Hello lovely people!!
I told you guys I am trying to be better at this updating thing, so here is my update for April! I do want to add, although it is 3 days late, I had it written on time!
This photo is when we were walking around a new village to check it out! Jesu waku lata is what my shirt says and it means Jesus loves you in Lozi!
Ministry updates
We had an awesome Easter service! Over 200 adults at church, and 65 kiddos!! We did an Easter egg hunt and it was so fun to see them excited for the candy inside the eggs. Tommy, another long term missionary, went out to a conference we hosted at one of our village churches and baptized 22 people on Easter Sunday!
Last weekend, we got to do a recon trip to a new village, Mwanambao. This recon trip was to see if this village would be receptive to having us bring one of missions team to share the gospel. They told us they have been waiting for us and already have a location picked out for where the church will be! They are SO hungry for Jesus. One of the homes within this village had a grandma (kuku) who hasn’t walked in 6 years ask for us to pray for her. Before we prayed, I asked her if she knew who God was. Her response “No, I don’t know who that is.” This grandma, who was probably 75-80 years old, has never ONCE heard the name of God before. It blows my mind, but also is a good reminder that there are still people who need to hear and know about God!!!!!!!!!
One of our partners from the states, Pastor Jeff is here with us for 6 weeks! We have a big construction project we are working on. A new boma, or entertainment center as it would be called in the states, is going up from scratch! It is going to be used as a dining hall and hang out space for when we host our missions’ teams and pastors conferences! I’m so excited for this space and how this ministry is growing!
We have about 1 month before it gets super busy with our mission teams coming! We have about 40 people or so coming this summer!! It’s awesome seeing it all come together, since I’ve stepped into the role as Missions Director last October. Within this role, I am primarily in charge of putting teams together, talking to each person who joins the trip and what it looks like, setting up meetings + notes to prepare teams for coming, talking with travel agents to ensure flights and trip insurance, and setting financial goals and deadlines for the teams. Depending on the season, my role changes and looks different but that's the gist of it!
Personal Updates
GOOD NEWS!!!!! My duplicate work permit got approved!!!! At the end of May, I will be able to go and have my ID card printed and will no longer have to report to immigration once a month!! Thank you for all the prayers!!
I am learning how to cook nshima! This is the local food that all Zambians and surrounding countries eat. It is ground up maize (corn) that gets put into boiling water and is mixed and stirred and all kinds of stuff!! It isn’t too hard except for the fact that I do not have the arm strength like most Africans do to cook it, and it doesn’t help when the fire feels like it is going to burn off my arm (or leg!), haha! But I am excited that I am getting better at cooking it, they are telling me I am becoming a real Lozi girl now!
Lately, God has been revealing new things to me! Instead of me rambling, I’ll sum it up like this: God has been challenging me to be more intentional and aware of specific things. It is good and I know it will be beneficial as I continue pressing in!
Everything has been going well here! Just gearing up for teams and outreaches! I don’t have any specific prayer requests that I can think of other than for our teams this summer and for the ministry to continue to grow! I do have a few friends- in Japan, the Middle East and Ecuador currently doing missions work. Keep them in mind too, as they have their own hardships and things happening for the Kingdom!!
Let me know how I can be praying for you all, also!
I love you all!
Amanda
Comments