A few pictures and overdue update...

I have lots of pictures to show you when I get back. The business fair was amazing! The Action conference was amazing! Super Sunday was amazing! The wedding was like nothing I had ever seen before. I don't have much time to explain all these things right now. It has been jam packed days all day, every day since I got here. Now that the business fair and the conference at the church are over, I will have some time this next week to write more.

There is no shortage of opportunity... I LOVE it here! Ed Silvoso preached this Sunday at church to a crowd of over 10, 000. It was a great message! Come Lord Jesus, come, pour out your Spirit in this place. Reform the marketplace in Harare!

Here are just a few pictures:



This man has been raised from the dead, not just once, but twice. The second time, he was dead for over 24 hours and they had already put him in the fridge for 24 hours....









This is downtown Harare. Not quite what I expected....










This is our Appcore business team in front of our booth at the Big Africa business show last Monday. back left to right: Shepherd, Tich, Matthew, Brian, Fannuel. Bottom row: Amy, Judge, Sandra, Annah

Parirenyatwa Hospital

I didn't realize how much I took internet for granted. I didn't realize how much I took my phone for granted. Wow, only one day without access to email and phone and it totally changed my perspective... How I appreciate the availability and cheapness of phone and internet in the USA!

How do I even pick what to tell you about? I don't want to bore you will all the little details, but I do want to tell you about my trip to meet Dr. Andrew Reid yesterday at the Parirenyatwa Hospital. Just to note, Dr. Reid is considered one of the world’s foremost experts on HIV research. Before I met him, I was told that whenever he gets a new suit, that he gives the old one away. I was very curious to meet this doctor who only has one suit...


He had prepared for my group & I to talk to and pray with a group of children who have cancer or leukemia. They were maybe 3 years to 8 years old. Parirenyatwa Hospital is a government run facility and specializes in cancer in children. (It does much more than this too...) He had each of us share a message with the children and then Dr. Reid asked me if I would share a salvation message with the children. Each one raised their hand to receive the Lord for salvation and I let them all in prayer. Then, we went through and prayed for each of the children. I felt the fire of the Lord pouring out of me as I prayed.

When we finished praying with all the children, the Mother's and caregivers in the back of the room wanted us to pray with them too. Most were concerned about their children

Arrival

After almost 40 hours of travel, I arrived in Harare Zimbabwe. It was about 10, 000 miles. My friend Natalie surprised me at the airport last! My host family (Sandy & Wayne) is so wonderful. I have the guest ‘suite.’ It has its own entrance, kitchenette, living area, and bathroom. Even though the accommodations are nice, I am truly blessed to be able to get to know this family while I stay with them. They have 2 daughters who made cards for me before I arrived and left me small gifts to open. They love the Lord with all their hearts and it is evident in their lives.

I couldn’t find my cell phone charger and I was digging through my suitcase looking for it and my clothes were becoming a mess. So I decided to just unpack even though I was exhausted and it was late. Everyone else had gone to bed already. I had asked earlier if they had an alarm clock that I could use and they said they all just use their cell phones, hence my reason for looking for the charger. I thought – no problem, I’ll just use the alarm on my cell phone too. Well, problem was, by the time I got ready to set my alarm, I realized that the time was not going to automatically update on my phone since I was not picking up a signal. And I couldn’t find a clock in the house and they were all sleeping… In the voice of Shampa – ‘Now what to do?’ lol…

So… typical of Amy, I just asked the Holy Spirit what time it was. I didn’t hear an answer but I felt it was around midnight. So, I set my clock for 11:55 pm and then I set my alarm for 7:15 am. Sure enough, when I got up and went out into the house when my alarm went off, it was 7:14 am… God is SO good!

If the Lord cares about all these small things, like getting the time right on my phone for me, HOW MUCH MORE does he care about the plan and direction that He has for me! It’s these little things in life that make me take note… The Lord is not unfamiliar with me, nor the plan He has for me. The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord and the Lord orders my steps! Amen!

Lions in Africa???

I called my sister in Connecticut to talk to her one last time before I left and she was trying to get her son (who is in kindergarten) to say "have a good trip Auntie." He said to her, well where is she going? And my sister said to him, she is going to Africa. Well, he just starts screaming "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! I don't want her to get eaten by the lions!!!!!!!!" and my sister tries to tell him that I won't get eaten by the lions, but he is unconsolable and continues to scream NO and we finally give up. :)

I thought that was very funny... perspective of kids is so amazing.... you just never know what they are gonna say or what they are thinking!

I am about 20 minutes away from boarding my flight to South Africa. YAY!

A slightly grumpy man and a fire alarm...

Shhhh….. don’t tell my grandparents… the fire alarm is going off at the airport… but the man in the speakers has told me like a hundred times now that I am supposed to stay calm, remain alert, and listen for further instructions while the alarm is being verified. It’s been going off for 20 minutes now… it stopped once for a brief 3 seconds and then quickly came back on. I asked one of the airport employees if this was a real alarm going off or if this was just a test …because no one was moving or doing anything different. Everyone here is acting like the flashing lights and sirens are not going off and going about their business like usual. I guess it must be the ‘stay calm’ speech that has played two hundred times now…

So I got to the Des Moines airport this morning around 3:50 am. I’m glad I didn’t go any earlier. I found out that you can’t check in before 4 am. So, in case you ever have a flight at 5:30 am from DSM, don’t get there before 4 am. (that’s was a free tip :) ) So, I check in at the little automatic kiosk thing and all my papers are in my hands, my passport is out, my purse is unzipped, my driver’s license and credit card are out, and the guy at the counter is calling my name already and you can tell, he’s slightly grumpy. So, I’m trying to hurry to get to the counter and he expects me to know the process as if I’ve done this a hundred times before. Did I mention that I have a carry-on suitcase, 2 suitcases to check, and my laptop bag too? Right… He tells me as patiently as he can what to do but you can tell he is very frustrated. As an international passenger, I am allowed 2 checked bags, and for some reason the auto kiosk thing charged me an extra $60 to have the 2nd bag. I knew this was a mistake, but I didn’t think the slightly less than helpful guy behind the desk was gonna want to help me.

So, I get my luggage checked and ticketed and I drop it off at the place and I decide I want to talk to someone else about the extra $60 charge. So, I go back to the counter and talk to this new lady that just showed up. Her name was Gail. (I highly recommend her! She was awesome by the way!!!) So, back to the story… She discovers that not only was I charged the $60 incorrectly, but the first man tagged my bags so that they would stop once they got to Atlanta, instead of straight through to Johannesburg. So, she tells me all this and asks if this is what I wanted and I told her no, that the luggage should go on my next flight to Joburg automatically. So, I have to run back over quick to the x-ray place where I dropped my luggage off and take it back to Gail so she can put the correct tags on the bag.

In the ordinary, you would think that I should be mad at this man who tagged my bags wrong or frustrated that I had to run around the airport twice with ALL my luggage, or upset that they charged me $60 when it was not necessary… BUT I am SO thankful that I was charged the extra $60! Why would that be, you ask? I would not have had any reason to go back to the counter if I hadn’t been charged the $60 and Gail would have never discovered my luggage was tagged wrong… Thank you Jesus!!!!

Gail explained to me that my luggage would have just sat at the airport until someone figured out that I hadn’t planned on picking it up in Atlanta. She said that they would have forwarded it on the next flight to Johannesburg and left it there. That wouldn’t have worked though because I am catching another flight right after that one. SO, I would have been in Africa without my luggage if it weren’t for a small mistake of $60…

A small mistake to reveal a great big mistake… How many smalls mistakes are there in your life that open your eyes to something much bigger that you would have never realized had that little ‘mistake’ never happened?

Thank you Lord for life’s little ‘mistakes’ which… I don’t really think are mistakes at all!

And yes, the fire alarm stopped going off and we didn’t have to evacuate or anything :)

I forgot stuff...

I made a long list of all the stuff that I needed to take with me... but somehow i still forgot stuff. I guess I couldn't have planned that I would forget to put stuff back in my bag once I took it out :) And I also told Emily that I would bring some items to Matthew & Melanie (who just moved to Zim) and I forget those too...

Oh well... sigh, nothing i can do about that now :(

First part of the flight went great! I have a long layover in Atlanta and my flight leaves tonight to South Africa. I am SO excited that I am on my way... seems a little unreal still! Thank you Lord for this opportunity!!!

Getting ready to go...

I am going on an adventure...

Fun things needed for adventure:
camera... check
flashlight... check
chocolate... check
bible... check
guitar... bummer, it doesn't fit :(
piano... definitely does NOT fit!
electric adaptor... urgh, gotta buy one tomorrow
wedding card for Rachel & Tommy... check
laptop... check

If only I had a tool belt, I'd be like a super hero or something and I could put my cool adventure item where they were easily accessible! hahahaha

The count down is almost done and I am just about ready! I have only a few more things to pack. Thank you everyone for your encouragement and prayers. The Lord goes out before me and prepares the way and His glory is my rear guard.

I'll be flying out Wednesday morning at 5:30 am.

Zimbabwe

In early 2009, I went to the Deluge Refuge conference hosted by the Kingdom House of Prayer. There was one speaker there, Jeff, who shared about his experiences concerning Zimbabwe and how the church influenced the nation through culture, health, economics, government, and much more than that... basically using Kingdom principles and faith. You see I have always known that I was called to Africa so I was very interested in hearing what he had to say. I didn't know all the details of why I would go or what I would do once I got there, but I knew someday that I would go to Africa. So as Jeff spoke and shared a few video's, I felt the Holy Spirit ever so gently come closer and closer and I couldn't help but cry. My heart was forever changed. Through my tears, I told the Lord that one day that I wanted to go there. I knew in that moment that I was aligning myself with what the Lord had already planned.

Who knew that several months later that I would be working on a project for the same exact church that Jeff spoke about. I was so excited at how the Lord orchestrated the whole thing! I didn't go looking for a job with the church. It was presented to me, a gift from the Father.

So, now I am going to Zimbabwe for the first time. My boss has started a technology company there (right across the street from the church) and we will be part of a business show hosted by Big Africa in Harare. If you haven't heard of it, check it out at bigafrica.com. The Lord is going to use this to reform not just Zimbabwe, but the continent. I believe the Lord is going to pour out His Spirit through the speakers at this business conference, that a nation would be changed in a day, that when they look back at history, they will be able to say, I was there that day when everything changed for Zimbabwe.

There are many reasons and purposes for my trip. I'll be doing so much more than the conference. I'll be able to meet all my brothers and sisters at the church (www.celebrate.org) that I have been working with so closely for the last eight months. I am looking forward to what the Lord wants to do during this trip. I'll be staying 2 weeks after the conference is over. I am confident that I will have many opportunities presented to me... I don't know what that looks like yet, but I do know this: You'll have to come back to my blog to read about it because I know it will happen. :) I'll do my best to keep you updated a few days a week.