Testimony of Jan and Charles Van Norman

Charles and I are very proud to be Christians and members of Inglewood Baptist Church, Grand Prairie, Texas – a church with a vision for missions.

In 2006, when we decided to go to Zambia we knew we would see things Ed and Linda Miller and the 2005 IBC Team had described but we didn’t know the eagerness of the people to learn about Jesus nor the severity of the poverty.

We always heard that God doesn’t call the equipped but that He equips the called. We are not teachers, but we do know that God held us in His arms and that He stood by us during these two mission trips and gave us courage to speak His word. It didn’t seem to matter to those precious children that we had a funny accent. What mattered was that we were all there to love them and to share about Jesus. We were thrilled that 77 made professions of faith in 2006 after Holiday Bible School and 103 in 2007.

In America, from the time we open our eyes in the morning until we go to bed, we have so much more than most people in Zambia. Nothing stopped them from walking miles and miles or catching a rickety bus to travel to hear the Word of God – so often we cannot just drive a few miles to our local church. Our teaching at the Chande Baptist Orphanage was to begin at 9 am, but the children walked and had been there since before 8 and were singing praises and eagerly awaiting our arrival.

The children who attend Chande Orphange School wear green uniforms. Some of the 50 precious children in our room had torn clothing or buttons missing, but that didn’t seem to matter to them. One of the first sad sights in our class was a little girl who had a square cut out of each shoe for her big toe because she had outgrown her shoes. Most children who attend Chande are either single or double orphans. They were so excited to be there. They had memorized John 3:16, various worship songs, the books of the Bible, and most wrote beautifully. Each day they wanted to write down the things they had learned and put them in the Bibles they were given.

In 2006, we were co-teachers of the 5th grade. This year, we requested 6th grade so we could renew our relationship with the children. One precious little girl hugged Jan and said “I thought you had forgot about us”.

After the 2006 trip, Jan knew she would be returning to Africa, however, Charles was unsure he would return. God had a greater plan in mind for him. Everyday on his way to work, Charles says the prayer of Jabez. “Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil”. One morning, through this prayer and the verse “go ye into all the world and preach the gospel”, God let Charles know that he was being called back to Africa.

At times someone in our group would do something unusual or silly and we would say “what happens in Africa stays in Africa” --- but, we don’t agree with that. We had 14 team members who go in different directions and interact with different people and we think we should spread the news of what happened in Africa and what can continue to happen with our support. We have been provided the names of 76 children who need support of $30 a month. We are committed to finding sponsors for these children and contributors so the orphanage building can be completed and operational.

These trips have been life changing experiences and we are thankful to have been a part of the 2006 and 2007 Zambia Mission Teams from Inglewood Baptist Church. Our challenge to others is that they pray about (1) joining the 2008 Zambia Mission Team, (2) supporting a child and (3) contributing to the orphanage building project.