Weekly Update 07-27-2024

July 27, 2024

Dear Grace Vineyard Friends and Family.

Hello from Africa!

I’ll try to give you some quick highlights of what we’ve been up to here.

We are arrived in Zambia on July 17th, so it’s been about 10 days now.  On the 22nd, I flew to an area called the “Copper Belt” with a young man named Amon Lumbiya that I met on previous trips here.  After we landed in the City of Ndola, we were joined by Emmanuel Mundia, another young man that has become a good friend in the past couple of years, Damas Kamfwa (the national director for the Vineyard churches in Zambia), and Kabila, a new friend who is a mechanic, and who Damas always takes on road trips (no AAA here, so he brings a personal mechanic).  It was g!ood we had Kabila with us, because we did in fact break down on the road to our destination!

Together we started a very long drive, over some pretty bumpy roads, to a city in rural Zambia called Kasempa.  We arrived at our “guest house” around 1am.  The locals in Kasempa told me this is the “Real Zambia”.  It’s much less developed and much poorer than what I had previously experienced in the capital city.   There are several Vineyard churches within 100 Km of this city, and that is why I had asked that we go here.  Damas had put on a school of ministry in his city, Ndola, but it is such a long drive, from the rural parts, and it is so hard to get there, that I asked if we could do a road trip and take his schools of ministry closer to where the churches are so more people could experience them.  I just found out that Damas had been praying about this very thing before I made the request.

That first school of ministry was hosted by a church called “Compassionate Vineyard”, pastored by John Chilengi, another man who I have met on previous trips, and for whom I have great respect.  Their church is appropriately named.  Out of their own poverty, they give what they can to help the poor and disabled.  He took us to a leper colony where we gave out some simple food.  We were not allowed to touch the people, but they asked me to bring a word of encouragement and pray a blessing over them.  I’ll share photos with you when I get back.  It was overwhelming for all of us.  One women who had lost her leg below the knee from leprosy literally crawled in the dirt to get to the area where we were giving out the food packages.  A leader of the colony would call out people one by one, and have us carry a bag of Mealie Meal (corn meal used for their staple food), a liter of cooking oil, Kapenta (dried fish), and some sugar to them.  One tiny, crippled lady, using a walking stick to get to us, burst into song and little dance, she was so excited to get the food.  Compassionate Vineyard is the only group bringing food to this leper colony (a group of around 35 people).  I am beginning to pray about how we can partner with this Vineyard church to help improve the lives of these people.  They have no electricity, no running water, small brick houses with dirt floors, and no furniture.  They sleep on the ground.

Next we did another long drive to another city called Manyama.  Here we were hosted by another Vineyard church and did another school of ministry.  The pastor at this church was the first pastor in the city, and they call him a “city father”.  He has gathered other pastors together to build relationship, and many of them came to our day of leadership training.

Now I am in Ndola, where Damas Kamfwa’s church is, and we will hold a school of ministry on Saturday, and I will teach at their church on Sunday. On Monday I’ll be back at Breath of Heaven.

Matt and Sharon, meanwhile, have been busy at Breath of Heaven, having a wonderful time with the kids and house mothers there. Matt did a session in a tech class at Breath of Heaven Academy.  Sharon taught a music class.  They met with the mothers and aunties to give gifts we brought for them.  Matt and Sharon got to have an evening in one of the boys houses, singing and praying with them blessing Mother Loveness, the house mother for house #7.

Coming up in Oceanside, here’s some things to know:

The Way We Were

I hope you enjoyed the message from Charissa Ohst last Sunday.  We were watching the Facebook Live Stream with you at Breath of Heaven.  This Sunday I am very happy to let you know that Richard “Snake” Ertel will be bringing a messaged called “The Way We Were”.  Together you’ll explore your life before Christ, After Christ, and at His Return.  You know this is going to be a dynamic time together in the Word.  If you are not able to be with us in person this Sunday, you can always join online via the Zoom app with this info:  Zoom Meeting ID  153 112 432, Passcode 684814. You may also join us on Facebook Live at facebook.com/gracevcf.

After Church Potluck August 11

We’re having another potluck fellowship after church on August 11th.  It’ll be great to all be together again for fun, food, and fellowship.  There will be sign up sheets in the lobby after church starting this Sunday for food, setup and clean up.  Please sign up! These times are such a great way to grow in relationship together.

Shower Ministry On Hold

Please note that the Shower Ministry that Convicted For Christ leads on the last Saturday of the month is on hold this month.  Sadly, we’ve lost our location, but we trust in the Lord.  Please join in prayer as they look for the Lord’s provision for a new location to hold this ministry event.  It has been very successful in bringing the love of Jesus to our unsheltered neighbors in very practical ways.

True Valor Men’s Conference

Here’s something cool for the men to put on their calendars.  On August 23-24 we are joining with Men from all over North County for a Men’s Conference at Oceanside Calvary Chapel.  If you don’t know, we live in a county that has unusual levels of unity and relationship amongst churches.  In fact I was just with a pastor from New York who is working with a multi-church outreach we are planning for July, and he mentioned how unique it is here in San Diego.  So men, we’re going to get together with men from churches all over our county for a conference designed to help us confront the deadliest manslayers of our times.  Here’s the details from the webpage for the conference:

And with that, I believe I’ll bring this update to a close.   God bless you each richly.  I look forward to seeing you again on August 4th.  Please keep us in your prayers.

With blessings and love,

Ron Ohst