It’s A Wrap!

Our last week in Zambia went by quickly, punctuated by four evenings of training at House of Kings Church which is led by our pastor friends, Innocent and Ossy. We gave them a crash course on Understanding the Bible, and particularly on how to think logically and critically while making use of the awesome learning aids available to us. The students were wonderful and we enjoyed encouraging them very much.

As we reflect back on our second trip to Zambia this year, and our twenty-seventh overall, a few things stand out to us. First, it was an intense trip, good but intense. We were tired when we got home. The intensity was due to the travel and pace we kept, but it was also due to the new opportunities which opened wide to us. We clearly now have an open door with the Khwe school teachers and students in Chetto, Namibia. We also have an open door to work closely with the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP) at their theological college and in all the provinces of Zambia, training pastors, pastors’ spouses, and house prayer leaders. And, the door remains wide open to complete our four phase training with the Mumbwa pastors. All of this is exciting!

Second, the CCAP’s offer to license and ordain Abby was, in retrospect, an historic offer. As we understand it, Abby is the first licensed, and will be the first ordained, non-African in the CCAP, and the first white, as well. Why does this matter to us? Well, because we’ve always held a vision of mission that is a two-way street, a mutual ministry between our African friends and us. Abby has submitted herself to the mission and leadership of the CCAP and this only seems fitting given the unfolding shape of God’s call on her life. This is exciting, as well!

Third, our partnership with Percy Muleba continued to deepen on this trip. We have mutually committed to a 2030 vision which means that our focus on Zambia and Namibia will continue at least until then, but gradually transition through the years to an active Zambia/USA focus. Our hope is that the Biblical Worship Training Centre’s (BWTC) mission to the U.S. will mature over the next seven years. Right now, it consists of Percy’s visits and his training of leaders here, which is great. Our hope is that, over time, Percy will begin bringing teams of Zambians to the U.S. to train us, and, who knows, maybe one day have a mission center here staffed by Zambian missionaries to the U.S. Now, wouldn’t that be exciting?

Anyway, these are just a few thoughts as we look back on our 2023 trips. We remain forever grateful for your financial and prayer support, not to mention the personal encouragement so many of you give us. Without you, there would be no mission to Zambia and Namibia. And, never forget that where we go you go!

Pastors innocent and ossy (l) and students from the house of kings in livingstone, zambia

Thought we’d share Just a few more chobe national park photos!

“Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth, everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory…” Isaiah 43:6-7

One of the wonderful things about working with the same group through multiple phases of training over time is that we get to know one another’s names. Everyone we train shares a common faith in Jesus, but everyone has a different story about how they came to that faith. Over time, their stories begin to come out in their prayers, questions, worship, conversations, and senses of humor. It’s amazing to experience this.

We returned to Mumbwa for Phase 2 training on Sunday, August 27th, with a real sense of excitement. Our Phase 1 training with this diverse group of fifteen pastors had gone extremely well, and was probably the best Phase 1 experience we’d ever had. So, we looked forward to seeing our new friends again, and we were not disappointed!

Abby taught “Foundations of Ministry: Receiving, Believing, Becoming, and Doing,” and Doug taught “Understanding the Bible.” Because we had seven days of training we were able to take our time and allow for plenty of break-out sessions and group discussions. These sort of interactions made the principles we taught come to life as our students discussed them with local and personal applications in mind. Stories were shared, questions were raised, issues were highlighted, and laughter often filled the room. It was a truly wonderful time of mutual learning and encouragement!

As the training drew to a close, one pastor told us, “You have turned our world upside down. Thank you!”

That’s what Jesus does, though, isn’t it? He turns our world upside down so that we begin living right side up. What a joy to experience this with these fifteen committed pastors. And what a joy to know each other’s names!

We are so very grateful for your prayers, support, and encouragement. We are acutely aware that without you we would not have this incredible privilege. And, always remember, where we go you go!

Our awesome class (front l to r): dan, monde & bishop bishop…the rest (l to r): simon, botha, brenda, brian, rev. Bishop, levy, oscar, isaac, given, jr., abel, george & felix

Isaac enjoying a one-on-one breakout

Rev. Bishop: “you have turned our world upside down!”

Botha (l) and felix engaging in a deep discussion

Monde is a great, and often hilarious, storyteller.

This lovely little girl helped her mother clean the building complex where we met for class.

A Little Chobe Magic

We thought a brief interlude for some photos from our lovely one day excursion into Chobe National Park in nearby Botswana would be fun. Enjoy!

Chobe national park has the highest number of elephants in africa at APPROXIMATELY 125,000!

Cape buffalo are extremely dangerous because they never warn before charging.

This young giraffe was licking salt from the ground.

Baboons are always fun to watch, especially young ones with their mom.

This very rare two-headed zebra was an amazing sighting!

This yellow-billed stork is tossing a small fish in the air before swallowing it in one gulp.

We enjoyed watching these young male impalas sparring.

This lioness rested in the shade of these bushes to ride out the 99 degree heat.

This was a handsome male greater kudu.

This Ground hornbill was feeding on elephant dung. Yum!

Check out the tongue!

It was very unusual and special - our first ever sighting- to see a beautiful SERVAL in broad daylight!

Poster-ized!

As we rolled into Lusaka on Thursday night, August 24th, Percy Muleba agreed that we needed a day off from training. The Lundazi trip had been absolutely amazing but intense, so we welcomed the rest. We slept well and looked forward to a full day of training on Saturday, along with Abby preaching on Sunday.

Dr. Silavwe, currently the Deputy Vice Chancellor at United Church of Zambia University, had been Percy’s favorite professor at Justo Mwale University, and remains a valued adviser and friend. Dr. Silavwe’s invitation to teach at his Eternal Glory Church’s leadership conference was an opportunity for us to renew our relationship with him and his leaders. He is the Bishop of this small Pentecostal denomination and wants very much to give it a really solid biblically and theologically sound undergirding. We were grateful for the opportunity to add value to his ongoing efforts.

When we arrived at our training venue, Eternal Glory’s pre-school, we were greeted with a huge poster with our faces prominently displayed! We had been poster-I zed! In the course of the day, Abby and Doug taught much shortened versions of “Receiving, Being, Becoming, and Doing: A Foundation for Ministry” and “Understanding Guilt, Shame, and Fear,” respectively, and Percy taught on “The Necessity of Biblical Worship.” The leaders were very teachable and the day went very well. Afterwards, we were treated to a delicious covered dish supper hosted by Mrs. Silavwe who is quite a cook. Lovely!

Sunday morning found us at a combined worship service for the Lusaka Eternal Glory congregations in a large outdoor tent, and Abby did an admirable job preaching on the grace and love of God who “knows us by name” (Isaiah 43:1 ff). The worship was culminated by the Lord’s Supper which sent us on our way to Mumbwa that afternoon, following yet another covered dish meal!

Some estimates suggest that there are about 25,000 new Christians every day on the continent of Africa, the majority being in Southern Africa. One of the characteristics of this ridiculously rapid church growth is that it is happening primarily, but not exclusively, through independent Pentecostal churches and small denominations like Eternal Glory (which consists of only twelve congregations). The zeal for the Gospel and the passion for evangelism are off the charts, but the biblical/theological underpinnings are often sorely lacking in these churches, not because they’re independent or Pentecostal, but because of their lack of access to training. The desire for training is widespread, but trained pastors and leaders are simply not being produced quickly enough to keep up with the rapid growth.

We feel incredibly privileged to be a small part, a very small part, of meeting this need. And, we are grateful that you enable us to do so because, without your prayer and financial support, we would be unable to be here. And always remember, where we go you go!

It was great to see Dr. Silavwe again! Cool poster, huh?

Our teaching venue was a small preschool classroom which was perfect for our small group of leaders.

These cuties greeted us when we first arrived to train. You can see the muted colors because of the ubiquitous dust of Zambia.

This is a typical HAND-WASHING station which is simple, but does the trick.

On saturday afternoon, we shifted our training to the outdoor tent because of the heat. Percy did a great job teaching on biblical worship!

While we taught, these kids played pool with marbles, a homemade table and sticks for cues and, perhaps, listened in.

Abby did a marvelous job preaching on god’s grace and love for us as individuals. He knows our name!

While we worshipped, this boy relaxed just outside the tent.