A beautiful tapestry

This past week I was challenged to do a life map and then share it with the women I teach in the compound.  A life map is a timeline of your life in pictures from the very beginning up until the present.  As you do this it helps you to see God's hand on your life even from the beginning up until your conversion.  Then how He has used hard times and the high points in your life to draw you closer to Him.  A life map shows the major land marks such as events, relationships, and experiences that define your life's journey.  It is like a tapestry with its many threads woven in-seen and unseen patterns it creates something of intentionality, beauty, and pattern.  As I did this it helped me to see how God had made me, shaped me, and guided me throughout my life.  This timeline is my testimony in pictures!  The purpose of any testimony is to bring praise to God!  Please pray for these women who I have challenged to do their life map!  Even for those who can not read or write most can draw pictures.  This should be exciting to see the result of this on Monday.  Please pray that God would very clearly speak to these women about their life and that it could be an encouraging time and growing time for them all.  Pray that as a result of this if they realize they are not saved that they would desire to follow Christ.

Alice

 This is Alice, a little 9 year old girl with cancer who is paralyzed in her arms and legs.  More than likely she is also HIV positive.  Both of her parents have died and her aunt is taking care of her.  I visited with her at the beginning of August with my friend Esther who is a caregiver out in Ng'ombe compound.  Esther had promised her a baby doll so we took it to her.  Her eyes did light up when we gave it to her although you can not tell in these pictures.  She could not even hold the baby in her arms.  We had to just prop the baby on her.  Yesterday, Esther and I went again to visit her but she was not there.  She is back in the hospital with sores in her mouth and throat.  Please pray for this little girl!  We also heard that her aunt is also in the hospital after having surgery on her colon.  Pray she will recover soon so that she can care for Alice again.
We also gave a BGR bucket(see side panel for more information on Baptist Global Response) to a woman yesterday who was very sick.  This bucket was packed by a church in Kentucky and sent to Zambia to help those people who are very sick and bedridden.  It had such things in it such as: sheets, towels, washcloths, Q-tips, scrub brush, lotion, medical gloves, straws, fingernail clippers, mattress pad, etc.  I am so thankful for those who are so faithful to put together these buckets and send them all over the world.  They are making a difference in the lives of people who are in their last days.  Please pray for me and a team of care givers that will be giving out about 15 buckets this next week.

I was praying for Alice.

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