Mission in Zambia: Retreats and Personal Note

As seen from my “Day in the Life” posting, the missionary life is far from languid. And for the last month, we have also been in retreat season wherein every weekend we gather a large group at our retreat center in Kenyama (about 30min from where I stay) to focus on a topic relating to the Passion of Christ. We started a few weeks ago with about 35 servants, talking about Going to Higher Places (ref: Habakkuk 3:12). Once the servants were prepared, we took about 65 youth and young adults and focused on Experiencing the Power of Resurrection (ref: Philippians 3:10). Just this last weekend we had 71 rambunctious young teenagers and we talked about A Love that Never Fails (ref: 1 Corinthians 13:4-8).

Retreat Highlight:
Following a talk by Father Mark (our Zambian priest) on the fellowship of His suffering (Philippians 3:10), all 65 youth and young adults, along with a handful of servants, and led by Father Mark and Father Abraham (see picture) headed into the market and neighborhood surrounding the retreat center singing praises and waving our Bibles. This was quite an audacious move considering that the people of Kenyama think that the Orthodox church are Satanists and that we suck blood during our services. (This misconception is due to Nigerian movies which portray Satanists in similar black dress to what our priests wear.) It was a powerful scene; there we were claiming ourselves as Christians while some looked on in astonishment, others looked away, and others joined in. Truly God is moving in this place!

On a personal note:
Amidst all this retreating for others, today was the first day that I have had to take sometime for myself. I headed to a local coffee shop, kicked off my flip flops and curled into the enveloping couch in the back. As I am currently trying to read the Bible in 90 days, and today I needed to finish through Day 56, I flipped it open to Jeremiah and started in. Unable to fully focus, the American tunes playing in the background made me nostalgic for home, so I popped in my iPod and tried to get back into Jeremiah. But again my thoughts floated, this time to what am I doing here, and what is Biggie’s purpose for me, and other such questions that frequent the mind when attempting to live a life of faith. But today, in conjunction with the relatively disheartening middle chapters of Jeremiah, I was really discouraged and covered my face with my hands to yield a prayer and to shelter the tears that had swelled in my eyes. Just as I was asking God if perhaps I needed to repent more, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I looked up into the face of an elderly man, and he said, “You reading Jeremiah? For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. That’s Jeremiah 29:11.” He sat and chatted with me for a bit, He’s also a missionary in Lusaka, with the Evangelical church from the UK, has his own struggles and what not, but I know God sent Him in that very instant. Tom was today’s angel sent from God to comfort and uplift me; to answer my prayers instantly (it’s not often we get an instant Biggie response!) and remind me that Biggie’s got something in store for me that I can’t fathom or imagine. And incidentally, I hadn’t gotten to it yet, but Jeremiah 29:11 is one of my verses for today’s reading. Biggie, I gotta give it up, He so knows what I need, when I need it.