I will come to you!

  As the airport came into view my stomach lurched with excitement. A smile a mile wide spread across my face as I looked over at my seatmate, Christina Cates. Her face mirrored my own. Breathless with excitement and anticipation, we gasped, "WE'RE IN AFRICA!!!" Suddenly it was all I could do to stay in my seat till the plane landed. That night as we drove through town watching the beautiful, moonlight landscape pass by, I knew I'd already fallen in love with this place. The next day as I lost my heart to the children and mamas of EOH, I knew I would never leave Africa with my heart in one piece.

   Today marks 1 year since I first said yes to God's plan and allowed Him to send me where He wanted, starting me off on the greatest adventure of my life. At that time last year I was on a plane headed to Zambia where I'd soon plant my heart. Tomorrow the 2013 interns head off to start their term in Zambia, and due to a strange change in the Lord's plan, I will not be with them.

    In early May after a series of safety issues, I had to come home. After much prayer, God clearly told me that I was to stay for a while. A few weeks after being home my cousin was hospitalized and shortly afterwards passed away. I now see just a glimpse of His purpose in bringing me home and am grateful to Him for how He directed my trip. God is sovereign and His purpose will stand in our lives no matter how badly we want His will to be different. (Job 42: 2) In this case, I did not want to leave despite the danger, and honestly I fought Him every step of the way that whole month, until He finally had to bring me to my knees before Him.
     
   Though I am home for now, not a day goes by that I do not miss Zambia and the family I left behind there. Every day my heart longs to be back there. To sit in that beautiful red dirt with my clothes and skin stained by it's fine grains, to breath in the wonderful scent of Africa, watching the many wonders of God being performed right before my eyes and being with my Zambian family. A large portion of my heart stays with my Zambian family, connecting me to that wonderful country.

   At this time, I do not know what God has planned for me in near future, nor do I know when He will show me. But for now it is enough for me to know that I am in His will, walking the path He has laid for me.With the love that the people of EOH and I share and the knowledge that my heart is still in Zambia, I can honestly say if it be God's will, "Zambia, I will be back!!!!"

"I will come to you." John 14:18

For the glory of God!

   

   

Glory to God forever? Or on occasion?

    
“Glory to God forever”…… such powerful and inspiring lyrics! But it makes me stop and think….am I really glorifying God forever or am I more of a once in a while glorifier? 

      I recently did a Bible study with the kids in Zambia on the Parable of the talents. As I studied up on the passages before the study the Lord spoke to my heart. He challenged me in how much I was praising and living for Him in my day to day life. Sure, I was in Zambia in obedience to His call, working with orphans and widows,  but that’s not enough.  I can’t go on a mission trip and spend months or weeks at a time serving Him and praising Him all day, then come home and leave all that behind. And sadly that’s exactly what I was doing. I would come home and get so wrapped up in my day to day life and become so comfortable here that I would forget to be living for Him in every possible area.

   God has given me my abilities and skills for a reason. Not to waste them while I’m home, but to use them for His glory wherever , whenever and however I can. He has created me for the purpose of glorifying Him in all that I do. From here on out I will use my life for Him, every chance I get. I pray that this song will be the declaration of my life and that my life will be living proof of His love.

“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” 

John 4:22-24

“For the glory of God!”

He knows better than I

"My life is but a weaving
Between the Lord and me;
I may not choose the colors–
He knows what they should be.           
For He can view the pattern       
Upon the upper side
While I can see it only
On this, the under side......

Not ’til the loom is silent
And the shuttles cease to fly
Shall God unroll the canvas
And explain the reason why...." "The Master Weaver's plan," Benjamin Malachi Franklin

    Our life is like a woven pattern and Christ is the Master Weaver.  Each gold and silver thread are the victories, the joys, and the times of happiness and prosperity in our lives, and the dark threads represent the time of confusion, trial or hardships that are in our lives. Both threads are equally important to our spiritual growth and our refinement of character. God use hardships and times of joy and peace to shape us into the person He wants us to be. We may not be always understand why thing happen the way they do or what God is doing in our lives, but as the He is weaving our life's paths, He alone sees the way the pattern is unfolding and He alone is capable of leading us through life on the right path. He knows us and He knows our lives better then we do, for He wove us together in the secret place and we were made fearfully and wonderfully (Palm 139) by Him and for Him. (Colossians 1:16) When we stand before Him one day and look back on our life, we see how all the pieces fit together and how every situation was a part of His plan and worked for our good in the end. Right now we are a work of art, on that day, we will be a masterpiece, completed in the day of Christ Jesus!

 "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." 

Ephesians 2:10

"For the glory of God!!"

Funny and random quotations of the past weeks

1. "My children are getting fat. They didn't used to be like this. I'm sure it is the schools food that is making them chunky. "-Mama Florence

2."Auntie Shelbie, you've gotten short and fat!" -Aleck

3. Hope: "Do you want to trade papers now?"
Me: "Um...sure?"
Hope: "No! Why do you want to trade papers?!?" 
A few seconds later...
Hope: "Yes! We will trade papers. We need to trade papers right now. (Haha. This girl keeps me laughing.)

4. " Auntie, eat more Nshima. We want you to be fat!" -Faith

5. Choolwe: "Do you know what my name?"
Me: "Of course, you're Choolwe!" 
Choolwe: "No! I'm Billiat!"
Billiate: "I'm Dickson"
Clement: "And I'm Michael"  (Oh these boys...always trying to get my mixed up on their names:)

6. Upon introducing some of the kids to my family via Skype:
Choolwe: "Hello, I'm Michael"
Michael: "And I'm Lubasi and..(pointing at Helen) she's Thoko!"

7. Agness: "I'm going to walk you home alone this time auntie. And if anyone tries to hurt you, I'll fight for you! I'll fight them off!!"

8. Faith: "You take care of me and I'm going to take care of you. I'm going to make sure you eat eat eat ang get fat!" (For some reason they like us to be fat. Lol.)

9. Lolly in an email to me: "Shelbie, I love you so much! I'm gonna love you even you're old!" 

10. Shylie: "Heeeey Looollly! Shelbie's not gonna be here for yoouuuurr birthday but she'll be here for miiiinnne!!" (said with a sassy little toss of her head. Lol)

11. Jacob: "You're very stupid you know that!?!" (don't worry he was acting in a film so it was all fake. haha)

12: Jacob..in an old man voice..."Gooooddd...bless us aaalll! Eveerrry one of us!" 

13: Ba Mareta and Ba Patricia: "Every man for himself but God for us all!"

14. "The sun shines so much here. It's always sunny so we're always in the sun. That's why we have black skin. If I went to America where the sun didn't shine as much, I'd have brown skin." -Mama Florence

15. During a conversation about tacos in which all the Zambians are cracking up and I'm sitting there not understanding what's being said....
Ba Humphay....still laughing: "Do you know what mataco is in Nyanga?" 
Me: "nooo..."
Someone in the crowd: "it's means buttocks." 
Ba Humphray, rolling again: "So you eat tacos and we all have a mataco!"
  
 Gotta love these people. They keep me laughing and smiling even on the hardest days.Thank you Lord for allowing me to work with such neat people who are such great examples of joyful Christians.

"For the glory of God!"

We will go!

   "Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work Do you not say, 'There are yet four months, then comes the harvest'? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together."

John 4:32-36

    People all over the world are ready to hear and receive God's word, to accept salvation. They only need the chance to do so. "But how will they believe unless someone tells them? And how will we tell them when we're never sent?!!" (Mandy Mapes, "We will go!") 

"He told them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." 

Luke 10:2

     So many people are praying that God would send out workers into the harvest but they fail to realize that we are the very workers we've been praying for. How does a field get harvested if the workers keep asking the farmer if they can harvest, yet they do nothing? We are doing nothing to harvest in the kingdom yet we keep asking God to "send forth" workers. Each one of us has already been commissioned for God's work, we've each been sent forth in one way or another. Some far away and others right within their immediate means. It is time that we as workers in the harvest arise and set forth into the fields around us. Every minute people are dying, many without the hope of Christ. We are the beacon of light in this world and it is time we share that light with the lost, the hopeless and the hurting. A light that is hidden cannot shine, so the Truth untold cannot save. It is time to let the light shine. It is time to harvest.

   

 "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." 

Matthew 5:14-16

"For the glory of God!"

     

     

Zambia 2013: week 2

  As of yesterday I have been here 2 full weeks and things have been very busy. Last Wednesday we finished most of the sponsorship letters with the help of the Chongwe homes coordinator, Ba Abigail. Now that those are done I am working on some World Help forms along with some scheduled activities for Chongwe and Lusaka. Usually I'm up by 6:15 every morning and have the office mopped and cleaned by 8 o'clock.

     Between 8-9 the staff starts showing up and once they're all here we have staff devotions together. After that we all go about our day. Every morning I spend a few hours at the office helping where needed, emailing and reading, then around 1pm I head to the Lusaka homes where I spend the rest of the day. I usually don't head back to the office until 5:30-6. After I finish up my duties at the homes I spend the rest of the time hanging out with the kids. Some of my duties include weekly Bible studies with all the Lusaka homes, working on sponsorship things, helping train the camp translators and whatever other odds and ends need done.

   In a typical week I spend Monday, Tuesday and Thursday working at the Lusaka homes and Wednesday and Friday out in Chongwe. On the weekends we have a girls slumber party with Auntie Shelbie, so the girls from 2 homes come spend the night with me here at the office. We do a devotional, play games, eat some snacks and watch a movie. Starting this week we'll be having a guys game day on Saturday afternoons in which we'll also start the afternoon with a devotional then spend a few hours playing games. On Sundays I usually go to church with the Lusaka kids then head over to their homes in the afternoon to spend the day with them.

   In the midst of all this busyness God has really been at work in my life. He has been teaching me new things every day and I am learning to look for Him in each day, in every little thing I do. He has been working on my heart in so many ways. I am humbled to be able to serve such a great God and to be here doing the work He has called me to do. Every day as I look at how great He is I am struck with wonder at how He could use me for his purpose and every day He reminds me anew of His unending grace and sovereignty in and over my life. Such a great God we serve, words cannot describe His majesty and power!! To Him be all the glory forever and ever!

Zambia 2013: weeks 1-2 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

“For the glory of God!”

Only in Africa

      Only in Africa......
1. Do you drive with live chickens in the back of the van, then 4 hours later eat the same chicken for lunch

2. Will you eat lunch next to a bowl of chicken guts

3. Is a 3 hour church service considered short

4. Will you narrowly avoid hitting or being hit by another car twice in one week

5. Is 85mph considered slow

6. Will you ask how tight someone's belt is in reference to how busy their day is

7. Is it a common sight to see a skinned animal hanging from a shack roof

8.  Will you walk down the road with children running after you yelling, "Munzungu, munzungu!!" 

9. Will you see a man riding his bike down the road with a small couch on the back

10. Is it a common sight to see a pickup truck bed packed with 20+ people

       Just a few of the common, everyday occurrences in a little place called Zambia. <3 Though these things don't just happen in Zambia, I like to say "only in Africa" because this is the only place I've ever experienced them. I love all these random little sights that we see here, the strange things we do and the lack of timing here. I love the chitanges, the markets, the scent, the sights and the people of Zambia. I love waking each morning to the thrill of a new day in Africa and going to bed each night after a long day with the kids. I love walking down the road greeting the neighbor children and hearing them call out "muzungu." Yes, I even love the food. When I'm at home I wear Africa on my shirt, and hanging from a chain around my neck, but I carry it in my heart, and there it will stay forever! Africa is a part of me and I a part of Africa. I may be an American, but I claim Africa as my homeland and it's people as my people. This is where I belong for as long as God continues to call me back.

 "See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared." Exodus 23: 20

"For the glory of God!"

God is all knowing

        "Whenever God expresses Himself to you.... His directions are always right. When God gives you a directive, you can be sure He has already considered every factor. You will never do God's bidding only to discover that God was somehow mistaken. You can have absolute confidence that when God tells you to do something, it is the right course of action....... At times you may not understand why God is asking you to do something. As you obey, however, you will come to understand why His guidance was the best counsel for your life. Perhaps you have asked God to give you several alternatives so you could choose the one you thought was best. But how many options does God need to give you so you know the right one??? God always gets it right the first time. You only need His one best option. Once you've heard God speak,  you don't need to continue waiting to seek other alternatives. You need to proceed with confidence based on what God said. "- Experiencing God: knowing and doing the will of God

      How many times do we cry out to God to hear His will for our lives then we question that will?? When God speaks to us and tells us to something we should not hesitate to do just that. Since He is all-knowing He has foreseen every possible "problem" that may arise and has already provided a way to counter act that. We just need to act out in faith and obey His will, seeking His guidance to pave the way. Since our ways are not His ways (Isaiah 55:8) we are often left with many questions about His plan but it is not right for us to let those questions get in the way of our willingness to obey. Humans have questions, that is only natural. But we need to use those questions to strengthen our faith as we bring them before the throne of the Almighty. God's purpose will stand no matter what human efforts or questions stand against it. 

                      "I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted." 

Job 42:2

For the glory of God!

My second home

    "Auntie Shelbie, you've grown short and fat." Yes, such was the greeting I received from one of the Chongwe boys yesterday afternoon. Hm...not sure how to take that, but ok. Haha. I have been in Zambia for 4 days now and am loving every minute of it. As of yesterday I have seen all the children except those at boarding school. This has been such a sweet time of laughter and joyful reunions. In addition to being reunited with the staff and children I have also been reunited with the sweet cooks from Camp Hope. Oh the squeals of delight when they saw me! It was hard to tell who was more excited to see me, the cooks or the children!

      I am quickly settling into this new norm of life as in intern..I say life since I am living here for 5 months. The staff has made me feel very welcome and are all thrilled to have me back, the children equally so. I am gradually figuring out how my days will be spent and what I will be doing here. For the next 2 months I will be busy doing a lot of sponsorship things and helping wherever help is needed. Once the other interns come my duties will vary but for now that is what I'll be doing. This week I have been visiting the children daily and have passed out sponsorship gifts to both cities. Yesterday we went out to Chongwe where we pulled a 9 hour day and did not get back to Lusaka till 8:30pm. While there I was able to help train the Camp Hope translators for a few hours, pass out gifts and get caught up with the children and mamas. Today I will be helping the Lusaka mamas and starting on my sponsorship duties.

    I cannot say how good it is to be back with these people I love so much in this country that has so completely stolen my heart! I am daily reminded of God's sovereignty and imminent presence. He is a great and powerful God and is doing mighty thing in this ministry! I cannot wait to see how many children He touches and all that He does!

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." Ephesians 3:20-21

For the glory of God!

Zambia 2013!!!!

     All I could do was cry as my family counted the money God had brought in for my trip. Double the amount I needed! That was to be the first of many lessons God taught me on His sovereignty and might.

    Fast forward to today, I have learned numerous more lessons about His character and His plan for me and am still learning these things. Every day brings a new lesson. I have learned time and time again what it means to step out in faith, leaning not on my own understanding but on His, trusting that He knew what was going to happen and would act accordingly. I have learned and am still learning to surrender my all to Him everyday, trading my will for His and becoming a puppet in His hands. Having received the summons of the Lord to return to Zambia, I am off again. Next Saturday I leave for 5 months to minister to the orphans, widows and staff of EOH.  These past 4 months have kept me busy tutoring, babysitting and cleaning houses with an occasional cakepop order. My fundraising has been like the turtle, slow but steady. God has continually been faithful to provide even when it looked like the funds weren’t coming in.

       I am continually amazed at where God has me in life and what He has me doing. I have always been a quiet, background girl who dislikes crowds and working with strangers, so I am constantly wondering why God would choose me to do this work when He knows it is exactly what I fear doing. The only conclusion I have come to is this: God does not choose us based upon our character or personalities but upon our willingness to surrender to and serve Him.  

 "God asks the question, "Whom shall I send?"
Now what will we answer? Will we go and do as he says?
All that he wants is a heart, ready, willing and waiting" 

-"Here I am," Rebecca St. James

 “For the glory of God!”

Every Orphan's Hope

I pray that as you watch this you will have an open and ready heart for whatever God tells you.

 

  "Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then they said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.” 

~Psalm 126:2~

  This is why EOH does what they do, to bring the joy of God to those hurting children. Through Every Orphan's Hope God is turning tears into laughter, heartache into peace and sorrow into joy. Daily He is transforming and renewing lives through people like you. Please pray about how God wants you to help and if He so leads, take that small step of faith on behalf of the children.

"For the glory of God!"

Great is Your faithfulness!l!!

      As I look back on the 2 months that I was in Zambia and think about all that happened in such a short time, I am again filled with awe and amazement at the faithfulness of the One I call my Father. Thinking back over all that I went through, the hardships and joys alike, I am again reminded of just how faithful He really is.
     When you go on that long of a mission trip you see it all…the good, the bad and the ugly. You have your ups and your downs and sometimes the downs outweigh the ups. Some days all you see is the good in the trip; the beauty and the joy of what is happening around you. On other days you see only pain, suffering and heartache. It is in these moments that God was truly there for me, giving me strength to face these hardships, courage to finish the day, comfort to heal my breaking heart and love to comfort the hurting children.

  There were many days when I felt that my heart was breaking more then I ever thought  it could. But without fail, He always came through for me. He was always right there with me, knowing before hand what I was going to face and preparing me for it. Waiting with open arms for me to run to Him when my heart was breaking for those children, standing by my side when I fought off Satan’s attacks.  Throughout this trip I experienced His faithfulness in more ways then I ever have before.  I have always known Him to be faithful but never have I been so sure of it as I am now.  I  know that He is faithful in every little are of our lives and will never change! I have seen this again and again these past 2 months and have more stories about His faithfulness then anything else. Faithful indeed is the One who is worthy of our praise!

“For the glory of God!”
“Great is Your faithfulness....You never change, 

You never fail, oh God!”

 -“Unchanging”, Chris Tomlin

Worshiping in our every day lives

     Over the summer I discovered the true meaning of worship. Worship is more then an act of the heart. It is more then singing praise in church or talking about how great God is. All of these things are an act of worship, but true worship is so much more then that. True worship exceeds past verbal and physical acts of worship, beyond the human mind and into the spirit. True worship is the art of praising and thanking the Lord in every situation and area of your life. To find the beauty, the gift, the blessing  in every situation and turn it into praise.  Finding God in everything you do or experience.

      At the beginning of the trip we had a lot of down time so it was easy to find time in the word and prayer, but once camp season started it became increasingly difficult until I was seldom able to find any time in the word. But instead of spiritually suffering from lack of time with the Lord, I turned more fully to the Lord in prayer and communion and this part became the most fruitful time of the trip.  As things got busier, I found myself talking to God about the every day issues of the trip and being in constant communion with the Lord. As I continued to talk to the Lord my faith continued to grow stronger. Through this bond of communion, I turned all that I did into acts of worship to the Lord.

     As I have discovered, we can worship God in any situation, in everything we do. If we are in constant communion with the Lord throughout all we are doing, we are turning that situation into an act of worship to our Maker. Communion with the Lord is one of the best acts of worship. It is the art of bringing God into our everyday life and incorporating Him into all that we do. It is the act of allowing Him to be part of our everyday lives. If we want to live for Him in everything we do, then why not live with Him in everything we do? Why do we limit our worship strictly to songs without exceeding our Sunday morning routine? We seem to forget that it is through constant communion with Him and dedicating our work to Him that we open the door of our heart for a closer relationship with the Lord. If we let Him in God is more then willing to be part of our everyday lives. He is waiting at the door of our hearts, seeking our worship, waiting for us to worship Him in everything we’re doing. It is up to us whether we are willing to grab hold of His hands and invite Him to be part of our lives or put Him in a box and limit our communication.
                                                      “For the glory of God!”

 "Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks." 

                                                                John 4:23

Those He brings to me

       For years I have known that God has called me to work with orphans but as I have seen this summer, I can only help the ones that He brings my way and my heart longs to do more. I want to reach out to all of them, to change, heal and rescue every hurting child from the lives that they’re living. This was something that God really had to work with me on during the camp season this past month.  Each week seeing hundreds of precious children show up for camp and knowing that each child was an orphan tore me up inside. It was with an aching heart that I looked on the sad faces of these children and thought of all the pain and suffering they have been through. As I knelt in the dirt, cradling them in my arms and whispering my love to them, my heart was breaking for them. Blinking back my own tears, I wiped the tears off the faces of scared toddlers and hugged them gently, while singing to them in a choked up voice.  My heart has never known such pain, as it did each camp when I saw those children.

       I watched as each child came in scared and timid, with a deep sadness in their eyes, but as the week went on the Lord was at work in their lives. Each morning I saw improvement in each child as joy bubbled up inside them until their sweet eyes sparkled with joy by the end of the week. This was the work of God, not man.  Through all of this the Lord was teaching me that though there are a lot of orphans and my human emotions might not be satisfied with helping just a few of these,  I can still do my part to change the lives that are put in front of me. Though I will always want to do more, to help all the children, I know it is only the ones that are put in my path that I am destined to help.

       There will always be children that need help, but I will not always be in their lives. I am not called to be a superhero, to change the world, to stop death from robbing children of their parents. I am simply called to help the ones that God brings into my life. I am after all human. I can do nothing apart from God, but through Him I will touch the lives that He allows me to. In the same way, through me, He will forever change those children. I am a tool in the hand of the King. Whomever He chooses me to love and help, I will do so. Even if He only lets me reach one child, that is still one more child that has been touched and changed by  the love of their Maker and that alone is enough for me to feel successful in my mission.

       Looking back on all the children that I had the privilege of loving on this summer, I know that they will forever hold a special place in my heart whether I see them again or not. These sweet children were the first ones that God chose me to minister to, the first children that I was blessed to work with and bring joy to, but they were not the last. I know that God has more work for me and I eagerly await the call to return to Africa and continue in my work.

                                          

                                “For the glory of God!”

At the end of the beginning

    Well, I am back in America with my family again. I can’t believe that it has already been 2 months and now I’m standing at the end of this journey. I have lived such an incredible story during these past 2 months. I have seen things and experienced things that I never dreamt would be possible. I have been to Africa and back. I have sat in the dirt with children and eaten strange foods for 60 days and now I once more stand on American soil.

      After being in Africa I now know there is nothing that can keep me away from that beautiful continent anymore! As soon as God calls me back I will eagerly return with a singing heart. America will never feel like home again. Africa is now my home. As Dr. David Livingstone said “Africa is my home. The place where my heart dwells. My heart is in Africa.” This is true for me as well. I might have physically left Africa, but my heart is still there. My heart will forever be in Africa now. America might be the land of my birth, but Africa is the land where my heart lives.

       I might be standing at the end of this particular trip, but I’m also standing at the beginning of my life long journey. The journey that is going to take me to Africa numerous times in the course of my life. I know that I will  soon return to the land that I love. I might have said “goodbye” when I left, but that was simply goodbye for the time being. A farewell until we meet again. I might miss Africa and my Zambian family right now, but in the Lord’s good timing I know I will see them again. For in Christ there are no goodbyes.
                                                             “For the glory of God!”  

 “There is one safe and happy place, and that is in the will of God.”
                                                                                                                                ― David Livingstone

The legacy of Molly

    What is the purpose of life? One of the world’s most commonly asked questions. At some point in life, everybody goes through the stage of questioning the purpose of their life. They wonder why they are put here and they question Gods plan for their life. At times life that, God had to gently guide them back to Him and point them to the cross to understand their purpose. For the purpose of every life is to love and be loved by Christ. The reason that God places all of us here on this earth is so that we can come to know Him, love Him, and glorify Him through our lives.

      As the creations of God, we are called to serve Him with our lives and live out a life of love, leaving a powerful legacy for those we leave behind. We are called to love with all of our hearts, serve with with all that we are , pray with all our might, minister to others everyday of our lives and glorify God with every breath we take. We are called by God to live a life worthy of the calling that He has placed upon us. For many that simply means going by faith to the mission field, but for others that is so much more.

       I recently heard a story about a lady that did just that. Molly Mizarack spent her life in full service to the Lord. She truly lived her life according to the call that had been placed upon her, living worthy of that calling. Molly had a genuine thirst for the things of the Lord and because of this, she had true anointing of the Lord placed upon her by a Zambian pastor. An anointing that filled her with the Spirit, enabled her to speak in tongues and changed her life forever. From that moment on, Molly lived each day of her life to the fullest. Living for the Lord by the empowering of His Spirit in every area of her life. Molly was so Spirit led that she ministered to and prayed for everyone and anyone that the Lord directed her to. Many times this meant stopping in the middle of a grocery store to pray for someone and other times it meant mentoring people about going to the mission field. Whatever the case, if the Lord led her to do it Molly never failed to obey.

      Shortly before her passing, Molly had a vision from the Lord in which she saw 8 orphans sleeping shoulder to shoulder on the dirt. In this vision, the Lord distinctly told Molly that He wanted those children to be in a home. From that moment on Molly’s greatest desire was to get another EOH house completed so they could house 8 new orphans. Last summer her dream came true. After working for months to get house 7 funded, the project was complete and the house was being built. Although, Molly sadly passed away a few months before the house was completed, 8 sweet new children now have a home because of Molly.

      This summer I have had the sweet privilege of getting to meet, know and love the children that now live in Chongwe house 7, which is lovingly dubbed ‘Molly’s house’, and have gotten to see the beautiful outcome of Molly’s work and the fruits of her dream. I have seen how through the efforts of one lady, 8 lives have forever been changed. Even in her death, Molly was changing lives. The people that she was mentoring about the mission field have now all gone out to do the Lord’s work. There are people in Haitie, Africa and many other places changing lives and saving orphans, all because of the legacy that Molly lived.

      Looking at theses children and seeing the joy and healing in their lives and hearing the legacy that this incredible lady lived, I am once again challenged to live my life in such a way as Molly did. After hearing this story I have asked myself over and over, “am I fulfilling my purpose in life and living the way God intended me to live? Am I living my life in such a way as to glorify God with my every action and leave behind a legacy that changes lives? Am I truly living a Spirit led life, walking in obedience to God’s every call and being faithful even in the small things? Am I living a legacy of love and faith or a legacy of human will and human choice?” 

      If I am only being obedient and faithful in the big things, how can I be of full use to God? Hearing Molly’s story has changed my faith and the way I live my life. Hence forth, with the help of God I am going to allow my Lord to use me in anyway I see fit and answer in faithful obedience to His every call. I am going to live my life as Molly did so that one day I too might leave behind a powerful legacy that can be used by God. I pray that I can be a Molly Christian. Living my life in such a way that when people look at me they can plainly see Christ shining through me. I pray that God will find me a willing, ready and faithful tool to be used for His service every day that He sees fit to give me life. May my life forever be used by God!!
                                                    “For the glory of God!”

Day 52: preparing to say good bye to Zambia

       I can hardly believe my time in Zambia is already coming to an end. It seems like I have been here forever….in a good way.. yet when I look back on the time I’ve spent here, it seems like just yesterday that we were starting out on this journey. The days have flown by but the weeks have dragged on, making this trip seem really long yet super short at the same time. Now, here I am today with just 9 days left in this beautiful country, and as I look back on everything that God has taught me, everything that I have experienced, all the trials and pain that have accompanied this trip as well as the joy that I have had, I know that I wouldn’t have changed this trip for anything in the world!! This summer has by far been the most life changing, faith building and blissful summer of my life!!! I again thank God that He saw fit to bring me here.

     As I go into my final week here and prepare to say good bye to all the people that I have come to love, I ask that you would pray extra hard for me…for all of us interns…as leaving here is going to be really hard for us. These people have become family to us,  these children nieces, nephews, brothers and sisters to us, so saying good bye is going to the hardest thing we’ve had to do all summer. Please pray that God will strengthen, encourage and comfort us as we go through out our week and prepare to reemerge ourselves into American culture. Please pray also for the people that we are leaving behind as everyone here is sad to see us go….the children especially.  Please pray for comfort for their little hearts as they say good bye to their new aunties. 

~Thank you for all the prayers that have been sent our way and I know will continue to do so until we are home. Blessings in our Lord! ~

                                        “For the glory of God!”

Matthew 6:34

     People say that going on a mission trip is life changing, but I find that you never really understand just how true that statement is until you have yourself experienced the life changing effects of a mission trip. Now that I am here, I see that living in a foreign country for a month and a half really has changed my life. In more ways than one.

      One of the things that has changed is my outlook on life and relationships. Before this trip I never fully understood just how short and valuable life was. I knew that life was short and valued the time I had with my loved ones, but I still looked at life much differently then I do now. Before this trip I tended to constantly be looking ahead and worrying about the future. I didn’t live in the moments I had, but the moments I was planning. But now that I have been here and really see just how short life is and how valuable time with loved ones is, my mentality has changed. I have taken Matthew 6:34  to a whole new level as I now live in the moments I am given. Valuing them as short and sacred, knowing that at any time this life could be over, or at the very least become drastically different.  In the blink of an eye or with one little decision, everything could change.

     After being here so long, it no longer matters to me what I do tomorrow. What matters to me now is what I do today. How I live my life, what I do with my life, who I change through my life and how I am glorifying my Lord with my life.  From now on I will be making the most of the time that I am given, living in the moment not the future. I will be living for my God, loving my loved ones, serving others and striving to make a difference in the lives of those around me. No more living in the future and abusing the time that God has given me.  By God’s grace I will be returning to the states with the mentality that I am on a mission for God, living my life to the fullest with every minute that I am given.

"For the glory of God!"

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. 

Each day has enough trouble of its own.” 

Matthew 6:34

The past 2 weeks in pictures

Chongwe and Camp Hope VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

                                                 “For the glory of God!”

Lessons from the Mamas

       One of the things that God has really been challenging me on these past 2 weeks is to step even further out of my comfort zone and stretch my service beyond the EOH staff. He has really put it on my heart to assist the Mamas that have been cooking for Teen Mania. Every morning these sweet women have been arriving at the camp sight at 6am to fix breakfast for TM and each night they don’t leave till well after 8pm. They spend their days fixing food not only for TM but also for the Camp Hope children. By the end of the week they are tired and worn out but they don’t get a break till TM leaves.

        So for the past 2 weeks I have been trying to help them in any way I can. We have fixed food, set up meals and washed dishes together. I have sat with them by their fire, talked with them about their lives and served alongside them and have been so blessed through this. These women have become very special to me. I have grown to know them and love them. While God was using me to bless them in these small ways, He was also using them to richly bless me as well. It has been such a joy to me to be able to come alongside these sweet women and assist them in any way I can. I have seen God in their selfless service and have been challenged by their example to be more servant hearted and other centered. These women have taught me what it means to be a real servant of God. I am so blessed to have gotten to know, learn from and work alongside these sweet women.
                                                         "For the glory of God!"