Kakolo or Bust!

Lord willing, today I will finally get out to Kakolo!! Thank you all for your prayers for safe travels! I made it to Zambia 7 pm (so equivalent of 1 pm EST) on Tuesday! Rachel picked me up from the airport and I've been able to stay with her in town to finish getting the last minute supplies I need before heading out to the village. This also gave me the opportunity to go back to Kitwe Church's Bible study and see and worship with so many friends who have been praying for my VISA as well! God is good in His timing!

My trip was very eventful; most of this being my forgetfulness or blonde moments :D But God is good through it all, and I was allowed admission back into country even though I don't actually have the final VISA in hand. (I have the receipt that says that it's been approved).

Today I'm meeting up with Helen and BC after working on this post :) and we will head out to Faith Children's Village (FCV)! I am excited to meet Haley, a volunteer who has come out to help at the school, who is also staying at Helen's right now as well! Please pray for a smooth transition back into school life!

Please pray also for Amano Academy right now. Our staff is small and when teachers are out for sickness or other physical struggles we get stretched thin. I'm excited to be able to jump back in and help! To start out I will be teaching grade 3 for this Friday (tomorrow.... wow!) and next week. Then we have a midterm break which will be helpful to continue getting settled and figuring out teaching for the remainder of the term that finishes up sometime around August 4th!

Please continue to pray for opportunities to build relationships with the kiddos! Coming back it is much easier to see ways in which I can be more intentional in this endeavor of getting to know the kids and building friendships with them. I'm also very excited to point them back to God's timing in working out the VISA situation as many of them were praying for it as well! I want them to see that God is good in His allowance of situations we may not understand at first or may not understand at all!

Again, to all of you who pray, thank you so much!! It truly means so much!

If you have any questions about anything, FCV or Amano, please don't hesitate to ask! My email is:
byhisgrace555@gmail.com or you can contact me via Facebook! Thanks again!

In Christ,
Abbie Rysta

Philippians 1:6 - Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you, will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.

Comfort Zones

God has done it! My visa has been approved, and I am headed back to Zambia tomorrow Lord willing! I am beyond excited to go back and continue working with my kiddos in our 4^th – 6^th grade classroom and the dear staff members I’ve grown to love! But I’m also so thankful for God’s allowance of a little extra time home. He has taught me much about Himself and just how much I still must learn.  Originally, I was so confused as to what God was doing as I had to learn to patiently wait for His timing, but I’m so thankful for the teaching time He has so graciously granted.

See, I would have told you that being in Zambia was way out of my comfort zone and really forced me to rely on God’s strength! I thought that this time at home would be comfortable… but God had other plans! His plans were far above my own! God taught me the importance of being out of my comfort zone, through working on houses (which I knew nothing about beforehand) and through substituting for classes that I barely remembered from high school. But God has shown me Himself through it all!

God is Creator.

God has made all things in the world around me from the smallest atom and element to the largest galaxy!!!!

God is in control.

God has forgiven me of so much.

God is a God of beauty and design.

God wants His church to be unified.

God delights in the passing of His faithful ones.

God gives strength and help!

God alone is supreme.

God is love, unconditional love.

Christ is sufficient.

God is the only One who deserves my desire to please!

He has taught me so much! Many of these truths I am rehearsing daily because I still struggle with slipping into beliefs that contradict these truths, but as Paul says in Philippians, Being confident of this very thing, that He who hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.

Tomorrow I go back to another uncomfortable zone, and I praise God for it! I don’t want to be complacent in my walk with Jesus! I want each day to rely on Him and lean on Him for every word, thought, and action!

Am I there yet? Nope! But again, God is faithful and will fulfill His promises toward me!

I claim these truths as I head back to Zambia, begging God to draw me closer to Himself through this next season in my life!

I covet your prayers for safety in travels and for open doors to talk about my Lord with those I connect with. Pray that I would be able to build relationships with my kiddos and point them to the One who can give their lives meaning and purpose!

Thank you also to all of you who have financially supported me! I could not be where God has led without your generous giving! Know that it is an investment in the Kingdom!

God Bless

Abbie Rysta

Psalm 72:18 – Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things.