It has been awhile since I have written a blog…The Lord has done a lot in the past month in the way of molding me and teaching me as well as leading me on a new path. Since the school was out of session, I spent a large amount of time at the orphanage helping the children improve their English. There is one boy in particular with a learning disability who I worked with over and over again using clay. It became so discouraging at times because he would spell the word over and over and then forget the next second. Even though it was hard, the time I spent with each child was so special. The rest of my time was spent covering library books with plastic so that the children can use them. Each day, God had to give me his grace sufficient for me because I did not feel I was being used in the area I am called to and I was not trusted by the organization, due to many untrustworthy people who have worked there in the past. The Lord has now led me in a new direction that seems it was planned for me before I came back to Zambia.
Before I came, I had spoken to an organization called Overland Missions about possibly doing a project with them, but I lost contact until I came to Livingstone and found myself surrounded by many missionaries working for this organization. I had a meeting with the director of the project and he explained more about the project and that they really needed a social worker. I explained my situation with Ebenezer and I was told to pray if this was the right place for me. After meeting many people working on the project of Overland Missions and feeling God’s release for me to leave Ebenezer, I decided to pursue the position at Overland Missions. It is a Christian organization committed to spreading the gospel deep into the bush of Africa. The project I am working with is called the LIFE project and is considered the humanitarian arm of the organization. They have started 18 preschools in many different villages and want to connect healthcare and care for orphans and vulnerable children to these schools. Their vision is to empower the people and give them enough support for them to be self-sustainable so that they can move onto other villages. The project is exactly my heart for Africa and the approach is the approach of a social worker, very holistic. I have gone into one of the villages with one of the project leaders to see the preschools and was amazed to see how well a preschool can run in the middle of the bush in a mud hut. They have toys made from local materials (bottles, caps, cans, egg cartons, milk cartons, etc.) and the teachers are from the community.
They would like to bring immunizations from the local clinics into the preschools so that they are available to the children who may not otherwise receive them. They are also helping the community to start community gardens which will help feed orphans and vulnerable children. Overall, the gospel is given to each community through each project and God’s love is evident. As we drove out to the village, we brought a little girl with us who had recently undergone three operations on her arm which had been fused to her body after she fell into a fire pit. Overland Missions helped pay for these operations and allowed the girl to recover at their base. I have never seen such a beautiful smile and her big brown eyes filled with such joy when she returned home. I am looking forward to all the excitement and challenges that come through this project. The one thing God has asked me to let go of is the great desire for a paycheck and instead desiring to be where God wants me because He will provide for ALL my needs. I will need to raise $2000 a month for living expenses, retirement, and administration costs. I will also need to raise $5000 for a three month training as well as money for a car to drive into the bush and to the base which is in a village outside of town. I will need a work permit next year as well. I know my God is big enough to provide these things though I still need prayers to trust Him that He will provide where He has sent me.
God has continued to reveal more of his nature through a Bible study I have been going to every week with some other missionaries on the tabernacle. It is so fascinating how the pattern He gave to the Israelites to build the tabernacle represents so much in our relationship with Him today. Perhaps the biggest thing I have learned this week is about Elizabeth and Zechariah who were “righteous” in the sight of God yet could not bear a child. What was so easy for everyone else seemed impossible to them and yet it was because God chose them to do something supernatural in them. Zechariah entered the holy place and spoke with God and his prayer was heard. They bore John the Baptist who paved the way for our Savior. I want to believe that for myself during the times where it seems so easy for everyone else, but so difficult for myself. God will make a way for me, but He may choose me to make a supernatural way for me.
I have also seen God’s hand this week when I visited the only hospice in Livingstone, set up by a Catholic Priest, with some others from my church. Men, women, and children are given dignity and comfort as they die of all kinds of diseases there. Many have HIV and have been abandoned by their families. I was shocked as I walked in and saw people who looked like skeletons as they were so thin from their disease. We shared with them the good news of Jesus and rejoiced as many knew Him already or accepted Him for the first time. We listened to them, touched them, and loved them in whatever state they were in and God was glorified. I look forward to returning and continuing in prayer for each of them. Vincent, a 14-year-old boy who is blind and cannot walk or talk; Alice, an old women, in pain for 11 years from sores on her legs, Paulina; a woman with TB (most likely AIDS) whose family abandoned her, but says she is not afraid to die; John, an old man who cannot talk, but was able to communicate his desire to receive Jesus; and many more who’s names and stories I cannot remember, but they are remembered by the Father…
God has molded and shaped me and is continuing to do so. He has provided an American my age named Nicole and several American missionaries to love me and care for me at my point of need. I have been filled as I pour out to others though I continue to yearn for your prayers.
If you feel lead to give toward my new role in Overland Missions, please contact me and I can give you the information as it is not quite ready yet. I will be coming back to the U.S. at the end of December as well to visit and fundraise. Please also contact me if you are interested in helping me put together a fundraiser. God bless.
erinnhartzell@yahoo.com
