Friday

We finished up the conference for the pastors/deacons/church leaders in Lusaka today. We have a day tomorrow of rest and packing and then we'll head home Sunday! Thanks for your prayers. I'll post some pics when I get back.

Wednesdays post...

So we got to Lusaka Monday at 10:30 in the morning. We were planning on talking with the Pastor who set up the conference here and then plan the week...we tried and didn't hear back from him until 8:45 that night. Most of the afternoon we were wondering if there was going to be a conference at all! Welcome to Africa! It worked out, though, and we just finished our second day of teaching. The pastors and deacons that we are teaching are really moving with us through the material well and seem to be responding really positively. They are not nearly as engaged in interacting with our questions or asking their own compared to the students last week, but its hard to describe the hunger of the students at the college. We'll be doing the same thing tomorrow and Friday, then resting on Saturday before leaving early Sunday for the long trip back! Keep praying for us!

Sunday.

The church plant turned out to be a house church in one of the 'compounds' just outside of Kitwe. The compound is where the poorest of the poor urban people live--the government provides a small lot and the people construct whatever form of house they can manage. The house that we worshiped in this morning was a small three room house. Walking in the door from the sunlight I could hardly see my hand in front of my face and I smelled only dirt. We sat walked through the kitchen area and into the living area where there were several old couches and a few straight-back chairs along the walls. The floors were dirt and the outer walls were clay bricks with a loose-concrete mortar. The church usually met up the road a bit in another home, but the wife of that house had just suffered a seizure and wasn't able to host the church. We were able to visit her and pray after the service. There was also a funeral in the community this morning, so the usual 30-40 counting children was whittled down to about 8 adults and 15-20 kids. After some singing they called me to preach, and I think I surprised them a bit when I asked if I could sit on the floor and teach the children before giving the message. I taught the kids from Matthew 19 and the adults the same thing that I shared in the previous church--sowing and reaping in the kingdom of God and how that sort of activity is opposed to the sowing and reaping of the kingdoms of the world (from Isaiah 9, Matthew 13, and Galatians 6). I was blessed to be a part of the small community there, only less than a year in existence. There was genuine life in the leaders Robert, Gertrude, and Blessed, and they were upbeat and hopeful about being able to reach the compound with the gospel. They blessed me even more by cooking a meal after church, chicken, rice and potatoes, an expensive meal in their context. The generosity and graciousness of the Zambian people continues to convict my heart.

Packed and rested...to Lusaka in the morning.

a day of rest...

Dave and I had a good day of rest today--napped, prayed and read pretty much all day. It felt extravagant! We are both refreshed. We'll preach in two of the churches in the area tomorrow morning, take the afternoon to rest and pack and then head to Lusaka early Monday morning. I'll be preaching in the church-plant of one of the older students' that we taught this week, Moses. It is one of four that the main church has planted in the last few years. Thanks for your faithful prayers.

yesterday and today...

Just a warning, this will be a long one...

We finished up the teaching this afternoon at 5pm. It was a long week with 7 hours of teaching each day. The students continued to be extremely receptive to the idea of disciplemaking and even began to grasp some of the practical things we were teaching them--small group training, one-on-one training, how to prepare for an intentional discipleship program. Dave and I were encouraged as were Bonnie and Bennett, who said the students were extremely talkative after class and during breaks about the material and that this wasn't common for them. They also blessed us with a gift, a chitenge for our wives. It is the common skirt for women here, which is a large piece of cloth that is just wrapped around and tucked in. They also use it as a back-sack for carrying babies around or for a head wrap if they are carrying a basket of some kind any distance. This was such a moving gesture because of the cost and because Bonnie said that they have not given a gift to instructors in a very long time. They were obviously encouraged and complimentary beyond what is their already natural way of kindness and preference. It meant a lot to Dave and I, and even though we are very fatigued, the week was definitely very fruitful. These are the students that we taught, from top left: Paul (who wants to be a church planter), Brian (this was his last class before graduation and he will be a pastor in a local church here in Kitwe), Dave, Mark (will be one of the first to graduate from the new Master's program here and will be a pastor), Kelly (a pastor), Sylvia (who is a local pastor), Nathan (my friend), Moses (a very mature and well-respected local pastor), Owen, myself, Peter (who wants to work with orphans in Somalia); and on the ground from left: Davies (a military chaplain), Gerald, Kelvin (who will be going into national and foreign missions and church planting), Saviours, and Winston (who is a head pastor at a church plant that is 10 years old).As I mentioned, I ate at Nathan Chifuna's house last night. He cooked a veritable feast for me, and we had some good conversation and a good time of fellowship. Nathan is a passionate evangelist and disciple-maker, although he functions in an extremely high level in the gift of encouragement. It is always a pleasure to be around him and his family. Their gentleness and generosity is such a blessing.

Dave and I also had the priviledge of eating this evening with Matthews Fikati and Wilson Chabu. Matthews is on the left and Wilson on the right. The Zambian people as a whole are an extremely respect-oriented culture, and these two were better dressed than I'd ever seen them before out of courtesy to us.

They are part of a church here that is an especially missions oriented community. Matthews just returned a month or so ago from a mission trip to the Congo, and they are both also highly involved in planting a church in the 'bush' town called Serenge. There is a lot of demon possession there, traditional idol worship and the like.

When they have been there in the past, Matthews described his program (his daily schedule) like this: "I would preach and cast out demons from 9-12. Then I would take a break for some lunch and rest. Then I would have a bible study for those who had been converted in the morning."

At one point in his ministry there he was able to convert the local witch-doctor, which was a dangerous undertaking (because of the real power that is available through the demonic) and an obviously enormous victory for the kingdom. He said that the W.D. had a joo-joo over his door that enabled him to read the minds of those who walked in his home. So when Matthews came to confront him, he already knew his name, where he was from, etc. Matthews preached the gospel to him and after he confessed Christ, they went outside to burn all of his joo-joos. They then went into the hills behind his house where they turned over and burned the altar where the W.D. had been sacrificing to demons. Serious business.

I am always amazed at the humilty of my friends here and their unbelievable levels of faith and power in the Spirit. At another time, Matthews told the story of casting a demon out of a person that was, in his words, "not wanting to come out". He told me that they were in prayer continually for 8 hours for the man until he was made well, finishing matter-of-factly with "once you begin to cast out a demon, you do not stop until it is out, even up to one or two days."

The church in Serenje now has 23 members who meet together regularly and Matthews is going back in July with a group from his church to formally open the church.

Wilson is also in missions and is active in the church plant. He has been serving in a more pastoral role in the home church since his graduation, but is hoping to work with the Zulu of South Africa in the future. As of now, he is about to be the instructor at a local bible college on the book of Titus. They are both extremely zealous for the Lord and the advancing Kingdom. I am always encouraged to be around them.

Dave and I will be going to market tomorrow in the late morning and then taking some rest in the afternoon before preaching in two churches on Sunday.

today...

Today was good. We had a solid day of teaching...the second grade class interrupted at one point to bring us muffins and sing us happy birthday (Dave's was Sunday and mine was yesterday). So cute, just couldn't get my camera out in time! The students remain very receptive despite seven hours of teaching each day. They really have little concepts of any intentional disciple-making structure so they are extremely eager to learn as they realize that the goal of the Christian life is maturity and that we are called not only to evangelize (which they excel in) but to make mature disciples of Jesus. Like the U.S., they see the effects of a lack of mature Christians in the church on the lives of believers and on the reputation and influence of the church in the community. As leaders, they seem especially convinced by the lack of maturity in some of the church's leadership and are beginning to see how Jesus' way of discipleship is the way to go!

Here's a question I got today:
"So, you're saying that we should help new believers to have a good foundation of love and trust in Jesus...what if there is a polygamist who becomes a Christian? Should he shoo his second wife away? And what of his children? When the children of the wife he sends away make him tempted to get back with that woman, should he send them away also?"

That one led to a really great conversation about the role of the church and spiritual leaders/mentors/disciplers in helping a person deal with difficult ethical decisions about their new life in Christ. Its sometimes startling the contrast of issues. To let you know a bit about the situation, for example, in the States we want to train leaders mostly because people rotate in and out when they get tired of certain areas of ministry. Their need for new leaders here is because AIDS and other things have lowered the life expectancy in Zambia to 38.

In the 'not so good news' department, I found out last night that the economic situation has more than doubled the price of a large bag of cornmeal (the staple) in Zambia from K27000 to K60000 $4.90 to $10.90. So, if you're living on less than a dollar a day, which most people here are, you're now eating one meal a day instead of two. Makes me a little less whiny about our low support the last few months...

In any case, despite the conditions, the students are extremely hungry for the word and for instruction. We ate lunch today with two of our students, Peter and Paul (naturally!). One is looking to go into missions in the middle east and the other is hoping to be a church planter in the northern part of Zambia. I was also able to speak with Wilson Chabu, who is a a graduate of the school who I met last time we came. He walked an hour and a half from his home to the seminary to talk! He is involved with disciple-making and evangelism in a local church in the area and is looking to do missions in the U.S. or South Africa. He's waiting on the 'Lord's leading' which, for him, means he's waiting on an open door and the funds to go. I'll be eating with he and Matthews Fikati (another graduate) on Friday night and another of the students that I met the last time, Nathan Chifunda, is going to cook for me at his house tomorrow! I'll save the Wilson and Matthews stories for another night...they'll blow your mind.

Dave and I are doing well. The best tired possible! Thanks for your prayers.

Africa update...

Africa is spectacular! We traveled for 21 hours to get here on Friday and Saturday plus sitting/waiting time, so it took a bit of time for the fatigue of that to wear off. I preached through an interpreter in a church in the capital city on Sunday...crazy experience. They say you get used to doing it after a few times, but in the two times I've done it, I've had a hard time keeping my mind on track! Traveled again on Monday morning by bus to a city in the North called Kitwe and we had our first day of discipleship training at the bible college today. The students were extremely receptive (as they usually are). Much like the states, there is rarely any model in the church that intentionally develops people in Christlikeness or maturity in faith, however you want to say that. So, the church is full of evangelized converts who stay perpetually at a very infantile level of spirituality. All that to say...the students really see how the things we're teaching would really benefit their congregations. Most of them are either pastors already or training to be in full time ministry, so they are highly motivated to learn and grow.

Its always encouraging just to be here. We're at the "Christian Center for Missions" and they are such gracious hosts. Bennett and Bonnie are the married (just a year ago) co-directors of the bible college. Bonnie is a missionary from Alabama (15 years into it) and Bennett is a native Zambian man who has a passion for the church and disciple-making here. He planted a church several years ago as well. They are also developing a primary school on their base which is ikn the top 25% of the country's schools. I was able to do the devotion for the teachers this morning and its exciting to be able to observe the many ways that the kingdom is being advanced here. This is a longer post, so I'll knock off, but please be praying for my father-in-law, Dave and myself, for energy and endurance. We're both are teaching about 3-4 hours each day.

Headed back to Zambia today...be praying for my father-in-law, Dave and I. We'll be teaching a course in practical discipleship to the students at a bible college and for pastors in the capital city. And pray for my wife who will have the kids by herself for two weeks.