Heartbroken

Today when teaching the ladies in the compound they told me that about 2-3 days after we(me, Zach, and Megan) visited an old man in the compound he died. Evidently, he had a candle lit and when he got up he knocked it over and then fell in the fire. I am so heartbroken! So glad we could pray for him and give him some food which would have lasted his last couple of days but beating myself up for not witnessing to him that day. We never know how much time someone has left! Sure hoping he was a believer!

But before people can ask the Lord for help, they must believe in him; and before they can believe in him, they must hear about him; and for them to hear about the Lord, someone must tell them.  Romans 10:14 

Lord, help me to be more faithful with sharing my faith with the hurting and lost people you bring into my life.  Helping them and doing good things for them are important but without giving them a chance to receive You and have the hope of eternal life it is all in vain.

We always make a plan but God always has a purpose!

God continues to amaze me each week as He shows me that He is in control.  His plans are best and they are not always what I expect.  On Monday, Hannah and I went to teach in Ng’ombe compound.  As we waited for a few min. for the women and children to show up it became very apparent that Hannah was going to have a big class again and that most of them were going to be older than her.  She is only 11 so I totally understand her not feeling comfortable teaching 15 or 16 year old boys.  She hated to turn them away but she could only handle the ones her age and younger.  Esther began leading all the older ones to one corner of the building and they sat.  Esther came to me and said, “Suzie, you and I will teach the youth since the women are not here.”  In my mind, I’m thinking that I don’t have a lesson except what I was going to teach to the women care givers.  She says, “we will teach on Self Image.”  Anyone who knows me knows I like to have time to prepare and to just be thrust into this was way out of my comfort zone.  Esther introduced me to the youth and began talking about sin.  She then turned to me and said, “so Amai Rodgers, why should they not do these things?”  I started sharing and she walked away.  I didn’t see her again until it was all over!!  Ha!  (Later she told me that was part of her plan) So anyway, I ended up sharing my testimony and the gospel.  I also shared with them from Psalm 139 and talked about how much God loved them and that they were special.  I asked them if anyone had ever told them they were special before and they all shook their heads no.  I assured them of God’s love and how He knew everything about them and even knew them by name.  I talked about my life before Christ and my life afterwards.  I drew on the chalkboard these two kinds of lives and explained them. 

Self-Directed Life S-Self is on the throne -Christ is outside the life -Interests are directed by self, often resulting in discord and frustration

Christ-Directed Life -Christ is in the life and on the throne S-Self is yielding to Christ, resulting in harmony with God's plan -Interests are directed by Christ, resulting in harmony with God's plan

I asked them which of these circles represented their life.  Some didn’t answer and some said the circle on the left-the self directed life.  So I explained to them how to go from the life on the left to the one on the right.  I told them that if they wanted to make this important decision to follow Christ then they could stay and I would share with them how to do that but if they did not want to do that and they were happy with being in control of their own life they could go ahead and leave.  No one moved!  I waited in silence for about a minute but still no one moved.  30 youth prayed to receive Christ that day!  I had no idea what God had planned for that day.  Well, I thought when I went that I kind of knew what would happen but it didn’t quite work out how I thought.  God’s plans were so much better!  

Please pray for these young people aged 13-16 as they begin to follow Christ day by day.  They have so much pressure here to be a part of the world. These youth were not from a Baptist church. They were just from the community school in this compound.  When I asked them where they went to church the answers varied like Jehovah’s Witness, Seventh Day Adventist, etc.  None of the churches they named were evangelical.  Someone needs to continue to teach these youth but who?  Pray for me as I try to find someone willing to come and teach the youth while Hannah teaches the kids and I teach the women. 

Rope Holders

I recently finished a book called “When I Lay My Isaac Down: Unshakable Faith in Unthinkable Circumstances,” by Carol Kent.  It  is an excellent book if you are looking for a new book to read.  This woman pours out her heart as she shares her journey of trusting God and having faith as her only son murders someone and is put in prison.  This book spoke to me in so many ways but I only want to talk about one little portion of it that she mentions.  As her family went through this long ordeal she talked about all the people who prayed for them .  She compared her prayer partners to the rope holders who help someone climbing a mountain.  Below is a summary of what she said:

"Before you are allowed to start climbing, they teach you how to be a “rope holder” for another climber, providing a lifeline, if needed.  When you see a climber going up or down a mountain face, you usually see the rope tied around his/her waist, but what you often don’t see is the person at the end of that rope.  That person who holds your rope while you are climbing, literally has your life in their hands if something should happen while you are climbing.  Sometimes as Christians we can feel so weak, exhausted, and immobilized with personal pain that we can have difficulty praying, communicating with people, or holding our own heads up. But God has a plan for His broken people—and that plan is for the body of Christ to be their rope holders.  They speak up with confident prayers when we cannot move our lips.  They allow us to cry, vent our naked feelings, or they mourn with us in solitude.  Rope holders stay on the mountain even when they are exhausted in order to provide a safety net.  Paul’s admonition to the early Christians: “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”

As we serve as your missionaries here in Zambia we realize that we have a multitude of rope holders each day, holding on to our ropes and providing a safety net of prayer.  As we continue to climb the mountain that God has for us, we hope that you will continue to stay in place as our “rope holder.” You are so important.  If no one is holding our rope, we our unprotected and in danger of attack from the enemy.  If you are a “rope holder” for us or anyone else in your life  I just want to say thank you!  As I looked for a picture to add to this I couldn't find any of the "rope holder" just the climber.  I'm not a real mountain climber but I would think that the "rope holder" is the most important to have around.  So, I'm guessing that sometimes you may feel unimportant and overlooked as a "rope holder."  This is probably the most important job that you have!  Don't listen to the enemy tell you that what you are doing is not making a difference.  Everyone needs a "rope holder!" 

Zach's Bungee Jump Video

Check out Zach's youtube video of him bungee jumping and doing the gorge swing at Victoria falls!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrULNnEUfhg&feature=channel&list=UL

1,2,3..Bungee!!

 One of the craziest things my sons have ever wanted to do was to bungee jump off the bridge at Victoria Falls.  Even after hearing a few months ago that the bungee cord broke and someone fell to the water did not deter them.  I could hardly watch and I prayed the whole time!

 Zach and Justin getting on all the equipment

 The first thing they did was to do the zip line across the gorge. 

 

 Justin doing the zip line.

 Zach doing the gorge swing.  Crazy!

Freefall for close to 70 meters before you fly out over the rapids of the mighty Zambezi in a huge arc. This is a swing like few others, and one that will leave you grinning from ear to ear. What a thrill!

 

 running back for more!

 Megan with one leg in Zambia and one in Zimbabwe.

 

Justin getting ready to bungee jump.

 1,2,3 Bungee!!  This is what they yell out and then Justin just lept off the platform like it was nothing!

 At 111 meters it is also one of the highest jumps in the world and the adrenaline rush is as wild as the river itself.

 

 The bungee was Justin's favorite of the 3 that he did.

 Zach about to bungee jump

There was no hesitation with either of the boys.

 

 

 brothers

 Justin doing the gorge swing

This was a very exciting day for Zach and Justin.  Although, I was scared the whole time to watch them do this terrifying thing, I am very proud of them both for accomplishing something as extreme as this.

Random Pictures from the trip

 We got to get up close and personal with some Zebra.  It was really cool to be so close except for one kept nudging me in the rear.  I guess the guy who feeds them kept food in his back pocket.  I sure was hoping he wasn't going to take out a little bite!

 

 

 It looked like this mother and baby giraffe were snuggling.

 

 We also got to get up really close to some monkeys.  In fact, a couple of them were trying to grab at Hannah and Megan.  Zach handed this one the leaf and he took it like it was food.

 

They gave this one their coke bottle.  It looked like it was going to try to drink from it.

 Zach took Megan to high tea at the Royal Livingston.

 

 Justin playing the xylophone at the market

 

 

Influencing Your World

Today I went out to teach the ladies but because it was a holiday only a couple of ladies showed up so we just chatted for a while as Hannah taught around 60 kids who came to Bible Study.  After a few min. of talking I asked Esther how her patients were doing.  She quickly said, "I need to go visit a little girl, would you like to go with me."  Since Hannah was busy I decided to go.  Esther grabbed a baby doll that someone had given their palliative care group and we started off.  She told me this little 9 year old girl had cancer and she had promised to bring her a baby doll.  So who wouldn't want to be a part of that??  We walked through the dirty compound a distance until we reached her small home.  I'm not sure I was truly prepared for what I was to see.  As soon as we walked in the home this sweet little girl broke into a huge smile even though her cheeks were shallow and her eyes dark.  Her small frame was wrapped in a blanket except for the thin little arms which set motionless on top of the blanket.  She was also paralyzed in both arms and legs.  Esther asked me to give this doll to the little girl so I showed it to her and then took it out of the package and layed it on her stomach propped up against her little arm.  She kept grinning.  She said, "I love you!"  The woman taking care of Alice is her aunt.  Alice's mother and father died and so now the aunt was caring for her along with the rest of her own family.  More than likely, since both her parents died they probably were HIV positive so Alice probably was too.  As the aunt shared about Alice's blood cancer and her chemo treatments Alice just sat there limp staring down at her new doll.  She had not always been paralyzed it happened after they had done something involving bone marrow the best I could understand.  I imagine something went wrong and she became paralyzed.  The aunt said that the doctor wanted Alice to go for physical therapy but it would cost her 150,000 kwacha/month.  That really isn't a lot of money to me but for a Zambian it is a lot of money.  So I began thinking that I would just go back to my truck and get the money and give it to her so this little girl could get her physical therapy.  To my surprise, Esther reached into her purse and pulled out 150,000 kwacha and gave it to this woman.  She said, "Someone gave me this money and it really isn't mine to keep so I'm giving it to her so she can take Alice for physical therapy."  Wow!!  I was overwhelmed and so was this aunt! 
The bible says in 2 Cor. 9:6-8 " Remember this: The person who plants a little will have a small harvest, but the person who plants a lot will have a big harvest.  Each one should give as you have decided in your heart to give.  You should not be sad when you give, and you should not give becasue you feel forced to give.  God loves the person who gives happily.  And God can give you more blessings than you need.  Then you will always have plenty of everything-enough to give to every good work."
I prayed for Alice and her family and we left.  When we reached back to the school I thanked Esther for allowing me to go with her.  She said, "no need to thank me Suzie, it was all part of God's plan."  Esther is one woman along with a few other palliative care givers who are trying to reach out to their community and help those who are sick.  She is making a difference one by one!  She is influencing her part of the world!
The bible says in Matthew 5:14-16, "You are the light that gives light to the world.  A city that is built on a hill cannot be hidden.  And people don't hide a light under a bowl.  They put it on the lampstand so the light shines for all the people in the house.  In the same way, you should be a light for other people.  Live so that they will see the good things you do and will praise your Father in heaven." Sometimes I get so overwhelmed when I go into the homes of these patients and see how they live, how little they have, and the health care they are provided with but still manage to have a smile on their face.  I get overwhelmed because I feel so helpless sometimes.  I can't possibly help everyone I come into contact with.  But I like what Esther said to me, that what we had done was all part of God's plan.  I had no idea this morning what my afternoon would look like but God certainly did!  I pray that God would let Me be His Light where ever I go and that I would influence the world around me one day at a time.  Please pray for Esther and the other palliative care givers in Ng'ombe compound.  It is a huge area with a lot of hurting people.  Pray that these men and women would be the Light of Jesus to their community.  Pray that as we study God's Word together they will be challenged to share the Word and pray for each of their patients each time they visit them.  Where ever you are right now I pray that you are influencing the world around you and that your light is not hidden but shining bright for the world to see!

Animals!

 After visiting Victoria Falls we went on a game drive and got to see lots of animals!  In fact, we had not even driven very far into the park before we started seeing animals.  

 

 We saw the most elephants we have ever seen in this park.

 It was so exciting to see a baby elephant!

 

 

 

 We also saw a pretty big herd of Cape Buffalo too!

 

 

 A baboon watching the sunset! Ha!

 warthog

 

Megan

 

 

 We got to walk and see the rhino's!  This time we were able to see 3-  Two adults and one baby!

I don't care how long we live in Africa I will always be in awe of God's creation!