Mountain Bike Evangelism in Zambia
Below is a letter from a recent participant in the Mountain Bike Evangelism program running in Zambia. Riding bikes and sharing God's Word!
Mulibuanchi!!!
Those 18 days in Africa just flew by so quickly!!! How can I summarize this amazing experience in a report page? It is almost impossible - I thank Father for giving me the opportunity to go and be part of what He is doing in this part of the world.
Zambia is a beautiful country, similar to Latin America in its infrastructure and government. Zambia's population is approximately 10 million people and Kwacha is its currency. The poverty level is worse than Latin America and the unemployment rate is of 40%; the lack of orphanages and schools for kids and medicine for the sick is great. Zambia is a peaceful country, the people are kind and don't like to get into trouble. The food is different from the Americans but a little similar to the food of the native Indians in Ecuador. Zambia has 72 different dialects, but English is the national language. I learned some words in Bemba and Nyanga. Zambia was declared a Christian nation a few years ago but people need to be discipled and need to understand that it is not about religion or denomination but a personal relationship with our Creator.
After two days of traveling from the US to Zambia, my team and I arrived to Lusaka and stayed there for 5 days. We had orientation for a day and then we visited the market and started work there, meeting people and building relationships. We shared our purpose of being in their country, prayed for them, listen to their life stories and spiritual needs, and took every opportunity to share Christ's love with them. We did this each morning, and in the afternoon we began our the biking training - it was so very physically demanding.
We had to get use to the 6,000 ft altitude, the big hills and the sandy and rocky roads of this country. In the market the Father gave me the opportunity to meet many people but one special girl stands out in my mind; her name is Grace. She is Roman Catholic, her parents died 6yrs ago and now she is the head of a household of six. She works at a beauty salon and tries to do her best to bring the necessities to her house. Grace and I built a sincere friendship, which gave me the opportunity to invite her to Chelston Baptist Church on Sunday morning.
After the Sunday service, we went out for lunch with the rest of the team and later Grace and I spent time conversing about each others lives and beliefs. This allowed her to opened up and share with me her inner pain and her spiritual needs. Grace was saved 4yrs ago but she needs to continue growing in Christ. That same afternoon we had a Bible study about the love and sovereignty of God. Pray for Grace, that the Holy Spirit will make her understand God's Word and that she will be able to share the truth with her family.
The next five days we went to the Eastern Province to start the evangelism surveys in the villages. It took us 4 hrs in car to get to Shikaveta, our base camp. This is a little village were the Baptist mission has already planted a church and where our translators live. We divided the team in two different groups to make our work more effective and efficient.
Team # 1 stayed in the based camp and commute everyday to the villages surrounding the area. Every day they rode 15 to 35k, and did an excellent job!!! They met people that never heard the name of Jesus before and had the privilege of leading them to Christ. They also learned more about the work of the Catholic Church and the Jehovah Witness in this area. The day after its arrival to the base camp, team # 2 left the camp on a 50K bike trip to a village named Mbosya. It took us 7 hr to get there. The road was the hardest I ever biked. Some parts were very rocky, others dry, others of thick sand, and uphill; sometimes I thought I was not going to make it!!!.
Finally on Tuesday at two in the afternoon we arrived to Mbosya, a village where there is no evangelical work and the people are ready to know more about our Savior. The Catholic Church has reached this area but has not followed up with the work there. But they have prohibited the people from reading the Bible, which means there are very few Bibles available. We stayed two days in Mbosya sharing the gospel hut to hut by day and campfire preaching at night. It was here that I had the opportunity to share a Bible study with the women; they are so precious, with humble hearts, so dedicated to their homes and role as mothers and wives (which taught me so much) but they lacked one thing, they had forgotten how valuable and important they are to our Father; how much He cares for them and how special He has made them. The joy in their hearts after we all studied God's Word was overwhelming. They started to sing praises, clapping and dancing, all these in honor and thanksgiving to the Lord. It was so beautiful to see that God spoke to them that night.
The people in Mbosya were happy that we were there to share God's hope with them; their hearts are ready to receive God's Word. The response was incredible, over a hundred people prayed to receive Christ and 24 signed up confirming they are ready to start a church there.
Pray that work in these remote areas will be done, that Bibles in Bemba will get there soon as well as more workers willing to share the Truth with these precious people.
On the13th, the two teams got back together and head back to Lusaka. The following two days we visited Livingston town and Victoria Falls. Our last day in Lusaka, Maegon and I visited House of Moses, which is an orphanage with only babies and toddlers. This visit opened my eyes to the need for orphanages and people that have the heart to work with kids in Africa and share God's unconditional love with them.
There is so much to do in the world!!!. God wants to use you and me. We just need to be available for Him. He doesn't need us but He gives us the opportunity and the privilege to be part of what He is doing in all the nations. What are two weeks, two months or two years of your life to GO and see God's work and be part of it? Why are we so egocentric? Why do we only think in our own success and are careless about other people's lives? Why do we spend millions and millions of dollars on things not really necessary. Why do we care so much about what people of our social status would say instead of taking a little time to look out and see the world and its condition?! God our Abba is in control of our lives, He already has planned our future. Let's not be afraid to put aside our plans and GO out wherever He takes us!! He rewards this obedient attitude; be adventurous, let Him show you the beautiful places and people He's made, and the work He has done and is doing and will continue to do! The way He is making His name known even with few or no workers in the field. Let Him show you and me how real He is and how much more we need of Him!!! I pray that all of us will let Him use us here at home and in other parts of the world. That where ever we are we will proclaim His name fearlessly, that we will acknowledge Him in everything we do, so people will see Christ through us and that we will be attentive to the Holy Spirit's guidance.
Thanks to all of you for supporting this trip and the people in Zambia. Your prayers are appreciated and needed. Continue to pray for this country and its people and ask God to send more workers to the harvest. "Serving God is not a job, It's an adventure"
To Him be all the glory,
~ CRIS ~