Kasempa

Random Update:  Now that Maddie is potty training and in big girl clothes, she likes to sneak off occasionally and dress in her bubby and sissy's clothes.  Here's a picture of her wearing a conglomeration.  

I uploaded a video a few weeks ago showing images from our trip to Kasempa, but haven't had the chance to tell you about the trip itself.  Me and Luke went with our friends from Great Commission up to Kasempa to assist with a church plant.  This was my first trip up north and the first time that I have gotten to spend time with Zambians for an extended stay in their home.  It was truly a cultural experience that I will cherish for some time.

The Trip

We arrived on a Friday after a 10 hour ride through the copper belt.  Zambia is known world-wide for their production of copper and it was neat to see some of the major copper mines that are operating in the North.  The roads for the most part were ok, except for a two-hour stretch between Chingola and Solwezi.  But sleeping in the car is something that I am not good at.  So I didn't get much rest before we arrived.

Our Arrival

We stayed with Michael Kandela's brother and wife the entire stay.  So, when we arrived, they had already setup the rooms with mattresses and mosquito nets.  It was obvious that they gave us their bedroom and moved to a smaller room to make us feel welcomed.  Then, for dinner, the wife made a complete Zambian spread.  Here we were, the Americans, the ones who "have everything" and this family was sacrificing all they had to welcome us into their home.  It was extremely humbling.

Saturday Morning Evangelism:

On Saturday morning, after waking up and eating some toast and jelly, we headed out for door-to-door evangelism.  We had to walk about 5 miles before reaching the village we would be ministering in.  We could have taken the car, but we told them that we wanted to approach the weekend the "Zambian Way."  We wanted to experience ministry as much as possible from their perspective.  The morning was pretty uneventful.  We visited with a few homes, but for the most part, we were checking in on members of the new church plant.

Saturday Evening Outreach:

Saturday night, we planned to show the Passion of the Christ in town center.  As we were setting up, everything seemed to be going wrong.  The announcer who was supposed to go from village to village to announce the movie showed up an hour and a half late.  The power supply for the speakers wasn't working and there were only a handful of people.  But God was faithful.  The announcer went on his tour, the power finally started working and people began to show up from everywhere.  By the time we started we had about 250 people and by the end of the movie, we had close to 400.  After the showing, we had a time of prayer and many people stayed behind.

In interest of keeping your attention, I'll stop here and continue this post tomorrow.  Until then...