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Love Transcends Oceans

Agape Love Half a World Away

We have just completed our 4th trip to Zambia to participate in Camp LIFE and it was as heart filling as any previous trip. Today I want to tell you how love transcends oceans, continents, languages and cultures.

Each year at Camp LIFE we spend a day in the slum compound of Matero where our kids live. It is a day of us watching and supporting our children as they spread the gospel of Jesus in their communities.

The Background

This year the boy I am talking about is Katisha. I have adopted him in my heart as a son in Zambia. He was one of my camp boys in 2014 and I sponsored him into school at the Legacy Academy in Matero. He was 11 years old when I sponsored him. He has since grown to a handsome 15 year old young man that has excelled in school and is now doing grade 8.

I have seen him in Camp LIFE for the past 3 years but because of his success in school and the advancement to grade 8 he has “aged out” of camp. So I did not see him in camp this summer.

My assumption was that I would see him when we toured his school on this Thursday in Matero.

Much to my surprise and delight his school was on holiday and he had walked across town to meet me as we went out with the other campers!

Each of us go our own way from our meeting spot in an open lot…

Me with 10 boys plus the unexpected addition of Katisha.
Hannah goes with her 11 girls.
Renay with her 10 girls.

When Love Transcends Oceans

We had been out for a short while and were walking down a dirt street that runs through many of the homes we were visiting. Me and my group were meandering along as we looked for the next house to stop and witness to when I heard the sound of Hannah’s voice behind me a ways.

She had not seen us or Katisha nor had he seen her or noticed her voice behind us. I stopped and turned around to see Hannah and also called out to Katisha “Auntie Hannah, Auntie Hannah”.

What took place in the next few minutes confirmed that we were in the right place, at the right time for the right reason.

The Revelation of God’s Pure Love

As Hannah sprinted toward us with a smile and a look in her eyes of pure joy and Katisha sprinted toward her with the same gusto, I was consumed with the power of God’s love. Consumed with the fact He calls all of us his children, brothers and sister regardless of boundaries or color.

So Hannah is running with arms wide open for nearly 100 yards down a dusty, trashy, dirty trail in the middle of a slum 13,000 miles from the comfort of home to greet her brother she has not seen in a year! It was one of the purest moments I have ever experienced.

We are grateful for the experiences and transformation this mission provides every year. God peels back the scales on our eyes that develop throughout the year and provides clarity and hope in a broken world.

God is our Father and He loves us!

1 John 3:1

1 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

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The Battle

By Kent Leave a Comment

As the founder of Family Legacy reminds all participants each year – there is a battle with devil. He does not want us to get on the plane to Zambia. He will throw doubt and obstacles of all kinds in front of us to keep us from going to do the work that we do.

There is nothing more true.

Every year, for the past 4 years, all hell (literally) breaks loose the month or two prior to our departure to Zambia. The evil one has no desire for us to get on an airplane and go speak the truth of Gospel in a place that is consumed by his evil presence of poverty, abandonment, hopelessness, witchcraft and despair.

He is fast at work in a visible clash between good and evil in the slums of Lusaka and other places in the world I am sure. We just happen to be called to the work of Family Legacy with orphans in Zambia, Africa and have seen it there firsthand.

The Battle With the Devil

We are given obstacles to have us question our going, not just once but every time we have made the decision to go since 2014. 2014 – We were given sickness of an elder parent and uncertainty of their place right up until the time we left to board the airplane.

2015 – We were given unemployment and moves overseas to stay employed, to then have it pulled out from under us after all plans have been made to move.

Houses sold, cars sold, many belongings sold or stored away only to come home once again to the very real expectation of death of a parent.

We were faithful and went anyway. Employment was found, housing was found, life here was reestablished.

2016 – Crazy job situations, continuing health issues of elderly that seem to appear every year in the months leading up to the trip.

2017 – A fall and various health issues of an elderly parent puts us sitting in a hospital again, moved to rehab, back home and now a return back to the hospital with more health issues.

Seven days remain before we are to depart again for Zambia…the devil is in full court press with the unknown of what a week from now looks like.

But we remain faithful.

The Reason to Be Faithful

There are 30 orphaned and vulnerable kids that are waiting on the other side of the world. They may or may not have an expectation that we are returning to see them.

They will not find out they are coming to camp until it is confirmed that we are on the flight and headed east!

So the devil continues to work until wheels up. It is an important eternal battle that is being fought.

Camp LIFE 2017 is underway and continues for the next 7 weeks through the summer here. 100+ campers will go to Zambia each week, mostly from the US but other from around the world.

Each time 1 camper shows up, 10 orphans get to come and hear the good news of faith, hope, grace and that they have an eternal father.

So if you do the math there are over 1000 orphan kids hearing the good news each week or stated overall there will be more than 8,000 kids get the gospel to take back to their homes and communities.

These are communities where they normally hear witchcraft from the local witch doctors. The slums are a scary place that need the light of the gospel!

Numbered Every Hair

By Kent Leave a Comment

“He’s Numbered Every Hair on Your Head, and on Theirs”

While studying prayer and orphan care, it hit me how incredibly dynamic the knowing of God truly is regarding His children. In Matthew 10:30 and in Luke 12:7, God says that He has numbered every hair on your head.

Matthew10:30 NIV

30 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

Luke 12:7 NIV

7 Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

Take a God-pause and camp here for a few moments. When it’s repeated in Scripture, it is important!

God doesn’t say, “I know how many hairs are on your head at birth and at passing,” which would still be an incredible degree of knowing. It’s a dynamic, on-going knowing. He knows the number of hairs on your head at any given second.

A quick glance at your own personal brush or comb proves that this is an ever-changing number throughout the course of your day, let alone the course of your life.

But God cares about that.

He notes that number for me and mine and for you and yours. He notes the number of hairs on every Vulnerable Child’s head.

He sees. He cares. That’s huge!

Know that when your heart feels heavy for the Modern Orphan and when you hear of tragic circumstances surrounding a child, God knows that, too. How much more will He note your heart’s desires, your spiritual needs, and your analysis paralysis around the situation?!

Surely He cares about this more than the number of hairs on your head. He sees the Modern Orphan. He cares for them. He loves them so much!

So sit there for a moment and thank the God of heaven for seeing every child’s plight and caring so intimately about both the minutiae and the monumental. Ask Him to intervene on behalf of Vulnerable Children and to continue to burden you for their needs.

Just as He cares for His kids, you can, too.

Every single time the Holy Spirit brings the orphan crisis to mind, remember that you are covering His children from the hair on their heads to the tips of their toes, and God sees all of that and loves it too!

The Modern Orphan – from Ignite Hope!

Zambia is Waiting

In the middle of June we get the opportunity to return to Zambia for Camp LIFE and the priviledge of loving on our kids from the other side of the world. It is a time that we work toward all year long from the time we leave that country until we return our lives are centered on how we get back.

We are so blessed to be able to share God’s love and grace with these babies that have been dealt a less the perfect hand by their circumstances, yet God knows them by name and knows the number of hairs on their heads. This travel humbles us every time to the grace that has covered us to be the hands and feet of Jesus to the least, lost and forgotten.

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Abundant Life

By Kent Leave a Comment

Claim the Abundant Life for All of God’s Children

There are 350 million children worldwide who are considered orphaned at some level.

This is roughly the equivalent of the population of the United States. That statistic may seem fairly overwhelming, but don’t stop there. We worship a God who sees these kids and sees His church and wants us to connect the dots. Jesus didn’t just die for the endgame; He died for right now, too. He died for their right now.

The circumstances some children face may be unfair, and at times “unfair” can be a gross understatement about their sufferings, but God wants the abundant life for them, too. We aren’t talking about riches and fame, but rather the fruits of the Spirit.

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control are far more important, although they are intangible traits.

Galatians 5:22 – 23 NIV

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

So get down on those knees and raise the Modern Orphan up! Some children have seen up close and personally what sin has done to a broken world. They do not have Mommy or Daddy here on earth standing in the gap for them, but God gave them you!

God sees the hard things that they have faced. He sees you as you wonder how to help and feel a little insignificant to impart eternal change into a big situation. But God promises an abundant life in John 10:10.

John 10:10 NIV

10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

He purposed every child here on earth, and you have the ability to pray for their needs!

Pray specifically for peace. Pray now for resources and support for their needs. Pray that the needles in adults’ hearts are moved towards fostering, adopting, or supporting those who do.

Pray Jeremiah 29:11 over these children.

Jeremaih29:11 NIV

11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

And as you pray God’s Word back to Him, know that you are truly imparting an eternal difference into the lives of children who need it very much.

Claiming abundant life for orphans provided by Ignite Hope!

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Camp Life 2017

By Kent 2 Comments

Camp Life 2017 is quickly approaching! The theme this year is Abba Father and how we are all children of God.

Anticipation

The final days before we leave are always days of anticipation and excitement as we begin our final preparations for departure. We are so blessed to be able to go and teach the truth of the gospel to kids that have been kicked to the sidelines and left to fend for themselves.

This year is especially exciting to me as a father to be able to deliver the message that they indeed have a father that loves them regardless of what has happened with their earthly parents.

Over the past four years we have gotten the opportunity to share the gospel messages of faith to move mountains, amazing grace, hope and now God as father. All powerful messages in a country that is in such poor shape financially, devoid of hope for much of the older generation, grace is hard to see and in the case of these orphans a father is non-existent.

Abba Father

The picture of fatherhood the majority of these kids see is not one of love and protection. Rather they see fathers of abuse, neglect, rape, violence and abandonment to die or find a way to survive. Continuing a cycle of poverty and strife that I find hard to comprehend.

The message of father this year, that of a father that claims us and them as his children, loves us and wants the best for us, protects us and rejoices in our success is one that I believe will be life changing to many of my boys in particular. The message of unconditional love and loyalty that we can’t even comprehend is one that I cannot wait to deliver.

Our Kids at Camp LIFE

We have children that have been put out to live in the streets by their fathers.

We have girls that have been defiled by their fathers.

We have girls that have disappeared, either dead or sold, by their fathers

We have boys that are beaten regularly by their fathers.

We have children that have seen their mothers or siblings die at the hands of their fathers.

We have kids that have drunks for fathers. Fathers with no hope of a future so they bury themselves in alcoh9ol.

Hardly a role model that builds trust or encourages these kids to strive for a better life, a different situation than the past or present and certainly not an environment that would foster love and advancement.

But for a week while we are there and each of the 7 weeks that Camp LIFE is conducted they all get to see that there is more than what they are surrounded by today. There is a chance for an education, a glimpse of how they should be loved and a message of how they really ARE loved eternally and beyond measure.

The Countdown is On

June 15th, 2017 is the date we start the journey to Zambia. Waiting for us there are 42 kids that we have come to call our own, those kids we first met in 2014 that were on their own that are now being fed and getting an education in the Matero Legacy Academy in Lusaka. Thanks to the generous contributions of the child sponsors that make that happen and to those that support us to be able to return for multiple years.

God willing the provision for us to go will continue to be available to us, we can only pray that it is because we truly feel in the center of God’s presence in that place on top of a mountain outside Lusaka, Zambia.

Camp Life 2017 we are anxiously awaiting your arrival and look forward to the stories that will come back with us from the experience.

1 John 3:1 NIV

1 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!

Christ is Risen!

By Kent Leave a Comment

DAILY THOUGHT: RISING WITH CHRIST

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!

This Easter greeting reminds us that God’s action in raising Christ from the grave is the bottom line of our faith. This is staggering good news. No faith would be more tragic, no belief more futile, than Christianity without its risen Lord.

The resurrection has many meanings for our lives today. Jesus is present with us as our living Friend. He is available to each one of us in our struggles with despair and hopelessness.

Death has been defeated.

Above all, we too can rise with him into new life if we are willing to die with him. May the words of Paul be our prayer today: “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death…” (Philippians 3:10)

DAILY PRACTICE:

Begin with the daily prayer request.

Spend today in as celebratory way as possible. The circumstances of your life may make this very difficult, especially if you have suffered loss recently. Still, as you are able, enter into the joy of the risen Lord.

Wear bright clothes, greet others warmly, enjoy special meals, offer a toast to the power of God over the grave, make contact with family and friends and give thanks for them.

Celebrate the mystery of our faith: Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again! We are Easter people living in a Good Friday world.

Philippians 3:10 NIV

10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,

EASTER SUNDAY

This good news of Christ is Risen is provided to us from Mosaiek.

Lament

By Kent Leave a Comment

DAILY THOUGHT: LAMENT

It is not easy for us to grasp the anguish of Jesus’ followers and family the day after his crucifixion. Holy Saturday must have been for them a day of painful lament.

Lament is the prayer-language of those who bring their suffering to God.

Lament cries out to God, asks God difficult questions and protests against the unjust suffering around us. However, lament is never an end in itself. Because our faith is in the living God, we lament always in the knowledge that God hears our cries and will act with goodness and mercy.

We know this because we have read the Psalms, learned the history of the people of God and listened to the God-forsaken cry of the Crucified One who now lives beyond crucifixion.

DAILY PRACTICE:

Pray the daily prayer request.

Learn today for yourself the prayer-language of lament.

Read today two Psalms of lament: Psalms 38 and 88.

Notice the raw language, the integrity of the Psalmist and how praise and lament often come together in the same Psalm. Find one or two lines from either of these Psalms, sentences that put into words how you sometimes feel in moments of anguish and grief, and speak these lines to God.

You may want to follow this up by sharing with God the particular pain you are carrying in your heart right now.

Psalm 38 NIV

A psalm of David. A petition.

1 Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath. 2 Your arrows have pierced me,
and your hand has come down on me. 3 Because of your wrath there is no health in my body;
there is no soundness in my bones because of my sin. 4 My guilt has overwhelmed me
like a burden too heavy to bear.

5 My wounds fester and are loathsome because of my sinful folly. 6 I am bowed down and brought very low;
all day long I go about mourning. 7 My back is filled with searing pain; there is no health in my body. 8 I am feeble and utterly crushed; I groan in anguish of heart.

9 All my longings lie open before you, Lord; my sighing is not hidden from you. 10 My heart pounds, my strength fails me; even the light has gone from my eyes. 11 My friends and companions avoid me because of my wounds;
my neighbors stay far away. 12T hose who want to kill me set their traps, those who would harm me talk of my ruin;
all day long they scheme and lie.

13 I am like the deaf, who cannot hear, like the mute, who cannot speak; 14 I have become like one who does not hear, whose mouth can offer no reply. 15 Lord, I wait for you; you will answer, Lord my God. 16 For I said, “Do not let them gloat or exalt themselves over me when my feet slip.”

17 For I am about to fall, and my pain is ever with me. 18 I confess my iniquity; I am troubled by my sin. 19 Many have become my enemies without cause 19 my vigorous enemies; those who hate me without reason are numerous. 20 Those who repay my good with evil lodge accusations against me, though I seek only to do what is good.

21 Lord, do not forsake me; do not be far from me, my God. 22 Come quickly to help me, my Lord and my Savior.

Psalm 88 NIV

A song. A psalm of the Sons of Korah. For the director of music.

1 Lord, you are the God who saves me; day and night I cry out to you. 2 May my prayer come before you; turn your ear to my cry.

3 I am overwhelmed with troubles and my life draws near to death. 4 I am counted among those who go down to the pit; I am like one without strength. 5 I am set apart with the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave, whom you remember no more, who are cut off from your care.

6 You have put me in the lowest pit, in the darkest depths. 7 Your wrath lies heavily on me; you have overwhelmed me with all your waves. 8 You have taken from me my closest friends and have made me repulsive to them. I am confined and cannot escape; 9 my eyes are dim with grief. I call to you, Lord, every day; I spread out my hands to you.

10 Do you show your wonders to the dead? Do their spirits rise up and praise you? 11 Is your love declared in the grave, your faithfulness in Destruction? 12 Are your wonders known in the place of darkness, or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion?

13 But I cry to you for help, Lord; in the morning my prayer comes before you. 14 Why, Lord, do you reject me
and hide your face from me? 15 From my youth I have suffered and been close to death; I have borne your terrors and am in despair.

16 Your wrath has swept over me; your terrors have destroyed me. 17 All day long they surround me like a flood;
they have completely engulfed me. 18 You have taken from me friend and neighbor—darkness is my closest friend.

HOLY WEEK

Holy Saturday Easter devotional provided by Mosaiek.

Dying With Christ

By Kent Leave a Comment

DAILY THOUGHT: DYING WITH CHRIST

Though Jesus’ death is unique, he invites us to die as well. Like a seed that is planted in the ground and dies, Jesus invites us to die to ourselves in order to bear good fruit. We are asked to lay our lives down in love so that we may be raised into new life by dying with Christ.

The breath-taking good news of Good Friday and Easter Sunday is that life comes out of death.

To embrace resurrection-life we need to learn how to die. The big question facing us today as we journey to the Cross and the Empty Tomb is: “What do we need to die to today in order to enter more fully into the new life that Christ wants to give us?”

DAILY PRAYER REQUEST:

Lord, may we know you more clearly, love you more deeply and follow you more closely.

DAILY PRACTICE:

Begin with the daily prayer request.

Commit the verse below to memory.

Write down your answer to the question above on a small piece of paper, tear it up and bury it into the ground. Speak with the living Christ about what you have done and listen to what he may say to you.

In your own words, tell him that you want to die with him so you may rise with him into new life.

John 12:24 NIV

24 Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.

HOLY WEEK

Good Friday devotional of dying with Christ provided by Mosaiek.