Newsletter August 2010

Hello everyone and it is that time once again to give a report on what the Hall family has been up to.

The girls: They are busy with school in two languages (Danish and English) and taking care of pets, 5 rabbits have just joined the dogs, guinea pigs and parrot. We also just cut off Rachel’s cast today from her broken ankle. Naomi enjoys going to her little preschool, has learnt a few songs in Bemba.

Jette: She is busy with home school, (a full time job) also a hosting ladies bible study most Thursdays mornings and also hosting the missionary bible study some Thursday evenings, as well as hosting after-church tea for about 40 kids and adult on most Sundays. Our house is an open house.

Lyle: He has been busy with different things in the last four months, two clinics have been built, and loads of medical equipment has been distributed to different medical facilities. Several more churches have been planted so this requires follow-up and discipleship to the new churches. As an average, TTN (To The Nations – whom we work with) plants about 20 churches a year so discipleship is continuous.

Alex (one of our local TTN staff) is the local hospital Chaplain, he has influence on about one thousand patients a month and I go for hospital prayer visits with our team from time to time.

The heart of TTN: has always been evangelism and evangelism comes in different forms. In the last months TTN has lead two city crusades; also we put up our big tent and hosted the world cup football matches. We showed the matches on a big screen and preached during half time. At the end of it all, just over 400 had responded and were followed up and also directed to different churches.

Zimbabwe: I was in Zimbabwe for a week with James (another local TTN guy)teaching 34 coaches on different principles of how to reach the youth through sports. Teaching about HIV/AIDS is always a part of these seminars because it all too real for the youth here as well as the adults. So we spend a bit of time on this subject and try to take out the taboo of it all. It is my heart to see the churches start talking about this subject but it is all taboo so most will not touch it.

Conference: We spent the past week in the local OM mission conference, then I went to another conference and did some preaching and teaching for three days. It is amazing how many African brothers and sisters can fit in a small church, around 400 is what I counted. I slept in my tent but it was so very cold for me, the temperature these last weeks have been about 6C (40F) at night. Not fun at three o’clock in the morning. We are in the Southern Hemisphere so it is our winter time here.

Story: In the last few months I was blessed to see God work a miracle in a lady who was cursed by her father, she was unable to walk for over 12 years, after breaking the curse in Jesus name she now walks. The story on our blog, www.lylejettehall.blogspot.org worth a read if you didn’t get the email about her.

YWAM: I spent a few weeks teaching classes on spiritual warfare in the DTS in Lusaka.

Australia: I spent the month of July by invitation in Australia to meet the TTN board, also was invited to speak at about 12 different church functions. We also loaded three more containers full of medical equipment. Two containers come to Zambia and one will be shipped to Tanzania. This makes 12 containers in all being shipped out of Australia full of medical equipment. This has opened so many doors for all kinds of ministry for us. There is a hospital there that is moving locations next year and they have offered to give us all their equipment, this is about 120 containers full. All the logistics in this is huge but it is being looked into. Operation Lift is the organization in Australia responsible for loading and shipping and TTN is then the partner here on the receiving end, we unload and make sure equipment goes to its location, a big job. I did spend half a day on a boat in the big blue sea and caught a nice 10lb fish.

Some not so good news: Three different churches have dropped their support to us due to church politics (missionaries are generally the first to go) so this is making things a bit of a challenge, so I am taking on some building jobs here to help make ends meet for us.

For those of you who have supported us over the years; a continuous big thanks from us. For those of you that are still praying about our financial support, pray about becoming the answer to that prayer. Do get in touch with us or check out our blog to get information on the support info. If you need tax receipts, they are available.. As a whole it is more expensive to live in Zambia than the US, just to give you an idea.

Pray with us: We often encounter spiritual warfare issues here as you may imagine, so thank you for keeping us in your prayers. Here is something to think about, Believe it or not:

During one of our past crusades a witch was flying over the meeting place on her broom stick for several nights in a row and the team did not see many miracles etc, so as a team they all gathered together after a night meeting and while they were praying guess who fell out of the sky with her broom. She came crashing down in front of the team. She looked up, screamed, and then ran off into the night. The victory was the Lord’s, and the very next night hundreds of people encountered God and miracles were present. This does not happen every time we go out, but it is not all that uncommon either. So this is why your prayers are appreciated.


Come for a visit: As I have said many times before, if there is anyone or a church team that would like to come out for a missions trip please let us know, you are most welcome, as you can see there is a lot going on.

A look ahead:
September: I will be in Tanzania with a team going into the Rufiji Delta and then on to Masai Land where I have been several times before. TTN is looking to open up these for ministry.
In October, up to Nsumbu at Lake Tanganyika to build another clinic for about two weeks.
In November we go on a very remote river area called Kafue for research and also to visit churches that were planted there several years ago.

This is all for now, the Lord bless you all and remember to drop us a line.

A quote from Mother Teresa that has helped me over the years, “God has not called us to be successful, rather, he has called us to be faithful.”

Jesus Reversed her Curse

Dear friends,
Grab a cup of coffee, sit for minute or two, and join us as we visit a woman who through a curse was left crippled and childless, but whose life was radically changed by God.

If you recall the newsletter sent some months ago, I mentioned in there a lady whose father went to a witchdoctor to have a curse put on her for fear of her getting married. And being the only daughter, the father did not want her to marry, for there would then be only his wife in the home to take care of him. This curse was intended to make her unattractive so that no man would want to take her as his wife.
After the fathers visit to the witchdoctor and paying his fee, he went home with expectations.

Now I am not sure what you believe or what your theology is, but when this young lady woke up the following morning she was unable to move. From the waist down she was paralyzed. The father is now upset at the witchdoctor because his daughter could do virtually no work around the house due to her condition.

For the next twelve and half years this young lady remained in her paralyzed condition. Living in a remote area, she had no access to wheelchairs or any other kind of handicap facilities. She had to be carried everywhere and was placed under a tree to wait for the day to go by. She was of no use to her father or to any man that may have wanted to marry her. She remained crippled, single and childless. And in this society this is very shameful and disgraceful.

Well ,one day about five months ago, someone came to her village; his name was Jesus and what an awesome road to healing it has been for this young woman.

Now for the ‘Rest of the Story’. Should I make you wait?

It was about 4 months ago that Mishack, one of the TTN staff, went off in his really tiny truck to a village for a ministry weekend with the ‘Jesus Film’ on board off. Mishack after the film showing and a few minutes of preaching made an alter call. After some time this lady was brought up to the front and put on the ground. There she began to share her heart and told Mishack that she needed that Jesus that she saw on the film.

After the evening meeting and most people found their way home in the blackness of night, she began to tell Mishack of her difficult life, the same story I told you earlier. Mishack agreed with her that they would pray together and break this curse in Jesus’ Name. Together they prayed and that was that. The following morning Mishack got in his really tiny truck and came home.

Two weeks went by and Mishack invited me to come with him to this little village, so off we went this time in a not so tiny truck. On our way he told me this woman’s story. We both hoped to see this lady again. The night came and so did the rains. We slept in the little crude church where the grass roof only half covered the building, the floors and pews made of mud. Well, we all got wet, and the dry mud turned into wet mud, then we got even more wet. I tried to pray and tell the rain what I thought, but that did not make any difference. So what do you do other than to pack up your things and run into the nearest village hut? Which we all did about 2 o’clock in the morning. It is not fun to get drenched at 2 am trying to find a hut somewhere to get into. I barged into this little hut and the poor family all sit up on their mats that were on the floor, all shocked to see this wet mzungu (white guy) standing in there door way telling them, “ Scoot over I am going to sleep in your hut.” This is probably the first white man that has ever slept in their hut. “So just enjoy it and stop staring at me like that.”

Guess who showed up for the service next morning, it was our friend. She had just walked about 6 km to get to church, it took several hours but with the help of others she came slowly. God had already begun to restore her legs and she was able to walk albeit in a somewhat crippled state.
I drove her home after church and sat in her mother’s house for a visit and she also began to tell us of her daughter’s difficult life and all the extra work that she had to do as a mother. The mother said it was a curse and there was no doubt. “But after you guys have prayed, this Jesus has broken the curse.”

Soon the grandmother showed up, she looked as old as the hills and she probably was. Her toothless smile as she sat in silence, the mother was talking and showed us the blanket her daughter slept on these past many years.

Before leaving we prayed for continual healing into this woman’s legs and body. We said our goodbyes and off we drove in that not so tiny truck.

Four months passed and the pastor from this village asked for us to come back for a visit. Off we went once again to encourage the church and hopefully visit our friend.
We had a great time of ministry the night of our arrival, dealing mostly with spiritual warfare type things. The amount of witchcraft and child sacrifices that take place there was astonishing. The fear of the strongman was evident; but that is a whole other story.

The following morning we had another service then off we drove to a hut for a visit. Upon arrival I saw a lady busily going in and out of the house bringing little wooden stools for us to sit on under a small mango tree. We all took our stools and sat there for a while, no one else was there except us and this lady who had brought these stools for us. She quickly went inside and got her own stool and came and sat with us. After a few long moments I asked Mishack if he could ask our hostess if the lady who had been paralyzed was around, perhaps sleeping somewhere.

This is when I felt a bit foolish for Mishack looked at me and said, “Simba (my African name) this is our lady, she is the one.” In shock and disbelief I looked at this woman again, there was no way this could be the same lady! (Shows you where my faith was…) She had gained some weight, looked healthy and walked with only a slight limp. As I sat there now looking into this woman’s face I could not help but get emotional, the joy within to see this lady once so crippled by a curse but now delivered by a blessing.

In our closing moments with her we gathered around her and prayed for her once again, but this time my prayer was not just for continual healing but it was now for a man to come into her life, a man of God, to see this woman fully restored into her society. This woman has been a testimony to me and strengthened my own walk in the Lord. To know where this woman was and to now see what the Lord has done and continues to do in her life.

Through all this I am left with questions that truly disturbs my thoughts, and I hope that these questions disturb your thoughts as well.

What would be the condition of this woman today if Mishack had never gone to her village? Would she still be sitting under a tree with no real future, no hope, all because someone did not pray with her? Can such a curse be put upon another person and never be broken throughout the cursed ones’ life? How can a father even think about doing such a thing to his own daughter? Does God really wait for people like you and I to go before He moves? Does God really rely on us that much that one person should suffer her whole life all because we do not go into the world and preach the gospel, heal the sick and cast out demons?

Would God really allow others to suffer the curse due to my lack of commitment? I am afraid the answer is yes, God is waiting. He has limited himself to work through us as his creation, his servants. Either God has limited himself because of others, which doesn’t seem very smart , or, God has such a deep committed love for his people, to see us grow and move in the authority he has given us, that he chooses to wait even at the cost of life. I choose to believe the latter of the two. What a responsibility we have!

I continue to think just how many thousands of souls continue to sit under trees or live in their cursed state of life all because of our laziness and passivity, not going out do bring deliverance to the thousands. How much more does it hurt the heart of God? When will we go and reach out?

There are people all around us whether we live in Africa or America, who need deliverance. Delivered from bitterness, hatred, addictions, from fear, rejection; and this list could really go on and on. Jesus gave his disciples authority to do only four things really; preach the gospel, heal the sick, to cast out demons and raise the dead. But these days we all know how to preach our messages, fewer heal the sick, fewer still cast out demon and raising the dead, well… We have made God so complicated we drown in our programs. So busy living ‘for Christ’ we have forgotten how to live ‘In Christ’. This I believe is where we have missed the mark.

This story is meant to encourage and challenge us all, to begin to live out our faith. Many say that their faith is the highest value in their life but did you know that 85% of church going Christians have never shared their faith with anyone, much less pray for the sick? We may value our faith but it is often only in principle not in action. Lets’ take our faith outside of our church walls. There are aspects of God that one will never find in church or from any conference. They will only be found on the streets giving your self away, and believe it or not it is that fire that many are looking for in their life is out there on the streets. It is in the alleyways, in the dumps, in the desert, on the wrong side of the tracks, its there that God will meet you, not always on the mountain top where we all want to be.

When I ponder all the people who are in bondage it is staggering, often my tears flow, not only because of those in bondage but because my own lack of love for the lost.

Lord I/we have gone to many seminars and conferences, and God only knows how many church services I/we have been to, but God, my heart has grown cold, my life is so busy it is hard to find the time. I see the desperate souls around me but the fear of man is still within. Help me Lord to overcome this old man that still entangles so much of my life. Help the lost to burden my heart, to keep me up at night, may I love them enough to fall on my knees, then get up and go, to see their eternity when I drive to work, to see my community as you see it, that I may reach out and give away what you have given me what I have taken advantage of for my own good. Lord forgive me. Amen

Pray and doors will open, then all we have to do is walk through them. It is not our job to save anyone, all we are supposed to do is to ‘prepare the way of the Lord’ and he does the rest, simple really. May we become so consumed in our love for Christ then all the rest will fall into place.

Blessings from the whole family
Lyle

A Few Photos

Easter holiday 2010

Christmas newsletter

Dear friends and family,

On a recent ministry trip I came across a young lady, her selfish father did not want her to marry but wanted her to stay home and work. Father went to the witch doctor and a curse was spoken, within the day this lady was unable to walk. Now she is un-attractive and also unable to work. 12 years in a lying position. She was carried to a ministry outreach put on by TTN. After the ‘Jesus’ film she called for prayer. My good friend Meshach prayed the prayer of salvation and for the curse to be broken. A week later, back in the same village teaching, guess who came to church, still weak but she was walking all on her own. A curse was broken both in spirit and in flesh, Amen. The devil is a liar.

Ministry
Working with TTN – (To The Nations, www.ttnministries.com ) missions team has been a great shift for us and gives us the freedom to work with other mission groups as well. TTN has been in Zambia since 1974. Their small team has planted 600+ churches; they have years of experience with lake and river ministries, mass crusades, equipping rural clinics with medical equipment, and ministering to 14,000 patients yearly in the local hospital. There are plans now to push north into Tanzania.
Hosting outreach teams is also a big part of what we do, you personally or church groups are most welcome. Come to be challenged, changed and go home with a broken heart and some souvenirs too… Let us know when to pick you up at the airport. Bring a willing heart and an open spirit and we’ll take care of the rest. Well, maybe you should bring a few things…

Family
Jette is busy home schooling the girls, which they love. Naomi goes to her little Zambian friend most days to play. We have a beautiful home and a great community of friends. My heart, however, continues to long to be out in the nations around the globe. One season at a time…

Furlough?
We will likely take a short furlough from May to September. Vacation, well, although we need one on a beach, the local fishing dam may have to do.

My Tid Bit –‘The Cross’
Our flesh despises the cross but allow it to embrace you. Our soul alone cannot embrace the cross, nothing in our flesh wants to die but all self must be crucified so that we may walk ‘In’ Christ and ‘In’ the power of His resurrection not of our own. Cling to the cross and stay within its shadow, there is only one, follow not our own. Jesus came to die, shouldn’t we?

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
A big thank you for all your prayers and support in the past year, it means so much! Keep it all coming.
Much love from
Rachel, Acacia, Mikaela, Naomi
Lyle and Jette

Website: www.lylejettehall.blogspot.com
E-mail: jettelylehall@yahoo.com


Two Address Changes
Support address:
Uzima, P.O.Box 982, Concordia, MO 64020, USA
(Make checks out to Uzima, attach note designating the money. Also for direct wiring check web site)

NEW mailing address:
Halls, TTN, P.O.Box 81157, Kabwe, Zambia

Dansk Julebrev

Kære familie og venner.

Jeg har netop oversat Selma Lagerlöfs Kristus-legende “Flugten til Egypten” til engelsk for at bruge den til vores juleaftensgudstjeneste. Selv om det jo er en legende, var det alligevel en påmindelse om, hvor fantastisk julens budskab er. At Himmelens søn blev en af os, og fra første færd oplevede livets barske vilkår.

2009 har været et interessant år. Dog ingen flytninger eller retssager og (næsten) ingen brækkede knogler, hvilket jo er ting, der fyldte meget i 2008!

Besøg…

I februar fik vi besøg af mine forældre og fik bl.a set Victoriavandfaldet for første gang. Det var en kæmpeoplevelse.

Brændt…

Maj blev rigelig varm for os, forstået på den måde, at vi havde brand i vor garage og 2 containere. Der gik mange ting tabt; dog er det Lyle der mærker det mest, da stort set al hans værktøj gik op i røg. Vi har nu genopbygget værkstedet og den ene container er blevet indrettet til klasseværelse, da jeg nu underviser hjemme. Det går rigtig godt; vi lærer alle noget nyt hver dag. Yndlingsfag er natur/teknik og højtlæsning. Lige for tiden har vi kalenderlyset tændt og laver julepynt, når vi læser højt. Vi bruger et engelsk system, mens fredag er dansk-dag.

Naomi er lige fyldt 3 år og er bare skøn og sjov. Hun bliver passet hver dag i skoletiden hos sin lille zambianske veninde Sophie.


Kære julemand…

Pigernes ønskesedler reflekterer i år på en sjov måde deres personligheder. Rachel (11) ønsker sig flere kæledyr eller bøger om dyr. Acacia (8) ønsker sig en hulahopring eller højhælede sko, Mikaela (6) et skateboard eller en fjernstyret bil. Naomi vil være ballerina-prinsesse.


Udbrændt…

I oktober deltog vi i en workshop om stress og udbrændthed. Der blev vi for alvor klar over, hvor tæt Lyle har været på total udbrændthed, og det påvirkede naturligvis hele familien. Det går heldigvis den rette vej nu. Vi arbejder nu sammen med en missionsgruppe som hedder To The Nations (TTN, www.ttnministries.com ). Lyle har været på flere ture til nære og fjerne landsbyer, hvilket er, hvad han virkelig trives i.


Hus og have…

Vi har malet vores dejlige hus og nu, hvor det er regntid, forsøger vi os også med at få en have stablet på benene, eller hvad man nu gør med en have.. Vores husdyr tæller for tiden to hunde, en papegøje, fire marsvin, en vildand, en slange og en kameleon foruden fisk i akvariet. Ikke nok, synes Rachel!


Orlov…

Vi går og leger med tanken om at holde orlov til næste sommer og komme til USA og Danmark engang fra maj og de næste fire måneder. Så hvis nogen kender til et hus/sommerhus i Nordsjælland, som bliver ledigt i aug/sept, hører vi gerne fra jer!!


Juletanker igen…

Jeg er for tiden ved at øve sangen “Mary Did You Know?” sammen med en missionærkollega. Den har en fantastisk tekst, som igen minder om, hvor usædvanligt dette barn var, som vi fejrer. Forhåbentlig har du også noget i din hverdag, der kan minde dig om den egentlige grund til at vi holder julen.

Vi vil også sige en kæmpestor TAK for al jeres forbøn, opmuntring og støtte i årets løb!

RIGTIG GLÆDELIG JUL OG VELSIGNET NYTÅR!
Ønsker Rachel, Acacia, Mikaela og Naomi samt Lyle og Jette


Adresseforandring!
Halls, TTN, P.O.Box 81157, Kabwe, Zambia

Email: jettelylehall@yahoo.com

Fradragsberettigede gaver kan sendes til os via Missionsfonden. Giro 613-9450, mrk.5109 eller Netbank 3433-3332142437,mrk 5109

Desværre må Missionsfonden ikke oplyse givers navn til os, så vi kan ikke takke jer personligt for jeres gaver. Hermed en stor TAK!

New Address

Please note our new mailing address:

Halls
TTN
P.O.Box 81157
Kabwe
Zambia