Zambia Mission Presentation

You are invited to the Presentation that will be given by the Zambia Mission Team. We will be discussing our trip, work and experiences. Please plan on attending to hear about the great work, you made possible through your love, support and Prayer.

Date: September 10th
Time: 6:30 PM
Where: FBC Woodbridge
13600 Minnieville Road, Woodbridge VA 22193
(see link above for directions and additional information)

In Christ all things are Possible,
Team Zambia

So you say, miracles don't happen anymore...

During our trip to Zambia the team came away with a stronger sense of religion and a different understanding of the Living God - Jesus Christ. I have heard many people say that miracles don't happen anymore and God is on a quiet period from the New Testament. Before I prepared to go to Zambia I really couldn't recall any modern day miracles in my life. After Zambia I can recall several miracles and moving of the Holy Spirit. At a risk of hearing people explain away each event I am going to list some of the events that occured in my life and within the team as we began our mission to Zambia.

Miracles:
- Manual Labor without blisters
- Manual Labor while feeling refreshed each morning
(Nobody was flat on their back)
- The cuts and cracks on my hands healed each night (unusual for me)
- Creation of shadow puppets for the Children that were impossible
to re-create
- An incredible team without division
- An airline holding a plane for an hour for a bunch of Americans
- Success in praying for healing in Africa and at home
- Survival and safe return home during a harrowing experience inside
the Rapids of the Zambezi River while white water rafting.
- God showing us his Majesty in 10 days in the Village we saw total
darkness, a bright full moon, Winter, the start of Summer, the
cloudless dry season and the beginning of the wet season as the
clouds began to fill the sky.

Holy Spirit:
- Understanding the Tonga people and communicating without an
interpreter
- The Team encircling the Mukamba Church in prayer in unison
without direction
- Feeling the Holy Spirit protecting, healing and working
- An incredible team that was giving and had the Holy Spirit
within themselves
- Praying, listening and hearing the Holy Spirit directing our
actions in the Market

Please keep in mind that the human body is also explainable by science, but it was God's work that created the human form. Think hard, when was the last time you embraced God and prayed for something out of the ordinary (A computer, car, traffic, your work schedule)? If you believe and have faith, God will answer your prayers and show you His will. He has dominion over everything.

A woman of God

I posted a picture of Gertrude on the website earlier this week so you will have a name with the face.

During one of the evenings in Zambia we visited Gertrude. Gertrude is a widow that watches after dependent children also known as orphans. Amber and Jako thought that it would be a good opportunity to meet someone that our Mission team was targeted to help.

One year ago Gertrude had nothing, but her family. She was without a home, food or very much in the form of belongings. She was asking for assistance to feed her children. Through many blessings, God has provided for Gertrude. Although she could have claimed it was through her own hard work that good fortune came; she ultimately knows that it must be God's will and that blessing came from Christ.

Today she has property of her own. She has taught herself how to build in her native Lozi Tribe fashion using timbers, mud and thatching (different than the Tonga style of building). She has taught her young sons (approximately 9 and 7) to build their own house to sleep in. Her daughter (approximately 12) has also built a home for herself. Today they have ample sleeping quarters and a kitchen to call home. All of this is a blessing from God. God has also blessed Gertrude with crops and the ability to grow her own food. She noticed an area that remained damp during the dry season. This area actually kept the water from the rainy season and was a wonderful area to grow crops. This blessing meant that she and her children would not have to continuously water the crops in order to provide food for themselves.

During a tour she showed the various fenced areas she has made through the blessing of God. She showed us a Garden that looked like it could have been the Garden of Eden in the middle of a dry and sandy savannah. Lush and green with tomatoes and fruits that rival those found in Virginia. She said again how God was good to her. Next year she hopes to grow Maize to further feed her family and possibly to sell to buy necessary items for her family.

The team had a chance to listen to Gertrude speak. We could hear the conviction in her voice. With closed eyes - her story flowed and needed no interpretation. Although she spoke English, it seemed to be coming out with a Washington accent that the team could easily understand. When she was done telling her story, Gertrude asked two things from us to pray for blessing from our team when we go back to America and to be able to hear clearly the words and need of Holy Spirit.

If only our own prayers were as grand. Please lift up Gertrude, the orphans and the families that support the orphans.

The entire team is now home safe

Amber and Jako are back home in South Africa! The vehicles and all the equipment arrived safely. Deon is in Thailand and Johan's mom is doing better and she is at home, but may need some follow-up Surgery.

We will be updating the blog over the next few weeks. I will probably create some different slide shows and update stories over the next few weeks. I also hope that we can publish some journals from some of the team members. I will work on digitizing mine and put most of my journal online for everyone to experience Mukamba through my eyes.

Although our mission trip is over, we are all spending time reflecting on what it meant to our own life. As Jako, mentioned to the team "this mission trip was not about changing the lives of others, although you have done that, you will realize that you have changed your own life". We will keep Mukamba, All our friends, Missionaries, Jako and Amber in our prayers always.

Prayer Stone for Jako and Amber's Permanent Tent Site

Home Sweet Home

They have returned safely.

Flight Schedule

As of 8:50 this morning, their flight #028 is scheduled to be in at 1:04pm. I have not heard from them since Wednesday, so I will guess everything is on schedule.

As far as bringing them all back home, I know alot of family members will be at the airport picking up their loved ones, but if some people don't have anyone there, there will be plenty of us to bring them back to where ever they need to go.

Rafting

Today the team went white water rafting. All went well with the exception of a few minor scrapes and bruises. Tomorrow they will spend the morning looking around Victoria Falls and shopping if there is time.

They will be flying out of Livingstone tomorrow afternoon. Four of the team members will be leaving at 1:35pm, while the remaining leave at 4:20pm. They will all meet up at Johannesburg and fly out of there at 8:00 tomorrow night.

I have been checking the regularity of the flight they are scheduled to be on from Paris to Dulles for the last couple of days, and it appears to be running approximately 30-55 minutes late each day. (Monday 1:04, Tuesday 1:17, Today 1:29). So for those planning on picking them up at the airport, please check the Air France website for the flight status before leaving. Their flight number is 028 from Paris, Charles de Gaulle to Washington Dulles International. If you have any questions please feel free to call me or email me (tracyseng@yahoo.com).

Lets all pray for safe travels and a safe return.

Day of Rest and Reflection

Today the team was able to have a day of rest. They enjoyed a tour of the game preserve that is only 1/4 mile away from the camp grounds they are staying at. They saw lots of wild animals (Zebras, Impallas, elephants and a white Rhino). They were able to get within 75 feet of the Rhino. They also were able to go on a river tour at sunset. They got to eat pizza and have coke today.

At the camp site, there are Blue Ball Monkeys that run around and can open the tents if they aren't locked. So they make sure they lock up before leaving.

Tonight they are having a group session to reflect on their trip and what it has meant for each of them. They are praying for 2 of the missionarie that had to leave. Dion had to leave to head to Thailand for another mission trip, and Johan whose mother is ill and had to leave unexpectedly.

They are celebrating Jako's and another South African's birthdays today.

Tomorrow they will be going to see Victoria Falls and go white water rafting.

Greetings from Livingstone

Good Afternoon America,

We are in Livingstone, Zambia. The team has completed the work in the Mukamba Village today. The team layed block and set the corners for the permanent tent site for Jako and Amber. We were blessed to be part of this work since it is an important part of letting the local villagers and officials know that Jako and Amber are very serious about their work with the Tonga Tribe.

The team broke down camp today after living in the Mukamba Village for the past ten days. Many gathered to say goodbye as we left the Village. Many of the team realized how much the Village and relationships with the Christian brothers and sisters had been built. Many tears were shed, especially for Pastor Petrus and his wife who stayed with the team during the Mission making many personal sacrifices on our behalf.

We also left a prayer stone for Jako and Amber that read, "You will always be in our prayers - FBCW 2006".

Day 9

Today they had their second Sunday service there. Mike prepared some bread and juice to serve for Communion. Five people came forward to accept Christ today. Jako gave his testimony also.

After the service, they spent time playing with the kids. Mike did some juggling. They played frisbee and Red Light, Green Light.

Tomorrow they will pack up and head to Livingston, after working on the permanent shelter. I asked if they were excited to go sleep in a hotel for a change. They said they are going to be staying in a "Hotel Tent", in which they will still be using their sleeping bags, but they will have running water.

Day 8

Today they finished the footers for the permanent shelter, which will be used as a school as well as Amber & Jako's home when they visit. They also made a prayer block that reads "You are always in our prayers FBCW 2006", to use as a corner stone for the shelter. The village cannot get teachers to come and teach the children unless there is some sort of permanent place to do it. So that is why they have been concentrating on building the foundation for them instead of concentrating on building bricks. They have made around 300 bricks total so far, and they say it will take approximately 5000 bricks per structure (school and orphanage).

Today they went to see the goats in the goat pen, but when they arrived Oppey, the goat keeper, was yelling "the goats are loose". They looked around for about 15-20 minutes, but were unable to find any. Then they couldn't find Pastor Petros either. A few minutes later Pastor Petros came up the hill with all 9 goats.

They visited a widow named Gertrude. They say she had an amazing testimony. She has a garden in an area where the ground is not great for growing things. They say that her garden is beautiful, reminding them of the Garden of Eden.

Some of the members from camp walked to the main shop (about 3/4 of a mile), that sells some basic food supplies. They were able to buy 2 bottles of Coke, which were actually cold from sitting in the cool water. When they got back to camp to open the bottles, they realized that they didn't have a bottle opener. One of the Tongans opened it with his teeth.

Tomorrow they will have their church service and play with the kids in the afternoon. Monday they will lay the corners and finish the foundation. They will also pack up camp and head out to Livingston that night.

Day 7 - The Assistant Chief visits

Today they finished digging the ditch to lay concrete for the footers for the permanent shelter for Amber and Jako. They delivered the cow and Andrew helped corral it. They slaughtered the cow about 150 feet from camp. Alex and Andrew watched. (Gross!!) For dinner, Ryan cooked the beef and Richard cooked the liver. They also ate cabbage and Nshima.

The Chief was unable to come, so the Assistant Chief came instead. Sara was given permission to meet him and take his picture. Jako went to a meeting and got to see the Palace.

Tomorrow they will lay the concrete for the footers for the permanent shelter, and visit a lady that will be helping take care of the orphans. On Monday they will be breaking down camp and heading back to Livingston.

Day 6

Today they finished the goat pen. They had to clear more land, and they found a place where they can get more sand to make more bricks. Mike got a turn at driving the Land Rover, which probably won't happen again. He had a hard time adjusting to the steering wheel being on the opposite side and kept driving into the bushes. He scared poor Hannah.

They are building a permanent platformed tent that will be for Amber and Jako, to show their committment to the village. They will also be using it for a school (I think).

Tomorrow the Chief is coming and they will be slaughtering a cow to eat for dinner. Alma and Reed helped in the slaughtering of the chickens the other day. I don't think anyone from the team had to help with the goat though.

Day 5 - The Goat Pen

Today they worked on building the goat pen. They had to dig a 3' trench and cut more logs. They are 1/2 way done. The goat pen will look similar to the cow pen, only the stakes will all be vertical. Everyone is extremely exhausted now, as they are having to do all of this without any power tools. They are using an axe to cut the trees. The goat pen is about 7 miles from camp, so they drive in the Land Rovers and a pick up truck. Some have to sit in the back of the pick-up while others ride on top of the Land Rover. They ate lunch onsite at the goat pen, where the chickens and goats will be kept for the orphanage. A guy named Oppey will be taking care of the goats and chickens for the orphanage.

On the way back to the camp they drove past a third piece of property where they will be growing Maize for the orphange. They stopped to say a prayer at the property. After that they stopped at the Mukumba Town Center, which consists of about 5 huts, to look around. They have not seen any wild animals as of yet.

Tonight, they are just hanging out and resting after working so hard. They ate one of the goats for dinner. Several of them even tried the internal parts that they cooked. Amber and Rasta (the Pastors wife) have been great cooks for the team.

At some point several of them went to the well where some kids were crying, because they had never seen white people before.

Tomorrow they will finish the goat pen and rest again tomorrow night. They think that the Chief and his Cabinet will be there Friday. So everyone is preparing for their arrival.

Day 4

Today they had to split up into several groups. One group made bricks. They made over 100 bricks. They have depleted the sand by the river so now they will have to find some place else to get sand.

A second group, consisting of Reed, Alma and Jako went and brought back 10 goats for the ophanage. They will probably eat one while they are there, but save the rest for the orphanage. One of the goats was running around like a "crazy goat" and fell into the cement pit. They saved the goat but they probably won't be eating it.

A third group, consisting of Andrew, Alex, Jim and Steve worked on cutting logs to build a goat pen. Tomorrow the entire team will work on cutting more logs and actually build the goat pen.

Tonight they fried up 3 chickens, had fresh cabbage and nshima for dinner. (Nshima is a cornmeal product and a staple food in Zambia. For ten million people it is the focal point of eating and its importance cannot be overstated. It is made from ground maize (corn) flour known locally as "Mealie Meal). It was the first "fresh" food they have eaten. They say that Amber is an awesome cook.

At 7:00 tonight they went to the "soccer field", just an open field where the kids play soccer at. They only have 1 ball in the entire village. They are in awe over the soccer shirts that Hannah wears. They planned on continuing the play of Acts chapters 4-10, but plans had to change. So, instead they sang songs and played with the children. Alex brought balloons to make balloon animals and they were very excited. Most of them had never seen a balloon, and were very frightened when one popped.

They were also unable to do the home visits today. Pastor Petros had to leave to go meet the Chief. They have had to be very flexible as their daily schedules and plans change frequently. Amber and Jako have been very pleased with how they are able to just go with the flow and interact with the villagers.

Day 3

Last night, they tried to show a DVD video on the Book of Acts. Unfortunately the DVD drive was broken on the computer. Alex worked on it some today, but was unable to fix it. Who would have thought that they would be working on a computer in the middle of Africa. So instead of watching it that way, Mike worked on making it into a play. So tonight they acted out the first 3 chapters of Acts and had it translated. There were approximately 250 people that came from other villages to watch.

Today they made another 145 bricks, making a total of 176 bricks. They had made 96 before breaking for lunch. They had to drive 10 km to the river to get sand. Unfortnately the Landrover broke down along the way. They had to weld the tie rod in order to fix it. Now, the Landrover works, but the welder is broken.


Tonight they celebrated Mike's birthday by having S'mores.

Tomorrow they plan to make follow up home visits to some of the 15 people that were saved on Sunday. The villagers got chickens for tomorrow nights dinner. They are working on getting a cow to have for when the Chief comes to visit. It will be a huge celebration when he comes, as he doesn't visit very often.

Update from Christine

I spoke with Christine tonight, as Alex thought that she might offer more details. I asked her how the bugs have been. She said that they aren't as bad as they thought. They haven't had to spray the tents or sleeping bags like they expected to. She said there were more bugs when they went to camp out at Prince William Forest Park then they have there. The weather there is beautiful. They have had clear blue skys during the day. At night the temperature drops into the 30s, so they sit around the campfire to keep warm. Things are better than they anticipated. Going to the bathroom isn't as bad as they thought, and the food is better than expected.

A few updates and corrections from previous posts:
Only Jim, Steve and Christine lost some of their luggage.
They actually made 26 bricks yesterday instead of 14, and they had to clear an area of land to work.

We spoke in more detail about their morning worship service. Missy and Richard shared their testimonies, which were translated, and Mike gave an awesome service which was also translated. At one point they made a circle around the church to pray for them. 15 people actually came forward. Normally they only have about 20 people at their service, however today they had about 150 people. Two pastors from other churches came with some from their congregations. Some had to walk 10 miles to get there. After the service, several of the ladies taught a group of about 40 kids to sing Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes and the Hokey Pokey. The kids were laughing and having a great time.

Tomorrow they plan on making more bricks, which requires many trips back and forth to the well.

Sunday Service

Today they got up and had a 5 hour worship service. It was an incredible service as 12 people came forward to accept Jesus as their Savior. They sang songs, one of which was a Tongan song that Rasta (the Pastor's wife) taught them. They prayed to help the people from the Demons in their life. In their culture, when a child is born, if the parents are not Christians they usually dedicate the child to a Demon.

Last night, Steve was washing peoples feet, and Pastor Petros said "Look! He is doing just like Jesus!"

On a different note, everyone seems to be doing well and are adjusting fine.

Day 1 at Camp

The team got up around 9:00 and had cornmeal for breakfast. They said it was like a porridge. After breakfast they went to work. First they had to go and get water from the well. Around the well is a circle of trees to protect it from the animals. Once they got back with the water, they went to work mixing the cement. They made a mixing bowl for the concrete in the ground. It took them awhile to find the right mixture, but once they did they were able to make 14 blocks today. Later they had to go to a different well to get better water for drinking.

Everyone is doing well and working very hard. Amber, Jako and Pastor Petros (the Mukamba Pastor) are very pleased with how hard working everyone on the team is. They have been singing songs and have even learned a Tongan song (Praise God All The Time) from Ronald, one of the Tongan people. Tonight they are having dinner with Pastor Petros and his wife.

Set up Camp

They have finally arrived at the village. After driving about 6 hours and having to move a stump that one of the vehicles got stuck on, they made it. They had to set up camp in the dark but all went well. They had a prayer time and ate some soup and bread.
It was about 1:00 am their time when I spoke to Alex and they were getting ready to go to sleep so that they could get started in the morning, probably around 9:00 since they are still adjusting to the time change.

They have arrived

After traveling for 20 hours on planes, going to 3 continents, and 4 countries, they have finally landed in Livingston. They have arrived safely on a beautiful sunny day in Zambia. They have met up with Amber and Jako as well as a large support team to take them to the Mukamba village. Unfortunately they have endured some loss of luggage, so they will be stopping at a supply store to get some of the necessities that didn't make it. Even with the loss of luggage and changes in schedules they all still sound excited to be on this wonderful journey.

Message from Paris

Today the team landed in Paris. Our original flight as cancelled, but we were booked to a later flight with no worries to our schedule. We spent some time looking at Paris, quickly returning to the Airport in France. The team flies to South Africa tonight for a 10+ hour flight. The team is enjoying itslf and getting to know each other much better. We have met other teams traveling to help in Africa and will be praying for their success as we move further into our Mission trip.

From Alex

Send off for the Team

Tonight, we met at the church at 5:00 to have a final send off for the mission team. All went well getting all of their luggage organized and loaded. After a time of prayer by Kevin Tate and Pastor Ray, everyone said their good-byes and loaded up in the cars to head to the airport.
I just checked the Air France website and their 10:10 pm flight was actually able to take off 7 minutes early.

Into the Field

Today is the day that the Mission Team heads towards the Mukamba Village. Through your help and countless others we are preparing to listen and follow God's will. As His vessel, the team will be the hands that heal and the feet that go to teach and bring the news of Christ to the Tonga Tribe. Please continue your wonderful prayers, as we move into the field we can certianly use your prayers to lift up the team and fight against Satan.

Today's thought:
"But if we are the Body Why aren't His arms reaching Why aren't His hands healing Why aren't His words teaching And if we are the Body Why aren't His feet going Why is His love not showing them there is a way There is a way"
The Casting Crowns, lyrics from If We Are The Body