A Weekend with the Grandchildren

This past weekend, Abby and I had the pleasure of training our “grandchildren!” At least that’s how Percy described his Biblical Worship Training Centre (BWTC) team. In other words, if Percy is our “son,” then these are his children and, thus, our grandchildren. It’s a very Zambian way of looking at the world, and Abby and I like it a lot. As our ministry has multiplied over the years, we’ve more and more come to see it as an extended family of indigenous missionaries. And for this, we are profoundly grateful.

Nathan and Natasha generously opened their home for this retreat and their hospitality was warm and gracious. Also attending were pastors Cliff and Esau, and Esau’s wife, Miriam, along with Nana, and Thabo. Cliff’s wife and Nana’s husband were unable to attend due to illness. And, of course, Percy Muleba was there and we were delighted that his wife, Muyunda, with their new daughter, Mwendebai, was able to join us on the last day.

Percy asked us to integrate three of our trainings in one “Boot Camp” weekend, Understanding Guilt, Shame and Fear, The Wounded Healer, and Praying Psalms of Lament. It worked beautifully. Our grandchildren were open, fully engaged, enthusiastic, and thoughtful. Our times of worship and prayer were wonderful. Every member of the team is gifted musically so you can imagine what that was like. Finally, the small group format facilitated relationship building, and preparing and sharing meals only added to this.

Some of their take-aways were, and I’m paraphrasing: I’m reading Genesis 1-3 now with new eyes…I’m seeing the cross even more clearly now…I’m recognizing that everyone struggles with guilt, shame, and fear and God lovingly meets our needs…As we lament in our woundedness, God hears us…I’m beginning to realize how my past has deeply affected me.

We can’t wait to see how our weekend together feasting on God’s Word will strengthen our BWTC grandchildren’s walk with Jesus, not to mention what the Lord will accomplish through them in the coming years. We have every confidence in their love for Jesus, gifted worship leadership, and profound desire to spread sound biblical training. And, we have every confidence that Jesus holds them in the palm of his hand.

Please continue to pray for us. We begin eight days of training in Musokotwane (9am-noon) beginning on Saturday, and five days of training in Livingstone (5-7pm) beginning on Monday. It will be a very full eight days.

And, remember…Where we go you go!

L to R: Percy, Nana, Nathan, muyunda and mwendebai, miriam, cliff, natasha, esau, thabo, and abby

Chobe Magic

After a wonderful two weeks, yesterday we put Scott and Sandra Bauer on their return flight home to Arizona. We’re so grateful they came, did a great job, and have caught the vision for training in Zambia!

Tomorrow, Abby and I begin a three day boot camp for Percy’s Biblical Worship Training Centre team. We’re incredibly excited to get to work with these ten young, highly motivated leaders!

Meanwhile, I thought you might enjoy a few more photos from our trip to Chobe National Park!

Cape buffalo and african jacana

Nile monitor

African elephanT feeding

playing fireman

African Fish eagle with recent catch

So much fun SCATTERING an ibis and egret

DOn’t you just love the ears?

Mud bath heaven

The magnificent lilac-breasted roller

Over-evangelized and Under-discipled

One of the blessings of this trip has been welcoming Scott and Sandra Bauer, our dear friends and GTN colleagues from the Phoenix area. It’s their first trip to Zambia and they have loved being here so far. And we have loved having them!

Because Scott and Sandra are only here for a short time, they’ve been taking the lead in training both in Musokotwane and Livingstone. Their styles are very different, Scott being a nuclear engineer and Sandra a teacher, but they have woven together nine days of edifying and encouraging teaching. And they have been very well received.

The need for discipleship training in Zambia is acute. As Percy Muleba says, “We have been over-evangelized and under-discipled.” So sharing the opportunity with Scott and Sandra with the hope that they might return to Zambia in the future just makes sense. They’ve told us already that, Lord willing, they’d like to return next year!

What do we mean by over-evangelized and under-discipled? Broadly speaking, it simply means that the emphasis here through the years has been on conversion, not on maturation following conversion or on discovering one’s mission. It’s as if only part of the Great Commision (Matthew 28:18-20) has been emphasized. In the original language, the only command in the Great Commision is to “make disciples.” Three parts of that process are spelled out by Jesus, namely “going,” “baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” and “teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Of course, Jesus also emphasizes his universal authority to commision us and his supernatural presence to empower us as we make disciples.

It’s the third part of the process, “teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you,” that has often been been neglected. Consequently, we routinely find incredible zeal in the churches here without adequate knowledge of the Gospel, especially in any wholistic or systematic way. Consequently, despite many, many genuine conversions and baptisms, the presence of syncretism, heresy, immorality, an inadequate ecclesiology, and a lack of church discipline are common. Obviously, I’m painting with a broad brush because there are certainly many mature believers here. But, the rapid growth of the church, which some estimates put as high as 25,000 new Christians per day in Africa, means that conversion is rapidly outstripping maturation. There simply aren’t enough mature and well-trained Christians, especially in remote areas, to teach all the new believers.

The great news is that the believers here are hungry for sound biblical knowledge, and eagerly desire to grow. Over and over again, we find this to be true. That’s why we feel so incredibly privileged to train here. We often pinch ourselves and say, “I just don’t understand why we get to do this!”

Our recent training bears this out. Both in rural Musokotwane and in Livingstone, a city of some 230,000, our students have been hungry and receptive. They have asked great questions and contributed helpful insight into our discussions. Their openness and enthusiasm allowed Scott and Sandra to acclimate quickly in both settings, and made their trip a joyful experience of building disciples.

Please continue to pray for Scott and Sandra as they wind down after a busy Sunday and prepare for their Wednesday departure. And, pray for us as we prepare for an intense three day Boot Camp next weekend with Percy’s Biblical Worship Training Centre (BWTC) staff.

And, remember, where we go you go!

Scott enjoyEd his first taste of village chicken, nshima and gravy in musokotwane. Delicious!

Sandra made so many new friends in musokotwane!

Scott and percy worked beautifully together.

Esther is an absolute joy to teach!

Sharing bibles is a must in the villages.

ThIs is the combined congregations of the musokotwane and mwiinga churches.

Scott and sandra have been a great team!

Prayer Is always an important part of our training.

Smart phone bibles are beginning to turn up in the villages.

LeaDers from the mwiinga church begin their long walk home following our training in musokotwane.

Digging into gods word wAs so edifying.

Just another sunset on the zambez!

Taking A Breather: “…The Lord grants sleep to those he loves…” Psalm 127:2

Whew! Our first seven weeks in Zambia and Namibia have been a blur! We’ve travelled in Zambia to Mumbwa, Mongu, and Sioma, and to Katima Mulilo, Namibia, as well. Each stop has been rewarding and fruitful, and our training has been transformative for both our students and us. We’re incredibly grateful for the privilege of being here, and for your support, encouragement, and prayers!

Over the last seven weeks, we’ve seen once again how important relational training is. Deepening relationships have allowed for more pertinent and in-depth discussions which, in turn, have strengthened our confidence in the Gospel. Information given without the context of relationships is rarely transformative, in our experience.

Is it any surprise that Jesus chose only twelve disciples to live with him and be trained by him for three years? And, it’s interesting that the largest discipleship group that Jesus trained over time appears to be seventy-two in number (Luke 10:1). Of course, many more followed him during his ministry, but it’s perhaps instructive that there were only one hundred twenty disciples on the day of Pentecost when the church was birthed by the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:15). My guess is that Jesus knew all their names.

The apostle Paul describes this transformative dynamic in his second letter to Timothy. In his final charge to the one he describes elsewhere as “a son” (Philippians 2:22), Paul says this: “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it” (2 Timothy 3:14). It makes all the difference when we know the ones who teach us, allowing us to learn and, more importantly, become convinced. Relational learning provides knowledge that lays the foundation for belief that leads to trust which the Bible calls faith. We have seen this play out over and over again through the years, both in the States and here in Africa.

This past week we took a breather while we prepared for the second half of our mission. In addition to waking up without an alarm clock, we went on a one day safari to Chobe National Park, something we hadn’t done in four or five years. Chobe is only about an hour away and it’s home to four of Africa’s Big Five: African Elephant, African Lion, Cape Buffalo, and Leopard. Only the Rhinoceros is missing. It has the largest elephant population in Africa, estimated at 125,000+! In addition, there are Giraffe, Zebra, Nile Crocodile, Impala, Kudu, Sable, Water Buck, Fish Eagle, etc. You never know what you’ll see so it was quite an adventure. Again, what a privilege!

Please continue to pray for us. On July 27th, we welcomed our friends and GTN colleagues, Scott and Sandra Bauer, to join us here. We’ll be working together for two weeks including training leaders in Musokotwane and Livingstone, and teachers and kids in Livingstone. This is their first visit to Zambia so we’re praying they have a great experience. And remember, where we go, you go!