conference over

it has proven to be more difficult than i anticipated for accessing this blog. it seems like the days and nights are booked solid with activities, construction, conference and ministry.

the conference came to its conclusion today. we had a great group of over 100 teachers representing 40 + pre-12 schools in Zambia. on the third day i gave a presentation on technology more specifically the internet. it went quite well. only about 20 percent had used the internet before the lesson, but they understood the efficient and research capabilities. the country has recently invested in a fiber optic backbone to maintain a high speed connection to some of the neighboring countries. this is a good start to turning around the economy through Information technology.

we held a graduation ceremony today for the teachers and one of the local schools had their children perform plays about being orphans. they were really good- so good that it made us get emotional. many of the team members have been battling sickness. praise God that I have been able to avoid it up until this point.

we will return to the sponsored orphanage and continue our construction efforts tomorrow. we hope to finish off the tile work for the home and have the roofing complete so that the next team that arrives next week will be able to work on plaster and painting.

all for now. i am pooped.

catching up

it has been a few days since my last post. my intentions were to be more active on the blog this year...so much so that i brought technology that would allow me to access the internet any time of day rather than during internet café opportunities. This has proven to be more difficult as the internet café has been down and I have become a ‘café’ to the other team members… I should start an emergency mobile internet business here!

Much has happened in the past few days. The vacation bible school with the avila children was a smashing success. The team was worried at first because of what they believed was going to be a major language barrier. While it did exist, communication easily took place through collaboration and help for pone another. Once the children were comfortable with the ‘mazungu’ they wanted to be your friend for life.

We did this cool project where the children were broken into groups and each group brainstormed on ideas that made up their village. For example groups would complete ideas on food, agriculture, transportation, greetings, weather, architecture, etc. then after compiling that information, we gave the groups disposable cameras so they can take pictures of the items that they brainstormed. We will use the finished written section along with pictures to create an ‘Our Village’ book. What a great idea!

We also took the children to a game park. Here they were able to see chimpanzees, baboons, gazelle, bushpigs, warthogs, and lions. Some of them were able to swim in a pool and go down a high water slide. We gave our little caps that resembled different animals like monkeys, tigers, lions, etc. some of these children have never been away from their local compound. It was a really blessing to see their eyes open to this new experience.

We had church Sunday. I requested to return to BIGCOCA Chaisa to share with Pastor Blackson and his assembly. He has invited me back each year and I have taken to this group. We did the crusades at this compound two years ago. Chaisa is one of the larger but more poverty stricken – if you can believe that - compounds in Lusaka. I was up late the night before completing an update video for the church back in Wildomar so when I prayed to God for what he would have me share with the Chaisa assembly, I thought I was half asleep when what returned was marriage. I mean, come on, I haven’t been married a year and God wants me to talk about marriage! But I listened- and I shared with them the divorce rates in America, the changes to the institution as it was originally intended, the way marriage has been treated more like a contract than a covenant. I shared with them the duty that God has commanded in marriage. That if we love our spouse as if our self, if we care and nurture for it as commanded, than marriage would be victorious. Its simple. I think of a vision of wedding bands interlinked and fitted around the base of the Cross. When Christ is the center of the marriage, there can be no fault, no wrong, no anger. Its strict, but it preserves a loving marriage. It hit home. I asked for people who wanted restoration in their marriages to come forward and we’d pray for them. They did. Women who wanted their husbands to be equally yoked and to take care of the family to not leave them or stray. It was tough – these women were crying out for help. I just pray that God meet them I that place and pierce their husbands hearts and restore marriages.

We start the teachers conference this week. We expect over 150 teachers from all over the country coming to this 4 day event. This has grown from 75 last year and 46 the year before. The theme is Pressing On Phil 3:14

I press toward the mark for the prize
of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Trying to reach for the highest goal. Aiming high. We have many materials to share with them including notebooks, slate boards, calculators, rulers, staplers that have all been donated by people back home. We will be running centers and I will run one on technology. Now you might be thinking, why technology? They don’t have access, right? And the answer is yes and no. currently they don’t have access, but I believe that God has favor in this- His- vision and on the village grounds there will be a computer facility for accessing the internet and software. Information technology is becoming a major player for the countries of Africa. They are realizing that if they can build an infrastructure that can support the needs of IT, it may be the future of their economy. My hope is to give them a cursory understanding of the internet and how it can be used for simple research that can assist them with the lessons. I will be able to show them the internet using the technology I purchased for my own accessed before I left. I Pray that this center would be successful.

I ask that you, my reader, pray for the conference to be a success. That these volunteer educators who will walk 2.5 hours one way to make it to this event be blessed and transformed for they are responsible for the education of the children who will one day lead.