Obedient, Committed and Compassionate

On Saturday, April 17, 2010, my church held a memorial service in honor of Carl Moyer, who passed away on January 20, 2010. The memorial service was beautiful and the pastor that spoke described Carl in three words: obedient, committed, and compassionate. The reason why Carl was obedient is because he did not just know that God was calling him to Africa, but he obeyed Him. Also, Carl was committed to his work in Africa and never let anything stop him from doing the work of God. Lastly, Carl was compassionate because of how he interacted with people and because of his hospitality. Carl led thousands of people to Christ and the memories that he has left behind will be told from generation to generation. I hope to continue to tell others about what I learned from Carl while I stayed with him and his family for a short time; do not dwell on your present situation. It is fine to be concerned and take action, but to have negative circumstances prevent you from doing the will of God is not beneficial to you or the people you are serving. I hope to apply everything that I learned from him and the stories that were told on Saturday, and apply them to my every day life. In addition, I hope to cherish every moment that I have just like Carl did.

Unidentified Identity

Several weeks ago I received and email from a man named Kedrick who works for ALARM. In the email that I received he told me of a recent attack that occurred on a local bus. What happened was that there was a group of people who stopped the bus and brutally attacked the people in board, and raped many of the women,too; they do not know who committed this act. What was interesting about this tragic event is that this is how Kedrick responded to the email that I sent him, asking him about the LRA in Uganda. So, now I am waiting for Kedrick to respond to my email because I am concerned that the LRA has moved into Zambia.

God, You Amaze Me.

If you have read my earlier posts, you would know about the problem-solving essay that I had to write for my English class. Recently, I have carried out my plan of solving the school supply problem at the Wisdom Community School by meeting with different clubs on campus. The first step that I took was I met with the Dean of Eastern University to get permission. Then I spoke to different clubs on campus and so far I have the Student Activities Board, SAGE and MAC supporting me. I am so overwhelmed with the response and excitement that others are having for something that they do not completely understand because they have not experienced the poverty first hand, but they want to support me and the cause. This is a huge deal because I hope that this will be able to become an annual event on campus, and that the passion for equality and justice will be known to the student body.

Wednesday is My Favorite Day of the Week.

During my first week in Zambia, Africa,my team and I organized a Vacation Bible School for the children at the Wisdom Community School in Mwenye. Every day we had planned activities and what we wanted the children to know about Jesus Christ. But on Tuesday of that week we were told that we were going to be helping with some of the construction on the school itself; of course the plans had changed without us knowing. So, we spent the entire time with the children playing, relaxing, singing and dancing. I will always remember that day because I just had the chance to get to know the children and understand their longing to be loved; one little girl, about the age of two or three, fell asleep on my lap. In addition, I loved how we thought we were going to be doing one thing, and then God turns it into something that we would have never though of. This is basically why I am so passionate about Zambia; the children showed me how to love and how Jesus loves them. I hope that you will never forget the simplest blessings that God blesses each one of us every day; God is always in control.

A Missions Trip Doesn't Last For Two Weeks.

After I had returned from being in Zambia for two weeks, we already had opportunities to share our stories and experiences. Even after eight months, my team and I have the opportunity to share with people who have heard about our trip. This is so encouraging and exciting because this missions trip is never ending; we did not just arrive on July 11 and leave on July 21st. I hope that everyone who goes on a missions trip will be encouraged to continue to embrace every chance that you have to relive your stories and experiences.

Updates from My Post From Last Week

Last week I talked about the ideas that my professor and I came up with to solve the problem of the lack of school supplies at the Wisdom Community School in Zambia, Africa. I wanted to update you on how I am coming along with the research that I need to find about this problem for my research paper. Fortunately, I have found many sources that discuss education in Zambia, and more about the cause and effects of this problem. Since I do not want to limit my resources, I found a blog that has reliable information on it that I can incorporate into my research paper; I think that this blog will be beneficial when I describe the culture of Zambia to my readers. I hope to post my essay on this blog once it is complete.

I am 18...I can make a difference

During my last English class, my professor took each of us through several exercises that would help us brain storm for our next essay: a problem solving essay. While doing the last exercise, I came to the realization that I can do something about the lack of school supplies that the Wisdom Community School has. After discussing this with my professor, we started to brainstorm about different ways that I could collect school supplies, instead of buying them myself. So, we thought that I could get the Resident Directors and the Resident Assistants to encourage their hall to donate any school supplies that their hall mates have left over from the previous semester. This is so exciting for me because I know that this is an easy way to get people involved, and for me to stay connected to those children in Zambia, Africa. Throughout this process, I hope to keep my trip leader updated about the progress that is occurring so that he can update our team website. You can check it out at anytime. I cannot wait to keep you updated about where this will be going in the near future.

Worship

The Zambians worship the Lord in a way that it powerful and unashamed. The reason why is because of the music/voices, and their passion and gratitude that they have for what God has done for them in their lives. While I was in Zambia, I would compare a Zambian worship service to a worship service here in the United States; I pray that everyone will be able to experience worship like I did while in Zambia. The people there dance and sing with all of their hearts. I truly believe that life is a dance unto the Lord, and that is exactly what they were doing; they are not ashamed of their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Furthermore, each one of them is blessed with beautiful voices that are sweet to my ear as they sing the songs in English with their Zambian accent. For some reason, most Americans do not dance down the aisle or lift our hands in worship. I think that people are sometimes afraid to worship God in the way that they want to because they think about what other people think too much.

Another way that they worship is by praying. At the first church service that me and the rest of my team went to, there was a time when all of the people in the church started to pray out loud at the same time. I was caught off guard because I had never heard anything like it before; there were about forty people all praying at the same time. Of course, I prayed in silence because that is what I was used to, but I continued to just listen to what they were praying about. Each person in that room was not praying self-righteous prayers, but prayers of gratitude and thanksgiving. The people were not praying for healing, money, material things, but for the grace that God has given them and the new life that they have in Jesus Christ. This sound will forever be ringing in my ear as I look back at the time that I spent in Zambia.

Unlike the Americans, Zambians search for the Lord in a way that is very different then we do. Every time that I talked to a Zambian they mentioned how good God was at least twice during the conversation; how many times a day do you think or talk about God? In addition, most of the Zambians are not blind to the blessings that God gives them each day because they do not have as many material items that we do here in the United States. They recognize that one meal a day is a true blessing.

Since Zambians seem to be more grateful for things than Americans, it makes me think about all of the things that I "want" but do not really need. Let me just say that this missions trip changed the way that I think about everything from politics, wealth, materials, God, etc.

Where is Zambia?
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bb/Location_Zambia_AU_Africa.svg/646px-Location_Zambia_AU_Africa.svg.png

A Man of God Will Be Missed

Yesterday at 10:54pm, Carl K. Moyer of Kabwe, Zambia, went to be with the Lord after many years of heart problems; Carl was a devoted missionary for fifty two years in Africa. While in Zambia, I had the privilege of meeting Carl during the second week of my missions trip to Zambia; he had such an impact on my life. Carl embraced every chance that he had to love others and tell them about Christ. Carl and his wife, Joanne, were involved in Grace Ministries and they were actively involved with this ministry. Even though I only spent several days with the Moyers, I felt like I was one of their grandchildren, and when I heard the news I felt like I just lost my grandfather. My church sponsors the Moyer family and there will hopefully be a memorial service for him here in the Pennsylvania.

Members of the First Baptist Church in Doylestown are in Zambia!

While me and the rest of the my team were in Zambia, Africa,a member of our team named Dominque had a younger sister who was attending a Vacation Bible School at the same time we were in Zambia; her younger sister attended a VBS at the First Baptist Church of Doylestown. While we were in Zambia, Dominique received an email from her family saying that the VBS was collecting clothes for the Wisdom Community School in Mwenye. This was such a blessing because we were at the Wisdom Community School and we knew the children that we met were going to be getting the clothes that were being collected by the VBS. Now, a group of women from the First Baptist Church of Doylestown are in Zambia with the same organization (ALARM) and they are meeting the same people that we did. It is so amazing how God blesses us in ways that we never thought possible. Praise the Lord!

This is what a typical market looks like, if you were to stop on the side of the road to purchase an item. These markets are owned by someone who wants to sell some of their art work, produce, etc. The Zambians built there own store out of sticks, wood and they would attach plastic bags to create the walls. I never knew that a plastic bag could be used in such a way.