Today was one of those “painful reminder” days in Africa. Surrounded by abject poverty and squalor, needs sometimes beyond belief can be a heartbreaking and humbling experience. After 4 years in Africa it can become easy to forget how incredibly blessed I am and I always ask God to please never never let me become calloused to the needs around me. My natural tendency is to become hardened to the daily reality of all the needs I see…its easier that way to avoid the feelings of pain and compassion that rise up in these situations. As He always does, God came through in answered prayer and reminded me why I do what I do.
We had a team here from Destiny Church, Missouri this past week. There were some doughnuts left from their visit that had sat in the office way too long, they were getting a little “fuzzy”. Of course they went in the trash, as I was leaving the office this morning I saw a very dirty, emaciated man digging through our trash. Really felt I wanted to stop and chat with him and saw he was excitedly eating those same doughnuts that I had turned up my nose at just a few hours earlier. Instant heartache and overwhelming pain ripped at me, quickly replaced by a need to do something for him. The simple act of giving him the 3 dollars I had in my pocket brought a priceless look of joy to his face. Prayed for him and found his name was Blessing!!! Just another quick reminder and answered prayer from God that I need to be thankful daily for His provision in my life and the things I have are not just for me. Being able to help that man in just a small way helped me see him through the eyes of Jesus, and even more importantly…. to love Jesus and his people more than I did yesterday. Thanks to all my friends, family and financial partners that allowed me to make a difference today for one. Hoping for another opportunity tomorrow.

If you would like to help make a difference…one life at a time…simply click on the “Partner With Me” link at the top of this page. Its never too late to change a life.

As I am rapidly approaching my 4 year anniversary in Africa and reflecting on what God has done in these 4 short years, that’s the question that comes to mind. If the old adage “time flies when you’re having fun” is true…then the answer would have to be a resounding YES!!

-Is it always an “easy” life? Nope.

-Does my heart break daily for lost, hurting, starving, orphaned and abused little ones who really have no choice in their situation, who were simply unfortunate enough to be born in the wrong latitude and longitude? Yes it does.

In the midst of it all…even on the worst of the worst days…the absolute joy that comes with being the hands and feet of Jesus, in a real and tangible way…there are no real words to describe it. I am uniquely privileged to be a part of His plan and purpose for so many little lives in Africa. The smiling face of gratitude on a child that gets to eat perhaps their only meal of the day, that gets a chance to go to school because there are people who genuinely love and care for them, all this translates to a life lived in the fulfillment that can only come from answering that simple 2 letter word from Mathew 28:19 to “go”. For me going took me to another continent and culture. It’s different for each and every one of us. The mission field is all around us, there are lost and hurting people within arms reach of everyone. Lives can be changed, communities can be transformed when we listen to that still small voice that prompts us toward serving the needs of others. There is just something in us that feels “right” when we can bring joy to the life of others with the smallest acts of service.

The fun is just beginning. Thanks to my financial and prayer partners, lives here are being changed, kids are being fed, given the opportunity to go to school and water wells are being drilled in areas desperately in need of life giving water. The list goes on and on. Thanks for taking this journey with me.

If you would like to partner with me in Africa:
www.WorldOutreach.org
Click Donate & select my name
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World Outreach Ministries
P.O. Box B
Marietta, GA 30061
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Or you may simply click on “Partner With Me” at the top of this page.

James 4:14

14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away

NKJV                           

Got a painful reminder of the harsh reality of this verse last week. I really hesitated to even share this story….but I have learned to recognize that prompting when God wants me to do something. Obedience is always best so here goes…..

Last week we hosted an incredible team of people from Destiny Church, hailing from  Republic, Missouri. Pastor Chad and Tosha Blansit brought an amazing group of servants to Zimbabwe to spend some time serving the people of How Mine, where DC has sponsored hundreds of children through Mission of Mercy.   We had hired a bus and driver to take the team to Victoria Falls before they went back home.  Arrived at Vic last Tues,,toured the Falls, sunset cruise on the Zambezi and dinner at the Boma. Next morning was shopping time for the team, our bus driver was supposed to be out front with the bus at 9am, he didn’t show up.  Shopping is close so the team walked and Ps Dixon and I tried to find the bus driver.  Rang his phone, rang the phone in his room.  Figured maybe he had gone out and got drunk and overslept. I finally got  a key for his room, found him sprawled on the floor, very naked….and very dead.  Freaked me right out.  Stepped over the mess that goes with a corpse and checked for a pulse, he was already cold.  Not the way I had envisioned my day beginning.  Explaining to the hotel manager there was a dead body in room 1057 was another whole comedy of errors.  They really didn’t want to believe me.  The team was ok although a little shocked to say the least.  We got another driver thru some friends in the Falls and got them home. It was just one of those mission team experience I hope to never repeat.  Shocking to say the least.  SI still haven’t been able to switch off that image I saw when I entered that room. Life is just so short and fleeting. I’m a bit haunted by the fact that I did not spend more time talking to him about Jesus. I always try to gauge new peoples spiritual condition without appearing weird.  When he picked us up in the morning I simply asked him if he loved Jesus, he assured me he did, that was kinda the end of the discussion.  Had I known, I surely would have dug deeper.  I really cried out to God over the next 24 hours and He assured me with these simple words…”I got him”.  Comforting…yes…but another lesson learned.  Thanks for letting me unload.  Love and appreciate you all!!!

Your generous donations are helping to feed, clothe and send children to school. If you would like to partner with me in Africa:

www.WorldOutreach.org
        Click Donate & select my name

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Or Mail Checks to -
        World Outreach Ministries
        P.O. Box B
        Marietta, GA  30061
        (designate for Pier, Fund Code #68)

Or you may simply click on “Partner With Me” at the top of this page.

“MANY TIMES GOD WILL SEND US WHAT WE NEED IN A PACKAGE WE DON’T WANT”

   I was teaching a class on Spiritual Authority to our interns last week when I came across this statement from John Bevere and it really stuck on me. Made me wonder, how many times have I missed out on God’s best for me because of the “packaging”?  All I have to do is look at the Bible to realize I must have missed the mark quite a few times.  Over and over again Jesus was rejected because He did not come the way people wanted Him to come. He failed to meet their expectations. They were looking for the arrival of a conquering king to set them free from Roman oppression and establish His kingdom in Jerusalem.  Instead He came as the son of a carpenter who hung out with fishermen, tax collectors and other “low lifes”.

John 1:11-13

 11 He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. 12 But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. 13 They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.

Lots of the “gifts” the world has to offer come in some pretty impressive packaging. Too bad the fancy packaging never lives up to the hype, leaving us rejected, alone and empty once the romance is gone or the high wears off. What we are becoming is a sum of the choices we make every day. The prettiest packaging can many times bring us the most heartache and disappointment. Look at the giver instead of the packaging before you decide…… is this REALLY what I want in my life?

Your generous donations are helping to feed, clothe and send children to school. If you would like to partner with me in Africa:

www.WorldOutreach.org
        Click Donate & select my name

        USA & International Cards accepted

Or Mail Checks to -
        World Outreach Ministries
        P.O. Box B
        Marietta, GA  30061
        (designate for Pier, Fund Code #68)

Or you may simply click on “Partner With Me” at the top of this page.

Initiative is seeing a problem or an opportunity and doing all you can about it as God enables you. In other words, it is always actively looking for opportunities to do something positive and then using the opportunities God gives you.

NOTE….looking, it’s an active process, its taking an idea and ACTING on it.

    “An idea is worthless unless you use it—–John Maxwell

“If I had to sum up in a word what makes a good manager, I’d say decisiveness. You can use the fanciest computers to gather the numbers, but in the end you have to set a timetable and act.”

— Lee J. Iacocca

“Be willing to make decisions. That’s the most important quality in a good leader. Don’t fall victim to what I call the ready-aim-aim-aim-aim syndrome. You must be willing to fire.”

— T. Boone Pickens

And my personal favorite……. If you aren’t making mistakes, you aren’t doing much. 

Taking initiative.

 Someone said there are three types of people in the world:

1-    Those who do not know what is happening;

2-    Those who watch what is happening;

3-    Those who make things happen.

Initiative will always involve action. We will see a problem and act on it. We don’t just sit passively and wait for opportunities to come. We prayerfully take actions….part of why I say your relationship with God has to be solid.   When faced with a problem, or a need, we go to God, seek wisdom, and then takes a piece of paper, and begin to consider her/his options. What should I do Lord? What do you want me to do? And then take action.

It makes sense doesn’t it? If you have a problem, you take action. What else is there to do? Unfortunately, not many people, followers of Christ, included, do it. This perverted human tendency causes the writer of Proverbs to warn us of laziness. Instead of taking action, the lazy person does nothing. Instead he or she sits passively, watching, waiting for something to happen.

The Book of Proverbs call people who live by this philosophy as sluggards. A slug is a slimy snail like creature that has no shell. It walks so slowly and without direction.

“So how long are you going to laze around doing nothing? How long before you get out of bed? A nap here, a nap there, a day off here, a day off there, sit back, take it easy – do you know what comes next? Just this: You can look forward to a dirt-poor life, poverty your permanent houseguest!” Proverbs 6:9-11 (The Message)

A final challenge to taking action is making excuses. The lazy person always finds a reason to do nothing.
The sluggard quoted in Proverbs 22:13 comes up with a great reason for not going to work. Proverbs 22: 13 The lazy person is full of excuses, saying, “If I go outside, I might meet a lion in the street and be killed!”

If there is a lion in the streets….we should join the lion hunt! The truth is there will always be “lions in the street. There will always be frightening responsibilities. There will always be overwhelming challenges. There will always be heartbreaking disappointments. But only the sluggard will make excuse after excuse in the face of life’s demands.

Think about your own life. Do you make excuses for lack of performance, lack of diligence, lack of discipline, lack of good thing? Look at the fruit of your life now. Are the fruits giving you joy or do they make you sigh in sorrow?

If you would like to partner with me in Africa:

www.worldoutreach.org
        Click Donate & select my name

        USA & International Cards accepted

Or Mail Checks to -
        World Outreach Ministries
        P.O. Box B
        Marietta, GA  30061
        (designate for Pier, Fund Code #68)

Or you may simply click on “Partner With Me” at the top of this page.

Alignment is the single word that  God is impressing on me for 2012. Once we truly realize (and always remember) He is above all things, our problems, our pain and all the events of life that are swirling around us and threatening to overwhelm, then and only then can we rise above  ANY circumstance and rest in His peace. Sometimes when I feel like I am sinking in one of those seas of circumstances a simple “help me Jesus” immediately draws me back into His comforting arms. Those arms are always there, He knows all my weaknesses and meets me in those moments as soon as I take the initiative to seek His face.

 2 Cor 4:7-9

7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

Seeking alignment with Him, seeking His face is a daily journey of intimacy for me,   it’s kinda like a treasure hunt.  No it’s  not always an easy road, hardships can be a part of the journey but what delight and a privilege to hang out with the Creator of the universe.

So I say all that to just encourage you to trust Him enough to believe He has a tremendous plan and purpose for your life.  Guess what?  God REALLY does love you. If God has a wallet, your picture is in it.  If God has a refrigerator, your colorings from school are on the door . Trust Him enough to spend time with Him. Push aside those constant demands and  you will find you can accomplish much more in less time if you give God time every day. As you align yourself with His perspective its so much easier to sort out what’s important and what’s not.

 Luke 10:41-11:1

41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Many thanks to all of my financial partners. I can only do what I do because of you. If you would like to partner with me in Africa:

www.WorldOutreach.org
        Click Donate & select my name

        USA & International Cards accepted

Or Mail Checks to -
        World Outreach Ministries
        P.O. Box B
        Marietta, GA  30061
        (designate for Pier, Fund Code #68)

Or you may simply click on “Partner With Me” at the top of this page.

Since I have nothing particularly earth shattering or spiritual to say today let’s do another Top 10 Things That Amaze Me About Africa list. After 3 years on the ground here I don’t even pretend to think I am anywhere near understanding the culture here and learning new things is a constant source of entertainment for me.

10-Deadlines  “Just now” versus “now now”.  I learned this one rather quickly. One would think they are pretty much synonymous,  guess again. “Just now” means: whenever I darn well get around to it…could be anytime between tomorrow and next June. “Now now” on the other hand means just that, it needs to be done immediately. Oh and incidentally, immediately to most Africans means within the next couple hours. Once you learn this it’s an immediate reaction when you are told “OK, I’ll do that just now” to say “ No, it needs to be done now now”.  Then you can usually expect a crestfallen look and a mumbled O.K. once they realize you know better!!  Needless to say, timeliness is not of major importance here to many people…drives me crazy but that another whole blog post one day.

9-Black and white I am in a definite minority class as around .4% of the population here share the same skin color that I happen to have. The white face is sometimes an advantage, sometimes not.  I have learned that getting things done around here can definitely be a factor of what color you are. Don’t like it but it’s just a fact of life that sometimes I need to take a local with me if I expect to get anything accomplished.

8- Bug Spray  It’s the real deal here. Not sure what’s in it but it’s probably banned in most countries.  It even works on snakes, I sprayed a snake in the face with some and it died literally “on the spot”.  Couple of squiggles and it was over.  It may even work as lion repellant?  Think I’ll let someone else prove that theory.  

7- Public Urination I’m sure I have mentioned this before but I never cease to be amazed where you can find someone taking a leak. Mostly men but its not uncommon to see the ladies also. It’s always great fun to honk the horn at them while passing.  Almost always makes them turn to look and pee on their feet.

6-Flowers The variety and beauty of the flowers here are a constant source of amazement. Always something new of Gods creation to enjoy.  

5-Terminology  Car horn = hooter, car hood = bonnet, pigs feet = trotters, gasoline = petrol, napkin=serviette, day care=crèche….I could go on and on.

4-Full service gas stations A thing of the past in the U.S. I do believe. I have not pumped my own gas since arriving here. Sometimes you even get your windows washed and tire pressure checked. I actually got the pressure checked in my spare tire one time. Not sure if he was really that zealous or just looking for a tip…it worked, he got one!!

3-Eating chicken bones Enough said on this. There are folks here that actually do this.  It’s quite amusing to watch

2-Bugs  Never a dull moment here. Always some new and exciting critters to be crawling or slithering on you.  That’s what the African bug spray is for!!!

1-The Kids I suppose number one because they are why I am here. Kids are kids….all over the world. No matter what the circumstance they live in, many are in total squalor, poverty and hunger.  They just want to have fun and someone to love them.  So glad I get to play some small part in their lives, helping to ease the hunger in their little bellies and show them the love of Jesus.

If you would like to partner with me in Africa:

www.WorldOutreach.org
        Click Donate & select my name

        USA & International Cards accepted

Or Mail Checks to -
        World Outreach Ministries
        P.O. Box B
        Marietta, GA  30061
        (designate for Pier, Fund Code #68)

Or you may simply click on “Partner With Me” at the top of this page.

The Christmas parties for the kids have finished, most of Africa is pretty much shut down til January and its almost time for a birthday party for Jesus. Just reflecting on what a great gift He has been in my life, and anyone else who has made Jesus the Lord of their life. I dare say….He is far and away The Greatest Gift.

When Jesus made his appearance in our world, it wasn’t with a lot of fanfare and with extravagant celebration. He CHOSE to be born in Bethlehem, a city that surely wasn’t a vacation hotspot of the day, in a barn that was full of animals, hay, a few rats and poop, and in a manger…..a feeding trough.

If this is where the Creator of the universe chose to be born, if this is where God showed up on Earth…what is He saying to us?

I think Jesus was saying, “I’m a real person and I’m here to relate with real people, to meet them right where they are, in the dirty places, where there’s animals, rats and poop. Even if it smells bad, I don’t need a red carpet rolled out for me, cuz YOU can be real when you come to me….just as you are”

So many times we think I need to get myself straightened out, then I’ll go to church.  I’m here to tell you…NOT SO!!!!  Its just the opposite, Jesus loves a mess….and He loves cleaning up a mess. He already knows that we smell bad, that we are in a rough place and maybe have made a mess of our life Jesus always seemed to be in hot water with the “religious” folks of the day for hanging out with all those sinners. I for one am so glad Jesus decided to hang out with me and my mess.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESUS!!!!!!

It’s a great time for that end of year tax deduction, AND you can be a part of transforming lives in Africa. If you would like to partner with me in Africa:

www.WorldOutreach.org
        Click Donate & select my name

        USA & International Cards accepted

Or Mail Checks to -
        World Outreach Ministries
        P.O. Box B
        Marietta, GA  30061
        (designate for Pier, Fund Code #68)

Or you may simply click on “Partner With Me” at the top of this page.

Luke 22:39-44

39 Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. 40 On reaching the place, he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.”  41 He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, 42 “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”  43 An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. 44 And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.  

NIV

 How many of us are “waiting” on our breakthrough, on a new season in life, on our husband or wife we desire, on a breakthrough in our finances, our family, our marriage.  The list goes on and on. I find it interesting in the passage above that even Jesus had to seek his father, saying ”not my will, but yours be done”.  What does that say?   When Jesus took on a human form…he had a will….and that will was at odds with the will of God.  He HAD to pray….he had to sweat it out…til he got to the place of perfect peace.  That why WE have to struggle sometimes too.  We get mad at God, thinking He is holding out on us, in reality He is waiting on us.

Sometimes we have to “sweat it out”   Even Jesus had to…he said…if there is another way…..NEVERTHELESS….not MY will….

  We should be seeking to lives in the will of God….many times we want God to be in OUR will, we make a plan and then ask God to bless it.  

Its in the will of God that we have….security, where we are upheld, enemies are defeated, and where we find peace and protection.

 Everything God has for you is in His will….we need to be passionate about being in Gods will…..and sometimes to get there, we have to “sweat it out”.  

If you would like to help the children of Zimbabwe, you can make a tax deductible contribution in the following ways:  

Online Donations for my account -
        www.WorldOutreach.org
        Click Donate & select my name

        USA & International Cards accepted

Or Mail Checks to -
        World Outreach Ministries
        P.O. Box B
        Marietta, GA  30061
        (designate for Pier, Fund Code #68)

Or  simply click on “Partner With Me” at the top of this post.   

 THANKS FOR YOUR LOVE, PRAYERS, AND  SUPPORT.