1400 miles and one large tropical storm

8/18 - 8/25

Thank you everyone who attended our open house and that we had a chance to talk you. You are a blessing and an encouragement to both of us. Thank you!

Well, Amethyst and I hit our departure time right on the money. We left at 5:30AM; my Explorer was loaded to the brim in Beverly Hillbillies fashion. (Well it wasn't that bad but...)

Amethyst and I drove all day long and stopped to spend the night in Oak Ridge, TN at my cousin's house. It was a great time to see them as they always visit my house but nobody ever visits them. We had a great time sharing about this past summer and about our future endeavors.

The next morning we left at 5:30AM for another day of driving. We planned on stopping just south of Macon, GA at a friend's place but we were watching the weather pattern and it looked like Tropical Storm Fay would hit Cape Canaveral within the day. Unfortunately we were unable to stop and see our friend who coincidentally was on the same mission trip that Amethyst and I met on.

We arrived in Cape Canaveral just as Fay was arriving. I've never been in a rain storm that bad. It was like a nonstop pressure washer. Visibility was at 30 feet. I've experienced some pretty bad snow storms and it was the equivalent to a white out blizzard.

Fay decided to stick around for the next couple of days. We arrived late on Tuesday but I didn't get a chance to unpack until Friday when the skies let up. Amethyst and I will always remember the day I moved to Florida!

I'm finally settled in but still unpacking a few odds and ends. It was too expensive to rent a U-Haul so unfortunately I'm living on a large blow up mattress until I can buy a bed.

Today was my first day of work... Right now I'm doing full-time support-raising and tomorrow I'm meeting with Phil to discuss my position and job with-in Overland. Wednesday is my new staff overview. Everything is coming together. Thank you everyone for your support! Amethyst and I appreciate it.

My return to the US

8/5 - 8/17

I left from Zambia on Tuesday, August 5 for the United States. I had 65kg worth of baggage as I was bringing back a million different things and luckily I wasn't charged for excess baggage. That was a miracle considering 65kg is 143 pounds! My entire luggage arrived without any problems.

I bought a ticket for Amethyst to meet me in Detroit as my flight path took me from Livingstone, Zambia to Johannesburg, South Africa to Amsterdam, Netherlands to Detroit, MI and then finally to Chicago, IL. It was over 30 hours of traveling including layovers before I finally got to see Amethyst for the first time in a three months.

I got over jetlag rather quickly. My time back to home was short live though as I would be soon leaving for my new home in Florida. But I did have enough time to spend with friends of old in Stevens Point and Lake Geneva. Amethyst and I went to my old employer's company picnic on Saturday. AIG Travel Guard is America's leading travel insurance provider. It also the same company that I received my full college scholarship through. Many were surprised to have seen Amethyst and me. We had an enjoyable time catching up with many familiar faces.

Sunday, was a time to see many people from the church that I attended while in college. Many are supporters of ours. In the evening, we had an open house highlighting my trip to Africa and casting vision for the future.

Monday, we met with a good friend of mine who escaped from the Democratic Republic of Congo during the time of war during the 1990's.

Later in the week we had an opportunity to meet with pastors from my home church to discuss about full-time support and for Amethyst and I to cast vision for the next 5-7 years. At Saturday service we were sent out from Calvary Church and we had an opportunity to set up a booth for after service. On Sunday we had another open house to recap this past summer and to cast vision for the future.

Then it was packing, packing, packing. Amethyst and I planned on leaving at early on Monday.

Coming to America...

7/20 – 8/1

These last days of AMT flew by. I’m excited to be done and I will be returning to the US very soon. Amethyst and I will be in Wisconsin from August 6-17. This is one of the last times we’ll be around for a while. We would love to meet up with you before we leave. We’re hosting an open house at two residences:

Robert & Pam Terrell
3311 Arbor Vitae
Plover, WI 54467
On Sunday, August 10, 2008 from 4 to 6 PM

and

Michael & Mary Deutsch
W 5602 Bonner Lane
Walworth, WI 53184
On Sunday, August 17, 2008 from 4 to 7 PM

If you would like to come, please RSVP to Amethyst Rodriguez at 321-609-1984 or amethyst@overlandmissions.com with which location you’ll be at. This is so that we can plan how much food to prepare. If you’re not able to make either of these times, we would still love to meet up with you, just get in touch with Amethyst.

Last week we had a guest speaker, Amber Whitman. She is an Overland Missions Alum who now teaches at a bible college in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. Amber spoke on the hardships of ministry and told us her struggles and joys in being a missionary. We finished up our fundraising course and also worked on our sector research papers and presented. Our sector research papers were well done and very informative.

Last Friday, we left for the bush. We went only 65 miles outside Livingstone but it took 7 hours to travel the rough and dusty road. Our team went to an area called Musukatwani. This area has many remote places and syncretism is prevalent. In many areas they have never had a missionary come there. As a side note, this area was where I did ministry back in 2006 and happened to meet Amethyst on that trip. We were out in the bush until Tuesday.

This trip was an awesome time of ministry. We saw many signs, wonders and miracles. We were able to go hut to hut and village to village and spend lots of time getting to know them and to learn about the problems in the area. Then we shared the Word of God and prayed over the sick. Many were healed of their sickness.

On Sunday, we ministered in the different churches in the area. There was lots of singing and dancing. We preached the Word and made several relationships. It was encouraging to see the same people we prayed for the day before at church. That night we had a large gathering and ate nshema and relish with the villagers. They loved that we went out of our way to have a feast for them.

Monday morning we went to the villages that we had not yet visited. We continued to preach and pray. Then on Monday afternoon we had a soccer match that was played to a 2-2 draw where we scored with minutes left in the game. Following the soccer match we had a large outreach where we shared the Word, encouraged the believers and prayed for the sick. We saw many be healed.

The healings that took place were amazing to see. Some had limps others weren’t able to lift their hands or do daily tasks, we could see it plainly. We had the opportunity to share the Word and to tell them of the power of God to perform healings. In one instance a man at the large outreach had a major limp in his walk. He was there with his wife and she testified that he wasn’t able to walk very well for a long time. We prayed over him and he was able to run around the field. He was smiling and so happy! In another instance a man was unable to touch his toes because of a bad back. We asked him to try to touch his toes and he was unable to go even halfway. We prayed over him and he was able to touch his toes without any pain. In yet another instance a woman was unable to lift her arm because of severe pain. Full range of motion returned. She was so excited. You can see pictures from ministry by clicking here.

Tuesday we left Musukatwani and returned back to Livingstone. We went out to eat at Rhapsody’s, a popular restaurant in town. One of our team members blessed us and bought for everyone. What a blessing!

Wednesday morning the staff prepared breakfast for AMT. Then we went on a game drive in town. We saw some gazelle, warthogs, zebras, giraffes, waterbucks and a herd of elephants. The elephants got a bit testy with us but all was well. You can see the pictures here.

Yesterday was AMT graduation. We had a graduation ceremony and feast at the base. We had a slideshow recap and ate an amazing meal. Afterwards, we had a time of reflection. We sat around a campfire and went around and said what we liked best about everyone. It went way into the evening but it was a great time of fellowship. It’s exciting to be done. Here are some pictures and HERE is the slide show.

Now it’s time to relax and pack. I leave for the States on August 5 and arrive home on August 6. I look forward to seeing you soon.