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New International exists to proclaim Christ and make disciples globally. Let us join with God as He continues to make all things new; He gives us new vision of new ways to reach new communities with the Good News of Christ, bringing new light to hearts that have previously been lost.
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- 06/21/2016
- new international
Returning to Zambia
Three years ago, we stepped onto a plane in Zambia, and we thought we would be perfectly happy to never come back to this country again.
Today's story is by Dan and Mary Vissani, who formerly served with NMSI at the CGO, Zimbabwe, and Zambia - and after 3 years away, have rejoined and returned to the field yesterday!
Three years ago, we stepped onto a plane in Zambia, and we thought we would be perfectly happy to never come back to this country again. The country itself was fine, beautiful in fact; nothing wrong with the people either. Sadly, a mismatch with the organization we went to work with left us with a sour taste. We experienced lots of great things there, and we had many opportunities to teach, build, serve and love. But, for the reason above, among others, returning to Zambia was definitely not on our mind.
The truth is, we have never once doubted that missions is in our blood. We have always had our ears to the ground, listening for ways God might be preparing us for another mission field. We've had several people ask us about joining their teams, including our friends Ben & Cat whom we first met in Zimbabwe, and who have pioneered Foundations for Farming in central Zambia. We exchanged messages, we Skyped, we talked with many counselors, and it became clear that this ministry opportunity brilliantly overlapped with our passion and giftings--a lot like our ministry in Zimbabwe.
On Thanksgiving Day, Dan boarded a plane with Olivia (pictured above), actually; for a quick visit to check out exactly what our friends were inviting us to join, praying for ears and eyes to perceive God's desires for us there. In that short week, He saw some really encouraging things--a ministry focused on people and God's Kingdom, an internship program set up for life transformation, contextualized farming demos and training, not to mention a fantastic school where our kids would attend. He didn't come back home absolutely convinced though, which was more due to lingering fears than anything else. We spent another few weeks praying and seeking, and God faithfully led us to this conclusion: the Foundations for Farming outpost in Zambia is exactly what God has been preparing us for. So, we said yes to them and started to plan and quickly work to be there in June.
So here we are with many returns- to NMSI, Foundations for Farming, Zambia, and overseas missions work itself, excited to see what God has in store for us.
