I am thankful for...

o   Having food in plenty

o   An incredible family who loves me and reveals Jesus to me

o   Clean, running water

o   Hot showers

o   A refrigerator

o   Beautiful friendships

o   A bible based, missional church body

o   Wise women who pour into my life

o   Having a bible and being able to read it publicly

o   A bed

o   Air conditioning

o   A car

o   Challenging conversations

o   Faithful, steadfast, loving God

Help a meet a huge need in Zambia!

Hey I just received this from JA who is still in Zambia at the CURE Hospital...Pastor Justin served with us last year and this year and is in a tight spot with his family and finances...keep reading if you want to know how you can help!

So if you read my latest blog entry, then you read a story at the bottom about Pastor Justin (from the outreach) and Blessings. Mutinta (his wife), Blessings, and their 5 and a half month old daughter Think Grace have been hopping family and friends homes for around 2 months now because they can't pay for the water bills, or an electric one that would amount to anything. Justin is paying the bare minimum for electric, and the water has been shut off because they have around $350 to pay for overdue bills.

I was able to have dinner with Mutinta when Harold invited me over for dinner on Friday. Several times I just had to look away cause if I looked at her too long I was going to cry. I also got to hold Think Grace and play with her. There is NO reason why they can't be at home with their dad, and it's time that we saw to that.

I have no clue where any of you are financially. So please don't feel like I'm cornering you. If you don't have many to spare, it's fine. But I do know some hard facts for us to swallow: we're rich, even if we're poor by American standards. We could easily skip a few meals. Add that to the fact that Harold said about $50-60/month should give the family good electricity and keep the water running, and my heart can't stop breaking for their situation.

So we for sure need $350, but I would love to set them up for a year. I asked Harold, and this is the best way to go about it.

Again, I know it's short notice, but God's done a lot bigger things in 1 day, so we have one week (and we have Him on our side). Ask your friends, your family, your church. Let's reunite this family.

Love ya.
And hello from Africa.-JA

        Let me know if you want to help!

A Taste of Africa

Kumulu

Kumulu mayo

Eko ine nkabila

Kwa lesa

Kwa lesa mayo

Eko ine nkabila

Kugulu

Kugulu bama

Eko ine nkabila

          These are the words to one of the songs we sang multiple times a day in Zambia both last year and this year. The song was written by Pastor Gongalo, the pastor of the local bush church, and put to work by all the locals who love the song! The words mean 'My desire is to be in heaven' in three different languages, three local Zambian languages. These words should be the desire of each one of our hearts. I know I want them to be mine, and I pray through Christ they will be. They definitely make me want to sing and dance!

The Battle is On

           I have been trying to write this blog for nearly an hour and I am still not satisfied. The first time I tried to write I was angry. Complaining about consumerism, legalism, lacking compassion, our endless lust and coveting, our misunderstanding of love, and so much more. I read over my thoughts and knew my pessimism would help no one, inluding myself. So I started to write again and after reading it, I knew it sounded so fake. All the hurt, pain, and sin was masked by a layer of false perfection and artificial love. Then I stopped and realized the battle that is going on in my life and mind is happening in my writing.

Home and recovering

Micah: an incredible orphaned boy being treated at Cure for club feet

                I wanted to write a quick note to let everyone know I am home safe. Everything with the flights and baggage went smooth as ever before, no problems at all. And I arrived home tuesday evening to STL. My only goal this week is to sleep a lot and rest and try to get over malaria and its side effects before school starts up again on the 22nd. I am also spending time with my family and a few friends here in STL before heading back to Blacksburg. Sharing my pictures and writings are definitely on my to do list as well as sending out a report back letter to all of you to share what God did and what I learned. But for now I am resting and processing all that has happened in the past month and I look forward to being able to share more of that with all of you who so diligently supported and prayed for our ministry with Cure in Zambia. 

              'May you have the eyes of your heart enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might.' Ephesians 1:18-19 

Last Update

                  
        Thank you to those who were aware and were praying for me to recover quickly. I came down with Malaria on tuesday but after starting treatment I am feeling so much better already. It is definitely a blessing that I am staying at a hospital and working with an abundance of nurses. I have plenty of people to take care of me.

                  Meanwhile the team was busy organizing the supply closet and repacking all the materials from the outreach week. They also were able to watch a few surgeries and shadows different doctors and nurses throughout the past two days. They had a great time and experienced lots of new things. Yesterday they led the staff devotional with song and sharing about their experiences while being here in Zambia and what God has taught them. We, especially me, are laying low today enjoying the weather and playing with the kids recovering in the ward and then we will have an early to bed night since we will be off to Livingstone tomorrow around 4 am. We will spend tomorrow and Saturday there and then return on Sunday. Then we will head off to America on Monday afternoon! Each day seems to go by slowly, but to think we have been here nearly three weeks, it has gone by much too fast.

               I am grateful to God for all the time here in the word and in prayer with the Lord. I am also grateful for new experiences and lessons learned through the different circumstances that have come up. More than anything I am grateful for the struggles, my own personally, and for those of the team, because they have taught me so much and made me so excited to go home and to apply those lessons to my life and my ministry in Blacksburg. I deeply desire God to change my heart towards the importance of relationships in my life and help me to see them and value them more. I also deeply desire God to make the Gospel more alive in my life and help me to share it more freely and more often, that many can experience the saving knowledge and love of Christ Jesus.

             Leaving is always bittersweet. But I am trusting God to help me through the hardships and bring to light the things of importance and beauty for me to focus on and be changed by.