Zambia April 2015

This outreach was very unique for me in many different ways. In the spirit I feel that we are in a very interesting time where God is shifting a lot of things into place and by doing that, some things must also shift out. This is very true in my life but I also feel it is true in many other believers life. All the work I do 100% in faith and the Lord provides every time! We would have been a small team at first but in the end it ended up that I went by myself on this trip. The air ticket was only bought the night before I flew and the money I needed only got into my account when I was already in Zambia; but still the Lord remains faithful and He never fails! When you have a Word from the Lord, you obey. Doesn't matter what others or circumstances tell you! Trust Jesus!

The Lord is really busy in Zambia and we will invest quite a lot into the Tonga people in Zambia. This is all part to reach 600 unreached villages and plant a church in all of them. I think the purpose for this trip was to get a clearer picture of how this will look and what it is that the people that side want; To get a clear picture there and  to bring it back to SA. The Lord also had a lot of personal things He wanted to share with me.

Oliver met me at the airport in Livingstone and informed me that we couldn't proceed as planned due to heavy rains. The roads to the villages are flooded. Albert and Oliver are the two main leaders of Harvest for Christ Ministries in Zambia. It is the two main contacts through which we do all our work in Zambia. We were forced to sleep the evening in Livingstone. But even this was in Gods good will! When we let go of our own plans and just be led by the Spirit divine meetings and things starts to happen.

That evening we met people at the camp where we slept that are missionaries from SA returning from an outreach in Malawi. They were also not going to sleep there but got drawn by the Spirit to spend the night there and then they met us! They were never able to find a contact in Zambia and now they met Oliver! It was one of those meetings that you don't know what or why, but you know its God! We spend some time getting to know them and they blessed Oliver with books and reading materials. 

The following morning I got introduced to Zambian local transport. We left on a bus to a town called Choma just over 200km away. On the bus, before they depart they first preach the Word of God to the people! In Choma we had to change into a taxi. A real African taxi. How this system works is that you wait. The taxi won't leave until it is full. We sat there for hours! Finally with very limited leg space we drove the last 120km (some real bad gravel road) and arrived in a very small town. Here we had to wait for Albert to come and pick us up. I only arrived at camp at ten that evening. We travelled the whole day on just over 300 km. I say this not to complain or anything but it later on in the trip taught me a very valuable lesson. Throughout this whole trip I learned  their world and how they do things. I was part of them most of the time and shared in their lifestyle. This is really important in relationship! I thank God for letting me go through all this!

The following two days I spend time with Albert, Oliver and the pastors discussing how they see the future and just building relationship. We had church services during the day. This was real fun for me and I enjoyed ministering here. I felt the Spirit and enjoyed God's presence as I ministered. It was just special, as if this entire trip God wanted to get me alone and let us spend some time together. There was a deep longing to spend time with the Lord in the wilderness. Two people got born again and about 5 people healed of pain in their bodies during the service.

In the evening we showed the Jesus film to over 300 people and more than 100 became born again and many got healed! All previous attempts to start a church in this area have failed. This is the time of the Lord because there is a church now and it just grew tremendously! One lady, who wanted to become a sangoma  but failed, got assigned by them to break up the churches. She came to the meeting with an agenda, but instead became born again, delivered and filled with the Holy Spirit!

 

The following day I had a late start and we only had church in the afternoon. In my off time I spend time with the Lord and He really spoiled me! It is a very interesting season we are in at the moment. God is preparing us for something really big! The afternoon service went really well as I ministered on our inheritance in Christ and the resurrection Power inside of us. It is the Power to lift up nations! The church united and we resurrected the village and the church took authority over the village and we made some Powerful declarations into the spirit. The evening we showed the Jesus film again and 21 people gave their heart to the Lord and many got healed and delivered of demonic spirits. Witchcraft tried to pop up when the meeting began but only for a few seconds, then it broke in the atmosphere and the Holy Spirit took over and the people got drunk in Him, like just Zambians can!

After the service we started dancing. They put some sort of traditional cloth around the waist and then we danced till we were covered in dust! I last for about one song then I need to take a rest for quite a few songs! These guys just never stop! Fit beyond what I can believe! And everyone of them has got rhythm! Just after midnight I sneaked away and left for camp, still a hour's drive. The following day I learned that around one o'clock the pastors wanted to pack up and go to bed since the morning service starts at 9am. The people refused and begged them to preach for them! They said "We don't have to wait for the white man. You are also pastors and have something from God. Share it with us!!" This blessed me more than anything! The people are desperate for God! Just the simplicity of it! If it's God, they want it! They are fed up with the old and are desperate for Him! I have not seen hunger anywhere in the world as I have seen among the Tonga's. It grips my heart and stirs my soul! 

The following morning the church was overflowing with people! The service went really well and we had a Powerful time in the Lord. These people are like sponges and are as open as can be for the Gospel! The Tonga people love the fire of God. They pray for it non-stop! Sometimes I have this thing in me to just be different, so I ministered on the Peace of God and what it means to be in His Name and not just use the Name of the Lord as a lucky charm. As we entered in to the Name of Jesus a great Peace came over the place. Every service so far it's all about the fire which is great, but it's not all there is. Mostly when the fire comes, they are out of it and I try to keep my cool or we all just loose it for Jesus. This time when the Peace came, I got so drunk in the Lord I couldn't stand or preach! I balanced myself against a pillar in the middle of the church. The Holy Spirit was just all over me. I thought this is it! The guys can experience a different dimension of the Spirit! When I got myself to get a good look at the people, they just stood there starring at me, as if they have never seen anything like this! I thought this was hilarious! But I know God was in it. He has the best sense of humour there is! Jesus is the funniest Person alive! 

Another story that blessed me tremendously is when I met a widow, her two sons and her daughters. Their father became born again in the early 90's. In 1995, Albert met him and he told me the story. The man was the only born again Christian in all these villages. No churches, no fellow believers, only him. He prayed for these villages for God to pour out His Spirit here and that the people may be set free from witchcraft. He prayed every day. Numerous attempts to kill him through curses and also in the physical had failed. The witchcraft at its very best couldn't touch him. Then in 2008 they paid a nurse to poison him with an injection. They succeeded. Six years after his death, we arrived at Sinakoba and his prayers came into manifestation and revival is taking the south east of Zambia! The Holy Spirit is like a wild fire burning uncontrollably here! His sons first rebelled against God but are now serving the Lord fully. The one daughter didn't have resources to be in school anymore and had to drop out just like her brothers. This is the reality of many young women and after they dropped out of school, they give themselves to the first man willing to take care of them. The pastors helped this daughter to stay in school and amongst themselves they gather money to keep her in school. My thoughts was with this man. This man prayed for more or less 15 years nonstop and then another 6 years after his death his prayers come true! The seed that is in the ground is surreal! To think that we, normal young people from Pretoria who knows nothing but that we love God and He sends us, shows up one day, preach the Gospel and all these years of seed in one moment come together and manifest! Jesus is good to us! You shall reap where you have not even sowed. Look thee up and see, the harvests is ready! They are coming in!

The afternoon after church we left to prepare the ground at a different venue where we would start the following conference at the clinic. A group of American and Canadian doctors will come for their annual two week medical outreach where they give the people the very necessary medical treatments they need. The locals painted walls, build mud floors and so forth. They strictly commanded me to sit and not work! It was very uncomfortable not to help, but their hearts just blessed me once again. And what blessed me even more was to see the way in which the community is involved. Everybody helps! There was a lot of work but everyone did his/her small part with the greatest of joy and the job was done!

Harvest for Christ Ministries divided Zambia into districts. Lusaka is one of the districts, and then the district where we were at is Sinasongwe. Within a district there are various regions and every region has various churches. You have a pastor overseeing a district, and also a pastor over every region and then the pastors of the churches. This gathering was the annual district gathering where churches from every region will attend. People are being drove in by trucks, busses, taxis in their hundreds. I believe over 40 churches were represented there for the conference.

Before I continue, I must first tell you about the history of this clinic and area where we were. This was an absolute spoil from the Lord! In 2010 when I did my first outreach, we visited the clinic when it was still just the foundations. As we met the group of Americans who financed the project, I "met" a friend of mine's father there who was the head of the project at the time. This is also the place where we donated a trailer full of bicycles to the pastors at a school. And across the road there is a huge tree next to a bid open piece of field. This was where I preached for the first time on outreach. The worship that evening remains one of the best worship experiences I have had. We danced and praised under that tree till we were literally covered in a cloud of dust. One of our team members saw two angels that evening. Back then we knew nothing about angels except only that they exist somewhere. She was terrified! We took her aside and prayed trying to figure out what was going on. I didn't know if it was angels or demons and if angels, what do they want! The next moment the angels told her we must just worship the Lord. As they said that the entire team present there, except me, dropped to the ground. I don't mean slightly fall, I mean they dropped like lightning and I was left to minister with more than half my team knocked out! This actually gave me more confidence and we had a very Powerful service that evening! It was a real special moment and a memory for life! So here, April 2015, I'm back at the place where it all started!

The clinic is still being build and is a testimony on its own. It withstand church politics, Zambian politics and every onslaught you can think of. If it is God, it is God and no one can stop Him! Last hear Zambia went through a real challenging time in the political world where their president died. It divided the north and the south of the country and supplies from Lusaka couldn't reach the clinic in the south. Albert, living in Lusaka, was stuck there and was forced to wear a tag just so that they won't kill him in the streets. Violence broke out and people got brutally murdered. Albert phoned me the one morning asking me to pray. He said that it is the presidents funeral today and there are talks of rebellion/war breaking out after the funeral; similar to what South Africa had with Mandela's death.  We prayed and few hours later he phoned me again saying he couldn't believe his eyes! Instead of violence breaking out, the whole country went on their knees and submitted to God and said they will follow the church!

The Monday went by and nothing happened but people arriving from all over for the conference. We helped the Americans to settle in and get everything prepared. What was special for me about these Americans, was to get to know them. We slept at the same camp. We had nothing to do with each other and they were a group; one team. But they invited me to eat with them every morning and other meal we had at camp. The lunch they bought at the lodge and packed for them to eat at the clinic during the day, they were also more than willing to share with me. They came from different backgrounds and locations, but were there with one mission in love. They also had a pastor with them that is now leading the clinic project, pastor Harold. He is one of the humblest men I have met. It is almost impossible to "out humble" him! He walks around encouraging people individually almost whole day, and it's never fake! When he speaks about the clinic or Zambia, tears fills his eyes and words of compassion flow from his lips. An absolute honour to have met him and learn from him! Americans have a reputation worldwide, but whatever that reputation is for you, there is no denying their generosity. They have seed in the ground all over the world and whenever a there is tragedy they are always there to help. They have a pioneering spirit and the Lord is very far from finished with them!

Last year one of the ladies on the American's team also came to Zambia and treated two ladies. As they treat the people they also pray for them. The two ladies accepted Jesus and she encouraged them to join a church. This is when she heard that they had no church in their area. She reported this to Albert. Albert informed her this year that those two ladies are still serving the Lord and that many miracles happened when they had an outreach there. They planted four churches and the number is still growing. He told her few of the miracles. Like most of us westerners we hear these stories but we do not really believe it and it kind of just leaves our mind very soon after entering. She later decided to separately ask another pastor about these stories and he told her exactly the same! This puzzled her because now she was confronted that these miracles might actually be true! All of this I only learned later. What happened the Monday night at the dinner table, I dined with them. After dinner they have devotional time where they share a thought from the Word in order to encourage each other. This is when she couldn't help herself but to share her story to the rest of us at the table. One could clearly see the Lord working in her, inviting her deeper into Him. As she told the story I realised that she is describing our outreach we had in Sinakoba during October last year! I kept quiet and approached her afterwards telling her my side of the story (http://dejagermw.blogspot.com/2015/04/tonga-revival-2014-zambia-outreach-oct.html). This blessed me as much as it did her just to know how awesome and big our God is! We just need to obedient in the little, and the this huge global story unfolds!

Tuesday the conference started although many people were still arriving from all over. Every time a new group arrives, there is singing and rejoicing! I ministered the entire day and aimed to lay a solid foundation for the rest of the week. I would miss out on the rest of the conference as I had to get back home for other obligations. The meetings went really well and I believed God accomplished through me what had to be done! The whole day consisted of singing, praying, preaching, praying, singing and in between a small break for lunch or dinner. Their desperateness for God is something to witness! Their entire beings crying out to God! And God gladly and Powerfully responds to them! The evening fire came from Heaven and consumed us; It was a full blown Holy Ghost party!

Wednesday pastor Harold took the stage. What a honour to see him minister! Many people got healed, delivered and born again this day! And the same program as the previous day was followed; basically church service the whole day long! Later we divided into groups and I had the youth (teenagers and young adults) which I could ministered to one side. What a honour to impart to the next generation! I taught them how to go into the Spirit and they all had visions of Jesus and received Word from Him! This is what it is about to me, not connecting the people to me or a pastor, but teach them they can go to God themselves and learn from Him directly!

In all I had an amazing time and learned a great deal about the Tonga culture and how their world works. I now understand better how to approach them and work with them. God also gave me a clear vision on the work He wants to do there in the future. I really believe that this is the time for Africa to shine! We have so much to offer to the rest of the world! Our next visit will be in June 2015 where we will visit a new area to plant at least one church and the head back to Sinakoba. We want to establish a strong base here in order to reach the rest of the 600 unreached villages. It is exciting times!!!