A Victorious Life

Many hearts have been heavy here in Zambia this week, including mine.  Richman Syabbamba, a Zambian mentor, leader, visionary, father, and friend to many, passed away due to injuries sustained in a car accident.  Richman has many close ties within the Pilgrim Wesleyan church, and therefore people I work and interact with were deeply affected by his death.

My first encounter with Richman was in 2006.  It was my freshman year of college and the Zambian Orphan Choir, under his leadership, performed in a chapel service.  I didn't know it then, but I know now that the Lord used this concert to grab my heart with a passion for Africa.

In 2009 I took my first trip to Zambia with Reach 4 Life, an HIV/AIDS awareness program.  Richman was our Zambian leader and planner for the week. His passion for the youth of Zambia; for their purity, faith, and life was, and still is, contagious.

Since coming to Zambia long term I haven't worked directly with Richman by any means, however we have interacted on a number of occasions.  It has always been encouraging to meet up with him and he graciously lent me a guitar from the music academy for use at the Bible College.

This is my short story of interactions with Richman.  As you can see it has been minimal, yet his life and death  have impacted me greatly.  I can only begin to imagine the grief that the many other people whose lives he ministered to have been affected.

There are many people around the world grieving and praying during this time.  Yesterday I attended his funeral service and burial in Choma and was glad to be a very small representation of the many people in America who were closer to him than I was.

It was an emotional service that began with the orchestra from the Choma Music Academy playing hymns as people entered the sanctuary.  This was my first time hearing their beautiful music and I was impressed by their talent.  Despite some bad tuning and poor balance of sound, this was some of the most beautiful orchestral music I have ever heard.  The meaning behind these orphans new lives found in this orchestra, all under Richman's vision and leadership, is powerful.

During the service several people shared words about Richman, including his wife Regina and eldest daughter Vanessa.  A singing group wrote and recorded a meaningful song in his honor, celebrating his life and reflecting upon the ways he impacted them personally.  Prayers were offered and a reading of Richman's life history was read.

The pastor shared an encouraging message of hope titled "A Victorious Life."  Richman's life was one spent in full devotion to his ministry and to his Savior.  Many people have been touched by him and inspired by him. Richman wouldn't take credit for any of it- this victorious life is only a result of Christ's saving work within him and the Holy Spirit's guidance and power throughout his life.

The funeral service was standing room only.  I would guess around 600-700 people came to the church.  About half that many managed to find a seat inside, either on a bench or on the floor.  The rest huddled around the windows and doors.  Many more people arrived for the burial at the cemetery.  And this number only represents the people who were in Choma remembering his life.  I know that there have been many other memorial and prayer services held throughout the world in his honor.

Micah Kephart, close ministry partner and friend of Richman's,
holding Richman's youngest son at the burial

Please pray for the following:

-For Richman's family- his wife Regina and five children (four biological children ages 2-11, and 23 year old adopted niece)
-For the many orphans to whom he was a father-figure and mentor
-For the Poetice/Fortress Vision organizations as they make decisions about the future of the ministry
-For Micah Kephart and his family who worked very closely with Richman
-For the many other people whose lives have been affected

Although we grieve Richman's death, we do not grieve without hope.  Richman's vision and passion lives on, and the Lord who gave him the gifts, abilities, passion and vision which affected so many, cannot be shaken.  The Lord's work will be "carried on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." (Phil 1:6)

Read an article about Richman here:  http://wesleyan.org/doc/news/article/2129#.UFzNDuIF6Kg.facebook

Watch a video here: http://vimeo.com/43476030

August 3rd 2012

Well I have officially become old!! hehe 25 sounds much older than 24 to me and makes me feel as though I really have to be an adult now :)  I had such a fun time celebrating my birthday in Zambia.  Although I missed my friends and family back home, it was so wonderful to make memories with my Zambian family.

I woke up to a surprise giant poster full of love and birthday wishes from my home church :)
This was such a great way to start my day, and this poster will hang in my apartment for a long time!

I decided to have a party with all the Bible College people who were around, so I made 60 purple scones!

We blew bubbles with the kids at my 'party' :) 

                                               

Bubbles are so much fun!

Everyone enjoyed the scones, and I really enjoyed giving them to everyone!

Everyone who was at my 'party' :)

Mike and Cindy made me a delicious birthday dinner and a wonderful chocolate cake!

They also surprised me by making a fire outside and inviting some friends
who blessed me with birthday wishes, cards and a gift :)

PWBC Graduation 2012

This past Saturday our term ended with a wonderful graduation ceremony and celebration.  More than 400 people traveled from around the country to celebrate the accomplishment of 9 students and 5 wives.  My heart was full of joy to watch these friends receive their diplomas and certificates, a symbol of 3 years of hard work and sacrifice.  As soon as the celebrations were over, these new pastors and their families were taken away in buses and on the back of trucks to be shipped off to their new churches.  Most of them have never been to these churches where they are now assigned to pastor, and all of them will face many struggles as they begin their new ministry.  I feel truly blessed to know these people who will be furthering God’s kingdom, and even more humbled to have played a very small part in preparing them for their ministry.  I am certain that someday in heaven we will all rejoice together at the abundance of fruit which comes from their labor, sacrifice and faithfulness.  

Finebeck and I did a silly skit together for the graduation dinner...
we have 15 children and twins on the way! Surprise!

Enjoying our time together :)
Mirran, Pezo, Myself, Steven, and Agruel

The Diploma level graduates are in black, the Certificate level in green. 

All the graduates and lecturers :)

So proud to receive their certificates after 3 years work!

SO many people came to celebrate!

Friends and family rushed forward cheering on their graduate

Some new pastors getting loaded onto a truck to head into the unknown 

Picture Post!

A beautiful day at Victoria falls :) 

The 'singles' enjoyed an American dinner together with Chili and corn bread...
They decided they wanted to be American :) 

Winter time in Zambia means 43F mornings...
class was much more comfortable outside in the sunshine

Cindy and I made a little friend at a church we visited in the bush.  :) 

My first Zambian wedding!  Pretty, the Dean's daughter, was married :) 

Stretched

My role as a lecturer at Pilgrim Wesleyan Bible College is stretching me in many ways.  I am training people who are becoming pastors when I myself have never been a pastor.  I have also never prepared lesson plans or taught classes in a school setting.  All of this would be plenty enough to be challenging and stretching my abilities, but the hardest thing I come up against has to do with cultural differences.

Besides the obvious concerns of understanding how Zambian students learn best, what the expected role of a lecturer and student is in the classroom, and how a classroom functions, there are many theological difference I encounter that are a result of different cultural experiences.

My life experience and world view are based on a wealthy upbringing that included a solid western education which allowed me to think for myself and encouraged and supported me to meet my full potential.  My student’s life experience is often the exact opposite. 

My theological upbringing and especially my education at Houghton allowed me to make theological decisions for myself.  Often what is taught in schools here is very dogmatic, meaning there is always a right or wrong answer to a question.  This dogmatic education has been transferred into the churches ways of educating, meaning that there is always a right or wrong theological answer.  I’ve been doing my best to challenge and allow my students to think for themselves and realize there are some questions we just don’t have a good answer to.

All across Africa, as well as in many parts of America, the Prosperity Gospel is taking advantage of people’s desperation for wealth, health, and happiness. This misuse of scripture is influencing preachers of every denomination, and many of my student’s words are laced with a misunderstanding of what God’s blessings will provide. 

African tribal religions are a very present reality.  Talk of witches and wizards, demons and demon possessed, and many other forms of spiritual warfare are challenging my worldview and understanding of demonic forces. 

The role of women in this culture has traditionally been of lesser importance than men.  I’m not saying they were oppressed as is seen in some cultures, simply not given the same voice or opportunities as men.  Although this mindset is slowly being remedied by new opportunities for women and there is a new openness to their equality, the influence of this history is still very apparent.  Wesleyan’s believe, as do I, that women have an equal role in church leadership.  I also believe women have an equal standing with their husbands.  Using scripture to shift this mindset, for both men and women, is a common discussion in our classes.

Besides these cultural challenges, I find that I’m dealing with exceptionally bright students who oftentimes have a greater knowledge of the Bible than I do.  When there are names and stories that I’m not fully certain of, they practically have it memorized.  Coming from a culture that is used to memorizing stories, they can quickly memorize scripture and are often very quick on the draw for finding a specific verse. 

There are many times in the classroom where I have to wonder, who is the real student here?  My eyes are being opened to how much I don’t know, and my mind is soaking up new information every day.  It’s an experience that I know will form the way I think for the rest of my life, and one I will never regret!  

LIONS!

Yesterday I had an unforgettable experience with Cindy.  We took a day trip to Chobe National Park in Botswana for a full day safari.  It was a beautiful, chilly winter day with lots of wildlife.  The morning was spent on a boat on the peaceful Chobe river with hippos, elephants, crocodiles, lizards, and endless birds.  The afternoon was on land with many elephants, giraffes, warthogs, impala, kudu, mongoose, puku, and... LIONS!

Seeing wildcats on a safari can be very rare.  They spend most of the day laying around as far away from people as they can get, so spotting one from a distance can be quite the treat.  This was my 3rd game drive and I had never seen wild cats before.  Cindy, who has lived in Africa for 17 years and has been on countless safari experiences has only seen lions 3 times... before yesterday.  

I went yesterday hoping to see a lion, but not getting my expectations too high... we got WAY more lion than we ever thought we would!

Can you see the lion under the tree?  This was the first lion we saw.
 My camera  is zoomed in as far as it can go, so you can make out the lion better in the photo than with the naked eye.

After looking at this lion in the distance I said "Oh! This is my first lion!" It was a moment of excitement.

Then our tour guide said, "Would you like to see some better lions?"  We gave a big "Yes!"

After driving a ways we stopped and the driver said, "We're not allowed to go off roading... but we'll be fast!"

This is what we saw when we went off the path!

There were six lionesses, two not pictured.  You can see how close we were to them!  

Cindy was feeling really nervous because they were on her side of the car!

So excited to see LIONS!

The lion on the right is getting ready to pounce at us!  It was so nerve wracking to be so close!
She growled at us too.  

Such beautiful creatures... 

We saw the lions only briefly, but the three minutes we were right next to them felt like an eternity!  It was such a rush of fright, excitement, and awe in one moment.  The elephant with them is said to have died of natural causes and these lionesses were scavenging the meat.  Their bellies were full, thankfully...otherwise I'm afraid we could have become easy lunch!

This was such an unexpected treat to get so close to these lions.  It truly made the highlight of the trip.  I don't have high expectations to ever again have such a up-close and personal experience with wild lions, so I decided this needed a blog post all to itself!

I ended the day saying over and over again, "I saw LIONS today!  WILD lions!"  What an amazing day!!

Back to Life

It is nearing the two week point since my return to Zambia, and I’m finally getting a moment to reflect upon it.  So much has happened that I can hardly begin to tell you everything, but I’ll tell you the highlights.

My return to the Bible college was a JOYful one.  All of the students were so happy to see me, and I received hugs from everyone.  Timothy’s hug was the biggest and included a few tears of relief.  It was good to see him again and to know that he is enjoying pursuing his dreams to be a doctor.  He is currently working towards retaking his high school standardized exams by studying at a better school in Lusaka. 

Something which multiple people have expressed to me is that when I left to go back home due to my illness “it felt as though we were having a funeral.” Without any significant communication, and the lingering doubt of my return, it felt as though I had left them forever.  It even felt as though I had died.  And for some of them, I’m sure there was significant concern whether or not I would live!  In a place where getting critically ill most often leads to death, I imagine some were wondering if I would survive this illness which caused me to have to leave them. 

So, to my friends in Zambia, I have come back to life!  As each day passes, I too feel as though my life has been given back to me.  After months of what felt like a purposeless existence of sleeping and feeling sick, returning to my calling here feels truly like I have come back to life.  These last few weeks back in the classroom have been so fulfilling.  Each day I’m amazed that I’ve been blessed to be able to come here long-term to get to know these students and to have them challenge my own thinking.

The phrase “absence makes the heart grow fonder” applies perfectly to my five months absence.  It seems that rapid growth has happened in my relationship with many of the students.  Several have opened up to me with personal concerns; others have initiated in-depth conversations about theology and life.  I have been teaching some of the single students to play the card game “Phase 10” and I feel like I now have great friends to laugh and fellowship with. 

Our God is faithful, and in all situations he works things together for good.  I’m so grateful for the ways he has transformed a frustrating situation into a joyful one, and that he has allowed me to come back to life in Zambia. J