We are God's hands and feet in this world, wherever we are

This past week we had the pleasure of having Jan Boone from GEMS visiting us. She arrived on Saturday morning last week and called us in the afternoon to see if she could visit us. We asked her to join us on Sunday for church and visit us after that. We had a great time catching up and we talked a lot about everything that God has been doing for us here in Zambia. It never stops to amaze me when we put all things together how much God is in control. Often we don't give Him the credit and recognition for that but He is our Lord!

This week we got an email from Nick Kuipery to all the Acton Bethel CRC volunteers for the last clean-up of our church in Acton before the dedication service and open house tonight. It is amazing to see how the whole expansion has come together and was completed in such an amazing short time frame. Our Breaking Down Walls ministry campaign has certainly taken hold of many people in and around Acton. We hope and pray that, now that the building is ready, through all the different ministries God's kingdom may be furthered. Having been part of the process for such a long time it is a bit sad not to be able to be there for the dedication but it is not about me or us, it is all about glorifying God. He deserves the glory, honour and praise for everything He has done for us and our church in Acton.

Looking at the weather in Acton we are glad to be in Zambia. The freezing rain, school closures for two days, power outages, etc. over the last few days is something that we don't miss but we hope and pray that everyone remained safe. Many people here are complaining about the early arrival of cold weather. Overnight it is about 13C (55F) and during the day about 23C (73F) which for many people here, especially the nights, is cold. They dress as if it is the middle of winter almost whereas we are still walking around in t-shirts and shorts. It is all what you are used to.

On Wednesday Gert had the distinct honour and pleasure to meet the headmen that are responsible for the area around the homes in Nyangwena. There are two headmen, who are related to each other and are a brother and sister. In our meeting we were welcomed warmly into the community and we were told that we are now brothers and sisters. For any issues we can come to the headmen and ask their advice and guidance. I could see first hand how some issue was being discussed between the headmen after one of them had investigated the matter in the village. It seems that they take their tasks and responsibility very seriously and they spend a lot of time dealing with village matters. Therefore it is also a custom to bring gifts (food items) to the headmen when you go and visit them since they can spend less time attending their fields. The gifts (cooking oil, sugar, salt, bread) is sort of a salary paid to the headmen for the work they do for the village. There is no official salary for headmen like we pay our mayor and councillors so the headmen get their compensation "in kind". With the appropriate gifts given I think that this is a good way of compensating headmen for what they do. Visitors bring according to their ability and the matter they bring forward. This is another example to us in which the Zambians are dealing with issues and each other on a much more personal level. They don't have many institutions that are responsible for looking after all kinds of things so it is much more through personal connections and interaction that matters are dealt with.

When I reflected on my visit with the headmen and the dedication service and open house of our Acton church tonight, it dawned on me that everything we are called to do is based on personal relationships. God calls us to love our neighbour as ourselves and in order to do that you have to know him or her. The ambition of the Breaking Down Walls campaign is to connect with people and invite them into the fellowship of Jesus Christ. This is all about developing personal relationships with new visitors and believers. You can't do that through institutions but as believers we have to get personally involved. The African culture is still very much focused on those personal relationship, probably because there are few institution to rely on. It was a good reminder that we are God's hands and feet in this world and He can only do His will for this world through us. We have to personally get active and involved in building and creating those personal relationships with others. No one can do that for us other than each and everyone of us, whether in Acton, Zambia, India or wherever we are called to serve. We are God's hands and feet and all part of the same body, the bride of Christ.