Note: This video was produced for Operation YouTube, an evangelistic outreach designed to share the Gospel with the internet through the YouTube world.

These last few days have been interesting at the least…utterly captivating at the most. Sunday was incredibly restful – two fantastic worship services serving as bookends to a shopping trip in Kitwe and the provocation to a soul-sifting discussion that night, both with the team and my roommate.

Monday brought us the challenge of our goal: ten courses of cement block or each of the four classrooms. This was followed by another fine dinner (and a lot of head calculations for bill-paying) at Michaelangelo’s and yet another soul-sifter of a conversation.

Today, we met out goal – mostly. Due to an apparent shortness of mortar availability and a delay in sand for cement arriving on Monday morning, we were unable to get all ten courses for the storage rooms and offices by the classrooms…but the classroom walls are finished! God was so faithful in that building process.

That is the “okay” stuff. Us site works had an opportunity yesterday and today to meet and be blessed by the kids at Lighthouse Christian School. Phenomenal, energetic, needy children who sing praises to Jesus (Yesu Krist) with joy. Not only that, but God has answered our prayers and each of the men from the site heard and indicated a desire to respond to the Gospel!!!! I pray God will bear glorious fruit in their lives!

Now for the title…Sunday and Tuesday evenings, I went to the hotel bar with three other guys from the team. Sebastian, a wonderful Christian man, was bartending Sunday evening and prevailed upon me to try a Mosi, which is a lager produced right here in Ndola. The Mosi was not the point, but the conversations and fellowship with my teammate and our bartenders – Sebastian and Chris – that came because of sitting there having a Mosi were beneficial to my soul.

It reminded me of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus Jesus taught them so much as they conversed, but it was in the table fellowship that they saw their Master. Jesus is certainly in these kinds of situations…

I got a new name today. Vincent, one of the crew members told me “I know what I call you in Bemba – Umuntu.” I asked him what it meant. Gesturing towards himself with both hands, as if gathering air to his chest, he said, “It means you’re like me. Like me!” It is amazing that just working with these guys, even when I’ve not been the best conversationalist, has given us a bond that is friendly and open – a world where we see each other as men, with mutual respect and honor.

So many connections…new faces and names and friendly bonds forming. My heart is tied to Zambia and I will serve this people in whatever ways God allows as I pursue my calling. God help me if it drives away any who would otherwise support me.

While today was our halfway point for work days, the paradox of working here is while we have taken great strides in progressing on the school, it is really only the beginning…so twambe nichito (let’s get to work) is certainly appropriate. The work crew is an energetic, hard-working bunch who have definitely been given the short end of the stick, but who demonstrate remarkable spirit in the face of it. I pray God would draw them to Himself and grow the seeds of faith that we are attempting to plant.

On a completely unrelated note…we jumped in the pool today. Ice-cold and without much incentive to move, Jason and I didn’t stay in too long…hot shower water is a blessing (and we do have it!).

There was a fire today in the valley. Not the first we’ve seen…but it was quckly contained by the village residents. The resilience, energy and vigor demonstrated by these Zambians is a challenge to me. If they can go about the most mundane, day-to-day sameness with such energy – why should I, or any Christian, be that different?

A number of people are feeling ill to one degree or another. One of us has chills, a running fever of 104 F and is sweating a great deal. Others are wrestling with ill feeling in their stomachs – probably a our bodies attempt to adjust to the food and other things. But we do what we can – we pray, take medicine as necessary, and have faith in the God Who called us here.

That same faith is producing marvelous results. Even as the school building progresses, relationships and seeds of faith are forming in the lives of the people we are working with. They see, I think, many people who care for them, will work hard beside them, and have fun with them. We may not have the privilege of seeing the fruit of all this, but it is a privilege to be part of the work. This is ministry and no matter the challenges and conflicts, I am utterly in love with it.

God’s goodness is very evident today. The E-Team began work (the ladies with the kids and the guys on construction). We had quite the lesson in African building construction and many of us are quickly beginning to produce quality courses of block (if slowly produced compared to our Zambian co-workers).

You see, the way this process works is that ditches are dug around the outside walls of where the desired structure will be. Then, they lay down rebar  in concrete that is poured into the ditch. This is then built up with cement blocks that were made by sunbaking cement in forms. Then they level the ground between the foundation walls and pour a concrete slab into the space. Then the space is ready for walls. Walls are placed by laying cement (in thick portions) down and placing cement blocks (smaller than the foundation blocks) in a course (row). The aim is for 20 cm height distance per course including the cement mortar and block. And so on it goes until you’ve reached the top course (which, in our case, was ten courses).

God really marked our team with joy in these tasks and gave us the physical strength to handle them. We got a good deal of work done and I was very glad to see that even people who have never touched cement in their lives did really well once they got a feel for the work.

It makes me think, though, of what difference it would make if we built the Church in the same joy – the same Spirit. Are not the results just as tangible? Are they not even more impacting? I don’t know the answer…but I know God is good and will finish every work He begins, and that is a promise.

We’re here! Long travels with flights, waits and drives and stops. But we had some amazing times of worship and lots of folks on the team had a chance to share the Gospel with flight passengers. we got here at the Hotel Savoy around 10:45 PM, Lusaka time (4:45 EDT). All luggage and supplies arrived in one piece and all of us are healthy thus far.

I am definitely seeing a need for grace, particularly to be bold with the people I encounter here in Zambia. I want to serve my God and my neighbor well…I also want to make Wilfred proud….Oh yeah!

(Many thanks to my friend, Wilfred Mutale, a fantastic brother in the Lord from Zambia that I’ve had the privilege of studying with at Geneva College.)

Tony Woodlief published a phenomenal article in the Wall Street Journal entitled Ya Gotta Have (Real) Friends. It is well-worth your time to read it.

In the course of our discipleship, it’s important to remember that one of the greatest assets available to Christians as they pursue maturity in their faith is close friendships. They provide accountability, challenge, encouragement, knowledge of Scripture, prayer partners and so much more. So, pray to God and pursue a deep, lasting friendship with someone. We need it.