I'm Home

Well, I’m home. Sort of. I’m back with my family is more accurate. As long as you are with the ones you love, you are home no matter where you are. These last 2 months went by so fast it felt more like 2 days, if you can believe that. And the reason for that was because of the people I was with and that they took care of me as one of there own. You see I had many fathers and mothers and brothers and sisters there and I felt treated as such to a large degree. Whether it be praise and affirmation or rebuke and chastising-it all took place and yet they still viewed me as one in charge and in authority. There were times that I was very comfortable in that role and at times I was not. I’ve got to say that it was incredible awesome and humbling to see God at work in big things and very small things. On a trip such as this prayer often becomes a natural reaction to things. It was the second to the last week when it clearly hit me of GOD’s involvement in EVERYTHING, and how my FATHER was taking care of his son (me). I was blessed beyond measure.
Why? Because I was doing what HE asked me to do. It is that simple. It was exciting to see and experience the divine appointments that GOD had planned for me. People that I could minister to, and those that ministered to me. It goes both ways. It is the way the church/body of Christ is supposed to work. I was able to watch the LORD work in people’s lives, to begin to change hearts and minds. That is what often happens when many of the comforts of life are stripped away and you begin to truly rely on GOD, and when you are in the company of men and women who have little to nothing compared to our standards. They do not complain, they are not depressed or bitter. They love life and they love the LORD with all there heart, mind, and strength. It can be very humbling to be in the company of these brother and sisters.
One of the hardest things for me (besides being away from my wife and kids) was asking for and excepting help from people I didn’t know-from the Americans or the Zambians or the Malawians. All I can say is THANK YOU!! Many of you where direct answers to prayer. You probably didn’t know that and you may even find it hard to believe, you though you were just helping. But you where HIS hands and feet. Yes, that includes laying out the foundation, digging the footings, putting in the rebar (Mikki, Ben ), laying the water line, (dad, mom), running the backhoe, (dad) , helping with the beams, (Bill), making the brackets for the pillars, (Verlan), bringing the mp3 player (Bill), bringing the packet from my wife (Kara), answering numerous questions on the house and just all around being there (Paul). And I’m know I’m forgetting some-there are so many to mention-sorry. For all of you that have been praying and continue to pray, THANK YOU!!! I truly enjoyed spending time with you and getting to know you. I pray we see each other again next year. And at that time I’ll be able to introduce to you the whole family.