April 25th - Last Day of Bootcamp and Livingston

Today was an exciting day. We completed the bootcamp today about 1:00 pm. We explored two questions, "How will we do it?" and "How will we evaluate?" Then, we had a celebration where we distributed the certificates. It was a bitter/sweet time. I feel like I have done what I was called here to do. As the week wore on, I heard one amazing story after another of God's faithful in the midst of hardship. I look forward to sharing them when we get together again. I will send a few pictures to my Facebook account of our day.

After we completed the bootcamp, Jerry and I traveled about 8 hours to Livingston. For the most part, it was a pretty good road but after Zimbe, it was really rough. It is beautiful and wide-open country with lots of grass and quite a few trees. I thought about the church planters as we traveled through one village after another. God, provide for their needs so these people can find You.

We are going to be in Livingston tomorrow and Sunday. We are going to see some wild game tomorrow and then Victoria Falls on Sunday (I think). I hear the latter is amazing. I am kind of excited about both. I'll send pictures to my facebook account tomorrow.

Thanks again for your prayers.

April 24th - Bootcamp Days 2-3

Wow! So much has happened in two days. I tried to get online yesterday but the internet kept switching on and off. Evidently, this is normal for Southern Africa. I'll start with yesterday. We spent the whole day answering the question "Who am I?" I felt a "nudge" (I realize now it was from the Holy Spirit) to share part of a lecture I do in Christian Living class that talks about how we find our worth in what God says about us. The presence of God was tangible. For a people who have suffered so much, it was such good news to hear that God loves them and has a plan for their lives. Also,part of the experience was to take the Uniquely You Profile - a spiritual gifts and DISC leadership profile test. It took a long time to complete. But I wish you could have seen the faces of a people who evidently don't receive that kind of affirmation often, if ever, in this culture. It was a precious, even sacred experience. One fascinating thing from a research perspective is that 29 out of 42 were S's on the DISC (Steady Leaders). Normally there aren't a whole lot of S's who plant churches. Not so in Zambia. Many of the people in the Boot Camp have planted multiple churches. There's probably a dissertation in there for someone but not me...

Today, we explored two questions - "What am I sent to do? - which is an exploration of who you are most likely to reach. It generated huge response. They wrestled with what it means to be a missional church planter in Zambia. All kinds of questions emerged. We got into a spirited discussion on tribal differences and whether it would be difficult for someone from one tribe to reach another tribe. One of the best parts was wrestling through the various passages of Scripture that reminds the church of missional ministry. The second question was "Who will do it with me?" We were laughing so hard when a group of young Zambian's did the exercise where they have to hold up a bucket of water with their feet while they one-by-one took off their shoes. The discussion afterwards was even better.

Thanks so much for your continued prayer.

April 22 - Bootcamp Day 1

It's getting hard to capture what's happening here in writing but I'll try. Many of you probably knew we were expecting 33 church planters for the Bootcamp event. After my arrival, each day we continued to receive requests of 2-3 or up to 10 more people who wanted to come. We debated but I decided to open the door. We had 65 people today being trained in addition to the 7 missionaries. It was a very full house. We also had two Chief Bishops present, equivalent to General Superintendents, one from Grace Ministries and another from the Pentecostal Assemblies of Zambia. We had an opening session where they worshipped, all accapella. What a powerful experience that was! Beautiful harmonies and lots of passion. It would be hard to translate this into words. I think I will have a video to show you when I return. The actual presentation time was challenging for me but the Lord helped. I wish you could have been there to hear them erupt into appreciation when they realized the Bibles were given to them by Spring Valley. They want me to express a big THANK YOU for a wonderful and helpful gift. I'll try to get a picture tomorrow.

Cultural experience of the day - eating with my fingers. It was a cultural experience. I liked the food. Toaching your food while you are eating it is interesting.

Thank you for your continued prayer. Until tomorrow or until we meet in the air...

April 21st - Coach's Training

I had the privilege today of helping train 22 Zambian leaders in coaching principles. There were 20 men and 2 women who participated in the training, ages 22 to 55. I am wading my way through communication challenges. For the most part, I think it is going well. But they laughed when I didn't expect it and often didn't when I did expect it. They are very gracious people! All in all I sensed the presence and direction of God. Thanks for your prayers. I really felt like we had some divine moments today in the class.

This evening we ate dinner with some missionary friends of the Ireland's and Bishop Joshua and Gladys Bamba. Bishop Banda is the Senior Pastor of Northmead Assembly of God Church (www.northmeadassembly.org), a thriving and vibrant mission-minded Church of 2000 members located in the Northmead Suburb of Lusaka. Prior to assuming this pastorate in 1995, he was the Principal of Trans-Africa Theological College in Kitwe for five years. He and his wife have a passion for the holistic gospel approach, which has seen him catalyze key national Church responses to social issues including HIV/AIDS, relief work, the rehabilitation of commercial sex workers, and the rescue of street children into safe homes. This latter effort resulted in the founding of the Lazarus Project (1999), an outreach and rehabilitation centre for street children, which is co-administered by his Wife, Gladys. Joshua is also the Chairperson of the National Aids Council for Zambia. As passionate as Spring Valley Community Church is about holistic ministry, I can't help but think there was more happening with this meeting than just dinner. What wonderful people they were!

Please pray for the Boot Camp that starts tomorrow. It looks like we could have up to 60 people in attendance, that about 25 more than we were planning for. Jerry and Paula worked hard today to get the extra materials ready for the camp. They are servants. SVCC should be proud of these missionaries.

One more thing...I got to see the "Southern Cross" tonight in the very big sky of Zambia, a series of stars that form a cross that can only be seen in the southern hemisphere. God is amazing!

April 20th - Church in Lusaka

I had a great night sleep last night. I feel much better. With God's help, jet has been minimal.

Today was an amazing experience! I went to a church in Missisi, a squaters compound where people live in make-shift housing. The people who live there have no legal right to the land or any government services but thousands of people live there. In the middle of that difficult context, God is raising up a congregation of hope called Shekinah Tabernacle. Pastor Solomon Mvulo is leading and pastoring a great work there. (See pictures on my Facebook account.) Pastor Solomon restarted the congregation about 3 years ago with about 20 people and a vision for what God could do. The congregation is young, mostly under 30 years of age, and about 330 on a normal Sunday. They worshipped with lots of energy and passion. One song was very moving, "Father, we declare that we love you, we declare our everlasting love for you." I wish you could have been here to experience it.

Please keep me in prayer. Tomorrow we begin training coaches to lead the tables of church planters. I am excited about that. We have heard that our numbers for the seminar may even get as high as 50-60. That's 25-35 more than the 35 I prepared for. We'll work with whatever God sends. It could be a challenge though.

One more thing, I did a little learning today. The phrase of the day was - muli bwangi - "How are you?" You respond with bwino zikomo kwambiri - "Good, thank you very much." So I'll sign off with that zikomo kwambiri for praying for me.

April 19th - I made it to Zambia.

After I published my note yesterday, you'll never guess what happened. I sat on the plane next to a guy who plays in the National Hockey League(the NHL). Who would ever think that a Canadian Hockey player would be going to Zambia? He's going there to visit a friend. We had a great conversation about the NHL and his experiences. That was good because it made the time pass on the 10 year flight to Zambia. I think we talked for about 5 hours. I got a little shut-eye after that but certainly not enough. I should sleep well tonight. It is great to see Jerry and Paula Ireland again. They seem to be doing well and they send you all their greetings. Paula's pregnancy is going well so far. Some of you have asked about Paula's pregnancy. She just had doctor's appointment and everything is going well. Please continue to pray for a healthy delivery. I also met Christine Little, a Nurse Practitioner from Columbus, Ohio. Christine is leaving tomorrow for Mongu, a western province of Zambia, to do community health evangelism training. Please pray for her as well. For what it's worth, the accommodations here are excellent and the weather is about 80 degrees with a slight breeze AND I ate my first orange right off the tree today. It was awesome!

April 18th - On the way to Zambia...

I thought about my wife today as I walked around London. She has been here twice. What a cool city this is!

The flight from Philadelphia was pretty good. There wasn’t as much space as I remembered the last time I flew BA but it was adequate. I probably got 3 hours of sleep. We arrived about 6:40 am London time.

I checked my carry on baggage at the airport (a smart move) and then caught the Tube into the city. I did a big circle. I went to Piccadilly Circus first and walked up several spokes – pretty cool. Then, I went to the Parliament Buildings and Big Ben, then across the Thames to the Eye. All of that was very cool – both the weather and in coolness. Then, I walked to Buckingham Palace and around there. Then, I caught the Tube out to the Tower of London. I almost didn’t go in but I’m glad I did. The Tower was by far my favorite experience of the day. There was so much there – history, gore, story, architecture, the Bridge, weapons, etc. A great time. Then I picked up some fish and chips and rode the Tube back to the airport. That’s where I am right now. My flight doesn’t leave for another hour or so.

Wish you all could have been here with me…next time.