Have you ever been to an outdoor church service that incorporates believers from the whole community with a beautiful wood structure built just for this occasion by people who live across the wordl from you and yet welcome you like you are family who have come home?
That was our Sunday morning in Zambia...after a 5 hour drive to Kitwe on Saturday, we went into Kakolo Village for an interfaith community service sponsored by World Vision on the site where soon construction will begin on a ministry center that will serve people from all churches in this community and host several hundred children in World Vision's Good New Clubs that has been funded by Wheaton Academy...
As we drove into the village to the voices of hundreds of children and so many smiles, tears filled my eyes at the goodness of God in allowing us to become part of this place and to put our faith in action in this place...we were several hundred yards from the WA schoolhouse in the village, and we celebrated and worshipped together in a 2 hour service...the theme for the morning was "LOVE IN ACTION"...
The service included an amazing student choir from area churches, our own team singing 3 worship songs with Lora leading the singing, our soccer guys playing guitar, and Ryan Hall playing the African drums...
Our Furnace Company dancers danced in the dirt circle to the song "Don't Give up Africa" by Bono and Alicia Keyes...the african children and women loved the dance and what powerful words to dance to in an African village...the women of the community often yell sounds of affirmation and often wave cloths and dance themselves in praise to God...our whole group also danced in the middle with our African brothers and sisters in celebation of God's work in our lives and the fact that His mercies are new every morning...we heard the verses and prayers of children in the current good news programs and the pastor told the kakolo village listeners that they will never have such friends as WA because they give but demand nothing in return but our faith...he closed by thanking God that WA brought together all the churches so they can together carry out His work and share His message with all in their community...he ended with Matthew 19:26 "with God all things are possible"
After the service we all planted fruit trees at this site with the prayer that one day these children will eat from these trees and that God would bear spiritual fruit for generations to come thru this building in Kakolo...
The reception from the children and adults in this place is nothing short of extraordinary...and what a morning in Africa...God is here, He is alive and on the move in the midst of the destroyed homes, clotheless children, and illness we saw even today...and yet we get to worship, to pray, to play, to serve, and to hope together...there is incredible joy in being part of the church of Jesus Christ in Zambia this morning...may you be blessed as the body of Christ in the States today...
We are off to see the memorial of a man named Dag who was the former secretary general of the UN and an amazing humanitarian voice in the world whose plane went down shortly near here...giving for the sake of others...
We love you and can't wait for 2 amazing and full days in the community to come...
With our Prayers and Joy,
CHIP
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Friday, June 22, 2007
A full day in Africa
After a full night of rest, we had breakfast and headed off to one of World Vision's 32 ADP sites (area development programs) that serves a large area of communities about 30 minutes west of Lusaka...
This region is called the Kapaluwe ADP and they like many other ADP's are focused on several key areas, including: responding to the needs of people with HIV/AIDS; food security and agriculture help; water and sanitation; leadership development of community leaders; and Christian commitment where they partner with local churches to care for the needs of people and share the message of hope found in Jesus...
We learned about some wide-reaching work that World Vision supports in doing micro-finance work where individuals and groups in these communities can receive loans of $60-70 to help in starting and developing small entreprenurial business projects...it is an amazing tool where a little bit of money helps to change the life and economic status of a family and often others in a community...there are over 1000 people who have received these loans in this particular region...we had the chance to buy some cokes and visit with one lady who has received money thru this program named Mary...she is a wonderful lady who actually visited Wheaton Academy back in 2005...she has a store and is working to finish putting in a restaurant and conference center in her town...
We also had a chance to see the need for clean water in Zambian communities...we stopped by a local well that was simply a large hole dug out by hand with logs placed over the top of it...people come and dip buckets down into the well to gather the water that they use for drinking and washing their clothes and bodies...as we peered down into the hole, the small pool of dirty water was pretty shocking...we talked to a local village lady who said that she comes at 4 am each morning to make sure she gets some...and then she added that she knows this water can harm them, especially young children...and shared that she believes it is only by the grace of God that she and others don't get sick...it seems to us that it can't be this way...a borehole where fresh and clean watrer is pumped out saves lives and changes everything for people (in fact, diarreha/dehydration from unclean water is the leading killer of children in the world today)
We then got to see first hand what disease and HIV/AIDS does to specific lives in Zambia...we split up into groups and visited individual huts where people who were chronically ill lived...it is here where you are overwhelmed with grief and the reality of this situation...we got to know a story...let me tell you mine from today...we visited Pauline who is a middle aged lady...she is a widow who is taking care of two of her own children and two young children of her daughter's who died shortly after giving birth to her second child...and Pauline is very, very sick herself...she has been bedridden and moved very slowly as we talked to her...she has been able to be taken to a clinic on a bike by a World Vision community caregiver and received some medicines for her sickness...her relatives have seemingly abandoned her and these children/orphans...she stays in a very small one room hut while the four children sleep in a hut next door...she is completely dependant upon the help of local church and community members who provide for her food and material and spiritual needs along with those of here children...as we devlivered some corn meal, salt, sugar, and cooking oil to Pauline, I found myself being overwhelmed by the questions that I was asking God and myself...who will take care of these children when she dies? Are her children sick/HIV positive? Will they ever get to go to school? (they currently don't go) What am I supposed to do to help? Even as we gathered around her and laid our hands on her and prayed for her, we felt the presence of Christ among those who are hurting most...this scenario is being played out all over sub-Saharan Africa and we long to try and help change it for this next generation as these amazing caregivers care for the sick and forgotten in Zambia...they are some of the most heroic people I know in our world...they visit these people a couple times a week, give them food often from their own crops, and are Christ in the flesh to them...
We also had a chance to meet and then deliver some gifts to Dave Underwood's sponsored child Patrick...he has been quite sick and actually received and is receiving the necessary medical treatment because he is a WV sponsored child...he loved getting a little soccer ball and we played with it for a minute in the dirt...he is living with his grandparents and hoping to return to school soon...
Our final activity of the day was to play another soccer match against a club team from the Kapaluwe area...the girls also got their first taste of netball, a game that is sort of a combination of basketball and ultimate frisbee rules, as they played a girls team from the community...the boys played wearing WARREN HS jerseys today and they had a bit of a difficult time adjusting to a fully authentic African soccer field and dropped a 3-1 decision...Coach Huber tallied the lone goal and the team was once again amazed at the things Zambian players can do with bare feet on a dirt field!!
We had dinner back in Lusaka and will spend the night here before packing up and heading north to Kitwe and the Zamtan ADP where all of our work has been focused over the last 5 years of our partnership with World Vision Zambia...we will celebrate the new medical clinic, see children going to school in a schoolhouse for the first time, pump clean water at wells that have been built, and most of all, be in relationship and community with a group of people whom God has chosen to connect us to in such a strange and wonderful way...we will be with hundreds of children, get to see and hear so many stories, and work and serve alongside our Zambian brothers and sisters...in some way, I feel like I am going to a second home of sorts tomorrow, and that is because of the God who loves and cares for all the people of Chicago and Kakolo Village...we will be there till we head south to Livingstone on Wednesday...
Continue to pray for our health and safety as we travel...and pray that we will experience the richness of what God has invited us to do and continues to allow us to do as He brings life change to a community in desperate need on the other side of the world...and pray that God will speak specifically to each of us about what He is inviting us to do in response to what we continue to see and experience in Zambia...
This is also the point where I am uncertain about my internet access...I will blog sometime in the next few days, but maybe not daily or as regularly...
We love you and are thinking of you tonight in Africa after a day where we saw a piece of what is happening in this place,
CHIP
This region is called the Kapaluwe ADP and they like many other ADP's are focused on several key areas, including: responding to the needs of people with HIV/AIDS; food security and agriculture help; water and sanitation; leadership development of community leaders; and Christian commitment where they partner with local churches to care for the needs of people and share the message of hope found in Jesus...
We learned about some wide-reaching work that World Vision supports in doing micro-finance work where individuals and groups in these communities can receive loans of $60-70 to help in starting and developing small entreprenurial business projects...it is an amazing tool where a little bit of money helps to change the life and economic status of a family and often others in a community...there are over 1000 people who have received these loans in this particular region...we had the chance to buy some cokes and visit with one lady who has received money thru this program named Mary...she is a wonderful lady who actually visited Wheaton Academy back in 2005...she has a store and is working to finish putting in a restaurant and conference center in her town...
We also had a chance to see the need for clean water in Zambian communities...we stopped by a local well that was simply a large hole dug out by hand with logs placed over the top of it...people come and dip buckets down into the well to gather the water that they use for drinking and washing their clothes and bodies...as we peered down into the hole, the small pool of dirty water was pretty shocking...we talked to a local village lady who said that she comes at 4 am each morning to make sure she gets some...and then she added that she knows this water can harm them, especially young children...and shared that she believes it is only by the grace of God that she and others don't get sick...it seems to us that it can't be this way...a borehole where fresh and clean watrer is pumped out saves lives and changes everything for people (in fact, diarreha/dehydration from unclean water is the leading killer of children in the world today)
We then got to see first hand what disease and HIV/AIDS does to specific lives in Zambia...we split up into groups and visited individual huts where people who were chronically ill lived...it is here where you are overwhelmed with grief and the reality of this situation...we got to know a story...let me tell you mine from today...we visited Pauline who is a middle aged lady...she is a widow who is taking care of two of her own children and two young children of her daughter's who died shortly after giving birth to her second child...and Pauline is very, very sick herself...she has been bedridden and moved very slowly as we talked to her...she has been able to be taken to a clinic on a bike by a World Vision community caregiver and received some medicines for her sickness...her relatives have seemingly abandoned her and these children/orphans...she stays in a very small one room hut while the four children sleep in a hut next door...she is completely dependant upon the help of local church and community members who provide for her food and material and spiritual needs along with those of here children...as we devlivered some corn meal, salt, sugar, and cooking oil to Pauline, I found myself being overwhelmed by the questions that I was asking God and myself...who will take care of these children when she dies? Are her children sick/HIV positive? Will they ever get to go to school? (they currently don't go) What am I supposed to do to help? Even as we gathered around her and laid our hands on her and prayed for her, we felt the presence of Christ among those who are hurting most...this scenario is being played out all over sub-Saharan Africa and we long to try and help change it for this next generation as these amazing caregivers care for the sick and forgotten in Zambia...they are some of the most heroic people I know in our world...they visit these people a couple times a week, give them food often from their own crops, and are Christ in the flesh to them...
We also had a chance to meet and then deliver some gifts to Dave Underwood's sponsored child Patrick...he has been quite sick and actually received and is receiving the necessary medical treatment because he is a WV sponsored child...he loved getting a little soccer ball and we played with it for a minute in the dirt...he is living with his grandparents and hoping to return to school soon...
Our final activity of the day was to play another soccer match against a club team from the Kapaluwe area...the girls also got their first taste of netball, a game that is sort of a combination of basketball and ultimate frisbee rules, as they played a girls team from the community...the boys played wearing WARREN HS jerseys today and they had a bit of a difficult time adjusting to a fully authentic African soccer field and dropped a 3-1 decision...Coach Huber tallied the lone goal and the team was once again amazed at the things Zambian players can do with bare feet on a dirt field!!
We had dinner back in Lusaka and will spend the night here before packing up and heading north to Kitwe and the Zamtan ADP where all of our work has been focused over the last 5 years of our partnership with World Vision Zambia...we will celebrate the new medical clinic, see children going to school in a schoolhouse for the first time, pump clean water at wells that have been built, and most of all, be in relationship and community with a group of people whom God has chosen to connect us to in such a strange and wonderful way...we will be with hundreds of children, get to see and hear so many stories, and work and serve alongside our Zambian brothers and sisters...in some way, I feel like I am going to a second home of sorts tomorrow, and that is because of the God who loves and cares for all the people of Chicago and Kakolo Village...we will be there till we head south to Livingstone on Wednesday...
Continue to pray for our health and safety as we travel...and pray that we will experience the richness of what God has invited us to do and continues to allow us to do as He brings life change to a community in desperate need on the other side of the world...and pray that God will speak specifically to each of us about what He is inviting us to do in response to what we continue to see and experience in Zambia...
This is also the point where I am uncertain about my internet access...I will blog sometime in the next few days, but maybe not daily or as regularly...
We love you and are thinking of you tonight in Africa after a day where we saw a piece of what is happening in this place,
CHIP
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Hello from ZAMBIA
We are in Africa! We arrives this morning shortly before 7 am (most folks slept fairly decently on the overnight flight from London) and were greeted by a hug Welcome to Zambia sing as we walked from our plane across the tarmac onto Zambian soli...we went thru customs, gathered our bags, and then checked into our hotel...after a shower we headed off to learn about the Rapids program, a US funded program from President Bush's AIDS Emergency Relief Plan (american dollars providing HIV/AIDS relief here in Zambia) that World Vision Zambia provides support and leadership for...they have trained over 12,000 caregivers throughout Zambia who care for orphans and those dealing first-hand with this disease...they use items like the caregiver kits each WA student built earlier this school year...this program is actually led by two Americans, including a WV friend from MN! (fun to see him in Zambia!) We also had the chance to see some other Chicago friends who have started a program called World Bicycle Relief that has distributed over 24,000 bikes to people in Zambia who are caring for the sick and who need them to get to jobs and provide transportation to and from medical clinics in each part of Zambia...we will see these bikes at use in our clinic up in the Zamtan region this weekend...CNN was filming a story on the work Rapids is doing here today in Zambia...
After lunch we had our first soccer match...it was against a group of player who meet together as part of a group called God our Help youth program...we played a full soccer match and evidently we needed a little bit more help as we fell in our first match 6-5 this afternoon...they also wore Chicago Bears Super Bowl Champions shirts the NFL provided after the Bears lost to the Colts this past winter...evidently it thru us off a bit...we wore red jerseys from three area local high schools, Timothy Christian, Marmion Academy, and Marist HS...it was a high scoring affair and the Zambian team featured outstanding speed and a tremendous sweeper in the back...the WA group battled thru jet lag and had a blast playing the game they love in a land where they love this game...
Former WA hockey player Tommy O'Connell and former WA basketball player Matt Jones scored twice each and the oldest player on the field (he played for Bethel College in the 1980's) found that you can find new life in Africa as former WA boys coach Chip Huber added the final tally...keeper Ryan Seager stood strong under tremendous pressure from the Zambian attack...the team presented each of the GOH team a jersey and New Testament after the game...Matt Jones shared with the players that they give us hope even as we have sought to bring hope to this nation and people and prayed for them after the match...there is always an amazing connection with your opponent as you play in Zambia...we love how soccer connects us together in this world!
Many of the girls played Red Rover and met other girls and boys on the sideline...many of the children were orphans in this program and some of the soccer players were the heads of orphan headed househlods...giving them our leftover pizza from lunch bring a different feeling in this setting...
We are thrilled to be connected once again with our hosts from World Vision Zambia...they are reaching 4 million of the 11 million people in Zambia in some way thru their interventions and programs...over 1 million children are orphans in Zambia and we get the privilege of playing with, educating, providing food, medicine, and water, and sharing with them about Jesus and his love as we support their work here...we are overjoyed to be able to meet and give love to some of these individual kids this week...
We are off to dinner and then a time of team review of the day before crashing and getting a much needed full night of sleep...we are off to the Kapaluwe ADP tomorrow just west of Lusaka...you can pray for physical strength and health, the right questions to be asked, and for us to each find a story of a life here in Zambia that can become our story as we invite others into awareness and response when we return...
God is at work here and we are encouraging that work and helping to support His work over the next week...
We miss you and pray you are well in Chicago!
For the Zambia Team (now 28 strong as Trent has joined us!!) CHIP
After lunch we had our first soccer match...it was against a group of player who meet together as part of a group called God our Help youth program...we played a full soccer match and evidently we needed a little bit more help as we fell in our first match 6-5 this afternoon...they also wore Chicago Bears Super Bowl Champions shirts the NFL provided after the Bears lost to the Colts this past winter...evidently it thru us off a bit...we wore red jerseys from three area local high schools, Timothy Christian, Marmion Academy, and Marist HS...it was a high scoring affair and the Zambian team featured outstanding speed and a tremendous sweeper in the back...the WA group battled thru jet lag and had a blast playing the game they love in a land where they love this game...
Former WA hockey player Tommy O'Connell and former WA basketball player Matt Jones scored twice each and the oldest player on the field (he played for Bethel College in the 1980's) found that you can find new life in Africa as former WA boys coach Chip Huber added the final tally...keeper Ryan Seager stood strong under tremendous pressure from the Zambian attack...the team presented each of the GOH team a jersey and New Testament after the game...Matt Jones shared with the players that they give us hope even as we have sought to bring hope to this nation and people and prayed for them after the match...there is always an amazing connection with your opponent as you play in Zambia...we love how soccer connects us together in this world!
Many of the girls played Red Rover and met other girls and boys on the sideline...many of the children were orphans in this program and some of the soccer players were the heads of orphan headed househlods...giving them our leftover pizza from lunch bring a different feeling in this setting...
We are thrilled to be connected once again with our hosts from World Vision Zambia...they are reaching 4 million of the 11 million people in Zambia in some way thru their interventions and programs...over 1 million children are orphans in Zambia and we get the privilege of playing with, educating, providing food, medicine, and water, and sharing with them about Jesus and his love as we support their work here...we are overjoyed to be able to meet and give love to some of these individual kids this week...
We are off to dinner and then a time of team review of the day before crashing and getting a much needed full night of sleep...we are off to the Kapaluwe ADP tomorrow just west of Lusaka...you can pray for physical strength and health, the right questions to be asked, and for us to each find a story of a life here in Zambia that can become our story as we invite others into awareness and response when we return...
God is at work here and we are encouraging that work and helping to support His work over the next week...
We miss you and pray you are well in Chicago!
For the Zambia Team (now 28 strong as Trent has joined us!!) CHIP
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Hello from LONDON
Here I am sitting in a coffee shop at Heathrow Airport...we spent a good chunk of the day seeing London...we took the train downtown and took pictures at Buckingham Palace, seeing Big Ben and Westminster Abbey, and enjoyed a beautiful summer day in London...it was great to stretch the legs and walk!
Many students enjoyed fish and chips in a pub for lunch and now we are getting ready to jump on our flight to Lusaka, Zambia...traveling this far really isn't easy on you, but you have this sense that it is worth the feelings of fatigue and the long stretches of time to get to Africa and see a very different world and what God has called us to see and experience...
We will be on the next British Airways flight for over 10 hours...you can pray for the ability to sleep for long stretches of this flight and for students to feel well physically as we jump right into our Zambia experiences...Thursday in Zambia will be a full day, where we will learn about some extraordinary things being done in response to those suffering with AIDS with a US funded program called Rapids and we plan to play our first soccer match, tired legs and all...
We can't wait honestly to get to Africa...in many ways, the travel there is a pretty challenging part as expectations and nerves are real at this point...I am looking forward to seeing old friends when we arrive in the morning and being cared for and getting to know the stories and enter into the lives of our Zambian brothers and sisters...
We love you and miss you...your prayers are indeed needed and difference makers for us over the next 10 days...
For the 27 of us in jolly old England (28 when Trent meets us tomorrow in Lusaka!)
CHIP
Many students enjoyed fish and chips in a pub for lunch and now we are getting ready to jump on our flight to Lusaka, Zambia...traveling this far really isn't easy on you, but you have this sense that it is worth the feelings of fatigue and the long stretches of time to get to Africa and see a very different world and what God has called us to see and experience...
We will be on the next British Airways flight for over 10 hours...you can pray for the ability to sleep for long stretches of this flight and for students to feel well physically as we jump right into our Zambia experiences...Thursday in Zambia will be a full day, where we will learn about some extraordinary things being done in response to those suffering with AIDS with a US funded program called Rapids and we plan to play our first soccer match, tired legs and all...
We can't wait honestly to get to Africa...in many ways, the travel there is a pretty challenging part as expectations and nerves are real at this point...I am looking forward to seeing old friends when we arrive in the morning and being cared for and getting to know the stories and enter into the lives of our Zambian brothers and sisters...
We love you and miss you...your prayers are indeed needed and difference makers for us over the next 10 days...
For the 27 of us in jolly old England (28 when Trent meets us tomorrow in Lusaka!)
CHIP
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Prayer List for Zambia Trip
As we head off to Africa in a few hours, here's a copy of the prayer update I sent out to friends and supporters...we covet your prayers as we seek to have a transformational life experience together with our dear brothers and sisters in Africa...I'll be blogging from Zambia several times over the next 2 weeks...
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 AIDS pandemic that is ravaging southern Africa…we will have a dedication ceremony at a new medical clinic maternity ward that is a visual representation of 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 three different soccer matches and hold clinics for children along with a baseball games as we use sports to help bring change in a community…we will meet many of our sponsored children who we have only known via letters and pictures…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 alongside and get to know and become brothers and sisters with those on the frontlines of God’s Work in Africa…and we are constantly seeking a new project for the next school year where we can continue to help bring God’s Kingdom work to earth in one very special place…we will be traveling all over Zambia and we will be involved in many, many projects and conversations with the World Vision Zambia staff 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 28 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:
1.Safety and health in our travels to and back from and around Zambia over the next 12 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 of students in grades K-3, and the further expansion of this school to serve the needs of children through grade 9
5.The work being done to save and extend lives and prevent the spread of the HIV virus through the new medical clinic in the Zamtan community
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 World Vision is doing 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
9.Opportunities to pray for/with and encourage believers and churches in Zambia
10.Ability to write and video and receive stories and learnings that we can then take and use as powerful resources in being advocates and leaders when we return home
I can’t wait to return and give you the story of our trip along with some photos 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…I thank God for your friendship, gifts of love, and your prayers…
Together in His Work, CHIP
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 AIDS pandemic that is ravaging southern Africa…we will have a dedication ceremony at a new medical clinic maternity ward that is a visual representation of 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 three different soccer matches and hold clinics for children along with a baseball games as we use sports to help bring change in a community…we will meet many of our sponsored children who we have only known via letters and pictures…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 alongside and get to know and become brothers and sisters with those on the frontlines of God’s Work in Africa…and we are constantly seeking a new project for the next school year where we can continue to help bring God’s Kingdom work to earth in one very special place…we will be traveling all over Zambia and we will be involved in many, many projects and conversations with the World Vision Zambia staff 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 28 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:
1.Safety and health in our travels to and back from and around Zambia over the next 12 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 of students in grades K-3, and the further expansion of this school to serve the needs of children through grade 9
5.The work being done to save and extend lives and prevent the spread of the HIV virus through the new medical clinic in the Zamtan community
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 World Vision is doing 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
9.Opportunities to pray for/with and encourage believers and churches in Zambia
10.Ability to write and video and receive stories and learnings that we can then take and use as powerful resources in being advocates and leaders when we return home
I can’t wait to return and give you the story of our trip along with some photos 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…I thank God for your friendship, gifts of love, and your prayers…
Together in His Work, CHIP
Monday, June 18, 2007
Seeking to become friends in Africa
As I head off to Zambia tomorrow with many former and current students, one of my deepest desires is to see authentic and real community and relationships be built between the two groups from Chicago and Zambia...and as I pray for that end I am aware that the task of truly becoming friends requires the love of Christ and a spirit of humility, especially as Americans coming to a place that looks so different and deals with issues that are more publicly apparent...this quote by Jena Lee in her amazing book of photographs from Africa entitled HOPE in the DARK sums up my feelings as we jump on a plane at O'Hare and prepare to enter into a place and culture so rich and so different...and God's heart is to have us share stories and our lives with our friends on the other side of the world...
What keeps us apart from one another? Some would say an ocean. Others would say cultural differences. What must we change about ourselves to break down the wall that separates us? I think it begins by abandoning the pointed finger of blame. It begins by coming with humble spirits and a sincere desire to know one another. Otherwise, it becomes an us/them mentality, and the wall simply becomes thicker. Welcome to the face of a child who is so desperate for an embrace by the rest of the world...
What keeps us apart from one another? Some would say an ocean. Others would say cultural differences. What must we change about ourselves to break down the wall that separates us? I think it begins by abandoning the pointed finger of blame. It begins by coming with humble spirits and a sincere desire to know one another. Otherwise, it becomes an us/them mentality, and the wall simply becomes thicker. Welcome to the face of a child who is so desperate for an embrace by the rest of the world...
Friday, June 8, 2007
Vanity Fair...Africa Style
Hey...I'll be honest....I've never read Vanity Fair in my life...and most of you would think that's probably a good thing...but I just ordered a copy from Amazon with Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffet on the cover...their July issue is all about Africa...and does some incredible stuff looking at its culture, issues, and people...Bono was the guest editor for this issue, and it is definitely worth picking up and reading cover to cover...there are actually 20 different covers with famous people who are passionate about the issues like AIDS and poverty gripping this continent...here's a blurb from the Vanity Fair website about it...and yes, this will probably be the last time I recommend you go buy Vanity Fair at the newsstand...
http://www.vanityfair.com/magazine/toc/2007/toc200707
http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/africa
'It's Bono, on Line One'
The 21 people who put their famous faces to work for this issue say it all. Annie Leibovitz paired them up on 20 different covers—shout-outs for the challenge, the promise, and the future of Africa.
For this special issue, Graydon Carter, Bono, and Annie Leibovitz collaborated on the unprecedented set of 20 covers to show a prominent group of people having a "conversation" about Africa. "It's a visual chain letter," says Leibovitz, "spreading the message from person to person to person." Among them: a supermodel who fled Somalia with her family 37 years ago, a senator whose grandfather and father are buried in Africa, an actor who makes an annual return to a tiny village in Benin to see his family, a music superstar who adopted a child from Malawi, a former boxing champion who visited Ghana when no American sports figure had gone there before. And more—including a poet, an archbishop, a queen, a president, a rapper, a comedian, a talk-show host, and billionaire philanthropists. Leibovitz put together the 21 subjects in what was, she says, "a little like having a dinner party and trying to seat people next to certain people." She adds, "These are incredible people of our time, involved in this effort to make Africa better, to get Africa self-sufficient, and to try to get rid of aids on the continent." Let the conversation continue. —LISA ROBINSON
http://www.vanityfair.com/magazine/toc/2007/toc200707
http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/africa
'It's Bono, on Line One'
The 21 people who put their famous faces to work for this issue say it all. Annie Leibovitz paired them up on 20 different covers—shout-outs for the challenge, the promise, and the future of Africa.
For this special issue, Graydon Carter, Bono, and Annie Leibovitz collaborated on the unprecedented set of 20 covers to show a prominent group of people having a "conversation" about Africa. "It's a visual chain letter," says Leibovitz, "spreading the message from person to person to person." Among them: a supermodel who fled Somalia with her family 37 years ago, a senator whose grandfather and father are buried in Africa, an actor who makes an annual return to a tiny village in Benin to see his family, a music superstar who adopted a child from Malawi, a former boxing champion who visited Ghana when no American sports figure had gone there before. And more—including a poet, an archbishop, a queen, a president, a rapper, a comedian, a talk-show host, and billionaire philanthropists. Leibovitz put together the 21 subjects in what was, she says, "a little like having a dinner party and trying to seat people next to certain people." She adds, "These are incredible people of our time, involved in this effort to make Africa better, to get Africa self-sufficient, and to try to get rid of aids on the continent." Let the conversation continue. —LISA ROBINSON
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