Our trip to Zambia must count as the most "life-shaking" experience of my life. It is now two weeks since we arrived back in South Africa and we cannot believe that we are back to 'normal'. However, working 9 to 5 no longer seems normal anymore.

Background:
I received an invitation from Pro-Christo Global Missions (http://www.pgmz.org.za/) to lead worship at their annual Missions training conference from 5 - 9 August 2005. We did not know what to expect, but God prepared the way for us.

Our Experiences:
My wife (Judy) and I spent 9 days in KABWE (about 150 kilometres north of the capital city of Lusaka) and were hosted by Coen and Suria Scholtz. They are an amazing couple, who are passionate about saving lost souls. They have 2 children of their own and 11 adopted children!

Leading Worship with just an acoustic guitar was special and our Worship times were deep and personal as we spent time in God's presence.

Here is a chronicle of the people we met.

·     Jessie - She is 24 years old and a qualified accountant who gave up here job to serve God in northern Zambia. 

·     Mark - Got a scholarship to study in America, but gave it up to minister to the people in Malawi, where he is not allowed to publicly confess that he is a Christian or a missionary or he would be killed.

·     Lou - working amongst the bushmen of northern Botswana.

·     Melvin Chiombe - Gave up being a pastor of a church to serve as an administrator/co-ordinator at the mission station in Kabwe.

·     Carl Moyer - An American who has been a missionary for 50 years! He is over 70 years old and has no intention of retiring.

·     David Salisbury - New Zealander who founded "To the Nations". A boat ministry and they have a truck that has a platform from which they minister and show the :"JESUS Film" to the unreached people groups.

·     We heard of 2 missionaries who were prepared to walk from Zambia to Chad to minister to people!

We were stunned by the sacrifices that these 'ordinary' people have made for the sake of the Gospel. Many of them sacrifice their meals for those less fortunate and live in very basic conditions with no healthcare, sanitation or running water. I still cannot understand that people give up their comforts for the sake of the Gospel. We were challenged to get out of our comfort zone and to mobilise people to support missions.

Just some facts that we were confronted with at the conference:

There are about 700 people groups on the planet that have not been reached with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Pro-Christo Global Missions have undertaken to reach 30 of these people groups. I think the current unevangelised total is about 2billion people!

Approximately 3,000 languages have not had the Bible translated into those languages!

You might be asking, "What can I do?"  You can start by praying for all missionaries around the world. Pray for their protection, divine health and daily provision. Pray that the church will have compassion to support missions. Then pray how you can assist in a tangible way.  We say that we do not have money to support missions. I was challenged to eliminate 'waste' from my monthly budget. Just think, how many cooldrinks to we buy a month, or chocolates or chips (potato crisps). By sacrificing just one of these items a month, we ALL can make a difference.

Eg. We can support a missionary in the field for about R300 () per month. If 30 people sacrifice one 2litre cooldrink per month @ R10 (or less than ) we can achieve that target. Why not start today and be part of the Great Commission. Go to http://www.prochristo.givengain.org to pledge your support.

Please do not misunderstand my intentions. This is not about money or promoting a specific missions group. There are many other organisations, eg. Operation Mobilisation (http://www.om.org) and Mercy Ships (http://www.mercy)

The amazing fact is that God has divinely provided the finances for both our Worship mission outreaches so far and we are continuing to trust Him for our provision.

I thank God for using us for His glory and we look forward to our next Worship outreach - Uganda, December 2005.

Please pray for Judy and I as we obey God's call on our lives. If you feel led by God to support us financially you are welcome to email me and I will send you the ministry banking details.