August 25, 2010

It’s been a long time so I have quite a few testimonies to catch you up with.

So here is what I have been up to. The end of July and first half of August I was on an expedition. This wasn’t an ordinary expedition, this particular one was being filmed to be put on TBN Africa. So it will broadcast across all of Africa and Europe as well. I and one other guy from our group here in Livingstone were to be the logistical crew for this trip. Besides us there was a big time evangelist whose Rodney Howard-Browne and his wife (based out of Tampa, Florida), Phil Smethurst and his family (the president of our organization, Overland Missions), Andrea and his family (the owner of TBN Africa, based out of East London, South Africa), and the film and cooking crews. We journeyed 3 weeks on a “Footsteps of Dr. David Livingstone expedition” (first and most well known missionary of southern Africa). We went through 4 countries: Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Malawi. So now I will tell you of some of the experiences and great times we had.

One of our first stops was Mana Pools Wildlife Park in northern Zimbabwe. We stayed there for 2 nights and got to see a lot of the area where Livingstone canoed and walked by foot. There were all sorts of wildlife there. We made our camp into a big circle right next to the Zambezi river so that animals wouldn’t walk through the middle of it. At night you would walk up to the bathrooms or the water taps, and you would have to walk around lots of hyenas. There were lots of them lurking around the outskirts waiting for us to go to sleep. When we finally did, they would come into the camp and tear into whatever they could. While you have this going on, you also have hippos, impala, crocodiles, and other night walkers on the outskirts of camp. In the background you can here the hippos chattering and the lions roaring and sometimes even an elephant trumpeting. When we woke up in the morning we would assess the damages done (like the top of a water container chewed off by hyenas) and then the monkeys and baboons would take their turn. All morning you have the monkeys coming and stealing stuff off of the tables that you are sitting right next to. So we got to experience first hand a taste of what Livingstone had to deal with on a daily basis. We also got to do some ministry at the game warden barracks from the park. We ministered to about 40 people and even started a church there. It is going to be at the least an annual stop for overland to go in and see how the church is coming along.

Our next stop was Harare, Zimbabwe. We had a 3 day conference there. The logistics crew stayed at Pastor Ephiel’s house. This pastor is one of the most respected pastors in all of Zimbabwe. So we got to spend some time with him and connect with his family. The meetings were great. They started out at about 1000 people and grew to about 1500 people by the last night. All three nights were amazing. Dr. Rodney preached every night, and every night God showed up and touched everyone. Hundreds of people fell to the floor laughing, crying, dead silent, and however else under the touch of God. The meetings main focus were on Jesus giving us “living water”. John chapter 4 talking about a well of living water inside of us and then John chapter 7 talking about a river of living water flowing from our inner most being. There were many important people at these meetings and I personally believe that these meetings have sent shockwaves all throughout the country. Revival is happening in Zimbabwe. We have already been getting emails and hearing stories of the impact of these 3 days of meetings. The second night was crazy for me. God touched me and I fell to the floor laughing hysterically for about 45 minutes non-stop. It was one of the craziest experiences of my life. I know some of you reading this are having a hard time believing in this stuff. But for those of you who know me, know that it would take a miracle from God to see me laughing hysterically on the floor in front of 1500 people! We also saw many people delivered and healed, as well as a lot of first time salvations and recommitments. It was an amazing experience that I will never forget.

One of the next places we made it to was Beira, Mozambique. Here we visited a bible school that I had just been to a month and a half before that. I have become friends with several of the students there and was excited to be able to minister to some of them. When we were there God touched all of them as well. It was life changing for many of them. I very much enjoyed my time in Mozambique. All of the bible school students, after their second year of school, have to go out and plant a church. I am looking forward to seeing each of them thriving in the ministry that God sets before them.

From there we went on to Blantyre, Malawi. We had two meetings here, but they were perhaps the best and strongest of the whole trip. The first night was good. There was a 13 year old kid who got touched by God and fell on the floor speaking in tounges non-stop for about an hour. The next day he was given the microphone and he was asked what God was speaking to him while he was on the floor. So he went up front, had a word for the interpreter, and then rebuked the whole church for its steadfastness and not being hungry to win souls for the Kingdom. Then he apologized to the arc bishop for the whole church. The following meeting Dr. Rodney gave a brief message on giving and everyone started flooding the stage and just throwing money, jackets, shoes, jewelry, whatever they could, and did so without being asked, it was totally the Lord. Revival was breaking out and some of the political leaders of the country were coming to Dr. Rodney and asking questions and wanting him to work with them.

From here we went to Monkey Bay, on Lake Malawi. This is where David Livingstone got betrayed and deserted. He also helped fight against the slave trade here. We spent 2 days here. I went swimming in the lake which was amazingly huge and beautiful. I ended up getting schistosomiasis from swimming in it but I will be taking a treatment to get rid of it soon. There was a church that had already been started by Overland Missions and a few other churches around there, but the thing that surprised me most was the amount of mosques that were there. Supposedly 10 years ago there were no mosques. Now they are as common as churches around there. Imagine if the Church was as committed. Africa is ready for the harvest. We just need people who are hungry to win souls to the Lord to come over here and lead the way. It doesn’t take a degree and lots of past experience. It just takes a personal relationship with God and a desire to see the lost saved.

I had a great time on this trip and learned a lot. It was also great to spend some quality time with some of my spiritual leaders. The ministry times were great as well as seeing a lot of the places David Livingstone had been and the impact that he left behind.