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!