Good News :)

I feel like God laughs at me when I doubt Him. I think He says to himself, "You don't think I can do you, Ally. Watch me!" Yeah I get the point. The conversations I've been able to have with some of the boys, one called David in particular, as a result of one devotion has proved that God is working. Our devotion was on Proverbs 16:3: Commit your actions to the Lord and your plans will succeed. It was joined with the previous day's devotion on Jeremiah 29:11: I know the plans I have for you says the Lord, they are plans for good and not for evil; to give you a hope and a future. We talked about how the only way to have these promises apply to our lives is to be born again. But the coolest thing was one of our visitors, a really awesome old man who had to have a theology degree, explained why we needed to be born again. And man, did he have their attention! He explained that Adam's spirit died when he ate the fruit and we inherited that dead spirit. That's the part of us that needs to be born again. So yesterday, I started having a conversation with David about the question he asked, "What do we do if we are praying but God doesn't answer our prayer?" He seems like a completely different David. And then today we talked about why we need to be born again, how do we prove that we are born again, and how do we make our friends believe that Jesus is alive. Amazing questions. Anyway, that's what's happening over here in Africa!

So many questions...

How does God let this happen? How is this reality? Why is it real life that they have to make fires to stay warm because they don't have jackets like Julius said? Why did Jackson have to resort to stealing and then be in jail for 3 days? Why do they know how to pick pocket so well? Why do they only get 2 hours of sleep a night with a friend guarding them so no one attacks them or steals their things? Why do people look down on them and only give them money out of pity instead of letting them wash cans for work? Why is this the real ugly truth? Why does God allow such things? Why do the boys claim to want an education but take no initiative to go back to school? Why doesn't God save them? Why doesn't He save them already? Grab their hearts and not let go? Why is there abuse and why does it force so many of them to run away and fend for themselves? The world is an ugly place with so much pain. I hate sin. Why doesn't Jesus' light illuminate more? It seems like the darkness is snuffing it out and is winning on the streets. I feel in the midst of a very real war for the boys and all the other children who live on the street. They have no one to love them. They have to feel alone and abandoned. How do I show them that their not? It's so hard to be a light in a dark place of the world like Lusaka. While I feel like god is really present in the churches, He seems absent on the street at night. It feels like Jacob was right when he said there's no god in the the ditch. I know God is working because I see the change in Jacob, Tom, Sandy, and Richard. But I wish it was faster. I think it's slow because God gives us the choice to follow him. It's so hard to be patient when I think about the reality for these boys. I don't want them to have to suffer any more nights on the streets that feel God has forsaken. I want Jesus to come now and break the iron grip the devil has. The devil controls the drugs, beer, and money that entices the boys. And I think most of them use the drugs and beer to stay warm and to forget. But the devil uses those things to keep them in his power on the street. I hate that. Jeremiah 29: 7, 13-14 vs7: And work for peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you. Pray to the Lord for it, for it's welfare will determine your welfare. vs13-14: "If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you," says the Lord.

Prayer as an Evangelizing Tool

A few weeks ago at church, the bible study talked about using prayer as an evangelistic tool. We talked about Paul and Silas in the jail and the chains fell off after the prayed. Well, I wasn't so sure how it applied to my life, but God showed me today. I went to the barber shop where my host dad works with his best friend Mike, and Vincent was hanging out inside. Vincent the 22 year old that sells popcorn right outside the shop. Anyway, we started talking about the day, and I asked if he had gone to church today. He said he hadn't gone to church but he had prayed this morning. He asked if I had prayed for him today when I was at church. I hadn't but I offered to pray for him right then and there. He immediately agreed. I was not expecting him to say yes. It was actually the first time I've offered to pray for anyone spur of the moment like that I think. I was nervous; I didn't know what to pray. I don't know him all that well. Just a familiar face. But I prayed that God would make himself known to Vincent and that God would capture his life. I do think I put the Bible study into practice. It was a complete God thing though. I can't take any of the credit. I just listened to the Holy Spirit telling me to ask about church, that and it's a normal question on a Sunday for Zambians. I will continue to pray for him, so when he asks me next time I see him, I can say yes. But I also pray that I can continue to evangelize to him for the remainder of my time here. I think before I came to Zambia, I thought that evangelizing only happened at certain times and then the rest of your time you were "off" so to speak. But I've really come to realize that every time is a good time to evangelize even if I'm not on Chisomo's clock.

Livingston

I'm sorry I haven't been able to post for the week; I've been in Livingston enjoying God's creation. Let me tell you about all the cool things God has made! First of all, there's the animals. They are amazing. I've never seen so many giraffes, elephants, hippos, water buffalo (think VegiTales Silly Songs, I beg you), crocodiles, kudo, and mpalla in my life. And to think that God made them all blows my mind. That's not even counting the different bird species I saw. The baby elephants were my favorite. They were absolutely adorable! They followed their mothers, and I was reminded of the Asian elephants that connect following each other. And the mentality that all the animals have. They are by no means dumb. They have their own system and way of doing things. It really made me realize how attentive to detail God is. And if he's like that with the animals, I believe that he is at least that attentive to my life. The day after the safari, we saw Victoria Falls or as I prefer to call it Mosi-oa-Tunya, the smoke that thunders. And even in the dry season, boy did it thunder. I can't believe that I saw one of the seven wonders of the world. But the coolest thing about VicFalls to me is the fact that man can't take credit for making it. The Great Wall of China and the Pyramids have been made by man so I think that man takes the majority of the credit for it even though I believe that it still points to God. But with VicFalls, there's no denying that this was all God, that he placed each and every fall with his finger and took such care creating this master piece. But the craziest thing of all, is God says that we are made in his image so therefore are worth more to him than 100 VicFalls. That blows my mind. One other thing, if man ever stops praising God and the rocks and the waters cry out in worship to him, I think Mosi-oa-Tunya will be the first to make its worship known to our God. And I don't think it ever stops displaying the awesomeness of God because that's what he created it to do. God is good. Very good.

Unconditional Love

Who knew that love could manifest so quickly. In one week, I have grown to love the children at the drop in center. I feel possessive over them and want only what's best for them. They're my boys. I love them were they are at and with the love of Christ. I know Christ's love is the only way that I don't get frustrated with them sometimes. But at the same time, I see progress as they trust me a little more each day as I get to know them more too. I want to see them succeed and improve their lives just a little bit each day. But they're stubborn most of them. They have been hardened by the street and don't see any other alternative besides a life of "freedom," money, and drugs. My heart pours out for them. I want to a part of God's plans to effect their lives if at all possible. They just need someone to love them with God's unconditional love. They have been abandoned by all and left to fend for themselves. One boy can't believe that I care about his well being. He always asks, "me? Why are you worried about me?" It breaks my heart. They crave for knowledge as well. They don't take school for granted and treasure any time they are able to spend there. Just their spirit of honesty, even if you have to pry, they will open up to you, but you have to make the effort to get to the truth. Even after every thing they've told me about living on the street, I still can't imagine what it's like to sleep in the drainage ditches or under bridges, to be attacked on a regular basis. One boy came in with a knife wound today from an attack last night. I caught one smoking, and another said he wanted to cut himself because his life was so bad. And all that was before 9 o'clock this morning. But I just take it as it comes and still try to show them that God loves them and so do I. I try not to judge them for what they are doing because if I'm honest with myself, I would probably feel and do the same things if I was in their position. One boy said, "there is no God in the ditches." So while they are here at Chisomo, I try to show them God's unconditional love for them. Today I lead a Bible study on Deut. 31: 7-8 (abbreviated). I tried to explain to them that God is with them even on the street. He never leaves them so they don't have to be afraid.

Mikene

I know that there is a God, and that he is big enough to change hearts. I saw proof today when I visited Chisomo of Mikene. These are children that have been moved off the street and into a shelter. God has changed their lives. The difference between the shelter children and the drop in center children is like night and day. God has transformed their lives at the shelter and has given them hope. During introductions, they told us their ambitions. Ambitions! What I would give to hear a drop in center child say that they had ambitions and not just to get money. The shelter children were also able to explain to me why some of the kids run away from the shelter and go back to the street. The love of money, drugs, and freedom are too tempting for some. They said that it is a really hard decision to give up those things that you have based your life on. But all of them seemed content, very happy, and not wanting to go back to their old life. God has changed them. I am curious to learn about the journey that they have had to go on to become the people they are today. I plan to ask them and get to know more about their lives. Takwabe ubwaba nga Yesu; There's no one like Jesus. Amen? Amen.

Change

Ine chano chaka nifuna chinja nigewenzele mulungu. This is Nyanja for "This year I will change; I will work for God." I feel like so far, the focus of my life has been change. A common phrase around the Chisomo center is "change needs to come from within the children, and only God can do that." The children need a change of heart, not a change of circumstances. A lot of them are curious about God, but still don't want to make that step to accept Jesus into their hearts as Savior. It seems like they understand that they know the change that will happen in their lives when they do that. But since they don't want to leave the streets, they don't want to accept Christ right now. They say maybe later, next week, or next month, then I will make the steps to changing. But they have a drive to learn and to read the Bible. They don't have real Bibles and loved when they were able to hold ours in their own hands to read. And they love to practice reading. None of the children I met yesterday had any education above the fifth grade; many had even lower reading levels. They yearned to read anything. We wrote them Bible verses that they would take turns reading or reading worship song lyrics. Before I see them again on Tuesday, I will write down more Bible verses and lyrics for them to read. I want to be very intentional with the verses that I write for them so that I can present the gospel in this form too. I think they will be receptive to that approach. Please pray that we are able to present the gospel in a new way that will inspire them to accept God into their hearts and change.

A Whole New World

I never thought that I could experience so many new things in one day...new language, new driving patterns, new food, and new people all equally up to a new culture. There are so many things that I want to learn about this people group, but at the moment I'm so jet lagged I'm surprised I even know where I am right now (Lusaka, Zambia in case you were checking). I'm on overload and sleep deprived, but God is bigger than all of the symptoms. I'm really excited to get to know more people tomorrow. I've already been able to visit with a few teenagers and also the couple that lives on the compound. But the first, and probably the hardest, day is over. I still can't believe that I'm living my dream. And I'm super excited to see what God has for me tomorrow, let alone this month.