Here are some signs that you won’t find anywhere else in the world
except in AFRICA. I have seen a few of these. This list is from a friend in Uganda.

In a restaurant in Zambia:
“Open seven days a week and weekends.”

On the grounds of a private school in South Africa:
“No trespassing without permission.”

On a window of a Nigerian shop:
“Why go elsewhere to be cheated when you can come here?.”

On a poster in Ghana:
“Are you an adult who cannot read? If so, we can help.”

In a hotel in Mozambique:
“Visitors are expected to complain at the office between the hours of
9.00 am and 11.00am daily.”

On a river in the Democratic Republic of Congo:
“Take note: When this sign is submerged, the river is impassable.”

In a Zimbabwean restaurant:
“Customers who find our waitresses rude ought to see the manager.”

A sign seen on a hand dryer in a Lesotho public toilet:
“Risk of electric shock-Do not activate with wet hands.”

In a Botswana jewellery shop:
“Ears pierced while you wait.”

On one of the buildings of a Sierra Leone hospital:
“Mental Health Prevention Centre.”

In a maternity ward of a clinic in Tanzania:
“No children allowed!”

In a cemetery in Uganda:
“Persons are prohibited from picking flowers from any but their own graves.

In a Malawi hotel:
“It is forbidden to steal towels please. If you are not a person to do
such a thing, please don’t read this notice.”

A sign posted in an Algerian tourist camping park:
“It is strictly forbidden on our camping site that people of different
sex, for instance a man and woman, live together in one tent unless
they are married to each other for that purpose.”

In a Namibian nightclub:
“Ladies are not allowed to have children in the bar.”

And the prize goes to…

On the walls of a ‘butchery’ (a shack with a bloodshot, sweaty, short
Kikuyu with an axe) in Kawangware, SW of Nairobi, Kenya.

“We sell all meats…….goat meat, sheep meat, fish meat, chicken meat, beef
meat….”

I was so blessed to be able to attend Joyce Meyer Festival of Life event in Blantyre, Malawi this past weekend. Israel Houghton and New Breed brought it for worship, and of course Joyce was on target with a timely word for the people. Rained every day but this was not enough to keep hungry people from coming to worship God.  Heres a few pics from an incredible event.

I got to spend some time in Tsholotsho (show-loat-show) this past week, just hanging out with the kids for a bit while doing some spot checks on our feeding programs here. Also stopped to check on some gardening projects here, where we are teaching locals to grow their own food. The mainstay of these gardens is a special type of sweet potato developed especially for this program at the University of Zimbabwe. We call it the “born again” sweet potato. It is especially suited for the unique growing conditions in this part of Zimbabwe as Tsholotsho is at the eastern tip of the Khalahari Desert Basin. It’s always exciting to see this kind of empowerment in action.

This really turned out to be Tsholotsho focus week as we also sent a team from Bulawayo for 3 nights of worship and outreach to the villages in the area and on Sunday I led a team of our pastors to preach at some of the locations here. We have been blessed to plant 8 churches in Tsholotsho and the goal was to build up and strengthen these locations and help them to continue spreading the love of Jesus. God showed up at these meetings, we had some incredible ministry time with 750+ showing up to hear the Good News!! Lots of lives transformed, demons cast out and a new beginning in life for so many that gave their lives to Jesus. It’s always exciting to see the power of the Gospel in action.

 Mark 16:15

15 He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.

I just cannot think of anything else I would rather do with my life. Thank you Jesus for the incredible people I get to do life with here in Africa.

15,000 people in Africa will die today, another 15,000 tomorrow and 15,000 more each and every day after that. Think about that for just a minute if you dare. Now add to your thought process another fact. Every single one of them are dying of preventable, treatable diseases – AIDS, malaria and TB due to a lack of drugs that you and I take for granted.  If you have a pulse, that should tug hard on your heartstrings. Here is what has been said about this:

“This statistic alone makes a fool of the idea many of us hold on to very tightly: the idea of equality. What is happening to Africa mocks our pieties, doubts our concern and questions our commitment to the whole concept. Because if we’re honest, there’s no way we could conclude that such mass death day after day would ever be allowed to happen anywhere else. Certainly not North America or Europe, or Japan. An entire continent bursting into flames? Deep down, if we really accept that their lives – African lives – are equal to ours, we would all be doing more to put the fire out. It’s an uncomfortable truth”

I found it interesting that the author of the above statement is not a great church leader or statesman or diplomat. It’s the thoughts of a rock star by the name of Bono as he tries to answer the question “who is my neighbor?”

That’s a question I’ve been wrestling with lately. Here are some of my thoughts. Poverty is a complex “web” that has a whole lot of causes and even more effects, way more than I have even thought of I’m sure.  I often wonder what my life would be or would have been had I been born in another latitude and longitude, where there weren’t quite as many choices.  I have surely done a lot of stupid things but the opportunities available were always there. Not so many opportunities exist elsewhere. Things that we take for granted, clean water, access to food and medical care, education are just not enjoyed by most of the rest of the world.

I’m thinking one of the biggest reasons for a “lack of action” is that we tend to depersonalize the statistics. Every one of those 15,000 people, men , women and children have a name, have a face and was created by God for a purpose. I of course spent most of my life in the West and I can remember my own thoughts as I read or heard such a “statistic”.  You look at the number, maybe read the whole story and most all of us will have a moment of genuine compassion, maybe even send a check to help. But it’s only a moment, it doesn’t last. Then we turn the page (or channel) to look at the sports news, financials, sales ads, etc. We go to the mall, go to the grocery store, go on our cruises and getaway vacations and live in our homes with clean water and central heat and air. I’m not bashing America and the west. Our nation was founded on Godly principles by God fearing men and I believe that’s why we are the most prosperous nation in the world. (its also a testimony to God’s grace and long suffering that we still hold that place)  I make no apologies for Americas’ prosperity, it’s still the greatest nation in the world to live.

However, as a radically changed follower of Jesus (I have learned to not use the “Christian” label, it means a whole lot of things to a whole lot of people all over the world!!)  I believe that the Bible says over and over again that we are to take care of those who cannot take care of themselves, to give to others who do not have as much as we have, to give out of our abundance.  I asked God a few years ago to break my heart for what breaks His, that I would go wherever He sent me to be His hands and feet. So here I am in Africa and the numbers are no longer impersonal. I know the names of the children I have held in my arms as they take their last breath, the name of the mother dying of AIDS related illnesses who has 5 small children she is leaving behind to fend for themselves, in a world that terrorizes and victimizes the smallest and weakest. These kids can be subject to the most hideous cruelty and abuse you can imagine, many times by extended family members who are supposed to love them.  I have found a place to stay for the 9 year old girl who came to a service and met Jesus, and no longer wants to be peddled off to her grandmothers men friends so she can “earn her keep”

These are but a few of the horror stories but I also get to see the hope, the success stories. Through our church plants here in Zimbabwe and in partnership with other organizations, we get to feed over 18000 children every day. More importantly we can show them that they are loved, that they have value in the eyes of their Creator. I get to see the hopelessness of a child nearly starving to death turn into a smile and beaming eyes of a child that now has hope for another day. To see a mother who we have been able to teach a skill and provide the resources for her to begin making a living for her family.  There is always hope in the middle of hopelessness.  Hopes name is Jesus!!!!  The pics are just a snapshot of some of the faces that go with the statistics. These are all people that have touched my life and my heart. Take a look and ask yourself….Who is my neighbor?

Yesterday was graduation day for our second class to complete  6 months of  intensive training for sewing. These ladies (and 1 gentleman!!) were all awarded completion diplomas in a special ceremony at all 4 of our city services yesterday and treated to lunch in the afternoon. The outfits you see them wearing in the pics were all made by the graduates as part of their training. This is an incredible project which began with an idea from Pastor Chipo along with some other Celebration ladies that we could permanently impact lives by teaching a skill that could be used in the marketplace. Through the efforts of Pastor Kerri and our SHINE ladies at the conference in 2008 we were able to purchase a number of industrial grade sewing machines as well as fund the instructor and materials for the first graduating class. With help from another generous donor we were able to fund the second round of  graduates you see in the pictures. Its just amazing to see the pride and joy instilled in these people in learning a skill that can help them to support themselves and their families. We have already been able to bless some children with school uniforms and we  pray the economic climate here will continue to improve and that we will eventually obtain contracts to  turn this into not only a self supporting venture but a profit center as well.

Here’s a few pictures from our recent team from Celebration Church. What an amazing group of people from an amazing church that came to minister the love of Jesus with their Zimbabwe church family. We truly are one church with many locations. The pictures speak for themselves.

As I get the opportunity to work with all these thousands of children that God has placed in our path, I’ve been stuck on thoughts of growing lately. Growing in God more specifically. Not only how to disciple and help others to grow and ultimately grow new leaders for the hundreds and thousands that are coming to know Jesus every day, but driving it back to a personal level. How am I growing in God?

I know that God wants us to grow, to become perfected in Christ, being totally and utterly fulfilled and satisfied in Him, complete and lacking nothing. So here are some questions and thoughts that challenged me.

-Am I growing in my relationship with Christ?       2 Peter 3:17-18

 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ  NIV

- Am I growing in my God given passion and gifts? Am I “stirring up” those gifts and exercising the passions that are in my heart?

- Am I growing in my love capacity, the ability to put the needs of others above my own?

Rom 15:1-3

15:1 We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. 2 Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. 3 For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.   NIV

- Am I growing in the area of community life? Doing life together is the best way to grow in our relationship with God and with each other.  This is a family that can never be broken. As we get to know each other better we can know Christ in a deeper way. After all, we have “Christ in us, the hope of glory”

 Acts 2:42-44

42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common.   NIV

Ok so here’s another Africa adventure I had last week that I thought was worth sharing for the comedy value if nothing else. I’m still trying to get my arms around what God is doing here at Celebration Church in Zimbabwe. 22 locations, 28 services per week, training, serving teams, plans for buildings, property stand acquisitions plus the feeding programs keeps way too much stuff on my desk sometimes. In an attempt to get organized I decide I want some manila, 3 tab folders. Sounds easy, right?  Actually I knew from the start the 3 tab feature was probably just a pipe dream, I was gonna be lucky to get the folders. After a couple stops with no luck I decide to delegate my frustrations to one of our guys at the office. So I give him an old beat up one that I had from the U.S.and he returns saying, yes he found some, the company will bring them over right away. You see in the picture what I received later in the day at a cost of R5 (about 65 cents) per folder. Hand made folders…..and the best part is they were PINK!!!  I’m still wondering how people in Zimbabwe file things or do they just keep everything in organized piles like me?

The other picture is from a bag of candy that is sold here. I loved the “rich in glucose” announcement on the front. Very creative way of saying “loaded with sugar” I’m sure every mom gets fired up about getting some of these for the kids!!

Here’s another fun fact I learned recently. Police roadblocks here are just a way of life. Usually they just want to see my license and import permit for my vehicle. Not so this day, he asks me for my radio permit. Of course I have no idea what he’s talking about. He says I see you have a radio in your vehicle and I agree. He proceeds to inform me that I must obtain a permit for my radio and I could be fined and imprisoned for not having one. I’ve never heard of such a thing and I’m thinking this is another “fundraiser” so I make my donation to the cause and he lets me go on my way. I later find out that you do in fact need to buy a permit for the radio in your vehicle for the mere cost of $35. I truly do love Africa, never a dull moment here!!!

Hmm…Maybe it’s time for another “10 Things About Africa” list? I’m sure I have 10 or more new ones since the last one.

 Seems like it always comes back to the children. We have begun looking at some facilities in the city to begin sending regular ministry teams to just love on people and pour out the love of Jesus. I went to Isaiah’s Home of Love yesterday for a visit to see if we could open a relationship with them to begin sending teams. I was blessed and saddened at the same time to spend time with these babies and hear some of their stories. The little guy you see sitting in the crib is one of their newest additions who was found abandoned in the bush. The stories are the same for most all 20 of these kids, they have been dropped off in some of the strangest places, thrown away and unwanted by their worldly parents.  

I’m so glad that Jesus never, never leaves or forsakes His children.  Here’s what Jesus had to say about children:

Matt 19:14

14 Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

I have to really honor and respect the ladies who spend their days caring for these beautiful children. It’s real service to God when you are willing to serve someone who can do absolutely nothing for you in return. Pray for these special servants and especially pray for the children of Zimbabwe. There are so many more just like these that never get the opportunity to be loved.