TELECONFERENCE May 23
The May 17th conference was moved to May 23. Gary Schneider opened with prayer and scripture references from Psalm 68:5 "A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows is God in his holy dwelling.
John 14:2 "In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you." John 14:18 "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you."
(Jesus is talking to his disciples before going to the cross and reassuring them. This is an example of a Father's Heart. Gary tells us that while we love and share the gospel with these children we will see Jesus's finger prints as our hands and feet are used in His ministry.
Updates from Zambia were given: 1) a new mama Sarah and 8 children were selected for My Fathers House #7. 2) 5 children were selected for MFH #6 - they added 4 girls and 1 boy so now they have 8.
3)Funds for MFH #8 have been raised , $43,000,, site prep and material acquisiton to begin June 1.
4) Funds are still needed for maintenance, furniture and appliance replacement still needed ($6,000). This is all happening in Chongwe and we celebrate this achievement! In Lusaka where our other MFH village is, repairs and replacements are underway costing $4,500 for House #4. The office administrator , Mareta M. lost her sister this week. Please pray for her comfort. There is a new staff member in Chongwe named Abigail, the MFH coordinator.
Update on our plans for our August team: We need more people!! If you are reading this blog please consider this amazing experience to go with us - there is still time. Go to our website and fill out application to go with the mission team in August. Because of the smaller team, we are having to modify Camp Hope into fewer days. Our construction team will work 3-5 days and Camp Hope will run 1-3 days. We may be doing community service/outreach with the mamas and children in Chongwe.
We will have a Field Day with the 88 children from the 11 MFH homes.
Gary told us about two children - one with a happy ending and the other undergoing very disturbing situations. The one with the happy ending is in My Fathers House and is doing well. The other is not in MFH and yet the staff is ministering to her. There are so many on the waiting list to go into a house.
Gary continued by discussing the Zambia culture:
He explained the difference between an African Christian and a Western Christian;
African Christian views the Holy Spirit as power - ( because of witchcraft they desire the power of the HS)The Holy Spirit gives them gifts of the spirit, Tongues, Healing,Prophesy,deliverance,and counsel.
The people worship for longer periods of time than we do and open services praying out loud and in tongues. Their prayers are longer with fasting. Their preaching is loud and long with much enthusiasm and it is extremely edifying.
Western Christian on the other hand see the Holy Spirit as truth and counselor and it becomes more inward. The gifts only exist if the person experiences them.
On a personal note, we raised $1,034 for EOH at our garage sale. Thank you to everyone who donated items, and shopped there. Les and I have both completed our shots and are that much closer now to stepping on that plane.
Please pray that God will use us in a mighty way while we are in Zambia even though we are now experiencing these obstacles. Please pray that many will answer Gods call to join us in this August venture to make our team that much more productive. Thank you Lord - how you constantly love us and care for our needs. Prepare us all for what lies ahead.
Next teleconference - June 20th.
