Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, everyone! I hope that you are all having a wonderful time and are given the opportunity to share the true meaning of Christmas with at least one person this year. The birth of Christ is truly a life changing miracle that was predestined from the beginning of time. God came down to earth and became flesh. Amazing! He knows what it is like to be one of us. He knows our temptations, trials, hardships, joy, love, hope, etc. He knows it because He's experienced it firsthand. How amazing is His love for us that He would do something so great as come to earth not only to live as us but also to die for us so that we might live?
My days here in Chicago are coming to an end until Feburary, when I'll return to work on support raising. That will be one of my main focuses while in the states for the next few months. I've enjoyed the time with my family, despite the continuing battle with jet lag. Also, please pray for my dog, Zeke. He ran off this morning and we still have yet to find him. He has a collar on with our phone number, but we're worried that someone may have decided to keep him or that no one stopped him to check the collar. Hopefully he will make his way home by tomorrow.
Have a great Christmas and New Years. I will update again soon. Oh and if you're wondering, my december newsletter will be combined with my janurary one since my laptop is out of comission. Good news is that my insurance in pulling through and will cover a replacement, which I just ordered. I've finally joined the cool club and bought a mac! ;-)

Welcome to the USA!

I made it home, praise the Lord! Yes, I cried a bit as we landed into Washington DC, but that's a usual occurance for me. Leaving Africa is always hard, but I always know I'll be back soon. This year, I'll be back in March or April to lead expedition teams and to train new expedition leaders. We have plenty of trucks now so we can take many teams each month into the rural villages of Africa. If you want to come on an expedition, sign up on www.overlandmissions.com (we also send team to the amazon, mexico, dominican republic, and southeast asia).
So I've traded heat and mud for cold and snow. What a change! It was strange to sleep without the sounds of the zambezi running through the gorge, crickets and frogs, and our dogs barking as some animal in the middle of the night. I slept well though due to jet lag. It'll take me a couple more days to recover but it'll be fine. It's a good time to relax and take it easy.
My cell phone is working so please feel free to give me a call if you know the number. If not, email me. I'll have email access while home. Have a great Christmas everyone!

Crazy times!

I know I haven'
t blogged or updated the webpage in awhile. There are two reasons. 1) Lightening destroyed our internet modem. 2) my laptop is completely dead. I mean,"it's time to upgrade to Mac" dead. The stupid thing won't even turn on anymore. The keyboard just blinks lights at me as if taunting me. ;-) It's cool though. I'm believing the Lord for a mac as soon as I get home. I'm leaving for the states tomorrow and will be in chicago on wednesday! Please feel free to email me at laura@overlandmissions.com. I will have email access while home. If you have my cell number, also feel free to call. I'd love to hear from you all! :) Please pray for safe travels and sanity for these long flights.
God Bless!

So get this...

Okay so on Monday or so, my laptop decided to break down. The ethernet port no longer works which means no internet until I get home and it gets fixed. My internet time is now limited to borrowing other people's laptops here on base to check emails and quickly do whatever work is needed. At least I only have 10 days until I leave for america and then I can get it fixed.
I cannot believe in 10 days I will on an airplane to washington dc and then connecting to my flight to chicago. I am already getting sad about leaving but I know that the 4 months will fly by fast. It's not 100% positive that I'll be back in april, nothing is ever positive until you are on the plane and landing. I have to raise up the remainder of my monthly support needs before I can return. Once that is done, I will be much more flexible to open myself up for many more ministry opportunities. Praise God! I know He will provide as always. :)

A Day in the Life...

Of a Rapid 14 Base Staff Member!

I thought I'd share with you all about what an average day as a base staff member here on Rapid 14 is like. My role with Overland interchanges with being base staff, expedition leader, and personal assistant. I'll post examples of my days for the other roles sometime in the future.

7:30 am- Wake up and hit snooze on my alarm at least twice... a bad habit from college.

7:45 am- shower

8:00 am- breakfast which typically consists of bread, tea/coffee, and the occasional oatmeal/porridge or cereal (sometimes we treat ourselves to eggs, pancakes, or french toast but on rare occasions)

8:00 am- Personal morning devotions, staff planning for the day

9:30 am- typical start of work day
The work days can find me in town doing supply runs, working on trucks in the warehouse, or doing administration in the office

12:30 pm- Lunch. The meal is usually nshima (local corn meal which resembles mashed potatoes but doesn't taste anything like... well anything) and a relish (beans, cabbage, eggplant, or kapenta (tiny dried and fried fish- not my favorite!).

1:30 pm- resume work projects
Usually by now your plan for the day has been tossed out of the window by either something breaking down, new and urgent projects coming up, rain, and/or town battles

4:30 pm- Work day ends for the local workers on the base

5:30 pm- Start preparing dinner

7:00 pm- Generator goes on and everyone logs onto the Internet and Skype

7:30 pm- Dinner

10:30 pm- Generator goes off. Everyone goes to their tents to read and/or sleep


So that's a typical work day on the base. Not as thrilling sounding but it's actually fun in a strange sort of way. I have one to thing to say and that there's never a lack of work to do around here. For example, here are few of the projects I am currently working on:
~ Pulling and fixing the clutch line on my overland truck
~ replacing the oil pan on my overland truck
~ oil changes on all the vehicles
~ end of the year accounting
~ Cleaning and organizing the warehouse
~ cooking dinner every Friday
~ coming up with decorating ideas for Christmas for the main center- very fun! :)

Hope that gives an idea of what my days have been like since expeditions ended in September! God bless!

A Plague of Snakes

Okay well maybe not really a plague. Today I was in the warehouse continuing work on my truck, Maverick, and found a decent sized snake visiting me... of course posionous. The guys were saying it was a green mamba but the description doesn't match. Either way, I ran and got some of the workers to kill it for me. Can I just express how much I hate snakes. I really, really hate them. It's not that they're gross or anything but the fact is that if one bites you, it can kill you very quickly. Here in Africa, it dangerous because you'll have to drive the 20-30 minutes into town to the private clinic, wait for a jet, and get flown to south africa to get the antivenom administered. It's a long process which I never want to go through or see anyone go through. Sheesh! Praise God, though, cause no one has ever been bitten with Overland Missions. We have the protection of the Lord on our lives!
Many of you might be wondering whatever happened with my Thanksgiving Day plans. Well, we didn't end up celebrating. Things here got too busy and we decided that it would be too big of a mission to cook the large dinner. I've found it funny trying to explain the american tradition of Thanksgiving to my African friends here in Zambia. They understand the giving thanks part of the holiday but i think that americans have turned the focus onto the meal, which they pointed out to me as I was explaining the holiday. Oops! ;-)

The Great Turkey Hunt (Day 1)

Okay so Thursday is Thanksgiving and I am not about to forget it just because I am in Zambia! :) I've been planning out my thanksgiving menu for about a week or so now and today was the start of the hunt for our turkey. Yes, you can get them here in Zambia but it's not easy. There are some places in town and in the villages that raise turkeys but sometimes they are not always willing to sell them (Yes, you buy them alive and have to kill them yourself). We found one today for $30 and it was a whopping 25 pund turkey. That's a lot of turkey for 4 people. Needless to say, the hunt shall continue tomorrow. We did happen to order a pumpkin pie from the bakery in town and are also on the hunt for sweet potatoes and celery. Some things are not so easy to come by but it will be a great thanksgiving nonetheless. :)

The Ups and Downs

Every job in life has its ups and downs, and being a full time missionary is included. There is nothing I would rather be doing in life, and the Gospel is my passion, but I could deal without the cultural stereotypes. First of all, being a woman in ministry is tough here, much less being a single woman in ministry. Some have no problems in being under authority to a woman, but there are some who can be quite disrespectful. They definately let you know that they don't agree with your position. It's one of those things you have to learn to not take personally and let roll off your back. Nevertheless, it is a reality and something I'm learning to address and hopefully see change. I would love to see more women pursuing studies in ministry, and to pursue whatever God has put on their hearts. There is nothing we cannot do because we have Christ living within us!
Take me for example. My friend Maureen, one of our staff from Malwai, and I were discussing the other day that I am one of the strangest and most interesting women she knows (and this probably goes for a lot of you who also know me). I am a professional musician, teacher, diesel mechanic, truck driver, preacher, truck driver, chef, baker, accountant, personal assistant, trail blazer, adventurer, safari guide, theatre lover, outdoors lover, and who knows what else. I've picked up so many different skills and talents but seem almost random and strange but much needed in overseas ministry. I used to have no interest in working on vehicles but now its one of my favorite things to do, especially working on my overland truck- Maverick. It's amazing what God can do through you when you open up your life to Him. The possibilities are endless!
So any woman that is reading this, I want to encourage you. There is nothing that limits you! Do not view yourself with lack or below standard. You can do anything you desire. God will use you in awesome ways, whether it's to preach the Gospel in the rural areas of Africa or to raise your children in a Christian home. He will use you if you are willing!

On a side note: please pray for the rains to come here in Zambia. We've have a few showers but the farmers in the villages are anxiously waiting the rains to kick in to the fullest. The should already have started planting for the first harvest but cannot until the rains come. Everyone depends on good rains during this season in order to survive the year.

Welcome to November!

Well the last week and a half or so have passed by quickly. We are now down to 4 people here on the base so things have been quiet yet busy. I've had my hands full with vehicles breaking down. Just when you think one is fixed, either it breaks down again or another one does. There is definatley never a lack of work around here. I also have some awesome news: the rice donation has been approved by Zambia and should be released to us within the early part of this upcoming week. Once our toyota truck is back up a running (has a broken shift cable) we'll be distributing rice and tonga bibles (due to arrive end of this month) to the rural villages in southern zambia.
The rains have officially started here in Zambia. We had two days of rain so far, and the ground is slowing turning muddy. The nice part is that after it rains, the weather is nice and cool for a day or two- a nice break from the heat. :)
Until next time...

Women of God

Today was an awesome day! I had the chance to preach the Word at a women's meeting at Stepping Stones Church. The pastor there is a good friend of mine, Pastor Dragan Zondani. He's my Zambian brother. The church is located in Songwey Village, about 10 minutes from our base. It was such an awesome time to spend with these women. The Lord had me speak on what God can do through women; the possibilities are endless! It was awesome to encourage these women and I hope to do so again so. Just fellowshipping with them and praising God is worth everything.
Even though this is my third time in Africa (as my longest so far) I am still learning about the culture more each day. I really want to understand these people, the lives they lead, and what their hearts desires are. I want to see them on fire for the Lord and realizing they have what it takes to fulfil whatever call the Lord has on their lives. Walking on the path that He has for you is such an amazing life that it can compare to nothing! Are you walking that path?

Testimony from Western Zambia

In June my co-leader, Patrick, and I took a team to the western province of Zambia. We had traveled to Kapau village, located inside the Sioma National Park. We had to take a park guard in with us because of the wild animals that lived around the village. This was proven to us as we saw the lion and leopard tracks on the road into the village. I had been in this village during my recon trip in the end of May and had asked for permission to bring the team to do ministry. It was already night when we finally arrived, and we were greeted by the headmaster and several of the villagers. We made camp, and the following morning gained permission from the headman of the village to have a soccer match and hold an evangelism meeting. The only requirements he gave us was that he did not want a church planted in the village and that we must meet with the leaders of the local church. The church that is in place there is a very legalistic religion and has unfortunately moved away from the Gospel message. They focus on a works based message. As Patrick and I sat in a classroom at the school, we found ourselves being grilled with question after question about what our intentions were in the villages, what the message is that we preached, and the most trivial questions one could imagine (i.e. what denomination does God belong to, what day should the sabbath be). After this Q&A, we held a soccer game against the young men of the village and held a crusade meeting afterwards. It was during this meeting that four young men gave their lives to Christ. One of the mothers started yelling that her son had just decided to serve Satan and that we were satanists. It turns out that after I had left during my recon trip, rumors had started about satanists in the area, which they associated with us. The people in Kapau village had never had missionaries visit before and were hesitant about our meeting. However, the joy in the young men's face as they were filled with the Spirit of God is worth a million times worse then any rumor started by the enemy. We left these men with Bibles and as much teaching material we had on us, with the hope that one of the local pastors in the area will continue follow up until we can return there to further share of the Message of Christ. Please pray for these men as they continue in their walk and may others come to know Christ through them.

Addition to yesterday...

I want to clarify something from yesterday's post. Do not think that we neglect the hunger, AIDs, abuse, etc problems in this world. What we need to do is first look at the people with the eyes of God, see them as the Lord sees them and not with a first world view. And then show compassion on those in need... not pity but compassion. If you are motivated by pity then you will not be effective for the Kingdom of God. You will burn out because in the flesh the problems seem too big. But it is when you gain God's perspective that you are motivated because your heart and His are one, and His desire for the nations to be reached becomes your driving force that can get you through any hard situation you may find yourself in! Praise God!
And to go off topic, last night I had my first snake experience for the year. It was at 10:30pm and I was walking to my tent when a cobra spat at me from a tree I was walking underneath. I didn't even know cobras climbed trees. I didn't see it cause off once I heard it rustling in the leaves. I did go back (stupidly) to see if it was still there but it must have slithered off. Looks like snake season has begun!

My request

This is my request for the world: see the nations with the eyes of God and not the eyes of the world! I cannot even count the times that people have come to me saying that "africa must be to sad, all that poverty and AIDs." Even people who have been here before can only see the mud huts and homes and towns that don't match up to the first world version of life. STOP! America is not the norm! I want you to see the world through God's eyes. That there is no lack in the lives of those who believe in Christ Jesus. In the senses, we see mud homes, lack of food, orphans and widows from AIDs.... but that is not what God sees. That is not His view of His children and neither should it be ours. When you look at these people, you can see Jesus shining back at you. It's such a beautiful sight that it brings tears to your eyes. Every individual life is worth so much to God- Jesus died for all of us, each individual person! Do not look at this nation, called Africa, with pity in your hearts. Do not look at this land and say "it's a shame it's so uncivilized." You are not seeing the heart of this continent... or of any third world land. The hope that covers this world is the blood of Jesus Christ! See the world through the eyes of Jesus Christ!!!

Where to start....

I cannot believe how fast this week has gone by. It's been a continual battle with the rice shipment, but we should hear by the end of the week if it's been approved. Please keep praying! I think the main thing I've been learning this week is where my confidence comes from (thanks Dave!). If you know me, then you know that I am my own worst critic. I have always been hard on myself, especially when it comes to not meeting my own standards. I've never really focused on what others think of me, but mainly on what I think of me. How confident I feel, and then at the slightest hint of doubt I get down on myself. It's usually not too bad but obviously something that needs to change. Maybe you find the same in yourself.
Our confidence does not come from how we feel about ourselves or the situation we're in. It does not come from how prepared we feel in a job, or if we feel we've been adequately trained. There's no way to train anyone for every situation you face in life. Think about marriage. There's no way you can ever be fully prepared to join your life with another- you have no clue exactly how your life will change or the situations you will find yourself in. Our confidence comes from the Lord. Paul writes to the Philippians about this. "[We] rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh..." We have no confidence in our flesh, in our earthly selves, in our senses and abilities. But it is in Christ that we place our confidence. We can then have confidence in ourselves when we realize that He resides within us, working through us. He can do anything and through Him we also can do anything. So if you find yourself doubting in your abilities, thinking you don't have what it takes, remember that the Son of God lives within you. In Him you can do all things. Jesus promised in John 14 that we will do greater things then He has done- the same Spirit that resides within Christ resides within us!!! Praise God that through having confidence in Him, we have confidence within ourselves. And that is a confidence that NO ONE can take away!!!!!

A Fight to the End!

So here is what's been the battles for this past week. Our toyota truck (AKA Sid the Sloth) has finally been fixed. There's been this rattling noise from the truck which finally got worse. We managed to fix that and put on new tires. I know it may not sound exciting but we were very excited!
Here's been the main battle: the rice shipment! Zambia doesn't want to approve the rice and investigations are being made from our side into the test results. Let's pray over this and believe God that His will is done!!
We now have 9 people on base. The Kus family has joined us for a month helping to serve and praying about moving here for around 3 years in the near future. It's always great to have new people around and I'm positive our time working together will be blessed!
As for next week... only God knows what adventures I'll have! :)

A Quiet Week...

This week has gone by quickly and quietly. I've been sick all week so have spent time resting (or being forced to) as much as possible. It was kind of nice to have time to chill out, study, and just enjoy the beauty of the Batoka Gorge.
We're still waiting for the rice shipment to clear customs, so please keep praying over it. We should be hearing the final results early this next week. Lord, give us favor with the Zambia customs!
It's weird to think that if I had not changed my airline ticket, I would be sitting in sunny Florida right now, moving into a new home, and probably sipping a much needed vanilla latte with an extra shot. When it all comes down to it though, I'd rather be here in Africa then anywhere else!
My friend, Patrick, and I were having a discussion before he left for the UK. We came to the realization that I basically have no home. Chicago is no longer "home" because once you move out, it's always strange to come back. It's visiting the place where you grew up- an odd feeling. I haven't lived in Florida long enough to consider it home, and I currently am not 100% positive where I will even be living when I return. The base in Zambia is the closest place I have to a home, but it's also where I work. We came to conclusion that I'm like Jesus... no place to lay my head. I could also be considered Nomadic since I travel so much and carry all my belongings with me (well almost all). It's an interesting place to be in life and I am definitely enjoying it!
God Bless!

The African Heat Has Come!

It's hot... so very hot and only getting worse. It's about 98 degrees right now without a cloud in sight. It's times like these that I thank God for the thatched roof on our main center because it brings the temperature down quite a bit.
This past week has been interesting. We've been working hard on the base doing detail work (basically cleaning). On wednesday I went to Lusaka to meet with the Dutch Embassy in order to gain approval for the purchase of our new overland trucks. These trucks will be driven down from the UK to Zambia by our staff members, accompanied by some expedition team members. They will arrive at our base on December 15th- of which I will still be here to greet them.
Another funny note is that when the meeting at the embassy was over, and we were being walked out, I slipped on the stairs, nearly falling to the floor, and my laptop sliding down before me. Now that's an unforgettable ending to a meeting!!

Back from the bush

I returned yesterday from 6 days in the rural areas of the southern province of Zambia. The ministry went great! We went back to two of the villages we ministered in during the July expedition. When I arrived in Kanchele, I was surprised to find out that many rumors regarding our previous visit had started. They were saying that we had been thrown in jail for being in the country illegally and were also satanists. It's amazing sometimes at the attempts that Satan makes to destroy the work that the Lord is doing in the lives of people. Fortunately, we were able to meet with the leaders of all the churches and dispel all of the rumors. The enemy constantly warps peoples view of Christianity, but we know that the power of the Word of God can break through any strongholds that Satan has tried to put up. Kanchele has changed so much in such a short times but the churches are growing stronger and the ancestral traditions are losing their hold on the hearts of the people. We've seen people healed, filled with the Spirit of God, and so thirsty for the Word that they ask question after question in order to gain understanding. Praise the Lord for His truth and the power that He has!

A long awaited post...

Okay so I'm probably as good at "blogging" as I am at keeping my daily journal. My schedule is slowing down a bit (maybe) so I think I'll actually be able to keep up with this. :)

Right now I am in the middle of leading an expedition in the southern province of Zambia. We just returned to the base from a two day youth conference in the Zimba area. It was great to minister to the youth and I was really surprised at how much they understood and retained. We had a blast playing games with them, dancing, singing, and sharing about God's love.

Tomorrow we will head out to Chabalanda village to hold an all day meeting with the church members, leaders, and pastors of all the churches in the area. From there we'll travel across two dried riverbeds to Kanchele village and hold a two day pastors conference. I was in these villages with a team in July and am very excited about going back!

I've officially changed my plane ticket and will be staying in Africa until December 18th. This will be the longest I've ever been overseas (8 months total). I'm a bit homesick since the rest of our US staff is now stateside or in the UK but I know that the next few months will be a blast. It will also be very hot, which the weather change has already started. It's now a 95 degree average everyday with no clouds in site. I've been warned it just gets hotter from here... I never thought I'd be praying for the rainy season to come! ;-)

Onto the Western Province!

Hey all,
Well I wanted to post before I head out to the bush for nearly three weeks. My team arrives today from America and we'll head out to the western province of Zambia at 4 am on Monday. Where we are going, Overland has never been; some areas have never heard the gospel or even had outside visitors. God is going to do some amazing things so please keep us in your prayers.
We just had Pettidee, a gospel rapper, in to do a revival concert in Livingstone. It went awesome- nothing like it had ever been done in the city. We also had a pre-concert in Mukuni village. I had been there in 2005 when I came for the first time and had not been able to make it back since until this year. When I was there the first time, I stayed overnight in a church member's home/hut. When we were at the concert, I talked with one of the pastors to try and go visit Katherine, the young woman that I become friends with. I was upset to hear that she was no longer attending church and was instead brewing and selling beer in one of the local bars. The pastor took me to visit her and we found her at work. I sat with her as long as her boss allowed (which wasn't long at all) and just asked her questions about her life now. She was trying to save money to go to school, which she justified by this new business of hers. I encouraged her in returning to church and that God has not forgotten or given up on her. Our time was cut short but the pastor agreed to continue to visit her and share the Word with her. Please keep her in your prayers!
I will be out of contact until the 17th (at earliest). I look forward to hearing from all of you and will update the next chance I get.
Mungu aka bariki sana (God Bless you very much in Swahili)

In the midst of it all

I just said goodbye to my NYC team yesterday and have finally had time to reflect on the past 12 days or so. Patrick (my co-leader) and I had a team of 5 people from Glad Tidings Tabernacle in NYC come out for an expedition. We had gone out a few days before their arrival to scout out new areas in the Sekuti region of Zambia (just west of Livingstone). We met new pastors and were able to bring them with us as interpreters during the expedition. There are many testimonies I could share from driving through thick bush, learning to cook over a campfire, preaching the gospel, salvations, etc. However, the most amazing testimony that I carry from this expedition is something Pastor Enoch shared with me as I was driving him to his home. He told me that if it wasn't for the Lord bringing the team to him he would still be in his village continuing with his ministry. Now the Lord has opened the opportunity for him and the local pastors to push out farther into their area and plant new churches in the areas we ministered in. I was floored by this testimony because it shows how awesome the Lord can work through the hands of those willing to go. It is always our (Overland Missions) goal to empower the local churches and pastors to help them minister in the new areas we take them to. Patrick and I are going to go follow up with them within this next week or so and see how they are doing.
Our next team arrives June 1st or so- we'll be going to new areas in the western province of Zambia. We'll go out again before the team arrives to make relationships with pastors and churches. Please keep this in your prayers. I'll continue to update you along this journey!

Zambia Sweet Zambia

Well I made it. I've been here at our base for a few dys now and am just gettiing adjusted to the time difference. Yesterday was interesting as we spent the entire day in Botswana buying supplies. We ran out of diesel on the way to the border, argued with taxi drivers for an hour over price, shopped for groceries, diesel, petrol, and propane, had the bank cards not work, sat at the grocery store for 4 hours waiting for the guys to come back with the truck, just barely made it on the last ferry, crossed the border after arguing with the officals over visas, and chowing down on some pizzas at the Funky Monkey (our first meal of the day at 8 pm). Talk about an exhausting day! It was a blast though.
Some of the teams I'll be leading have been switched around. Patrick and I will be leading some of the church groups coming out instead of the individual expeditions. We're now leading 6 teams with the first arriving a week from today. I'm looking forward to the ministry ahead and know that God is going to do awesome things!

Here We Go!

In just a few short hours, and after many hours of frantic packing, I will be boarding a plane to Livingstone, Zambia. It will be 22 hours of flight, 3 days of travel total. I am excited about the upcoming months, but could honestly do without the long flight. It will be great and I feel very blessed. Now it is time to sleep! :) I will keep you updated from our base in Zambia.

Preparing for Africa!

Well, the countdown has begun. It is only three weeks until I head out for 5 1/2 months in Africa. This year will be completely different then last year since my training in now over. I will be leading 5 teams throughout Zambia and Mozambique to new areas to preach the gospel. The areas we are going to have never heard of Christ, but the Lord has comissioned us to go bring this message to them.

I'll be leaving on April 16th, and until then will continue with my fundraising and believing in the Lord for this need to be met. In order to go to Africa, I need to have $1000 a month in support raised, of which I only have $232. If you're interested in helping, please visit my website.

This blog will keep you updated (as often as possible) on my ministry and where the Lord is taking me. Please keep me in your prayers!