Maybe you are wondering what we do in Africa. Well, let me give you an idea.
Unfortunately, Zambia is a big country, lots of land. And our 125 churches are spread out around different regions. So one of the major components of our mission is travel. Including the to and from trips, we spend about 45 hours of actual flight time, with 3 flights to, 3 flights in, and 4 flights from Zambia. The air travel can be kinda brutal. We will also do 30-40 hours in a bus. It is a rented yellow school bus we lovingly refer to as the banana bus. We eat some different foods and drink some different drinks, but none of that is any type of actual hardship. And that word hardship is important, as Paul says about this mission, "...it isn't so there can be relief for others and hardship for you, but it is a matter of fairness." And so our primary message is SHARING, sharing that promotes some type of fairness in God's church.
And I am finally comfortable calling this a mission trip. That has always felt a bit uncomfortable, because I was raised in churches that defined missions as telling people about Jesus or planting churches or other evangelistic efforts. It is interesting that in my English translation Bible, Acts chapter 13 starts with a commentator heading, "Paul's First Missionary Journey." This, even though the final verse of chapter 12 says, "After Paul had completed his relief mission..." That is exactly what S2S is about. It is a relief mission, and that is why we are in Zambia right now. So, one of the things I am teaching on this trip is that Paul actually took 4 missionary journeys. That is maybe splitting hairs, but I am hoping our pastors can remember this as a worthy activity for missionaries, for all of us standing S2S (shoulder 2 shoulder) in an effort to feed God's starving people.
And more personally, this trip for me has been about teaching and preaching. Yes, that isn't my forte in life, but that is what God has called me to do on this trip. I will preach an encouraging message on sharing food - interestingly out of Romans 14 - to 4 different gathings of hundreds of S2S church members. In addition to that upfront time, I will spend several hours teaching S2S doctrine to our pastors.
There are 2 major sessions that I am teaching to our pastors. The first involves the basic story of Shoulder 2 Shoulder. Thankfully, S2S's story mirrors that of the Apostle Paul's story as told in Acts chapters 11-26. So I am able to help our pastors understand our mission by sharing about Paul's "collection for the saints." Search that in your Bible app if you have never heard of it. Most of the pastors I speak with in both Zambia and America have never really paid much attention to that New Testament thread. It is the backbone of S2S. I'm told by our Zambia 5 (our Staff) that they are fully understanding why S2S does its thing for the first time. Praise God for that. And with 75 new pastors over the last couple of years, this trip is working to get us all on the same theological page.
In addition, the Holy Spirit gave me a really fun and encouraging message to share about the Kingdom of God. I am in awe of the way God's Spirit teaches me and then allows me to communicate a deep Biblical thought to a large group of pastors in a foreign tongue (with a translator - praise God for Pastor Gaston Nyangu!). It really is a pleasure, and I am humbled to be the vessel that God chose for this mission. If your church would like to understand what S2S is all about, and explore whether your community would like to join our community, please don't hesitate to ask me to share that message with you.
Well that is probably enough. This is the second time I've typed up this blog post. The first time disappeared. Let me just say that technology can be one of the most frustrating issues when doing work on a foreign continent. So now it is time to pack up, we are moving again tomorrow. We will be enjoying the fellowship of a 12 hour bus ride from the Eastern Region back to the capital city of Lusaka.
Pack, sleep, bus...Here we go!
