Divinely Delayed?

Hello friends!
I am writing you from Johannesburg – which is a surprise to us!  When we drove down on August 3rd, we honestly thought that we'd be here for two weeks, then head back up north again to start building our home in Zambia.  Now that we've been here a month, the question we hear most often is "when are you heading back?" and we can honestly say – we don't know.

We are incredibly sad that our next group of Advanced Missions Training Students have now not only arrived in Zambia, but are now on their first mission trip into the bush and we are not with them.   We are covering them in prayer long distance and look forward to meeting them, but it is clear that at least for this short while, we'll remain down here.

We have been delayed, but we definitely have not been bored or without things to do!  If we have to be "stuck" anywhere in the world, at least we are having fun with friends, supporters and former teammates, we know our way around the city and we have made tons of headway with all the official details of our move to Zambia.  To be honest, we have one vehicle, so our time here has been primarily Dan running around all of creation researching and purchasing things for our home or the Zambian base and Janell and the kids are staying in the apartments at the church all day, then we see friends in the evenings.

There is also an element of Divine Delay in this process.  Our friend Laura (Overland Missionary) got news that her Dad had been killed in a tragic auto accident and I was able to spend a couple hours at the Johannesburg airport processing with her on her layover back to the states.  She told me like 10x, "thank you so much for coming" and how she really needed a friend right then.  It was good to be here at just the right time.  Also, my closest friend from our OC team, Heather, just got news that she has cancer.  Getting to hug her in person has been incredibly special and we hope to continue to be able to support their family in the upcoming days.

Moving from one country in Africa to another isn't for the faint of heart.  We have hit opposition and challenges at multiple turns, but we trust in God's timing and although sometimes we have bouts of frustration, for the most part we are resting in peace.  We are currently waiting for Dan's official paperwork to be returned from Customs allowing us to export our household goods from SA to Zambia.  We just received delivery #3 of building supplies that we ordered 3+ weeks ago, but it now looks like there will be at least one more!  Our guess is that we'll be here another 5-7 days…but the best answer is we'll stay until everything for our move is ready. 

Some of you may be thinking "I thought you already moved to Zambia, you've been there over a year" but the reality is we were on a temporary visa while we went through training for three months, then we were in the states for 4 months, and upon returning to Zambia in May we applied for a 2 year visa which would allow us to bring our container with our household goods over the border.  We've now received that 2 year visa and have until Dec 6th to import our things into Zambia.  Since we had extra space in our container, we have been purchasing things like windows, sinks, toilets, shower, exterior paint, and more because the quality is better in South Africa and about 1/3 the cost as in Zambia.  Once the paperwork here is  finally sorted, everything we own should follow us over the border on a big truck within a few weeks and we can finally begin building.

Happy 3rd Birthday Titus!

We had a fun birthday party for Titus yesterday and had a fun group of people to celebrate his life with us. 

Also, the month of August was very exciting for Overland Missions.  There were short term teams to Argentina and Angola – both with amazing reports of God's goodness and with many people responding to the gospel.

Macubi Tribe Research   click here to read a blog about Angola!

This is what the team leader said about Argentina - "WOW! Crazy week or so. Have preached 13 times in 11 days! Trekked through the Andes Mountains from 6000 to 12000ft in elevation, about 35 miles in a week straight up and down hill! The presence of God moved and hundreds of people were saved, healed and set free! Thanks for the prayers!"

A team is in the Democratic Republic of Congo and will be there for 2 weeks and another team is on their way to Cambodia right now.  Exciting times!

Please pray with us for
- patience and peace as we wait to head up to Zambia
- the AMT students as they minister in the bush for ministry this week and the teams to DRC and  Cambodia to be a blessing and encouragement to the people they meet and that many will respond to the Gospel message.
- timely delivery of the paperwork and supplies we are waiting here for and for the remaining details of our move to come together easily.

Thank you for your love and prayers for our family!
Janell for us 4

Two steps forward, one step back...

We have been back in South Africa for two weeks time now and we are essentially living the phrase “Two steps forward, one step back.”

Our mission during this two week period was to accomplish some pretty major things:
1. Go to a few hardware stores and order a lot of supplies for building our house
2. Once these supplies have been delivered, we need to repack our containers.
3. We need to finalize the trucking company who will import our goods to Zambia.
4. We need to finalize the paperwork to export our vehicle from SA to Zambia.
5. A few errands for ourselves, a few errands for the base.
6. We need to serve papers listing a Final Demand to the two companies who still have not delivered the containers we ordered last year. This requires a lawyer and police assistance.
7. We wanted to spend some quality time with friends here and enjoy worshipping at our former church.

Now that I look at this list, it seems pretty presumptuous that we could accomplish all these things in two weeks time, even if everything had gone according to plan…and things haven’t.

We’ve had significant struggles with using the company credit card, the quotes we received had to be redone, salesmen promised to send information and return calls and didn’t, we drove to pick up supplies only to find they stocked it but for 5x the price we expected to pay, Dan got stuck in traffic for 3 hours, Janell caught a teller mistake as she was going to charge us R10,000 instead of R1,000 and then the hassle of getting that returned to our card, our insurance got dropped because that essential letter got sent to our old office instead of the new, this morning we found we got sent to Collections for not paying a TV tax (we don’t live in SA anymore so the tax won’t apply and they lost our paperwork saying we moved…), did I mention that Titus now is throwing up?! These have been the “steps back”.

We definitely have accomplished a lot, but there is much to be done still. Will you please say a prayer for our family? Our stress level is pretty high. We’d really love to get these challenging things behind us so that we can be free to return to ministry in Zambia. Our next class begins the end of August and we want to be there when they arrive. Please pray for details to fall into place quickly with all the above issues and for peace!!

We have loved catching up with friends here!  This has definitely been the best part - so good for our hearts!!

Another Nyawa testimony

Our third expedition, in an area in the Nyawa Chiefdom next to the former Game Management Area, was incredible. We ministered to hundreds, had many salvations, and a few demonic deliverances. Nearly everyone we laid hands on was healed instantly. Here are a few of the most memorable moments of the expedition. The first evening we were there, the village headman came to our camp and invited us to a ceremony that night for a woman who had been oppressed by demons that made her ill for quite some time. They were to play drums, dance, and sing chants to appease the spirits that oppressed her in hopes that she would get well. We politely declined and decided to go and minister to her under more convenient circumstances. We could hear the drums and music clearly from our camp. The next morning, we met the oppressed lady at the headman’s house. She had pain in her teeth, legs, and other areas. We laid hands on the areas that were hurting, and the pain moved to new parts of the body. We then commanded it to leave entirely, and she was completely healed. After leading her to Christ, we shared the truth about witch doctors and demonic forces with her and the headman, answering all their questions. A few days later, a few of us went into the GMA in search of people to minister to. We came upon one group of huts with only 5 young boys present. I would say most of them were ages 10-13. We asked them if they knew Jesus, and they replied that they did not. We shared the Gospel to them and led them to the Lord. On the last day of ministry, a few of us came upon another small group of huts. The man of the household gave us a warm greeting, as did the many women and children of his family. When we asked him how long he had known the Lord, he said that he had tried to serve God but had gone astray. He was having a hard time finding the motivation. We then presented the Gospel to him (which he had never truly heard, and he accepted Christ. We sat and talked with them for a couple hours about freedom in Christ versus the intense, works-based legalism that was prevalent in the area. By the end, they seemed to have a thorough understanding of it and were very relieved and full of peace. Ten of them asked for prayer for physical ailments. We laid hands on them and commanded the sicknesses and pains to leave in the authority of Jesus. They were all completely healed.

These are only a few of many miracles that occurred on the expedition. The people were incredibly generous, as well as ready to receive the Lord’s blessings. We all learned a great deal from the amazing experiences and our faith increased. - Stetson, AMT student

Ministering in Nyawa Chiefdom

As I sit here on base camp, on the day that our AMT class graduates, I can't help but think about all the awesome and crazy experiences that I've had over the past three months. Both in day to day life, and ministry. Our last expedition found our group living in the Nyawa chiefdom, camped on the edge of a dried up river. On our side of the river sat villages and people that had been there for years, but on the other side of the river sat the former GMA (game management reserve), which people had only lived in for around two months. The story behind that is years ago the government decided that the animals in the area needed to be protected, and they forced all the villagers in the area out. Not only did they force them out, but they burned down their homes as well, to discourage any of them from trying to stay. These people had been, for a lack of better terms, without a homeland for years, and just two months prior had been allowed back into their land (and only because the new president decided that they could). They were given tents, and were as we traveled throughout, in the process of rebuilding homes and rebuilding a life. This made for interesting encounters, and sometimes, no encounters at all. On the last day, myself and a few others hiked into the GMA for the second time that week, and proceeded to walk the entire day. From around 9:30 in the morning, till after 4 in the afternoon, we walked, almost non-stop. At times we didn't even have a path, and had to hike through thick wilderness. How many people did we find that day you might ask, as we trekked through the African bush? The answer might seem to some to be disappointing. We found two people, a man and women, relatives, sitting by a few huts in the middle of no were. Along with them were two children, who were playing a ways off on a log. We sat down, discussed the word, and ministered life to these two individuals. They were already saved, but we got to learn their story, and encourage them in the Lord. The man was just weeks away from getting married to a childhood friend, and we got to pray for him as well.

Now you might think that it was pointless to walk all that way, all day, to minister to two individuals. And many times that week we did have the huge meetings, with the showing of the Jesus film, praying for the sick, and salvations. However that day the plan God had for us was to just walk, for hours on end, to find two people who hadn't come to our meeting. Two people that lived so far away that they would never find themselves at our meeting area, but that God still cared for and still wanted to minister life to. And that's the point behind OM and behind the work that we are doing, and continue to do. To go as far as we can, to areas were no one has gone, to minister to someone that might need salvation, or healing, or just an encouraging word. We go to people that will, in all reality, probably not get reached unless someone treks out to them. Here in Africa NGO's are a dime a dozen, but so few are willing to go that extra distance, and to find and reach the people that are almost unreachable. As we left that afternoon, I was somehow completely satisfied with the day, and even though we had only found those two people, I knew that we had instilled life and encouragement into them, and that it was worth every step that I had taken that day. - Jonathan, AMT student

Reflections on Siamunali

The second AMT expedition was very different from the first, but it was equally amazing. We went to the villages of Siamunali and Jafta in the Mukuni Chiefdom. It took a couple of hours to get there, but it was only about 20km from the base by the way the crow flies. The terrain of area was somewhat wooded flat to rolling hills. We were greeted by several eager and friendly faces as we arrived and set up camp in the afternoon. That night we had a meeting next to the small schoolhouse near camp. We gathered around a fire and Wilson gave a message of encouragement and explained what we would be doing in the area. We then broke into lively worship and chitenge dancing by the light of the fire. The next morning we broke up into groups and went to various churches in the area. My group went to the church of Christ. We met at a little outdoor cluster of benches. Jack gave a great message about his prison ministries and spoke into the lives of some young men. There was an old woman there who apparently did not know her age. When we asked her she jokingly said 100, and everyone laughed. After the service, she told us she could not see well and had pain in her legs and joints that made it difficult to walk. We prayed over her and I could feel the spirit moving. She began to sway and stumbled into the translator as he caught her. Then she looked down and started moving her feet and her face lit up! She started dancing and singing. As we were leaving, she called out something like, “Have as safe journey! I’m healed!” The night meetings were very fruitful as well, with salvations, worship, encouragement, fellowship, prophecies, and healings. There was a very personal feel about the meetings. The next day my group found some people tending to their gardens and helped them in their labor. After some hand motions and brief instructions, we broke some new ground dug small rows of holes for planting with water drainages between. After the work was done, we gave a message, prayed with some people, and played with the children. The remainder of that day and the next followed the same pattern. It was very interesting and rewarding to experience a more relationship based style of ministry. We took part in the basic aspects of their everyday lives and spoke to them as one friend speaks to another. Through these conversations, we learned a great deal about the people we were with and their amazing stories. One man had been attacked by a large crocodile and had the scars to prove it. His garden was near a small, secluded river and they said that there was a huge croc living nearby that had recently given birth. As we approached the river to dip water out for the garden, we heard some loud splashes. They had also recently caught a 7 meter python in the next village over. The man who had been attacked told us of another interesting story, but this one had a more tragic ending. He was fishing in the Zambezi when some of the displaced Zim rebel thieves from the mountains in Simwatachela came and forced him and his friend to help them. The men would often cross over into Zimbabwe to steal various things and bring them back to Zambia. They were on such a run when they came across the fishermen and recruited them into the effort at gunpoint. They had only a makeshift boat to cross the river, basically a few boards. The “boat” turned over while they were swimming across. The man telling the story made it to shore and could do nothing as his friend drowned in the rapids. The mother of the one who was killed was there as well; we helped tend to her garden and the girls prayed over her. We helped another woman whose daughter had been badly burned a few years before. Bev had tended to the child while she recovered. The woman named her Beverly, in honor of Bev’s act of kindness. On the last day of ministry, my group went to the home of a sweet old lady who had given us kind greetings each day. Her name was Mary and she had been healed of a tooth ache when we had prayed over her earlier. She said that she considered all the young people in the village her grandchildren. student

She and two young women showed us how to remove the shell from mungongo nuts. The presence of the Lord was heavy there as we each took turns speaking what was laid on our hearts. The messages were in no way generic, but rather directly speaking into the lives of each of them with encouragement and empowerment. We prophesied a powerful future in the Lord’s work over one of the younger women and I know that she was deeply affected. I was also deeply moved by the whole experience. That evening we had a community meal, learning cooking techniques from the local women and playing with the children for hours. When night came we showed a film on the projector and had a meeting. Wezi, Elise, and Jonathan gave salvation and encouragement messages and I challenged them to spread the Good News to everyone they could. We then had another productive call for prayer. The next morning, dozens of people came to wish us goodbye with huge smiles. I have seen expeditions with larger numbers ministered to and more impressive statistics, but the relationships formed and the lives touched cannot be described in numbers. It was a great experience that I will not soon forget. - Stetson, AMT

Pictures of our recent ministry with Advanced Missions Training students

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When God is slow to heal...

We have numbers and recordings that we are required to submit to headquarters for every ministry trip that happens with Overland Missions.  I am not a huge fan of declaring to the world how many people received salvation, or received healing from the Lord simply because if we made that same massive effort and only one person was saved or healed, I still think it would be worth it.

However, we receive some grant money from some different ministries who do require numbers...so we count.  Dan was grumbling to the Lord about this the other day and the Lord reminded him that there are lots of numbers in the Bible (like a whole book named Numbers!), the feeding of the 5000, the exact number of people in Jacob's family who traveled to Egypt, etc and that there is value in remembering.  So my perspective on this is changing.

When we were in Mukuni, we had 4 days of ministry and we saw 22 people receive salvation for the first time and the Lord healed 62 people as we prayed over them.  Another ministry team was out in the bush for 8 days and saw 331 salvations and over 100 healings.  Numbers like these make me want to cry because I am so excited for how God is moving in these areas and for all the wonderful changes this will bring to the villages as they share the love of Jesus with their friends as well.  WAHOO!

The next testimony I am going to share is from one of our guys in Advanced Missions Training as he wrestles with the miracles and healing he is seeing:

"During the expedition, our first night meeting brought to us an old man with a massive, grape fruit sized tumor on this lower back near his right kidney. Each progressive night he returned, always asking for more prayer. On the second night he grabbed me and a few others, throwing us into a big group hug shouting “Amen!” What faith he has! 

During our last expedition I found myself extremely discouraged for a time when a young paralyzed girl remained immobile after hours of prayer. Thankfully she did eventually find relief and stood for the first time in two years, and I was able to throw myself into the arms of God and praise Him for His grace. 

As soon as I saw this man return, affliction intact, I told myself that I would not allow my faith to waver because of a lack of immediate, miraculous healing. I will not make that mistake again. It is not by my clock that the Lord works, if it were He would hardly be God. We did not witness the disappearance of the man’s tumor but rather the growth of the man’s faith and spiritual countenance. There is no doubt in my mind that he will find the healing he so fervently desires. It is with extreme gratitude that I thank God for His broad shoulders that carry the weight of all healing and forgiveness. It is not my place to worry or concern myself with what has already been done. Praise God."   - Bryan

This is Bryan as he overlooks the Zambezi River below our base.

I appreciate his honesty - don't you?!  Have you ever seen God work in a certain way with someone else and wonder why He didn't answer in a similar way in your life?  There is great mystery with healing, but what I have learned is that it isn't up to me to pray a "correct" way or to have faith big enough to have God show up and do something amazing, it is all about Him.  We pray in faith believing God wants to heal and He often does.  Sometimes he doesn't, but He is sovereign and holy and we trust in His perfect timing in these things.