Crusade – Day 3
The anticipation for day three of the crusade was evident in all of us. By this point most of the TSC staff were exhausted and somewhat relieved that we were nearing the end of our objective here in Zambia, some among the teams were sick and were not sure they would be able to attend the crusade, some in the choir had lost their voices and could barely sing any more, but all of us wanted to be here because we knew that God was going to speak and the Holy Spirit would manifest Himself with power.  This time Pastor Carter invited a Zambian worship team to minister to the people before the TSC choir and band ministered. The crowd was the largest thus far because it was Sunday and many had come directly from their churches all over the city, and also because for many people this was the only day they could come. People here have to work six to seven days a week to scrape a living for themselves and their families. Among the crowd we spotted people we had invited, like the media buyer, with her son and her sister, who has come every single day. Her sister got saved on the second day of the crusade. There were two young men from the hotel restaurant staff who were finally able to make it on Sunday, as well as people from the churches we had ministered in that day. We were glad to see them. The atmosphere was charged with expectation. Everyone was happy to be there. Children ran all over the field. Mothers arranged themselves on the grass. Then the Zambian worship team began to minister and the crowd jumped up overjoyed! The worship here is lively. People dance and sing and move. This is Africa. It never fails to move us seeing them worship. Then the TSC choir and band returned and sang many songs in the local language and the crowd responded with joy and amazement that these Americans could praise in their language. “Bale saba suma, mama yo yo yo,” (God is so good, Mama, so good) has become our favorite praise song here and we joined the crowd in an awesome time of Zambian praise and worship. As Pastor Carter said before he preached, the Zambian people have stolen our hearts.

The Last Days
Pastor Carter’s message today was about the last days. The day of the Lord will come suddenly and one day this earth and everything in it will perish. “Zambia, your call from God is to come out from among those who are perishing,” he exclaimed to the crowd, “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. Don’t look to the things of this world because this world will perish… If you are going to have revival you have to come out from among them! God wants a people unto Himself!” He warned them against those who preach a gospel that is not of Christ, who preach about Jesus but don’t know Him, who are distorting everything that is godly and urged them to turn off the American imported Christian TV channel. “Zambia,” he declared, “God wants to put a glory upon you that the world knows nothing about! God is calling you to be set apart! Listen to me like you’ve never listened to me before,” he cried, “He is saving the best for last. He is going to pour out His Spirit upon all flesh and your sons and daughters will prophesy! You will be the evangelists of the last days!” Pastor Carter described how America is moving away from God in all levels of society, and how much of the western world has now rejected Christ, but that God’s Spirit is moving and it is visiting Africa.  He said this was not just a crusade, “We came to tell you, to warn you. Don’t abuse the grace of God, don’t merchandise the grace of God, don’t use it for your own gain, but preach the gospel of Jesus Christ! He urged the Zambian church to rise up to the hour, to stand for the truth. “God is visiting Africa…the glory of God will be on you and there will come a day when we will need you. Pray for us…Don’t forget us!” He spoke with an authority that could only come straight from the throne of almighty God. God was speaking to this gentle, humble people and He was telling them that He has chosen them to manifest His glory in the last days, to be an example in the continent of Africa and to the entire world. He who has ears let him ear what God is declaring, for he has made a decree and we have been witnesses today. Zambia! The Lord has chosen you to pour out His Spirit in the last days!

Preacher of the Hour
Today, over 30 TSC team members and staff went to churches all over the city to preach to congregations of all types -- large and small, poor and comfortable, Evangelical, Methodist, Pentecostal, in tents and half-finished buildings, in classrooms and block houses. They all went, trusting God for a Word for these people he had sent us to, and not one among them doubted that the Lord would come through and the Holy Spirit would fill their mouths as His Word promises. I was among them who found myself in a Methodist congregation in Kanyama, one of the most desperately poor compounds of the city, in a neighborhood where 4-5 churches of varying denominations were right by each other. As I surveyed the long room built of common blocks with wood ceiling beams and tiny windows that barely let in any light, I marveled at God’s grace and how far He had brought me not only physically but spiritually. Here I was about to preach my first sermon ever to a congregation of living, breathing Christians hungry for the Word of God. Who’d have thought I would ever find myself here? Not even in my wildest imagination!  I thought about my mother whose life was a living epistle that led me to Christ, and how she must be smiling in heaven knowing that this was what the Lord intended for me all along. I bowed my head in awe as the pastor introduced me as “the preacher of the hour.”  Our God is an awesome God.

Floods of Fear and Rivers of Life
One TSC first-time preacher went to a small church where they greeted her as “prophetess.”  For this prophetess the task was a daunting one because she had been tested in the very area she was just about to preach – fear. The first time she stood before a crowd as part of the Children’s Ministry team conducting training seminars for Sunday school teachers, she spoke for ten minutes, then suddenly froze. She could find nothing more to say. Her mind blanked. She felt dreadfully sick with an overwhelming desire to throw up and in absolute panic looked over at the team leader and said, “I have nothing else,” and sat down. She felt that she had failed. She returned that day and wept. How would she ever be able to stand in front of people again, much less preach on Sunday! Realizing that this was spiritual warfare she prayed and sought the Lord. She woke up on Sunday determined to trust God, and he gave her a fresh revelation on the scriptures she had prepared two weeks before to share that very morning. As she took the pulpit she felt God’s presence and launched into her sermon. Victory was hers! The enemy she faced had been conquered. For this God-commissioned, budding preacher, that bright Sunday morning in that small church in Zambia, was the best part of the trip.

Be All Things to All People
Our team photographer, whose job all week has been to document the crusade and outreaches, was also asked to preach today. As he entered the hotel elevator dressed in a shirt and tie with his long blond hair neatly tied back in a pony tail and his bible held firmly in his hand in place of his camera, we all remarked how unusual the sight was and took pictures of him! His only concern was that he had so much to share he would not have enough time. We reassured him that the Holy Spirit was an excellent editor. He went to what he thought was a small church with a congregation of about 100 people, in the Kanyama compound.  He realized later that it was not so small after all compared to some of the churches the team visited. He gave what turned out to be a shorter sermon than he expected but which his teammates declared was the perfect length. Afterwards he was asked to pray for a demon-possessed man. Shortly after the photographer was saved, he had made a pact with himself that he would never pray in tongues unless it was absolutely Holy Spirit driven, as he did not want it to be his own doing. As a result he had only once prayed in tongues. Today as he prayed for the demon-possessed man, he began to pray in tongues without any effort of his own for about five minutes! Indeed, on this journey to Zambia, the Holy Spirit has been in total control.

God is a Father to the Fatherless
A small outreach team went out to minister last night to street kids in the market area where many of them congregate. There was a fire lit in the middle of one street and about 40-50 children ranging from nine to seventeen years of age gathered around it. The atmosphere was surreal. The team leader remembered his own children safe back home in New Jersey and his heart broke over these children who have no other home than this street in one of the poorest nations of the world, with no hope of anything better. As the team ministered to the street kids and gave them food he realized God had brought the team to give these children hope, for God is a Father to the fatherless.