Matthew 9:35-38 - Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.The photo was taken in Pastor Chipaya's backyard in Zambia, Africa. We really did go from village to village teaching and preaching and healing.
( Michael sent home 4 updates while we were on our trip. Thank goodness for internet cafes. I added a few notes of what actually happened but I thought it would be fun for you to read it as it happened. It was a very challenging and rewarding trip. The best part for me was to be able to see the teachers teaching the children what we had taught and then in turn watching as the children taught the children what the teachers had taught them.) Hello All! Friday August 1 This is Michael from the Zambia Team. I’m just sending out a quick note to update you all on what is happening here in Nairobi, Kenya. As you may or may not know, our flight into Lusaka this morning was canceled, supposedly due to toilet failure. The airport has been very accomodating, and put us in a very nice, five star hotel. We each have our own rooms, and they are quite nice, complete with tile, and mahogany finish, granite counter tops, flat screen tv's and a spa and pool. Down the street from us is the location of the old US embassy. It was bombed in 1998. The embassy is now 3 Km outside of Nairobi. Our plane will be coming in tomorrow morning, the 3rd, at around 11:40 am, at the Lusaka airport in Zambia. We are very disappointed at missing Pastor Chipaya's church service in the morning, but I'm certain God will do amazing things when MaryElaine preaches. (We actually arrived at the church about 12:30 pm for the end of the service. As we entered the church and walked down the aisle we received a very warm welcome.) I, along with the rest of the team, look forward to seeing all our brothers and sisters in Christ once we arrive. God Bless! Hello Friends! Monday, August 4 This is Michael again! We have made it to Lusaka safely, although all our luggage is lost. We trust God will bring it to us safe and sound. Last night, on Sunday, MaryElaine preached to Pastor Chipaya's church for anointing and gifts of the Spirit. It was an amazing experience. We all helped to pray. Today, Monday, we went to see the camp that Gary Schneider is running for 200 orphans, we observed how they operated, to get ideas for our own camp. We learned many songs, and games to play with the kids. It was so much fun to play with them, and see the faces of the kids we have come to bless. (Every Orphan’s Hope). Pastor Chipaya took us out to his 10 acres, the site where he will be building his new church. He asks that we pray for provision of funds, as well as workers, in order to achieve a speedy completion of the project. So far, just the steel beams have been erected. We prayed over the property with him. (When we arrived back from Lukulu, a week later, Pastor Chipaya informed us that he had heard from an investor in Houston who was wiring him $25,000 for the total cost for the roof on his church. Praise God) Tomorrow we will check at the airport for our nine pieces of lost luggage, which contain our clothes and camp supplies for next week. Pray that they arrive safely, in their entirety. Thanks and God bless!
Hey All! Wednesday, August 6 This is Michael Miller from the Zambia Team again! Its time for another update! Much has happened since monday. All of our luggage has come in safe and sound. That was a big relief. Yesterday, Tuesday, us guys went to help build an orphanage in the bush for Every Orphans Hope. We spent the day moving the 11,000 handmade adobe bricks it takes to build one duplex, which holds sixteen orphans and two widows. It was a lot of fun. During lunch we got to walk down into the village to see how they live. While we were doing that, the ladies went to visit a poor area of town, and had the opportunity to teach and pray with the 90 vulnerable children, and leave some curriculum with the teachers. (This was Bylina compound sponsored by Pastor Chipaya’s church. Seinet was mentored by Pastor Chipaya. He is a powerful man of God and is the pastor for this compound and church. He also took us to the site of his new church and school will be. Construction has begun.) Afterwards we all went to the compound church were MaryElaine taught a powerful message, and we ministered and blessed the people individually. Today we spent the day painting and making repairs at Pastor Chipaya's house. The girls went to one of the Zambian compounds and encouraged and blessed the Zambian ladies. (We were invited into one of the homes and held a Bible study with these wonderful women of God who are so thirsty to hear more about Jesus.) Tonight we went to Pastor Chipaya's church, where once again, powerful messages were spoken, and we laid hands on, and prayed for everyone, that they would receive the power of the Holy Spirit. While we were there, the lights went out, and we finished the meeting with flashlights. Satan didn't like the message. Tomorrow,Thursday, we leave to see Victoria Falls, and minister to Pastor Nyirenda's congregation, and paint his house. We are very excited to see the falls. (Actually, we got on the wrong bus and what should have taken us 6 short hours took us 10 long hours stopping at every village along the way.) We arrived too late and missed the church service and didn’t have time to paint. Pastor Nyirenda and Lynette were very gracious and found very nice accommodations for us and transported us around. The Falls were beautiful with a double rainbow ending at the bottom of the falls. We were able to bless them. We had a wonderful time together even though we didn’t get accomplished what we had purposed. Due to our time constraints, we opted to fly back on an 18 seater aircraft to Lusaka instead of a bus ride.) Once we return on Saturday, we will leave for Lukulu, the bush area, to hold our own camp for the children there. We will return a week later. We aren't sure how much communication we will have in Lukulu. God Bless You!
Monday, August 18
Hello everybody! Its Michael Miller again, sending out one more Zambian Mission trip update! We returned from camp Lukulu, gave a tv interview, twas already broadcast by the time we went to dinner, and we were recognized by people at the restaurant. That was interesting. While in Lukulu, the District Comissioner was healed of hypertension, and kidney problems. We also saw a blind womans eyes improve to the point where she could walk without assistance. A total of 2850 children were in attendance at the camp, along with 250 teachers, and 550 salvations, on the first day of camp alone. Unfortunately, the pastor from Kaoma was killed in a car accident during camp, his wife and five children are still in the hospital. Church members had to leave, to take care of the situation. Pray for their church, and members, as this is sure to be a trying time for them. (On our 10 hour bus ride to Lukulu, we stopped overnight in Kaoma at a guest house. The people were very gracious. We had room on our bus to take a Sunday School teacher and some children to camp with us. This accident was a very sad experience for us.) The team has now scattered to their respective airports to get home. Four of us are here in Nairobi, Kenya, waiting for a flight to leave. We should all be home by tuesday, God willing.
