Refreshing

We visited Gonda Baptist Church this last Sunday. The church is currently meeting in a school classroom. This is a pretty common way for churches to have a room without the major expense of building right away. Well, this little church feels ready to move out of the classroom (there is a rent they pay) and ready to stand on their own. 

After church in the classroom, the pastor took us over to the "new" church building. So far it is just a shell of burnt bricks along with the wood work for the roof. The church has raised the funds for 20 of the needed roofing sheets. They were changing their clothes and starting to put on the 20 sheets right then wanting to protect the church from the rains as best as possible.

A few hours later I met a man that is a Christian working for the peace corps in Zambia. We were talking about giving tithes and how to do that while he was working for Peace Corps. So, he said why not give some money to the roof project to help this little upstart church - reached in his pocket and gave the little that he had. 

I am not saying we all need to live this way but it was quite refreshing to meet a person that heard of a need and immediately responded. The roof will still not be complete but every little amount does help. Ultimately, I would like to see the members of the church reach deep, sacrifice, and give to the cause the Lord has put in front of them! 

Bob

We are having a Bible study twice a month with a group of ex-pats here in Chipata. The group is quite diverse including people from South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mali, Malawi, Italy, France, and the USA. We have a few that are Catholics, some that are Pentecostal, some Baptist, some Lutherans, and some Presbyterian... even one that is a Catholic priest!

I have the pleasure of leading the Bible study as we go through the book of James. We have had some very interesting discussions and continue to see the Lord work in the hearts of us all. One of the more exciting subjects has been on the subject of "saving faith". I came up with a hypothetical situation in which one of the Bible study members hits the fictitious man named Bob with their vehicle. It is apparent to Bob that he is severely injured and will pass from life to death very soon. With this new knowledge he is quite concerned about what will happen. He has no history of religion and has put God out of his mind all of his life. However, with the realization that he will soon be dead, he is scared and wanting answers. 

So, what would you say to Bob knowing he has only a few moments to live before crossing over into eternity?

Divine Nature

Last Sunday I preached a message from 2 Peter 1:14 on the passage, "that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature". Quite a strong text to meditate upon thinking that we were once the natural man and now we are able to take on the divine nature through God's exceeding great and precious promises. The more I studied for the message the more I became impressed with our great God! 

The people seemed to receive the message well. It is always hard to judge if I am properly communicating God's word to a people in a different culture. I believe God's word is Truth and therefore has the great ability of crossing borders and cultures with ease. At the end, we saw more than 30 people respond to the invitation! We believe four people came and put their trust in the saving work of Jesus Christ while the others wanted to know and experience more of that divine nature. 

We continue to praise the Lord for the work He is doing in our lives and the people we are sent to minster. Please continue to pray for our opportunities and the large work of ministering to these people.