I wish I had been able to send out this newsletter sooner than this, but as soon as I landed in America from Zambia I hit the ground running. The day after I arrived back in the states, I began street evangelizing with my older brother Ben, which was super awesome! I had been looking forward to doing this with him for quite some time. I now have wonderful stories from that to share at some point.
The month I spent in Zambia was unbelievable. I grew so much! Before I flew over there, I had asked God to show me something that would just blow me away. I just wanted God to do something that was just super cool. (I think that most of us secretly desire this!) He sure answered my request! If I wrote every story that occurred in Zambia here it would be a small novel; so I just want to hit on something that really impacted me, and I believe, will impact all of you. When I first arrived in Zambia I was talking with one of my good Zambian friends who was talking about the reality of God. He was saying that if God says He is your Healer, then let that become a reality in your life rather than just empty words. God is our Refuge, Provider, Healer, Defense, Creator, Savior, Comforter, Cornerstone, Father, Friend, King, High Priest, Groom, Strength, All in All, and so many more things. These are just a small portion of the “titles” of who and what God is and integral to His character and how He relates to us. Essentially, are we going to just read and say this is who He is or are these traits of His an actual reality in our lives that we respond to? Do we believe this is who God is to us and for us? This message really stuck with me. I want all of those titles to be reality in my heart.
One day in Zambia, a few others and I were doing hut to hut ministry. It had been a pretty fruitful day. We did ministry at a bar and saw many of the men there give their lives to God. We saw many people saved that day. Finally, we went to the last hut for that day. We had to descend a small hill as we came to the hut. Two older ladies sat outside as we approached and pulled up the stools and a tarp to sit on. One lady was more heavy set and the other one a smaller lady. Immediately I noticed a necklace on the larger lady which looked to be a charm, a tell-tale sign that she had visited the witchdoctor. As we talked with her about it she said that she had it to relieve neck pain. We asked if the charm had worked. She said no and suddenly ripped it off. She then later explained that she had already given her life to Christ. It is probably why she so readily got rid of the charm. She knew deep down that she shouldn’t have been wearing it. As we came to know her, she began to pour out to us that she was a widow and had no one to provide for her. I told her that God is our Provider and that we can’t just read that or know that, but we have to let that become a reality in our lives. We can know God is our Father but that is different from that being a reality in our lives. I explained that revelation of God being her Provider should be a reality to her. Then a girl in our group decided she would read a portion of Matthew chapter six which is an excellent spot for talking about provision. I kid you not. as soon as she finished reading that passage, a boy walked up to the hut with a bag of oil and sugar and some other things. One of the men in the group recognized the boy. He remembered a few days ago visiting that boy’s hut and leading him to the Lord along with nine of his siblings (as I recall). He prophesied over the boy that he would be a servant of God. We asked the boy after the food was brought why he brought it. The boy said that as he was playing with some of his friends a man approached him and told him to bring the bag to the lady. God was already partnering with the boy to provide for another just a few days after he found Jesus! This was such a powerful illustration to this widow lady how God provides! God made His title as Provider a reality in her life. A few days later a man from our group walked by her hut and saw fish drying on her roof. God was providing like crazy for her!
The lady looking up is the one who God was showing himself a reality to.
I want to emphasize this truth in your life. Make God a reality. He is your Shelter, and Strong Tower. He is your Protector. See these things as real and not just words. I want each of those characteristics I listed above to be a strong reality in my life so I can speak with all honest conviction and people will realize I’m not just speaking empty words. I want to know God as all of those wonderful traits! That lady will know God as her Provider very well, but what about in the other things? Will she know God as her Protector? Perhaps you know God as your Protector but not Provider. Get to know every detail of God so that way you can have more faith in your relationship with Him. After all, how can you have faith in a God you don’t know?
I am about 60% funded, so if you or anyone you know might be interested in supporting a missionary monthly, then contact me or have them contact me. I would love to chat. I deeply thank all of you who have partnered with me. You are on a team that is destroying Hell for a living and bringing heaven on earth to people. I am honored to have you as a part of the team.