True Prosperity

This week has proven to be our best week since coming to Africa.  Our second expedition was very fruitful and rewarding.  There were over 123 salvations with several healings and deliverances.  I was so eager to get back out in the bush among the people and continue unleashing the Kingdom of God.  We know that His Kingdom crushes all other kingdoms and His government is what humanity needs the most.  He created us and made us for His own pleasure, so without Him we are most miserable and dysfunctional. 

Colossians 1:15-16

                “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.  For by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through Him and for Him.”

 John Piper says, “The reason missions exists is because worship doesn’t.”  God longs for the nations to know Him, love Him, and worship Him in Spirit and Truth.  This is the chief end of man.  The nations must know their purpose or else they will remain colorless.  Man was created for God.  God alone is the only one who can meet our deepest longings.  So we reach this conclusion, God is longing for us and we (mankind) are longing for Him.  God and man meet, when Jesus and faith collide.  This is the message of Romans 10:9, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”  And this is the message that must be declared throughout the whole earth.  These are the words that we shout from the rooftops.   Through Jesus, the pure spotless Lamb of God, both the heart of God and the heart of man are satisfied.  We have witnessed this in America, Asia, and now in Africa.  Humanity needed a Savior, the Father desired restoration, and the Son answered the yearnings of all.  Because of Jesus, salvation has come and unbroken fellowship is now a reality.  Let us not forget that the Gospel still means… God’s story… Good News!

                This is the news that we published during our expedition.  We preached the beauty of Jesus in huts, under trees, in gardens, and right outside of our bush kitchen.  As we preached, I was reminded of just how irrestible Jesus is!  The Zambians open their hearts as we preached the Bread of Life and became satisfied.  Matthew 5:6 tell us, Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be satisfied.”  Jesus is enough (more than enough)!  Rich or poor, African or American, young or old Jesus is all we need.  Sounds simple, but it is simply that simple.  We must not complicate life because it all goes back to Jesus.  For in Him we live, move and have our being. 

                This truth was magnified this past week in the bush.  As we were ministering to about 15 people in one village, a man began to raise his voice asking questions.  We entertained his questions.  He was upset at God for not answering his prayers.  He continued to share that he had been asking God to prosper him and it hadn’t happen.  The man was very concerned because now he is up in years and felt that prosperity would never occur for him.  I began to ask the man what he considered prosperity to look like.  Of course, he said houses, cars, and clothes.  I told him that houses will get old, cars will break down, and clothes will wear out.  As our eyes locked, I said “It is not what a man possesses externally that makes him rich or poor, but what he possesses internally that determines true poverty or prosperity.”

Matthew 6:20-21

                “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

                I began to explain the Parable of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl of Great Value found in Matthew 13:44-45 from both perspectives; what Jesus did and what man must do.  Jesus gave everything, valuing us beyond comprehension.  We, upon being touched by Jesus, should consider everything rubbish in comparison to Him.  Then I was able to explain the story of Deion Sanders the American football star to him.  Deion’s story is about having everything a man could want (houses, cars, clothes, etc.) but still being empty and miserable.  Early one morning, he was driving home thinking about the emptiness of his soul and attempted to commit suicide by driving his car off the interstate.  Deion would go on to testify that only Jesus can satisfy; making someone truly rich.   

Jesus is the greatest treasure!  Nothing compares to knowing Him.  He alone should be our portion and reward.  I mean tell me what is better, having blessings or having the One who blesses?  Being in love with the Savior and embracing the gift of redemption is the most priceless treasure the world will ever know.  Unbroken fellowship with the Creator should be our greatest ambition and passion, but is it?  No matter what part of the world you find yourself in, most people are driven by the external.  Humanity is buying into the lie.  Even many Christians are striving for the tangible.  The Church and the world need a wakeup call.  True prosperity is about what a man possesses internally.  We must set our affections and ambitions on the Lord and His will being done on earth as it is in Heaven.  Currently, Americans spend more money on coffee each year than reaching the nations with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  If Jesus is truly enough, then we must live like it and use our resources to raise the volume of this message in every nation including our very own:

2 Corinthians 5:21                            

                “For our sake He (God) made Him (Jesus) to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.”

My prayer is that God would help us (the Church) understand true prosperity.  For when we receive this glorious revelation, selflessness will become the normal among believers.  It is not about the things seen, but those things unseen.  The only thing we can take with us to heaven are souls!  Let’s invest in the eternal not the external!

2 Corinthians 4:18

                “As we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen.  For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”

Expedition 2-Part 2

This is a continuation from that last blog posted about our 2^nd expedition.

Tuesday and Wednesday we drove to villages that were further out from where we were staying. We encouraged believers and led those who were not saved to the Lord. Most if, not all the people in this area have gardens. When we went to their huts to minister to them, a lot of times they were out watering their gardens. So before or after we sat down and talked with them, we helped them water their garden. They water their gardens every two days. The main crop that they plant is rape. (The only thing I can really compare it to is collard greens.) It is a staple in their diet. They eat it as a “relish” with nshima.  They also grow cabbage and onions. They use buckets to water their gardens. It is HARD work. They said it would usually take about 12-13 hours to do this. It is the women who primarily water the gardens. Our team was able to water a garden in about one hour. This was a huge blessing to them. We loved being able to help.

The first person that my group talked to was a woman in her 50’s. We first helped her water her garden for about an hour. Then we took a break and sat down under a straw shelter and began talking with her. We asked her if she knew about Jesus. She said yes that she had been to church when she was a young girl. She said she hadn’t been going to church lately though. We have found that most of the people here do know about Jesus but many of them don’t know what it means to be saved or how to be saved. As we were talking with her, her niece and brother came by and sat down and listened also. The woman told us that she had a hard life and many times she wondered what her purpose was and thought “why don’t I just die.” We shared with her how God had created mankind to love us and to have relationship with us. I told her that God had not forgotten about her and I told her the scripture “Precious are the thoughts that He thinks towards us.” We encouraged her and told her that God had a purpose and a plan for her life. We led both of the women to pray for salvation. It was awesome! They seemed very encouraged and glad that we had stopped by.

Our next stop was with a young family. There were 5 children. Another couple and their kids came over when they saw us. They were already believers. We told them we had come to encourage them in their faith and share the Word of God with them. They told one of their children to go get their Bible. We shared with them for an hour or two. Before we left, we asked if there was anything we could pray with them about. One of the men said he had a headache. His wife asked us to prayer for her about temptation. I walked over to her so that I could really talk to her and I began to encourage her that God would give her the strength to resist temptation. I told her that God loved her and he was going to help her overcome this. It was so precious that she opened up to us like that. It was obvious that she really wanted to do the right thing and please the Lord. We prayed for her and afterwards she thanked us and was smiling. It was like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.  She was so grateful that we had taken the time to talk and pray with her. It’s so awesome that God sent us to there to minister to them.

Our last day of ministry we had a “conference” at our campsite. It started at 10:30a.m. and lasted until about 5:00p.m. Each person on our team had the opportunity to speak. The focus was discipleship. The topics ranged from raising your children to love the Lord to being a light to unbelievers to living a godly life.  Between the speakers we would sing songs. Around 1:30 we took a break for lunch and shared a meal with them. They were responsible for bringing relish (which is rape and cabbage) and we provided the nshima. The men and women do not sit together so we split up into groups of 5. Each group had a bowl of nshima and relish. There were no plates or silverware. In the Zambian culture the women sit on the ground and the men sit in chairs. It was a very interesting experience. Once the conference was over we packed up and headed back to the base.

Zambia has a rainy season and a dry season. We have been in the dry season. Towards the end of the dry season it gets really hot. Most of the missionaries here go back home to the U.S. during the rainy season because it makes the roads impassable, which makes ministry impossible. The whole time we have been here it has not rained, until last week. Gradually the winds have been picking up especially at night. Sometimes the winds get so strong at night, I feel like our tent is literally going to blow away. The rainy season normally does not start until the end of October, however it is starting early this year. While we were in the bush it rained once. I was relieved to find out the tents we use in the bush keep the rain out. We were told that it stormed pretty badly at the base while we were gone and there was hail the size of golf balls. When we first arrived we never saw clouds, but now clouds are becoming more common. It has been extremely hot the last few days. We were spoiled the last couple of weeks with unusually cool weather for this time of year.

Hillsong South Africa worship tour came to Livingstone. Overland Missions was one of the main contacts and sponsors so we got to help with the event. The concert was great. The Zambians loved it! A lot of people came and there were several salvations. 

This week we have been in more training. In the morning we are doing workshop. Workshop is anything from welding to woodworking. Our project for this week has been building a water tower for a well here at the base. It has been a lot of fun. In the afternoon we have Preaching 101. Thank you all for praying for us. We can feel your prayers. When things are challenging we draw strength in knowing so many people are praying for us.

I listened to this Jesus Culture song on our ipod this morning, “My strength in life is I am Yours. My soul delights because I am Yours. Your will on earth, is all I’m living for! Jesus, I glorify. Jesus, my love is yours! You are my heart’s desire. I live to know you more!” How true is that? Our strength comes from knowing we are His! He is for us! He is with us! He loves us! He wants what is best for us! We can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens us! There is nothing like knowing Him, loving Him, and serving Him!

Expedition 2-Part 1

Last Sunday we left on our second expedition. This time we went to the Mukuni kingdom. (Each “city” is called a kingdom. Within the kingdom there are “villages”, which basically means a group of huts.  Each kingdom has a chief or headman.) Mukuni was only about 2 hours away, so a lot closer than the last place we went to.

The church that we worked with there was so excited about us coming. When we arrived in the truck people came out to meet us. We set up camp right down the road from the church and the headman’s hut.  The church had a “bathroom” that the girls were allowed to use so we had a “long drop” instead of a field like last time. So we were very thankful for that.

The first day of ministry most of the girls stayed back at the campsite and had a women’s Bible study while the guys did hut to hut ministry nearby. We probably had around 20 women come. We opened by asking if they knew Jesus and most of them said they did so we started sharing scripture with them. We asked if any of them had questions and one of the women spoke up and said "you asked us if we know who Jesus is and we said yes, but if someone were to ask me to tell them who he is I don’t know." So basically what she was saying was that she had heard the name Jesus but she didn’t really know who he was. So one of the girls from our team started with creation and went through until Jesus rose from the dead and how we can be saved. We asked if anyone else had questions about the Bible. There were several women who went to church that had questions for us. It was so awesome being able to share Truth with them. They are so hungry for the Word of God. One lady asked about the woman in the Bible caught in adultery. She said Jesus told them whoever has no sin to cast the first stone. One of the big problems here in Zambia is unfaithfulness in marriage. Many husbands and wives commit adultery. We explained to the lady that Jesus also told the woman to go and sin no more. Once we are saved we should turn away from sin and start following the Lord. It was a great time of ministry.

On Monday morning Tim and I were asked to preach that same night. I’m not going to lie, I was so nervous! I usually prepare for a while before I speak. A few weeks before, I felt like God had given me a word but I wasn’t sure when or where I should share it. So God knew long before what I needed. I am so thankful for the Holy Spirit! He gives us what we need to say. It is His Word, we are just the vessels He uses to communicate it. We were scheduled to start at 7pm. However in Africa this means we will start about 8 or 8:30pm. About 60 people from the area gathered at our campsite around the fire. Our translators that we brought with us led us in some Zambian praise songs. Then Tim preached the Gospel from the beginning and led the majority of the crowd in the prayer of salvation. It was so wonderful! Then I got up and shared about our new life in Christ. Once we are saved, that’s not the end of the story. We don’t pray a prayer then go live our lives out like we would have before. I talked about 2 Corinthians 5:17-we are now a completely new creation. The old has passed away and all things have become new.

Eph. 4:21-24 “Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception.  Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes.  Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.”

I explained that when we are saved, God changes us on the inside, our hearts. However, our minds are still the same which is why we must renew our minds with the word of God. We must choose to put on the new nature or walk out the new nature that God has given us when we are saved. Just like in America, hypocrisy is everywhere. So many people say they are Christians, but do not live it out.

I read 1 John 3:7-9 to them “Dear children, don’t let anyone deceive you about this: When people do what is right, it shows that they are righteous, even as Christ is righteous. But when people keep on sinning, it shows that they belong to the devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil. Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, because God’s life is in them. So they can’t keep on sinning, because they are children of God.”

I told them that Jesus has set them free from sin. We no longer have to sin.

Philippians 2:13 “For it is God who is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.”

 How awesome is that? God changes us we don’t have to do it on our own. He gives believers the desire to please him and the power to do what it takes. He is a good, wonderful, loving Father!

Colossians 2:6-7 “And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.”   

Ephesians 3:17 “Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.”

I explained that as they trusted the Lord and made the commitment to put their hope in Him every day, that their spiritual roots would anchor them to the Lord. Even when temptation or trails come they would not fall because they would be grounded in the Lord. 

It was definitely one of those moments when I could feel God stretching me. I was totally out of my comfort zone. But come to think of it, I’ve had a lot of those moments lately! It’s a good thing though. We will never grow if we are never stretched. Being stretched is never comfortable. It was a wonderful first night. I really feel like the people were blessed and strengthened.

I know we are learning and growing so much. We are excited about what God is doing!