Chabbobboma!

Greetings again in the name of Jesus! Jess and I just returned yesterday from our first contact in Chabbobboma (i realize it was spelled wrong before). We had an unbelievable time! The place was absolutely beautiful, full of baobab trees and rolling hills. We stayed at a Pilgrim Wesleyan Church guest house for the night and were blessed to meet many strong believers in that area. We had the opportunity to visit with the head chief of the area and share the vision we have for Chabbobboma. He was very receptive and welcomed us to come back and visit him any time we pleased. Having the blessing of the chief is very important. After this we went to Lake Karibe and were taken out by boat to see how vast this lake really is. They called it the "blue sky that extends forever". In the evening we held a worship service for many of the school children who stayed on site and it was full of dancing, singing and words of encouragement from our anointed Zambian brother, Tom. We discussed with the pastor and district superintendent about whe areas that really needed the gospel and he told us of a few places that were heavy into demon worship (satanists). We will be praying about setting up camp in one of those areas on our next trip to see how God's light can break through! Our sleep at night would have been nice except for the extreme heat and a huge storm that came for a couple hours. We woke up to find a scorpion the size of my fist right outside of our door (they warned us that the snakes and scorpions are bad in this area...that was a bit unnerving). We had some very well prepared nshima for dinner along with chicken and cabbage that we provided. In the morning our church service went really well. I spoke from John 10:10 "The thief comes to kill, steal and destroy. But I (Jesus) have come that you may have life and life abundantly." They were told about how we are all in a war whether we like it or not. There is a being, Satan, who is hates us and is out to kill us and another greater being, God, who love us and desires to save us. We discussed how you cannot serve two masters. You must choose who you will serve with the understanding that one has already won the battle! (tough choice right!?) We discussed how our flesh or sinful nature is in rebellion to what we really are called to do with our lives and nothing short of the life of Christ in us can set us free. We had people come up and confess their sin and commit their lives to Jesus Christ that very morning. Many of them confessed to being "tatooed" by witch doctors for "protection from evil spirits". Little did they know that those tatooes were opening them up to more evil! We taught them the word and led them through a time of repenting of those things and trusting in Jesus Christ for protection. One woman approached us afterwards and told us how her husband had died a few years ago. Since that time there was an old man who was a relative that was supposed to take care of her. Instead of doing so, he came and beat her with a club one morning and ever since then she had been having dreams of her husband and this old man coming and doing terrible things to her. She believed that the old man had "witched" her because everytime he came around there is something that would crawl inside of her skin. We prayed over her, shared with her about the love and power of Jesus Christ and told her that no witch doctor will help her from these things. She spoke with the pastor and he agreed to accompany her to her home and pray over her home and children as well. We also prayed that God would allow justice to be done with the terrible things this old man was doing (she already took him to court and he bribed his way out of getting into trouble). So you can see, we are dealing with some very serious stuff. It is utterly essential that we have your prayers plowing the ground as we enter into these places. Praise God for the body of Christ. That we NEED each other and that no one has a greater ministry than the other. We love you all and ask that your prayers would continue with us as ours continue with you. Until all have heard the gospel of Jesus and seen it lived among them...Grace and Peace to you!

Jacob