Since it is 4:00 a.m. and I've been up for 2 hours, I though maybe I would give a little longer post. Hopefully this doesn't bore you, but maybe some will find a few more details about the work kinda interesting.
Check out the photo attached to this post, if you haven't seen it yet, go take a look. I wanted to let you know about these 3 men.
Pastor N'guni is the director of S2S in Zambia, the man in the white t-shirt. He is a fantastic man and has become a great friend. We have put a great deal of trust in him to lead our organization in Africa, and that trust has been earned as we have observed his Godly character. Any time you are dealing with money, things tend to get a bit grey with all of us. Sometimes it is difficult to see the world clearly through the haze of finances. That is just as true in Zambia as it is in America...well, maybe not quite as hazy, but the grey is there nonetheless.
Our director has demonstrated an ability to see through that haze. Much of that evidence has come in the form of Bible study together, but we see it play out in his personal actions. Rob and I do not apologize for the fact that S2S is solidly based on what might be more of a minority reading of Scripture in the majority American church. For example, we strongly believe that there is much to be learned by recognizing that Jesus' sermon on the mount recorded in Matthew is not at all the same as Luke's version of Jesus' sermon on the plain. And we think there is significant life application from assessing why Jesus said the "poor in Spirit" are blessed when he was on the mountain, but he said the "(material) poor" are blessed when preaching down in the valley. Honestly, it has been rare for us to find an American Christian who first believes that difference is actually true and accurate, and then secondly assesses any level of practical importance to that difference. And again, unapologetically, that is a critical passage in the foundation of S2S. Pastor N'guni has proven to be step for step with us in that doctrinal dance.
It is one thing to recognize the difference between Zambians and Americans economically. But it is something entirely different to consider how a Zambian pastor, being paid a director's salary (not a large one, by the way!) by an American organization, should function economically with his impoverished countrymen. It has been beautiful to watch our leader work through that personally. We just are really impressed by all of our in-country staff - the Zambia 5 plus Josh - and we love the leadership that Biswell N'guni brings to our community. Please pray for Biswell as God brings him to your mind over the coming months.
Speaking of Josh, he is the guy on the left in the photo. Josh is our staff guy in Solwezi. Solwezi is in the north of the country, and this is my fist trip to that region. I have certainly met Josh previously, but he had always been gracious to travel to me. Josh is a farmer at heart, and we expect him to be key as we continue to grow in our development work - remember, S2S is at it's heart a relief organization, but we aren't ignoring development work as the Spirit leads us into those opportunities. Over the years, Josh has been employed by big corporations in that northern region to do farm training in the communities where they are operating, as I understand it that has been kind of a give-back situation by these successful corporations. But as Josh's farming knowledge has increased, he recently left his employment to move into more of a full-time family farming situation. We jumped at the opportunity to partner further with Josh, and have brought him on as a part-time staff member to try to figure out what a long term relationship might look like. Josh has spent some time in the Bible with us over the years, but yesterday he was my primary interpreter for our time of pastor's training, and he got a full dose of S2S Bible overload. I'm actually really interested to debrief with him today, to see how our hours together yesterday might have greater informed his personal understanding of the organization that now employees him. Likewise, I know that Josh Prince would covet your prayers when you have opportunity.
The third guy in the photo is a pretty special story - and I hope he doesn't mind me telling it. I'm not trying to put Frank (the light colored hat and sunglasses) on blast, but God has done something personally special for me this trip. There is a longer story about how Frank ended up on this trip in the first place, but I won't give you all of that. Just suffice it to say that when Frank met me with a hug in O'Hare airport, it was the first time I had been in his presence in more than 30 years. In fact, I hadn't even had any contact with Frank at all over those 3 decades...I'm not sure how that even happened!
Frank and I were buddies for about 18 months in Shawnee, KS back in the 90's. We were both sales reps living large and travelling the world, while our wives and kids became friends in our neighborhood. We played basketball together, ate meals together, I think we might've even been in a Bible Study together...but that certainly wasn't the center of our relationship. We were just good friends. We became fast friends, and that friendship ended just as abruptly. The Ponds family simply moved away, they moved to Oregon - He worked for Nike. And then we moved to Iowa...and I honestly don't know why we didn't keep in touch. There was no brokenness or stress in the relationship, I guess it simply ran it's course over that 18 month period.
Over those 30 years, Lisa and I planted ourselves in Iowa, that's our place. And while the Ponds seem to be solid Oregonians (is that a thing?), the stories of living in China, significant time in Hawaii and travelling the world have been exciting to hear. I honestly feel like the 30 years of silence never even took place. It is actually kind of odd emotionally. God seperated us one day in the 1990's and brought us back together on an August day in 2025, and it doesn't feel like we missed a beat. It is kind of like when your best friend goes away for the weekend and you get caught up on monday morning...only our 'weekend' was 30 years!
And on top of that, as I said our relationships with God wasn't at all the center of 1990's Frank and Rog, God is swirling all around this 2025 verison of our duo. I'll say it clearly, Frank is the perfect wingman for a guy trying to accoplish something kind of difficult and extraordinary in the Kingdom. I won't get gushy with all the ways that is true, but Frank Ponds is an absolute 2025 gift for Rog Wheeler. I am praying that something similar is experienced by our wives on Wednesday in Chicago. They also haven't been in contact for over 30 years...and they also will be reunited in O'Hare airport and jump on a plane together. Please pray for them and their travel.
OK, so today we have another celebration and feast of what S2S is doing in Solwezi. Thankfully God gave me that message out of Romans 14, it will land on a new set of ears this morning. God and S2S are about sharing, I can't wait to tell another group. And I can't wait to experience Luke 14:12-14 once again today, it is thrilling. Please pray for our travel, as we will be flying again today, back to Lusaka.
Here we go!
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