Zambia Mission Trip the 1st Hurdle

The First Steps are Always Hard, Even in Missions

 

Our church is sending a mission team to work with IMB Missionaries,

Troy and Tracy Lewis. They live in Zambia South Africa which is along

way from Buffalo New York.

 

Purchasing the airline tickets for this trip was a serious hassle.
At one point in the process I thought, "We will have to
call it off." I could never imagine in my wildest dreams
having to call a mission trip off. I guess that happens, but it
has never happen to me.

We prayed about it, followed the planning process, we prayed some
more and all of the pieces came together like we figured they would.

Well, this trip was not that easy.

 

The cost of the plane ride to Zambia was a lot more than we expected.

It seemed that as the days and even hours moved on the price of the tickets

kept increasing. Each website we visited gave us no hope. The prices crept

up to $2789, then the number $3045 flashed on the sites. No matter where

we looked, the cost was out of our reach.

 

Our minds were made up to pay about $2200.00 per ticket to leave
Buffalo and land in Zambia, some 3 or 4 planes later. Once we had the
money from the team members in hand the cost of the flight all over
the internet had increased another $800. Do you understand what another
$800 means for each person who has already forked over $2200.00?

 

I talked to David in Dallas, who gave me some advice to call Delta on the

phone but after talking with them they gave me no real options. Marian and my

wife Adrian got on the computer in the main office of our church and went work,

plugging in different dates and places of departure. They worked feverishly with

me on the search to find reasonable airline tickets. We typed and clicked for 4 hours

or more searching for what I called the “internet miracle.”

 

I guess I was hoping to see a legitimate airline flash some price like $1500 per

ticket with 5 seats left leaving Buffalo to Zambia. Well, we got our answer. It wasn’t

$1500 nor was it $3,000. We were all happy to find the number $2573. So, here’s

what we did. We decided to drive to Detroit and catch a plane along with one of team

members and fly off in the evening skies headed for Frankfurt Germany. We will use

the Man Van (Pastor’s Conversion Van) and pay for long term parking. Thank you

Lord for getting us over this hurdle! Zambia, here we come on July 19^th 2010.

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Going to the Ends of the Earth - Zambia South Africa

The Opportunity of a Lifetime!

Isn’t the Lord good! His name is high above all other names and He is worthy, oh so worthy to be extolled. The Bible tells us to give thanks to Him, and to exalt His Holy name. How can I not worship someone who so great? Oh, Lord, you are worthy, so worthy and I love you.

 

            There are so many people around the world who do not know the Savior we know so well. They are in darkness and really have no clue about eternal life. God has called us to make Him known among the nations. The Bible says in Psalm 46:10

 

“Be still, and know that I am God.

I will be exalted among the nations;

I will be exalted in the earth!”

 

It is God’s desire to be known in all the corners of the earth and it is our assignment to take His good news to the ends of the earth.

 

            God recently led me to an opportunity of a lifetime. This door opened wide and it is my time to go through it. God has given me a chance to go to the ends of the earth with a short term mission team from Buffalo New York. Our destination is the country of Zambia in Southern Africa. This country is about the size of the state of Texas.

 

            We have been invited to share in the ministry of International Mission Board missionaries, Troy and Tracy Lewis. Our work will include prayer walking, discipleship development, training and ministry to those affected by HIV and AIDS. Our two weeks in this part of the world will be filled with opportunities to share God’s love. We pray for the chance to share the gospel and see many Zambians come to our Lord.

Pastor Bill Smith

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