survey west of chipata

Went out today again surveying different areas that are in need of churches, training, etc. We spent the entire day on the western side of Chipata... just a point of clarity, although only 45 minutes from home, we were very much in the "deep bush" as pointed out by the man that led me.

We visited 3 different places that supposedly had a church presence. In all cases, there was no actual pastor for the church. Maybe even more disturbing is finding out the men running the churches have no Bibles, no discipleship, and no training. How can these churches really be making an impact when the Scripture is not the center of everything?

The picture below shows a "preaching point". This is a spot where people gather every week to hear a message, pray, sing, etc. It is not officially a church yet but from what I was told there are already 25 people gathering there. Notice there are no walls, no roof, no anything but a few bricks for people to sit on in the open air with the sun beating down on them the whole time.

Please be praying for us - each time I go on one of these survey trips I see a need for sound Biblical teaching at a local church level more and more. We can plant a church in every village but if those churches aren't really focused on Christ and have the Scripture as their authority - we have accomplished very little.