What an incredible day we had at VBS.  The number of children grew over night.  We had 1182 as of last night, but it grew to about 1600 by this morning.  There are children everywhere!  Organized chaos is what had today, but the kids are having a blast.  We played all sorts of fun games reinforcing the teaching that we give them.
This afternoon the kids ran long on their music competition, so we did not have our afternoon session with them.  Since this was cancelled, I put together an Evangelism team to go in and witness to the patients that were waiting to go into see the doctor or dentist.  It was a special time to see the team witnessing to the people. 
The service tonight was just amazing.  Stacy Couzens did her Taikwando, flipped Sean Summers on stage, broke her boards.  The kids just loved it.  Andy the Archeologist made an appearance again, and Bryon did just an incredible job with his lesson.  Bobby Bonner gave an invitation and 243 kids came forward to receive Christ.  Yes, it was an awesome day!

All I can really say is “Unbelievable”! God is good! This has been one of the most wonderful things that I have experienced. The elephants, baboons, Victoria Falls, leopard, wart hogs, etc… were all great to see and witness. I have to say that bungee jumping was the craziest thing that I have ever done. You have to be a little out of wack when you pay money to jump off a perfectly good bridge. They are moments that I will always treasure, but they truly pale in comparison to what God is doing in the lives of our team and the people of Zambia. God is truly at work. I have heard one of the most wonderful sounds that I have ever heard. When the Zambian children and adults sing, they sing to the Lord and the harmony is amazing. This afternoon before our second activity session the children had song and memory verse competitions. Each church that is involved in the VBS has been practicing for countless hours memorizing chapters in the Bible. Not verses but chapters. They come in the tabernacle (the place where we all meet for teaching) dancing slow in a line sing memory verses. Once they get up on the stage they will recite partial chapters and some full chapters. To see these children truly hide God’s word in their heart was not only inspiring but also convicting.

It is hard to believe that we are this far into our trip. God has allowed me to build  some eternal relationship that I will always be thankful for, adults and children. One thing that I know is I have seen joy in the midst of poverty. We think that we come and teach others in foreign lands but if we are honest with ourselves it is really the other way around.

Continue to pray for the work that God is doing in the beautiful land of Zambia. I can assure you that we are all coming back changed and closer to Jesus. Thank you all for you prayers.

In Christ We Win,
Bryon Callaway
Proverbs 22:6     

Honestly I’m not even sure where to begin. Let me start by saying that God is so good. He is so faithful, so loving, so generous, so merciful, and gracious. I could go on forever about how awesome our Lord is. I have been so humbled, and so challenged this week. I have done things that I never thought I would do, and have been out of my comfort zone most of this trip. Without a doubt this trip has been a turning point in my life and I have loved every minute of it. I could go on and on about how wonderful the people are, how different the culture is, and how incredibly blessed we are. I could go on about how I have so much, how I have been so incredibly blessed and never really realized how much so. Instead, I want to share with you how faithful God is.

Each evening for VBS we sing, perform skits, and teach the kids about Jesus. I was  informed a couple months ago that I would be teaching on Sunday night. I was given the theme of “See Me. Who Jesus is”. The scripture that I was given was John 1:29-34. At first I was excited but as I began to pray and prepare I began to feel discouraged. The more I studied and prayed the more lost I felt. I was even seeking wise council, but I still had nothing. I had no idea how I would teach and illustrate this lesson. In fact, I did not even have a complete lesson plan until Saturday! Yes, the day before I teach I finally feel as if I have my lesson together. I have never struggled this much with teaching. I absolutely love teaching so needless to say this was difficult for me. I am always in such a hurry and I always want things to happen in my timing instead of God’s timing. I trust myself and my own abilities instead of God’s power. I thank the Lord for teaching me that he is always faithful, and that I can do nothing apart from him. You see, I wanted my lesson to come together in my timing, and in my own way. I had to put myself aside and allow the Holy Spirit to lead me instead of me taking the lead. Of course it went well because God is sovereign, Amen?! I had to put my life verses into action. John. 15:5 “….for without me ye can do nothing.” Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” Philippians 4:13 ” I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” These are all familiar verses but God has shown me the power of these verses this summer like I have never known before. I will share one last thing before I conclude. While we were in Livingston I had the opportunity to go bungee jumping. I never thought that I would ever have the opportunity to do this let alone actually do it. Of course I was terrified (we have video to prove it) and right before they guided me to the edge I said Phil. 4:13 in my heart over and over. I knew I could not do it without the Lord. I realized that I can’t do anything without him. Whether it be jumping off a bridge or teaching a Bible lesson to over 800 kids. I must put all my trust in the Lord.

We had a great time in Livingstone, but we have finally made it to Kafulafuta.  It was a long day.  We left Livingstone at 5 AM and made it to the Mission at about 6:30 PM.  We are all very tired, but glad to be here.

Tomorrow we hit the ground running.  Randy & Bryon will be preaching at bush churches and the rest of the team will be attending churches there as well.  Everyone is anxious and can’t wait to get doing what we came here for.  We truly did have a great time at the Falls and on the Safari, but this is why we are here and we are ready to begin.  Please pray for us as we preach, teach the VBS, play the games, work in the dental clinic and just love on the Zambian people.

Thank you again for your continued prayer through this journey.

Love you all,

Randy

We have made it to Zambia.  Currently we are in Livingstone.  WIFI has been very difficult, so my apologizes.  But as we say here in Zambia – TIZ (This Is Zambia).  It has been hard to communicate with the outside world.  It has been funny to watch the team go through technology withdrawal (me Included). 

We did our Safari yesterday.  Totally amazing the things we saw.  Got to see a Leopard catch a Whort Hog and kill it.  You know it is something special when your tour guide is breaking out his camera.  Today we will be going to the Falls.  Tomorrow, 12 hours in a small bus to the Mission.  Pray for safe travels. 

We will try to update this as often as possible.  Thank you for your continued prayers.  We love you all.

Randy

We are at the airport and about to board. Pray for safe travels and all 38 bags to arrive with us. Thank you Church body for all you have done to get us here and take us the rest of the way.

We have made it to Amsterdam.  We are sitting around the airport awaiting our next flight to Lusaka.  Pray for our continued safe journey and for our families back at home!