TODAY’S VERSES TO CLING TO

“For the vision is yet for the appointed time;
It hastens toward the goal, and it will not fail.
Though it tarries, wait for it;
For it will certainly come, it will not delay.”
Habakkuk 2:3

“Faithful is HE who calls you,
and HE also will bring it to pass.”
1 Thessalonians 5:24

Praise & Prayer

Praise! Our work permits have been officially applied for. Our shipping container is ordered and paid for, we are just waiting on delivery.

Prayer: there is an issue with our work permit papers on qualifications that needs clarification. We fully trust God will work this out, it's just another load on our minds to think about as we wait, communicating from half-way around the world in a different time zone! Please pray that this will be resolved quickly.

Thank you

the bush

I bet you didn’t know it, but all of you know people who live in the bush. Just what is the bush?? It’s the country! Brian’s parents live in the bush, I had friends in school that lived in the bush, and maybe you even grew up in the bush! Technically, the bush is any area that is not in the city. And since Lusaka is the major city, anything outside of Lusaka is the bush. Often saying “the bush” conjures up ideas of jungles and spears and people running around in loin cloths.
Now I know this won’t help any of you who don’t know the towns around where we live, but picture towns and mileage near you. Okay, picture Kandiyohi (where we live now) as the village we will be near (Chongwe). 10 miles away from Kandiyohi is Diamond Lake. This is the distance approximately that we will be away from Chongwe. Now, picture the distance from Diamond Lake to Benson-around 45 miles maybe? That is how far we are away from Lusaka, the capital. Of course it takes a lot longer to cover that distance in Africa due to road conditions (twice the amount), but we are not that far from 2,000,000 people in the capital which is amazingly modern. They just opened a new cross stitch store, sewing store, and Birthday-in-a-box store! They have a bowling alley, museum, water park, movie theater, and shopping malls!
There are cell towers all over most of Africa at this time too. It is cheaper obviously than laying landlines to hook people up. We have good cell coverage at the college site. To get on the internet, you buy minutes the same way you do for your cell phone. Plug in the SIM (?) chip, and you’re connected.
We will have running water from a new 150 foot well that Gospelink had drilled. It is a gravity flow system; our house is near the cistern, so we will have pretty good water pressure too.
We are still working on electricity issues. We could go all solar (fairly expensive upfront), use a generator only (gets expensive in the long run), or use a combo of them and others. We are looking into a propane refrigerator and using kerosene lanterns (propane and kerosene are readily available in the capital); I’ll have a charcoal burner for cooking along with a solar oven. We may have a few small solar panel with a small amount of storage to keep things charged (laptop, phone) and be able to occasionally have a movie treat. There is a solar store in Lusaka, so we can always add to our system. The truth is, once it’s dark, people go to bed! Often by 8 pm you’re asleep, you don’t want to keep lights on anyways due to bugs.

Read this

We are working on a post dealing with our life here versus what we think it may be like there. Checking around, I pulled up this blog.

The Rodgers will be about 10 or so miles from us. We hope to develop a friendship with them and learn a lot from them too.

Calling his bluff

Lately it seems satan has tried to kick it into high gear. To put it in the words of Beth Moore, satan’s thinking “I never intended it to go this far!” Perhaps he thought he’d let us pursue this for awhile, we’d see how hard it is, and give up.
Out of nowhere a few people have commented to Brian that they just don’t think I can do this, I’m not ready, it’s too hard for the kids, this is Brian’s thing, this is not a family call, etc. You can read Brian’s perspectives post for a little more on concerns people bring up.
Way back in June (forever ago it seems) when Brian was in Zambia, he seemed to be hesitating at the “door” to saying yes this is what God wants us to do and we’re going to do it.
Sorry, I am not good with links, so here is an excerpt-also read 6/11, 6/25, and 6/27 for more background)

I (Kelly) will say that God is amazing, again! Monday I felt lead to type my last post on decisions. That morning I had a dream where I saw Brian just kind of saying, “I just don’t know yet, there are some things…”. That is all I remember, it was right before I woke up. So on my walk I prayed about that-what does it mean? Anything? Is it prophetic? Does it mean no? Before he left, we both felt certain that we would know for sure what we were going to be doing when he got back. So was my dream a glimpse into the future? Was his not knowing the sign we were looking for? Half a world away, Brian was wrestling with his decision. He felt the last few days were really tough (Mon-Tues). He felt overly critical of everything, discouraged, not happy, he just felt he needed to get away. So today he did. He hiked up Mt. Kazemba and spent the day praying and fasting, seeking confirmation from God.
He wanted answers. He wanted to know why he felt so unsettled. He has been writing lots of pages in his journal. It will be very interesting to see the things he has been wrestling with God about the last two weeks. So he is up on the Mt. asking God why he was struggling so much with the decision, why he was struggling to say yes. God seemed to being asking Brian, “Every door I have opened for you, you have walked through. Why are you standing in the doorway here?” God told him it was because Brian wasn’t sure if I wanted it. (It’s awesome when God asks and answers too!) It is not going to be easy, but it will be fulfilling. But Brian didn’t like the thought of seeing me struggle (ever the chivalrous man that he is!) as we are over there. I think part of that was because he remembers how we have struggled with Joseph. God told him that you only grow through trials, so who does he think he is to not to allow his wife to grow? (Which as I thought about this later, I thought, oh boy! So there will be plenty of trials!).

Basically God told Brian, yes, it is going to be hard for Kelly and the kids. (I never expected it to be a bed or roses anyway). But we agreed this is where God wanted us and we have gone forward. Up on the mountain Brian had to open up his hands and let me and the kids go-give us back to God. Yes, it is our job as parents to protect, nurture, teach, and lead our children. But we need to open up our hands, lift them to God, and trust that He is the ultimate protector, nurturer, teacher, leader for our family. We can’t hold on to them so tightly that they can’t grow, can’t make mistakes, can’t make their faith in God their own.
Now here we are 7 months later, still pursuing, still obeying, despite the hard times. And all of a sudden satan said, “I never intended it to go this far!” He’s had to put himself into overdrive to try to get our focus off God again. How has he tried to do it? That’s right-by trying to bring up fears and concerns about the kids and I. As I was thinking the other day about a few comments that came our way, it just struck me. Duh-this is satan’s new (old?) game. Well, right then and there I told him it wasn’t going to work-I was calling his bluff!

comments

Just realized that in order to comment on our blog, you had to have a Google Account. SORRY!! I changed it-anyone can comment now (but we do moderate them).
We appreaciate your comments and thoughts! Maybe you have a different insight or train of thought that hasn't come up on our radar yet. Please share!
We know we have quite a few "blog stalkers" who never post-we want to hear from you!

Perspectives

A big thing we are trying to deal with right now is other people’s perspectives. What do I mean? What is your perspective? It is what you know, what you grew up learning, understanding. It is your values and convictions (what is important to you). It is your world view. How do you view other cultures? Do you understand other cultures? Are you able to relate (accurately), maybe even except other people and places? It is a difficult thing to do because it is not natural especially for someone who is not multicultural (like a missionary kid or third culture individual is).
It is like this: if you were born and raised here and never really been anywhere else for a long period of time you view everything through the only set of cultural lens you have. Trying to view Zambia and the Zambian culture through the lens of West Central Minnesota does not work. Maybe your lens is a little bigger (North America and South America) and that can be helpful. But only if you understand that it is still not going to give you a clear (complete) understanding of the African culture. Even if you have an African lens to look through does not guarantee you an accurate view. Why not? Africa is about the same size as all of North America, just think of all the cultures across our continent. So having an understanding of one part of Africa does not guarantee you will be able to understand or relate to another part of Africa. It does rather seem complicated and very daunting.
What is the answer to being able to understand (& adapt) to people (whether here or there)? Humility! Realizing that you don’t know it all, you don’t have all the answers and what you do know may not be accurate. And that it is okay that someone else may know more than you do about the culture, and be willing to accept what they tell me is true. To say, “I may not understand completely, but I can know that they know more than me.”
Why do I bring this up? Well, in talking to people I am clearly seeing a lack of understanding of what Africa (especially Zambia) is. And I am learning that I can tell people what it is like, I can show pictures, even a video. And some people are still not going to understand (get it). I wish they would just take my word for it at that point but that is not very realistic. They may later but not right now. God’s teaching me a lot about grace. 
Even in the frustrations I really enjoy sharing about what our Father has called the Kallevig Klan to do in Zambia. I know that in its self is hard for people to comprehend, and then throw this culture difference on top and it just becomes too much for some (many) to understand, except, support. Why? Some cannot see themselves doing it, so how could you (us) possibly do it? Somewhere in there there is a self condemnation, they somehow feel like they are being judged. Maybe they just feel some kind of twang inside, a nudging or maybe it is the spirit of conviction or it could be the devil trying to place guilt and shame. I don’t know, but you know what, I know someone you can ask to find out. His name is YAHWEH (some call Him Father, Lord, God). HE can tell you what you’re feeling and where it is coming from.
One thing I am not going to do is guilt anyone into supporting us in anyway. That is clearly one of the things GOD revealed to me last week. I am just supposed to ask people to pray, to take a week or two and devote time in prayer about what God wants them to do. Talk about setting me free, it is not my job. All I am to do is present an opportunity, share my heart, call people to pray and let HIM take care of the rest. Yes, there are people out there who are NOT suppose to support us, there are people that are but haven’t asked God yet; but they won’t know unless they pray.

January 2008

The January newsletter is in the mail and the email!

If you aren't on a mailing list yet, you can click January 2008 under monthly newsletters!

Culture & Christ

In doing research this week I began to understand some of the African (Zambian) culture. Spiritually the Zambians seem to focus more on evangelism (getting people saved) than on discipleship and training. I was wondering why? Here are some statistics: Zambia is approximately the size of Texas with a population of just over 11 million. A million of them are estimated to have HIV/AIDS, approx. 90,000 die every year from AIDS. That is just AIDS; that is not including anything else. Life expectancy had dropped from 44yrs. old to 33yrs. old, now it is back to 38. The median age is 16 yrs. old. Just think about those numbers for a minute. I know for me it is hard to comprehend, especially living in this country in rural Minnesota. Can you even imagine what would be done/ what the outcry would be if this was taking place in a state in this country? Most of us feel we are not going to die any time soon, so what is the hurry in sharing Christ? I’m 34 yrs. old, I’ve almost reached the life expectance of a Zambian. You think if you knew that a lot of the people around you were not going to live that long that you would be more intentional about sharing Christ? This is the reality of the pastors and evangelists in Zambia. Now ask yourself what will increase the life expectance? What will combat the AIDS epidemic? The answer is NOT the U.N. delegation handing out condoms. I’ll tell you what the answer is and a lot of people in this country don’t like it. Answer: the Word of God (aka. The Bible) and Jesus Christ. How? Think about it from just strictly a common sense point of view. What does the Bible teach? How to live a holy and upright life (live morally). Your chances of living longer greatly increase. Jesus came to bring life and life abundant. But that does not come without learning/discipleship in the Truths of our Father. We as a people (no matter where we are) need to know (learn, meditate on, live out) those Truths. The culture in Zambia (as well as U.S.) needs to change and know that the Kingdom culture surpasses all cultures.

Targeted

That is how I often feel. There is a big bull’s-eye on my back and my family’s. It makes me sad and angry. What am I talking about? I’m talking about gossiping, slandering, just talking cruel and evil about us. I know, we have put ourselves out there. Kel and I talked about this the other night. Because of what we are called to do we have forfeited our right to privacy in most areas of our lives and family. We do understand that. That doesn’t however, make it any easier to hear things said about us, especially when it is coming from our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. It is not coming from the non-believers. They are much more straight forward. I actually had one gentleman tell me to my face that “I think you’re *^?<>’# nuts, but good luck to you”. I can respect that. He completely disagrees with what I’m doing yet he still wishes me the best and realizes he doesn’t need to get it and says it to my face. I appreciate honesty like that. Sad to say, but it is often hard to find that kind of honesty in the church. No, we in the church would rather talk behind peoples backs, because we don’t want to offend anyone. WHAT CRAP! The world would respect us a lot more if we were honest with each other. They see the hypocrisy, it cannot be hidden. I am convinced that we believers in Christ/church goers are the greatest most single hindrance to people coming to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. How it must grieve the heart of God to see his children behave this way. Am I sinless in this? NO. I am guilty too. I get angry and bitter and say things in retaliation and that is wrong too. I may feel justified but I’m not. God’s Word is clear on that. The fact is when you do what God has called you to do, you WILL be met with opposition, from outside and even more at times from within the church. It may not seem right or make sense but it is the reality. I wonder if it has always been this way or if the church has gone so far from God in areas that it is something that is just getting worse and worse? All I would ask of people is that when you hear someone say something questioning or negative that would you please just ask them if they have brought it to our attention. And if they have not, ask them why? It goes back to what we are trying to teach our children “if you cannot say anything nice, don’t say anything at all”.

I'M LEARNING

I (Brian) have been trying to get back into the swing of things, whatever that is now days. I’m not all that sure. What I’m beginning to learn (and what Kelly is trying to help me with) is how to make up and keep schedules. You may think, what’s the big deal about that? For myself I have always had a schedule laid out for me. The cows made the schedule, I knew every morning and every night 7 days a week where I was going to be and what I was going to be doing for the most part. At first not having that was soooo nice and freeing. But lately it has become more uncomfortable. I’ve been able to already look back on our training at MTI and recognize some of the things I’m feeling, seeing, and experiencing and in turn deal with, combat and work through. That is actually encouraging. One thing to deal with in the grief and loss category is my loss of identity. What do I mean? I was born and raised on a dairy farm. I took over the dairy aspect on the farm some 16 years ago. I milked cows, pretty much day in day out for most of that time. That’s gone, done. My identity is/was that I was a dairy farmer. I’m not any more. That loss has been harder than I thought it was going to be. I thought it would be such a relief not to have to work 7 days a week (and it has been), to be able to actually be able to go on a family vacation (which we did, we went to Ashland, Wisconsin for a weekend). To be able to be a part of family functions and not have to hurry up to get to the barn or get out of the barn. But I also took comfort in knowing where I was going to be and at times the cows came in handy as a legitimate excuse to get out of things. Now instead of the physical labor I make phone calls, send e-mails (which I just learned how to do this last year), sit down and talk to people (which I do really enjoy). I guess one of the ways I’ve been coping is by building large cedar bird feeders. It does help to do something with my hands and to accomplish something by finishing these feeders. We have begun to hit support raising hard now, and frankly it is difficult for me. I’ve never been one to ask for help (even when I should have). So this support raising goes against everything inside me. I prayed (wrestled, argued with God) about maybe there’s another way, something simpler, maybe less uncomfortable for me. God was clear, I (Brian) am NOT to do this on my own, it is not about me. I honestly need to learn a very important lesson on humility. An area God has shown me I need to work on is the area of pride and humility (I need less of one and more of the other). A fact I need to remember is people are not giving to me-they are giving to God (it is really all His anyway) for HIS work (not mine). I believe God will bless those that are obedient to His prompting in joining us. Does that mean everyone we talk to/send a letter to is supposed to support us? NO. I would hope they would take the time to ask God if they should or should not support us, and if they do, that they would give cheerfully, not grudgingly or out of a sense of obligation.

2007 THE YEAR OF PARADOX

HELLO 2008

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Well, 07 is now the past and 08 the future. I think it is good to look back on this past year and reflect. This last year truly has been the year of paradox. It has been a year of joy and of heartache, of failure and triumph, of tears and of laughter. It has been a year of wrestling and resting with God. There is a reason God doesn’t show us what is ahead, because if He had shown me I think the only thing I would have been able to see would have been the heartache, trials, frustration, loneliness, the sleepless nights, the headaches, the pain and the tears. And I would not have gone forward and followed Him in obedience. Then I would have missed out on seeing the Glory and Power of my heavenly Father. I would have missed out on the joy and peace that only comes from Him. I would have missed out on all the things that my Father has shown me and told me and given me. If I had to do it all over again, would I? YES!! With maybe exceptions of several stupid actions on my part, (getting in the way of God), but YES I would do it all over again. I am doing what God has called me and my family to do. Does it all make sense to me yet? NO! It maybe never will and I’m okay with that. I hold on to what I do know. GOD IS GOOD, GOD IS FAITHFUL, GOD LOVES ME!