This is your chance to read my first newsletter to find out more about what's going on in my life and where I'll be headed soon... and your chance to forward it to your friends! ;)
You are much appreciated and so loved (yes, by me)!
I can't wait to hear more from you and how I can serve you!
Thank you for deciding to be a part of my journey as a full-time missionary! Now strap on your boots and let's get to rockin'!
Be sure to read the attachment (the actual newsletter) and be
encouraged that this is about us connecting within the body of Christ
and bringing the Kingdom of God crashing to earth! =)
I'm for you,
colby gardner (936) 349-3136 <- feel free to let the phone calls begin! ;)
PS:
You will find that the newsletter not only has many cool stories but
also has MANY hyperlinks to great websites, blogs, videos, pictures and
more! Feel free to browse around, find the "hidden" ones and write me
back! I want to hear from you!
Have you ever seen a dog chasing a car? What's your first
thought? “IDIOT!” Right?
Well, this past weekend, I was mowing the yard and watched
my parent's dog, Mackey, chase vehicles down the road over and over again. One
after another, he enjoyed each one more than the last.
On and on for a few hours, Mackey chased away… and then it
finally hit me, I don't blame him! Why would any dog want to sit on the porch
all of his life and be a boring dog!? I don't blame him for wanting to live a
little dangerous! I thought to myself, “We call him ‘bad dog' but he's actually
doing what he enjoys, getting a thrill out of it. Seems smart to me!” Granted,
it is quite dangerous but considering his ignorance, you get the point.
It made me think of those that we all know that never ‘get
off the porch'. They live life working their lives away or have ‘paid their
dues' and don't do anything worth remembering after that.
I don't want people at my funeral simply saying, “He sure
did work hard all his life.” Yes, I do want to be remembered as a hard worker,
as my parents instilled in me that ‘virtue' as one of the greatest
characteristics of a man, but isn't life much more than working hard?
When I was a young boy, we had a dog named Parrot. Parrot
was a riot! I can remember one morning as we rode off towards school in the
truck, Parrot chased us down and leaped over the side of the bed into the back
of the truck while in full stride at about 20+ mph. Now that's what I'm talking
about! Parrot was not your ordinary dog; he was fast, could jump and used it
dangerously in conjunction with his passion… being with his family. Those are
the things that we remember best about our dogs, the stories that are worth
telling, the extraordinary ones. Am I right?
Now, I know what some of you are thinking and I want to go
ahead and negate your thoughts of me encouraging going out and doing
‘dangerous' or ‘stupid' things. That is far from what I'm saying here…. My
whole point is that there is so much more than what we know. I'm encouraging
you to ‘get off the porch', chase something you are passionate about (that
doesn't reap direct benefits for yourself), have fun and live a life that's
worth remembering, a life of a different value. Let's go to our graves knowing
we lived our lives for a greater purpose, something so much bigger than ourselves,
not wishing we had done ‘this' or ‘that'.
Now Jesus, he was a dude that grew up a carpenter's son. Jesus
was a hard worker, he was a listener, a learner and a teacher… a good one at
that. I'm sure he loved making things with his hands as all men do but he
didn't go to the tomb with people talking about how great a carpenter he was.
He lived for something greater than himself. He had a passion that was embedded
in him from before the womb, and that was to ‘do as the Father does' (John
5:19). Jesus paved the way for all who have lived dangerous lives from that
point on. Jesus, one heck of a carpenter, wasn't consumed in being the ‘best
carpenter in his city', he was consumed with doing the will of the Father and bringing
the Kingdom of God to earth and doing so by serving, loving on people and being
a ‘bad dog' by doing things that people didn't approve of (because it was
controversial and contrary to what they had always done and been taught). If you
ask anyone, Jesus was a guy that ‘got off the porch'.
Following Jesus isn't safe. Let's get past the thought that
it is and embrace the fact that the Truth isn't safe but it's good and life
giving.
Some of you are carpenters, some teachers, some businessmen,
and some of you are stay at home moms but don't let that limit you to not
living a dangerous life. If anything, it should compel you all the more to ‘get
off the porch' and dive into the lives of those that surround you every single
day that haven't had a chance to meet face-to-face with Redemption himself… and
above all, listen and actively respond.
Listening to Holy Spirit and responding with expectancy of
power is removing ourselves from the ‘ordinary' and crashing into the adventure
of the unknown as we pursue it. Choosing into the authority and empowerment
that we have been given creates a culture of those who don't live in pursuit of
being the “best so-and-so in the
city” but those who change the course of history, simply by ‘getting off the
porch' and operating in our passions and giftings given by the Father… as we
serve.
Are we satisfied with living lives for ourselves? I have yet
to meet a man who was. What if the satisfaction of life comes from living life
unto a greater being like God, the ‘Father', as Jesus claimed? Would it be
worth it then? Does a life of contentment come from serving God by being
obedient to His mandate on our lives and chasing the passions for his Kingdom that
we have with the gifts we have been given? Do you think this is what satisfies
not only ourselves but God himself as well?
Have you ever eaten something that just tore you up inside?
Yeah, you know that feeling, almost like you have a stomach full of pure ACID (no,
not the good kind). Well, I feel like that sometimes. I feel like that often
actually, and it doesn't even take food to do it. This is the feeling that I
get when I see someone living under the age-old saying, “this is the way we've
always done it” and haven't lived a life to anyone but themselves, whether
knowingly or not. My stomach churns with agony and my heart hurts for someone
who hasn't tangibly experienced the heart of God, a touch that changes all. Living
dangerously is exactly what brings the tangible love of God to the untouchable.
My passion is with my people and my people are you. The gifts that I have been given
may look like coaching, teaching, and leadership entangled with a mechanical
mind but could it be that those were given to me not for my own good but for God's,
to use towards you? I may not know
exactly what my life is going to look like in twenty years and I may not be
able to guarantee you that I will have ‘this amount of money' in a bank account
but one thing I know, my life is not my own and I will remove myself from the
porch and run towards the dangers of following Jesus, nearing my grave with joy.
If following Jesus is dangerous, then how dangerous is your life? Are you off the porch yet?
What is it about Jesus that drew people to him? Was it
charisma? His knowledge? His appearance? Was it polished speech? Was it grace?
Was it His ‘radical' teachings? What it because He asked people to do things
unheard of? Was it because He performed miracles? Perhaps it was His
relentlessness? Or was it because He simply saw to the heart of the people and
actually loved them like crazy? Was that
the look in His eyes that just ‘did it'?
Lately, God has been strategically moving me to places that
are uncomfortable, allowing me to feel things that ‘normal' people don't often
feel. This is humbly empowering and befitting as a follower of Jesus.
Last Thursday, a man I know showed up at my doorstep in
relapse from a serious, somewhat life-long addiction. He warned me before
showing up of what condition he was in but I told him to come anyways. It
didn't take long before he was in complete tears telling me, “You know why I
come here? You're different from all
of the other Christians that I know. You aren't so serious and condemning of
me. … There's something about you that is unlike anything I've seen before,
something I want, man! I want it so bad!
You know and see what I want deep down; I feel like you actually love me.” Talk
about humbling. I felt uncomfortably in the right place. As an evening of
absolute Holy Spirit movement unfolded, I pondered, “Is this how Jesus felt?”
I love relationships. Craving them, I keep in contact with
people all over the world on a consistent basis and I not only enjoy these
relationships to the nth degree but know it's key to the Gospel
being the Gospel, passionately seeing to the heart of people and surfacing the
Kingdom within them.
While in Africa last year, I met a man named Domingos
Temane who, along with his wife and children that they have lost, has HIV
& AIDS. Last time I talked to him, he was getting much worse, yet hopeful.
There's this love that I have for Domingos, a stranger if
you really look at it, that is unbearingly confusing but accurately fitting.
Domingos contacts me often and this morning, I woke to this text message:
Knowing Domingos' heart and how he is a man of such honor
and valiant character, it eats me up with even more crazy love for him as a
brother and child of God.
I can't imagine how
Jesus feels on that one….
In Luke 7, Jesus saw the mother of a child who had just died,
weeping. Scripture says, “He had compassion on her” telling her “Do not weep” and stopped at the
casket, doing the unthinkable, speaking to the dead, “Young
man, I say to you, arise.” He sat up and Jesus gave him to his mother!
Often, we picture Jesus as this unanimated, emotionless
character, one who does what He came to do and goes about His business. Could
we be wrong?
How does Jesus feel about His neighbor? How
does He feel about the one that drove the nails? How does He feel when He sees
the hungry? The cripple? The poor? The lonely? What emotions does Jesus have
when encountering a ‘royal screw up'? How does He feel about those dying of HIV
& AIDS? … How does He feel about you?
The answer is uncomfortably befitting…. He
is pained with a burning, compassionate love that compels his actions to move
on behalf of the Father and His Kingdom.
(What
you are about to read contains information that had to be changed or left out
such as names and places to keep confidentiality)
Not a Word,
Not a Look, Not a Movement
It was a day that began like most. I woke early, clothed
myself, got ready, made breakfast and walked out the door. Only this morning
was different. I was going on a ride… a ride that I will never forget.
Shortly, I found myself about 3 hours from home picking up
an older gentleman. We had a couple quick stops to make, one at a local restaurant
and another to drop off a package and before we knew it, we were headed down
the thicket-lined highways back towards home.
As we were riding, his personality was nowhere to be found
and all I was left with was 3 hours of East Texas road and no one to talk to. He
never said a word, he never looked me in the eyes, and in fact, he never even
moved. We jammed to the musical arts of Ozzy Osborne, The Toadies, a few East
Texas country radio stations and even some Tejano for about an hour. During the
course of this time, I thought to myself, “I bet he has NEVER accomplished all
this in one ride before!”
It was just that
thought that got me thinking…
What was he
passionate about? What was his life
like?
Who
did he love? Why
was he like this?
Where did his heart lie?
Who loved him?What had he
experienced?
…and then it hit me…
I never had
COMPASSION
on an
UNKNOWN DEAD MAN
before!
Quickly, the most important question came up…
Had
he everexperiencedthe love of the Father?
No, not an
“experience” from a church or an emotional high experience from listening to
some good ol' preacher or a new-age worship band but a full-blown-all-out Holy
Spirit experience, one that crushes every paradigm that we have heard, been
taught or believed for years. I wonder if he had ever felt the touch of Jesus?
It only takes one….
Was the Kingdom inside of him?
Suddenly,
all of my previous questions began to make a little more sense! An experience
leads to a feast that creates a yearning for Papa's heart and desires to unfold
within us and to continue on earth. It leads to a realization of our identity
and authority, which leads us to a life of abandonment, brokenness, dependency,
and empowerment. Did this man have the Kingdom inside of him? …If so, his life
was full of joy, adventure and continued encounters with Holy Spirit. He saw
things happen that aren't “normal”. He spoke words into people breathing new
life. He was passionate about the Father's heart and where He wanted to go. He
was a lover of training and building up the people of God. He loved those who
the Father loved and he had experienced the experience of a lifetime. As his
life unfolded, so did the Kingdom of God before him. But was this the truth?
Was this really what his life was like??
Did experiencing the Father's heart day in and day out fuel him?
When we sit
back and look at it, that's what really matters isn't it? It's our encounters
with Daddy that shape us. It's in those experiences with Holy Spirit that we
realize that we are who God says we are… not what we have been taught to be… It's
those times like when I was on that bench in Lilongwe, under that mango tree in
Beira, on that sidewalk in Xining, riding in the “sweat box” in Kuala Krai, at
that wedding party in Conroe, or that hospital room in Crockett. It's in those
times that we transition from living in Black &
White to FULL-COLOR! It's
encountering HIS HEART that changes our whole world, what we do, who we love,
our experiences in life, our personality, our every step, etc… leading to a Kingdom
breather, one who changes atmospheres and breaks down walls, one who claims
Truths and watches principalities fall, one who heals the sick and calls forth
life, one who lives dreams and frees nations, one who's life is evidence of the
Father's heartbeat….
Samuel is a young man full of joy and song for the King. He is
passionate about dancing and singing for the Lord and has a lot of
personality, as you can see. Samuel is not only one of the members of
the Euro African Baptist Youth Choir, he is the secretary! Samuel always
hung around and wanted to speak with us, no matter whether we spoke the
same language or not. He just wanted fellowship and to love on other
people. Samuel is a lot of fun to be around!
------------------------------
Pastor Gama only has enough funds to feed
these 15 orphans once a day and it only costs $106 per month to feed
them all twice a day! I
am asking YOU to help feed these
children! Whatever you can give, whether it be a dime or a year's worth
of meals, please consider these children of God and send me an e-mail
about it! Let me know your heart and what you think. Ask the Lord what
your role in this is. Whether it be prayer, giving money or possibly
even going to Zomba for yourself, whatever it looks like, let me know! I
would LOVE to hear how this CD, but more importantly the Kingdom of God
through these children, impact your life!
I
have dedicated to tell you
their story in letting you know about their lives and how the Kingdom of
God is
unfolding in the little town of Zomba, Malawi. Stay tuned to my blog and
learn
their story and experience their lives!
Want toDONATE?
Mail
a check to:
Colby Gardner
9066 FM 1119
Centerville, TX
Be sure to specify “Euro African
Baptist Youth
Choir” in memo.
Don't worry, every penny
will go towards feeding the orphans unless you specify otherwise.
E-mail me
at colbygardner@gmail.com if you have questions about
other ways to donate
or about donatingmonthly, periodically, or
annually or have any other
questions.
Can'tDONATE?
That's ok! Pray and spread the word by re-posting
this blog link (post the
videos, pictures and this the first EABYC blog link http://colbygardner.theworldrace.org/?filename=free-cd-release-eabyc-i-want-to-follow-jesus)
on your
personal blog, facebook, twitter, and e-mailing it to your friends and
family. Download the CD by clicking HERE.
(Please send me a short e-mail or comment on this blog if you
downloaded the CD) The aim here is to tell the story
of those in the Euro African Baptist Youth Choir and to expand the
Kingdom of
God while raising funds to feed the orphans through donations. Help them
out and POST POST POST!!!! :)
Stay tuned, as
I have MORE to share with
you! COMING SOON: Private
interviews with members/leaders of Euro African Baptist Youth
Choir!!!
-colby
PS: We have already
raised 4 months worth of meals for the children! Let's keep that cycle
going!
After you download the CD, RIGHT CLICK &
UNZIP or UNCOMPRESS it. CLICK & DRAG the unzipped folder to your
iTUNES or MUSIC PLAYER. The files will be copied to your music player
and should appear shortly.
Wilkes is a young man that has a huge heart for children and has decided
to be one of the leaders of the youth at Euro African Baptist Church
and dedicated himself to lead them to the heart of the Lord. Wilkes is a
quiet man with a great joy for living and serving God's people. Wilkes
not only serves as the chairman of the Euro African Baptist Youth Choir
but he also signs in the choir! I can remember the day before we left
Zomba when Wilkes, Samuel and Grant (leaders of EABYC) came to our house
to give me a gift. They did so and then asked, "Do you have something
that we can remember you by?" We laughed and had a good time as we said
our goodbyes. The guys made sure that I would help tell their story.
------------------------------
Pastor Gama only has enough funds to feed
these 15 orphans once a day and it only costs $106 per month to feed
them all twice a day! I
am asking YOU to help feed these
children! Whatever you can give, whether it be a dime or a year's worth
of meals, please consider these children of God and send me an e-mail
about it! Let me know your heart and what you think. Ask the Lord what
your role in this is. Whether it be prayer, giving money or possibly
even going to Zomba for yourself, whatever it looks like, let me know! I
would LOVE to hear how this CD, but more importantly the Kingdom of God
through these children, impact your life!
I
have dedicated to tell you
their story in letting you know about their lives and how the Kingdom of
God is
unfolding in the little town of Zomba, Malawi. Stay tuned to my blog and
learn
their story and experience their lives!
Want toDONATE?
Mail
a check to:
Colby Gardner
9066 FM 1119
Centerville, TX
Be sure to specify “Euro African
Baptist Youth
Choir” in memo.
Don't worry, every penny
will go towards feeding the orphans unless you specify otherwise.
E-mail me
at colbygardner@gmail.com if you have questions about
other ways to donate
or about donatingmonthly, periodically, or
annually or have any other
questions.
Can'tDONATE?
That's ok! Pray and spread the word by re-posting
this blog link (post the
videos, pictures and this the first EABYC blog link http://colbygardner.theworldrace.org/?filename=free-cd-release-eabyc-i-want-to-follow-jesus)
on your
personal blog, facebook, twitter, and e-mailing it to your friends and
family. Download the CD by clicking HERE.
(Please send me a short e-mail or comment on this blog if you
downloaded the CD) The aim here is to tell the story
of those in the Euro African Baptist Youth Choir and to expand the
Kingdom of
God while raising funds to feed the orphans through donations. Help them
out and POST POST POST!!!! :)
Stay tuned, as
I have MORE to share with
you! COMING SOON: Private
interviews with members/leaders of Euro African Baptist Youth
Choir!!!
-colby
PS: We have already
raised 4 months worth of meals for the children! Let's keep that cycle
going!
After you download the CD, RIGHT CLICK &
UNZIP or UNCOMPRESS it. CLICK & DRAG the unzipped folder to your
iTUNES or MUSIC PLAYER. The files will be copied to your music player
and should appear shortly.
Pastor Medson Gama is the abusa (pastor) at Euro African Baptist Church
in Zomba, Malawi and has an incredibly huge heart for the Kingdom of
God. He works day and night (literally) to make sure that people know
the love of God in his community. Pastor Gama teams up with other
pastors and missionaries from all over the world to go to the farthest
edges of Malawi to ensure Kingdom growth, to plant and lead churches and
to show villagers how to experience the true love of their Father. He
has been at Euro African Baptist Church for years now but remains as a
working man throughout the community, supporting 15 orphans with his
church body, going door to door daily to visit the people and simply
living life with the people of Zomba and being the face of Jesus day in
and day out. Pray for Pastor Medson Gama and his surrounding community
as it is our desire to tell their story and back them up with
encouragement and songs of love.
I personally got to spend one
month (November 2010) with Pastor Medson, his wife Rose and their family
there in Zomba. I experienced a true man of God not only with a passion
for God's heart but a zeal to give it freely! He will forever be a
model of what Jesus' mandate for His children: "Freely you have
received, freely give." (Matthew 10:8)
Medson & I after church one Sunday in Zpmba.
Grant
Kawamba
Grant is a young man who was obedient to the calling of the Lord
on his
life to lead the youth choir at Euro African Baptist Church in Zomba.
(Grant is VERY camera shy and had never seen anything like that before.)
He told me, "Many of these children have no father and mother and God
told me to come and lead them spiritually to His heart and singing songs
of praise is one way to do it. ...I love to sing and dance for the Lord
and I take it seriously." Grant was once on the path of destruction
himself until one day God intervened and captured his heart. Now, he is
the choirmaster of the Euro African Baptist Youth Choir and will be
heard as the dominant lead voice on their CD, "I Want to Follow Jesus".
Wilkes, Grant, Samuel & I just before we left for Mozambique. We traded gifts and then said our goodbyes. :(
------------------------------
Pastor Gama only has enough funds to feed these 15 orphans once a day and it only costs $106 per month to feed them all twice a day! I
am asking YOU to help feed these
children! Whatever you can give, whether it be a dime or a year's worth
of meals, please consider these children of God and send me an e-mail
about it! Let me know your heart and what you think. Ask the Lord what
your role in this is. Whether it be prayer, giving money or possibly
even going to Zomba for yourself, whatever it looks like, let me know! I
would LOVE to hear how this CD, but more importantly the Kingdom of God
through these children, impact your life!
I
have dedicated to tell you
their story in letting you know about their lives and how the Kingdom of
God is
unfolding in the little town of Zomba, Malawi. Stay tuned to my blog and
learn
their story and experience their lives!
Want toDONATE?
Mail
a check to:
Colby Gardner
9066 FM 1119
Centerville, TX
Be sure to specify “Euro African
Baptist Youth
Choir” in memo.
Don't worry, every penny
will go towards feeding the orphans unless you specify otherwise.
E-mail me
at colbygardner@gmail.com if you have questions about
other ways to donate
or about donatingmonthly, periodically, or
annually or have any other
questions.
Can'tDONATE?
That's ok! Pray and spread the word by re-posting
this blog link (post the
videos, pictures and this the first EABYC blog link http://colbygardner.theworldrace.org/?filename=free-cd-release-eabyc-i-want-to-follow-jesus)
on your
personal blog, facebook, twitter, and e-mailing it to your friends and
family. Download the CD by clicking HERE.
(Please send me a short e-mail or comment on this blog if you
downloaded the CD) The aim here is to tell the story
of those in the Euro African Baptist Youth Choir and to expand the
Kingdom of
God while raising funds to feed the orphans through donations. Help them
out and POST POST POST!!!! :)
Stay tuned, as
I have MORE to share with
you! COMING SOON: Private
interviews with members/leaders of Euro African Baptist Youth
Choir!!!
-colby
PS: We have already
raised 4 months worth of meals for the children! Let's keep that cycle
going!
After you download the CD, RIGHT CLICK &
UNZIP or UNCOMPRESS it. CLICK & DRAG the unzipped folder to your
iTUNES or MUSIC PLAYER. The files will be copied to your music player
and should appear shortly.
Memory Balakasi is a young lady who lives in Zomba, Malawi and currently
is the choir mistress of the Euro African Baptist Youth Choir in Mpunga
village. Memory is one of two children left behind as both her mother
and father both have passed away. As you saw her character and
leadership in the choir, you can see that she is quite the joyful woman
of God. As the choir mistress, this means that she, along with many
other duties, is one of the young women who leads the choir in
chants and songs as they worship together. Memory has a powerful voice
and is extremely passionate about worshipping the Lord and ensuring that
she continues to encourage and lead the group in the gifts that she has
been given, which is a powerful voice. This voice is not only a voice
to sing but to spur people on to live a powerful and influential life in
the Kingdom of God.
Memory is one of the oldest orphans (most of the orphans are not old enough to sing in the youth choir yet) that Pastor Gama and the Euro African Baptist Church parents, houses and feeds on a daily basis. There are a total of 15 orphans that the church has taken in, but with the poor economy and hardships in Malawi, they only have enough funds to feed the children once a day. After asking questions, I found out that it only takes $106 USD to feed all 15 of the orphans twice a day for one full month. (Malawians don't always eat three meals a day like Americans)
I am asking YOU to help feed these
children! Whatever you can give, whether it be a dime or a year's worth
of meals, please consider these children of God and send me an e-mail
about it! Let me know your heart and what you think. Ask the Lord what
your role in this is. Whether it be prayer, giving money or possibly
even going to Zomba for yourself, whatever it looks like, let me know! I
would LOVE to hear how this CD, but more importantly the Kingdom of God
through these children, impact your life!
I have dedicated to tell you
their story in letting you know about their lives and how the Kingdom of
God is
unfolding in the little town of Zomba, Malawi. Stay tuned to my blog and
learn
their story and experience their lives!
Want toDONATE?
Mail
a check to:
Colby Gardner
9066 FM 1119
Centerville, TX
Be sure to specify “Euro African
Baptist Youth
Choir” in memo.
Don't worry, every penny
will go towards feeding the orphans unless you specify otherwise.
E-mail me
at colbygardner@gmail.com if you have questions about
other ways to donate
or about donatingmonthly, periodically, or
annually or have any other
questions.
Can'tDONATE?
That's ok! Pray and spread the word by re-posting this blog link (post the videos, pictures and this the first EABYC blog link http://colbygardner.theworldrace.org/?filename=free-cd-release-eabyc-i-want-to-follow-jesus) on your
personal blog, facebook, twitter, and e-mailing it to your friends and
family. Download the CD by clicking HERE.
(Please send me a short e-mail or comment on this blog if you
downloaded the CD) The aim here is to tell the story
of those in the Euro African Baptist Youth Choir and to expand the
Kingdom of
God while raising funds to feed the orphans through donations. Help them
out and POST POST POST!!!! :)
Stay tuned, as
I have MORE to share with
you! COMING SOON: Private
interviews with members/leaders of Euro African Baptist Youth
Choir!!!
-colby
PS: We have already
raised 4 months worth of meals for the children! Let's keep that cycle
going!
After you download the CD, RIGHT CLICK &
UNZIP or UNCOMPRESS it. CLICK & DRAG the unzipped folder to your
iTUNES or MUSIC PLAYER. The files will be copied to your music player
and should appear shortly.
If you followed me on the Race, you
may remember this…
In November
of 2010, a group of World Racers entered Zomba, Malawi. They went with the sole
purpose of unleashing the Kingdom of God. Among all, one thing left them in
tears. That was the sound of the Euro African Baptist Youth Choir. As they
stomped and sang their way in the back door, the hair on the necks of every
foreigner in that place stood straight up! By the end of the first song, they
were ALL sobbing. It made no sense to them as to why they were crying at the
sound of a youth choir but what they did understand was that it was ultimately
the most beautiful sound that had ever hit their ears….
NEW CD COVER - "I Want to Follow Jesus" EURO AFRICAN BAPTIST YOUTH CHOIR
Well,
I was one of those foreigners in that little church in the nook of a mountain
in Zomba, Malawi. As I learned about a week into our stay that the church
only had enough funds to feed the children once a day, I began to pray for
those children, the church and the surrounding community. I was broken for the people there.
After I had been praying for about a week, the Lord told me to gather the youth
choir and produce a CD of some of their best songs. The Holy Spirit told
me to tell their story, get their music out and help them
raise funds to feed the children in the orphanage/choir by taking donations for the CD. Soon after, I asked
Pastor Gama how much it would be to feed the children all month and he said
$106. I, at first, assumed that this meant 3 times a day but evidently,
Malawians don't always eat 3 meals a day like Americans do, so the $106 goes to
feed all 15 orphans TWICE a day for one month!
As you can probably guess, we produced the CD. On November 13, 2010 after about 4 hours and 17 songs, at about 6pm, we finished recording and the choir called a day. The finished CD, "I Want to Follow Jesus" has 19 tracks
(17 songs and 2 short interviews) and it is an a cappella CD filled with a
lot of heart, heart simply giving thanks and worshiping God!
EABYC Promo Video
Want the CD for FREE?
To DOWNLOAD the EABYC CD click HERE. If you do so, please send me a quick e-mail
at: colbygardner@gmail.com or comment on this blog. I would like to keep tabs on how many are downloaded and what you think about it. :)
EABYC - “I Want to Resemble Jesus in All
I Do”
The Euro African Baptist Youth
Choir out of Zomba, Malawi is primarily made up of orphans from the church
there in the side of the mountain in Mpunga Village (Zomba). These children are
extremely talented and love to worship the Lord with every ounce of their being.
...........
I am asking YOU to help feed these children! Whatever you can give, whether it be a dime or a year's worth of meals, please consider these children of God and send me an e-mail about it! Let me know your heart and what you think. Ask the Lord what your role in this is. Whether it be prayer, giving money or possibly even going to Zomba for yourself, whatever it looks like, let me know! I would LOVE to hear how this CD, but more importantly the Kingdom of God through these children, impact your life!
I have dedicated to tell you
their story in letting you know about their lives and how the Kingdom of God is
unfolding in the little town of Zomba, Malawi. Stay tuned to my blog and learn
their story and experience their lives!
Want toDONATE?
Mail
a check to:
Colby Gardner
9066 FM 1119
Centerville, TX
Be sure to specify “Euro African Baptist Youth
Choir” in memo.
Don't worry, every penny will go towards feeding the orphans unless you specify otherwise.
E-mail me at colbygardner@gmail.com if you have questions about other ways to donate
or about donatingmonthly, periodically, or
annually or have any other questions.
Can'tDONATE?
That's ok! Pray. Spread the word by copying this
blog link (http://colbygardner.theworldrace.org/?filename=free-cd-release-eabyc-i-want-to-follow-jesus) and posting it on your
personal blog, facebook, twitter, and e-mailing it to your friends and family. Download the CD by clicking HERE. (Please send me a short e-mail or comment on this blog if you downloaded the CD) The aim here is to tell the story
of those in the Euro African Baptist Youth Choir and to expand the Kingdom of
God while raising funds to feed the orphans through donations. Help them out and POST POST POST!!!! :)
Stay tuned, as
I have MORE to share with you! COMING SOON: Private
interviews with members/leaders of Euro African Baptist Youth Choir!!!
-colby
PS: We have already raised 4 months worth of meals for the children! Let's keep that cycle going!
After you download the CD, RIGHT CLICK & UNZIP or UNCOMPRESS it. CLICK & DRAG the unzipped folder to your iTUNES or MUSIC PLAYER. The files will be copied to your music player and should appear shortly.
In this episode, the teams find out what it takes to get cool in the
extreme heat of Africa. While in pursuit of this, they have their own
African Christmas experience and find newfound connections with the
people in Mafambisse! This changed the rest of their month and opened
their eyes to love them in new and exciting ways, despite the rough
conditions.