A Week After Africa...

It's been one week since I left Africa with my CU crew and headed back to our lives here in the States...I am so, so glad to be back home with my wife and my kids...and if I am honest, to eat a little Qdoba and watch Baseball Tonight and to not be in charge of a big overseas trip...

But once again I feel a little out of sorts and out of place after 2 weeks in Zambia...per my usual bumbling self, I was a little tired and surly and short with Ingrid because I never feel capable of sharing the stories and reflections in a way that will communicate what I've seen and experienced without sounding better than everyone here and condemning the life I myself live with those closest to me...

We took a friend down to East Grand Rapids for ice cream on a night filled with people on a main road literally called Wealthy Street...and I saw a big new oversized SUV with the license plate that said STILL BLESSED parked as I licked my ice cream cone and I wanted to plaster the car with photos we had taken of those impacted by disease and poverty who still feel blessed and share the blessings of Jesus in remarkable ways despite not having a house as big as the car in front of me...

And I've been getting little email messages and facebook comments from my fellow travelers about how they actually did want to go back...because being here caused them to be frustrated with friends and family members and people all around them...and they are still so uncertain what they are supposed to do now that they have seen what life is like up close for those in great need...

In many ways, I hate the re-entry phase because there typically are not quick and easy answers that pop up...you emotionally feel ready to do something, but going back into life causes you to have to wait and see if you have really been transformed, what is really different about how you will see the world, use your resources, and love others as you felt loved on the other side of the world...

We talked often this trip about feeling such tension...the tension that hasn't gone away yet after being home jsut one week from the trip of a lifetime...and the tension that needs to stay present to move us to long term action, passionate advocacy, and a new life we believe we have to live in response to what God showed us in Africa...

I will feel a bit more settled one week from today...I just hope I haven't moved away from the things I committed to do in response to Zambia...that's the most challenging part of this whole experience perhaps...and what I need God's Spirit to help me do in community in 2012 and beyond...

PICTURES and Zambia Project Book

Here's a couple more pics from our trip!  We are loving our new Zambia national team soccer jerseys and here's after our soccer match in Kakolo Village with all the kids!

If you'd like to find out more about the story behind this long term work in Zambia and order a copy of the book I released recently called the Zambia Project you can go to: www.zambiaprojectbook.com

I'd love for you all to engage the story more as we return with these stories from ZAMBIA...

AFRICA TRIP BLOG #13: A Sunday Morning Worship Experience at Victoria Falls…

We got up early (pretty much a staple on this trip…who has time to sleep when you want to take in all Africa has to offer?) and headed to see one of the SEVEN NATURAL WONDERS OF THE PHYSICAL WORLD…every Zambian you meet wants you to go and see the Falls…it is such a point of pride as a people…and when you step down a couple steps and see this massive wall of water that extends over 2 miles across Zambia and Zimbabwe crashing down almost 400 feet you just stand in amazement and awe…it simply is like nothing you have ever or will ever see again…

We hiked down and crossed a bridge to see the falls from another point of view while spray from the mist literally drenched us hundreds of feet away from the actual falls…we saw the ridiculous bridge across the falls running from one country to another where one could bungee jump from a platform 400 feet above the Zambezi River (I told everyone we didn’t have time!) And we even walked up above the falls and took pictures just a few yards from where it all heads down…

On a Sunday morning this was a worship experience like no other…I sat on a rock for a moment and thought about missionary doctor and explorer David Livingstone first coming upon this place and the privilege I now have to revel in double rainbows over the falls, the immense sound of the power of rushing water, and the chance to share these moments with my Zambia team as we wrap up our time in this beautiful country…Victoria Falls displays the glory and the power and the majesty of our Creator God…and we reveled in that reality this morning in a quiet spot of remarkable beauty on this earth…

And then we got one final African experience as we went into the Livingstone Market and purchase items from Zambia to bring back home to you all…we even had some students become very efficient and effective barterers as they went back and forth with the African salesmen they met!  We hope these things will help connect you in some way to this place that has grabbed our hearts…

Tonight we had our final debrief time as a team on our Zambia trip…each of us shared memories, highlights, the moments and experiences that affected us and impacted us most deeply over the last 11 days in Africa…we also talked about what we sensed God is moving us to do in response to this trip when we return to the States…and we closed our time by praying for each other and chose to pray all at the same time, just as our friends in Zambia regularly do as the passionately and personally life their praises and requests to God…

It was truly a rich time, full of incredible reflections, ideas, and even deep questions…things were shared about the incredible people we met and the relationships that were developed, the moments of personal suffering we entered into with children and families, the vision and vitality of the African church, the joy in seeing how God is already so much on the move and at work here in Zambia, the prayers that were answered while we were here of African friends, and all the things that we were taught and that came alive as we saw them in the lives of women and children and men whose faith transformed ours in ways we couldn’t have predicted or imagined…

Zambia has been a place of joy and laughter, sorrow and suffering, soccer and more soccer, dancing and eating, hope and life, and even sickness and death for all of us…and we are not who we were when we left Grand Rapids two weeks ago…and we are so hopeful that we will become who God has called us to be in light of our privilege to come to the other side of the world as servants of Jesus…

We come home wanting to sponsor children, to build clinics in places where none exist, to provide bed nets for thousands of families, to pray daily for those we now call friends, to provide supplies for those who care for the least, to make a high school education become a dream realized, to share stories through our photos and words, to even come back to Africa for a much longer time, and perhaps most of all, to invite and inspire our family and friends and our CU campus to enter into this story together with us as we live life in full view of all we have seen and heard from the voices of our African brothers and sisters and our God…

Please be patient with us we come home…we are still in many ways trying to process all that has happened and our level of emotional and physical exhaustion might be a little high than normal…we might even be somewhat upset at some pieces of American culture and life that we didn’t mind before because of the lack of resources we have seen available here…we’ll come around but it might take a little time as we re-enter life in the States…and as we try to live differently don’t be afraid to ask us why and try to hear the details of our experiences and thinking…we really can’t wait to share our lives and our stories with you all…and we’d love it if you would pray for us as we come home and try to figure out what God wants us to do as His advocates and agents of change on behalf of the people of Zambia in the communities we have been in over these last days…

I closed tonight by reading Jesus’s mission statement of words in his first public ministry address in Luke 14:18-19…

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, 
    because he has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
    and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
¹⁹     to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

This final verse is referencing the amazing idea God established in the Year of Jubilee in the nations of Israel’s calendar every 50 years…a time where debts were forgiven, plenty of food was available for all who needed it, broken lives were healed, and God’s favor and presence was tangible, especially for those who were poor and suffering in the previous years…that’s what our partner on this trip, Jubilee Ministries, is really all about…and we can’t wait to spend the rest of our lives helping God’s favor, this remarkable concept of Jubilee, break forth in Grand Rapids, in our homes and hometowns, in our churches, in our world, in a very special place called Zambia in a massive continent called Africa…may God use us and continue to change us for this purpose…

For the Zambia team one last time,

CHIP

p.s. we are spending the night here in London and hope to arrive back at Chicago O’Hare mid-afternoon on Tuesday…the plan is to try and get back to CU by 8 pm on Tuesday night if our travel times all fit together well…can’t wait to see you all!

AFRICA TRIP BLOG #12: Going on an African Safari…

After another big drive we arrived in Livingstone at the southern tip of Zambia…this is a place where every Zambian wants you to go if you come to their country…

We were picked up by a big safari truck at our hotel and headed out to a game park just outside town…and over the next couple hours we entered the WILD KINGDOM…we saw as we drove through the park monkees, babboons, giraffes, elephants, water buffalo, zebras, all kinds of birds, warthogs, wildebeasts, impala, and even got within a few feet of a very rare white rhino under the watchful eyes of our guides and Zambia wildlife officers…and then capped it off by watching the sun set over the Zambezi River flow toward the massive waterfall that has put this place on the world’s map…it’s like being on the set of the LION KING here in Zambia…

We loved hearing the incredible details about each animal from our guide and had a blast taking photos and finding animals hiding in the bush as a team…what a privilege to revel in the creative genius of our God…

We enjoyed a fun dinner at a local pub and watched the Champions League Final soccer match with the African people who love the game so much…tomorrow we head out to see the remarkable Victoria Falls as the sun comes up and visit a local market to gather some more Zambian stuff before heading back to Lusaka where we will fly out on Monday morning…I will hopefully post one more time from our London hotel on Monday night before we fly back to Chicago on Tuesday…

Know that we have felt your prayers all thru these last days…God has met us here in a truly remarkable way…and we covet your prayers for safety as we travel much in the next three days heading home…we can’t wait to see you all!

For all the Zambia team on a beautiful starry Saturday night in Africa,

CHIP

AFRICA TRIP BLOG #11: Seeing the impact of malaria…

After a very early ride down from Ndola to the capital city of Lusaka we spent the day with staff members from World Vision Zambia…World Vision is the largest Christian NGO in the world and impact millions of lives in Zambia…we drove out to a very rural village community where we met once again some remarkable people who care for children and families in need in this community where life is challenging and access to education and health care and income is so, so limited…

We asked them specifically in a group of a dozen or so who has had or had an immediate family member struggle with malaria…they just laughed as each of them put their hand up immediately…it is the #1 taker of life in sub-Saharan Africa and obviously a huge concern for those who live in this part of the world…

And then we visited some families who lived in rural homes, where you felt like you were in the Africa you grew up thinking about…and unfortunately these were families that had been touched deeply by malaria…one father and mother told us their story of how their 15 month old little boy named Alex suddenly spiked a fever and because they live about a 10 mile walk from the nearest health clinic it was a huge undertaking to get their child to receive medical care…and as a flood of a river they needed to cross delayed them, it was too late to get the medications to save their child.  As they ended talking to us with telling us that he had passed away from a mosquito bite, we couldn’t talk as we sat in the dirt outside their hut.  Finally Catherine told them how sorry we were and I asked if we could pray for them, a prayer for comfort only our God can somehow provide…

I then asked if the rest of the their six children now had bed nets to sleep under, treated bed nets that can prevent this disease from entering a child’s body…and when they replied that they now had one, it wasn’t the answer we wanted to hear…and in that moment we knew exactly why we are already planning our Night of Nets events this fall at CU as a soccer community…and why we believe especially after this trip that we will and must do far more than we have done before to provide nets for families like the one we met in the name of our Jesus who loves to bring healing…we know first-hand now why prevention of malaria is so, so important…and why we believe God has laid this vision on our hearts and now has put it right in front of our eyes to see how we can partner with our friends at World Vision to change the lives of thousands of families…

You can check out our website from last year at www.cunightofnets.com

We enjoyed a great Zambian meal at our authentic guest lodge in Lusaka…and tomorrow we head south to Livingstone to do some of the remarkable sightseeing we have the privilege of doing in this country!

We are on the home stretch…and already we are awaiting our chance to share our stories with you when we return…

For all the Zambia team,

CHIP

AFRICA TRIP BLOG #10: A Day in Kakolo Village…

In 2004, I first came to Africa.  And I first went to a little village filled with thatch-roofed huts, lots of children in tattered clothes, a dusty soccer field, and an HIV infection rate close to the highest of any place in the world.  It was viewed as a very difficult place to grow up as a Zambian because of its lack of educational facilities and limited access to any clean water and health care for its inhabitants.  But a Zambian friend who worked for World Vision took me on a walk that would ultimately change my life.  We walked through the village and he talked to me about a first-class school, a modern health care facility, new clean water wells, support for local churches, and a brand new soccer pitch.  I remember he said to me, “Chip, don’t you think God could do it?!”

Today, we drove down that same dirt road to that same village…and all the things Fordson and I dreamed about 8 years ago God has now seen fit to bring to life through the passion and investment of a group of students from Wheaton Academy where I previously worked.  We drove into Kakolo Village to see the nicest school buildings we have seen in Zambia so far where over 1300 students in grades 1-9 now attend classes every day.  It might be the only school in Zambia where the US flag and the Zambian flag fly right next to each other outside the school. 

We were welcomed with a beautiful song sung by the children saying thank you for building Kakolo School and they danced with an African flair while students banged on the water jugs to provide the background music.  The headmaster of the school insisted we join in on the dancing.  We toured the classrooms, saw a new medical clinic where babies are delivered healthy and free from the HIV virus, and checked out the well provided by some students and teachers raising funds through climbing Mt Ranier in Washington.  And we were able to give them school supplies, books to start a library, and soccer equipment through donations from the CU community and a first grade class in Chicago.

And of course, we had to play a soccer match on this new field that was given as a thnk you gift from the community to me as a surprise a few years ago.  We even pulled off a comeback win 2-1 behind a winning goal from Josh Feenstra, our resident African in the group!  We are pretty proud that we went 3-0 on our Zambia soccer tour!  Taking pictures surround by hundreds of kids around the Chip Huber marker on the side of the field was a trip highlight for me. 

In many ways, this was a day filled with joy and laughter after some seeing some very tough things in Zambia over the past week.  Going to Kakolo Village gave us all a visual picture of the Kingdom change that can happen in a community when God’s people see a need, enter into a relationship, and invite others to join them in caring for the needs of the poor in big ways.  It’s pretty emotional and overwhelming for me to return to this place and be greeted so warmly by so many good friends and a community that is now moving forward in new ways.  There’s a tangible sense of hope in this hidden spot in Zambia…and it’s a hope that believes that God is still at work in Kakolo Village and still invites us to get involved in so many other places in our world today. 

I was excited and blessed to take our team to this place that means so much to me and in many ways is my legacy of faith in this world.  I have some great new pictures to put up in my office when I get home.  And my new dream and our prayer together is that we would be open to God’s Spirit that is still on the move as we begin to wrap up our time in Africa…there are so many more Kakolo Villages out there praying that God would answer their prayers through His people…

Tomorrow we head off to Lusaka to spend some time with World Vision and get a first-hand look at the issue of malaria in Zambia as we look at growing our current Night of Nets program that raises funds to provide treated bed nets for families in sub-Saharan Africa…

For all the Zambia team,

CHIP

AFRICA TRIP BLOG #9: Our Last Day with Jubilee Ministries…

After Coach Bell shared a devotion on the CU soccer motto KOPION taken from I Corinthians 15:58 to start the morning, each of our team members shared a reflection they had written about how their life had been transformed over the last week as we learned from and served alongside our friends at Jubilee and the church leaders and members we have gotten to know here in Zambia…I loved hearing how our students were able to encourage those doing Kingdom work here in Africa in such meaningful and heartfelt ways…and Jubilee Center even put together a really well done video of our day with the people of the community featuring interviews and footage with each person on our team…it will be fun to spread it when we get home!

Our last ministry activity with Jubilee involved participating in a feeding program for children sponsored by another church in Chifube…each of the children we serve a meal to was either HIV positive, suffering from TB, or significantly malnourished…this meal is often one of the only times for many of them to eat well during the week…these children looked even a bit more needy than some others we have played with this week, and it is always fascinating to watch a very young child here in Zambia eat every last bit of chicken off the bone and every last clump of shima on a big plate as you think about what preschool and elementary school kids in the States would do when given that same plate…hunger is such a major need that truly affects body, mind, and spirit…Jesus’ actions in providing food in the Gospels truly take on a new reality here in a place where long term food security is such a major issue for many…

We ended the day taking a walk through a local market and shopping area as some bought authentic Zambia clothing while others finally found the sought after Zambia National Team soccer jerseys…and we even had a chance to support another community development project focusing on HIV education in buying some jewelry made by local Zambian women…

We took the staff from Jubilee Ministries out to dinner to say thank you and laughed and laughed and laughed with our new friends as we enjoyed good Indian food together (I know, who would have thought that one here in Zambia?) in a typical 2 hour African meal…

Tomorrow we head up to see the village community that I was involved in serving for 6 years before I came to CU…it will be fun to show this team a real life example of what can happen when a passionate group of students steps out in faith with Zambian Christians to seek to change the lives of a community and its children forever…it’s a day I’ve been looking forward to for a long time…and can’t wait to take my friends and have them meet my old friends in Zambia…

Off to bed after one incredible 7 day stretch here in NDOLA,   Chip

AFRICA TRIP BLOG #8: HIV up close…and those who are Jesus to those suffering

I knew that today’s visits in the Mapolo community would be unlike anything most of us have experienced before.  When you walk into the small, dark room of a mud wall structure and sit next to someone who is suffering and dying from a horrible disease, you are not sure what to do or say…

Today we went out in pairs to visit those who are being given care by the church as they are infected with the HIV/AIDS virus…There were older people and people in the prime of their lives that we visited…children who are suffering because of the impact of  a disease on those who should be taking care of them…it is always painful to see people suffering and to hear their stories of struggle just to live another day…

We listened to them talk about their families and tell the story of how their life has changed because of their illness…and we delivered some food supplies to help them get some of what they need to try and get better…and we read Scripture reminding them and us that we cannot be separated from the love of Christ and that our God is indeed near to the brokenhearted…and we laid hands on our new African friends and prayed for God to heal and to comfort and to meet their needs in a miraculous way…

But we also got to meet some new friends who are the heroes of the faith in my mind…they are men and women in the African church who serve as caregivers to the very least in our world…they come and visit them, pray with them, bathe them, help them get to the clinic to get their ARV medicines, and bring them the food they need to attempt to recover…

I went out with the amazing lady named Grace who started this caregiver program in this community about 10 years ago as the AIDS pandemic ravaged this part of Zambia…she herself had taken care of her sister until she died of AIDS before deciding God was calling her and the church to do something for those who were often stigmatized and shunned by families and friends and fellow believers alike…and she now oversees 21 churches and over 300 volunteers who care for people who are not cared for by anyone else…

Grace has visited hundreds, if not thousands of sick people in this community, walking mile after mile to literally be the hands and feet of Jesus of some of the most forgotten people on the planet…it isn’t easy for her, as she shared with me how discouraged she feels when people she gets close to have passed away when she comes for the next visit…

But God is using Grace…and she has so many stories of change and hope and God’s matchless grace being poured out through her into the lives of others…as we were walking back to her church from visiting a dying AIDS patient, she said to me out of the blue sometimes she thinks God is telling her to write a book…I couldn’t help but laugh and say “Oh Grace, that sounds like a great idea to me!”  And I pulled out of my backpack a copy of my book and gave it to her telling her that I had just finished writing a book about people like her here in Zambia…and if I can write one, than surely she can with all she has experienced…we laughed and she asked if I could be her editor…only in God’s story…

And even in the midst of perhaps the most heart-wrenching circumstances God is present…visiting a home in Zambia headed by a child taking care of other children because their parents have died from AIDS is beyond our scope of understanding…today Mark and Catherine Bell visited an orphan-headed household where 15 year old Bernard was taking care of his 13 and 10 year old brothers Nelson and David because their parents have passed away…the boys go to the market by foot each day to try to find an odd job to make a few coins to get some food…they are now the extreme poor in our world, living on less than an average of 50 cents per day…and their only safety net, their only resource and help is the church…

And somehow, in a way only God could arrange, a couple from Rockford, MI was the answer to these three boys’ nightly prayers that somehow they could find the money to pay the fees to go to school…Mark and I walked over to the teacher at the schoolhouse nearby and he asked if he could pay their fees for a whole year…it cost 42000 kwacha, or just over $8 per boy…and about $25 from a family that loves soccer in the States changed the lives of 3 boys who love soccer and are dependent on the mercy of God for life every day in Mapolo, Zambia…and I know that heaven rejoices in answered prayers like these…

After a silent bus ride back for lunch we spent some time later that afternoon talking and praying with Zambian students who are peers to the CU students on this trip as we talked about the challenges each of us is facing in living out one’s faith in our various cultures in Grand Rapids and in Ndola…it was beautiful to hear 14 different pairs of prayers from Zambian and American Christian partners being lifted to heaven with hope for tomorrow and a passion to see revival break out among their generations…

Tonight’s debrief time was long and full of anger, sorrow, questions, and finally deep resolve…we have seen and gotten to know people suffering in ways unimaginable to us and held children who simply wouldn’t let go for as long as we would let them hang on…and in the midst of our own grief and concern for the needs we now know exist, we ended tonight with a call to do something…I actually have on a shirt tonight that simply says, “You have one life…do something.”

The over whelming consensus is that this trip cannot be an emotional exercise where our hearts are broken and we fall in love with Africa and its people…it must be an experience that leads us to action, that leads us to being a voice for those who have no voice, and that leads us to courageously invite others to join us in writing a new story in our lives and the lives of our brothers and sisters in sub-Saharan Africa…

Already there are ideas flowing on how to tell the story, how to invite others to partner with us as we care for the needs of widows and orphans as Scripture defines in James as “true religion” for each of us who follow Jesus…your prayers for us to have our view of God’s people and this world blown apart has already and will continue to be answered…and now we invite you to begin to give us creativity and courage to work and dream together on how to engage our families, our churches, our campus with the needs present and opportunities available to transform lives here in Africa…

We spend our last full day with our friends at Jubilee Ministries tomorrow as we share our trip reflections with them and feed children and do a bit more house building before we move to the next phase of our journey in Zambia…

We can’t wait to see you one week from tonight…for all the Zambia team,   CHIP

AFRICA TRIP BLOG #7: Spending the Day in Homes…

Today was a bit more difficult in some ways than other days…and we saw what daily life looks like for many Zambian families as we spent several hours with them…

Life is very hard for many people in this wonderful country…life means being uncertain about where your next meal comes from, having great difficulty finding a job, having to walk miles to get to high school which is often priced far higher than you can afford, struggling with gender roles and traditions, having many children and taking care of others when your family members get ill or pass away, and even as a Christian struggling to figure out how you can meet all the needs of others around you while providing a life for your own family…

We first went to the community market to buy some cooking supplies for the meal we were going to cook with our Zambian families (a very lively place)…and then 5 groups of team members paired with a Zambian friend went to the homes of 5 different typical Zambian families…the gals from CU helped cook a traditional Zambian meal with nshima (the staple food) and vegetables and some chicken…cooking was done over open fires started with charcoal that we purchased…the guys from CU helped make axes, split logs for firewood, drew water up from wells, and stayed away from the kitchen…

The homes we went into are typically 3 small rooms with a sitting area, eating area, and sleeping space for families typically with 5-9 children…the bathroom is a pit latrine outside and the kitchen is an outside shelter as well…

In some ways, I always struggle on days like these…I love meeting these families and I love playing with their kids and watching the remarkable care and time they put into serving us and making a truly authentic and beautiful meal…and yet as you spend more than a few minutes driving or walking through neighborhoods and sit and talk at their homes, the curtain is pulled back on the vastness of need and the impact of extreme poverty on lives in so many dimensions…

A local pastor who I spent the day with took me across the road to meet a woman from his church to show me the impact of some feeding programs they were running…she is a young mom who is suffering from the impact of the HIV/AIDS virus…before she was given these food supplements she could not walk…it is quite obvious that she is very sick she limps out to meet me from her bedroom…

And as we walked in there was a young baby just lying on a mat on the ground next to their house…the pastor told me that the child is also HIV positive as the virus was transmitted from his mother to him…he too looks very sick as I reached down to pick him up…as I was holding him and walking with him I was reminded that this virus is why I first came to Africa…because I along with a group of high school kids decided that we had to respond to what HIV was doing to African children, families, and communities…

I’ve met many people dying from AIDS, I’ve attended funerals for its victims, and I’ve seen the devastating impact on a whole community…but my heart is still broken as I hold a little boy named Patrick on a dusty path in a place practically no one in America knows exists…I immediately thought of some of my good friends back in the states who rescued and eventually adopted a little boy named Patrick who was dying from AIDS in an orphanage in Uganda…and I was overwhelmed with the story I was seeing before my eyes today…

Later on that day Jubilee Ministries tried to film me talking about my day and I ended up sobbing on camera…which I hate…especially when I am supposed to be the one who communicates the remarkable things God is doing in Zambia…I tell myself all the time that I’ve seen this before and that I know this is reality for millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa…but when you see it and hold this beautiful little boy as he coughs and struggles to live you can’t help but weep…and plead with God again to do something only He can do to save this child and restore his mother to health…

It’s easy to walk away from a day like today with a loss of hope…but that isn’t why we came here…we came here because we believe God wanted to invite us into deeper relationship with Him and all His people here in Zambia…to know what life is really like in our global community, to share our stories about life in our homes as we did today, and to come away convinced that because there is so much need in our world we have to become people of greater compassion, greater resolve, and greater love as followers of the One who told us that anything and everything we do for the least in our world we actually do to Him…because He is present in this place…perhaps even more than other places in our world I somehow must believe…

Thanks for reading and thanks for praying as our hearts are broken,

CHIP

AFRICA TRIP BLOG #6: A Day of Worship in Zambia…

Today we went to church in Africa…and almost everyone said this would be the place they’d like to worship again next Sunday…

We walked into a former orphanage filled with people singing this morning.  In a Zambian worship service you are very active…you sing, you say AMEN, you dance…church is actually a physical and spiritual experience.  Zambian voices filled the air announcing that today WE WORSHIP GOD ALONE as we took in the beauty of their harmony and level of engagement in what they were singing. 

Our team was welcomed and then we shared the Benediction song, our kind of official community song at Cornerstone as we raised hands together across the church with our Zambian brothers and sisters.  It was a moment of unity and community for God’s remarkable global church.  I shared some thoughts with the Zambian people from Philippians 3 about how my life, my faith, and my life passions have been so deeply affected by the Zambian people.  This community of believers has truly changed my life for the good and I loved the chance to tell them as an American who came first to help, but met God and found meaning and purpose and joy like never before among them…

Our favorite bus driver for the week is also the pastor of Bethel Church and he gave a great message on taking steps to spiritual maturity, including a fun reference to the fact that we needed to be like FRENCH TOAST as we soak ourselves in God’s word!  And as the service ended, we were invited to all come up to the front of the church, and then the music started and we started to dance.  We danced with joy and worship as most of the congregation came and greeted us as they danced their way up to join us.

I found myself at one point in the service with tears running down by face, obviously from the beauty of this worship time and the chance to be among such welcoming friends together celebrating what God has done and what He will do…and I think there was also a sadness in my tears that for so many in this generation of students and even for many others in America church is not a moving or compelling time…and I struggle with what we are missing in comparison to this community experience…

After lunch we came back to the church and led some games and SJ shared a talk from I Corinthians 15 about the fullness of the Gospel with about a hundred young adults and students from area churches…we even demonstrated a trust fall as an object lesson and caught many Africans falling off a ledge!

And then we moved on to another community soccer match, once again filled with hundreds of children and community fans lining the sidelines.  The whole team got in on the action and the CU Soccer Crew is now 2-0 behind a single goal from Isaac Grotenhuis.  Our post game celebration included singing OLE OLE OLE (a soccer victory chant) with a hundred kids joining Coach Bell jumping up and down surrounding our bus…only in Africa can you experience moments and memories like this…pure, unadulterated joy that is so sweet and so pure….

We went to Lawrence and Martha’s home for dinner tonight as they prepared a great meal and shared their stories of faith as God has led them to found and then grow the ministry of Jubilee Center in Zambia…we were able to hear from them how we might partner with them in the future as a university, and they were able to hear from us how our experiences here are impacting how we look at our futures…it was a wonderful close to a remarkable Sunday on the other side of the world…

Tomorrow we head off to spend time with families in poverty-stricken communities as we will get a closer look into their daily lives and needs in this culture…our learning just continues on this trip…

The team is loving being together and the development of new friendships and new jokes and new memories is something you treasure on a trip like this one…

We are blessed tonight as we go to sleep in Africa…thanks for your love and support and prayers back home in the States…

For All the Zambia Team,

CHIP

AFRICA TRIP BLOG #5: Talking about Jesus…and Playing the Beautiful Game…

This morning we went to a small church and met new friends who are young adults in the Zambian faith community here in Zambia.  We sang and prayed together before breaking up into teams of 3-4 with Zambian and Cornerstone folks both in each group.  We were invited to then walk through the surrounding neighborhoods to share the Gospel, share our own stories of what Jesus has done and is doing in our lives, and to pray for people in our teams.  I know that for many of our team members there was a little bit of anxiety and nervousness as we headed out and they considered stepping out to share their faith with folks in a different culture. 

As we walked through the neighborhoods, we were pretty amazed at what actually happened.  I watched at the first house we went to welcomed Kelley Ritsema, our Zambian friend Maybeen who had just graduated from high school, and myself into their home.  As we sat inside we discovered that they had a grandma who had broken her hip and hadn’t been able to move for almost a year along with a sister of the mom in the house who and some serious disabilities that limited her to the house.  We were invited to pray for them and to encourage them by sharing Scripture right on the spot.  In many ways, we were blown away by the cultural differences in how we interacted with people in this community.  We actually had people seeking us out as we walked along to ask us questions, to invite us to meet the rest of their family, and to listen to us as we talked about the things most important to us in our lives.  As we drove back to our guest house, most of us commented on how this experience obviously couldn’t be duplicated in the States.  We joked about how many folks would have never answered the door and how many of us now knew people in Zambia after one morning about as well as we know some of our neighbors.  The spirit of hospitality and willingness to take time to talk and to listen is something we found ourselves wishing we displayed more in our own homes and relationships.

I think for many of us it was also a very unique experience to talk so openly and so boldly about our faith.  Many, many of our students and staff on this trip had the opportunity to clearly explain the Gospel and its transformational message today to people we met.  It was a bit scary but also so fulfilling to let others know how much Jesus has changed our lives and how badly He longs to be in relationship with each person He has created.  There were prayers made on behalf of those who wanted to know Jesus more fully and prayers for God’s healing and compassion to fall upon the people and families we met.  In our debrief time tonight so many students shared about how they were able to share their story as they heard remarkable stories of life and faith from those who they met in a neighborhood in Zambia today.  I know this wasn’t a normal activity for our team members, but we are excited about the way that our chance to talk about Jesus here will convince us of our need to share our faith in winsome and redemptive ways wherever God has called us to live and with whomever we are in relationship with in our lives.  We are invited and called by God to bear witness to the greatest news we could ever share…and we’ve been reminded of the simple and profound message we are entrusted with because of the chance to see the Gospel at work in and through us in Zambia.

As we finished walking through the Zambian neighborhood of Chifubu we ended our walk at a center place for this community…the local soccer pitch!  We donned our green CU SOCCER KOPION shirts (a men’s soccer team motto that means we will work to the point of exhaustion because of what God has called us to do with our lives) and played a match against many of the students in the local churches and community.  For those of us who love soccer, there is simply nothing like playing on the bumpy ground of Africa.  There is a connection with the people that blows away so many cultural differences and questions.  The “beautiful game” is truly most beautiful when it is played with joy and passion and laughter with people from both sides of the world. 

And the CU crew pulled out a 3-1 victory…gotta represent in Zambia!  This is where one of the best college players in the state of Michigan joins two girls who are wowing the Zambian men with their skills, a former soccer player who recently spent 6 months in Uganda playing soccer with African kids, and even a couple old coaches who found the strength to turn back the clock to play with students they love in a place where lifetime memories are created…I mean where else in the world when you score a goal do hundreds of kids coming running onto the field doing cartwheels and somersaults and you sprint over to a tree on the side of the field where 20 kids are jumping up and down in that tree while you are high fiving every kid along the way?  It is simply a moment of joy the Creator gives us…and we are grateful that soccer is a way to build relationships and share the love of Jesus in a tangible way…

(and by the way we did try to sneak into the brand new world class soccer stadium built just a mile or two away from where we are staying to kick the ball around on the best grass in Africa, but alas we had to settle for just taking a picture together in front of it…)

This morning we read from Matthew 19 where Jesus reminds us that He longs for us to welcome children with open arms, with great love, and when others don’t because the Kingdom of Heaven is found where they are and in how they believe…and I have watched already in just a few days this team welcome children in Jesus’ name in such beautiful and personal and grace-filled ways…it displays the love of Jesus so, so clearly for all to see…and I am blessed…

Tomorrow we spend our day in church where our bus driver for the week is the pastor, and our students will then be leading a time of games, testimonies, and teaching for a group of about 100 students from the Ndola church community…we can’t wait to join our brothers and sisters in Zambia as we worship the God of all nations together…

We miss you and wish Happy Mother’s Day from Zambia back home!

For all the Zambia Team,

CHIP

Two pictures after our 3-1 soccer match win in Chifubu and in front of the brand new world class soccer stadium in Ndola...wish you were here!!

Building Homes…and Meeting Children…A First Full Day in Zambia

Today we got to see more clearly what life is like for many in Zambia.  We spent some time in the morning meeting the staff at Jubilee Center in Ndola where they serve in partnership with 94 different churches in this country.  They do leadership development and training for church and community leaders, respond with care and compassion to those suffering with and impacted by HIV/AIDS, work with both students and children in evangelism, discipleship, and good health and wise living education, and all in all help mobilize the church to truly be the hope of the world in this place in a holistic way.  They are making a huge difference in thousands and thousands of lives as native Zambians in this community!

We spent most of our day in a Zambian community helping to build 2 different homes for families in pretty desperate need for housing.  We were hauling bricks, mixing cement, and laying block in rows as we helped move the construction process along for these families chosen by local church leaders to be those in greatest need of a new home.  One family was a situation where a widow with 7 children (her husband had died from AIDS) needed a place to live due to her lack of income and losing their home when her husband passed away.  The other family was a home with 4 children, including one child with a tumor who was quite sick, whose old home had literally fallen apart and had all their possessions in an outdoor space smaller than the size of my office at CU.  There was no roof and clearly no other place to go.  There was obviously immense gratitude and excitement as both ladies helped in the building process for their homes. 

And of course, we were surrounded all day by hundreds of Zambian children.  Kids who want to be picked up and twirled around over and over again.  Kids who want to dance with you and sing with their beautiful voices.  Kids who want you to play Futball (soccer) with their little ball made of plastic garbage bags wrapped together tightly with string.  Kids who want to bump fists and just be with a strange American adult who for some reason is excited to see them and give them love and attention.  Kids who should be at school but can’t afford even the most modest of school fees and costs for the uniform they need to attend classes.  And kids who long to have their pictures taken with college students from CU who have decided to love and embrace them even in their first moments together.

All in all, the first day in a poor urban African community can be more than overwhelming.  The poverty and obvious basic needs being unmet overwhelms you and impacts your emotional and physical state.  You catch yourself watching little snippets and observing situations where it is obvious that significant health and economic challenges seem to literally be everywhere you look.  And sometimes you just do not know what to think or what to say or what to do.  But you try to ignore the emotions and try to serve and love and be fully present while you are in a place so different that most people back home could never, ever imagine that life exists in this way somewhere else on our planet. 

In our debrief time tonight, there were lots of questions, lots of moments of joy shared where the love of the children of Africa was so clearly felt.  In many ways, the journey to try and understand what we are seeing and experiencing is just beginning.  And the responsibility to respond as one who has been invited to come into the lives and community of the people of Zambia is one we most likely will never feel like we can push aside.  I loved watching and hearing the students in our group think deeply and biblically and openly about their first full day with the people of Zambia.  We are so glad to be here and enjoying getting to know one another as friends who are seeking to serve and learn together.

Tomorrow we get a chance to tell the story of Jesus…to people in a community as we go out together with our Zambian brothers and sisters in local communities to testify to what Jesus has done and what He invites us into as we walk thru a neighborhood in Ndola.  And then we get to play the game many of us love and almost all Zambians adore as we use soccer as a platform for the story of the Gospel to be shared with those who we will play against and those who watch the community soccer match featuring our students from CU.  I can’t think of a better way to spend a Saturday in Africa!  Your prayers for our ministry are much appreciated!

For all the Zambia Team,

CHIP

A First Post from Zambia!

Hello from Ndola, Zambia…we are safely here in the Copperbelt of this beautiful land…I think all in all we had about a 45 hour travel adventure to get to our new home for the next 8 days!  Everyone has been nodding off in our mini-bus as we travel down the Zambian highway…this is very much Africa in all its fullness…there are big cities, lots of kids walking miles down the roads in their uniforms on the way to school, beautiful landscapes, and people who are remarkably welcoming to visitors!

We are all set up in rooms with bed nets and we even got some hot water for our first showers in 3 days…we enjoyed our first African dinner and had a short conversation sharing our hopes and dreams for our time together in this place…many, many of our team members are excited to build relationships, to have their hearts and views of the world forever impacted, and to engage God’s Kingdom work as we hear and enter into the stories of children and families in Zambia…

Personally, it is so, so much fun to bring this group here in my 6^th trip to Zambia…to this country I love, to meet the people who have changed my life, and to discover with them the next chapter for us at CU and as individuals as we join God in what we is doing in a place with remarkable needs and incredible blessings on the other side of the world…and to write new life stories as we enter into the stories of life here in Africa…

Tomorrow we will go thru an orientation with our friends at Jubilee Ministries who welcomed us each with roses and prayed for us tonight…and then get the chance to help in the building of a home for orphan children who have been deeply affected by HIV/AIDS…

It is beautiful here tonight (clear skies and about 60 degrees) as we head to an early bedtime in hopes of being rested for tomorrow…

For the Zambia team,

CHIP

Hello from London

Hello from London's Heathrow Airport...

We are now getting ready to board for our overnight flight to Lusaka, Zambia...after finishing the first overnight leg from Chicago to London...

We took the train from the airport into downtown London today and saw Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, London Eye, Big Ben...and the queen en route in a carriage back from an address at parliament...and ate lunch outside in the London fog and mist on the steps of the National Art Gallery...

It gave us a chance to stretch our legs on a long walk and see some of the most famous sites in the world...even took pictures in front of the Summer Olympics countdown monument...69 days today!

We are pretty tired...and pretty hopeful to get some sleep tonight...we will have a 5-6 hour ride north to Ndola and our home for the next week after we get off the plane in beautiful Zambia tomorrow!

Everyone is doing well...and we are anxious to meet our new African friends tomorrow!

We will send an update from Zambia soon...miss you all...thanks for your prayers...

FOR THE ZAMBIA TEAM,

Chip

First ZAMBIA TRIP Blog: Prayers for our Time in Africa...

Dear Friends and Family…

In a couple  hours we will be heading out over the Atlantic Ocean on our way to Zambia (with a stop in London)…I wanted to send you a quick thank you and provide you with some more information and prayer requests for our trip…your generosity and support of our work in Africa and this particular trip has been absolutely wonderful and incredibly encouraging to our team and me personally…I deeply feel like I am going on behalf of you to meet some amazing Zambian folks and to discover what God continues to do and what still needs to be done in the midst of the many economic and health and faith challenges present in southern Africa…we will enter into a new relationship with Jubilee Ministries as we engage God’s vision to change the world and to use people like you and me to do more than we can imagine we can do as we see and feel what Jesus cares about in our world…we will also see students in a schoolhouse learning and growing as they seek to create an incredible future for themselves and the next generation of Zambians…we will play soccer matches and hold clinics for children along with netball games as we use sports to help bring change in a community…we will participate in worship and dance and music and discussions as we celebrate and talk about life and faith in America and Zambia with other students…and we will get to work and share and teach God’s Word alongside and get to know and become brothers and sisters with those on the frontlines of God’s Work in the African church…and we excited to distribute life-giving bed nets that can continue to help respond to one of the most challenging epidemics in our world…we will be traveling all over Zambia and we will be involved in many, many projects and conversations with the Jubilee and World Vision Zambia staffs God is using to meet the needs of so many impacted by poverty and disease in this generation…Our team is absolutely thrilled God has given this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to us…I expect God to change the lives of 14 students and adults and to break my own heart all over again as I am going to see how He wants me to continue to be His advocate for the people and the church in this nation in Africa…

We will covet your prayers as we are gone…here are ten specific prayer needs you can pray for us over the next 2 weeks:

1.        Safety and health in our travels to and back from and around Zambia over the next fourteen days

2.        A good working out of schedule and administrative details as we attempt to see and be part of many different experiences in a short time period

3.        Ability to connect with and love and learn from our Zambian brothers and sisters

4.        The continued impact of the Kakolo Village schoolhouse which is being used by hundreds and hundreds of students in grades K-9

5.        The use of soccer matches and clinics as an outreach tool for evangelism in a couple different Zambian communities

6.        A deep sense of community and growth in our team as we seek to discuss and mull over the experiences and resulting questions we will encounter

7.        A fresh vision for future projects and personal involvement in the work being done in Zambia and other nations in Africa and around the world

8.        A greater love for Christ and a heart that beats and cares and loves the poor and oppressed and sick people in our world as we encounter poverty and disease

9.        Opportunities to pray for/with and encourage believers and churches in Zambia as we work together and learn from each other in church services, training events, and bible studies

10.     Ability to write and video and receive stories and new ideas that we can then take and use as powerful resources in being advocates and leaders when we return home

We can’t wait to return and give you the story of our trip along with some photos and videos we will have taken…once again, thank you for being part of God’s grand vision in Zambia…your overwhelming generosity and partnership is truly a remarkable blessing in my life and the life of this team of folks…We thank God for your friendship, gifts of love, and your prayers…

Together in His Work for the 2012 CU Zambia Team, CHIP

p.s. We hope to regularly blog at this site while in Zambia...as we have internet access!