Obituary

Pestke Jr., Richard A. "Dick"

Gone home to be with His Lord and Savior on Thursday, November 23,2006 at age 64. He is survived by his loving wife of 39 years, Jane. Loving father of Laura (Michael) Schiano of MA, Lisa (Michael) Woods of WA, and Kevin Pestke. Also survived by parents, Richard and Eletha; grandson, Jake; sisters, Gail (Graham) Cresswell and Linda Miller; brother-in-law, George (Bea) Arnold; nieces and nephews. Dick was a faithful member of First Bible Baptist Church.

No prior calling hours. Family and friends are invited to celebrate his Memorial Service, Thursday, November 30th at 7 P.M. at First Bible Baptist Church, 1039 North Greece Rd. Private internment in Parma Union Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society or First Bible Baptist Church Building Fund.

Vision Bible Baptist

This last weekend, John Sarra and I traveled to Lusaka to participate in a small conference including some 7 churches and roughly 300 people. We arrived Saturday morning and preached and taught until mid afternoon. Had a great time opening God's word and seeking to know the Lord more deeply.
John was able to distribute boxes full of Bibles and evangelistic tracts as well as a wheelchair. There are sometimes in life when life seems more difficult than others. As I go through the struggles of my daily life and the complications of my father's cancer, I often feel weighted down. Yet, this weekend was refreshing for me - one great reason - perspective. We were able to give a wheelchair to a girl in the congregation that was unable to attend school because she had no wheelchair. After the girl came forward to receive the wheelchair we found out her name is "Misozi", which means in Nyonga "tears". We later found out her mother died in childbirth and thus the name was given. The girl was deeply moved by the gift and could not speak because of the emotion of the moment.
As thankful as I was for being allowed to be used of God and see the Lord move through the people at the preaching of His word, this weekend - I saw Jesus in the face of a girl named "Tears". I will not soon forget Misozi. She is an overachiever! In a world of difficulty for the non-handicapped, she has struggled just to exist in a nation that has little sympothy for her type. To God be the Glory - as Jesus said, "neither did she sin, nor her parents: but that the works of God should be manifest" (John 9:3).

Institute Pyramid

On Wednesday the guys from the Bible Institute wanted me to take a picture of them - so we assembled a group of them together and took a couple photos. After some persuassion, I was able to get them to try a pyramid. For many, it was their first time --- so, it's a pyramid, but it is not pretty... we had a good time! Can you see me?

Basic School

This past Saturday (Nov 4), I was asked to come and preach to a group of roughly 30 students at the local basic school. The students are graduating from grade 8 to grade 9 and have organized a Bible club. Next week they will be taking their grade 8 exams making this last Saturday ideal for some encouragement from God's word.
I have been reading through the book of Joshua and just happened to have the story of Jericho and the transgression of Achan as my morning devotion - an always applicable story of the huge "faith projects" the Lord puts within our lives to show us His great and mighty strength, while at the same time warning us not to look to the right or left, but to keep focused on His word. Jericho being the faith project and the gold, silver, and Babylonian garments being the temptations that come into each of our lives, especially after a victory such as the defeat of Jericho.
Roughly 10-11 students and even a couple of teachers raised their hand in agreement with having some sin that needed to be removed in order to keep in line with God's word. In all, the students received the message, praying together to purge out our sin, the Lord to keep us from sin, and to walk by faith.
In all - To God be the Glory!

Fish Ponds

With my move to Chipata on the horizon, I am researching multiple venues to find a way to bring some sort of self-sustainability to the proposed mission station in the Eastern Province. One such idea that seems to truly have potential is fish ponds. When most thing of fish, they think of poles and hooks - this is completely different - the idea is to bring fishlings to full maturity and sell to a ready market.
This last Thursday, I spent the day speaking to local government fish agencies and accumulating pertinent information. Although the initial capital investment appears to be significant, the long term pay off and maintenance costs are quite positive making this project something likely we will pursue. The Lord even brought a commercial fish farmer into my path on Thursday, allowing me the opportunity to speak and question the profitability and success he has had over the years. I am hoping to visit his fish farm in the near future to get a realistic idea of how it all works - but, right now - I remain quite excited at the potential this project has. This project is not intended to just bring in profit, but to produce enough revenue that the ministry in the Eastern Province will develop and continue forward without the need of foreign investment.

Region Baptist Church

Sunday (October 29), I was asked by Andrew Mulenga to come and close a Youth Conference at his church (Region Bible Baptist). There was suppose to be 4 churches in the area gathering for 3 days of teaching, activities, and preaching. When I arrived I found only 3 churches had attended, due to lack of transport by one of the churches.
I preached a message from Deuteronomy on the need for the Scripture in the life of every true believer and how event the Lord Jesus quoted and lived by Old Testament Scripture when confronted by the devil and difficult situations in life. Although, I am not sure the message was necessarily aimed at youth, it was received with all readiness of mind.
The Lord continues to bless His word and accomplish His will - not sure why He ever chose men, only that it would obviously bring Him the maximum glory for the weakest of His creation to proclaim the greatest of Truths - in all, To God be the Glory.

Burkitt's lymphoma

According to the National Cancer Institute (www.cancer.gov), Burkitt's lymphoma cancer is, "An aggressive (fast-growing) type of B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma that occurs most often in children and young adults. The disease may affect the jaw, central nervous system, bowel, kidneys, ovaries, or other organs. There are three main types of Burkitt’s lymphoma (sporadic, endemic, and immunodeficiency related). Sporadic Burkitt’s lymphoma occurs throughout the world, and endemic Burkitt’s lymphoma occurs in Africa."
As most of you know, my father has been battling this cancer for the last year. After many months of chemotherapy, he was declared in remission. However, it was soon thereafter he was feeling sick again, only to find out the cancer had returned. Again, he was treated with radiation for 7 weeks in the hope of destroying the cancer. Again, we have just found out the cancer is back in full force. My dad was hospitalized on Friday and will begin chemotherapy again.
It is amazing how fragile human life is. Although I would wish this cancer on no person, it has slowed me long enough to realize the importance of human life and especially the importance of loving the one's closest to me. Love has a strange way of blossoming under the most strenuous of situations. My love for my father and respect I have for him has increased exponentially in the last 12 months. It is good to have a hero in this world - I am glad mine is my father.

AGM

This year's Annual General Meeting (AGM) was held at Maisait Bible Baptist Church. Every year, GCMS has a meeting to discuss the events of the last year and plan for the events of the upcoming year. Before the meeting actually takes place, we incorporate a time of teaching a preaching while most of the leadership is present. It is a great way to unify everyone and bring people together.
This year, I was asked to teach on leadership. After much study and prayer, I decided to teach on the life of Moses and the key attribute of his leadership ability, humility/meekness. I tried to show how the 'glory of the Lord' was often in the leadership and life of Moses. It was through the glory of the Lord that Moses realized his place before God and was able to live in humility before both God and man.
This is the type of teaching that everyone appreciates, but it rarely implemented. We all would say with our mouth we want to be humble and meek, yet most of us never really strive for such a thing. At the end of the meeting, the entire congregation got on their knees, and prayed, asking the Lord to show forth His glory in their life, enabling them to walk in meekness and humility.

Sunday Services

Over the past two weeks, I visited two different churches. I have been unable to blog due to some health issues, so I am trying to catch up by putting two churches in one post. The first church (Lemba Bible Baptist) is located past Mpongwe down a wide dirt road. The church is in a building project and is almost finished. All that is needed is a roof! The church is praying the roof will be completed before the rains begin in the next few weeks... once the money comes in, it does not take long for the completion.


The second church visited (Twatema Bible Baptist) is located in the opposite direction taking rouhly 2 full hours. The first part of the trip is quick in which the road are paved. The second part of the trip is very rough going through extremely dense bush, over rocks, and tree roots, and over "bridges" hastily constructed.
Both trips were well worth the difficulties of the day. It seems the greater the difficulty in doing something, the more the Lord tends to reward the effort. In both services we had many come forward confessing sins and desiring to come to the Lord.
As you can see, Twatemwa is also in the midst of a construction process. The church on the left is simply made of mud brick with a grass roof. The church member have created a new building to the right made from burnt brick and hope to soon have roofing sheets added once some adjustments are made to the contstuction of the building.

Kafue Bible Baptist Church

Every week brings a new experience. This last Sunday was no different. I took a group of students from the Bible Institute and headed to Kafue Bible Baptist Church. To get to this church, we had to drive past Luanshya, past Mpatomato, and then drive in the bush for a while. As we were driving, I noticed a very small burn brick building with no roof on the side of the road. You guessed it - this humble building was the church. The service started on time and the Spirit of the Lord was evident. The singing and dancing before the service was enjoyable, but it was not until after the preaching concluded, that the real singing and dancing began!
It is interesting how the Lord often works. During the alter call, no one came forward. However, after the alter call and when it was the least convenient, a man stood and wanted to give a testimony. He went on for 5-10 minutes about how the message he just heard was truly for him and the impact it was making in his heart. Although he had not gone to the alter, the Lord did truly stir his heart and brought him to the place of proclamation! (Rom 11:36)

Bricks

We received a brick making machine in order to decrease the high cost of construction concerning churches, Bible Institute building, the future hospital, and the future orphanage. The machine actually just uses ordinary dirt and is able to make a construction quality brick that will last many years. This last Wednesday, I assembled a small group of people to help operate and test the machine.
We arrived at our plot of land in Kanyanda, part of the Mpongwe district only to find the dirt to be very sandy. Nonetheless, we did out best to make some bricks. Although the bricks were molded and appeared to work, they were unable to be used. In all, we were not able to produce 1 quality brick, but we had a great time, and learned some things that will be helpful for future projects...

Groove

This last Saturday I was invited to attend a youth fundraising activity. The youth in the Mpatomato area were all coming together to raise money so they could afford transport to different sections of town. The idea was then they would go and evangelize, but I am pretty sure the event was just planned so they could all get together and have fun! And fun they did have!! There was plenty of singing and dancing and even some well done skits - all in all, everyone had a great time.
The Zambian youth culture is changingng - just a few years ago, there was a large distinction between Zambian youth and American youth - the gap seems to be shrinking. The Zambian youth have the same music, clothes, and language.
I was asked to preach two messages - of course, I preached from the life of Joseph a man that had true character and the Lord used, even at the age of 17. As well as preaching from James 3, and the difficulty but necessity of controlling to tongue! It was all well received and fun to be a part of. Zambia will be in fine shape if these youth develop into the Christian leaders and workers they desire to be!

Kabwe

This last Sunday (Oct 1), I visited the city of Kabwe. One of our previous Bible Institute graduates is now acting as a missionary in the city. He is helping to train a couple of men that are pastor's in the area. Kabwe has a large sign on the way into the city - "Jesus is King - city of salvation". Kind of a strange title for a city, but salvation turned out to be the theme of the day.
The church itself is very small and just starting out. There were probably 50-60 adults in the service cramped into a make shift church with no walls. The members are still molding the bricks and preparing a 'proper' church building. Anyway, I preached from James 2 - the definition of true faith. The emphasis was from the beginning of the chapter - 'the Lord of glory'. After preaching on God's glory, it seemed as if the Lord had truly visited the church! At the end, 25 people came forward in which 15 made professions of faith and the other 10 were counseled concerning their Christian walk. It was great to be a part of....
After the service ended, I was escorted to an 'open-air prison' located just outside of the city. Never having been into a Zambian prison, I was not sure what to expect. This prison was a minimum security prison which did not even have walls. When the men were called together - roughly 1/4th of the prison population came to hear the word of God preached. Again, the Lord seemed to speak with clarity and conviction - I preached from Romans 8 - a short message on the difference between walking in the Spirit and walking in the flesh. At the end, many of the men were desirous to seek a relationship with the Lord.
Although it was a 2.5 hour drive from the mission in which going to church became an all day event - it was worth it all to see men, women, and children all desire the Lord as He draws and moves in their lives! To God be the Glory!!!

Kalembula Church

This last Sunday (9/22), attended Church at Kalembula Bible Baptist Church in the Kitwe West region. The drive is roughly 2.5 hours over some interesting "roads" - thankfully, the crew that went with me was a lot of fun. Arrived at the church right at 10 am only to find out that church does not start until 11am! Well - not like we can just come back later. So, we just spent some time enjoying being in the quiet of the bush and discussing with the Bible students the opportunities to minister in such a place.
Although the building itself looks in rough shape, the spirit of the people truly confirmed again the "church" of Christ is not a building but rather a fellowship of believers! This tiny little "building" had some 69 people in attendance - I was amazed. I believe the Lord brought all of us there to remind us it is not the building that matters, but the relationship of the believers with the Father.
Preached a message concerning "walking in newness of life" from Romans 6. It really is a great text that challenges all of us to produce a deeper sanctification and seek that closeness with Christ that is desired by our Saviour! The people seemed to enjoy the message (at least they stayed awake!) as many were taking notes and from facial expressions, they were keeping up with the thought pattern being presented.
















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Football

The men from our Bible Institute have formed a football (soccer) team. From what I could tell, there is a group of talented men able to do some fancy things with a ball. So, last Sunday we organized a game between the men from the Bible Institute (NSBI Bullets) and the men from some of the local villages (Saints). Although the Bullets team was missing a few key players, I thought they would keep things interesting. However, I was greatly mistaken - the Saints defeated the Bullets 6-2! It was a humbling experience for all involved. So, we decided a rematch was necessary hoping the addition of some missing players would even the balance of power. On Friday, the Bullets again played the Saints. I was able to provide cleats, socks, shin guards, and red jerseys for the team --- they looked good! Unfortunately, looking good was about all that happened. The Saints again defeated the Bullets by a score of 7-2! Although there are many reasons why they lost, I am hoping the losses are attributed to the men's dedication to studying the Scripture and not having enough time for games :)
Below is a picture of both teams - the NSBI Bullets and the Village Saints.





















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Deacons

Thursday, spent the day teaching a group of 15 men the purpose of the deacon in the NT church. Took roughly 4 hours to cover (overview) of the characteristics found in 1 Timothy 3, using the illustration given in Acts 6 as well as the life of Stephen from Acts 7.
Although it was a 2.5 hour drive into the bush, I believe the Lord showed up and really did some teaching. Not sure what that means - but there just seems to be some times when the presence of God's Spirit in the teaching is overwhelming to me. One of the problems we face in the churches is the desire for everyone to have a "title". Many men are deacons simply because they want the title. On Thursday we contrasted what true Christian leadership looks like and what is expected from a 'real' deacon. If a person is to truly be a 'man of God' that person must be a 'servant of all'. It was a great time of fellowship, worship, and study --- to God be the Glory!

Cobra

This past Saturday, received a call from Pastor Luwawa to notify they had just killed a snake. He was wondering if I would like to see a "large" African snake... of course, I did! When I arrived, I found a 6-7 ft dead spitting cobra. (better dead than alive). Although the snake was clearly dead, it was fun to watch as people would walk by and view the snake with fear. Even to come within 3-5 ft caused too much stress for most Zambians. One of the Bible Institute men told me the next day he had bad dreams of snakes all night long...
The one unfortunate side, in the process of killing the snake, one of the Pastor's dogs was spit in the eye by the venom from the snake. A few hours later, the dog could hardly open his eyes and I am left to only believe he will eventually lose vision in at least one eye.

Mpatumato

This past Sunday, visited a church in the mining section of Luanshya. The mines are struggling to survive and employ only 10% of the original workers from 10 years ago. Although times are difficult for most in this area, this little church is doing a great job of keeping its members focused on the eternal and not the temporal.

I preached a message from Psalm 78, in which I tried to encourage the members to seek God in truth and not as the children of Israel did with vanity and flattering words. In reflection, it amazes me how insincere most of us are even as the invitation to draw nigh to God brings the promise of God drawing nigh to us...

The picture is of Pastor Isaac Sinakamba giving out two Bibles to his members. In order for a member to get a Bible, they must show their dedication and sincerity by passing a minor test, reciting all 66 books of the Bible, in order, and in front of the entire church! I love his zeal!!!

Kashilabunga

This last Sunday, a group of us went to Kashilabunga Bible Baptist Church. The Church is only a 15 minute drive from the mission. The pastor of the Church (Goodson) is a very excited and zealous servant of the Lord. Every time I am with him, I truly enjoy our fellowship!
Jonathon Walters (from FBBC) preached to the congregation of 50+ from Nehemiah 4 "so built we the wall...." There was a great spirit as the people learned to 1) Make decisions, 2) Be determined, and 3) Be disciplined - in building up the walls of sanctification.

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Decatur

This last week, a group from the States came from Decatur, Alabama. The purpose of their trip was to teach Sunday School leaders. The group arrived on Tuesday and began their teaching on Thursday. Each day was filled with teaching on creative methods to reach children with the gospel as well as provide a better foundation for the coming years. The group was led by Larry Waye - former pastor at FBBC in Rochester, so it was good to see old friends as well as make new ones! From Kafulafuta, the group is spending 6 days in Livingstone ministering alongside a different missionary family. Through the week - souls came to know Jesus, as well as other finding needed inspiration in teaching Sunday School - we praise the Lord for all that was accomplished!

Mfungu

This last Sunday, we traveled roughly 45 minutes down a "road" to end up at a new church called Mfungu Bible Baptist. There were roughly 30 in attendance as the pastor has begun to grow this church. The pastor (Musonda) rides a bicycle a few hours every month to Kafulafuta to receive training in order he can better know the Bible and feed the sheep the Lord has given to him.

Although the work is small, the pastor is excited to be a part of what God is doing. I would describe the church as very humble, constructed only of tree poles and thatched roofing. The church has not had enough resources to make mud bricks or expand past their current state. It is a good reminder that church does not need to take place in a fancy building in order for church to take place!




























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Mbsala

This past week, we journeyed by bicycle to Mbsala - a bush church near to the mission. The church service was already started by the time we arrived (due to our poor sense of direction while on bicycle). After we caught our breath, we were able to enjoy the service. I preached a message from Phil 3 - discussing the duty of a Christian to desire and "know" the Lord. One man came forward to call on the Name of Jesus as Lord and Saviour.
After the service, the entire church went down to the river (about 45 min walk). All the way we sang songs and praised the Lord. Once to the river, the pastor baptized 6 people while a couple men stood as look outs for hungry crocodiles. It was another great day to be part of the body of Christ! Always exciting to see people growing and maturing in their Christian walk of faith!




(left - Mbsala church)











(right - crowd gathering for baptism)

(bottom - the first of six baptisms taking place - another piece of the Great Commission being fulfilled!)

Kitwe West

On Thursday, went out to the "deep" bush to preach a conference. Had no idea what the theme was, but had just prepared to teach a lesson from Exodus and Matthew 7. Although it is a long trip down a very hard "road", it is always worth going and preaching God's truth. Much of Zambia is in poverty, corruption, and despair - and I honestly believe the only way out is through Jesus Christ. After the almost 3 hour drive to the conference center (field in the middle of no where), we were greeted by around 220-250 people.
Had a great time in fellowship with the Pastor's from the area as well as making new friends. As always, the language barrier is difficult, but it seems a smile and friendly face transcends all cultural barriers. In all had 12 people call on the name of the Lord Jesus to be their Saviour and Lord with a few more coming to the altar to repent of sin in their life. It is obviously the Lord that calls, draws, and does the work - but it sure is fun to be His mouthpiece from time to time...



(right) This woman is leading a group of chorus members. All the members have circled around her and the drummers as she orchestrates. It was quite impressive!

(left) This is Titus - he is the host pastor, along with his little boy. His humble church is made of mud brick and grass roofing. His church has around 80 members meeting in a very small building. He is looking to expand as they seem to be growing at a quick rate. Titus has a desire to come to Kafulafuta and be taught for 3 years in our Bible Institute. However, because it is so far from the mission, it would likely mean his church members would be abandoned for that period - obviously not good. It would be ideal to start a new Bible Institute in this area just for men like Titus. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He would send more laborers....

Container Arrives

We shipped a container from Gulfport Mississippi back in late March. It was suppose to arrive in Luanshya, Zambia, on May 16th... well, you guessed it - it never showed! There were always some sort of "paper work" problems :-) Thankfully the container has arrived and we were able to unpack - it was only 13 weeks late!! Guess this is how it works when living in Africa. Unfortunately it appears the container had a few items missing and a few items were damaged intransit. The customs and immigration inspectors feel it part of their occupation to steal what is not theirs - it is called corruption. The following pictures show us unloading the container in Luanshya with Suzanne - the friendly customs agent from Ndola. Suzanne took some "samples" off the container. I asked her if she was doing her job, or shopping... she could only laugh. The funny part, she was looking for specific size shoes and shirts for her "sample"... nice!

















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Prov 17:17

The purpose of Kafulafuta Baptist Mission is to train up men in order for them to go out and reach other men with the gospel. We have been quite effective at this task. However, some victories taste much like defeat.
Today, we commissioned one of the men I have become very good friends with. Anderson Chimfumpa has been at the mission from the first time I came to Zambia in September of 2000, until now. The Lord is moving Anderson and his wife to the country of Botswana in order he may teach, disciple, and fulfill the great commission. As happy as I am he is being obedient to the Lord, I am also very sad. There will someday be a sweet reunion of saints in which the fellowship will last eternally and the joy will overflow! C.S. Lewis wrote, Christians never say goodbye, only - I will see you later!

Finished

This year's Bible Conference was a great success! In all, there were some 4,000 adults in attendance - sleeping under the stars, crowded into bunk houses, and cooking over open fires... to hear the word of God preached. Jeff Adams, from KCBT came with the presence and power of God on his messages. Wow! Was a lot of fun to experience and be a part of such a working of the Spirit! Saturday night we heard about the glory of God and Sunday morning we finished up with exercising true faith. Each service saw men and women put their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ - we rejoice just seeing the Lord work in such a humble setting. Such a great reminder, the Lord needs not fancy equipment and just the right setting, but simply men willing to preach the Truth!
Many new friendships were made along with old friendship renewed. Amazing how quick 1 full week of a Bible conference can go by - we all have just meditated and rejoiced on what the Lord is doing and how fast it all happened. To live in the presence and glory of God - that is what we all took away as our desire. Our original prayer is that the people of this conference would know the Lord God of Heaven - as Elijah prayed... I do believe God met with His elect! Ba Lesa Ba Chindiqwe.

Police Academy

This year, Detective Kelly Saap joined our annual Bible conference coming from the Kansas City Police Department. One of our Bible Institute graduates, David, has been ministering in the prisons as well as to the police, military, and fire department. This year, David was able to provide a program in which we were able to speak to the police academy recruits. The commanders allowed us 1.5 hours with his recruits. In all, there were 473 recruits in attendance. Kelly quickly was able to capture their attention with his experience as a previous soldier in the US Army as well as 17 years of police experience. After a few minutes of talking shop, Kelly switched to the spiritual talking about what it truly takes to lead and be a "man of war" spoken of in 1 Chronicles. After speaking for about 30 minutes, Kelly then did some basic defensive moves on the largest recruit in attendance.
I was able to conclude the session speaking from Proverbs 14:34, "righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people." I brought the issue of why police officers are even needed - only because people choose to sin. I then told the recruits that as police officers, they would either use their position to help solve the problem or they would use their position to be more of a problem. Both messages were very well received - the gospel was given, the word of God of preached, and the Spirit of God moved in the hearts of men and women. In the midst of our annual Bible conference at Kafulafuta - it was fun to get away and minister in a different way to the recruits and leadership of the police academy!











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VBS

It's all about the kids! Vacation Bible School finished yesterday after 3 full days of skits, puppet shows, Bible lessons, and chorus songs - praise the Lord! We had roughly 1,500-1,600 children attend this years annual event. We concluded the event with hundreds of children coming forward and being counseled. It was estimated 308 children made a commitment of faith. It is impossible to really know how many of those were true decisions for Jesus and how many truly received forgiveness of sin. Yet, to see so many interested in salvation and the offer of God swelled my heart and brought joy to all of us that had prayed and labored over the last few days - to God be the Glory!

KCBT

Every year in August, Kafulafuta hosts a large conference. The conference is broken into two parts - from Sunday to Wednesday, we have a large VBS and then from Thursday to the following Sunday we have an Adult Bible Conference. Currently, there are roughly 1,600 little Sunday School children running around the mission! We expect between 5,000 - 6,000 adults to attend the main Bible conference!
It has been tradition for a group from the States to come over each year and help with the VBS, teach leaders, and preach during the adult conference. This year, we have a group of 14 from Kansas City Baptist Temple. The team has worked very well together and has been a lot of fun to fellowship with! Amazing how the Lord can bring people from all over the world together for one common cause - truly it is the Spirit of God that does direct and unify the hearts of the brethren. Praise the Lord for this group and their kindred spirit, love for kids, and most importantly their passion for Jesus Christ.

Pastor Training - August

Every three months, we have a Pastor Training conference at the mission. It allows us the opportunity to bring together many of the pastors to encourage, teach, and unify. Not all the pastors are able to make it. This time around, we have around 70 men in attendance. The teaching being used this quarter is based on an outline by Wiersbe. The first two days, I taught the life of Joseph from the book of Genesis. This text has many spiritual lessons that really helped each of us grow closer to the Lord and see His sovereign plan. Joseph never blames his brothers for the wrong they did to him, but rather is able to see the Lord working in and through his life for the greater good. To God we could all slow down, sit back, and simply enjoy the leading and direction the Lord takes us. The next two days John Sarra will be teaching the first 12 chapters of Exodus. Every night, we have a short and brief service designed to challenge and motivate the men. Although each of these Pastor Training Conferences is a lot of work, I always walk away very encouraged having spent time with the Lord, with the fellowship of the believers, and having a renewed vision and hope for what we are trying to do here in Zambia!

Filando BBC

This last Sunday (7/30), enjoyed the 2.5 hour drive to Kitwe West to preach at Filando Bible Baptist Church. Arrived a few minutes late, after enduring some very poor road conditions. Of course, the service itself had not started - so, there was no real problem with us being late!
Interesting day - the excitement began before the service actually started. A woman, began to convulse, barking like a dog, and then laughing like a demon. Although the woman was quite impressive, it clearly did not line up with Scripture. Later I confirmed with a couple other people - the woman had mental problems and was looking for attention - imagine, faking demon possession to get attention.
Later, in talking with one of the leaders - I was told there was a recent death in the church. When they put the body into the grave, the casket floated out and went to the home of the person that killed him. No lie - this is a true story. Supposedly there were many witnesses... again, doesnt line up with Scripture - sure does make for intersting story time though! This church is deep in the bush and although they say they believe the Scripture, there are so many contrary life styles - it is hard to believe the word of God has actually penetrated.


I sometimes wonder if it is too late for the adults - if more of our focus should be on the youth? I do believe the only "thing" that can truly change a person is a personal meeting with the Lord Jesus Christ. So, if that is true - most have missed that meeting.... I love looking at little children and thinking about the hope that rests within each. It only takes one, with the power and presence of God - to turn it all around! Hope - that is what allows us to continue! To God be the Glory.

Shots Fired!

This past Saturday was filled with excitement. I took a trip to Ndola to exchange USD for Kwacha while the exchange rate was still relatively high. I had put the money in my bag, done some shopping, and was waiting in my vehicle for the girls to finish their shopping.
While in the vehicle, a man (acting as a decoy) began to enter the rear of the truck. When I exited the vehicle to confront the man, he walked away. I realized something was up. I quickly noticed another man had reached through the vehicle window and taken my bag with all the money in it. I immediately pursued the man on foot at full speed - I yelled for the man to stop! At which point, he threw the bag in the air and took off running. I stopped to grab the bag hoping he didn't have the chance yet to grab the cash. Mean while, a police officer noticed the commotion and became involved shooting his rifle at the thief and then giving pursuit. The thief did get away. The bad news - he stole 2,000,000 kwacha. The good news, he did not get all the money (another 2,000,000 was available), and nobody was hurt! The Lord gave, the Lord hath taken away - blessed be the name of the Lord!
You never really do understand why this stuff happens - but, we put our trust in the Lord and recognize His complete control as perfect and without mistake.
The commandment still stands (Exo 20:15) "Thou shalt not steal". Whole story is a good reminder not to store up treasures on earth, "where thieves break through and steal" - but to truly lay up treasures that will last for eternity, "where no thief approacheth".
Although the day was quite expensive, adrenaline is an amazing chemical!

Ndola Service

Spent last week at Ndola Bible Baptist Church. The church currently has a new pastor. The old pastor moved to Lusaka but left his congregation in the capable hands of Kunda Mwewe. The circumstances of the previous pastor have left this congregation meeting in a very small section of a home still under construction. The picture below shows Kunda (left) teaching Sunday School with Michael Mukange (right) interpreting for him. Kunda taught on the basics of the Christian walk. After Sunday School, I spent 40 minutes teaching on the ups and downs of the life of Thomas.

Livingstone

The trip to Livingstone takes roughly 10 hours from Kafulafuta. Yet, every time we go - I get excited to see some of God's handiwork. There is so much beauty locked up in Africa. The mighty Zambezi river flows over into Zimbabwe to cause "the smoke that thunders". This year, walking near the falls was like taking a shower from all the mist. The game park - although a park, provides a solid glimpse into the real bush of Africa. It can take some time to find the animals, but when you do, it always amazes me how large and powerful and at home they are in the wild! Africa, in many ways is dangerous - yet the danger is often eclipsed by the abounding beauty. My God enjoyed creating the world -- (Genesis 1:31) And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.