Update from Shirley

Happy Resurrection Day to you, Shirley's Newsletter List

Because He Lives...

...we can come into His presence!

     Many times in past years, when Easter rolls around and I hear people say, He is Risen! There has been a rather disturbing question that has come up in my heart...'so what?' I think I have been a part of this Christian belief system for so long, some of our rituals and celebrations and ways and speech have become somehow routine, leaving me with questions in my heart and mind. I wasn't trying to be a bratty teenager with God with this question, in fact, I didn't even let it surface into words for several years. However, in recent years, I have been asking more plainly, God, what is the resurrection supposed to mean for me personally? Am I really living in a way that personally experiences and also shows others that You have risen from the dead? Now, I think I can ask this question every year and trust God to respond...Father, what does the resurrection of Jesus from the dead hold for me today? After asking this question this year, the reality hit me that Jesus has cleared the way for me to bring my whole self to God. When He suffered and died, taking on all of our sin, guilt, shame and fear, then rose as the victor over those very things, He cleared the way for me to come into the amazing, awesome presence of a loving heavenly Father. Because He lives, I can enter everyday into an abundant life that He provides and freely come to Him just as I am. 

     May more and more understandings about what the resurrection of Jesus means for

you, Shirley's Newsletter List, come from the heart of our heavenly Father, just when you

need them. 

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...we can experience and share freedom!

  As you know, last year I was a part of a Freedom Challenge Event in Spain. Thank you so

much for your prayers and support so that Our Challenge could be Their Freedom for

thousands of women and children around the globe. With your help, I surpassed my

fundraising goal of $3500 and raised $3909 specifically for children in the mountains in Pakistan. These children move with their families as directed by the needs of their herds of animals for grazing. Your gifts made it more possible for teachers to hike up into the mountains with the families and stay for weeks and months at a time to provide education for young girls who would normally not have the opportunity to learn. Thank you!

     This year, there is a Freedom Challenge event in the Adirondacks of New York State and I am inviting you to be a part! You can take on a physical, financial, awareness raising and prayer challenge to bring freedom to women around the world. Please learn more about the challenge at this link:

Adirondack Challenge  

I would love it if you would consider personally forming a team with me for this challenge. I am looking for 2-5 ladies to join me in this!

Are you up for the challenge, Shirley's Newsletter List?

***If you contact me and we register in the next 10 days, we could qualify for an early bird discount!***​

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                                                          ...we can have fellowship with Him and one another!
     A few days before Christmas this year, a few of my Zambian friends came to stay with my in what I love to refer to as 'my mini mansion!' We set about 26 hours aside for the

purpose of fellowshipping with God and each other. We had a

lovely discovery Bible Story looking at when the angel came and

told Mary she was going to have a baby and then we set up spaces

all around the garden area and a couple places in my home that

gave us different ways to connect with God. It was a sweet and

refreshing time for all. You can see a little more if you want to 

watch this video that one of my friends made with highlights from

our time together...if you make it all the way to the end you will find

me in rare form :) ​​​​​​

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...we can celebrate life!

     In early December I had the joy of joining a couple colleagues on a 2 week training trip to Lake Tanganyika. It was a 16 hour drive (one way) that took quite a toll on my vehicle, but did just the opposite for our hearts! Amazing women from villages around the lake came with stories of groups of women who have been leading small groups to make big changes in their families, their communities and even the greater Lake T region. There were stories of domestic abuse being addressed, new skills being learned in sewing, farming and raising chickens that have turned into profitable businesses sustaining families as well as big community changes like the building of a bridge between two villages-all because women have been meeting in small groups weekly to study the Bible, save and share money and address the needs they see in their families and communities. 

     Did I mention that this year the number of groups has gone above 2000 and there are still groups being formed? Did I also mention that these groups are started by identifying the most vulnerable women in a community and gathering them to equip them and show them that they are made in the image of God, they have gifts and abilities and together they are strong! From that foundation, groups of women are transformed and become agents of change in their communities and regions!

     "For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption— that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the LORD."

     My birthday was in the middle of this training time and I was

completely surprised and utterly speechless to receive the

largest and fanciest cake I have ever been given here in Zambia.

It was a great joy to celebrate life with these amazing women

and I look forward to future possibilities in being a small part of

training the Self-Help Group Approach as the Lord leads in years

to come. 

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...we are no longer Strangers!

     Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord,

     Well, I am not quite a citizen of Zambia yet, but I am a couple steps closer. I thank God that I got my Residence Permit!!! No more applying (and paying) for work permits every two years!!! I also now have a Zambian national registration card...on which they have labelled me an alien ;)

     I am prayerfully considering acquiring citizenship in Zambia as I have learned that sometime in the last few years the US and Zambia both now allow for dual citizenship! This would make travel around African nations so much easier, less costly and potentially even safer if I could do so on a Zambian passport in years to come. Please pray for this process...it can sometimes be a very long and tedious one. 

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Praise Points

• getting my Residence Permit

• fruitful training time with ladies at Lake Tanganyika

• encouraging time at the NOSTOS conference

• steps forward in developing a training with local team members for local churches in Zambia to reach out more intentionally and strategically to other people of other faiths

Prayer Requests

• the process of pursuing dual Citizenship

• Coaching training week the end of May in Dubai

• TeenStreet this weekend-meaningful impact in the

lives of the teens as well as good follow up with them

throughout the year in small groups around Zambia

• continued development of the NOSTOS training

curriculum as well as the local training curriculum

• steps forward with the Self-Help Group Approach 

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...we pray for and go to the nations

     In early March I had the joy of being a part of a conference of workers who are reaching out to our 'cousins in the faith' all around the world in the diaspora. It was amazing to worship together, to pray together and to see a bigger picture of how people are coming to faith one by one as well

as in groups. God's heart of love for descendants of Isaac as well as

Ishmael is absolutely undeniable in Jesus! It is

amazing to see and be a small part of people

coming home to Him from various backgrounds

and cultures. If you want to join in praying with me

more consistently, you can join a 

WhatsApp prayer group here. 

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...we can be generous givers!

     Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away...

     I have had some interaction with a young Zambian man who is in the process of starting a library in Solwezi in Zambia. They needed to have some books to start their library so they could get tax exempt status, so we spent an afternoon going through some of the books in our library and choosing about 20+ boxes of books to help get them started. I hope to follow their journey a bit in upcoming months and see how God uses these little seeds to grow into a fruitful ministry in a new space in Zambia.

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...we can face challenges

     But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed— always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So then death is working in us, but life in you.

     Last year I sent out a survey and one of the questions was, what would you like to see more of in my newsletters. One person responded that they would like me to be more transparent, share more challenges. It was an eye opener for me because I think of myself as pretty transparent. I have wondered since that time, what kind of challenges do people want to hear about? Do they want to hear about cultural misunderstandings I experience? Do they want to hear about my personal wrestlings with God? Do they want to hear about the losses I experience on a regular basis living in a foreign land far away from family and friends? Do they want to hear my inner concerns over the ever increasing gap between my current self and what was my life in the states or my attempts to somehow belong in this 'new' life that even after more than 10 years has vivid moments of shock over the relational and cultural differences? Do they want to hear about the moments where my values get tried and tested and sometimes transformed because they are so different than the values of the people who fill my life regularly now? Do they want to read about tearful, angry, scared moments experienced? Do they want to know how alone I sometimes feel? What would it mean for you, Shirley's Newsletter List for me to 'keep it real?' 

     I am just a normal human being who tries my best to follow Jesus and invite others to join me in the journey. I cry, laugh, get mad, have difficulties forgiving, almost never forget, get caught up in my way of doing things, hurt people, struggle with eating too much, staying consistent with exercise or watching too much TV when I'm not in a healthy place.

    Let me know if there are particular things you would like to know and read about in my updates that would somehow benefit you. I write these newsletters because I honestly couldn't be doing what I am doing without the love, care, support and prayers you and so many others give. I want to somehow involve you, encourage you, bless you and thank you for being such an important part of this journey. So, if you have made it this far in reading and what to let me know what kind of communication or stories or experiences you'd like to hear more about, I'd love to get an email from you! I'll even help you out by starting one that you can finish by clicking here! 

                                                                   I will share a challenge here before signing off...
     This week a dear friend and colleague of mine and her husband and small child were in a car accident on a public bus in a country in West Africa. They were 19 in total, going on outreach to share the gospel. There was an accident and three of them lost their lives. My friend and husband are in the hospital with injuries that likely will recover okay over time. Their 4 month old is healthy and uninjured, thank the Lord! My friend has lost 2 dear friends in the last 24 hours and needs God's grace and comfort and peace and strength to face these losses over and over again in the months ahead. I am at a loss as to how (in addition to praying) to support her during this time. Your prayers would be greatly appreciated.