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.