“What brings you here?” she asked.
“Well let me tell you my story of the day...” She chuckled,
“I
always have a 'story of the day,'
go on tell me your story.”
We were sitting in the home of Diz, a
British woman who had lived in Zambia for 57 years ...and she is now over 80! The setting and the atmosphere were
quite simple. We were sitting in a large room with a cement floor.
The walls were lined with boxes & there was a big table covered
with various odds & ends, from kitchen utensils, to a sewing machine & piles
of material.
Outside the landscape bore the fruit of many of Diz's
personal projects.
As we came down her driveway, we were greeted by donkeys! And then, handicapped children, as well as various small buildings, with curious eyes popping out.
Now we were sitting in a room, which sometimes served as a clinic, but now contained the contents of a container, that Diz had waited 6 years to receive! Opposite us sat Diz, in her simple handmade dress, smiling over her cup of tea as she listened to our story..
After soulwinning, earlier in the morning in a neighboring area, we wound up in her neighborhood, during visitation of church members. (She is in the country side farming area, outside of Kwacha compound, where most of our church members live).
Whilst we were doing our visit, we discovered that there was a potential of purchasing land in this neighborhood and so we decided to meet the neighbors to find out about the area, and that is how we ended up at her house.
We were overwhelmed by her simple faith and acts of love. She is a spiritual woman, a beautiful believer, who has devoted her life, and her pension, and lives so simply. Afterwards we realized why-- she shares everything she gets, with the widows, dying HIV patients, orphaned children, children with disabilities, and the list goes on... each person, somehow touched by God's love, manifested through this precious lady.
"You sound like me", she said, "living by faith!", (inside I felt like I couldn't tie this saintly woman's shoes..)
"God has been faithful. Whenever he asks me to help someone, He always provides. I never put my hand out asking people for anything", as she smiled.
"I feel very safe here by myself. Every night, I just ask my Father to bring the angels!"
"Back during the struggle for independence, I woke up a few times with knives to my throat, and didn't ever want to come back! But God gave me a vision, and I couldn't say no."
Case after case, story after story, it was so inspiring. I asked, how do you deal with so many needs, because we sometimes feel like we can't help everyone? "Yes", she said, "there are open hands everywhere, and if you try to do everything you'll find you don't do anything well and it doesn't bare any fruit."
"I don't know... inside I just somehow know which ones to help. I just ask my Father, and he brings them through the gate!"
Despite being very good for her age, she realizes that she could be gone in any moment. "Well we all could right?!", she says. She says that the time has come to hand over the operation - "it's not an organization or anything - just personal" she says, and we are amazed. She is looking for someone who will do it from the heart, whoever God tells her to. Another lovely family missionary family in the city, which works with street children, has been speaking to her and praying about doing this.
"It's my whole life's work, so please pray that He would show me exactly who to hand it over to", she says. She is building a little one bedroom house in the yard, so she can stay right there.
We held hands, and prayed for this dear lady. Keep Diz and her kids, in your prayers.
We were so touched by her life, and this week, in fact before we saw her, it has been so much in our hearts to find different outreaches, many fish hooks, into the community, where we can help people, and bring in the gospel to win them to Christ.... Grace Overcomers (addiction ministry), Grace moms (for new mothers), Grace kitchen (soup and the gospel), are some of the things we were thinking of. Our visit with her gave us plenty of ideas, and burned the vision God has for people, deeper into our hearts.
By Melinda Speedy
I first met the family when we were church planting in Lilanda, the 2nd GG church in Zambia. Pastor Chris Arman met his father, John Kunda, and he lived in the area where we were planting a church with Pastor Bailey Norman, and soon became an integral part of the work. His mother, Olipa, was and still faithfully is, a very important part of the work, always having an open door and a hunger for God. The family carries sicel cell anemia, and this has led to the loss of the young man, who was always so faithful and a blessing to the body. He was a great blessing to Pastor Joe Roche in the youth ministry. And will be missed. It is something to think he is in heaven with his daddy right now, and with Jesus. Please pray for his mom and 2 sisters who he left behind.
