A God Sized Task 04/16/2010
 
Picture
By Stephen Sharman
In December of 2009 I was one of four brothers who traveled to Zambia on a mission to finish the work remaining on the first four buildings constructed at the Breath Of Heaven Children’s Village.  The members of this little contingency were pastors Ted Lawler & Michael Devine, and lay workers Jim Wolter and myself.  The scope of the work involved some finish carpentry, electrical work and plumbing.  The goal set before us was to get the first group of children into the Village by the end of January 2010.  We had a very narrow focus and that left little time for anything other than the work. 
ur accommodations were very comfortable. We stayed at the Father’s Heart Residence in Lusaka.  This house had all the amenities we were accustomed to here in America.  Within a couple days we were rising early in the morning and walking a couple of miles for exercise.  These walks allowed us to get out among throngs of people who also were out walking.  We were walking for exercise, the people streaming past us were walking to work.  Each day before the sun rose above the horizon it seemed the whole Zambian community would be awake and moving.  For me this was the first exposure to the daily routine of most Zambians living in Lusaka.  Early in the morning they come flowing out of residential areas called compounds.


I was stunned by what I would see on our early morning walks as we passed the narrow dirt lanes running from the main road into a nearby compound.  These areas can best be described with two words, abject poverty.  This was a living situation so different from anything I’ve ever seen that it was mesmerizing.  Out of these horrid conditions came a flood of humanity, many dressed very well, most friendly, all moving into another day of just trying to survive.  After our early morning walk we would get into a van or land rover and head to the Village.  The route we took to the Village each day allowed us to move along the very fringes of these compounds.  We very rarely had a reason to venture into the depths of these residential areas.  I found myself trying to imagine what living in such a place would be like.  It was amazing to me that these friendly, good-natured people could come out of such a place.  For the most part, our interaction with the Zambian people occurred in the places they worked; at a restaurant, a shop, the supermarket, etc., and in that setting it was difficult to imagine that in the evening these same people would go home to a compound, into houses without running water, indoor toilets, stoves, or refrigerators; not even beds (they sleep on mats on dirt floors).  For the majority of the Zambian people life is difficult and prospects for a change of circumstances slim. This is the environment in which the children we’re here to help come from.


On my first visit to the Breath Of Heaven Children’s Village I was impressed by the buildings that are being constructed to house the children.  They are far superior to what the vast majority of Zambians are accustomed to.  For the first time in their lives these children will be able to take a warm shower, sleep in their own bed on clean linen, eat at a table the food  they help prepare in their own well stocked kitchen - complete with stove and refrigeration.  The whole situation is much better.  The Village is located in a rural area just outside the fringes of Lusaka.  We were here during the rainy season and everything was green.  The fields in the area were cultivated and planted in corn.  Those farming out here do all the plowing and preparation of the soil by hand, there are no tractors plowing these fields.


In the days and weeks to come we would find ourselves entering into a truly marvelous work.  The vision of a Children’s Village was becoming a reality; the dream was becoming substance.  For Jim and myself to be here in Zambia offering our small contribution was becoming a life changing experience.  The construction of this village is a collaboration between workers from the US and groups of local people.  The crew at the site doing the construction was composed of some workers from a nearby compound, some members of the BIGOCA Bible Church, some Zambian contractors, Jim, myself, and Michael Devine.  What a privilege to be a part of such a group.  Personally, I’m so pleased that the ongoing work on this project is providing employment for Zambians living in nearby compounds.  Being yoked together with them, pulling the same load adds to the specialness of the effort. 


As the work progressed the crew we were a part of grew in response to the demands and requirements of the project.  We were being fused together through our common purpose, combined efforts, and the pressure and difficulty such physical labor causes.  A special bond began to develop among us; it made the hard work we were doing enjoyable and especially rewarding.  All the members of the crew were deeply appreciated for who they were and what they added to the effort.  One of the more special members of the crew was a young man named Lazarus.  I remember the day he joined the work.  As was our custom we would pickup various members of the crew as we drove to the village.  At times we would have as many as twelve people crammed into the van.  Lazarus was the youngest member of the crew and one of the last to come on board.  On his first day we picked him up from the side of the road and packed him into the crowded van.  Michael Devine wanted to make sure that this tall, skinny kid had something to eat for breakfast so we stopped at a little roadside stand and bought two loaves of bread.  Michael told him to eat some bread and to take what was left home to his grandmother. 

Lazarus had a wonderful disposition; he was always smiling and enjoyed working with us.  He plans to be a pastor and is presently in school moving toward that goal.  He loves the Lord, the Word, and the other orphaned children of Breath Of Heaven.  He is an orphan himself and has been associated with the Breath Of Heaven Ministry from its’ beginning.  The other orphaned children are his family and he watches out for their welfare.  He cares enough about them to know how each one is doing.  Jim Wolter took Lazarus under his wing and used him as a plumbing helper.  Jim had a real burden for the welfare of the children and had come to know many of them from his previous ministry trips to Zambia.  Lazarus was able to provide him with accurate up to date information on how the others were doing. Within a couple weeks of arriving we had become a cohesive unit focused and absorbed in the work that brought us together.  We continued to move ahead in the construction at a pace that would allow Jim and I to accomplish the work we came to do in the allotted time.  Within a week of our leaving for home the Village celebrated its grand opening.


As the construction activity increased, with the purchase of materials and other construction related costs, the funds for the project were being used at an alarming rate.  In the evenings back at the Father’s Heart residence, Ted and Michael would track the expenditure of funds allocated for the construction work.  (All the construction materials in Zambia cost as much or more than what they would cost in the U.S.)  Listening to Ted and Michael discuss the status of work and the funding for it, I began to see the desperate need for God’s continuous supply.  Certainly the scope of this undertaking was far beyond the ability of a single assembly or even a group of assemblies to supply.  The situation is not unlike that which the disciples faced when the Lord told them to feed the multitudes.  In view of a need they saw as being way beyond their ability to do anything about, they suggested the Lord send the people away.   He, seeing not only the need but also heaven’s unlimited resources said to them, “you give them something...” (Mark 6:35-44).  They took what little food they could scrounge up and brought it to the Lord.  He took the little they had to give, blessed and multiplied it and gave it back to them to distribute.  Likewise, those involved in this ministry, seeing the vast need and how inadequate their limited resources are to meet it, must continually commit to the Lord the little they have and trust Him to bless and multiply. 


The apostle Paul stated that his sufficiency came from the Lord, who made him an able minister (2 Cor. 3:4-6).  He also encouraged the flock to look to their God who was able to cause grace to abound toward them so they would have an abundant supply for every good deed (2 Cor. 9:8).  The works the Lord has prepared for us to walk in require an abundant flow of grace.  These works are impossible apart from our walking closely enough with Him to allow His very life and power to be expressed in us and through us.  They can’t be accomplished in the strength of men or in the wisdom of men no matter how well intentioned, determined, or gifted they may be.  Breath Of Heaven is a God sized task that will bring as many as are involved in it into an utter reliance on Him.  Who is sufficient for these things?  Our hope must be completely fixed on the grace that comes with the manifestation of His life in our mortal flesh (1 Pet. 1:13)(2 Cor. 4:10-12).  Our confidence is not in what we can do but in what God can and will do to meet the need.  This is a spiritual work and as many as are called to it will only prevail as they remain open, yielded, and continuously looking to the Lord.  Our participation in the work provides Him the opportunity to work in us both to will and do what is pleasing to Him. 


In Matt. 25:34-40 the Lord tells us how we will often serve Him in this life.  It is important for those of us who consider ourselves servants of the Lord to realize that what we do for those the Lord loves is actually a service rendered to the Lord Himself.  He says to us “... in as much as you do it unto one of the least of these my brethren you have done it unto me”.  We have in the Breath Of Heaven Ministry an opportunity to serve the Lord, and in doing so, to change the world for some of His loved ones.  In closing I want to share a letter written to Ted Lawler by the grandmother of our young Zambian brother Lazarus.

 

Dear Pastor,

How are you?  It has been a long time since we saw each other.  It is my prayer, that may the Lord give you another opportunity that we may be able to see each other once again. 

The main reason of writing this letter to you is that I just want to say thank you for what you are doing in my grandson’s life.  Because this grandson of mine, he had no hope.  I remember the previous days, he was crying day and night because nobody was on his side by this time.  But today just because of your love, mercy, care and support, is now trying to be somebody.  Thank you once again for being so kind and helpful to my grandson Lazarus.  I pray that may the Lord Almighty bless you with abundant life together with your wife.  I also want to say thank you so much for the bread I received.  May the Lord our God continue to do great things in your life.

Much love and blessings
Fina

Amen Lord Jesus, So let it be!
 


Comments




Leave a Reply