From Karina

Wabukabuti!
I don’t know where to begin. I feel so alive here, as well as so stretched. My team ranges in age from 18 to 32 years. About 7 guys and 6 girls. The base is on the edge of the Zambezie. We can see mist from The Falls. I can’t explain how beautiful it is. We have electricity a few hours a day. We have running water from a well. It runs out a couple times a day but for the most part its dependable. We have warm water at night by heating water from a big fire place.
Last Sunday we left for “the bush.” Meaning we went to an unreached village. We were the first missionaries to come to this village that the people knew of. Many villages know of God and Jesus Christ from the time of David Livingstone but it is more a religion. They will go to church in hope to go to heaven but there is no knowledge of the power of God or a relationship with Him. Witch-Doctors are very prominent. The people know that worshiping satan is wrong but they don’t understand that that is exactly what the witch-Doctor does. We camped out in small tents in sight of the village. There was no electricity, running water, or toilet. We started out the morning with praising God, praying, and encouragement from the Bible. We would then walk about 45 min to one of the villager’s fields to work for a couple of hours. We harvested ground-nuts (peanuts) or maize (like corn). Somehow my team was always put in a maize field. This consisted of peeling the husk off the maize not knowing what would fall out of the husk. Usually 5 small roach-like bugs, maybe some spiders, will fall over my feet. For the first day I would toss it to one of the guys if there was a big spider but then I came to the conclusion that its just a bug. We would have lunch at the villager’s home and hang out with the fam. Every group had an interpreter.
In the afternoon we would have a large group gathering for the village and maybe surrounding villages to come to. There were testimonies, singing, preaching, a skit, and last we would pray for those who wanted to become a Christian or for those who needed physical healing. Usually when there is illness the person is also demon-possessed because they go to the witch doctor for healing. The first lady I prayed for wanted prayer for the pain in her legs and poor eyesight. Wezee, one of the translators, came over and started praying for her. He was like “there is a demon in her” and started praying for the power of the Holy Spirit in the name of Jesus Christ. I wasn’t too convinced but I kept praying. He was shaking her telling the demon to leave. She collapsed on the ground. Her son came over and confirmed that she has been visiting the witch doctor and is demon possessed. When she came to, we asked her about her demon and if she wanted freedom from it. She told it to leave in the name of Jesus. She had a pearl-like necklace and bracelet on. We asked her about those. They were charms for the demon. We told her that she had to take them off so she did. We then explained to her the power of Jesus Christ and the importance of turning to Him and not the witch doctor. She felt much better afterwards. Her name is Ellena. PLEASE PRAY FOR HER! There were others that were freed from demons and had physical healing. The next day, I was praying for a lady who complained of pain all over. Wezee came over and started to speak to her in tonga because she didn’t know English. He told the demon to leave then in a deep raspy voice she started to speak in English, obviously it was the demon. His name is Joseph. We told her that she had to tell Joseph to leave in the name of Jesus. She did. We prayed and counseled her for a while.
My favorite part has been working with the kids. I can’t tell you how beautiful every child is even though they are in dirty ripped clothes with dirt and body waste on them. I can’t speak more than a few words to them but you can say so much with eyesight, smiles, hugs, singing, dancing, holding hands, and piggy-back rides. These kids are so precious but its like they don’t even have a clean slate to start on. Their parents take them as a baby to the witch doctor to get protection for their health so basically they are demon possessed from the get-go. I was trying to make friends with one little girl about 6 yrs old. I drew some pictures in the sand. It took her a while to get the hang of it but she started giggling after a while. It is common for a child to have no imagination or creativity because that’s not nurtured in them. Most girls older then 6 years would have a younger sibling hanging on their back.
On Tuesday there was a pastor’s conference for some villages about an hour away that Overland had previously reached. After the preaching there was a big soccer game that brought several villages together. After some preaching we had a big feast. During the preaching and game I stayed with the women. My conclusion is that if anyone ever complains of cooking when they have a stove they are delirious. First the guys killed the chickens. Once boiled, I fried the chicken in a big pot of hot oil over the open fire. I feel like so much more of a woman after surviving hours of the African sun with hot oil splashing, tons of tears from the smoke, fire burning my toes, and the African women laughing because they could grab up a hot pot but I would have to use my shatangy (wrap skirt). At the end of the day I let them know that they are my heroes.

I wish that I could write all of you all individually and leave comments on Facebook but our broadband is so limited that it usually shuts me off whenever I try. Sorry!

There are so many stories. The people here are so hungry for the Truth. Please pray for the darkness to be broken, that the captives will be set free and that beauty will be given in place of ashes (Is 61). Pray that the truth of Gods power will be revealed.

Leza Akuleleke (God Bless You)

-Karina