The warm, orange fire blazes in the darkness as you gather under the starry night sky. The Mukuas (white people) and the beautiful Zambian people praising God as one, united body. People from different churches, backgrounds, and races all dancing and singing with the joy of the Lord. A small girl, about 10, comes over and grabs your hand. She asks your name and she tells you her name is Rosemary. Her tiny hand gently grasps yours as she looks up at you and shyly smiles with all her teeth. The love of the Father is so evident. Everyone is singing loudly, “There is no one, there’s no one like Jesus…” This must be a glimpse of what heaven will be like. For a second your mind flashes back to earlier that week. It has been a great week just loving on the men, women, and children of Bombwe. The twelve hour trek out into the village of Bombwe driving down bumpy, dirt roads cutting down trees with axes and anything that would get in the way of bringing the gospel of Jesus to this remote area. All was worth it. The people of Bombwe doubted that you would actually come, because the area was so remote.

Your mind flashes back to doing hut to hut evangelism with your team and the joy on the faces of the people who were hearing about Jesus for the first time receiving healing and salvation. Your heart thumps rapidly as you remember feeling the fire, passion, and love of the Father for these people. One particular house you went to was a Pastor/Chief’s hut and His family. You shared the message of the simple gospel and of the Holy Spirit with the family. A neighbor comes over with her two children and begins to listen to the gospel being shared. In the end, you pray with the team for them to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. God also decides to deliver and heal this little girl who was having bad seizures. The neighbor got refreshed by the Holy Spirit and as you leave the fire of God shines through her eyes as her gaze pierces your own. At another hut your team shares the gospel and the Holy Spirit power just falls as you all share with a grandma and her granddaughter. The grandma starts crying and accepts the Lord. She also has trouble seeing so you pray and her vision improves instantly. Your translator Pastor Jerry falls on his knees and lifts His hands to heaven as you are praying over the grandma. The power of God is so heavy; because He longs to bring healing and salvation to His beloved sons and daughters.

Your mind comes back to the present as the worship begins to wrap up and everyone begins to sit around the fire. You sit down and Rosemary snuggles up beside you. She puts your arms around her and snuggles up against you laying her little head on your shoulder. Your team shares testimonies and brings the message of Jesus. The love of God is so strong for His beloved- His sons and daughters- His children, far beyond comprehension. A salvation call is giving and many raise their hands to receive the Lord around the fire. After this, the team and you pray for all who need pray for healing and whatever they need.

Overall, the people of Bombwe touched me way more than I could ever have touched them. It’s crazy just to see their openness to the gospel and their realness and honesty. People will straight up come up to you at services and be like I have a demon pray for me for it to leave. The supernatural is real here. I mean the first hut our team went to we shared the gospel and started praying for this lady and right off the bat she manifested a demon- convulsing and crying. We declared the name of Jesus and had her confess Jesus as Lord. For at the name of Jesus every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He is Lord. The demon left her and we collected the items that they had gotten from witch doctors that had invited the demons in and later that night burned them in the fire. I mean the spiritual world is very real here and out in the open; but God’s power is so much stronger. Our team saw many healings. We prayed for this one little girl who was sweating with a fever from malaria. Her mom had to carry her over. After we prayed, God touched her, the fever broke, and she got up and walked away. This trip has impacted my life; because before this if I can be real I was questioning the very foundations of the things I believed. The very basics of my faith. I had been studying in Jordan for a semester and was struggling with tough questions. How could a just God send people to hell who were just following the faith they believed to be true just like we were? I mean they were convinced there religion was just as real as ours. Also, why is there so much death, war, and injustice in the world? How could God just let innocent people die? I think seeing and experiencing hardship in the world and just another religion really shook the foundations of my faith. The Muslim family I stayed with for about a week prayed five times a day, knew what they believed really well, had a peace and reconciliation ministry, and loved their neighbors. They were just as devoted as me in their faith. I was hitting some road blocks and questions that I wasn’t sure how to maneuver around. I was kind of feeling anger toward the injustice I was seeing as well and I couldn’t comprehend an answer. I knew deep down God was real; because I had experienced Him. I was questioning how can I know for sure beyond a shadow of a doubt though. I guess you never totally can because it is by faith we are saved. Also, I mean it’s tough when you see a lot of narcissism and hypocrisy in the church growing and not a lot of love or people truly walking in the fullness of God or uplifting people in community. Church people were the hardest for me to trust at times; because of the hurt I had experienced in working in the church. I’ve known friends who were atheist who treated me better than people who Christians. I mean where is God in that? I had a lot of questions; but came back to God with them. I started to see how without God in the equation how truly hopeless life is. I mean He brings peace and order to the chaos and doesn’t cause it. His word says, “every good and perfect gift comes from the Father above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow” (James 1:17). He is a good God and is not a God of chaos, but of order and peace. In the beginning, He was the one who brought peace and order. “The earth as chaos and waste, darkness was on the surface of the deep, and the Ruach Elohim was hovering on the surface of the water” (Genesis 1:2) From the chaos He brought light into the darkness and order even today He still does this and is the only hope to this world. The story of Jesus was to bring redemption to fallen man. A love story to bring back order to the chaos man had created from falling into sin. I realized He wasn’t the cause of all the chaos in this fallen world. Also, I also realized some things I may never know the answer to; but must trust in Him and His goodness. I’m still seeking Him out and His mysteries out. However, through all the questioning of my foundations and wondering if they would crumble; I realized there was something to my faith and beliefs. It’s good to have normalcy shaken and reevaluate one’s life. In doing so, I realized my faith wasn’t something I was just blindly following out of a result of my upbringing or background. I remembered how God has been so faithful in my life. I’ve experienced God and His healing power in my family. He delivered my little sister from the bondage of her past and out of the abuse that she dealt with as a kid just as we adopted her into our family God also adopted her into His family. He brought light and healing to the darkness. I mean even farther back He saved me mom from her past revealing himself in a powerful way through His word. As a result of her coming to the Lord now my whole family knows Him. This past week seeing healing, deliverance, salvation, people being filled with the Holy Spirit and power, demons leaving, peace and joy coming to families and villages I just was reminded of the power and truth of what I believe. Literally, so strongly the love and pursuit of God’s beloved people was so strong to break the chains of bondage and bring healing and deliverance to draw people out of darkness into His glorious light so that generations to come may know the name of the Lord. The message of the gospel is simple and raw, but powerful and radically life changing. My faith has been increased from my time out in the Bush. We reached 1,071 people. There were 626 salvations, 181 healings, and 12 deliverances from demons. I’ve only been in Africa a week; but I know this three months is going to shake up my world and perceptions on life in a good way. I am expectant and excited for what is to come. Be encouraged for the Lord is moving mightily. Honestly, there is no place I would rather be right now; because I know God has led me to this place. I am like Mary just sitting at the feet of Jesus learning from Him right now as He prepares me for the future and the plans He has for me to come. I’m being refined through the fire which is not always very comfortable, but necessary. I love you all. Thanks for the prayers.

Also, just a heads up I do not have much time where I get to use the internet so if I don’t get to talk to you that much the next few months know I still love you all! Honestly, shooting me a message on Facebook is easiest if you need to get a hold of me. I do appreciate the love shout outs and messages so much! Miss you all! Be blessed! Sending love from Africa ❤