Hello everyone, Nate here. Well, it’s been a few weeks since I’ve updated. It has been a very busy month. We have completed Diesel Mechanics, Welding, Preaching, African Worldview, and have one or two more days of leadership left. We also just got back from 5 days in the bush. Jake, who is the sector manager here, has been building a good relationship with the chief in Neowa. He had the opportunity to set up a conference where all of the headmen of the villages came. This was a huge deal. This will be affecting Zambia hugely!
Jake invited us to come along so we did. We got there and a crowd of kids welcomed us as we set up camp. It was great. The next day we went to the chief’s palace where the conference was being held. Right as we got off the truck, a demon possessed man was outside speaking to us very loudly and doing summersaults and other crazy things. By the end of the week we were able to witness to him to the point where he wanted to accept Christ and be rid of the demons, but he couldn’t or wouldn’t do it fully. We’re still praying for him. The first day we met all of the headmen. Headmen are pretty much like a mayor of their village. There were over 100 headmen and other leaders that came. It was a blessing to see them all come back day after day. After we met them, we all introduced ourselves and just hung out the rest of the day watching Jake teach and talked to the headmen during the breaks. We went back to the camp and most of the guys went and played soccer with the villagers. It was a great, intense, bloody game! We went back and ate supper. Afterwards, we had an awesome 2 hours of just lifting up praise and prayers to God. It was incredible and unforgettable. The next day, we started off at the chief’s palace. Dan, Rachel, and Pete stayed there while the AMTers and Dominic went to a village. We walked about 2 km to the fields. After we helped pick maze, we walked another 3 km to the actual village. We ate quickly and then 3 of us (Phil, Sarah, and Ross) got to share with the women and man who came. It was good. At the end a woman accepted Christ into her life. Praise God! We then walked back to the chief’s palace (5km), and got with the headmen to do surveys about their villages and the villages’ needs. After that we left. The next day was good. We went to the palace, and Tom started off the morning by sharing with the headmen. During this, 4 others and I went to a village about 3 km away to attend the church service there. We got there and the people were doing there Sunday schools, so we sat in on one. It was good. The woman that was leading the one we sat down at seemed to have a good knowledge of the scripture and message they were talking about, which was great! The rest of the morning we sat through their service and the church broke for lunch. It was great. Some leaders of the church invited us to the back where they shared food with us and we shared our sandwiches with them. We conversed for a while before they asked why were there. We told them we were with Overland Missions, and they asked what that was. We were able to tell them about why we were in Africa and learned that no white people or and other foreigners had been there before. We were the first. After lunch, the church came back together and the pastor invited us up to speak. Kelly, JJ, Me, and Wezi all spoke. It was really, really great! We’ve all improved from the last time we spoke at the villages and it showed. We were able to encourage the congregation and share with them our love in Christ as brothers and sisters. After we shared, we left as they continued their service. We walked back, met up with the rest of the team back at the palace, then drove back to the campsite. When we got back, most of the guys went and played soccer again with the villagers. We won 4-2, but the last half they gave us a run for our money. After the game, Kyle got up and witnessed to them and the spectators on the sidelines. About half of them accepted Christ into their lives and the other half we prayed for healing. It was amazing! We’ve never had the majority of the crowd come up for pray. God really did a mighty work! The next day we broke down the tents, loaded up the truck, and headed home. We stopped by a restaurant on the way home and most of us got juicy burgers! Mmm… We then got back here and just relaxed. In the bush, we were able to celebrate Renee’s birthday! I can’t even imagine how cool it would be to have a birthday in the bush ministering to the lost! She cracked her rib on a rock the day before we left, but she would not let that stop her from going. I think everyday people prayed for her and now she is doing much better. Praise God from Whom all blessings flow! Also, Derek got sick the day we left and had a leg infection. He also got better which was also another blessing! Through this whole experience, these last 2 months, God has shown us what life abundant really is. We only have 5 weeks left of class and then I will be coming back early August if my funds work out. Also, if I still have enough money, I will be going to the Coordinate Conference. It will be an awesome opportunity to witness and I am excited to go. If you would like to know about it, check it out at http://www.overlandmissions.com/reachusifyoucan/reachmoreindex.php Thank you all for reading my blogs and supporting me. It means so much to me that you take time out of your lives to read about what all is happening here. I think I know the next step that I’m going to take, but am going to wait until the end of AMT to make the final decision. Please be praying for direction in my life. God has already been leading me in directions that were curve balls to me, but I’m trusting Him with everything. Also, the only people I’m going to be in contact with the rest of the time here will be my family so I can focus more on here, so if you have any questions you can have them ask me and I’ll answer them. I want to encourage you all to step out of you plans and step into God’s. I hope the best for all of you. -Nathan
