Crusade - Day 2
Again, rain clouds threatened on this second day of the crusade but although a few fat drops hinted at more, the rain never materialized and the sun kept peeping through the clouds.  Today the crowd was more than double that of the first day. As they sat on the bleachers, there was a huge distance between them and the stage. This did not feel right and we asked the ushers to allow the people to come closer to the stage. As we invited them to move closer many ran to the front of the ropes, others left the bleachers to claim a piece of grass on the field. Now, we thought, the people would be able to worship with us not just watch from afar. A man came up to us and thanked us. “Why?” we replied. He said that when we asked him to move closer, it reminded him of the time when the disciples were keeping the children from getting close to Jesus and He said to let them come to Him. As the worship leader encouraged the crowd to praise the Lord with all their heart, the crowd began to join us in true worship and we all felt the presence of the Lord.

No More Holding the Truth in Unrighteousness
Today Pastor Carter’s message was more personal and directed not so much to Zambia as a nation to whom God was prophesying, but to each individual Zambian who declares himself or herself a Christian, to urge them not to be a people who have the truth but do not hold that truth. “It is not just a knowledge in our head but an embracing of truth in our heart,” he exclaimed. Referring to the Israelites when they built the calf and exchanged it for the worship of God, he added “If you are a man here who goes to church and claim to know the Word of God and at night you seek to satisfy your lust, you change the image of God for that of a beast!...You must never lose the fear of God…In our heart we must say no more holding the truth in unrighteousness!” He spoke of the desire for the things of this world, for desiring money more than God, and recalled the story of Jacob who wanted to be blessed of God. But you can’t steal the blessing of God. God was saying to Jacob, “I won’t bless you until you agree with me that you are a deceiver. Good, now you are agreed with me, now I am going to bless you…I am going to give you a new name – Israel – Prince with God.” He exhorted the Zambians present that they must be an honest people if they are ever to know the power of God. “Godly sorrow must lead to repentance…to a place where I agree with you God… The Holy Spirit is asking the church and the people of Zambia – Do you want the truth of Jesus Christ?”

Children's Crusade

My Life
A Poem
By: Suwilangi Chela*

My life, my life, my life.
What shall I say
About my life?
What shall I do about my life?
I was conceived in iniquity
My destiny was death
Who shall redeem me?
Will food redeem me?
My life was bought
with a price
A price of blood
Jesus paid the price
For my redemption
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus
What a beautiful name
My life has changed
Oh! Because of you Jesus
Jesus! You did that just for me
to have a life
My life is precious
Brothers and sisters
Your lives too are precious 

*Suwilangi means Hope and she is ten years old. She recited this poem which she wrote herself, at the children’s crusade held by the Children’s Ministry team and the youth team at Woodlands Stadium today. Over 300 children attended and were ministered to with worship songs, puppets and a skit. Many of the children raised their hands to accept Jesus into their heart.

This is Christmas
The prison team visited their third prison today, and again they were astonished at how these prisoners actually live. There was a spirit of sadness in this place. The prisoners were treated poorly. The system places little value on this human life. The team began to minister to the 700 prisoners in the prison and within half an hour the spirit of the place completely changed. They asked them to raise their hands if they wanted to accept Jesus into their heart. More than half raised their hands. A sea of hands. A Nigerian pastor who went with the team began to pray for them and she prayed for half an hour. The atmosphere of the prison was transformed. The team served the prisoners a meal with beef. The prisoners said it was Christmas. They never get any meat. In fact for most Zambians, beef is a once or twice a year occurrence. The medical team that went on the outreach ministered to the prisoners. One man needed urgent surgery and the team requested that he be allowed to be transferred to our surgery unit at a local clinic. The warden gave his permission and the man was taken by cab to the clinic and was operated on immediately.

The Power of Praise
The choir was advised to rest today so they would be fresh for the crusade. Having arrived only two days ago, some were still a bit jet-lagged.  Eight choir members decided to go to the gym together. Secular music was playing on a portable CD player. One of the group asked if he could play one of his CDs. When he was told that he could, he ran to his room and got a CD called Shalom Jerusalem. After the praise music had been on for a while, a man who was at the gym told them that he wanted to give his life to the Lord. The team stopped their several exercise machines and gathered around him. The man prayed his own sinner’s prayer and accepted the Lord right there.  He asked for a bible. The Holy Spirit reminded one of the choir members that she had an extra bible in her room and she ran to get it. They wrote the man’s name in it and the date, and they asked him to remember the date, for this was the day that his life had been changed.

Makuka
For tonight’s testimonies at dinner, the yellow team leader asked her team  who had been changed the most by this missions trip. Realizing that it was she who had been most changed, she shared how she came to Zambia in the first place. This was the first time she had ever been asked to lead a team, and then to top it off, she was told that she would be expected to preach! This morning at breakfast, the lady who made the omelettes asked the team leader “What are you doing here?” After she explained that she had been doing outreaches in AIDS clinics and poor neighborhoods around Lusaka sharing the gospel and ministering the love of God to the people they met, the woman asked, “Is this what you do at home?” The team leader was instantly convicted. She realized that if she could do this here, she could also do it at home. So this is what she plans to do. Whatever we do here, we have to take it back to our own city, our own neighborhoods. Today she was given a new name, as her husband had the day before. Her new name is Makuka, which means light. Let it shine.

Go Into All The World And Preach The Gospel (Mark 16:15)
Tonight Pastor Carter prayed for the 37, yes, 37 members of our teams who will be preaching at churches all over Lusaka tomorrow, and encouraged them not to be afraid but to trust in God, that if they would open their mouths, He would fill it. Pray for us!