We are once again overwhelmed and blessed to have an opportunity to share some of our excitement with you. Africa is amazing and God is good and we have been continuously enveloped in both. The stories don't stop and the pace isn't slowing for us here, so we certainly have some catching up to do. Buckle your seat belts or hold on to the roll bars or if you're reading this in Africa wedge yourself between a fixed portion of the vehicle and one of the innumerable bodies pressing against you - and hold your breath.
First, to bring you up to speed on our AMT (Advanced Mission Training), it is important to let you know that we are weeks past our Wilderness First Responder course and we finished our first two textbook and theology courses: Bible In The Light of Our Redemption & Ministry Ethics. It was a drastic change of speeds from the two weeks with SOLO and all of the hands on medical training and ministry in Nsongwe Village. But the change was much needed and many of our backgrounds have been challenged and weighed with our Western church experiences against the sort of raw and grassroots Gospel that gets planted first when you come into areas never having heard the Word before. So much of the ministry and message we are used to getting and sharing back at home is enhanced and we often incorporate some of the add-ons and extras from wealthy churches (and ALL Western churches are wealthy when compared to what we see here) into our own basic Gospels, thinking we need these things to walk as Christians. This is how Christians get sucked in to comparing churches and ministers based on things which really make no difference to anyone's salvation or anything eternal - shopping the size of ministries, the newness and niceness of facilities, or the quality of toys in the children's church - rather than the character of the people, or the vision of the leadership, or the truth being taught as compared to the Word. In any case, personal theology is challenged a bit more than usual when all of the shiny props are gone and the only thing you have to minister with is the content of your heart, the content of your Book, and the Spirit leading you through both.
Which leads us directly into our second expedition, in which our AMT teams went out into the Mukuni Tribal region for five days of one-one one evangelism. Towards the end of last month we loaded up the personnel carriers and set out during the rainiest and most interesting weather we have had since we arrived. Through the heat baked days, to nights of downpours and cold air, we spent five days preaching the Gospel to families who had sometimes heard the name of Jesus, but for the most part had no idea who He is or what He has done. The tribal leaders, headmen, and Chief Mukuni, opened these doors wide for us because of previous relationships and the beginnings of work Overland has done in parts of the Mukuni tribe. They built us a facility of sorts in the middle of nowhere which included a shaded area to sit and cook, and must have taken much effort. It just so happened it was right next to a cemetery (in the middle of nowhere we were camped on a grave site wow isn't that the plot line to a million movies we've all seen!?)...
As far as the ministry, though, it was incredible. Rather than the changing settings and crowds of our last expedition with the fishing groups, we were right smack in the middle of village communities and got significantly more intimate with families and people. We shared meals, fellowship, and work within the setting of daily village life and the time together opened doors for our lives and words to witness the the love of Christ. In turn, people shared many of the personal, familial, and tribal battles they struggle with and we were able to pray and minister to specific needs. In one case a family shared the physical, mental, and spiritual bondage that had entangled them through their interaction with a witch doctor. What an open door for prayer and an opportunity for the power of Christ to reveal itself as tangible and living right in the face of superstition and deception! In another case, a group of women told about an ancestral spirit that they said visited them in their sleep to enslave them in all sorts of hideous acts and that influenced their marital and sexual relationships in terrible ways. Against the darkness light shines so bright and to see people set free and blessed with the freedom and liberty of true love and intimacy is something ONLY Jesus can give! We got to hold a women's conference where each of the team preached and taught for an hour. How incredible it is to be the bearers of such a life-changing message. When things - be they practical, physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual - bind people and destroy their lives and relationships, it is nothing short of a miracle to see them confronted and turned from destruction to peace.
All in all, we saw 123 people ask for salvation in prayer. Again, like we saw in Nyawa during our first expedition, the relationships and groundwork have been laid in this area for our teams to return and bring continued deliverance, resources, and encouragement to the Mukuni nation. With the political landscape changing in Zambia (national elections just facilitated the rise of a new ruling party and the end to a long-standing government) it is imperative for us to be on solid footing with all of the peoples we touch. Keep Overland in prayer as the new president and his administration will certainly bring change in one direction or another to this developing nation.
As the expedition wound down, things just got crazier for us. Hillsong (the largest Christian worship ministry in the world) set Livingstone as its first tour stop in Africa this year, and our team was the host organization for the event. We built a stage, set up a security detail (which John headed up), and took care of most of the logistics for a weekend that included three mini performances around town which built up to a concert attended by somewhere between three and five thousand locals. It was a shot in the arm and a great encouragement to the local churches here, and through these events over 1200 people committed their lives to Christ. What a way to continue growing as a team and how awesome to get to be a part of Hillsong Africa! Of course, after the shows we had to break it all down, and we were so close to escaping the madness of our frenetic week unscathed when Javen, Nikki's brother, was impaled clean through his ring finger with a framing nail! In the grand scheme of things, that is a pretty pedestrian injury in Africa. How much cooler would it have been if I wrote he survived a Hippo attack with mere flesh wounds or he was kidnapped by baboons and held for a ransom of one million bananas until we performed a SWAT-like maneuver and rescued him from such a perilous ordeal? Oh well (sigh)...
As things stand now, we are at the end of three more classes, Diesel Mechanics, 4x4 Driving & Recovery, and Agriculture & Development - and last week we completed Preaching 101 and Welding/Workshop. We are past the halfway point and nearing the completion of our time in Zambia extremely fast. Of course, it would be a great misdeed to not tell you that Nikki got drenched today twice (once by Angelina and once by an unnamed perpetrator) for her birthday. She is 29 today and almost 30 and that means she is officially one year away from old. At least she isn't balding like some of us who contributed to this email OR the Detroit Tigers who shredded and mauled my beloved Yankees (who are a FAR better team, of course) by beating them in the gimmick best-of-five series which was severely altered by a rained out game and another rain-delayed game (I had to mention this due to a friendly wager which I lost and my integrity forces me to honor)...
In any case, there are many more things I would like to tell about...Montezuma's revenge...Catching chameleons as pets for the kids...Christmas in October with a slew of packages that THRILLED [not just the] the kids...Seeing Victoria Falls and swimming in the famed "Devil's Pool"...Our new-found fame at a local curio market...Up close and personal with one of the world's clear testaments to the existence and creativity of God - the giraffe...Mixing cement by hand is the same in Africa as in America because IT STINKS but different because its AFRICA!..Don't ever listen to anyone try to tell you 110 degrees isn't that bad in Zambia because its dry heat...How to fill a water bottle when there is no water...Why is there a cow drinking out of that sink?..Should I teach the kids how to pee in a bottle in the dark or just get up ONE MORE TIME tonight and walk the length of a football field outside in the dark to take them to the mosquito breeding grounds for a 2 second tinkle?..I don't know if this is funny or if I am delirious...exhale...
We love you! Keep on praying for us. Read Romans 14 if you get the chance today... Remember, it's all about Him, always has been about Him, and ALWAYS will be about Him!
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The Garrett Family
Overland Missions
813.486.7632
@Africanjohnny on Twitter
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