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.

Together 4 The City. What a great name for what turned out to be an incredible event for the city of Bulawayo. It was organized by one of the local churches with invitations going out to all the churches in the city if they wanted to participate. 8 local churches accepted the “challenge” as it was held on Sunday morning which of course meant giving up a Sunday service at the “home” church. Michael Eaton, an author and pastor from Nairobi, Kenya was in town as the main speaker for the event and he delivered a great message entitled “The 3 Things The Blood Of Jesus Will Do”. Great message, great venue,  great turnout of people; however to me the most amazing part of the whole day was the spirit of unity that was so pervasive one could almost cut it with a knife. I mean think about it, 8 different churches coming together in one unified day of praise and worship to the same God we all worship, I believe the Lord was pleased. This is what heaven will look like. I have never before seen in one place together such a diverse group of followers of Jesus, coming together to give Him the praise and glory He deserves. Young and old, black, white and everything in between, Shona and Ndebele, Baptist and Pentecostal, ALL of God’s people were represented. I truly believe this is the beginning of something new in this city. Lets pray for unity in the body of Christ worldwide. After all, it’s not about our identity but rather HIS identity as author and creator of the universe…..Isn’t it?  

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.