Zambia Mission 2012

One of the most memorable experiences of our Mission to Zambia last month was singing worship with the children at House of Faith Orphanage.

It was our last evening at the Orphanage before we departed. It was Friday, March 16th, and it was a beautiful night in the bush of Silembe. We’d been at the Orphanage for 6-days at this point and bed-time stories had become habit for some of the team in previous nights.

After dinner Noah (my son) asked me if we could do something different tonight. He wondered if it was o.k. with the Housemoms if we could get all of the children together and sing worship versus doing bed-time stories in each of the 4 homes individually. I explained that I suppose that it would be o.k. and Noah disappeared with several of the other young men on our team. We continued with our after dinner discussion and as time went along we heard the drums begin to beat. Moments later the singing began and we started to make our way to the informal gathering on the other side of HOFO.

House moms at worship.

As we arrived at the place where the children gathered the singing was well underway. The kids sing great together; it was just their voices and drums. Awesome.

Watching the kids worship before the Lord was an incredible blessing for me as we all came into the presence of the Lord. I observed the housemoms who have become instrumental in the blessing for these children. They weren’t there because of obligation, they were there to sing with their children before the Lord. This was one big happy family that allowed us to visit with them for a week’s time as they made us feel like family in a foreign land. This was God’s family; different ages, different color, for some of us different languages, and of various ages, but here we were arm and arm loving one another and in worship of a Lord of all.

I contend that HOFO is holy ground. Often times when I am there I don’t feel comfortable because I don’t deserve to be in such a special place. I do feel welcomed, but this is a place of blessing and not yet familiar to me. As the worship continued into the night this evening I found myself surrounded by the presence of the Lord. These children are truly blessed to be in such a place, surrounded by the safety and comfort of our King.