THE REASON FOR THE SEASON

I have been thinking about a phrase from one of the college gals we worked with the summer of 2017 at a youth camp. She was a little spitfire of a thing and fiercely loved Jesus. When someone talked about possibly dating someone or being with someone, she challenged them with these words, “Does he or she push you closer to Jesus?” It’s a fair question. One that usually has a follow up question to explain how. And that goes for anyone we are spending time with. Those that we allow inside our circle. Those we give access to. Who are those people for us? Those that have that key of access to our hearts, our thinking, our souls, our faith. 

A convicting, challenging, question and yet, one that needs to be answered. Are my conversations peppered with the encouragement of the Word? Am I engaging people in prayer, either with them or over them? Do we ask the questions that spur us onward in our relationship with God? Am I, are you, moving closer to Jesus so we can help others?

In this time of Advent, it is a perfect conversation to have. Are we anticipating the presence of God in our lives through the true historical miracle of God becoming man? What of all this excites us, humbles us, and empowers us? How does this truth impact my ministry and the people we touch everyday? Do we pause in awe of this miracle? This quote from J.I. Packer’s book, Knowing God, struck me deeply- 

“The real staggering Christian claim is that Jesus of Nazareth was God made man-that the second person of the Godhead became the ‘second man’ (1 Cor. 15:47), determining human destiny, the second representative head of the race, and that He took humanity without lose of deity, so that Jesus of Nazareth was as truly fully divine as He was human…It is here, in the thing that happened at the first Christmas, that the profoundest and most unfathomable depths of the Christian revelation lie. ‘The Word was made flesh’ (John 1:14); God became man; the divine Son became a Jew; the Almighty appeared on earth as a helpless human baby, unable to do more than lie and stare and wriggle and make noises, needing to be fed and changed and taught to talk like any other child. And there was no illusion or deception in this: the babyhood of the Son of God was a reality. The more you think about it, the more staggering it gets. Nothing in fiction is so fantastic as this truth of the incarnation.” 

It is this Jesus we seek. And may we sit in the profound truth of His coming to earth. May a new sense of awe grip us and move us toward the One wise men sought so long ago. 

Many blessings to you all this Christmas Season! Let us know how you are moving yourself and those around you closer to the Reason for the season. Comment or email us- kristin.choitz@onecollective.org

THANK GOODNESS FOR GRACE...

I sit on the floor, taking in the chipped paint on the walls, the packets of condoms accidentally left on the floor, and the two young woman who called this room home for now. Grace (name changed) is a round ball of sweetness. I asked her where her new fun wig went as the last time I had seen her she had just had it put in. She sits on the sagging bed with faded, dirty sheets, telling us about being beaten, how her neck is now in extreme pain and that she had to have the wig taken out because it got half ripped out when the guy grabbed her by the hair. I listen with my hand on her’s as she tries to pull up her revealing tank top with the other. She brushes the abuse off as normal and acknowledges that this is not the first time and it won’t be the last. The truth that these men don’t view them as human, rolls off her lips as if to put a period on the end of not only her story, but the whole book of her life so far. 

A knock on the door interrupts our conversations as one of the “guest house” employees comes in to collect the nightly rent for the room. I watch as a dance of power, control, lies, and yet, understanding goes on in front of me. The girls tell her they don’t have enough money to pay. The employee seems to take it in stride and writes in her book what they gave her and adds to the line of what they still owe. It is adding up for Grace, compounding every night she doesn’t make enough. She is bound to so many things I think, as I watch the employee leave. She gives a smile that seems to imply, we have you until you pay. And the lies, control, and manipulation among both parties continues. 

As Noriah shares a Bible story in her own language, I let my gaze rest on the little side table which is the only piece of furniture in the room besides the old beds. It holds all the tools of her trade; random lipstick, body spray, and boxes of condoms. All essentials that eat away at the rest of her meager earnings. There is only a few Kwacha left in hand to give an account to the men that have used her the night before. 

I ask Grace if she misses her children (2 and 4), who are hundreds of miles away with a sister. She hasn’t seen them in months. She sighs heavily and says she misses them greatly. Her sweet smile quivers with the loss of hope, health and well, all that life had once offered. 

I sigh too, and we kneel to ask God to speak and intervene and pour out His grace upon Grace. 

ONE DAY TO THE NEXT...

The new one!

Every day I wake up here in Zambia and wonder in the quiet with God what my day will be like. Some days go as planned, some don’t. Some days seem to fall into the neat boxes of my job description and ministry role and other days I’m a taxi driver, a labor officer, a counselor, a medical advocate,  victims support, or a myriad of other roles. 

This past week I spent one of my days helping young women fight for justice and the next I was assessing a broken toilet at our partner school and then hunting down and purchasing one in Chongwe. I was frankly just ecstatic that I didn’t have to drive to Lusaka! This is my life. It is the life of those of us who are doing community transformation. The only “box” we have is the imaginary box we put around our community to say this is where we will put our focus. 

Everything in that box is there longing for the touch of God. And God chooses to use us as His instruments of grace there. So, we sit in meetings, drive people to the hospital, and respond to the call about a broken toilet.  Anything that touches people’s lives in a way Jesus would. Anything that brings transformation to the people of Chibolya, short term, and long term. Anything that says we are here to walk alongside you. 

Transformation happens in the spectacular and the mundane. The things that “look” like ministry and the things that don’t. You never know what your day might entail….one day to the next.

UNEXPECTED

There are many unexpected things here in Zambia. Things like the spider you almost step on in the shower, or the snake by the gate at night, or the hug you get, or the smile from someone, or the scowl from another. Things like how beautiful the sunsets are, or how hot it is at times. Things like how trees are budding green even though there has been no rain since April. The toughness of this landscape and the toughness of the people; all unexpected. I have had unexpected emotions of missing my girls at home, and my mom, and other close family members. 

But God is showing me that He is a God who is also unexpected and many times works that way. He is predictable in His promises and yet excitingly unexpected in His ways. He is the same and yet we grow in knowledge of Him everyday. Seeing and experiencing Him in new ways, unexpected ways, though not to Him. 

God has showed me this numerous times since we have been here but yet again, he surprises me. Noriah and I were finishing up one Bible Study with this one group of women and starting some in-between work on personality, business training, and then understanding purpose. Noriah and I prayed and were excited about having them do Purpose Driven Life as we talked about the importance of God’s plan for them. We were trying to get them to think outside of survival mode. So, we met, and met again, and then again. And each time the women had not prepared. They had not had someone read to them (which they had agreed to do), and had not done the questions. Noriah and I were frustrated as we had both been deeply impacted by this book when we had read it. So, the book sat in one of the women’s house for 2 months. It was sitting there for a purpose we did not know about. 

The daughter of the one women who was keeping the book, came home on break from school. The book caught her eye one day and she started reading it. As I was getting together with her, she told me she couldn’t put it down, and it was deeply impacting her. I started to see that my frustration and seeming failure with the group, was really God saying watch me work unexpectedly over here. Monica, the daughter to the woman in our group, is so excited about the book she is taking it to school and starting a group there to go through it! Who knows what unexpected things God might do in the lives of girls at a boarding school in the middle of Sub-Saharan Africa where they can seek out not cultural, expected, assumptions of them but be challenged to see God’s purpose for their lives, which is always bigger and more exciting than what we can come up with. 

Sitting back in awe again of how God is moving. We thought we knew who needed that book. Well, God had other plans. His unexpected grace is that He chose to show me this little wrinkle so I could once again smile and laugh with my God who is both the same yesterday, today, and forever and beautifully unexpected. 

STRADDLING TWO WORLDS

In preparing to come to Zambia full-time, many people asked me if I was fearful, worried, or nervous about anything. I could honestly say there was really nothing that was consuming my grey matter. Nothing that was keeping me up at night or causing me anxiety (those of you who know me, know that I am about the least anxious person out there!). I know that might seem unbelievable, but I really did just trust God. This did not mean that I didn’t think about snake bites, which could be deadly, or car accidents on the roads, which are horrible here, or if Carter was going to transition well, and he is, BUT it did mean that I would take those thoughts and hand them over to God and go on with my day.

But then I moved here full-time and all of a sudden, poof, fears surfaced that I was not expecting. Fear of failing as a cross cultural worker. You can read all the books, take all the classes but the reality of it all on the ground is another story. This is what it looks like-Fear of messing up some conversation as I learn the language. Fear of not knowing, nor even having any hint of, some of the expectations of us. Fear of giving help too easily. Fear of not giving help at the right time. Fear of giving help to the wrong person. Fear of not being a good leader. Fear that I missed a wave from someone on the road because I’m so focused on driving on the right and not taking out bikes or people on the side of the road. Fear that person I didn’t wave to will now think I am rude. Fear that I can’t keep up with all the communication back home, here, with our organization, our boss, and the individuals and churches that support us, not to mention family. Fear that I will not be able to keep everyone on our team feeling warm, fuzzy, and wonderful about themselves, this ministry, or the work we all do even though I will be trying. Fear that I am not being the parent or wife my family and husband here need nor to my family back in the states. Fear that I will think I have encouraged someone but ended up not. Fear that I was trying to be Zambian and my American-ness came through instead. Fear that I am not straddling the gulf between cultures in the straight A manner I am used to. Well, the list could go on. At this point, the fear of a Black Mamba snake bite is nothing. Ha!

These fears all of a sudden come upon the mission worker who is trying to live between two worlds, communicate between two worlds and lead between two worlds. You realize how different your worlds are and how much each of them collide on a daily basis. It is the life of all cross-cultural workers. It is place of dependance on God. We ask God to help us see what we need to see and hear what we need to hear. Mostly, we ask for God to go before us and give everyone we deal with graciousness and patience with us and us with them. We are the flawed, human, mission worker who is trying to love God and love people. Thank goodness we have help in our Father, who is the maker of us all, the author of languages and cultures and giver of the Spirit who is our counselor and the uniter of the body, of which I am a part of. We go out into the world because God tells us to even with all the imperfections of the crazy, God loving, globe trotting, world loving, give it all you got, cross-cultural mission worker! And in that, we carry on! No fear! 

BUCKETS OF FAITH

The evening air was warm and filled with the moisture of the rainy season in Zambia. Stories were shared and prayers offered over the women who had pulled us back from the front of the bar into the shadows of the brothel rooms to hear more. 

As the relationships grew and the new faith of these women also grew, many decided to go back to where they belong, home. As we talked about business opportunities and what they would do to provide for themselves, one woman talked about buckets. 

Yes, buckets.This woman was taking such a bold step to leave the life of prostitution and go back to her village with buckets that she would sell to the villagers who need them.

The odds are stacked against these women here in Africa who are beaten down,  devalued, told they are property, and then have no option other than to sell their bodies on the streets. The mountain in front of them seems like Everest.The faith this one woman exhibited in this step was overwhelming. See, her faith was not in the actual buckets, but in the God who called her out of darkness and saved her. The God who gave her not just the faith of a mustard seed, but faith to overflow 40 buckets. 40 buckets of faith. 

Please join us in praying for her and the buckets that she is selling. That each one sold would be a reminder that God is her provider. It is amazing to see God use a simple micro loan and buckets to help transform a life. 

Matthew 17:20-"He replied, "Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."

NEW LITTLE LIFE

The tiredness is all consuming. I can hardly keep my eyes open. The mornings which used to be invigorating and awe inspiring (with coffee of course) are now foggy and the evenings are hard to even get through. Outside at 2am, I wonder if I will stay awake as I sit at the picnic table so I can bring myself and the puppy back inside, after he gets done playing with that leaf of course. The howling all night is ear piercing and I am absolutely exhausted but as we are now in day 8 of the new puppy, I will say this…I am still alive. Tired but alive. Mylanta, a new little life is exhausting to watch over. New little puppies are fragile and susceptible to all kinds of dangers inside and out. You just wish they knew their crate was going to be their friend, electrical cords are bad, and that they didn’t have to worry if you were coming back to get them, but they do not know these things yet. 

This is also how it can be with a new baby believer. In the fragile lives of some of the women we minister to, their new faith is susceptible to all kinds of dangers that prowl around them. Fears of the unknown, concerns if God will really provide, a faith that is growing but not grown, and an enemy who wants them back. We worry they will listen to something false, or be tempted to believe God can’t love them. One step forward, two steps back. The struggle is real and it is real in the lives of these women who have professed new faith in Jesus. This is not an easy ministry. We must have the persistence, patience, prayer, and sometimes tough love with these women but it is all worth it because Jesus is the perfecter of their faith. God is in control and the Holy Spirit will guide and direct.  I can point these women in the right direction, steer them to the right path, the path toward Jesus, in which I know they are in good hands. 

Please pray for many of the women we minister to that have given their lives to Jesus over the past few weeks. Some of them will be making the trip back to where they are from out East soon and we will have to believe they are trained up and ready to be released. Not so true with our new little Milo yet;)

NEW LITTLE MILO

FRUIT

Upon arrival to our new house in Zambia, the realization that we are blessed to have multiple fruit trees in our yard was such a surprise! Lime, lemon, guava, papaya, bananas, oranges, avocados, and plantains are growing in our yard. As I was looking out at the lime tree I thought, these fruit trees in our yard that are all fully grown and producing fruit were planted and pruned by others who lived here before us. Other missionaries who had a vision for what now graces the yard, others that labored to bring over saplings, plant and water the trees, and pruned them to grow properly. It took time, effort, and money. It took love, patience, and faith. It took God bringing rain and sun. 

It is the same in ministry. Even though, we have been going back and forth here for years, it now seems like we are just beginning in ministry. We need to remember the truth of the fruit trees in our yard. We might be the ones just digging the soil to plant, we might plant a seed, we might be able to water it, or see it grow, but it is God who saves and does His mighty work. And just like the trees in our yard, the hard work and faith in God proves true in the fruit.  

We pray as we follow God into ministry here full-time that He would go before us into the field and that we would do whatever job He has for us. Whether that is to cast vision, dig up the soil, plant, water, or be a part of the harvest. We must be willing to see the harvest even when the field is barren and blank, just like those who saw a empty yard and labored to give us the harvest of the fruit trees I see as I look out my window of where I now call home. 

Matthew 9:37, 38-“The he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the LORD OF THE HARVEST therefore, to send out workers into HIS harvest field.’” (italics mine)

MY VERSE FOR THE YEAR

Every year I ask God to guide me to a verse I need to focus on for the year. As I anticipate what life will be like in Zambia, I realize I must keep my eyes on God. It is not going to be the same as only being there for 2 weeks, 3 weeks or a month. In my quiet time with God this month, He led me to this verse. My verse for the year. 

Colossians 3:1- “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” 

There we go. Christ is supreme and is raised and is sitting at the right hand of God. That is where my heart and mind must be set. That truth alone should be enough to keep me focused. Focused on Jesus. On not only my Savior but Lord. On the One who created heaven and earth and is sovereign and holy. On the One who chose to raise me from death to life. The One who brought me from darkness to light. The One who has hidden my life in His. This is profound. 

So, when we are stranded on the road because an axle broke on our car, or the water isn’t running, or a dust storm whipped buckets of Zambian red dirt into my house, or a snake has bitten one of our animals (or one of us), or a girl in our community is abused, or I am robbed (or worse), or one of my precious friends in Chibolya loses a baby, or our ministry team is struggling, or there are set-backs in a project that was moving forward, I will keep my heart and my mind set on Jesus. And I will remember that my life, which is His to begin with, is fully known and acknowledged in the very life He lived on earth and does live now at the right hand of God. It is safe and secure. He knows it all and wants my response to be to be Christlike, because I have set my heart and mind on things above and I know where my life is tucked away. Therefore, I can not set my mind on earthly things. I must die to those thoughts and the desires that breed from even one stray moment. 

Lord, In this, we need You, Your Holy Spirit to take over and empower us to make right choices for right living, through right thinking, as we pursue a life hidden in you! Hidden so only You, Lord are visible, not me.