Filled with Joy

I promised to write on our blog more, and I want to keep that promise.

We just finished working with an amazing team from Ridgecrest Baptist Church in Springfield, Missouri. The pastor and his family have a ministry called “Wells of Joy” which focuses on ministering to God’s servants. And that is exactly what this team did. They came to Zambia and ministered to about 50 church leaders and wives and to us and several other missionaries. It was an awesome time of teaching, preaching, and encouraging through testimonies and music. You can read more details on the Wells of Joy blog: http://www.wellsofjoy.com/blog.htm

Before the team came, we were really wondering if the leaders would come—RSVP is not really understood here. We were wondering if the Wells of Joy team would go home disappointed. Why do we worry when we serve such a BIG God! The week before the conference, the Lord just kept pointing us to passages of scripture that talked about faith. Together we decided that we were going to believe that good things were going to happen. Not only did good things happen, but “great” things happened. This was the first time in our eleven years in working in the southern province of Zambia, that almost all our church leaders came together, were encouraged and strengthened, and had opportunity to really get to know one another and find out what was happening in other places of the southern province. We were really excited to see that they got together on their own during one of the breaks to make plans for working together in the future. Our goal is to work ourselves out of a job, and that is what we saw happening. God is up to some great things and we are so privileged to be a part of what He is doing.

After the conference, when we sat with the team, we were encouraged by the Pastor, Hosea Bileyu, to include “margin” in our lives. I think he could see that this is not something we have much of. And so, we did just that. Instead of going to Lusaka to say good-bye to the team, we bid them adieu from our home. This was hard to do, but it was a good thing. We desperately needed the rest.

My 52nd birthday was on Saturday, and Wes asked me what I wanted to do. I said, “Just stay home.” Although Wes didn’t think that this was a very good birthday present, it was the best one for this time. He spoiled me! He washed clothes, helped clean up the house, baked a cake, made homemade ice cream, and cooked a great supper of baked chicken, corn and Stove Top. It was awesome!

I think I like this new idea of margin. Thanks Hosea for the tip, and thanks to the whole team for a great week of encouraging our leaders and us!