A Quick Update

As I am writing this…I am listening to the song…Turn Your Eyes on Jesus….Look full in His Wonderful Face, And the things of earth will grow strangely dim…in the Light of His Glory and Grace. I need that reminder today.
First off…I apologize for the lack of blogs and emailing…if you all only knew how crazy it is right here….right now…you would understand! We are all SO VERY TIRED….I don’t even think the word Tired could describe how I feel right now. I am empty…spent…nothing left…but so full of joy. We have worked our fingers to the bone and then turned around and worked some more…everyone here is putting in all they have….spending it all for His Glory. Val and Robin also apologize for the lack of emails…we seriously have not had the time…and when we do…the power is off so we cant use internet….We 3 were up till 3am this morning baking cookies for the Dignitaries that are coming here tomorrow….then turned around and were up at 8 to begin the day…our bodies are weak…but we are learning the true meaning of the verse…”His strength is made perfect in our weakness”….today…I just know that someone back home is praying me through….I was done earlier today….broken….spent up…and just ready to leave….this has been a tough job…I have seen God break me down to my weakest point….then break me down some more….then take His BIG Right Hand…and pick me back up again. Trips like this really show you who you really are….it’s humbling…but it is so cool to watch God and His power overcome your weakness.
I don’t quite know how to recap the last couple of days…they have been full of energy…Lots of cooking…I cannot imagine what it must be like to have a large family….we are cooking, doing laundry, cleaning….helping 35 people all day long….loving every minute of it!
Yesterday was a great day…As soon as prayer time was over we started prepping for lunch…enjoying one another’s company in the kitchen…singing while we worked. After lunch I took my friend Barbara up to the clinic so that the doctors could examine her…I will try to describe the clinic for you…Imagine a concrete building…concrete walls, floors, ceilings…open windows with bars…no airflow…hot and stuffy…half the room is split by a white sheet that separates the medical side from the dental side…on the dental side you have 4 school desk chairs leaning up against a window sill or chalkboard tray and 2 dontated dental chairs…2 tables for the instruments to be laid out on…on the medical side you have 2 really old examining tables…a small shelving system to hold the medications….and a table to hold instruments…you can hear all the people outside talking very loudly…some have waited all week to be seen…there just isn’t enough of the doctors for all the needs…some Zambians are getting impatient because of having to wait (we complain when we have to wait 15 minutes for our doctor’s appt…these people have waited for days and are coming in with problems that they have lived with for years…) so it is pretty much chaotic. I was only in there for 15 minutes and I was getting overwhelmed by the need…I could only imagine how the doctors felt…I came back to the kitchen and got all the ladies and Blake who was helping us out…I told them…we need to pray. Those doctors have so much on them….so we went to the Throne. Mama Catherine was praying with us…when it got to be her turn…I literally broke and fell to my knees….here we all are tired and spent and feeling the burden of the need at the clinic…and what does she do? She starts to sing…”Count your Blessings…Name them One by One….Count your many blessings see what God has done…” Yep…pretty much no words to describe that moment. Slap Slap across the face…His Big Right Hand again. These people have such a perspective on life….one that I am envious of. I will never forget that moment. God forgive me for complaining about anything. I have learned so much from Mama Catherine…this woman is the virtuous woman to me…she exemplifies the strength of Christ….she is a hero to me.
Last night we had an awesome service at the Tabernacle. The message was on Gideon’s 300 men…and the invitation was to join with God…no matter the cost…no matter the pain…and fight this battle with Him. We enjoyed an awesome time of singing with them in the end…captured Val and Robin on stage dancing with the Zambians…I love watching these girls come alive….they have been such a HUGE help and their servant’s hearts are indescribable. We are having an amazing time…growing together…forging the relationships that God has already given us…God is growing us stronger together and we are truly becoming One Team for His Glory. I love these girls!!!
Tonight at our sharing time…one of the medical guys shared how he had given his life and burdens to Christ that night! AMEN HALLELUJAH…PRAISE GOD!!! He answered our prayer! We were all rejoicing! And after our sharing time….one of the medical girls came up to me and asked if she could talk to me later…when we did…it was so awesome….God is really working in her life…we had many things in common and I was able to share with her how God has worked in my life…we talked for several hours….she said that God kept telling her to talk to me since Sunday when I had prayed with her at the altar…and it was very evident why. God is working in this group and we give all the glory to Him!!!
So today I woke up late…due to the late night….and was supposed to work in the clinic again…I went up there feeling very weak…and almost passed out 2 times in the clinic…I know it is due to exhaustion. Elaine, one of the nurses…forced me to go back to bed….and I listened and went back to bed….slept a couple of hours and felt worse when waking up. I really believe that God was just trying to break me down and remind me that I cannot do this without Him…I am nothing with out Him! Several people stopped and prayed with me and for me….Val and I got alone and she just prayed over me…I felt so much better. Again….His strength made perfect in my weakness….we have been cooking all afternoon…getting ready to go make pizza…tonight we are going to celebrate birthdays at dinner….then off to the Tabernacle for service. PLEASE PRAY tomorrow….we will be cooking for 70 people…there is a huge group of Dignitaries coming here to see what is going on….it will be our craziest day yet….we need your prayers! We are so thankful for all your prayers and emails….they help so much to know that people are thinking about us!!!! We send our love to all of you….it may be a couple days before we can get on internet again…Sunday we will be leaving for Livingstone after church….a break we are all ready for. Thank you for praying us through!
His Servant,
Amy