The Rodgers Tribe: Our Circle of Influence

I believe that God has a purpose and a place for each one of us. I don't think that God intended for us to just go to church on Sundays and then do nothing for Him the rest of the week. He wants to use us to reach out to those we come in contact with-family, friends, neighbors, or work buddies. Those I come in contact with on a regular basis are in my circle of influence. What I mean by this is that we each have people in our lives that God intends for us to influence for Him. Someone may be more likely to listen to me because they have a relationship with me. They know and trust me. Whereas if someone they don't know were to just come up to them to try to share Christ they might wonder why they are doing so and not really listen. Each of us has our own circle of influence and we need to make sure we are doing all that we can to be a light among them. On Thursday, this was our lesson as I told the story of Peter going to see Cornelius and his family from Acts 10:11-48. It was exciting to hear these women apply this story to their lives. They said things such as, " it should not matter which tribe or country someone comes from. We should be able to love them no matter what and be able to share Christ with them. We should be obedient to whatever God tells us to do. That is an important job that God has given us. I feel responsible for those I can influence."
The longer I am here the more amazed I am that God's plan and place for our family is here in Zambia. What if I didn't reach out to those I come in contact with? Would they ever hear the truth of God's Word? Would their lives ever change? Who is in your circle of influence? Are you doing all that you can to tell them about Jesus? Try to think of at least one person you can share with this week and then do it.
Thursday morning I left at 8:00am and picked up my two friends Amai Betty and Amai Mwachamota. We traveled for two hours on a rocky mountainous road. We were going to a womens meeting at Muyanga Baptist church where 4 different churches were represented. I was able to stay about 45 min. and then I had to leave them there so I could travel to my regularly scheduled visit on thursdays. I then traveled back and further on another two hours to reach Nyamphande where I taught the women. Then I left and went to Kamilulu just about 10 min. further down the road and taught again. The plan was for me to wait on the side of the road for my two friends at 5:00. I got there at 4:30 and sat in the truck and waited in a small little shop and tavern area. The music was loud and the drunk people at this time of day was amazing. Many came up to find out why this white person was siting there waiting. They wanted to know if I had anything to read and I just so happened to have some little books with Bible verses in it. They would all thank me(I think I gave out at least 20) and then I would watch these drunk people go off and sit and read these little books. Pray that those people will reread these books when they are sobered up and that God's Word would penetrate their hearts. Anyway, my friends were still not there at 5:20 so I called them on the phone and they said they were still walking and were far away. See, they were having to walk back to the main road to meet me. It took me two hours to drive that far but it only took them two hours of walking it since they were able to go a shortcut way. I drove out blindly, not knowing exactly where they were or if I was even going in the right direction. I finally found them and then we headed home. I finally reached home at 7:00pm. It was a long day but it sure was fun to be out doing God's business.

These are the women from Nyamphande Baptist Church. I usually pick them up and then we go together to Kamilulu. Today they were working on their church and asked if I could come and teach them while they took a break. Afterwards, I went to Kamilulu and taught the other 10 women. After being in 3 different women's meetings that day I was pretty tired.