. In fact, although it can be a difficult place to live at times, they don't seem to notice. Here are some facts about living in this area: Marcia has to drive 3 1/2 hours to do most of her grocery shopping because safe meat and certain staples are not available in Siabonga (meaning that she has to plan meals at least a month in advance) Gasoline is extremely expensive (approximately $6.00 a gallon) In addition to the demands of ministry, all three of Jeff and Marcia's children must be homeschooled because the schools here are substandard. In the Siabonga summer (October and November) the temperature here reaches 127 degrees fahrenheit. Only the main roads are paved and the unpaved roads are filled with trenches and ruts that require a four wheel drive vehicle. In the rainy season many roads are impassible. Reaching the Tonga people (an unreached people group of over 1 million) often requires James to launch his boat and drive up the lake for 2 hours because there are no roads leading to some of the more remote people. It is so fascinating to hear Jeff talk about his work. He drives to remote villages on a weekly basis that have never heard the gospel and leads people to Christ hut to hut. He then disciples them and they walk even deeper into the bush to lead others to Christ. We traveled with him to one of the extremely small villages and met a girl who looked to be about 16 or 17 years of age carrying her infant son on her back. She was so excited to meet other followers of Jesus. We had lunch on top of one of the mountains overlooking the lake. A friend of Jeff's owns the place and like so many places in the world- the contrast was so stark between this resort area and those who are starving within a stone's throw.

On the way back to the missionary house James decided to take us to meet a white South African man who had moved to Siabonga to open a Crocodile farm. The man welcomed us warmly to his place and gave us free roam. Please pray for this man and his wife who are very friendly to James and Marcia but truly needs to give his heart to The Lord. The crocs were amazing with the longest one we saw being almost 20 feet long! We ended our time together with an awesome time of Praise and Worship with the guitar sitting around their living room with each of their kids taking turns playing a special drum. Then before leaving we had a special prayer time for the Tonga people and for their ministry to be safe and blessed. Please, please allow me to close this blog by asking you to stop!...that's right stop! right now and just take a minute to pray for this amazing missionary family. Here are some prayer requests you can take to The Lord on their behalf. Pray that the over 1 million Tonga people will feel the wind of the Holy Spirit blowing over them as the gospel is released in waves by the M's and the national believers. Pray for the Missionary Kids (MK's) Micah, Emily and Taylor that they would exceed in their homeschool studies and become bold witnesses for The Lord. Pray for their electricity to stay on and their internet to work. Pray for a new ministry door that has opened where James and Marcia have been given permission to teach bible in every high school in Siabonga. We made the dangerous drive home safely today and came home to an amazing meal with another missionary family, Jeff and Robin and their amazing kids Hadassah, Levi and Zoe. We had sweeeet Texas tea, homemade rolls, bar b que meatballs, and green bean bacon wraps...thank you Lord for a home cooked American meal. Tomorrow morning at 6:50 a.m. we leave to fly 3 hours north into the mountains (on a small single engine plane.) This should be another wonderful adventure with Jesus. Just pray that I can keep my breakfast down!)

Africa 2013 Day Three

Today was an all day travel day so this entry will be short...er. We started the day early because even though our flight was not until 1:00p.m. we have had some lost baggage that contained very important items for the missionaries we were about to go visit. After many, many calls the bag was not to be found...not even to be tracked...even though we had the bag tag with all the tracking information. Basically, they said that they had no idea where the bag was. It was extremely important that we get this bag so Ross, a 30 year foreign missions veteran led us through the process and the bag showed up on a flight that landed just 40 minutes before we were supposed to leave that same airport. Things happen here on "central African time" which means whenever they get around to it. So there was no way to wait for the bag to hit the carousel. By a miracle of God, Nathan got through the security check point and into the baggage area and was able to identify the bag and have it loaded directly onto the next airplane. Problem solved...God is good...that is His nature. We then boarded a flight back to Johannesburg and from there connected with our flight to Lusaka, Zambia. The flights were where today's adventures came in. The flight from Malawi to Johannesburg had 30 high schoolers from an elite school in Nottingham, England. Nathan and I were not seated together and I ended up right square in the middle of these high school students. I was right at home. The flight was delayed due to a "security issue." As it turns out, these students had spent the weekend at a wildlife safari park and one of their teachers had found an elephant bone and decided to try to smuggle it out of the country. They found it...and confiscated it...and he was lucky they didn't take him to jail. And somehow he still made the flight. I sat next to one of the most thoughtful, bright teenagers I've ever talked with. His name was Sam and he was the equivalent to a junior in high school here in the states. He graduates next year. I talked with him about his F amily, I nterests, and R eligion and then I told him M y story. In talking about his family and religion he told me that his father was Catholic and his mother was nothing so they had decided not to push religion and see where their kids landed. He told me that he had landed squarely on atheism. And yet he was so very open to talking about God. I talked with him about the amazing design evident in the universe, in our planet, even in the human eye- a thousand times as complex as a swiss watch. He really seemed to be listening and affirmed that even though many evil things had been done in the world in the name of religion- so had much good. He shared that their group had done some relief work on their trip and that they had worked through a church. He stated that the thing he liked the most about that church was that they focused on doing good to others and left the whole God and Jesus discussions out of it. (What a sad, sad thing to be said of an institution that calls itself a church!) I went on to use Pascal's Wager ( the idea that if I live my entire life for God and experience a meaningful life and there is no God I've lost nothing but if you live your whole life ignoring Him and He is who he says he is then you've lost everything.) I could tell he had never heard this argument...and I quoted Hebrews 9 that says that every man has an appointment to meet God. I could tell it bothered him. He reiterated his position and the Holy Spirit let me know I had said enough. He gave me his email and even got his notebook out and wrote down the name of a book I recommended "The Case for Faith" by Lee Stroebel. Please, please take time to pray for this young man. He is a brilliant student who wants to do research in the area of physics. I know God could use him in a country where spirit filled evangelical churches are virtually non existent. Then things got weird! First of all, we saw a crowd gathering in the airport and found out that it was because R. Kelly, the King of R & B who wrote "I believe I can fly" was shopping in a sports store. His entourage and body guards actually closed down the store so that he could have the run of the place and shop without being "bothered" by his fans. ( I think he forgot they are the only reason he got where he is in the first place...and btw...where is he anyway?) Then, on the next leg of our flight from Johannesburg to Lusaka we sat together alongside a young African man. He was dressed very cool and seemed to be a happy go lucky kind of guy. But, 3 minutes into the flight he got very agitated and ask us to let him out to go to the restroom. Then he came back and did the same thing several more times. Then he asked me if I knew "Sting" and then he began to call out to one of the flight attendant repeatedly asking him if his name was "Sylvester." At one point he went down the aisle of the plane to go to the restroom again but halfway there dropped his pants. By now, the flight attendants were fully aware he was a problem and they worked together repeatedly to get him to come back and sit down (right beside me!...I was happy when he was in the aisle) I was convinced the man was high on something. At one point he asked if he could have Nathan's salad so Nathan handed it to him. He stared intently at if for several minutes studying it closely and then gave it back. This was when Nathan leaned over and suggested that this was demonic possession. I had not even thought of this but it made perfect sense. When he left us and went to the front of the plane several times he became much more calm and docile. But each time when they forced him to sit with us he became agitated. I decided to test this out by mentioning the name of Jesus to him. I asked him if he knew who Jesus Christ was and suddenly, he began to curse profusely when he had not uttered one curse word before that. He kept his arm on my armrest so I put my elbow on his and began to silently pray that Satan would be bound from our lives and that this poor man would be freed from the bondage in which he was living. He repeatedly refused to follow the flight attendant's instructions and that's just not something you do nowadays. So, when we finally landed, they asked everyone on the plane to remain seated while the took care of a security matter. A security detail entered the plane and took the man out safely without incident. Please pray for this young man named Jason. It was very sad. We could hardly help but laugh at first at some of his strange behavior. But I thought later about the fact that he was the same age as Ryan, my oldest son. I thought about how much it would hurt if he was my son and was caught up in this kind of bondage and oppression. It reminds me of an old saying: the devil will take you farther than you ever wanted to go and keep you longer than you ever wanted to stay and it will cost you more than you ever thought you would pay. GREATER IS HE THAT IS IN ME. Thank you for your continued prayers. Please pray for safety. It's midnight and we leave at 6:00a.m. and will make a 4 hour drive up into the mountains on roads that are less than the best.

Africa 2013 Day Two

It's close to 10:00p.m. and we are just arriving back from a day in the African bush. We filled up our dear friend and guide Noah's Toyota van this morning and I noticed as we were pulling in that his low fuel light is on. We have driven through and visited with many villages today. Today was mostly dedicated to following up on villages where Nathan and his previous groups had done evangelism, planted churches and drilled much needed water wells. Probably the most exciting and the one that made a huge impression on me is a church called Living Waters. It is in a very remote village and it was amazing to drive up and see the Pastor, an African national, standing there waiting. He was overjoyed to see Nathan and it was awesome to walk with them to the tree where it all started. It was under this tree that they had the first service preached by a layman that Nathan had brought on a short term mission trip. In the fourteen months since, the church has constructed a temporary shelter in which to meet and has grown to a membership of almost 500 with over 250 in attendance every Sunday Another important work in remote locations is the provision of fresh, clean water. Because the water table is so very deep in this area hand dug wells are few and far between making it a tremendous burden for the women and children to walk often over a mile with heavy buckets on their heads to get water each day. These simple open wells have served a great purpose for many years but they also present risks. First, they have furthered the malaria epidemic in Africa because open wells are breeding grounds for mosquitos. Secondly, animals often wander into these open holes and fall in and die. It is virtually impossible to retrieve them so people then drink water that has been contaminated by the decaying carcass. The new wells like the one pictured on yesterday's blog entry are completely enclosed and extremely efficient. I watched today as a little boy who could not have been more than three years old barely moved the pump handle and yet it provided enough water for his older sister to drink from. We spent a part of our afternoon visiting these wells that were paid for by the generosity of one of Nathan's former church members. The pictures we took will be his first look at what his investment provided. But, only in eternity will he really know the full effects of this sacrificial gift of 5 wells for 5 desperate villages. After visiting the wells, we drove back to the village of Melinge which is the site of Calvary Baptist Church and the Hope House for Children. We met with the chief of the village yesterday for a preliminary celebration but we then planned a major celebration for the whole area for today at 4:00p.m. We contributed some money so that they could slaughter and cook two goats which was sure to draw a crowd since meat is a rare treat in this village. On the way there we heard the same chilling chanting of the demon spirit worshipers we had encountered on the road yesterday but today they were in full regalia and shrieking loud enough to be heard a kilometer away. Nathan asked our guide to get us there so we drove as far as we could and then went on foot to this patch of ground surrounded by trees. The contrast was surreal because just a few minutes away was a gathering of Christ followers celebrating all that God had accomplished. When we got to the site where the ritual was being held we found out that they were having a "ritual of the tomb" honoring one of the former chiefs that had died a few years ago. Again, there were over 500 people there and even the trees overhanging the site were filled with young africans who had climbed up for a clear view. We could not get close enough to see what was going on but the pastor of Living Waters suddenly led us in a human chain right through the crowd and we found ourselves in the inner circle of this demonic rite. Seeing something so evil through spiritual eyes was surreal. They were dressed in grotesque costumes and their dances were violent. As they danced they would point to sections of the crowd and demand that they pay them money. One by one, these precious villagers, without money to feed the starving children under foot, would go to the center and give these demon dancers what little money they had. The dancers would stuff it in their pockets and demand more and more. The Lord opened our eyes to see this for what it was- a demonic worship service and this was the devils way of taking up an offering! Our guide reminded us that by now we were late to our Hope House celebration and we were forced to leave suddenly. It's probably a good thing because Nathan and I were trying to figure out how to preach the gospel there and I doubt if they would have been happy with that prospect. We left with broken hearts and our best ministry option- praying against those demonic spirits. We are praying still. On the way to the van, they brought a young girl to us who was approximately 10 years old. She had a huge growth bulging out of her mouth that they said they believed was cancerous. It covered almost her entire bottom lip and chin and made her precious countenance so distorted she was unable to smile. It was such a touching moment for me to gather a group around her and pray fervently over her for God's healing touch. She has no chance of any medical help. God is her only chance. Please pray for her we will call her Lilly. Meanwhile back at the Hope House a huge crowd had gathered of over 500 people and the chiefs and people of nearby villages came to celebrate the Hope house as well. It was here that I pulled out a game that Coach Currie had given me which I call "The rock." Actually it consists of two laminated squares of cardboard and a long rope. Two young men stand on the squares with the rope between them and one tries to pull the other off. Without even being able to speak a word I demonstrated it and they immediately began a tournament with the winner staying to take on all comers. At the conclusion, I awarded the game to two brothers and I am sure it will be played now at all village gatherings. I also met a most amazing man at the village with a smile as big as Texas. He had only one arm but I was told that he played the guitar! Of course I was intrigued so I followed him and he brought out this crude but beautiful guitar he had made from a one gallon metal gas can and the branch of a tree with steel wire. And he brought his children out and as they sat on the ground together he strummed with his one hand and formed the chords with his foot and together they sang the most beautiful worship music. Nathan informed me that he made these crude guitars and then sold them to help his family and so four thousand kwacha later it was mine! (Don't worry Trinetta that's not as much as it sounds). Now I just have to get creative to find a way to get it home on the airplane. Nathan knew he was going to have to speak through a translator to the village chiefs and he asked me if I had brought my frisbee. Those of you who know me realize that in high school I was voted most likely to carry a frisbee so- yes, I had my frisbee. It is customary for a guest to present the chief with a gift and guess what?...the frisbee turned out to be that gift. The translator told me that he wasn't sure what to call it so when he translated to the chief he said that we were giving them "a flying plate." They looked confused until Nathan sent one of the young men out long and through it to him. Then the villagers cackled like hens at the site. They laughed and cheered as we threw it back and forth. Nathan left to go take pictures of the Hope house and for the next hour I taught the young men how to throw it properly. Too bad we ran out of time for frisbee golf. The banana trees and stacks of corn husks would have made excellent targets! At the close of his talk Nathan did an amazing job of preaching. Telling the people that the only reason there was a Hope house...or hope of any kind in the world was because of the saving grace of The Lord Jesus Christ. As we drove away one thought filled my mind...God had put this little place on the map. A year and half ago there was little laughter and little "Hope" in this village. Then God sent a group of Christ followers, just regular church members who were willing to burn some vacation to go to Africa and walk through the bush sharing the gospel. And the rest as they is HisStory! My closing question: "Will you go next?"

Africa 2013 Day One

So, after 24 hours of flying and 15 hours of layover we arrived at O.R. Tambo International Airport in Lilongwe, Milawi. And even though we kinda took the long way to get here, God blessed with sleep on the flight from Frankfurt to Johannesburg so we hit the ground running. Thank you for your prayers...keep them up though...we've had a couple of bouts with nausea on both of our parts while traveling and Jenna, Nathan's wife has been sick which has proven to be a drain on his mind and heart. But for now Jenna is better and we are both well and almost rested. Oh yeah, and Nathan's main suitcase is somewhere in the bowels of some airport. Pray that it catches up with us soon. We got settled at the IMB guest house and headed for Hope Children's Home a place for hurting kids established by Nathan and Jenna after a trip where God broke his heart for the many orphans in this area. On the way we were confronted on the dirt road near the home with two men who were dressed in strange robes and head dresses made from maize stalks and shucks. They came right up to the window of the car and were shouting strange incantations as they made lewd gestures toward us. They are a part of a tribe in the area that worships evil spirits and these rituals are done regularly in an effort to appease the spirits. The same group came by a couple of hours later led by two men under a large blanket with the head of a donkey. They were followed by a group who were chanting in the same melodic but sinister way. Please pray against witchcraft in this area it has been here for centuries and still hold sway over thousands who are afraid to offend these demons who blind and destroy them. We arrived at the church to the same chants we get in Uganda...Mzungu, Mzungu as a large group of children followed the van into the parking lot of Calvary Baptist Church located on the same property as the children's home. This was Nathan's first time to see the beautiful home that is almost completed that will house dozen's of hurting kids when it opens it's doors later this year. Please pray for the funding to come through to finish and furnish this amazing place that will greatly affect a generation that is so fragile. We came at a good time because the children were having choir practice and the sounds of their sweet voices filled the air in this place that is quite remote and isolated in the African bush. Choir was dismissed and I brought out rolls of stickers with Jesus stuff on them and of course they loved it. Soon Nathan and I were standing in front of the Hope house surrounded by children and their mothers and believe it or not they were each one politely waiting to get their sticker which you would have thought was something precious and valuable. Then the moms began to dance and sing songs about The Lord and it was awesome to see them worship so passionately in an open air display of their love for The Lord. This is one of those villages that only a few years ago had no church and no gospel witness and now they have their own piece of land and their own church building. We left the church site and headed off much further into the bush driving down narrow dirt roads which in may places were a single lane. We drove for an hour and finally in the pitch black of night we turned into the drive of a primary school to see 300 people watching the Jesus film in their native language. Nathan turned to me and said: "you're up" and I had the awesome privilege of preaching the gospel through an interpreter and we saw over 60 people pray to receive Christ I want to stop now, after just one day here and thank all of you who prayed and gave to get us here. As we were bouncing along those roads and often bottoming our our car I realized that this really is my chance to live out the command to take the gospel to the uttermost!

Africa 2013…filled with expectation.

I know, sometimes expectations are what kill ya. You know when you get your hopes up and think that something’s going to happen that’s about as likely as a snowball in Africa! Like when my boys were all toddlers and I would land at the Houston airport (pre 911) and think that Trinetta would have them lined up at the gate with signs saying “welcome home daddy.” Not only was this extremely unlikely- it was also unfair to even think for a moment about asking her to lug those kids through the terminals after parking the car a mile away. Crazy. But, this is different. Expectation is different from expectations, if you know what I mean. Our expectation of what God is going to do in Africa is built on solid promises from God. Promises like: “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1) “The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you;” (Deuteronomy 31) “The LORD is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life” (Psalm 27) “I am the vine, and you are the branches. If you stay joined to me, and I stay joined to you, then you will produce lots of fruit” (John 15) Our interim pastor Nathan Lorick and I will be visiting the countries of Malawi and Zambia to encourage our IMB missionaries, to visit current work, to preach the gospel and show the Jesus film in remote villages. If you are reading this it’s probably because you love the Lord, you love Africa and you love us as your brothers in Jesus. Here are some things we are asking of the Lord. We would love if you would intercede on our behalf for them: • 1000 souls saved. • Open doors for future mission trips • Words of strength and encouragement for battle worn missionaries • Safe air travel filled with conversations that make us better (20 + hours in the air) • The pilots of various puddle jumpers we will fly on in country • That our families we leave behind will be safe and secure • That we will see and seize every opportunity to share Jesus Thanks…more to come…if we have reliable internet. Check back every day! Donnie