Saturday, February 27, 2010
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.
Monday, February 15, 2010
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.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
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.
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.
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