Bethsaida Bible Baptist Church

Compared with last week - going to church this week was a walk in the park. Church was not scheduled to start until 11:00. We arrived around 10:30 so Savannah could help with the Sunday school children.
While Savannah worked with the children, I spent some time trying to encourage the pastor and get a burden for his work and vision for his people. He felt the church was growing and moving forward but there were problems with fornication and lack of giving. Obviously both of these issues are major problems. Over the years we have taught much on giving with very little success. Please pray the Lord does a work in these churches...
I preached a message from Isaiah 59 on judgment and truth. The people took hold of the message. Of course, it is easy to say "amen" during the service, what really matters is what happens after the service. Please pray for Esther - she came forward and confessed some sin asking for us to specifically hold her up in prayer that she would do what is right.

Lusaka Deaf School

Savannah and I visited Lusaka a few days back and met with a friend. He is an Ethiopian man that is now a missionary to the deaf in Lusaka. He (Yohannes) and his wife (Kidist) have been serving in Zambia for many years. Yohannes is heading up a school for the deaf in Lusaka with at least 60-70 kids in attendance. This effort really is a new initiative and as far as we can tell - the Lord is blessing! The recent grade 7 exams resulted in 100% student graduation - this is something not seen in most government/private schools!! Praise the LORD!!

Yohannes is also pastoring a large deaf church with about 250 in attendance each week. He has trained many deaf pastors that are now pastoring their own churches throughout Lusaka. Savannah and I truly feel blessed to know this man and his family! I am asking you to please pray for this family and their ministry:
1. They would like to develop a computer lab and need computer equipment
2. They need more financial resources to help with food, books, teachers for the children
3. They need our continued encouragement and love as they spend and are spent for the cause of Christ!

Mpatomato Youth Conference

It was a privilege to preach at a youth conference in one of the local mining towns over the weekend. The theme of the conference was "obedience". I selected 1 Samuel 15 - better to obey than sacrifice. We talked about some of the things God wanted us to be obedient in. Later, bro. Dick taught the boys and his wife taught the ladies. It was a wonderful time. Later I was told a total of 44 youths made a commitment to Christ!!

Chishitu Bible Baptist

I was scheduled to travel to Kitwe west area for a long time. When Sunday arrived, I was not really looking forward to the 3 hour drive just to get to the church. We were planning on leaving around 8 am - which would get us there in plenty of time. I became a bit nervous when the man leading us arrived at my door at 6:30 am suggesting we get an early start! Sure enough - he was right. After driving for 3 hours we found the church just a mere 5 kilometers on the other side of a bridge. The problem - the bridge was gone!! We spent the next 1.5 hours driving around the bridge and coming through the back way....
Praise the LORD - although quite late for the service, the people greeted us with excitment. We sang, prayed, and got into the word of the Lord. God seemed to bless and the people went away edified and challenged.
In all - we were gone for about 12 hours. The road was terrible and by the time we got home our bodies felt jolted from one side to the other. Part of me does not want to visit that area for a long time but another part really enjoys reaching people that need our help. Please pray for the pastor - Pastor Godfrey. He is doing a fine job but admitted they are in an area heavy with witchcraft and drunkards... great combination.

Kaloko Bible Baptist Church

Kaloko Bible Church is located about 45 minutes away from the mission. Pastor Chipulu is relatively new as the pastor taking over for a man that left and is now ministering in Zimbabwe. There is much work to be done both spiritually and physically with this church. As you can see from the pictures, the building is in desperate need. Thankfully, the people seem to be in better shape than the building. When Pastor Chipulu took over, there were only 6 people gathering. Today over 60 adults came along with 25 children!
The message preached was from Mark 2 - "Son, thy sins be forgiven." The people received the message and one man came to know Christ! Praise the LORD. Please pray for this small church - they have a lot to get done before the next rainy season starts. After the service, I sat with the pastor and two deacons to discuss their plan for the future. They are just starting now to make some bricks - but they will have a long road ahead of them to finish before the rain comes again. Please pray the Lord will show these people how to truly walk by faith even in the most difficult of situations...
There is a wonderful video of Savannah teaching a song to some of the children!!

My students

Thought I would post a picture of the students at our Bible school here at Kafulafuta. There are five graduating in December with the rest continuing in varying degrees of their schooling... If you have the time, it would be of great help if you could just pause long enough to pray for this group of men! I truly believe God can use this group to spiritually transform well beyond the borders of Zambia...

(Jer 33:3) Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.

Milulu Bible Baptist Church

We journeyed to a small church deep in the bush on Sunday. I was told the road had been repaired - however, when getting advice from someone who doesnt actually own a vehicle, it may be good to take it with a grain of salt. The road was not repaired. In fact, it was some of the worst dry roads I have ever seen in Zambia!! It took us a solid 2 hours to get roughly 30 miles. At one point a bicycle passed us!!

I was quite tired when we arrived. Thankfully the church had already gathered and service began immediately. There were roughly 50 in attendance. I preached on "taking heed" - the Lord seemed to bless as 8 people came forward. In all, we had three women get saved and four men. Praise the LORD!!

The whole day reminded me of a quote from David Livingstone... A missionary society wrote to David Livingstone and asked, "Have you found a good road to where you are? If so, we want to know how to send other men to join you." Livingstone wrote back, "If you have men who will come only if they know there is a good road, I don't want them. I want men who will come if there is no road at all." It is so easy to only go where the work is "easy" but often time the Lord brings forth greater fruit when we actually go further...

Countryside Bible Baptist

This last Sunday was a bit different than normal. We had a visitor from the States coming to do some teaching for the ladies - her flight happen to be coming in on Sunday early afternoon. Not exactly great timing for us since we obviously are very involved in different churches on Sunday.

Anyway, we decided to visit a small church in the midst of a building project right near the airport. The pastor (Kunda Mwewe) is a graduate of our Bible Institute and has a real passion and love for God's word. He asked me to teach the Sunday school hour and he would preach the main message. It was a great time - I did a study on "charity" and he preached a message on "committment".

This church is located in the suburbs of Ndola - the township is growing up all around this little church. I believe, if these early members can stand strong - the Lord will eventually bless them with a large congregation and a Christ honoring influence in their community. Please pray for Pastor Mwewe, his family, and this congregation!