Kafubu Block BBC

This last Sunday - drove down a rough dirt road that seemed to lead no-where. Eventually we came upon this little section of the district called, "Kafubu block". The pastor is a graduate from our Bible Institute - he has taken the church from only a few members to now 60+ adult members. The church is working to finish the church building which was encouraging. However, I was very encouraged at the spiritual focus the pastor and leadership have on building the members of the church even more than the physical structure! Praise the LORD!!

The Sunday School kids did a song. Listening to Zambian children praise the Lord is always a joy to my heart! I think the Lord really used these kids to prepare the hearts for the preaching. I preached from Phil 3 - and had a great response!

Mipundu BBC

Preached at a small church on Sunday - roughly 35-40 adults. We arrived at 9:45 - about 15 minutes before I thought church would start... turns out I was off. Church did not actually start until 11 am! Gave us some time to pray before the service and get a lay of the land...

Service began with the usual singing, dancing, announcements, and welcoming statements. We started preaching right around noon - the Lord brought forth the increase with 3 coming forward, 2 for salvation and one simply to receive some counsel. Although it was a 2 hour trip to this church - certainly a wonderful time seeing God's word reach out and impact lives eternally!

After the service, the church asked for some time with me to discuss their church project. They were hoping I could help with some bags of cement and possibly roofing sheets - it is my goal to see churches take more responsibility for these expenses. I encouraged them to learn sacrificial giving - of course, they were not impressed with my exhortation. I came up with an idea - if they really wanted me to help - I needed them to prove they were serious. If they were willing to give, so was I - I called the pastor over and told him I would like to take another offering... this time, for every 1,000 Kwacha (30 cents) put in the plate, I would put in 5,000 Kwacha! The people rejoiced and were very excited at this offer. So, the youth choir began singing as I held the plate - hoping the church would take me up on this offer. Sure enough - a handful of people came forward putting some 10,500 Kwacha into the plate --- I came through on my part and gave the church some 50,000+ Kwacha. I was a bit disappointed. The church had the chance to truly dig deep - this one offering could have taken care of all their cement needs and even start helping with getting some roofing sheets... but, sacrificial giving is hard to come by even in the bush!

Just a good day

Today was just a good day! We had classes in the morning at the Bible Institute - after a long week and many different trials, today just seemed relaxing. Good to get back to teaching/preaching - it just feels right! After class, we grabbed a few of the students and headed to Mulowfwa area to spend some time telling some people about the love of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ - we split into 3 groups and ended up after 2 hours with about 6 people getting saved and many others were encouraged... it was just a good day! Hallelujah!

Kapupula BBC

This church is in the midst of starting all over --- the old pastor left the church and so the people fell away. The new pastor (Elvis) - a graduate of the Bible Institute - has been there since December and is working hard to bring back the old members, evangelize and baptize, and teach doctrine. Elvis has brought the church from 7 members to 28 in just a couple months - this last Sunday we had 5 visitors come. During the invitation, 4 came forward to receive Christ as Saviour. Praise the LORD!

Please pray for this little church - the church structure is made from mud and will only last 1 year before needing to be constructed again. Elvis would like to build a new church from the much stronger burnt brick - in order for this to happen, the whole church will need to get involved. It is my prayer that these people will truly have a "mind to work".

At the same time the physical work moves forward - please pray that spiritual growth would move forward as well. Many of the members are local farmers or do piece work for larger farms. It is easy to see this church truly blossom and grow rapidly but for this to happen and last long term, it needs to be a church rooted and grounded on the Scripture!

Ibenga Central BBC

It was just about a 25 minute ride to church this last Sunday - this church is located near the Ibenga catholic hospital. It is a small town that is expanding. The church is being build right in the middle of town - it has a great location although there are about 15 other churches surrounding it.

Preached a message on Thomas - spoke of his early zeal, desire to follow the Lord, question about the right way to go, and later on his unbelief. The church was packed (70 adults). We had about 7 people come forward, 1 got saved, and the rest needed to deal with some things. In all - it was a great morning/afternoon. Spent some time afterwards talking with the pastor and trying to see the way forward.

If you look at the pictures - you will notice a church inside of a church. Ibenga Central BBC is in the middle of a building project - their original church is just a grass roof with mud brick walls. The outside church - which will allow for almost double the people, has burnt brick and hopefully metal roofing sheets. The pastor is hoping the church will be finished by the end of the month; however, he is still looking for the resources for the roof.