I spent the past 2 weeks in Zambia Africa. It was part vacation, my wife and I spent 4 days in Livingstone Zambia at Victoria Falls, one of the natural wonders of the world. The second part of our trip was a sort of mission trip to work with disadvantaged kids in Zambia. As wonderful as the falls were and as amazing as all the wildlife was, the kids in Lusaka were what made the trip worthwhile.
We went with an organization called Family Legacy Missions International. My oldest son, Josh, actually works on staff for them and while this was my first trip, my wife was going for her fourth time. I had a pretty good idea what to expect from Zambia, because I have heard all the stories from Julie and Josh about the kids in Zambia.
To say that mission trips are not my thing would be an understatement, but what I had to learn on this trip is it really is not about me or what I think my limited abilities may be. What God expected from me was just to show up and He was more than able to take care of the rest of the details, which he did in a big way. I could probably go on for pages about my experience in Zambia, but in order to not loose you the audience I want to focus on just a couple of important things.
1. I learned that we don't take the devil serious to our own detriment. In America, we have turned satan into a cartoon character and think we have him beat. The truth is he has effectively sidelined what is supposed to be the most powerful Christian nation in the world, just by allowing us to believe we already won and so we become apathetic. I have witnessed the real deal in action and I am here to tell you that you should be very scared. He certainly is no cartoon character.
2. I learned that it really is NOT about me. God has absolutely no need to glorify my abilities, all he needs me to do is show up somewhere. Preferably somewhere so outside my comfort zone that there is no doubt who will be honored when something awesome happens and if you show up something awesome WILL happen.
3. Finally, I learned that no matter how bad we think things are here in the US, we have no idea what really doing without means and no matter how hard we try we have misplaced our priorities. I had the good fortune to meet people who truly have nothing and yet they are happier than some of the most financially successful folks I know. If you think the "American Dream" is where it is at, I challenge you to get outside yourself for a week and find out what really matters.
And read the next 10 pages to learn more about "My boys".
To say that mission trips are not my thing would be an understatement, but what I had to learn on this trip is it really is not about me or what I think my limited abilities may be. What God expected from me was just to show up and He was more than able to take care of the rest of the details, which he did in a big way. I could probably go on for pages about my experience in Zambia, but in order to not loose you the audience I want to focus on just a couple of important things.
1. I learned that we don't take the devil serious to our own detriment. In America, we have turned satan into a cartoon character and think we have him beat. The truth is he has effectively sidelined what is supposed to be the most powerful Christian nation in the world, just by allowing us to believe we already won and so we become apathetic. I have witnessed the real deal in action and I am here to tell you that you should be very scared. He certainly is no cartoon character.
2. I learned that it really is NOT about me. God has absolutely no need to glorify my abilities, all he needs me to do is show up somewhere. Preferably somewhere so outside my comfort zone that there is no doubt who will be honored when something awesome happens and if you show up something awesome WILL happen.
3. Finally, I learned that no matter how bad we think things are here in the US, we have no idea what really doing without means and no matter how hard we try we have misplaced our priorities. I had the good fortune to meet people who truly have nothing and yet they are happier than some of the most financially successful folks I know. If you think the "American Dream" is where it is at, I challenge you to get outside yourself for a week and find out what really matters.
And read the next 10 pages to learn more about "My boys".
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