January 1, 2021

I am drained. Physically and emotionally. Getting back to where we are staying today was such a relief. I could literally close my eyes and never wake back up. Which is crazy to me because two hours ago I was so invigorated and in awe of my God. I just think it was a lot to handle for me at the time, and now I’m being hit with the draining effects of what we went through.

            Today my team within my team went to Chaiasa (chuh-eye-ee-suh) which is a village maybe twenty minutes outside of Lusaka. If America were to depict basic African poverty, this village was it. Muddy roads and paths, crumbling homes, no running water, laundry strung out, litter everywhere, and multitudes of children. We went there to meet people at their homes or on the streets and share Jesus’ precious message. My team within my team within my team (Carly and Jade) and I had two translators, Florence and Violet, who were familiar with the area and could lead us around.

            Almost right off the bat, I stopped our group and prayed with maybe 15 kids under the age of 12. We were carrying little books that talked about Jesus, and the kids stopped me and asked about it. I told them how Jesus loves them so, so much and desires to have a relationship with them. Many of them already knew the Lord, so I prayed a prayer of encouragement and love, and they repeated everything after me. They had the best smiles and were so excited to see me pass by them a second time later in the day.

            As a team, we had a few different conversations with other strangers but all of them already knew the Lord. One lady we talked with invited her son to talk with us also, but he refused. His name was Stain, and this woman knew he needed the Lord and she felt the blame for his unfaithfulness. She needed to hear and receive the grace of God because she was carrying a lot of unnecessary weight. We prayed for her son Stain, that he might come to know the Lord, and for the mother to receive God’s good grace with open hands. We gave her great encouragements and asked her to share the gospel with everyone she met. But something cool about the gospel is this; you don’t have to say a word to share the gospel. Through your actions, people should know that a Christian is set a part. This is enough to witness to others the love of the Father.

            To give a little backstory, the team that went to Chaiasa yesterday had a bomb day. We were all so encouraged by their testimonies because there were so many people that gave their life to Christ. Drew, one of my friends, had an incredible witnessing opportunity by being able to share the gospel with inmates in the local jail and they all gave their lives to Christ that night. He was crying. Everyone was crying lol. We ended up sharing stories until 2 a.m. and we were all wiped. It had been two huge days of ministry and we were soaking in every second. When we woke up this morning, I was tired. I basically had time to get ready, eat a quick breakfast, and meet with my team within my team before we got sent out for the day. I didn’t have my quiet time this morning, which I believe contributed to my lack of energy. While my team was praying, I actually started to doze off. I was just not in it this morning, and I felt that low energy all the way to Chaiasa. However, I had high hopes for the day and was very excited to see the Lord work in incredible ways.

            But up until this point in the day at Chaiasa, I didn’t feel very encouraged or successful. I felt tired walking into the police station thinking what in the world are we doing. Drew was here yesterday. Let’s just go talk to more people. We ended up sitting in the chief of police’s office for maybe fifteen minutes as Florence went to the store to buy bread for the inmates. Guess what. I started to get sleepy sitting in the office and, honestly, did not feel successful in my day at all. I had spoken to only Christians all day, and I didn’t even have the energy to make conversation with the chief of police. I just sat quietly as Carly made polite conversation, letting my mind be anywhere else but there.

            Florence finally came back to the police station and we went to go see the inmates. I ended up asking Jade if this was the same jail that Drew went to yesterday and she said no – this was on the other side of town. Good. There were fifteen men sitting in the normal cell size for two inmates in America. The five of us squeezed into the tiny hallway and started to share the gospel with these middle-aged men sitting on the dirt floor. I’m gonna hype up Carly huge time in this situation because the Spirit spoke so fluently and simply through her. She went off and explained Jesus to these men, many of who had not accepted Jesus into their life before. Jade would bounce off of Carly and the two worked together like a power-house. Florence would take their messages and translate them to the men, and she even preached truth that we didn’t ask her to. Florence is incredible and shared such a bright light.

At one point, I looked over and down the hall to the station’s front desk. And there sat Stain, the woman’s son we prayed for. He was not being arrested, but was simply hanging out at the desk listening to the gospel message being presented. I was in shock and had to do a double take. How did this man literally end up in the next place we were going to share truth? Only God bro. It was honestly so encouraging to see him sitting there listening. I know it would have meant the world to his mother. It was quite the answered prayer. I’m sure a seed of some kind has been planted.

Every now and then, Jade and Carly would look at me and ask if I had anything to add, and my mind was absolutely blank. I stood there, unable to come up with anything to say or contribute, and felt so useless. I tried to muster up some kind of encouragement but my thoughts and words had fled me, which if you know me, has never happened before. As badly as I desired to be a part, I just had nothing to share.

            Florence’s daughter, Hope, came and joined us in the jail and she led these men in worship. She has such a beautiful voice and the inmates were so selflessly worshipping our great God. What courage it takes to stand up, raise your hands to heaven, and sing praises to a Savior that many of them had a grudge against. Carly asked if anyone who held a grudge against God would be willing to release those chains and offer forgiveness in their heart. They stood in their tiny cell, worshipping and praising God, for the first time seeing what the joy in having a relationship with Christ brings.

            The story of Saul to Paul was shared and how the Lord forgave all of Saul’s mistakes and Paul was able to lead a life dedicated to the Lord. Some of the men had heard of this story before and it seemed to give them hope and a greater understanding of how Jesus’ cleansing blood and sacrifice works. One of the most excited men was standing in the front, weeping and praising God, and his name was Paul. He kept saying “thank you, Jesus; thank you, Jesus” as tear after tear fell down his face. It was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my entire life, and I just felt so overwhelmed. Then Carly and Jade asked me to lead these men in a prayer of acceptance of Jesus.

            I have never prayed this prayer with anyone before but have seen many of my teammates bring people to salvation. Yesterday, Jade led a woman in a prayer of acceptance for the first time in her life and she was overjoyed. There are no right words or fancy sentences that need to be said, but there are some basic elements. (could also be called the abc prayer)

1. Admit that you are a sinner and in need of a savior.
2. Believe that Jesus died for your sins and conquered death by rising from the grave.
3. Commit to a relationship with Jesus and living a life dedicated to him.

In an instant, I said yes to leading these fifteen men to accept the Lord and immediately second guessed my decision. I literally had nothing to offer this entire time. I had no words. I had no suggestions. I had no thoughts. And now I was to lead the prayer that they would say to start a relationship with the God of the universe. Where was I going to get the knowledge for that?

      I pressed my hand against the cell bars and nineteen more joined mine. My arms were shaking as I took a deep breath and asked the Lord to give me the words that needed to be said. The men were so expectant, so excited, so willing, so desiring of the Lord. The Holy Spirit guided my tongue as I lead the inmates to acceptance of Jesus Christ. The prayer wasn’t eloquent or long, but when everyone had said “Amen” fifteen more souls joined the ranks of the kingdom. Heaven was rejoicing. The men were crying. I was crying.

I stepped back and let Hope lead them in more worship songs, and I just sobbed. My mask got so snotty lol. First off, I was so excited for these men and proud of the step they had just taken. They were once lost and now they are found. They are sons of the King and will have their own place in the kingdom of heaven. Secondly, I was so touched that the Lord would use me to bring his sons home. Who am I but a servant, and the Lord did an incredible miracle through the words that were spoken. And third, I was just overwhelmed by the love of the Father. What do we deserve but death and eternal damnation? Why would he love us so much to save our dirty souls? It was incredible to see Jesus’ love radiating from these men. They rejoiced and praised God, washed new in his blood and sacrifice. We gave them four booklets that talk about Jesus and wrote the name of the local church on them. After saying good-bye, we started walking out of the hallway when Paul, the man who had been crying, called my name, “Michael!” (it’s easier to pronounce, so that’s what I roll with here). I turned around and went back to the cell, wiping away my tears. Paul looked at me, humbled and sitting on the ground, and said, “Brother, I will see you again one day.” All I could do was nod my head, choke back more tears and whisper through my mask, “yes you will.”

We left the station and I just cried all the way back to the church. Jade gave me a hug and told me she was so proud of me. I told her it wasn’t me but he who is in me. I was just so in awe of what the Lord did and how stinking much he loves us. We all deserve nothing, and these men sitting in Zambian jail just committed their lives to the Lord, led in a prayer spoken through my mouth. I was so honored and humbled and struck by the Lord.

We made it back to the church where we sang, danced, and worshiped to some local songs and all I could do was pray and cry. I promise I’m not a crier but I couldn’t stop. Anytime anyone said “Jehovah” or “God” or “Savior” I would just start to cry again. I wanted to stop lol but God is just too good for me to be able to wrap my mind around it. Florence poked fun of me for it which I appreciated. She asked, “You done crying yet?” like three different times. She was so, so kind and gave me so many hugs. She said, “God did a great thing today. Those are happy tears.” And I smiled and said, “Yes, of course they are happy tears.” We hung out with some kids for a little while longer as we ate the meal the locals had graciously cooked for us.

But, to everyone’s surprise, as we were about to leave, one of the inmates walked into the church. He said that he had be released three minutes after we left, along with two others, including Paul. Like what. Jade, Carly, and I just stared at each other dumbfounded and in shock. Carly asked if he had accepted Christ into his heart, and he responded yes. He was so happy. He had come straight from the jail to find the church we were talking about. He said he was coming to church on Sunday. Praise God. He didn’t know English too well, so we had a short conversation with him, gave him a plate of food, and sent him on his way. But I cannot express to you the shock and joy that we felt having him in that church knowing he was just in jail ten minutes before and now he was going to be in church on Sunday. God works in miraculous ways.

Once we loaded the bus, my exhaustion hit me. My chest just feels so heavy and my body is tired. I am drained. I am not exactly sure why I feel like this, but I know that the Lord did a great thing today, and I am humbled to be a vessel for his message. My team within my team counted, and over fifty souls came to know the Lord today during our outings in Chaiasa. Praise God. I am excited to hear and share testimonies tonight with the big team and to be able to process what happened today. But first, my team within my team memorized one of the cultural worship songs and we are going to flash mob the whole AFM team haha. I love it here.

(1:45 a.m.)

Testimonies tonight were incredible and a lot of encouraging words were shared. I wish that I could relay the quality of people on this trip in my writing but I just can’t. Everyone is day-in and day-out thirsty for the Lord, and everything we do, say, and breath is for the Lord. It has been the longest amount of consecutive time I have spent being intentional with the Lord, and I have seen it change my thoughts and actions. Keep me accountable. I never want to go back to the way I was.

An encouragement that everyone received tonight that I really enjoyed was from Allana, a girl on my team within the team. She was in Chaiasa today as well, and was momentarily discouraged when her group only talked with strong Christians today. Fair enough, it can be said that her team would have liked to lead someone to the Lord, but Allana had a great perspective on encouraging already Christians. In summary, she asked, if we were brought to Christ by someone and then was never talked to again about God, how well would our faith grow or be supported? If it was me, I am well aware that if I did not have a community, I would fall away so fast. I can only imagine what that is like in African culture, and the importance of hearing the Word of God over and over and over, and the importance of knowing that you are supported in your faith. I had never thought of sharing the gospel with already believers in this light, but it definitely gave me a new perspective and appreciation for who the Lord calls you to speak with on any given day.

On a different note, Chyann, a girl on the team, has been dealing with some really bad spiritual warfare, and tonight was really difficult for her. She is having a lot of doubt about Jesus and if he is even real, but she knows he is. It’s a strange situation, but we have been praying and talking with her for a few days now about it. And tonight, a smaller group of us just sat and prayed with her. She shared all that she was feeling and how the enemy has been feeding her lies about her identity and what she believes. She was unsure of her salvation and if it was real or if she was even saved.

Towards the end of the evening, we all gathered around her and prayed against the enemy and that the Lord would just fill her up with his truth. After a bit of different conversation and encouragement and truth-speaking, Chyann said that she finally felt at peace. She hasn’t felt that way in days. She said that she just felt like she was in a pasture with the Lord and that there were no more false thoughts running through her mind. We celebrated with her. Obviously, the enemy doesn’t stop attacking us, but in the name of Jesus Christ he flees, and he fled tonight. Praise God. The Lord is so good.

1 Corinthians 12:3 “Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says ‘Jesus is accursed!’ and no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except in the Holy Spirit.”