Laying Down their Lives in Zambia

I'm delighted to be inviting a couple of guest bloggers to join us for this week and next. My apologies for getting off-schedule -- technical glitches meant that I couldn't post this past Friday while I was sunning in Gran Turk!

Do you admire people who are 100% invested in something? This is our week to honour an inspiring person. My friend Crystal introduced me to this week’s recipient recently, and his grieving family has been on my mind ever since. Crystal has kindly agreed to write about them here, and it’s an honour to be able to support them even just a little bit through this incredibly difficult time.

"Rob Hall was one of those people I both admire and think crazy all at once. He died suddenly in a construction accident in Zambia last month. He leaves behind his wife and 3 beautiful little children, 6yrs, 3yrs and just one. I didn't know Rob (or his wife, Kate) personally but they feel like friends.

I 'met' Rob and Kate through their dining room table. The Halls are very close friends of my friends. My friends were storing this table in their basement for Rob and Kate. It was only being stored as at the time they were leaving for Zambia, no one needed to borrow it. They wanted it used, lent out, while they were away. 

This table is beautiful, a harvest table that had been beautifully crafted by Rob himself. This would have been something that I would have been very tempted to store, to wrap up, to protect and keep safe until I returned to Canada and use for myself. It is a work of art and I've no doubt it took much time and skill to craft. I wouldn't have wanted just anyone using it, especially a stranger, like myself, with two little boys. The risks to such a beautiful piece of furniture are many when that table is being lent to a family with two little boys who love to play "construction" and could decide it needed 'fixing'. Leaving this table to the care of strangers symbolizes how Rob and Kate lived their life together. They weren't bogged down by things and by being practical. They felt God was calling them to work in Zambia so they stepped out in faith, trusting God to provide. They didn't see their possessions, their children, their limited finances as preventing them from acting when they felt God was calling them.

They abandoned what many of us, I at least, would call common sense.At first I felt judgemental about their decision to go to Africa without a back up plan if something happened and things didn't work out. I'll admit I was judgemental, an "Are you crazy? You have kids to think of? How could you put them at risk this way?" Then I was stopped in my common sense tracks. How many times do I not risk, not step out, not trust more in God's provision or in the goodness of  people He's put in my life to support me if I fall. I am humbled by their story, by the man and woman who risked all when they felt God's call to do something different.  Why God allowed Rob to die is a question for God alone but to not risk, is not to live fully.  Rob's family motto is vive us Vivas or in english, "Live, that you might live."  If you want to learn more about Rob, his wife Kate and their family you can visit here."

Again, it is my privilege to help provide for people who laid everything on the line for the God they serve. Thanks for your honest blog entry, Crystal, and for bringing this precious family to our attention.

I'll be back on track this Friday with another guest blogger who suggested another inspiring recipient -- stay tuned!