Africa Trip
Firefighters For Christ team members received a warm welcome from Livingstone, Zambia firefighters.
Update #1
This update will cover a few days, since travel alone took quite some time. Just getting to Johannesburg, South Africa, it took three flights totaling over twenty-one hours in air. Add to that an additional nine hours in airports for check-in, security, layovers, etc. Then we lost nine hours due to time zones. So, just getting to Africa used up thirty-nine hours. Fortunately, our last leg here was a very empty plane so each of us had three seats apiece that allowed us a little quality nap. We spent the night at a hotel just outside the airport in Johannesburg, then took another quick early morning flight to Livingstone, Zambia.
We arrived at our accommodations, The Limbo Lodge, in the early afternoon. After unloading our gear and settling in a bit, Pastor Chris took us on a quick tour of Livingstone (named after the famous Scottish missionary, Dr. Livingstone). We saw Pastor Chris’ church and another that will be used for the pastor’s conference that “Rock of Africa” is hosting and Pete McKenzie of “Influencers” will be speaking at. We also visited the only fire station in Livingstone and set up things for our training session.
The next morning (today) we went back to the fire station and they were conducting formal marching drills for us in the backyard. It was very militaristic and impressive. All the officers were in their dress uniform and another group of firefighters in turnouts conducted a hose lay for us, similar to a drill tower graduation demonstration.
The apparatus floor was all set up for our class and the Zambian national television crew was there to film us. The Deputy Mayor and City Clerk showed up and gave us an official welcome. The Deputy Mayor’s speech in welcoming us would never have happened in the U.S. (at least not with today leaders). He stated that Zambia was a Christian nation and that he was very appreciative that representatives of the United States would travel this far to provide training for his department; and more importantly, that our message would include a statement of our faith in Jesus Christ. He went on more about the importance of faith in our profession. Talk about setting the stage.
Training went well and was very well received. John ended the training session with a gospel message. John finished with Matt 10:32 stating that if you would confess Jesus before man on earth, that He would confess you before the Father in heaven. At the invitation to receive Jesus, about 35 (of the approximately 50) students stood in front of their peers, making a statement of their faith. All were given New Testaments and were invited to lunch at the church where the pastor’s conference was being conducted. About 20-25 showed up for that including the fire chief and deputy fire chief. It was a very good day today.
Tomorrow is going to be the men’s conference at an outdoor football (soccer) stadium. It is raining quite hard at the moment. Pray for better weather. More tomorrow.
Dan Rodriguez
ROCK of Africa Mission Team Prayer Needs
Protective Prayer for the days to come regarding any violence that may occur from Al Qaeda, that could effect the team's freedom and ability to travel.
Pray for the 300 pastors and Lord willing, 5000 men. Pray for open hearts, unity with the pastors, and an anointing on Pete McKenzie and John White as they share the messages God has given them.
Pray for travel mercies, good sleep, rest, good health and energy that the team will need.
Pray for discernment and protection against the spiritual warfare they will face as they venture into enemy territory.
Pray for unity and closeness among team members. Pray that the team draws closer to the Lord and to each other.
Pray for boldness and courage, that God will give the team favor with the pastors and men. Pray that the Holy Spirit will fill each life with Jesus' resurrection power.
Thank you for being FFC's faithful prayer team. Even though you will not be with the guys, your prayers will go before them and enclose them from behind. "And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them." (Exodus 14:19)
"Now glory be to God! By His mighty power at work within us, He is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope. May He be given glory in the church and in Christ Jesus forever and ever through endless ages. Amen."Ephesians 3:20-21
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