Thursday, August 25, 2011
August 12, 2011
2 months ago I applied for my long-term work permit in Lusaka, which is about a 5-hour bus ride from where I stay in Ndola. The place was packed and there seemed to be no real order to things. Lines and lines of people from so many different countries filled the hallways and small offices. I signed it at the vacant front desk and made my way through the crowds of people, not knowing where to go. I popped my head into one of the offices and saw a man sitting at a desk with no line. I asked him where I need to go to apply for my work permit and he informed me that I could take a seat and he would be happy to help me. He quickly looked through my documents and spouted of 2-3 things I was missing and need before I can even apply. As he listed off the things I was missing he mentioned that it was REQUIRED that I include teaching certificates and teaching diplomas. I told him I do not have any of those items because I have never gone to school to become a teacher. He just looked at me and said, “Well, they are required so come back once you have them and then I can submit your application.” I left the immigration office a bit discouraged but then I spent time praying and reminding myself that Zambia is where God called me to be and he can make a way where there seems to be no way. I took a taxi to an internet café and printed off the other two items they had requested, the school’s license and the job offer letter I received for the teaching position. While rummaging through my old emails I came across the letters of recommendation I had emailed when applying for the job. I decided to print them as well, thinking who knows maybe the more paperwork I have the better. By the time I finished it was too late in the day to return to immigration so I just sent out texts and emails asking people to pray for me and for the Lord’s favor for the next morning when I would return to immigration.
The following morning I arrived at immigration as the doors opened and made my way back to the same immigration officer’s office. I greeted him in one of the local dialects, Bemba and took a seat in the broken chair next to his desk. I handed him my documents except for the letters of recommendation and as he looked through them asked if I had all the requirements. I informed him again that I have everything except for the certificates and diplomas and that they are items I will not ever have to submit. Once again he said, “they are required for submission and there is nothing I can do for you without them.” I told him that even though I did not have a degree in teaching I had taught last year in the states and had a letter of recommendation from the principal/director of that school. He told me he could not be the one to approve that and sent me to another desk out in the hall. As I stood in the line of about 12 people I just prayed and asked God to act on my behalf. He brought to mind the verse in Proverbs 21:1 which reads, “ The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases.” He gave me a peace and a confidence in the fact that it is not these immigration officers or the government that is in control but him. Once I reached the desk of the 2nd immigration officer she looked at my paperwork and told me I needed to see the office supervisor. She pointed me in the direction of his office and once again I made my way through the growing crowd of people. I entered the office, which was over crowded with desks, files, and people. No one was waiting at his desk so I approached and informed him that I was told he needed to review my file. I explained that I was working in Ndola as a 3rd grade teacher and needed to apply for my long-term work permit. He asked why I could not be helped by the two immigration officers I had previously seen. I explained that I do not have the required teaching degree or teaching certificate documents to submit an application and I will never have them. I continued to explain that last year I was a teacher in the states even though I did not have a teaching degree. I told him the only thing I have is a letter of recommendation from the director/principle of that school. He asked to see the letter, quickly read it, pulled out a stamp, stamped the letter and signed it. He then took the rest of my documents put them in a file and said, “I am approving your file for submission, take this receipt to the accounting desk to pay and then return the receipt to me to place in your file.” I was so excited and just in awe of how God works, as I left the office and was walking down the road I just started laughing. My application was approved for submission!! And they accepted a 2-paragraph letter in place of a teaching degree!?!?!?!?!? HA!! Only God could do such a thing! So now it was time to wait to see if my application would be approved. But honestly after all that I was not worried.
Fast forward 2 months I was back in Lusaka to follow up, being that the Ndola office had no status update for me and the Lusaka immigration number I was given to call was never answered. As I walked up to the next free immigration officer and sat before them as they flipped through the book of application statuses my heart was pounding fast. I don’t know if it was from anticipation or nervousness but it seemed like an eternity and that book was at least 200 pages. I have no idea how it was organized but finally she came to my name and I strained my neck to catch a glimpse of what lay before her. Before I was able to see she said, “Ok, here we are…you have been approved for a 2 year work permit.” I was sooo excited I just wanted to hug her and hug everyone I saw. She stamped my receipt and informed me that they are currently out of work permit books but I can follow up and eventually they will have them. As I walked out the doors of the immigration office my tears welled up with tears as my heart overflowed with gratitude to my Lord and as I reflected on his goodness and faithfulness to me that had been displayed once again. What a mighty God I serve!!! Psalm 77:12, “ I will meditate on all your works and consider your mighty deeds.” If we take time to do this on a daily basis there is nothing that will come from it but a heart of worship, a thankful heart to the one who works wonders on our behalf. Psalm 118:15-16, “Shouts of joy and victory resound in the tents of the righteous: The Lord’s right hand has done mighty things! The Lord’s right hand is lifted high; the Lord’s right hand has done mighty things.” And verse 21a, “I will give you thanks, for you answered me.”
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Monday, August 15, 2011
August 6, 2011
Recently I have been thinking a lot about faithfulness and reflecting on what God’s word clearly says about the importance of faithfulness. I will just share a bit of what I came across. 1 Corinthians 6:20 states, “ You were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.” Romans 12:1, “Therefore I urge you brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God- this is your spiritual act of worship.” Both of these verses make it clear that we are not our own. Our lives belong to the one called and redeemed us; the one paid the greatest price for us. Our response is to be one of living for him and serving him. All that we do is to be for him and his glory. I heard a message recently wherein the pastor preached on how God is the owner and we are the managers of our lives. Just as in any company the managers will have to “report” to the owner and give an account for how they spent their time, the company’s money and how they managed the responsibilities they were given. It is the same with us; we will one day have to give an account on how we spent our lives, our time, our money, our talents and giftings. All were given to us by the “owner” How are we managing what responsibilities he has given us? How are we “spending” our lives?
I Corinthians 4:2 says, “Now it is REQUIRED that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.” And what does it mean? REQUIRED- something that is required is not optional, is not extra credit; this is a big deal to God. What has God entrusted to you? Are you faithful in what God has called you to? Are you faithful in this season even if it’s not what you want or if things are not the way you would like them to be? Where you are right now is where God has you. Are you content in that? Are you serving him where you are? Or are you complaining and saying, God, I want______. If I had a spouse, if I had a better job, a child then I would be happy and then I could serve you better. How are you managing what God has already given you? If we can’t be faithful in the “little” things God has called us to do how can we expect him to entrust us with more? The other thing we need to remember is that God does not expect perfection from us. But one thing he does require is faithfulness.
Matthew 25:14-30 reads, “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’ “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ “The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’ “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’ “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. “‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
July 30, 2011
Well yesterday was a bit of a crazy day. About a month ago I had promised my kids that I would have them all over to visit me at my place after school closed. I had originally planned to have them over in groups of 5-7, a number I deemed “manageable” Well, after giving it a bit more though I realized there was no way for me to contact them once they went on break so I changed my plan to have them all meet me at school the day after school closed. I rented a minibus and met the kids at school at 10:30 in the morning. Most of them were already there and many had come as early as 7am. We all crammed in the bus and made our way back up the bumpy dirt road to the main road. All but one had come, I asked the kids that lived near him if he was coming and they informed me that he was sick. I felt bad that he was going to miss all the fun. As we drove up to the main road I saw him running down towards us, with a huge smile on his face, obviously happy he hadn’t missed out. Once we arrived to my building they all looked up at the 10 story building in amazement. They followed me in like little ducklings, and I counted them every minute or so to make sure I had not lost any of my 28 babies. When the lift came down to the ground floor they looked at it and then at me and then at the stairs. They decided not to brave the lift, most of them, if not all had never been on one before. As we climbed the stairs it sounded like a heard of elephants invading the building. I followed behind them smiling and noticed 2 were walking very slowly up the stairs. One of the boys was delicately stepping on each step as we climbed higher and higher. I realized that he had never climbed stairs so high before and he was worried they would give way. Once we got to my flat, the stampede charged through the door and took off in every direction to explore. They cautiously walked to the edge of the balcony in awe of how high they were..filled with both curiosity and a bit of fear. One of the girls walked down the hallway and I heard her yelling for me, “teacher, I am lost..where are you” For the next 6 hours they ran around the house, danced, read books, ate a nice meal, jumped on the beds and some even napped. Many of them came up to me and said, “Teacher, we are not leaving and we will hide when it is time to go.” They were arguing who would stay and who would sleep where. It was precious. Once it was time to go me and Swazi lined them up at the door in 2 groups of 14. We took the lift down and had them line up in two groups again, counting and recounting as we made our way to the ice cream shop down the street. We got many curious glances as we marched down the sidewalk and even had a man try and join the ranks once he realized we were heading to the ice cream shop. I had them all sit on the curb and went into the shop to place my order for 30 ice cream cones. She looked at me like she misheard me so I repeated the order and we began taking the cones out to the kids as they patiently and eagerly waited. I don’t think I have ever seen kids enjoy ice cream so much in my life; I just sat watching them savor each lick and wondering if some of them had ever even had it before. Anyway, their joy brought me so much joy in my heart…All I could do was smile.
On another note I am happy to report that all my kids did very well on their exams. They class average was an A!!!! Praise be to God! Please keep them and me in your prayers, as this next term will be even more difficult. They will be taking cumulative exams in November on the entire years worth of information. Since I will be traveling back to visit the states they will have to take exams a week early. Pray God will give them strength to retain all the information they have learned and that I will continue to find creative ways to help them learn and remember what they have already learned. My biggest challenge is that most of them cannot read. Pray that as we start a reading program the kids will improve in this area quickly.
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