The  First Outreach Team Arrives in Lusaka!
Fifty-nine people from Times Square Church arrived this morning at 5:55AM in Lusaka. Though groggy and sleep-deprived after their almost two-day journey, the team was in excellent spirits and excited to finally be in Zambia, a country they had prayed for and prepared for these past six months. The Lord's hand was evident in the peace and order that reigned miraculously through the entire arrival and customs process. We were told that churches in Lusaka had prayed throughout the night for the Lord to provide a safe flight, no lost or delayed luggage and easy passage through customs with the 45 additional humanitarian bags the team was bringing. We were sure that TSC had been hard at prayer as well back in New York. The Lord glorified himself. Not only did all the luggage arrive safely but the team was expedited through customs and only four out of the over 100 bags were spot checked. To God be the glory!

Afternoon at the Stadium
After settling into their hotels rooms and taking longed-for showers, the teams headed to afternoon outreaches at Woodlands Stadium, the venue for the crusade. The objective was to keep them awake so they could go to sleep at night and reset their body clocks and at the same time get them introduced to Zambia. Some worked at cleaning the grounds and picking up garbage, and others followed a mobile public address (PA) unit announcing the crusade through Bauleni, one of the poorest neighborhoods near the stadium.

Bauleni
Bauleni broke our hearts. We stopped to hand out fliers at a small, sparcely stocked market offering the humblest of goods -- peanuts, beans, maize and the beloved,  tiny, dried fish called kepente. Most were women and children, sitting by their humble stalls, surprised that a busload of foreigners would want to stop at this impoverished and desolate little market.

Miriam
One of the team walked over to a group of women sitting on a pile of charcoal surrounded by small dirty plastic bags filled with pieces of coal. She asked one of the women her name. Miriam. She was a thin, aged-looking young woman in dusty, worn-out chitenge, with uneven teeth and a ready smile. It was the smile that was appealing. How could she smile in the midst of this desolate place which reminded one of Dickens bleakest scene? The team member asked her how many bags she sold a day. Miriam smiled again and turned to the translator and said maybe one. Her "profit" after paying for the coal would be 1,000 to 2,000 Kwacha. The equivalent of 20-45 cents per day. When she said that, the team member was grieved to the core. She took her hands and asked if she could pray for her. Miriam smiled yet again and said yes. As the team member prayed she realized she and Miriam were sisters. One called to a hard, unyielding life struggling to survive each day, figuring out how to feed her family on less than a dollar a day, and the team member who had just enjoyed a buffet breakfast with all the trimmings at the hotel's poolside restaurant. "Jesus loves you," she told Miriam, "and when he sees you, he sees a jewel. He loved you before you you were born. His eye is on the sparrow. He has not forgotten you." The translator's eyes began to tear and she could barely get the words out. But when she did, Miriam smiled. Again.