Beginning Our Sector Work

So we have been finished with our Advanced Missions Training for a few weeks and already the excitement has begun with our sector work in Nyawa and Masukotwane Chiefdoms. The program we are focusing on implementing in the outlying villages right now is called the LIFE Project. It's function and purpose is to create a human network within the villages so that all of the other endeavors can work. We are making relationships with the chiefs, headmen, school teachers, clinical officers and other leaders in the area. Once we get their permission to operate in an area, we begin to visit the families and learn their particular needs. We take every opportunity to preach the Gospel, pray for the sick and teach the word of God. The Life Project exists to build leaders in every village so that no orphan, widow, HIV Positive individual or any other neglected individual has to be on their own. LIFE stands for Living in Family Environments and that is exactly what we are striving to maintain; family life.
After our large outreach in Masiye, I took a motorcycle trip out to visit the families and see how things were going and the six villages in that area have quite literally been turned upside down! Drunks have been challenged to quit drinking and get into church, communities are uniting and discussing how they can pioneer projects to help their at-risk individuals in their communities, men and women are rising up to lead these initiatives and the word of God is going forth in power! They even had a letter waiting for me when I got there that held the notes of a meeting where 90 people gathered together to discuss how they were going to begin different projects for the community. The most exciting part for us was that this all happened WHILE WE WERE GONE! That is the heart of this vision. That we can come in, spark a fire, and watch the community run with what God puts on their heart.
I just took another trip into a place called Nyawa and had an unbelievable chance meeting with Chief Nyawa himself. This man is the chief over 400-500 villages and is the most powerful man to be in contact with in that chiefdom. We spoke for nearly an hour at his home and he gave his full approval to our humanitarian projects and to our desire to spread the word of God. He offered us land to operate a base on and also offered to build Jessi and I a permanent home in his chiefdom so we can stay for longer periods of time. The exciting part about working in his chiefdom is that it is a vast area of scattered villages that are hugely unreached. He said that there is still a pride of lions that roam in his chiefdom!
We will be making a trip to Nyawa and Masiye again next week and at the beginning of September we will be doing a week long outreach and Chief Nyawa is going to spend some time accompanying us with the outreach. Having his stamp of approval on the LIFE Project is an immediate help because the villagers in any chiefdom highly respect their chief.
Please pray for these two areas. Pray that we have discernment to identify good, faithful men who can carry on the work as we go back and forth. Also pray that we would continue to choose the right areas to venture into as we begin our work in Nyawa. And, as many of you have been praying, continue to pray that our adoption is finished quickly so that we can purchase our plane tickets and hopefully be on our way home by the end of September.
We love you all and are looking forward to seeing you soon.

Jake