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October 2013 to June 2014 Report, Post 2 of 3


Zimbabwe Leadership Conference

January 15, 2014, I flew from Togo to Zimbabwe for a one week leadership conference organized by VisionTrust, an organization based in Colorado Springs who we are partnered with.  VisionTrust’s sole purpose is to see children transformed to become mature adults who live for God and love others.  The purpose of the conference is to discuss discipleship and community development. 
Meeting with the local leaders of Chasia-tende, a village in Zimbabwe.
  Due to a technical problem on the plane, I spent 2 nights in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and ended up in Harare, the capital city of Zimbabwe on Friday and we drove 4 hrs. southwest to Masvingo, to the home of  Davison Mzezewa, the program director and leader.  We met with local leaders for 2 days in Maringire, a town 2 hours from the border of Johannesburg, South Africa.  We talked about knowing our communities and there were several exercises on mapping out the area we are from and identifying local, available resources for community development.   We mentioned the need for local church leaders to be salt and light and to be a stepping stone for the development of their community. 
Me and some of the orphans in Zunga, another village in Zimbabwe.
I didn’t know the FBI had a church??!! LOL!
On the issue of discipleship, here is what I shared with them:  Due to poverty, so many Africans see churches and foreign missions as a way for personal gain and wealth and the tragedy of which is that many churches are filled with people who “got religion” and not a true relationship with the Creator or even their fellow man.  We have so many intelligent converts who grew up or are growing old in churches but not in faith.  The irony of which is so many have become learners and not doers of the Word. 
  Using the “Master Plan of Evangelism” of Dr. E. Coleman, I encouraged the participants to adopt the example of Jesus: Identify prospects, select them, spend time with them in teaching and training, Assign work for them to do and see them reproduce.  That’s what true discipleship is all about.
  It was a great trip and I am grateful for the opportunities to sow the seeds.

Regional Discipleship Conference (RDC) in Nairobi, Kenya

Three months after I was back from Zimbabwe and my wife came back from the States, we were privileged to attend the RDC in Nairobi, Kenya.

  The guest speaker was Edmund Chan from Singapore, he said, his keen desire is to see the church leaders in Africa transformed from a missionary receiving continent to a missionary sending continent, from a continent of darkness to a continent shining bright the light of Jesus.  He shared about what a readical discipleship to Jesus is and how to cultivate an intentional disciple making church.  He said the call to radical discipleship is a call to passionately follow Jesus.  Discipleship is Biblically rooted in a personal relationship with Jesus our Savior and Lord.  Only when we are thus aligned do we have access to God’s true power, through God’s true Spirit, to fulfill God’s true purpose for God’s true Glory.
We dressed in our Togo attire for the dinner the RDC gave for all the international delegates.
 There were 18 different countries represented at this conference;  Kenya, USA, CAR, Liberia, India, Malawi, Sierra Leone, Togo, Burundi, Singapore, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Democratic Rep. of Congo, Nigeria, Madagascar, and South Africa.  VisionTrust International had representatives from 7 (written in red) of their Africa country partners present.  After the RDC was concluded we all continued the talks on discipleship for a few more days.  This was a productive and encouraging time to see in what ways we each are putting discipleship into practice in our various countries.  Also, it was great to meet and get to know each other a little better. 
Bruno sharing a devotion on discipleship at the VisionTrust conference. 
 
Three words were predominant throughout that week:  “Intentional” , “Radical” , and “Discipleship” and praise God so many “African leaders” were introduced to these vital words!
Our last day was also enjoyable in the fact that we got to go to the Kenya national park!  We had fun seeing all the wildlife and we also enjoyed a great lunch together at the “Carnivore” restaurant.  Yes!  Lots of meat!  We included a page from that day too.  Enjoy!!






                               Kenya Picture Page


Carved right onto your plate!  Yummy!!

I wonder what Matt Storer is eating?


Elizabeth’s shop

 Our sister, Elizabeth, has been diligently training the past 4 years to be a seamstress.  She is such a hard worker and it has paid off!  When our visitors came last October, Elizabeth would stay up most of the night sewing items for them.  She would fall asleep on her work table.  With the money she earned she was able to buy extra sewing machines for her new shop which was just opened.  The pictures to the left are from the opening day.  It was great to see her teacher and her teacher’s teacher there, and her parents too.  Also, it was opened with devotion and prayer.  Elizabeth has now started training someone else.  She is happy and is still working hard.  We pray for God to continue to bless her!!

 


Ghana Ladies Retreat

  Last month four of us were able to go to the Ladies retreat in  Kumasi, Ghana.  The theme was “The Aroma of Righteousness”.  Sadly, we missed the opening.  Traveling was an adventure that day and took a lot longer all because of the downpour of rain the whole day!!  Once there though it was so nice to see my sisters in Christ.  We were encouraged to be the aroma of Christ in everything from our lifestyle, prayers, service, evangelism, our praise, and in our families. 
The ladies with me from Togo were Djodjina, Maceline, and Josephine.  They got to share some fun Togo dancing and singing.  They also enjoyed making nice smelling foot rubs that Jessica led as an activity to go with her teaching on evangelism (fragrant feet).  This is one of those articles that I wish I had more space for writing and pictures!  Overall, it was a nice and encouraging time!!  Thank you to my sisters in Ghana for hosting us and for your love!!