Deeper, deeper, deeper in love

            

This prideful side of me

lifts my fists and shakes at you

This prideful side of me

is being broken down by love

Oh you love me deeper, deeper, father

Oh you love me deeper, deeper, father

Off to Mpongwe

   For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
   neither are your ways my ways,
                               declares the LORD.
      As the heavens are higher than the earth,
   so are my ways higher than your ways
   and my thoughts than your thoughts.
                                   -Isaiah 55:8-9


            
              Please pray for the team and I this Monday through Sunday as we venture out into the bush, Mpongwe northern Zambia, for 7 days of ministry. Pray for safety in traveling and especially for strength and stamina to not only make it through the long days and little amount of sleep, but that we would be filled with strength to minister and worship with the people of the villages and to share Jesus with our entire lives while we minister to them. Pray God would be our focus and bring unity to our team, to the Zambians we will be joining, and to the locals assisting us in ministry. Pray many will find healing, physically and spiritually. To God be all the glory, the honor, and the praise. He is worthy and he is the reason for it all. We take joy in the fact that he uses us for his work, though he doesn't need us. It is for his fame and his renown. 
       
               

The team has arrived!

         Short update to let you know that the team has arrived safe and sound in Lusaka today! They only lost one bag, which will come tomorrow, and all the supplies were untouched through customs and nothing broken, praise the Lord for that answer to prayer.

         We did a short orientation and tour of the hospital and played soccer for about an hour before eating and then watching them slowly fade, one by one. They are all exhausted and resting now to be prepared for many long, tiring days ahead. Tomorrow we will join a team of about 20 volunteers to paint the Children's ward. It is very exciting and with bring color and life to the ward in many ways. We are excited to serve alongside the staff here and serve Cure through funding the entire painting project through our fundraising!

       It will be a full day tomorrow and then some days of rest this weekend before we pack Sunday night and head out to Mpongwe on Monday to the bush outreach for 6 days. We are all so excited and anticipating many challenges and times of being stretched and learning to lean on the Lord in new ways-the team is ready and excited for what God has ahead for them!

    The lips of the righteous feed many, 

but fools die for lack of sense.

Proverbs 10:20

    Please pray that through the Spirit our words will be His and will feed the hundreds of spiritually starving people we will meet along our path to Mpongwe and as we serve there in the bush area. Pray for God to prepare the soil of their hearts so His truth will sink deep into their souls. 

Limitless

Miles and miles of outstretched savannah lie before me,

clouds of dust sweep across the horizon

The land is barren and the vegetation aching,

yet I see glimpses of life hidden within

The scent of water brings life to every being, sustaining every mile,

Near every small spring, shallow pond, or winding river abundance of life is found

I see in those waters the current of a God who loves his creation, who cares for every insignificant bird, giving to all their food in due time

A tree, few and prized, brings refuge to its land,

animals take refuge in its shade and seek escape in its branches

I see in those trees the protection of a God who loves his creation,  who

spreads wide his wings over us and leads us under his shadow

Though the land is barren, trees and waters scarce,

I see a God whose power to sustain is limitless

Though life brings drought and seasons of doubt,

I see reason to believe even then my God will sustain

Mabukabuti (Good morning in Tonga)

Learning how to make porridge in the village

       
         I finally arrived in Lusaka, Zambia on Monday around 3 am after enduring a 3 hour power outage in Nairobi which messed up all the flights of course. Luckily with the delay I made my next connection and made it to Cure around 3:30! I slept a few hours and then had a full morning at the hospital before getting on the bus to Choma. I stayed one night in Choma and then today was spent with World Vision Zambia staff and meeting my sponsor child, Melody. There aren't words at all to describe what it was like. I will definitely post pictures once I am home. I was able to see the medical clinic and school World Vision built for their ADP area in Zambia as well as go to Melody's home and be welcomed into her family with dancing, singing, and tears, and MUCH JOY. It was incredible. We talked and played games and cooked and danced. Her mother, through tears, thanked me with the most sincere thankfulness I have ever heard in my life, for giving the the support they need to raise their 7 children and sustain their small farm. And with tears I thanked them for showing me what it means to be thankful, I told them how Melody had been a picture of that in my life, for so many years. How although I had never met them, they taught me what it meant to be thankful for each and every thing the Lord provides for us. From our most basic needs to the abundant gifts he bestows on us. Melody and her family taught me their exists beauty in this world I couldn't even fathom before beginning to sponsor her.
     The most special moment for me was when I asked her what she wants to do after secondary school and she replied, I want to be a nurse. The whole day I held in tears, but especially in that moment. I was able to share even my heart for healing with this precious sister. She will make an incredible nurse in Zambia some day, maybe even for Cure International.

    I could write forever about my time with her...but I will save more for later. I arrived back in Lusaka late this evening and am eagerly awaiting the Go Team's arrival around 1 pm tomorrow. And then 3 full weeks of long days and tiring ministry sustained by the power and strength of our God will begin! I am so excited.

 Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” 

John 6:28-29

Melody's grandmother dancing out of thanksgiving

Jesus calls us only to believe, that is our work, our job, our purpose. It is through our believing and trusting in him that we share our lives with others and through that, the incredible news of the Gospel of Christ Jesus. 

Melody's mother helping us cook, with two of her sisters watching

Melody's dad teaching all about his farm

Safari Survivors

Welcome to the Serengeti

                     Jack and I returned today from our 3 day Serengeti and Ngorongoro crater safari. It was incredible, and challenging in lots of ways. It goes without saying that the scenery was absolutely breathtaking and the animals, stunning. We saw every african animal except rhino, and most of them only 5-10 ft from the car, even lions! The safari was thrilling but my favorite parts were camping in the Serengeti with rangers walking around with assault riffles, meeting Jack's friends and getting to know them a little better, talking with our guide Hassan and our cook, Jonathan, and definitely taking in all the scenery, through the clouds of dust. We saw beautiful sunrises and sunsets and the crisp horizon of the Savannah meeting the blue skies. I loved spending that time with my crazy-Africa-loving brother and comrades. It was an adventure I will never forget, for more reasons than one.
               Tonight and tomorrow morning will be our last time in Arusha and I will head to Lusaka around 3 pm and Jack will maybe stay one night and then head to Zanzibar and a few other places before he returns to the US for school. Pray for the team coming the long hall from the US tomorrow to Lusaka. They will arrive Wednesday around lunch time. Pray for safe travels for myself, all connections and luggage to be worked out, only so I will be on schedule to meet my precious sponsor child, Melody, and shower her and her family with gifts! I cannot wait to see everyone at the hospital and then to meet Melody and see her village, school, and family! It will be an eventful next few days. The Lord is going before us and he goes with us, that I cling to.

     "I set you as a seal upon my heart, as a seal upon my arm. For love is as strong as death, jealousy demanding as the grave. The flames of the Lord are fierce. Many waters cannot quench this love, nor flood drown it."
     Song of Solomon 8:6-7

Along the Safari

One of our campsites

Karibu Tanzania

            I am just writing a quick note to let everyone know I am alive and well in Tanzania. It has been a great couple of days visiting with him and exploring Arusha. Today we will do some hiking and then from Friday to Sunday we will be on a safari! It is going to be an exciting and crazy trip, I am loving all the time with my brother, and trying to overcome my jetlag. I rode my first motorcycle and went to my first African bar. Karibu Tanzania, welcome to Tanzania. I may write again before the safari, otherwise from Lusaka!

"And the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glor,

glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth."

John 1:14

One Hour

           In one short hour I will board the plane to London and then be on the way to Tanzania. My heart is excited but my thoughts are definitely anxious and worried. I pray this trip will be one of great confirmation and wisdom in discerning what God has for me with my future. I hope serving these children and the weak and destitute of this world will open my eyes once again to the vital importance of trusting and relying on my God, everyday, because I am weak and destitute. I pray it will move me to greater faith and to seeing the truths of the Word magnified and exalted above all the worries, sins, struggles, and burdens I so often focus on in my life. 

This is really the core issue of it all.  Do we trust him?  

Do we trust Jesus when he tells us to give radically for the sake of the poor? 

 Do we trust him to provide for us when we begin using the resources 

he has given us to provide for others?  Do we trust him to know 

what is best for our lives, our families, and our financial futures?

The will of God is for you and me to give our lives urgently and recklessly to making the gospel and the glory of God known among all peoples, particularly those who have never even heard of Jesus.  The question, therefore, is not “Can we find God’s will?’  

The question is “Will we obey God’s will?”

-Radical by David Platt

       These are the prayers of my heart spoken by David Platt. The questions he asks pierce my heart and definitely bring anxiety to my heart. Do I trust my God in that way? Do I obey my God in all things, the most crucial and central purpose of my life: in making the gospel and glory of God known among all peoples? So often the answer to those question is no. I pray this time serving in Zambia and seeing the work of God in those places will teach me how to answer those questions with a resounding, YES! My God is worthy, my God is everything. There is no reason to not say YES!

Even a tree has more hope!
      If it is cut down, it will sprout again
      and grow new branches.
 Though its roots have grown old in the earth
      and its stump decays,
 at the scent of water it will bud
      and sprout again like a new seedling.

-Job 14:7-9

         May these verses be a picture of the lives in Zambia as hundreds of people find physical healing to death bringing diseases. May these verses be a picture of their hearts as they experience spiritual healing as they meet the God who created them, who brings them the water so they will sprout again, so they will have life again in his name and bear fruit!

       

         'Liebe Gott, We praise you for who you are and for what you've done. We are nothing without you. We are broken and sinful and needy and empty. You have given us life, you have restored our souls and redeemed our lives from the pit! We praise you God for your incredible love and gift of grace poured out over our lives. We are so undeserving. Lord I pray you go before me as I travel and protect me and my luggage carrying supplies to Zambia. I pray you will be the luggage that I carry. I pray your name will be the tag on my life that is visible to all. I pray I will speak for your glory and stand for your fame. Lord I lift up the team to you and pray that you continue to prepare their hearts and their minds as they think and plan for this trip. Lord may all the issues and worries with traveling and baggage fall into place and may they use these little experiences to learn to trust you more. God I pray you bring in the remaining funds needed for some of the team members and once again that you use your providence as a way of teaching them about who you are, Jehovah Jireh, and that you are faithful to be trusted! Gott I thank you that you have chosen and appointed us to go and share your name and glory with your people of Zambia. I pray Father that you will be the voice spoken through our mouths and the love shown through our hands and feet as we serve. Lord may this entire trip, every aspect, exist to glorify you. Take our pain, our shame, our sin, our baggage, Lord use it for your glory. Danke, thank you father, for everything.'

       

Be all my hopes, be all my dreams
You're my delights
Be my everything

And I will worship You, Lord
Only You, Lord
And I will bow down before You
Only You, Lord

And it's just You and me here now
Only You and me here now

Your name and renown

Yes, LORD, walking in the way of your laws, we wait for you; 

your name and renown are the desire of our hearts.

Isaiah 26:8

       As always the Lord provides. He truly is  Jehovah Jireh. Sometimes he provides just the opportunity for worry to arise, that we can learn to place our full trust in him.

      My insurance is back up and running and with that the malaria meds are beginning to be taken! I spoke with World Vision headquarters today and they have finalized everything for me to visit my sponsor child, Melody, and her school and family on July 19th. What an answer to years of loving this sweet girl. I also cannot believe that although she was only 9 when I started sponsoring her, she will be 17 in September! It will be the last year I can sponsor her. What a blessing to be able to meet her, see her, hug her, and definitely cry with her. 

     Please continue to pray that all the cards and ALL supplies the team is carrying will arrive safely and nothing will be stolen as they pass through customs into South Africa and Zambia. Pray the Lord watches over them and brings everything safely to the hospital!

    I spent yesterday in West Virginia with JA, my co-leader for the team, talking and planning for all that lies ahead. Bailey, another team member from last year, also joined us and it was an exciting time to anticipate and look forward for all that God has in store for us, for the team, and for Zambian. Everything is falling together- all these separated puzzle pieces the Lord has dealt us are finally beginning to look like a finished masterpiece. God always makes beautiful things out of our chaos and worry, he makes beautiful things out of us, out of dust. He takes the broken and bruised and left to die, and he restores, redeems, fills to an overflow with life abundant in his name. Praise him for that...we can never praise him enough, thank him enough, for his gift of life to us.

      Tomorrow will be our last team conference call where we will all touch base and go over some last minute tips and then say our last group prayer before I head out on Monday afternoon for Tanzania. Pray the Lord will go before us and prepare the way for his word to be displayed and spoken through us. Pray he will continue to prepare our hearts, no matter what each one of us is dealing with, that we will let him have it all to be used for his glory. 

Pray for these precious children of the King who will hear about and see his love for the first time in their lives. Pray we will be the hands and feet of Christ to each and every one of them...

His name and renown are the desires of our heart!

Be my everything

Take my fret, take my fear

All I have, I'm laying here

Be all my hopes, be all my dreams

Be all my delight, be my everything

I will worship you, Lord

Only you Lord

________________________________

         With the help of an incredible woman from our Blacksburg church and the hands of many she gathered together, we have finished all the cards! I cannot thank each of you for your sacrifice of time and sleep to get these cards finished and ready to send off to Zambia. With the completion of suitcases full of cards comes the stress and worry about how to best get them there. I am trying to rest in the peace of the Lord that he will take care of all the baggage and flight issues and get all the supplies, and us, safely to Lusaka. 

         The Lord provided the means and the hands to make this happen, and I have to trust he will provide the way to get them there. 

         Days are passing and I am realizing how many things are left to be planned and worked out with everything! If you are reading this please pray for peace of mind and the ability to rest in the peace of Christ and trust him in all things, really give him every burden. There is still much to be worked out in terms of my health insurance being absent and in the process of getting fixed, with that problem of getting my malaria medication, also with getting from my brother to Lusaka and the travel plans, and lastly I finally received word that I will hopefully get to meet my sponsor child in Zambia, Melody. With that I am also anxious about the planning that remains and the extra funds it will require. Melody is the reason God brought me to Zambia and I know he will provide the way, but I need to trust and walk in that way!

              Pray that in the next 3 days the insurance will come through, the malaria prescription worked out, and the travel plans and their funding will fall together. Lord help me 'worry about nothing but pray about everything, in prayer and petition, may the peace of Christ which transcends all understanding guard my heart and mind in Christ Jesus!' All that more may know your name, all that more may see your fame. 


                                                      And It’s just you and me here now

Only you and me here now

                                                               You should see the view

When it’s only You