Loving the Least and the Lost

I started taking note after the third prophetic word given to us that said basically the same thing - “God will part the waters before you” or, “you will stretch out your rod over the water and just watch as the Lord parts the waves and allows you to pass over on dry land!” By the fifth time in two weeks I knew some impossible obstacle was coming, and God was preparing us to face it.

The best stories are when things get so bad, so impossible, so ugly, sinful and scary - and then, when all other hope is gone, God shows up and gets loud cheers for how faithful and powerful He is.

Like when Moses’ hapless band of discontents were caught between the impassable (”impossible”) Red Sea and the blood-thirsty army of Pharaoh. That was a good story! God got glory from that for ages.

So it should not be surprising that we are finding it “impossible” to own the truck that we bought. (Remember in the last blog where God gave us this perfect truck for an impossible price?) Look at this impressive list of impossibilities:

• First we find out that because we hold tourist visas we cannot legally buy a vehicle in SA (so ALL NATIONS  will register it in their name, and we will have a company vehicle for the first time in our lives! - God is good),

• The previous owners have moved to Australia, but didn’t complete the correct paper work at their bank before leaving!

• Their bank won’t deal with anyone but them.

• And the vehicle registration agency is requiring things from that bank that we cannot obtain.

We have been soaking ourselves in books of prayer, and in prayer itself since arriving in Africa. God is taking us to new lessons of walking with Him, though we are just novices in much of this.

• God is waiting for a wo/man to stand tall, lift out the rod over the waters, and order the elements to conform! “SPEAK TO THE MOUNTAIN”; “EVERY PLACE YOUR FOOT TREADS I HAVE GIVEN TO YOU”; “REIGN IN LIFE”; “RISE UP AND WALK” - these are the words he is whispering in our ears.

• God is challenging us, “Do you believe that I can change hearts, move mountains and release blessings without your intervention?” So I find myself praying for my kids and kin, trusting God daily with specific issues where I used to just shrug or worry. For finances and direction expectation is replacing worry. My little toy hammer of intervention has been replaced with God’s earth mover of heart changing power - and he invites us on the seat with Him!

• 24-7 Prayer Manual and Red Moon Rising by Pete Grieg have been whetting our appetite for a “tent of meeting”, and the tangible spiritual feast of much time spent there.

• The same books have also stirred up our vision for being 3^rd millennium monastics - devoted to the service of God and the poor, in radical community.

So as our planned three days in SA are nearing three weeks, this passage becomes our theme: Ps 27>

“THE LORD IS MY LIGHT AND MY SALVATION; WHOM SHALL I FEAR? THE LORD IS THE DEFENSE OF MY LIFE; WHOM SHALL I DREAD? … THOUGH A HOST EMCAMP AGAINST ME, MY HEART WILL NOT FEAR; THOUGH WAR ARISE AGAINST ME, IN (SPITE OF) THIS I SHALL BE CONFIDENT…. FOR IN THE DAY OF TROUBLE HE WILL CONCEAL ME IN HIS TABERNACLE; IN THE SECRET PLACE OF HIS TENT HE WILL HIDE ME; HE WILL LIFT ME P ON A ROCK. AND NOW MY HEAD WILL BE LIFTED UP ABOVE MY ENEMIES AROUND ME. AND I WILL OFFER IN HIS TENT SACRIFICES WITH SHOUTS OF JOY… I WOULD HAVE DESPAIRED UNLESS I HAD BELIEVED THAT I WOULD SEE THE GOODNESS OF THE LORD IN THE LAND OF THE LIVING. WAIT FOR THE LORD; BE STRONG AND LET YOUR HEART TAKE COURAGE; YES, WAIT FOR THE LORD.”

BREAKING NEWS: WE JUST GOT WORD - THE VEHICLE REGISTRATION WAS RELEASED!       THE WATERS HAVE BEEN PARTED…

OFF TO ZAMBIA!

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 There are sound economic reasons why vehicles are so expensive in Africa, but go tell that to God.  We were advised by many who know these things that we simply needed more money than we had budgeted in order to buy a vehicle that would survive the rough village roads.  There was nothing to do but pray.  Here’s what happened:

Dan and our loyal South African friend Rassie found a 1998 Nissan Hardbody four-wheel drive bakkie (that’s a pickup, for you Americans), complete with double-cab (for hauling lots of people) and canopy (for securely hauling luggage, building materials, etc.)  Because the seller is emigrating to Australia within a week, he sold it for about half the going rate.  Not only that, he held it for us for five days while we waited for our money to be wired from the States.  During that time, numerous people called about it, two of whom offered him $750 above the asking price-to which he replied, “No, it’s already sold to a missionary” (although he had not yet received a cent from us!)  The truck has been very well-maintained and a mechanic is now putting finishing touches on it.  It is MADE for Africa, and we can’t wait to get it on the road headed north.  Our three days here in Pretoria looks like it will stretch into about three weeks (bless our long-suffering hosts!) while we wait for paperwork to be completed, but meanwhile we are learning to wait and to trust.

On this sunny Thanksgiving Day 2009, we’re hardly missing the pumpkin pie because our hearts are so full of gratitude!  Truly, God is going before us.  I’m thinking often these days of Pilgrim women leaving loved ones to board ships headed for the great seas and many uncertainties…of Abraham and Sarah leaving country, people and father’s household for a land God would show them.  When I see what’s left of my kitchen stuffed into our suitcases with our clothes, I think of pioneer women departing from St. Louis, Missouri with a few precious items tucked into the corners of covered wagons.  I guess we’re in good company, poised to see the faithfulness of a God who gently but purposefully leads us. 

“For God has said, ‘I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support.  I will not, I will not, I will not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let you down nor relax my hold on you.  Assuredly not!’  So we take comfort and are encouraged and confidently and boldly say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear or dread or be terrified.  What can man do to me?’”  (Hebrews 13:5b,6 Amplified).

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We packed our bags with dreams and good ideas and memories of the past few months, juggled a lengthy list of details and said a multitude of goodbyes.  Maybe, with practice, we’re getting better at this-although I can’t imagine ever not being wrenched at leaving my much-loved family, my sweet blond granddaughter who asks uncomprehendingly, “You going to Af-ri-ka?”

But on our day of departure, cruising high above the fruited Midwest plains, my devotional book reminds me of this:  “Except a grain of wheat fall into the ground and die, it remains a single grain; but if it dies away in the ground, the grain is freed to spring up in a plant bearing many grains” (John 12:24).  This is the truth repeated throughout the Bible-from death springs life.  And mixed with the small dyings in my heart is a rising tide of excitement and expectation, a desire to put my hand  to this plough in front of us.  Today, we’ve made it through the night over the Atlantic and the sky is pink with dawn.  Lord, let us be found faithful in this new day!  Let this plant bear many grains.

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When God called Abram to leave and go - “to the place I will show you” - i.e. the place of certain uncertainty, hilarious lack of control, but a place of growing confidence in the miraculous provision of Father - that’s the place where ladders descend from heaven, manna covers the ground, people wrestle with angels and come out limping!

That’s where we are now.

Will the ladders come down for us? The burning bush speak to us? Will God really come thru in ways that can only be attributed to Him?

I sure hope so, ’cause we’re committed now - teams are coming, tickets bought, down payment made, and we are sitting in Johannesburg, waiting for a miracle. Yeah, this would be a good time for God to show up!

And the exciting thing He is speaking to us - desiring Him more, learning to pray like we’ve never prayed before, and walk in lock-step with Him. And what if we could catalyze a prayer momentum that would indeed shift spiritual tectonic plates, catapult the dungeon dwellers, and see the fulfillment of all the dreams He placed in our hearts - “exceedingly, abundantly, above all we can ask or even imagine”!!!!!

I read a story of a young, unconventional, single guy who went to an unreached tribe in China in the 1940’s. He had nothing that would have distinguished him as “most likely to succeed”. In fact, the opposite. What he did have was a trust in prayer. And a team back home that he prodded on until they actually believed as he believed - that the burden of the work lay on THEM, as much or more than on HIM. It was a result of THEIR prayers that a super-amazing spontaneous move of God blew thru those remote villages, broke down demonic kingdoms, and raised up the most unlikely church - with not a single person within days walking who had known Christ before, with no missionary visit, with nothing more than a rumor of a Savior or a Bible that had fallen into the hands of a traveler.

You guys know what we are praying for. We wanna see the fatherless children of Africa raised up with human surrogate fathers and mothers to love them and show them the love of their ultimate Father. We wanna see them changing the shape of African society with their Kingdom Living. We wanna see simple, Jesus-powered churches multiplying faster than we can manage them, and a generation of humble servant-leaders laying down their lives for their Loving Servant King. We wanna see the youth of our Western churches mobilized - not for short term mission-vacations, but for Kingdom exploits that will cost them everything they hold dear in this life, and even life itself! We wanna see Jesus’ Name sung about at campfires thru all of Africa - ESPECIALLY among the Tonga and Lozi tribes in Southern Zambia.

Will you pray with us that God would take us all the way, that our dreaming would not be in vain for lack of finances, that the mustard seed of faith would suddenly materialize into a reliable vehicle, rent money, property payments, pots and pans and mattresses and refrigerator, and some building materials for outhouse and covered structure for coming teams to camp under. Those are our major needs.

In dollars and cents - at this point our support partners are covering Regina and my personal budget needs (about $1100/mo). But we have only about $200/mo committed for the ministry, with a budget of about $3000/mo. And we need about $6000 immediately for start up costs.

You can see, this is a ridiculous miracle we (I think my wife is with me in this!) are believing for! And I am asking you to believe with me. Could you envision with me all of these things paid in full, and God getting a huge hand and another story of his exploits told? When I asked you to pray for the $8000 to come in for the down payment last July and the full amount came in with like $200 to spare ON THE DAY IT WAS NEEDED! That is what keeps me going - that God has shown He is our major supporter, and will underwrite, thru His Body, the work of His Kingdom.

PRAY…… GIVE……. GO!

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We have arrived back in Africa! Hungry for more of Jesus and all that He has for us. I read this on the plane over, and it agitated the already churning passion in my spirit:

“I always wanted to believe and live the Sermon on the Mount, but usually got told that it did not mean all that I thought it meant, and that I needed to be practical. I would read the Scriptures longingly, trying to imagine how wonderful it would be not to worry about anything, safe and secure in the presence of Jesus all the time. Miracles would be normal. Love would be natural. We could always give and never lose. We could be lied to, cheated and stolen from, and yet always come out ahead. We would never have to take advantage of anyone, or have any motive but to bless other people. Rather than always making contigency plans in case Jesus didn’t do anything, we could count on him continually. We, our lives, and all that we preach and provide would not be for sale, but would be given feely, just as we have received freely. Our hearts would be carefree in the love of our Father in heaven, who always knows what we need, and we could get on with the gloriious business of seeking first His Kingdom and His righteousness. There would always be enough!” - Roland Baker.

That’s how I want to live. I’m planning on it. I think we really can count on Jesus to take care of us while we focus our lives on His Kingdom.

So, 12 hours before we left our home  for the airport, just as I was in process with the bank to wire money to South Africa to buy a vehicle there, we got word that we had major obstacles in our route. So I had a choice - throw a major fit of temper or anxiety - which would do nothing to improve the situation; or to take this as a blessing in disguise, and trust our Guide and Provider to work on our behalf. It was a wonderful improvement over the former way!

So now we sit in Johannesburg, waiting. Regina is getting stir crazy already, and it has been less than a day. But we are trusting one step at a time in our Father for the timing and providing. We have a lot of good books on prayer, and after we read them we may even have time to try it! We can’t wait to get to Zambia to our little team of 2 there waiting for us, to find our house, to see what we find for a vehicle, and to start devoting ourselves to prayer and hearing of God’s voice. We don’t have much, but we are waiting to see how God multiplies it to fit our needs. The people we saw come to Jesus in the villages are on our hearts - will they still be seeking after God? How will all the things we have dreamed and envisioned come to pass? When will God begin giving us fatherless children to care for? When will we be able to start gardens on our new land? How will we find the attitude of the villagers  towards us as we settle among them? In all these things - we are learning to rest in Jesus, one step at a time.

So today we sit and wait and pray. Pray with us. Obstacles, come into conformity with the plans of God! Open the windows of Heaven for miracles for us.

Thanks. dan and regina.

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We are 9 days now from blast off - and counting! The excitement is rising, as is the pile of stuff in our living room. Why do we still have so much in storage? And how will we get all this stuff into 4 suitcases? We are trying to decide if we should take a fifth - even if it costs $250 - what things can more easily be left here and bought there, and what must be taken. It seems my list is different than my wife’s. PRAY FOR US!

We are having so much fun -

• We got the God Story on flip chart - if you have not seen the film Ee Taow - where the missionaries shared to a remote village the story of salvation twice a day for 2 months, walking step by step thru the stories of the Old Testament, showing God’s passion for his people, the problem of sin, the solution of sacrifice, and culminating in the story of Jesus. They caught on film when the whole village experienced the awareness of their sins being paid by Jesus’ death and resurrection, and their instantaneous joy and freedom that broke forth was amazing - 2 ½ hours of dancing! See it here = CLICK HERE
  

• BUILDING - Two builders are planning on coming to Zam in Feb to strategize and design and set in motion the construction of our base! If you want to get on board with that, write them at -

• We just got the Jesus film in Lozi - can’t wait to go to the villages and give people a real look at what a wonderful Savior we have.

• Something on the wish list - would someone feel compelled to buy a video projector so we can show this and other films to the villages on the big screen? =  CLICK HERE

• One person is buying us two foot-powered water pumps to get water from the river to the gardens, AND a press that can make cooking oil out of sunflower seeds - a business for someone there, AND a soil block press to make building blocks - another business! So cool! See the website and get a vision of the potential - CLICK HERE

• We got a training video in ORALITY - to train teams that come how to tell and act out bible stories, and then to train others to do the same. Learn about this new missions strategy - CLICK HERE

• Two young people are considering coming to see if they want to set up and manage a BACKPACKERS LODGE of sorts as part of the base. Another friend in Africa is training people in the “hospitality industry” - waiters, lodge attendants, etc - to send to us when we are ready! PRAY FOR THIS.

• We bought two cases of English BIBLES to come with teams - they have 850 word vocabulary. When the company heard what we wanted them for, they gave them to us for less than ½ retail cost - $4 each!

• VEHICLE - A friend in South Africa is helping us find a vehicle. Our current budget is $10,000 which seems ridiculously high. Several missionaries that have lived in the terrain we will, and know how difficult it is to repair broken vehicles up there, insist we need a Toyota pickup and need to increase the budget by $5,000. IF GOD IS SPEAKING TO SOMEONE ABOUT DONATING TO THIS FUND (YOU ARE AWESOME! AND ARE GOING TO GET BIG KUDO’S FROM MY ANGELS ! ! ! ) 
  “>DONATE BY CLICKING HERE

• TEAMS AND INTERNS - We continue to get people interested in coming as interns for a month or two. And there is still opportunity to come on the Mandate discipleship school team Jan 9-Feb 28 - $2500 from Portland or $900 plus your airfare to Livingstone. If you want to come, try to avoid the June and July - prices will be high because of world cup in SA. In May it is still $1300 to Johannesburg from Portland, and it returns to that by Aug 12. But in between it is more than double.

If you are still reading you must be very loyal friends and supporters/partners, or just don’t have a life! But either way, may I give you a challenge and an invitation.

Paul felt a loving connection with all the churches, but especially with the church of Philippi. Why? Because they were partners. That church supported him financially, sent people to work and be mentored by him, sent help when he was in trouble, and prayed with him. 5 times he uses the term “share” (Koinonia - 2:17,18; 4:3,14,15) - he shared his joy with them, and they with him, they shared in his cause and fight, they shared in his suffering, and they shared in providing for him.

My heart yearns for partners. We don’t want to do this alone. So the outpouring of “investors” is SO encouraging. But I want to ask you to consider becoming a PARTNER. This endeavor is expensive! This month the startup costs will be about $35,000 and for this whole first year there will be many such expenses! If Regina and I totally clean out our account as well as the ministry account we can make it thru the month. But we are praying for more people who will partner with us financially, and perhaps even some who will share in our “sacrifice” by sacrificially living and giving. Will you pray about becoming a monthly partner in support? And even more, I am praying for a few more who will intercede with us thru this year of breaking up the fallow ground and establishing Kingdom in this very dark domain.  Love you lots - Thanks - Dan and Regina

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“For all these things the nations of the world eagerly seek; but your Father knows that you need these things. “But seek His kingdom, and these things will be added to you.  ”Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom. “Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves money belts which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys. “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

• We bought our plane tickets! THREE WEEKS LEFT! - Nov 14 early morning and return the last of August, Lord willing. Our plans are to fly to Johannesburg, South Africa, buy a vehicle (please pray that we find the right one) and household goods and drive up. We will then rent a house in Livingstone until we can build on the property - perhaps six to 12 months.
• As we draw nearer to the date we feel more certain that our primary goal for the year is to be in prayer, invest into the team that God gives to serve with us, and build relationships with the village where we will live - not a lot of tangible production! The most urgent things will be to sort out the legal issues with the land, the visas, the non-profit organization we will start. But our priority will be prayer and understanding. Who will pray with us?
• “Pray the Lord of the harvest to send workers...” He is doing it! Jeremiah and Missy are doing all the application stuff - sort of our right-hand partners in crime (Yeah guys!), and Alyssa is doing a lot of office stuff! Then Jeff told us tonight he wants to come serve with us for a year, (so looking into All Nations CPX for long term workers), and Nimisha (CPX last year) last week told us she wants to serve with us! We also sent out eight applications for interested interns! God is bringing in just who He is choosing. If I may ask you to pray for one more important part - we could really use an administrative person to come for six months to set up an office, take care of communications on that side, and organize our teams coming in. That will free up me and Regina to be in the village every day.
• We spent an evening with Chris and Karen Cornwell and fam. They are horticulturalists and are filling our bags with seeds to transform the hunger of Zambia into a sustainable sufficiency. They want to introduce more tubal plants into the local diet because these would be more drought resistant, elephant proof, and could diminish the absolute dependence on maize (corn). They also sent us with plans for a manual hay baler, a composting toilet, a bucket drip water system, etc. Chris has a dream of being “Chrisie Mango Seed” of Africa! - to come over and take a zillion good mango shoots and go around grafting these in every village.
• A good friend Julie graced Regina with a new pair of Chaco’s - a very wonderful thing to have in Africa! And another friend, Russ is giving her an e-book which has been on the shelf - it can download and flip thru 55,000 books! That ought to keep her busy.
• Now there are three competing simple technologies for house building : Nick is interested in building with cob.  Andy wants to come and build with hay bales. Tonight Mark suggested rammed earth would possibly be best. Who knows?
• I splurged on an Mp3 player - I have it in my heart to make a real home for my wife when we arrive - with some pots and pans, a couch, beds, music stereo system - hence the mp3 player. I hope to keep her around a little longer this way.
• Jeff Walton is planning on buying a 2-man, hand-held, well drilling machine for us, and shipping it over!! We can go crazy digging wells! And Nimisha is dreaming about installing water systems. Hmm - sounds like God is up to something.
• Would you please pray for us in these two ways : We listed our house (AGAIN!) three days ago and our realtor had it in her heart to trust God that it could sell before we leave for Africa! Then we just heard that someone looked thru it today and might write an offer. Jesus, we give it to You! Also, our little ‘89 Toyota Corolla is still running like a top - used no oil on the 6,300 mile trip we had to Michigan and Canada, and only one more long distance trip. Then we want to sell it just as we step on the plane preferably, for $1300. ANYONE INTERESTED?
• We got 4 suitcases for $2 each! Now we are getting things donated to pack in them to send over  with teams that come - hand-made baby clothes, office supplies from a wholesaler, comic gospels of Jesus, and a case of easy-read English Bibles. I just ordered a Jesus Film in Lozi language. If anyone wants to order things in print - Lozi, or Nyanga are the most common languages there. If you have anything to donate to send with teams contact Alyssa at allnationszam@gmail.com - she will store and send things with people coming to visit or serve.
• Speaking of teams - our first team is still open for more. It is the Mandate discipleship school in Oregon that is leading the team (guys - there are six girls and only one guy! Just make sure it is God tugging at your heart!). Jan 8- Feb 27 - cost $2500 from Portland, or $900 plus your airfare. Floyd McClung will be there to teach the team for a few days too.

Thanks for your prayers, support, friendship. We are humbled and blessed. Dan and Regina.

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We started a new page on our website (www.danandregina.org Discussion page)!

This page is dedicated to the many challenges we are encountering in our effort to establish a Transformational Community in Zambia, and an effort to include as many of you as desire to help in the overall ministry – some may donate, some may come to Zambia and put in the elephant fence or water system, and some may research how best to do it and share their knowledge. Here are the ways you can connect on this page:

1. Enter into the discussion - click on the topic link (the title to each topic is a link to it’s separate page), adding your comments to the topics. Insert links to other sites for further study, but most importantly, give your opinion on what you have read. I do not have time to do all the research - I want to hear what you think. If you would like to start a new topic, make a comment on the bottom of this page and I will start that new topic, or if you want, I will put you on as a member to actually post topics yourself.

2. Donate to a project - first research how much it will cost, check out the details with us, then donate what you can (use the PAYPAL donate button and be sure to type which project it is for where it says “special instructions to the seller”) and I will keep a running tab on how much has been designated for each project.

3. Implement a project - get in touch with us for timing and such, post your intentions for others to join, get your plane ticket and come do it!

ELEPHANT PROOF FENCE - Elephants have basically free reign to tramp thru the villages of southern Zambia to munch on gardens and fields. The villagers are terrified…

ESTIMATED COST  ___________     AMOUNT RECEIVED TO DATE  _______________

IMPLEMENTED BY ___________________________________________________

WELL DRILLING - The problem of getting water to the villages of Zambia is huge! Survival depends on water - for drinking, washing clothes, bathing, and watering gardens. Either the people live along a river  but it has crocodiles so  they cannot use it, or they live away from a river and must try to dig wells or walk for miles. Every village I have been to seems to need water! They all walk miles for water and it is always treacherous. I looked into the cost of having a professional well driller come - just for drilling the hole - without pump or cement casing - it was over $10,000!  So someone suggested we should get a portable well drilling rig - hand operated.

ESTIMATED COST   $1000 (plus shipping) AMOUNT RECEIVED ______________

IMPLEMENTED BY _______________________________

WATER PURIFICATION SYSTEM - Our base is on the Zambezi, so plenty of water. But to drink it we need to purify it. Will we need to purify the water if we drill a well? I don’t know. Many other villages drink from questionable streams or water sources. There are different types of systems - which is most cost effective? Which is most long lasting? Can I get the systems in Africa? Is there a way to build one with common materials that can be found in any village? Is there something that can work for a household on small scale, or be magnified for a whole village water system? These are some of the questions I have, and you may have many more.

ESTIMATED COST _________________  AMOUNT RECEIVED _______________

IMPLEMENTED BY __________________________________

WATER SYSTEM FOR HOME BASE - We will soon need a water system - we have teams arriving starting Jan 2010. It would be so good to have at least a temporary system available by then. And with the heat and hard work we will all be doing, we want to have a shower enclosure available with plenty of water! (If we can get a crocodile proof fence built soon that would be wonderful too!) But long term we want to have experimental gardens, long term staff housing, guest housing, orphan homes, schools, etc - LOTS of water! We are on the river, so there is an unlimited source of water available. Of course we have no electricity either - so we need some ingenuity here. (But then there is the issue of other villages that are not on the river - what kind of water system can we help them build? This will come later, but I am thinking of it as we build our home base.)

ESTIMATED COST ____________   AMOUNT RECEIVED ________________

IMPLEMENTED BY ___________________________________

POWER SYSTEM FOR HOME BASE - We are within 3-10 miles from a power line I am told. But we need at least temporary power for the first year or two I imagine. What is the best - Water turbine? Wind? (I have not seen much wind there) Solar? Generator? A combination? What absolutely needs power? Probably a pump for water, a few bulbs, the filtration system (?). We can cook by fire or better, a gas cooker. Refrigerator? Ask my wife - she will know better. A hair dryer??? Ugh.

ESTIMATED COST _____________   AMOUNT RECEIVED ___________________

IMPLEMENTED BY  ___________________________________

FARMING/GARDENING EXPERIMENTATION - The people are almost starving; the land is abundant; elephants threaten; drought - we don’t know for sure; what kind of crops would thrive there? What can we experiment with? Can we create good business with some niche that no one has done yet? Coffee? Dried and exported mangoes that go to waste because of super abundance? How do we fertilize? How to conserve water in scarcity? What techniques and alternative crops? Fish farming? Give your thoughts and seeds.

ESTIMATED COST _______________  AMOUNT RECEIVED ___________________

IMPLEMENTED BY ____________________________________

POSSIBLE TOPICS TO ENTER INTO - LEAVE A COMMENT TO ACTIVATE ONE :

1. DESIGNING THE BASE, THE GUEST LODGING, THE STAFF HOUSING, THE ORPHAN HOMES - MAKING IT A COOL, FUNCTIONAL, AFRICAN EXPERIENCE JUST ENTERING ONTO THE PLACE.
2. HOW TO GIVE AID, GIVE HELP, SAVE LIVES, YET NOT CREATE A DEPENDENCY. INSTEAD HOW TO FOSTER SELF-SUSTAINABLE SYSTEMS THAT WILL EMPOWER FOR THE LONG TERM, RATHER THAN SUPPLY FOR THE IMMEDIATE NEED.  WE NEED SYSTEMS TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN.
3. BUYING THE PERFECT VEHICLE - MUST BE 4X4, BE ABLE TO HAUL TEAMS OF 15 AND THEIR LUGGAGE, MUST BE FUEL EFFICIENT BECAUSE OF THE $10/GAL COST OF FUEL, PREFERABLY DIESEL.
4. MAKING BIO-DIESEL FUEL OR SOME ALTERNATIVE FUEL
5. MAKING A GOOD INDUSTRY TO EMPLOY VILLAGERS AND SUPPORT THE MINISTRY - ANY IDEAS?
6. MAKING A SMALL SCALE BUSINESS THAT ORPHANS CAN DO THEMSELVES -  TO KEEP THEM GENERATING SMALL AMOUNT OF INCOME TO KEEP IN SCHOOL AND BUY CLOTHES AND FOOD - WHAT WOULD THAT BE?
7. ETC. ETC

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Remember when Jesus did the miracle of multiplying the loaves and fish? Then he told the disciples to pick up the pieces? Why did he do that? Think about it… it sure would have been nice for some of those families to have some bread for the journey home… and the few disciples would not need that much for themselves! I think he just wanted to have a good story that would ring thru the ages to the glory of such an amazingly wonderful and generous Father… who comes thru again… and again! They all ate to the brim, and 12 baskets left over!

Well, He did it again… and again…   So when the headman of Singanga Village said he wanted $10,000 by Sept 15 I was excited to see the loaves being broken right in my face!

I am not a fund-raiser, but simply a reporter of what God is doing and saying. I reported it a few places, but rather timidly - not wanting the power of the flesh, but the power of God to get the glory.

So when the due date was about a week off I added up what we had, and we were about $4000 short - and that is only if I added all the money that had been donated to Regina and me thru our Paypal account since Jan - I thought we could get by without it. Then on Sat the 12th it started coming in - here a little, there $500, some people we knew and some not. Just these emails coming in. Sunday the 13th we were scheduled to share with a small group of about 15 friends, and even then, we only shared about 15 min; and in the evening a small group of people from a neighboring church - many on fixed retirement incomes! We went home from those two places with 12 baskets full! - over $6500.

In the next couple days a few more donations came in. I added it up today - just from July 15 to Sept 15 and designated for the land. Along with the $2000 given by Love’s Door for the earnest money back in July, God had brought in $9886.30 . Wow - that is not like God to come up $113.70 short! I racked my brain, asked Regina if there was any other money stashed somewhere - aha! Yes! There was a check for $200 sent to my construction business name that had been finally cashed but not yet deposited. Making $10,086.30!!  Can you see how good our Father is? I love him so much. Thanks Pops!

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