Flights went pretty well. Frank & Matthew and I landed in Zambia Saturday afternoon, were greeted by the Zambia 5 (driving what will affectionately be called the Banana Bus) and we arrived favorably at our Lusaka hotel. After checking into our rooms, eating a really good international supper at the hotel restaurant, I called it a night. I was asleep by 7 p.m. and awakened around 4:00 a.m. with a solid 9 hours of catch-up sleep. I'm feeling pretty good, everything considered. No worse for the wear of that 48-hour travel window.
I hope to get a couple of miles walking in when the sun rises, eat a quick breakfast, then it is off to Trinity Baptist Church where I will get the chance to deliver the good news of the Kingdom of God. They will hear from the Apostle Paul in Romans that, "The Kingdom of God is not eating and drinking..." but the Kingdom of God IS sharing...and that is why Shoulder 2 Shoulder is in Zambia.
We will also have our first pastor's meeting this afternoon, with men and women coming in from both Lusaka and the Chongwe area. And with each meeting that we will do, S2S will also be throwing a feast for many of our vulnerable church partner members. This will be my first such event in this more urban setting, so I am anxious to see what that feels like.
It was exciting to wake up to a text message from a young family that I met with a couple of months ago letting me know they had just made a generous donation to S2S. Their donation will help approximately 25 vulnerable families for the first time plant their own maize field. At the same time, those families will be enrolled into a farm training that is being designed by our partner organziation ZIAP, and that might just be the beginning of a journey into self-sufficiency for these beautiful followers of Jesus. What an incredible model John the Baptist, Jesus and Paul exampled for us during that first century of God's New Testament church. And what an incredible privilege it is for we 21st century followers to imitate.
I'm sure I'll be exhausted by the end of this day. Please pray that God will be working, His Holy Spirit moving in and through us as we seek to be obedient to the work He has called us to...here we go!
Rog
.jpg)
