Outreach & Immigration

Outreach:

This morning, I was supposed to be providing transport for some of the leadership of Great Commission as well as a pastor who is visiting from the States.  They were scheduled to speak at a local high school and the visiting pastor was the guest speaker.  When I arrived at pastor Michael Kandela's home to pick everyone up, I found out that the pastor visiting from the States was on a medical mission in Chongwe and would be unable to attend.  So, as I drove to the school, it quickly became clear that Michael wanted me to take this man's place and speak to these high school kids.  

When we arrived, we were escorted to the Head Master's office to wait for the children to be assembled.  You see, when they told me that I would be speaking to a couple of classes, I thought that they would escort me into some classrooms to speak, but that wasn't the plan and the classes turned out to be entire grades (the 9th and 10th grades of this school).  So, unprepared, still with a "hat head" (I was wearing a baseball cap that I was instructed to remove) I was escorted in front of about 200 high school students.  I shared with them about how I came into a relationship with God when I was their age.  I also shared from Romans 6:23, which teaches that because of our sin, we earn spiritual death, separation, from God, but because of the gift that God provided in Christ through his sacrifice on the cross, those who repent of their sin and trust in Him can have eternal life.  

After I spoke, I invited those who wanted to respond to the message to stay around afterwards to talk with the leadership of Great Commission.  Many of the students stayed afterwards to find out more about the church and several of them prayed, led by pastor Kandela, to place their faith in Christ!  Please pray for these youth.  Pray that they will get plugged into a local church, if not Great Commission, another church that teaches the Bible.  Pray that the word of God that was planted in their hearts today will grow in good soil so that they will be firmly rooted and mature in their faith.

Immigration:

So, on a totally different note, a little before we arrived on the field, one of our teammates applied, on our behalf, for our work permit.  This past 5 months, I have had a routine.  I would visit immigration, scan the work permit book to see if my permit had been processed (Yes, I said book, because nothing here is computerized.).  When I found that our work permit had not been processed, I would go to desk # 8 (There are 12 desks each staffed by a person performing a different role for immigration) and get our visas stamped with an extension for another 30 days.  After about 3 months, I would arrive at immigration expecting to go to desk #8.  I really didn't expect to see my name in the work permit book.  Well, today, I got to go to another desk! My work permit had been processed and we are now officially legal residents of Zambia!