National Conference... and maybe a little basketball

Greetings,

Things have definitely not slowed down at all.  I now see that they probably won't until I get on the plane and have 20 some hours to sit still.  The Zambia National Conference began on Saturday the 30th with a somewhat early morning again.  It was a decently long trip out of Lusaka into what seemed the middle of nowhere.  The road was rough for our bus on the way and the holes that were in the floor did not help at all with the ridiculous amount of dust that was filling our lungs.  When the bus finally pulled into the long driveway of Chresso University, I saw that the trip was worth it.  The campus was about as secluded as it gets but that made the setting that much better.  We were there as a group of Navigators and more importantly as a group of Christians there to learn more about our Lord and savior and we were not going anywhere.

The last two days before going to the conference were spent mainly preparing for it.  Every conference has a banner that is made specifically for it with the theme for the conference as well as other information such as the year or the speaker.  Somehow, the group of five guys that are staying here in the Nav office got the job of decorating and making the entire banner.  After purchasing the material for the banner, the quest for paint began.  Dan and Sam went to get some red, black, and orange paint to go along with the green background to match the colors of the Zambian flag.  Apparently paint is not overly easy to find in downtown Lusaka and they spent around 3 hours searching for paint that was not overly expensive.  They finally came back with some red and orange tint and black spray paint.  The tint did not work great and spraying the letters on the banner required putting masking tape around every letter individually which took upwards of an hour.  When the final work was completed, we were relieved and also proud of the work we had done.  The banner should be able to be reused for years to come.

The theme for this years conference was "Renewing Our Commitment to the Lordship of Christ and to Community."  After we finished registering and eating, we moved into the meat of the conference.  Nelson (leader of the Zambia Navs) opened with a message based on the theme verse that went along with the overall theme.  Acts 2:42 They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.  Looking at how these people lived their lives, we can learn how we are called to live.  They were devoted to prayer and the breaking of bread.  It does not say that they were devoted to having fun.  It does not say they were devoted to their job.  Their devotion was first to prayer and their relationship with Christ.  That is a convicting passage that should be read in its full context.

Eddie gave the second message about what the aspect of Lordship means and what it means that Jesus is Lord.  Looking through scriptures that reveal how exactly Christ is Lord over all and also in our lives such as 1 Timothy 6:15 and Ephesians 1:19-23.  I challenge you to read through these for yourself and contemplate on how exactly he is Lord over you.  When the Bible says love the Lord with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, do we find ourselves doing that?  I know that personally I find it challenging to love the Lord with all my life (soul).  I find it difficult to love the Lord with all my thoughts (mind) yet that is what we are called to do.  I challenge you to look though your life and see it through the lens of the scriptures.

Continuing with the main theme, Eddie went on to talk about things such as renewing our commitment to the Lord and His Kingdom, for every king must have a kingdom.  The concept of a maturing Christian community was also discussed as we looked at three ways to determine if your community is growing.  A Christ community should be growing relationally, transformationaly, and missionally.  A major topic that came up during this talk was the idea of spiritual generations and it made me think about the amazing spiritual generations that have sprung out of the faith that my grandparents have.  Without their dedication to the Lord of Lords, I would most likely not be all the way over here in Zambia.

Besides the messages that were presented at the conference, there was a report on the progress of what has been come to be known as Navland.  A plot of land was bought by the Navigators here in Zambia that is just North of Lusaka.  The exact size of the land I do not know but it is quite sizable.  The idea for the land is that it could be a retreat facility that would be owned by the Navigators that would be self-sufficient by producing goods such as crops and animals to sell at local markets.  The land is currently undeveloped but the master plan was recently done by a team of engineers from EMI (engineering ministries international).  A facility with everything from dorms to a restaurant to a giant gathering building that will serve as a place for anything from weddings to spiritual retreats.  The goal right now is to get one of the dorms started by laying the foundation and getting some bathrooms with running water starting in October.  The place is sure to be an amazing facility that God will use for years to come.

We returned from the conference in the afternoon on Monday and our team of five that are still here was able to have conversations late into the night about what we learned and eventually some really hilarious jokes that are only funny when you are tired.  Tuesday brought even more excitement as I prepared for my first game here with the UNZA Pacers here.  I had only been to one official practice with the team and I was not sure what to expect at all.  When we got to the gym that we would be playing in, I was getting pretty nervous.  Warming up with the team was still pretty nerve-racking but fun at the same time.  Jogging and stretching while doing some chants in languages that I do not understand, I finally felt somewhat ready...until I set foot on the floor.  Not only was I the only Caucasian on the floor, I was one of the biggest guys out there.  Certainly not weight-wise but for sure in height.  My first layup during warmups was even a miss.

When the game finally started and I was able to sit and see kinda what was going on before going in.  I did not know how much I would play because I had only been to one practice and met the coach just briefly (he wasn't at practice) but our team only had three total forwards.  I was the first guy off the bench and was really confused by the offense because the coach explained it in either Nianja or Bimba (both are native languages I do not speak at all).  Nevertheless I was out there running around and trying to look like I knew what I was doing.  It was not long before I started getting worn out.  They play at a pace here that I am not physically prepared for after spending a year doing nothing but intramurals and some ultimate Frisbee from time to time.  During the first half, I got the ball and took a little runner in the lane which was more of me bumping into a guy and falling to the ground but somehow it went in.  The entire crowd went crazy.  It must have been fans from both teams that were shouting because it was really loud at that point.  That was my only shot of the game but I must admit that basket made the whole game worth it.  Just to hear the whole crowd go crazy was great and even some rebounds brought a big response.  I do not know how many games I will be able to play in but I look forward to every one of them.

While playing for the team is great, our purpose here is first and foremost to reach out to the students here in Zambia especially on the two campuses.  My place on the team is a way for me to get to know the players and spend some quality time interacting with them.  In that way I can try to help them become better basketball players but also earn their trust.  Through this and time that I have had just to talk with them and a ton of help from the leader of the team (Richard), I had plans to start a Bible study with any members of the team that were interested.  Jon Chen had done something similar last year and so I thought some of them might be interested again.  When I did not want to leave anyone out, Richard took charge and introduced me to the whole team and the girls team telling them who I was, what I am here for, and saying that I was thinking about having a Bible study.  Even then, I was unsure how many would show up and how interested those that did show up would be.

This Wednesday was the first study that we had and also the first study that I have ever led.  I would like to say that I knew what I was doing but that is not true at all.  With a couple hours of time to prep after getting our visas renewed (we were illegal here for a day), I was still not sure what was going to happen or how many people would show up.  All my expectations were shattered as 6 guys show up and several of them had Bibles of their own.  The discussion went well and the deep topics righteousness and holiness came up and were discussed.  It has been great to see their interest and I hope that will continue.

Last night for the 4th of July, our summer team got together and made an American meal for some of our friends here.  We made hamburgers, hot dogs, potato salad, lays chips, baked beans, and some homemade lemonade.  Things went well overall and it was pretty American for sure.  We were unable to have fireworks but we still got to celebrate in our own way.

Our next basketball game is on Sunday and I hope the result will be slightly better.  More good news came today about the opening of UNZAs campus.  It will open on Sunday and so we will be able to get involved with orientation.  That will be much easier to get to and will decrease travel times significantly.  Continue to keep us in your prayers that we might be able to be fruitful and make a difference.  God Bless.

Until next time,

Aaron