Prayer Card

Here's my new prayer card. Feel free to print it off and stick it some place to remind you to pray. Thanks!

Amboseli, Kenya

The mountain peaked out from behind the cloud. Mount Kilimanjaro is a beautiful sight, especially when animals are in the foreground.

I spent the weekend with a group of volunteers from Kirby Wood Baptist Church, Memphis, Tenn. in the Amboseli National Game Park. We saw a LOT of animals. It was the first time to see wild animals in their natural habitat for all of the volunteers. We saw a zillion elephants (my favorite animal).

It's migration season, so there were a lot of zebra and wildebeast in the area. There were also alot of young babies - zeba, wildebeast, elephant.

We watched one group of elephants for at least half an hour or more. This group has elephants of varying ageas. One of the baby elephants was probably about two weeks old. He still didn't know how to use his trunk. He'd try to grab grass like his mother and the others. He'd practically fall down as he pulled and pulled. Then, he'd raise his back leg in impossible angles to scratch himself -- kind of like the flexibility that human babies have. We watched him try to trumpet, but he couldn't keep his trunk from flopping all over the place. It was soooo cute and fun to watch.

The volunteers were truly introduced to life in Africa...bad roads, animals and constant break downs. On the trip to the game park, we broke an axle on one car. The other car ended up with a hole in the gas line due to scraping over the rocky, bumpy road.

We came home yesterday and several came down with a bad case of food poisoning. (Me included.) Most of them leave on the plane tonight, but some are not well enough to travel. Pray for them to recover quickly. Pray that I recover quickly, too.

God’s working in Zimbabwe

Every time you see a story about Zimbabwe, it’s depressing. The stories talk about a government being oppressive to the people; people starving; people dieing from AIDS or hunger. Yes, all of these things are true – but there’s so much more going on in this country. God is at work!

I met a pastor who had been arrested for leading a prayer meeting. Government officials contend that the prayer meeting was anti-government. Those attending the meeting say they were praying for their country. Their prayers were answered as the pastor sat in jail, witnessing to other inmates and jail officials. By the time he was released, 50+ people came to know Jesus as their Savior.

Another pastor I met had a totally amazing story. He grew up in an African Traditional Religions home (witch doctors and voodoo). He said from the time he was five-years-old, all he wanted to do was go visit the church, but his father never let him. By the time he was in his teens, this pastor was living on the streets. One day, a missionary stopped to visit with the street boys. This pastor gave his life to Jesus. That day changed the path of his life. The missionary helped him finish school and this pastor went to seminary.

This pastor became not only the first known Christian among his people, but also the first trained in church planting. He went back to his village to tell them about Christ. At first, he and his wife were ridiculed for their faith. They had two miscarriages and were told this is what happens when you turn on your ancestors. The young couple persevered and a few women came to Christ. They visited hospitals, giving out oranges during this time when food is sparse.

One day, a policeman brought an orphan to them. The pastor asked what he was supposed to do with this orphan. The police said, “You are the Christian, are you not?”

The pastor said he knew that was the test from the community. So, he and his wife began taking in orphans. Now, there are more than 60 orphans living with them. Through this ministry, the community saw Christ’s love in action and accepted the Christians. Many started asking more questions – even this pastor’s family.

Now, two years later – there are 20 churches among this people. Around 1,000 were baptized last year alone.

In a country where there is little to be thankful for, this pastor and his wife thank God for the miracles He’s working in their community and among their people.

Walking with Lions, Zimbabwe

I felt like an old explorer with my walking stick as I set out across the African Savannah. Bouncing playfully alongside me were four lions, each were nine-months-old.

I took time to visit a research center on the African lions while I was in Zimbabwe. It was the coolest thing! I got to play with some lion cubs that were around four-months-old. They were as playful as kittens, but MUCH bigger and a lot stronger. Their coat is not as soft as it looks. It feels like really coarse hair. The cubs love to play and chase strings, just like kittens.

This research site is trying to breed southern African lions with east African lions. The southern lions are dieing out due to a virus. The east African lions are resistant to this virus, so they are breeding the two.

We walked with the older cubs through a small game reserve. The purpose is to get the lions interested in other animals. It’s preparation for when it’s time for them to hunt and kill. Right now, stalking is just a fun game for the cubs.

Believe me, while these were just nine-month-old lions, they were still really big and STRONG. You couldn’t turn your back to them, or else they would playfully attack (to them playing, but they are so strong that it’s not playing to us). I watched my four young companions stalk a large kudu. It was very surreal to crouch with them in the tall grass and scope out a possible kill.

After the lions reach 18-months, they begin to learn to hunt and they go out at night with the researches to do this. At two years, the lions will be released into a sort of “half-way” park. Here, there are animals that they can find to feed on, but the park is not huge. This allows them to get the confidence in making their own kills – but allows the researchers to keep track of them. After they turn three years, the lions are then transferred to a large game reserve. Animals are still fenced in, but it’s pretty wild.

The goal is that the second generation of this cross breed will be born in this large game reserve. These second generation cubs will be wild and able to survive in game parks all over the southern African region.

So, if you are ever in Zimbabwe – take a walk on the wild side!