I’ve been back from Zambia for over a month now and haven’t yet posted a blog about it.  Or about much of anything, for that matter.  It’s time to break the silence.  🙂

First of all, a miracle.  I sold a song I wrote to raise money for my trip.  Anyone who reads this probably knows that.  What you may not know is how successful of a failure that whole thing was.

Here’s what I mean.  I needed to raise $3900.  That’s a chunk of change.  And about three weeks before I left, I had raised less than $1500.  Don’t get me wrong, that’s a lot of money.  But it’s a long way from what I needed.  I was feeling discouraged.  I was doubting if I should go or not.  Maybe it was stupid of me to commit to going back so soon.  I was thinking, “if I’m going to make Zambia a part of my life, I’ve got to do better than this.”  

A little more trickled in over the next few weeks, but I had resigned myself to the idea that our savings account was gonna take a hit with this trip, and that it’d probably be my last trip to Africa for a while.  That was until the last three days before I left, when the last $1700 dollars I needed came to me from some places I least expected it.  If you’re reading this, you know who you are. 

So I got to see some miracles happen, learned some valuable lessons, and I want to thank everyone who was a part of that miracle.  Everyone who donated toward my trip, I realize that you didn’t have to do that, and I sincerely thank you.  Some of you gave big.  Some of you gave really, really big.  To those who gave, I want you to know something.  This trip was significant because I realized on this trip that Zambia is a part of me now.  It’s become a marathon, not a sprint anymore.  I didn’t take any pictures and I didn’t buy myself any souvenirs, because it’s moved from being a novelty in my life to being a staple.  

One of the guitar cables I brought back with me is still coated in Zambian dirt.  I don’t want to wash it off yet.  That red dust that covers the cable which connects my guitar to my amp is probably a better reminder of Zambia than anything else I’ve brought back.  When leading worship in the affluence and apathy that can often characterize the American church scene, I don’t mind sending my guitar signal through a little of Africa before it hits my eardrum.  Maybe it will bring the sound of hope with it – not for them, but for us.