29 July   Not sure why the text never showed up when I posted this…here it is.

James 1:27-2:1

 27 Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.

Yesterday was just another one of those days that I was reminded how much fun it really is to serve Gods people through Celebration Church. Obviously I am a huge believer in the power of the local church in the community as we band together in the name of Jesus and reach out to the lost and hurting, empowering everyone to put God first and foremost in their lives. In addition to feeding and ministering to the children we also do our best to lift up and empower the widows in the community.

Yesterday afternoon was our monthly Widows Tea, when we gather all the ladies together for tea and cakes as well as some fellowship time, testimonies  and sharing from the Word  by one of the Pastors. We recruit all of our staff pastors to come and serve the ladies just as a small gesture to honor them. Yesterday brought 30 of these incredible ladies, many of whom are real heros in my eyes. Losing a husband is a devastating situation no matter where you live but in Africa the culture can make these situations nearly unbearable. Not only do many of these ladies have little or no skills, they may also very likely be infected with HIV/AIDS brought home to them by their late husbands. These women have little and no “rights” in this culture and many times the husband family will arrive to take all the possessions as well as the home, throwing the wife and children out into the streets.

Listening to the testimonies from a couple of the ladies yesterday made me realize just how thankful to God I need to be each and every day for all He has done. One of the ladies talked about how grateful she was to God for bringing new customers for her business. Now mind you, her business is selling worms, spending her days digging to obtain her “product” and she was genuinely happy that she was able to make her living for her and her children in this manner. Another of the ladies was simply thankful to have Celebration Church in the lives of her and her children and  without that love and support she just could not have made it through. Lets remember  today and every day to be thankful for all that the Lord has done for us. No matter how bad your situation may seem to be, there’s always someone else who is likely in worse shape than you. Reach out beyond yourself today. You will be amazed at how very small your problems will seem when you stretch out a hand to another.  What an awesome God we serve. 

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It truly is all about the children. This is the mantra used at Childrens Cup, I believe that was coined by founders Dave and Jean Ohlerking and 2 of my all time personal heros by the way. God continually illuminates this truth to me here in Africa in so many different ways. We have had some meetings with one of our partner organizations that supplies a great deal of the food we are distributing here. There were a number of other partners in the roundtable and it was great to hear the stories of all the many thousands of hungry children being fed all across Africa. One survey that was done just this week really hit home. Out of 58 children surveyed at one of the feeding points, 9 reported that they would have anything else to eat that day other than the food being provided. That means that 84% of these kids are getting their only meal provided through the efforts of our volunteers and partners. Seems a bit hard to believe in America I know but that is the unfortunate reality that is Zimbabwe right now. I am so grateful to be a part of simply feeding the next generation here but the best part is we are also pouring the love and light of Jesus into all of them. These kids are the future leaders of Zimbabwe and what better way to a brighter future can there be other than by raising up Godly leaders?

Prov 22:6

6 Train a child in the way he should go,

and when he is old he will not turn from it.

NIV

Heaven gained another beautiful flower while Celebration Zimbabwe lost a staff family member this week. Siphiso Mhlanga was our receptionist and dedicated servant with our Sauerstown campus. At 25 years old our time with her was way too short and we will surely miss her smiling face from the front desk at our offices. She was always the first face I would see coming into the office and always looked forward to hearing her sing “Paaaasssstor Miiike” upon my arrival.

We experience a lot of death here in Africa, so much more than in the U.S. Funerals are a very big part of ministry here but this one hit closer to home. It’s really been a blessing to be a part of the response which we have poured out on the family. Most of our staff was able to go to the house to pray with the family first thing the following morning. We then were able to actually shift our Wednesday mid week service and held it at the family home as a memorial service. There were a good number of visitors there that were able to see first hand the love of Jesus in action. Tonight we will do another service in Sauerstown and expect a large crowd. Celebration Zimbabwe has been able to help the family with the funeral and burial expenses which will be tomorrow. We are looking for God to bring great things out of a sad situation. Please pray for our staff and Siphiso’s family this week.    

Yes that’s right. Its time for part 2 of “Meet The Pastors” series. This is a way of introducing the men and women of God who make up our Pastoral staff at Celebration Church Zimbabwe. Lets get right to introducing these important people.

At the top of the page are Pastor and Mrs. Godfrey Mifukidze, pastoring our 2 locations in Chiredzi, namely Chambuta and Chibweziwe campuses. (yes I still struggle with the names too!!). Chiredzi is a dry, hot, seemingly God forsaken place in the south east portion of Zimbabwe. Chiredzi has the distinction of being our location furthest from Bulawayo and only accessible during the dry season by way of crossing a crocodile infested river. Its always a pleasure to reconnect with Pastor Godfrey as we don’t get to see him as often as we would like.

   Next in line is Pastor Edson Dube and wife. (Sorry I’m not sure of all the wives names just yet) They are pastoring in an area called Tsholotsho. (show-loat-show) This is an area which sits on the edge of the Kalahari Desert and is the area in which we are most heavily concentrated in feeding children, some 12,000 kids in 18 primary schools. This has led to 8 Celebration Church locations as we continue to see the love of Jesus spread throughout this area. For those who would like to challenge your pronunciation skills here are the names of our locations. Central, Ngena, Nembe, Lubizi, Bulle, Matsbizia, Butabubilli and Sandawana.  

   Number 3 in line are Pastors Petros and Blessing Matutu, pastoring our 2 locations in Hwange. This is conveniently located near Hwange National Park as well as right on the way to Victoria Falls. Always a great excuse to go for a visit. We look forward to continued growth in this coal mining area of the country.

   Rounding out todays installment are Pastors Albert and Joyce Ngalu along with their new addition to the family. Pastors Albert and Joyce are the campus Pastors for our Bulawayo central campus as well as heading up our Pastoral care department.  

Please continue to lift up in prayer these awesome men and women of God as they stand on the front lines in a nation which is on the comeback trail.

The Alpha and Omega, Savior, the Beginning and the End, the Lamb of God, Creator, Deliverer, Author of Life, Chief Cornerstone, Good Shepherd,  King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Mighty God, Light of the World, Redeemer, The Way, The Truth and the Life, True Vine, High Priest, Immanuel, I Am, Redeemer, Son of God, Son of Man, Lord of All and most of all Lord of my Life.

Ever wondered what life would be like if you had never come to know Jesus? For me the unequivocal answer is quite simple. My life would have surely ended and I would be stuck in a very warm climate for eternity. Ahhh, but now I live a life that is meaningful and rewarding, one that transverses eternity. I have learned how to love for the first time in my life, I have learned how to live at peace with myself, to finally be comfortable in my own skin, knowing that the Creator of the universe loves me unconditionally and cares about me. I can have a meaningful relationship with Him, knowing that I can always pour out my heart in sorrow and distress, and better yet that I can share my happiness and joy with Him. He has filled that overwhelming emptiness in my heart that drugs, alcohol, relationships or money were never able to fill. He is a true friend who never complains and always has just the right answer, whether I want to hear it or not. Praise the name of Jesus. I am so glad you are in my life.

Not only do I know that I know Jesus is real in my life, but I am also blessed to see Him become real in so many other lives. Day in and day out here in Africa I can witness first hand His miracle working, life transforming power. I see it in the eyes of the hungry child for whom God provides their only meal for the day, the one that would very likely starve to death were it not for this food. I see it in the eyes of the disease wracked human beings who are slowly dying from HIV/AIDS. I see it in the eyes of the teenagers and young adults who only ever knew of a hopeless future before we were able to show them the love of Jesus. There is just no greater joy than to see Jesus bring hope where there was only hopelessness, to see Him bring love where there was nothing but hatred and contempt and to see joy and peace where there was only discouragement and frustration.

What an awesome God we serve.  Take a moment today to give Him thanks for the incredible love, grace and mercy He pours out on each and every one of us….His precious children.  

So here is installment number one of “Meet The Pastors” series. Just wanted to introduce you to the incredible men and women of God that make up our pastoral staff here at Celebration Zimbabwe. Seems like God just continues to bring in just the right people at just the right time (imagine that!!) as we continue to expand. 18 locations and counting. Here are the first 3 for your viewing pleasure.

At the top is Pastor Albert Ncube and his wife. These 2 are pastoring our Mawebeni location, located about an hours drive from downtown Bulawayo. Pastor Albert is also a chaplain in the Zimbabwe military. He is always ready to take on the world!!  

Next in line is Pastor Andrew Sibabanda and his wife, who is wearing an awesome hat, don’t you think? I see some of the coolest headwear on some of the ladies here in Africa. Pastor Andrew and his wife are pastoring Gods people at our Esibomvu location. (That’s my all time favorite name of all our locations.) Esibomvu is located approximately another 10 km beyond our Mawebeni location. He and Pastor Albert work closely together to help empower people to put God first in this growth area of Zimbabwe.

Next in line is Pastor Felix Pahla and his wife Deborah. This couple pastors our How Mine location. Yes, it is a mining community. All the residents of this area work in a gold mine (how cool is that!!) that has just recently reopened with the economy and banking system beginning to stabilize here. The mine has been closed for many months, children were actually starving to death in this area. This is what prompted Celebration Zim to begin feeding here and it was a very short time indeed before a new church began. I love watching God take what the devil intends for evil and turns it into something awesome. This is also a Muslim stronghold. Many of the workers here are followers of Islam from Malawi. We are beginning to see a lot of breakthrough and in Jesus name How Mine is going to be over run for Jesus!!!

 I am blessed to “do life” with these servants of God. Stay tuned for more installments of “Meet The Pastors”    

Sometimes I think we may occasionally lose sight of  what we are REALLY doing in this thing we call church. We run around and struggle to make things just perfect, and well we should. We serve a God of excellence and we should never settle for mediocrity as we introduce people to Him. But at the end of the day, its all about changed lives, healed hearts, minds and love unconditional as people give their heart to Jesus. We had an incredible time at all 20 of our services this weekend. But despite a few meltdowns, Jesus showed up in a big way. As I was privileged to see 17 more people give their lives to Jesus today, along with 118 more last week at our outreaches, I am reminded of the incredible love and mercy that Jesus has shown to me, absolutely none of which I deserved. Each and every altar call this weekend brought me to my knees as we were able to usher new souls into the Kingdom. Thank you Holy Spirit for reminding me of why we do what we do. 

The countdown starts tomorrow for our outreaches in Mawabeni and Esibomvu. Please pray for God to show up in a big way here next week.  Tomorrow we will be holding some training sessions for our workers and leaders from these locations. I will be sharing a little bit about servant leadership/servants heart with our leaders tomorrow. After some research and study, and talking to some people who are a whole lot smarter than me, here’s some of the things I came up with.

In the Bible, greatness is defined by servanthood. Having the heart of a servant is so important. Many times our servants heart can reveal the depth of our maturity. I believe we can serve in a church for a lifetime without ever being a servant……That’s a radical statement, but think about it. In order to really be a servant we must have a servants heart. Here are some points to think about:

1.Servants make themselves available

2 Tim 2:3-4

 4 And as Christ’s soldier, do not let yourself become tied up in the affairs of this life, for then you cannot satisfy the one who has enlisted you in his army

NLT

Do you welcome interruptions as possible divine appointments?

2.Servants pay attention to needs.

Gal 6:10

10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

NIV

Seize the opportunity. Were there any opportunities you missed this week?

3.Servants do EVERY task with equal dedication

Col 3:23

23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men,

NIV

There is only one issue here….”Does it need to be done?”

4.Servants do the best with what they have

Eccl 11:4

4 If you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done.  

TLB

Never have I seen this better illustrated than I have in Africa. What has God put in your hand today?

5. Servants maintain a low profile.

1 Peter 5:5

And all of you must put on the apron of humility, to serve one another; for the scripture says, “God resists the proud, but shows favor to the humble.”

TEV

Self promotion and servanthood don’t mix.

So lets all stand in there for Jesus and have the heart of a servant in everything we do.

1 Cor 15:58

58 So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and steady, always enthusiastic about the Lord’s work, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.

NLT

Thanks for your love, support and prayers.  Why the flower pictures? I could say I just wanted to share some of the beauty of Africa with you and that is true, however the simple truth is I had no pictures to go along with the servanthood topic!!!!

So what in the world is a Mawabeni and an Esibomvu? These would be the 2 newest Celebration Church locations in Zimbabwe. Tell me those aren’t cool names for a church!!  Esibomvu is my favorite, just kinda’ rolls off your tongue. Having 4 syllables you can say it all kinds of different ways. Read on when you get done having fun with this name!!!

We began these 2 locations at the beginning of February in an area of Zimbabwe designated as a “growth point”. I was able to make my first visit to these 2 locations last week to spend some time with the pastors and core leaders of these new churches. What an awesome group of people to help grow Jesus’s  church in Zimbabwe. It’s a rural type environment here, guess I would define it as the next step from a village setting. There is a gas station along with a few small businesses on the main “street”, which is really a very bumpy dirt road. They are beginning to clear an area for a township to be built and there are also schools which we are now using for Sunday services. I asked how many people were living in the immediate surrounding area and was amazed to be told there are around 30,000 living in this area. What a great place to have church. What we have begun to offer in Celebration services seems to be catching on. Those I got to spend time with here say they have never been to church like this!!!  Praise the Lord that we are able to show Jesus to His people in Mawebeni and Esibomvu.

Pictures above are of Pastors Albert Ncube and Andrew Sibanda as well as some of their family and leaders. Asyou can see they are all just fired up about serving Jesus in Zimbabwe. We nearly had a church service right in their front yard. The next step here is to make application for a parcel of property where we can erect another Celebration church home. Please pray for favor as well as resources to allow us to continue to expand the Kingdom.