Looking to 2012 with great expectations

After a wonderful and busy time in the US, I'm headed back to Zambia. I arrive just before the end of 2011. We are looking forward eagerly to 2012. Already there are signs that 2012 will be an exciting year at the Village of Hope.

Monday I hit the ground running as we prepare for the students who will be arriving for the start of the 2012 school year. This will be unlike the years before. We are welcoming 40 new students from the community, and a new teacher. Susan Lukaart, our AKCLI Board chairperson and the school mentor will be arriving in Lusaka a few hours before I do so she will be there to help train the teachers and give her input as we set up.

The results of the Grade 7 exams have been completed by the government. However, they have not been posted at the Liteta Upper Basic School where our kids took the exams. I'll post the results for our 6 students here on the blog when we know what they are.

Thank you for your prayers, encouragement, and gifts. God is doing great things!

In Our Midst

Last night Matilda and I went to see a basketball game. Joshua, my grandson, was playing. He is 6 y.o. as were many of the players. So you can imagine that it was a very fun and funny event. As Matilda and I sat on the little bleachers I thought, "these people have no idea who is in their midst. Here is a miracle child, a child from another world, a child who has lived in the kind of poverty unknown by those sitting around us, a child living in circumstances unlike any that is known by those watching the game."

But isn't that true of us? Christ comes to us and we don't see him in our midst. We are so caught up in our lives and activities that often He could be right by us and our attention is somewhere else. We don't see him. He was a miracle child that night centuries ago. He came from another world. And even today He dwells in places and under circumstances that we cannot even imagine.

This Christmas, are we willing to ask for eyes to see Him wherever He may be? Are we willing to take the time to listen to His voice and converse with Him as He sits beside us, and walks along with us through our days?

The Lord is in our midst. Do you see Him?

Fourth Sunday of Advent

This advent has gone by so quickly. Already we are at the 4th Sunday of Advent - the Sunday before Christmas. My days have been filled with people - family and friends that I don't see most of the year because I am so far away. And my attention has been on Matilda, the miracle girl from Zambia, who would be dead if she hadn't received the medicine for TB, but still carries the results of the disease.

Isn't this what Christmas is all about?....people and miracles. Jesus came because of us, people who needed to see the face of God and to understand His nature and character. And He came to heal, to save, to do the miraculous.

When I see my children and grandchildren and feel my mother's love for them, I'm reminded of the great Love that God has poured out on us. When I spend time with friends I'm reminded of my Best Friend, Jesus, who is always there to listen and to converse with me. And when I see Matilda, I'm reminded that God does the miraculous and gives us the joy of participating with bringing His Kingdom to earth.

As the shepherds, wise men, and even Mary and Joseph worshiped, may this week be filled with worship and awe for a God so big, so kind, so loving, so miraculous that He has made himself known to us, coming humbly as a vulnerable and small babe with only a cow's manger for a bed!

Advent: Dec 4 - Believe

Believe

With God all things are possible. However, in my life I have seen that we are often required to step out, in faith believing when God has spoken, in order for the impossible to happen.

Once again I think of our Village of Hope. God gave a vision – rescuing orphans in a way that would give them training and a future beyond the immediate need for food and shelter. God gave the vision to Benedict. (Being the wife of a visionary has challenges all its own.) Without a doubt it took faith to believe that God was able, that God could do the impossible.

Some folks thought Benedict was a little crazy, unrealistic, too far out with this vision. Some thought it sounded nice but didn’t think anything would really come from it. And some joined us in prayer, encouragement and giving.

It is nice to think about others, but how can we apply this concept to our own lives?

v Are we actively listening for the voice of God?

v When we hear the voice of God are we willing to test it to see if we are hearing correctly?

v Are we willing to move forward in faith, believing?

The Christmas story is filled with the impossible becoming possible, of people believing strange and incredible things, and then experiencing that with God all things are possible. Zechariah, Elizabeth, Mary, Joseph, shepherds, wise men… Don’t let this Christmas pass by without growing in believing the power of God to do the impossible.

Advent Dec 3: Nothing is Impossible

December 3, 2011

Nothing is impossible

When the angel Gabriel was announcing to Mary that she would have a baby, the Son of God, he said one of the most astounding things you can read in the Bible. “For nothing is impossible with God.” Luke 1:37.

Nothing? Really? Nothing at all?

I’m sure we all have heard that scripture, but I think there are many times when we don’t believe it or act as though it was true. Our Village can be a reminder of the truth of that verse when you are tempted to doubt.

God has done the impossible:

v We have land on the best road in Zambia.

v We have fertile land great for growing crops.

v When we began we had no significant financial backer, just the word from the Lord that He would provide.

v Six years ago this work was only a vision given by God. Since then we have built 24 buildings, established several businesses, founded a school offering a first class education, given a home and love to 42 children, and welcomed scores of volunteers and visitors who have had life-changing experiences as they have interacted with the children and workers.

It also says in the Bible that God is the same “yesterday, today, and forever.” If he can do the impossible in Zambia, He can do the same wherever you might be.

Advent Dec. 2: Unexpected

Unexpected

December 2, 2011

Elizabeth, like Sarah before her, had probably given up on ever being pregnant and having a child. She was just too old. Her label as a barren woman was part of what identified her in the community. But God had different ideas. God does unexpected things!

When I was a young girl, I expected to go to Africa to serve the Lord. That seemed to be what you did when you were really wanted to serve and follow Him. Instead, after college there was marriage, 6 children, and service of different kinds. There were even grandchildren.

And then God does the unexpected. He calls us to move to Africa when I am 56 years old.

I don’t think I am the only one. Each year we have many volunteers and visitors who come and bless us at the Village. There have been many times when these people have said, “I never expected to go to Africa. But it was announced at church that a team was forming and I just knew God was calling me to come.”

In this Advent season, let’s expect the unexpected. Let’s not put God in a box. Let’s break out to be available to do what God wants, or to go where he is leading. Let’s pray for the body of Christ, especially where we are, to be open to the unexpected call of God to be His disciples in surprising, amazing, and joyful old and new ways.

Advent Dec 1: Fear

Advent: December 1, 2011

Fear

An angel comes to Zachariah serving in the temple. An angel comes to Mary in a small Jewish village. In both cases the angel says, “Do not be afraid.” We are afraid of things that we should fear, and we are afraid of things that we should not fear.

Natasha, one of the members of Mama Rose C’s house has some very strong fears. She has a great fear of the bush fires that are around in much of the dry season. I have seen her hysterical at school at the thought of having to walk home, when she has seen smoke in the distance. I have held her close to me as we sat on our verandah, with her eyes closed and my hands over her ears to cover the sound the bush fires make. We have no idea the reason for this strong fear. It may be based on very real experiences she had as a very small child living in the village before she came to us. As you look at her in those situations, you look into the face of fear.

What are our fears? Is the Lord trying to say to us, “Do not be afraid. I am the King of the Universe. The whole creation is mine. I really do have you in the palm of my hand.”

I know without a shadow of a doubt that God is speaking to many of us. The problem is that we aren’t listening. We don’t hear. We see the smoke far in the distance and we let fear blind us and confuse us and consume us.

This advent, may we let the Lord reveal to us our areas of fear that grip us. May we hear His voice, “Do not be afraid.” And may we pray for all the children of the world, like Natasha, who are filled with fear/terror and need deep healing before they can clearly hear the voice – “Do not be afraid.”