Easter Messages Spoken Via the Zambezi Swing

The video above is a little taste of one of the things that I got to do during our Easter Break trip.  Three of us on the trip made the 170 foot plunge into the gorge.  I am extremely afraid of heights, so the first trip I decided needed to be with someone else attached to me (Danielle, my housemate, was that lucky person:).  I was sure I wouldn't do it again, but during the walk out I convinced myself I could take that one little step and enjoy the free fall experience again :) 

In the words of Sarah Deal, my housemate, "it was an exhilarating experience, which God used to remind me of a few things in His character.  He used Kulu, the man who you see in the video clip, to demonstrate these things."

The list below was written by Sarah Deal, but reflects what we all took away from that day. 


1.  Trust the speaker, who has earned the trust by what he has shown.  His voice is sure, clear, strong, and under control. 
     
Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail.  They are new every morning, great is your faithfulness.  Lamentations 3:22-23

2.  Listen.  Don't dwell on it.  Just obey 3-2-1 step...then it's exhilarating.

The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped.  My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to Him in song. Psalm 28:7

3.  I think it would be harder to step if you had doubted and faltered the first time.

4.  Yet He firmly and kindly assures and guides those who falter...lifts the chin, asks them to look in his eyes, and leads them through, nudges even.

The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in Him; though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with His hand.  Psalm 37:23-24

5.  He treats each one differently, as needed.

For you created my inmost being, you knit me together in my mother's womb.       Psalm 139:13

6.  The first moments after the step are the scariest, most exhilarating.  Then it is joy.  Joy to see the creation around you and to know you stepped.

Blessed is the one...whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night.  That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season... Psalm 1:1-3

7.  But during those scary moments you can't go back.  You already stepped in faith.  It is out of your hands and in the hands of what and who you have trusted.

Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.  He who calls you is faithful, who will also do it.  1 Thessalonians 5:23,24

SERVICE EMPHASIS WEEK 2013



Romans 15: 1-13
 Those of us who are strong and able in the faith need to step in and lend a hand to those who falter, and not just do what is most convenient for us. Strength is for service, not status. Each one of us needs to look after the good of the people around us, asking ourselves, “How can I help?”
That’s exactly what Jesus did. He didn’t make it easy for himself by avoiding people’s troubles, but waded right in and helped out. “I took on the troubles of the troubled,” is the way Scripture puts it. Even if it was written in Scripture long ago, you can be sure it’s written for us. God wants the combination of his steady, constant calling and warm, personal counsel in Scripture to come to characterize us, keeping us alert for whatever he will do next. May our dependably steady and warmly personal God develop maturity in you so that you get along with each other as well as Jesus gets along with us all. Then we’ll be a choir—not our voices only, but our very lives singing in harmony in a stunning anthem to the God and Father of our Master Jesus!
 So reach out and welcome one another to God’s glory. Jesus did it; now you do it! 

One of my favorite weeks at HOPAC is service emphasis week.  The secondary school shuts down for a few days and sends students out all over Tanzania to serve.  I had the opportunity this year to go with a group of 11th and 12th grade students along with Mr. Mendo to Dodoma, Tanzania.  In Dodoma we worked with the Safina Street kids project.  This ministry provides a place for street kids to come each afternoon for a devotional time and a meal.  They also have two houses that they are able to place some children in to get them off the street.  The one house is up and running, but the other one is still being built.  The first few days we were there we had the opportunity to just hang out with the kids.  We played a soccer game against them on Saturday and then on Sunday they came to the place we were staying for lunch and a movie.  Monday and Tuesday were manual labor days as we went to work leveling out some piles of dirt for the soccer field where the two houses are, and digging a hole for a sewage system for the house that is still being built.  It is always fun to get out of the classroom setting with students and have the opportunity to serve alongside of them. 

Here is a video to give you an idea of what our week looked like :)