Absolute Power...Absolute Peace

"Praise the Lord, all nations!

Laud Him, all peoples!

For His lovingkindness is great toward us,

And the truth of the Lord is everlasting.

Praise the Lord!

Psalm 117

God truly answered many prayers this weekend at the Leadership Meeting in Petauke. Thank you for your prayers for the women in attendance and me as well. The theme of the meeting was "righteousness". Righteousness is a word we often say, but sometimes do not quite understand. Months before the meeting I began studying was righteousness really was and how it applies to our lives as Christians. Righteousness is the teaching that God always acts in accordance with what is right and that He, Himself is the final standard of what is right. In Psalm 97:2 we read "Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne." God's throne is fixed upon the rock of eternal holiness. He can do no wrong. Although we cannot see all that He does, we know He will not do any wrong to us. Charles Spurgeon says this about God's righteousness, "Absolute power is safe in the hands of Him who cannot err or act unrighteously". Praise the Lord that He is righteous and that a life of peace is found only in Jesus Christ!

I spent a great amount of time trying to simplify this incredibly deep subject into a lesson that all women would understand and at the same time translating it into another language. God was good. The lessons were "In order to be a leader who lives a righteous life, you must know the One who IS righteous. Know how to study His Word. Understand how righteousness applies to your life. Live a life that is abundant in prayer."

God was present at all times during the meeting. 82 women were in attendance and 20 women prayed to receive Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior! PRAISE THE LORD!!!

Follow the pictures below for more about the meeting.

The sunset was amazing the first night we were at the meeting.

Followed by an amazing sunrise.
I love this picture of the woman walking. Zambians awake with the first sign of light.
At the meeting, each morning they would wake at 5:30 a.m.with songs of praise to God and a verse of Scripture to begin the day. What an awesome way to wake in the morning. It's difficult to wake in a bad mood at voices worshiping our Lord!

Amai Josephine Tembo is the home missionary in Petauke.

I began the day by teaching about salvation in Jesus Christ. The place where we MUST begin!

To convey the separation of God and man caused by Adam and Eve's sin in the Garden of Eden. I used a bench with a Bible to represent God and a woman in a chair for man. In order to illustrate the bridge that Jesus became for man and God I used lumber and made a cross.

Then I took 5 of the sins we see a good bit and I nailed them to the cross to emphasize that our sins are what nailed Jesus to the cross and we are the ones that He died for.

The sins were: lying, adultry, jealousy, witchcraft, and African traditions.

I removed the sins as I explained to them that Jesus blood had the power to wash away our sins. I then shared with them that you must confess your sins, repent and turn your heart to God and ask Him to be Lord of your life. 20 women then stood and prayed to receive Christ on Friday!

These are the women in their small groups studying a passage of Scripture and answering the questions:

What does it say? What are we to obey? Who are you in the story?

Zambians LOVE to sing! They sing ALL the time and what an amazing sound it is!

On the first night I gave them a short passage and asked them to write a song based on that Scripture and that they would sing it on Saturday at our final meeting. The songs were awesome! They came from Psalm 117, 100:1-2, and The Good News (Jesus came to earth, He died for us, He rose from death, He is coming again).

Last night I went outside to visit with some of the young moms with their children. Kondwera (Happy) and I made an immediate connection. I helped the mamas bathe babies and wash clothes. I loved this time because I got to minister to the moms that were there. Precious Kondwera, he was the happiest baby, always smiling and laughing. Pray that he will know Christ at an early age and follow Him all the days of his life.

Do these 2 faces look familiar?

This is Bertha and Cynthia Phiri, Zeria's sister and niece.

I had such an amazing time with Bertha this weekend. I truly got to see how much she has grown in the Lord over the past 2 years. She is a beautiful woman.

Zeria and Bertha stayed with me in a tent so our night time talks were priceless.

As we were lying quietly about to go to sleep last night, Bertha whispers,

"I want to pray for the 3 of us before we go to sleep".

My heart melted because of the love and the gentleness of her spirit and her heart towards God.

Praise the Lord for Bertha and what God has done in her life! She is a new creature that walks with God and is growing in Him daily.

The final session on Saturday, I challenged the women to begin to pray for their brothers and sisters across Zambia that do not know Christ. Their eyes were opened to the lostness in this country. We spent about 15 minutes in prayer for the Baptist missionaries in the Western and Northern Provinces of Zambia. These women are excited to pray for the Scott's, Smith's, Gerri Helton, Melissa Frady, and the Adair's. They also know to pray for the Lozi people that are steeped in darkness and evil and the Taabwa people in the north.

The leadership of Petauke Baptist Churches.

Praise be to God...GREAT things He has done!