Peek-A-Boo Pole Dancing

In 2006, Tesco released its Peek-A-Book Pole Dancing kit to the general market. The kit includes a three-pieced tension pole that fits ceilings up to 8'6" tall, a dance booklet, a garter belt and play dance money.

Parents were a little upset to see this product in toy stores. Apparently, they thought their five year olds might be a little young for sex work. Tesco pulled the product from toy shelves. Now, it's being marketed to an older, "more appropriate" audience as the Peekaboo Pole Dancing Exercise Pole on sites like amazon.com. The older, "more appropriate" audience is represented by a girl who looks to be about 18 or 19 on a promotional video posted on youtube.com.

Each year, marketers attempt to sell sensual products to younger and younger girls. Marilyn Monroe was almost thirty when she achieved sex symbol status and was at he height of her career at age thirty-three. Today, our beauty symbols are as young as fifteen. Products like abercrombie's "eye candy" thongs targeting 8-14 year olds and metallic bras at Sears labeled "Girl Identity" push little girls to be sensual.

Why? Marketing giants have figured out that if they want to have cradle-to-grave customers for products like mini-skirts, cosmetics and other similar products they have to create the desire in little girls to be highly desirable to men and seek to achieve unattainable beauty from an early age.

The results? Well one of them is that 2/3rds of underweight twelve year old girls consider themselves to be fat according to a Harvard study. 

Who is going to stand up for the little sisters and daughters growing up under them to stop this nonsense?

Clement Accepted As Surgery Candidate

Today Newton reported great news to me. The hospital in Lusaka has accepted Clement as a candidate for surgery. The date for his surgery is not scheduled as the family did not have the $350 plus $30 travel to and from Lusaka. I told Newton today to take care of scheduling it and I'm planning to wire him money tomorrow.

This is great news.

Please, please, please continue to pray for this little guy. As soon as I have a surgery date, I'll let you know.

Clement is Going Home!

Clement, our "sweet little lamb" (as one friend called him) is pain free and eating today. If he continues to progress, he will go home tomorrow.

Let me explain that medical care is limited where he lives. There are not enough doctors and very little equipment or medicine. Thus, the reasoning to remove the boy's eyes rather than use up precious pain killers. What resources exist  must be used for those who logically will be helped by them. On Friday, Clement was not a good candidate. 

However, upon examination today, the doctor feels very differently! He is 100% certain that the removal of the tumors would have been a complete success had the child not received medicine from the witch doctor. AND...the doctor feels Clement's lenses look much better than they did on Friday! :) He is encouraged enough to move from pressing the family to remove Clement's eyes to referring him to a larger hospital in Zambia's capital, Lusaka. The doctor feels that it is possible to repair the lenses with the right equipment and training.

The doctor will be scheduling Clement's appointment and getting information on the cost of the first visit. It will probably be late in the week until they can accomplish this task. I'll update you, then, so watch the blog.

In the  meantime, pray that the hospital will be able to see him quickly. It usually takes three months to get in. Also, that the community of Nkwazi will see the harm of the witch doctor. My daughter, Lexi, pointed out, "We should be praying for that witch doctor to see God's love!" She is right. Let's do that. Finally, Newton asks that we pray for the boy's grandmother who is his primary care-taker. She is worn out! And, she is the one who gave him the medicine from the witch doctor, so you can only imagine how conflicted she feels. Pray that she'll turn from her legacy of superstition and follow Christ!

As I started this set of blogs, I felt the Lord pressing us that sometimes he heals slowly. I'm in this for the long haul.

Could you join me?

I feel particularly pressed to invite children to pray with us.

A Good Turn of Events In Nkwazi!

It is 9:30pm in Ndola, Zambia.

As soon as I sent the last blog out, my mom called and told me that the Lord had impressed Mark 8:22 upon her a few days ago. It is the passage where Jesus heals the blind man by spitting in the soil and  applying it to the  man's eyes.

I asked her a very strange question before I even thought about how insane it sounded. "Do you want me to call and ask Newton to do that?"

"YES!" she said without hesitation.

So, I did.

Newton immediately returned to the hospital where he found the doctor still pressuring the family to remove the boy's eyes and Clement was screaming in pain. Newton pleaded with them to apply pain killers and they did immediately. Then, this faithful servant of God did what few of us would imagine doing. He moistened the soil and applied it to little Clement's eyes.

When he left, Clement was sleeping peacefully and hadn't opened his eyes from the time the painkillers were given and the earth was applied to his eyes.

Newton plans to return in the  morning and hopes to hear that the boy is pain free and perhaps even already seeing.

The family is seeing the Lord. They have refused to sign the papers to have Clement's eyes removed. They are waiting on God to heal him.

Keep praying. I'm getting emails from all over the country as this passion to see Clement healed spreads like wildfire.

Pass it on...

May God be glorified!

Urgent Prayers Needed For Clement Today!

Newton has just come from the hospital in Ndola, Zambia with a report on our precious boy, Clement. Your prayers are urgently needed in this hour.

Clement's surgery to remove his eye tumors was yesterday. The surgery went fine. However, after removing them the doctor discovered that the boy's lenses were severely damaged. Upon questioning the mother, it was discovered that she'd been using "medicine" from the "traditional healer" (witch doctor) to remedy the boy's blindness. The doctor says that his eyes will never work.

Clement is in terrible pain from the surgery today. Rather than waiting for his eyes to heal from the surgery, the doctor advises removing them since they will not work anyway. Everything in me screamed "no" to this solution and I pleaded with Newton to return to the hospital to ask the doctor to use painkillers while the boys eye heals. (He has none.)

At this point, the father (who miraculously returned two weeks ago) is holding out that they should not remove the boys eyes. But Newton is not sure that decision will be sustained.

I feel it is urgent that we plead with God to stop the pain, convince the family to keep Clement's precious eyes and then ask God to do what the doctor's say cannot be done.

Will you pray right now? 

And perhaps pass this prayer request on...

Photos of The Boy God Is Healing

For those of you with the front row seats to God's miraculous power, bend in. Listen closely. The world-wide web is rumbling with His power which is just about to burst forth. 

This morning, I got an email from my friend Newton Zulu (who can be seen in the photos with Clement.) Our precious four-year-old friend is enjoying a sustained deliverance from a life of deafness. Newton wrote:

Dear Dannah:

Greetings in the name of our Lord.

Clement continues hearing. His surgery is set for this Thursday (April 24) beginning at 800hours and by fifteen hours, he will be taken to [recovery.] The family has been informed of your prayers.

We are looking forward to this day.

God Bless You

Newton

As far as I can tell, there are hundreds of people praying for our dear Clement. I hope you'll join us!

God's Miracles in Nkwazi Compound!

April 4 & 5, the Mission Z team here in the US was fasting and praying for several people including Clement who is four years old and is blind and deaf. On that Saturday, April 5th, our friend Newton Zulu lead fourteen in laying hands on and praying in the Nkwazi compound. Here is what God is doing:

SATURDAY: Newton reported that the fourteen praying could not go into the compound to pray for healing because they needed to repent. They repented of sin for four hours. In the end, one of those in the group confessed to making and selling beer to the children in the compound. He had a true revival. Newton said this is a great miracle. But no healing.

SUNDAY: Newton and the group went in to pray and he told us that as they were praying a huge truck drove into the compound from the Methodist Church. It was loaded with food for everyone. Newton says this is a miracle because Nkwazi is the poorest of the poor compounds so no one ever brings food to this place. The whole community was so excited and attributed it to our prayers. But no healing.

MONDAY: Newton said the group saw more enthusiasm and many were joining in praying, especially for the young boy. But no healing.

TUESDAY: I called Newton just for business. He began screaming, "Sister! Sister! The Lord has opened the boys ears. I am here with him now. Listen!" At that point, Newton put the phone up the boys mouth and he was wailing. You could tell he was frightened at new sounds, but it was a beautiful sound all the same.  God's healing! In addition, a few years ago the boy's father had left him because he didn't want to have a deaf and blind son. BEFORE the boy was healed, the father inexplicably returned and said that God had told him to return to be a father to his son. 

I believe God is just getting warmed up in Nkwazi!

Will you join us in fasting and praying on April 24th. Clement will have surgery to remove some eye tumors on that day...if the Lord has not already removed them! Perhaps the Lord will heal him through this surgery, too. 

Join us on this front row seat to see God at work!