Collins Prayer Update

I had asked many of you to pray for Pastor Collins - he is a good friend to me and a long time pastor near to where I stay. He has been fighting some illness for the last many months with varying degrees of success. Last Sunday (12/13) he was hospitalized and needed immediate surgery. For the next couple days he really struggled and fought for his life. When I visited him on Tuesday, he was in a lot of pain, had shortness of breath, and was extremely weak. From what I now understand, he is doing much better - although still in the hospital, he is able to take nourishment and has gained much of his strength back. Praise the LORD - I believe our God has answered the prayers of His people. A very big "thank you" to all of you that stopped and prayed for a man you may have never met!

Malembeka Bible Church

December 13th I was invited by Pastor Gilbert to preach and visit his people. The pastor is doing a fine job trying to really build up his people in God's word. I preached a message from 2 Peter 3 concerning having "pure minds" and being reminded of true Christian focus. The Lord seemed to bless as one person came to the place of salvation and 6 others committed to make positive changes!

After the service, the pastor and I had some great fellowship over lunch. We discussed the ministry, the way forward, and Biblical application to our daily lives. Please be praying for Pastor Gilbert as he tries to focus his people and really reach his community for the gospel's sake.

Thanks to Encounter

A few years back a group of Youth from the States came to Zambia called the Encounter Revival Ministry. This team has the objective of reaching the youth and exhalting Christ in all they do. The result of that team coming from the States was the forming of the Zambian version. These Zambian youth do a wonderful job - they go to schools, hospitals, police stations, etc with the mindset of ministering. In a world where many youth are chasing after money and fame, there are still some that are seeking first the Kingdom of God!

I had asked the team if they would come to our Bible Institute graduation and sing a few songs. Of course they were more than willing to oblige. It was wonderful to have their leader (Leonard Bwalya) along with the team as part of our commencement ceremony. They added a wonderful touch and led many of us to a greater place of worship. A big thank you to the Encounter Revival Ministry team of Zambia!

Ladies Graduation

Every year, Mrs. Sarra works diligently to identify and then teach ladies from God's word. At the end of the year, if the women have met certain requierments, they receive a 1-year certificate that is received during the NSBI graduation ceremony. Although not "officially" a part of NSBI, we count it a great joy to see these women learning so much and applying it to their lives. Lorna has been so steadfast over the years teaching year-in and year-out new groups of ladies. In all, there were 7 women that graduated in 2009.
The concept originated when so many men were coming to the Bible Institute. While these men were at school, their wives often had to pick up extra work, take care of the children, keep the house, etc. The result was that the ladies were falling behind spiritually. Mrs. Sarra came up with the idea of teaching one-time a week at a convenient location for a few hours to help encourage and foster a greater spiritual walk for the whole family!

Deans of NSBI

North Star Bible Institute has its main campus at Kafulafuta. This is where most of our training is done and kind of the epicenter of it all. However, over the years we have realized there are many that would like to be trained but cannot reach our location. In order to meet this need, we have created a few sister campuses. My responsibility is primarily to the work here at Kafulafuta but I am also very involved in providing the necessary materials for these others satellite schools. Bro. White Katota and Bro. Barry Katonga have been laboring diligently for the last couple years to provide quality theological & ministry training. We praise the Lord for their efforts and fruit of their labor. I gave each man a few minutes to speak during the commencement ceremony and each used their time to honor the Lord and highlight how God is doing great things!

Rebuilding

These pictures are from the church I visited on Sunday. Although the church may look a little rough - they are actually in the building or should I say re-building stage. Last year a storm came through and wiped out the entire church. In just about 1 year, they have made some great progress. For the last many months they have met outside under a tree - this Sunday was the first they actually were able to meet inside the building! Praise the LORD!

I preached a message from 2 Peter 1:1-9 concerning the knowledge of God. The pastor (Andrew Mulenga) was greatly encouraged as the Holy Spirit really seemed to speak to the people and challenge them in some of the same areas he had been working on over the months.

Class of 2009

Before going to the graduation hall, we met at the church to pray together, rehearse the schedule of events, and just work out the kinks before we began the day. All of the 12 graduates were thrilled and could hardly contain themselves! Graduating a three year program is a significant accomplishment that is not taken lightly by these Zambian graduates! Some of their testimonies reference the struggles they endured getting to this point but how God showed Himself Faithful!!

A big thank you to Dr. Brado for sending over the graduation gowns/caps and to those that donated and helped get them here!

2009 Graduation Ceremony

This morning we had our 2009 NSBI graduation ceremony. My plan is to put some pictures and video together from the day over the next several days. We had a wonderful day of testimonies, devotions, songs, and overall rejoicing. There were  12 students that completed a 3 year course which includes a study of many books of the Bible, systematic & advanced theology, as well as courses in church history, homiletics, etc. Plus, there were 7 ladies that completed a 1 year course that Mrs. Sarra offered.
As a missionary, this is a real highlight! Knowing that many of these people are more highly equipped to minister, lead, and serve is a joyful experience.

December Marriage Seminar

This week at Kafulafuta we had the second marriage seminar of 2009. The idea was to have one early in the year and a second at the end of the year to act as bookends. We tried to emphasize over 2009 that a strong family can help create a strong church. Zambia certainly is a different culture than my American upbringing, but Biblical principles cross all cultures and are able to produce healthy, quality families. There were not as many at this marriage seminar due to heavy rains and the need to cultivate fields but those that were able to come were blessed and went home excited to build their family and marriage. Please be praying for both the husbands and the wives to do their part in serving each other and training up their children. A healthy family is not something that just happens but something that takes steps each day.