Back in Matero

Thursday was another successful shoe day! It's amazing that these kids have now received new shoes four years in a row and every year, they are needed. Every year, their shoes from the previous years are destroyed because of all of the walking and dancing the Zambians do.

But the best part of the entire day was not giving away the shoes, the best part was watching my girls share the gospel in Matero, the compound where they live. Matero is a rough neighborhood. The major problems their are crime and witchcraft. There are also alot of pubs, so there are a large amount of people walking around drunk even in the middle of the afternoon. We encountered a few of those and one man was yelling at me, "You, young English woman, I want you" over and over again. Although the man was quite offensive, I never felt frightened because my girls were always protecting me and telling me, "auntie stephan let's just go, let's just go." Of course Paul was also with me and nicely explained to the man that we were there to do the work of God. We finally walked away and he went in the other direction.

The smell of sewage in Matero is wretched, and I had forgotten how bad it was. The school has been repainted and has a new roof that was made possible through the Father's Heart Program. So everyone that has sponsored one of my kids, thank you. One child told me, "I used to be embarrassed to go to school, but now I am very proud." All because of a new roof. This isn't even a nice building, it's a few cement bricks. But this boy was so happy.

But the girls amazed me. Where once they were shy and never wanted to leave my side, now they immediately begin running down the street to share the love of Christ with their neighbors, not at all worried if I am in eyesight. Dorothy surprised me most of all, which I will write about in a separate post. We encountered some very tough people, who asked my kids very difficult questions. But they all responded wisely and accurately. I am so amazed that my girls have learned so much, most of which has not come from me. They truly have grown in their faith, and they are excited about it!

We encountered a man, Simba, who was a Jehovah's Witness who we sat with for quite a long time, about 45 minutes in all. I sat on the ground, and my girls gathered around me and they shared the gospel with him. He was doubtful, but told us that he was asking questions because He really wanted to know about this God we were discussing. It was good, even for me to be challenged by Simba. The girls explained to him that we know God through His word. He kept telling us that he needed someone to come and teach him about the Bible so that He could know God. He repeatedly asked, who is going to come and teach me? They were a little stumped at this, but I encouraged him in two things:

1) That the Bible is sufficient in and of itself to reveal God through the power of the Holy Spirt, which we receive when we accept Christ.
2) The importance of being part of a community that seeks God together, and how we can learn and teach each other.

Precious can pray like nobody's business, Rabecca and Karen have the courage to walk up to anyone. All the girls have really grown remarkably in their faith and that is a testament to ME of what God does when we plant the seeds of faith.