Update phone call from Ben

Ben talked to Todd this morning and had an update on how the team is doing. He said that everyone is healthy, but they are tired.

One of their biggest ministries has been with the street boys. This is a really intense group of boys because they are right off of the street. Their goal has been to teach them to love the Lord first, but it is really hard for the boys to see. Ben had an opportunity to share his testimony with the boys in which he was able to be really serious with them and share his heart. 20 boys prayed a prayer of salvation and they could tell that 5 were really serious about the decision. The boys are starting to realize that the team will be leaving soon and they have become really attached to the team. They want to make sure that they are leaving Jesus behind and that the boys truly see that what they need is not the team, but Jesus.

Also, the girls have been working at the girls home. The girls in the home are a lot like the street boys but they are now in a home which is a really good environment for them. Pray for the girls too, as it will be hard for them to have the team leave as well.

Prayer Requests:
1. The team would finish the next two days in Kitwe strong. Pray for the team as they will be leaving the people they have been ministering to and it will be tough emotionally.

2. The team will be leaving Saturday to go to Livingston and then on Sunday/Monday they will be going on a Safari.

Continued prayers for safety and health are always appreciated and needed by the team.

Thank you for continuing to look at the blog. Again, the team is sorry that they are not able to post more frequently, but we will continue to keep you up to date as we hear from them.

God Bless,
Solid Rock Staff

Day 9

Greetings from Zambia!

Sorry that we haven't been able to update you guys on the mission trip. We don't have access to computers and when we do the internet is super duper slow. But God has definetely been working in the most amazing ways here. Thank you for all the prayers! We have been very busy as well, we don't have very much down time but when we do (our morning devotions are amazing!) we're either spending it in the word or fellowshiping.

During the 'work days' the team has been split up between the Girls Ranch, with the street boys, the for Hearts and Souls orphanage and the Chipata Compound. The Girls Ranch is a home for street girls that are ages 14-19ish. Some of the girls are pregnant or have had children. They spend time in bible studies (our girls have actually leds some amazing ones!), cooking and different crafts. The boys on our team have been spending their time with the street boys ... playing soccer games, feeding them food, physically and spiritually. The kids at the orphanage are all growing up and when part of the team visits for the day they spend time playing with the kids but also helping the mothers with chores and ministering to them through conversation. The conditions are definitely better this year and the children are all becoming more fluent in English because of the teacher that came after Shannon, Mary. Today Shannon, Nicole, and Abbie got to deliver the school supplies, Mary was so ecstatic about it and so immensely blessed by what was given by the church. The Chipata Compound is a ministery that just started up a few weeks ago, it is an extension from the orphanage. A few mothers cook breakfast and lunch for the children of the Chipata Compound and do home visits as well.

We've also done many other random services for the Lord, like construction for the Girls Ranch, visit tuberculosis patients and we also joined them at Church on the Rock. As our days come to an end in Kitwe (only 3 more!), please continue to pray for the ministeries that we have been involved with here.

Love Annie.

As of Saturday, August 11th, we received a call from Shannon with an update as to how their trip is going so far. They have been incredibly busy and the internet connection is still not available to them, so we will be posting the reports until they are able to. (Ben also called this morning and said they are sorry that they haven't been able to update the blog, but the internet has been really slow there.)

The team continues to be in good health and very busy. Along with the other projects they have been working on, they worked on building a place at the Boys Ranch which will eventually allow for 24 boys to live there. The guys ended up laying bricks and the girls cleared the brush.

Prayer Requests:

Continued prayer for their health and safety. Also, that they would be allowing the Lord to use them and change hearts as they are over there, that God would be preparing the hearts of those who they will be ministering to.

As we get phone calls, we will continue to update on how the team is doing. Keep praying for them as we know your prayers are being heard and answered.
--Solid Rock Staff

We received a phone call from Ben Newell today in which he said that they are having trouble connecting to the internet and they have been incredibly busy lately, so we are going to post for them today and hopefully they will have internet connection sometime soon.

Ben reports that the team is doing well. They all are in good health and their time there has been awesome so far. Today the team went to the Boys Ranch which in the future will be a home for 24 boys. These boys have been taken off the streets where many of them are involved in drugs and frequent fighting. Through this ministry they are being taught the Word of God and being given a safe place to be, away from the dangers of the streets. While the team was there they played soccer with them, cooked a meal, washed their clothes, taught a bible lesson and broke up into small groups. This was an amazing time for them to get to know the boys, love them and share the gospel with them.

Prayer requests: They would love continued prayer for their health and protection. Also, tomorrow they will be splitting up and part of them will be going to do a soccer camp for the Street Boys, some will be visiting with the girls at the Girls Home and some will be leading a Chipota feeding project in which they will be feeding orphans on the streets.

We Have Arrived!

YAY! After our 49-hour journey, we are all happy, healthy and in Kitwe,Zambia. We arrived in the Ndola airport around noon and after collecting our bags, drove into Kitwe. Upon arriving Pastor Edward and his wife, Barbara had prepared a delicious meal of fried chicken, vegatables, and nshima (the staple starch of Africa...much like thick cream of wheat). The rest of our day will be spent resting up and preparing for tomorrow's tour of all the ministries supported by Church on the Rock, our sister church here in Zambia.

They are all so glad to have us all here. They send Solid Rock and all its pastors their warmest love and thanks for sending all of us.

We are all so thankful for your prayers thus far and for the covering that they have been for us. Please continue to pray for us as we settle in and arrange our living situations as well as organize our schedule for the upcoming couple of weeks. Also, as we are all a bit weary from the travels, prayers for a quick recovery so we are able to start our time of serving refreshed and ready. God Bless!

Still in Transit

Hello All!

Just wanted to update you all on where we are and what we are doing. Currently we are in the Joburg International Airport waiting for our last flight to take us to Zambia. The last few days have been filled with mass quanities of waiting, sitting and attempts at sleeping.

We left PDX @ 6am and after a 5 hour flight arrived in Atlanta. After a short layover we boarded our flight to Johannesburg. The first leg of the flight took 8 and a half hours where we finally landed in Senegal. In Senegal we stayed seated on the tarmak while they cleaned our plane and boarded more passengers. After an hour we took off again for another 8 and half hours in the same seat. It was nice to get a huge chunck of flying over and done with all together, but 18 + hours in the same seat got old much too fast.

We arrvied in Joburg @ 5 pm and were not allowed to enter the International Terminal until this morning. So we staked out a nice slab of contrete and set up a temporary shelter. We spent the next 13 hours sleeping, reading, praying, worshiping, witnessing and playing games. By morning we were happy to make it to the other side of the airport and finally got a nice cup of coffee.

Thank you for all of your prayers. God has definately been working in all of us on this trip. Please continue to pray for a safe flight to Zambia and that God would be using us as we are going.

-Zambia Team

Team Zambia

Update from Nicole Scholz:

The day has arrived! Our last day before leaving for Zambia!! Tomorrow morning, August 5th at 3:30am we will arrive at PDX for our 6am flight. We are scheduled to arrive in Ndola, Zambia on August 7th at 11:20am. From there a short bus ride of 40 minutes or so will bring us to the town of Kitwe.

Back row: Dan Coli, Katy Myers, Ben Newell, Shannon Bozarth, Ryan Darrah, Mark Pyatt; Front Row: Abbie Kirkpatrick, Anna Mitchell, Annie Phou, Nicole Scholz, Kelsey Gillespie, Sharaya McDonald

The Lord has so faithfully hand chosen His team of twelve for this trip and we are all truly blessed at this privilege. I ask for your prayers even today as we all are individually preparing, that the Lord would in this time unify His team and begin working in our hearts. We all realize that the trip doesn’t begin once we’ve stepped foot on the beautiful red African soil but it begins now-it’s already begun. And as we are going we want to radiate light and truth that forces darkness to flee in every form. In Matthew 18 Jesus tells us the requirement for greatness in the kingdom of heaven, and that is to become like children. Please pray for just that in each and every one of us. Not that the Lord would show us how to be like children for He’s already given us plenty of examples, no that we would let go of everything except Him allowing Him to change us and make us childlike. That we would truly be transparent vessels in everything we speak and everything we do. That in meeting us people would meet Jesus.

Please pray for trust, openness and eagerness to learn, as these are the characteristics of a child. Please pray for hands and feet that glorify the name of our Father and are beautiful in His sight.

With love to all! (Please pray for the safe arrival of not only us but for our luggage as well!)
More to come,
Nicole

Side Note: We are going to do our best to maintain the blog and give you all regular updates from the various ministries we will be helping with while in Zambia. We realized the expectations are high, so please bare with us as internet access in Kitwe will be irregular at best. We'll be doing our best to keep you all as up to date as possible. So until Africa ... :)