Hello there everyone,
I am writing this blog from the safety and comfort of the New Life Vineyard office in Capetown, South Africa. I wasn't planning on being here until next week, but my travel plans shifted suddenly. Over the last couple of weeks, I was visiting some of the Vineyard churches around Zambia with two guys from South Africa and was also scheduled to go into the Congo with them briefly. Last Saturday, they got some tragic news that a man from their fellowship here in Capetown had been killed in a motorcycle accident. So, we cancelled the rest of the stops on our tour and headed back here for the memorial service, which was yesterday. Please pray for the family and friends of Paul Murfet.

I want to give you all a quick update on what has been going on over the last couple weeks. Two Saturdays ago, I met John Fischer and Carl Schmidt in Lusaka. They are both leaders of this Vineyard church in Capetown, and have also been heading up the outreach, church planting, and leadership development for the Vineyard churches in Southern Africa. The time I have spent with them has been very productive in terms of just learning a lot. I have found that all of the things that I love about being a part of the Vineyard in Jax Beach are things that they are committed to building into the Vineyards throughout Southern Africa. I am really excited to go to the pan African Vineyard Conference in a couple of weeks.

While I was in Zambia with John and Carl, we visited a number of the Vineyard Churches there. It was really cool meeting the pastors and the people. We spent a few days in Lusaka, a few days in Kitwe, and a few days in Kasempa. Kasempa was interesting. It was the furthest from civilization that I have been since coming here. It was a small town about 3 hours from the nearest real city (Solwezi-which for the record is a real hotspot for witchcraft). They still had electricity and such, but there wasn't a gas station or a proper grocery store. There was a little town market with a bunch of little shops, but the store owners have to go to Solwezi to buy all their stuff, so everything is really expensive, at least by Zambian standards.

While we were there, we had a conference for the 5 Vineyard Churches in the area. Probably around 200 people attended. (This has very little to do with the story, but the head pastor in that area is an avid hunter and has said that he will take me sometime. I found that quite exciting.) During the conference John and Carl and I all did the teaching on the theme of maturing as a Christian. It was a profitable time of ministry.

After that was over, we hit the road headed for South Africa. Leaving Zambia, we crossed into Namibia and there was an immediate difference in the condition of everything. As soon as we left the border post, it was like, "You ARE now in Kansas, toto." It was almost instantly very first world. You can even tell by looking at a gas station. It isn't run down and dirty and all that. Namibia was for quite a long time (and still kind of is) an extension of South Africa. During the drive, I saw a giraffe, a couple of orycx (a type of antelope, not orcs all you LOR nerds) some springbok and countless warthogs, known as pumbas (turns out the lion king guys did their homework). As we got into the southern part of the country it began looking a lot like the american west does through Arizona and into California. It was a very beautiful drive. Once we crossed into South Africa, it became even more beautiful as we were driving right through an amazing stretch of mountains with expansive farms in between. There were also the beginnings of a wildflower bloom in the valleys that is famous around the world. It wasn't in full swing yet, but you could see patches of yellow and lavender and orange wildflowers starting to pop up in the fields of the valleys. It was like each scene was better than the next.

The final stretch before reaching Capetown was perhaps the most amazing. You come through this narrow pass in the mountains and this immense valley opens up in front of you. It stretches out for probably fifty or more miles (that you can see) and the entire valley is broken up into giant farms. The fields are different colors of green or yellow or clay depending on what is planted in them and how far along it is in the growth process. The squares of the different fields made the whole valley look like a giant quilt. It was quite stupid of me not to buy a camera before I came here. Honestly, what was I thinking? Anyway, you will just have to take my word for it until next time.

Since arriving here, I have been hanging out with John and his family. They let me tag along to a couple of family functions. That is watching rugby and having a braii (that is afrikaans for bbq). These guys like meat. Today for lunch I had a steak, some sausage, and some pork. That should cover all the basic food groups. Bonos and Sticky Fingers got nothing on this. I think if I lived here permanently I might develop heart disease before I turn 35. It is really good eating though. John and his family have made me feel extremely welcome too.

Today church was good. The message really never happened as worship time just flowed and flowed on and God began to move. I love the Vineyard. I am looking forward to seeing where I fit with the church(es) in Zambia. That about sums up the last couple weeks for me. At least it hits the highlights for you. Please continue to keep me in prayer as I am still trying discover more of the specifics of what I am supposed to be doing here. It is starting to take shape, but there are still plenty of questions. The answers seem to be coming along at just the right time though. God is pretty good at that.

Love you all,
dave

Posted by Dave Lashbrook at 3:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Home From Africa

Today, for the first time in three and a half weeks (give or take a few days), I drank a Starbucks coffee. I know that doesn't sound especially fascinating, but when one really loves coffee, and one isn't able to have it consistently, or even at all, for a sustained period of time, one becomes excited about the prospect of drinking a real cup. Not this instant crap, which is what has been keeping me going for the past three weeks. That, and God.

Today I am back in the states. For those of you who were unaware, I have been in Zambia since the beginning of July. It's been nearly a month, and I still cannot believe that it's over. It went by much faster than I expected. I am sitting in my own living room, in my green computer chair, and I am viewing MySpace pages, and I am reading and responding to emails, and it still doesn't seem like I'm really home. Kind of surreal. I still have not had a shower since leaving Mufulira at 11:00 pm on Thursday evening (Jacksonville time).

Coming home, I've been feeling so many different things. One of the big things is the rising dread of returning to the first world, with bills, and jobs, and possible jobs, and a very acute lack of money (I'm sensing a...money theme). For different reasons, some of which I will keep to myself, I have felt anxiety and worry. I spent a decent amount of time writing in my journal on the way home about that. And praying, also. I feel much better about the things I was anxious about. One of the things I tend to do...in life...is get ahead of myself. I'm so anxious to know the plan, to know what is ahead. I want all the details, and I worry about details that haven't been given to me, which is so pointless. I mean, worrying about things that have not and may not happen. I do that a lot. It's never a good idea.

I've also thought a lot about Africa. I cannot possibly describe what that land is like in a way that will do it justice. I think it is what you might imagine it would be. It was kind of like I imagined. There were villages, actual villages, with actual clay and thatch huts. The huts were all packed together, with tiny paths beat out by feet. In fact, throughout the town we stayed in, Mufulira, we saw those paths. They were everywhere. Walking is a main form of transportation. It reminded me of an ant farm. I had one of those once as a kid. At first, it was a wall of sand. But then, slowly, little tunnels were built, one at a time. Finally, just before I let the ants go, the entire wall was an intersecting maze of criss-crossed tunnels. That's what these paths were like.

I thought that I would be scared in Zambia, that my personal safety was at stake, that I would encounter the kind of violence that you see in the media. When people here in the states think of Africa, they think of AK47's and tribal conflicts, and child soldiers, and a general atmosphere of violence. I know, because when I told people where I was going before I went, they all furrowed their brows in worry. But Zambia isn't really like that at all. I saw absolutely no violence while I was there. I didn't feel threatened while in the market or taking a walk.

On the contrary, everyone that we met and talked with seemed extremely grateful that we were there; grateful for what we were doing with the orphans, grateful for the HIV/AIDS education that we provided. It was interesting...in Zambia, everyone is tuned into HIV. You see signs of it everywhere: in the national newspaper, in comic strips; on the news. People are aware of it, people are terrified of it, and still, so many people seemed fairly ignorant about it.

We spent everyday playing with kids. Just...playing with them. Giving them attention, giving them the kind of love that they ought to be receiving from an adult anyway. We had a routine: arrive at 10 hours; play, play, play; sing songs; have a dance party (really, just a bunch of kids dancing for other kids); talk about God; do an art project; play some more. I think the bulk of our ministry was in time spent with the kids. Not necessarily giving them a sermon, but holding them, holding their hands, playing games, communicating as well as we could, and smiling. I think that those things can do an amazing amount of good for an orphan whose never really known the love or care of an adult.

We were also able to pay school fees for those who needed it through the month of December. For those children, we bought uniforms and school shoes. For everyone, we bought some new shirts, a new pair of flip flops, and some of the kids also received some lace-up shoes. Everyone got a goody bag with treats inside. I was very glad to be able to provide for some of the material needs of the children while we were there.

Coming back, I realized that I felt love for the land and the people in Zambia. Real love. I'm not sure what my future holds as far as Zambia or Africa is concerned, but I do know that I'd like to go back. I definitely would like to go back.

As I mentioned earlier, I have not yet had a shower. My body has put up with the filth for long enough. My pores are screaming, "What are you doing to us? We are greasy, and we are only becoming more greasy as you type!" Not really, because they can't talk...but that's what they would say if they could. So, I really need to go. I hope that I've given you a little bit of something of Africa. Something of what it's like to be there, something of what it meant to me. Something...enough...to maybe want to go yourself someday. ---Sarah

Posted by Sarah Cope at 9:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It has been a couple days since I wrote anything so I figured I better let you all know that I am alive. I spent the weekend at a missions conference in a town called Kabwe, about 2 hours south of here. The conference was for African Missions, except not the way we think about it. It was for african missionaries to other african nations. It was really cool...and really long. The program ran from 730am to 9pm everyday and began Fri night and went Sat, Sun, and Mon. I didn't teach or anything like that, I was just there as an attendee. I got to hear about some folks doing stuff way more intense than anything I have considered.

There were a handful of folks that were so deep in the bush that it is a 30-50 mile bike ride or walk just to get to the nearest road, where you might be able to hitch a ride the remaining 100-150 miles to town. The only running water is a river, and the only electricity is the occasional lightning storm. Hard core missions. I hope God doesn't call me into that. Anyway, it put a lot into perspective for me. The teaching at the conference was really good as well. Now, I am back in Ndola chilling for a couple days. This weekend I will be linking up with a couple of Vineyard guys from South Africa and will begin doing some serious travelling. We will go to 6 cities in about three weeks and they are all quite far apart. I will probably not get to post or respond to emails very often during that time, so please be patient. Talk to you soon,

dave

Posted by Jeremy Brookins at 8:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Shaji George, of Kottoyam, India has recently launched a new website that shares some of his vision for the Children’s Home he runs. We encourage you to take a look at the site and especially some of the profiles on the orphans who live there: http://www.scgvision.org

Posted by Cliff Rainer at 3:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)