Dear Pastor:
Greetings in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ from the city of Kitwe, Zambia. It has been a while since our last letter and much has taken place in our ministries here in Zambia.
Central Africa Baptist University
Things continue to move at a rapid pace at CABU, and it has proven very difficult to keep up with everything. Because of the Covid-19 lockdown we had in Zambia a few months ago during the elections (we have a new president), our semester began a few weeks later than normal. Therefore, we were forced to not only shorten our semester by a couple of weeks, but also to accelerate all of our classes and programs in order to finish on time for our annual leadership conference the first week of December. However, we still need to have 2 more weeks of classes/exams after the conference because time was not enough this semester. Thus, the next four weeks will be packed with many important activities, both at the school and the church; please keep us in your prayers.
We are very excited about our upcoming leadership conference that will take place the first week of December, especially since we had to cancel it last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. By God’s grace we are expecting to receive around 600 people (including our students), not only from Zambia, but also from different neighboring nations. The theme for this year is “Gospel Advance in Perilous Times”. Please pray that the Lord would use the different speakers to communicate his Word clearly and powerfully, as well as for the Holy Spirit to convict and instruct those who will be in attendance so that the Gospel may continue to spread across Africa.
Our school year in Zambia goes from the end of January to the beginning of December and we are praying to the Lord to bring a good group of people next semester to be trained for the ministry. We had shared with you about Stephen Zulu, a young man from the church in Mindolo (the church we planted when we first came to Zambia). Stephen has just finished his first full year of pastoral training at CABU. Emmanuel does school during the week and then serves in Mindolo during the weekends.
Moreover, we are also excited about Emmanuel Kunda, another young boy that will be joining the school next semester. Emmanuel is 21 years-old and he was the first person to come to Christ at the church in Mindolo when we had just started the work back in 2012. He was only 12 years-old at the time, but the Lord is now giving us the privilege to bring him to CABU to be trained for future ministry. Emmanuel is a very bright and intelligent young men that has a unique passion for the Lord; please pray for him as he embarks in this new adventure so the Lord would give him much grace.
Finally, we are very thankful that the Lord allowed us to bring Alfred Yokoju back to Zambia to finish his theological studies. Alfred is a South Sudanese brother that was studying with us at CABU about 2 years ago. Sadly, because of the war in South Sudan, he had to travel back to his town to rescue his family when the war reached his town. He managed to escape with his family and they ended up in the refugee camps in the country of Uganda after the government literally burned his whole town to ashes. Thankfully, 6 months ago, when I travelled to South Sudan to survey and plan for a new church plant (we will be sending someone from our church in January), I met with Alfred and we prayed and planned his return to Zambia. The Lord provided the means to bring him back and he is now continuing with his theological education. Our desire is to send him as a missionary to South Sudan in a couple of years. Please pray for Alfred and his family who is still in Uganda. Please also pray for the Lord to provide the funds to cover the needs of these three brethren that are training for ministry.
Kitwe Church
By God’s grace our church has recovered almost fully from the spiritual and social effects of the pandemic and everything is back to normal for the most part. During the timed of the pandemic, we only had to close services for 3 months when it was absolutely mandatory by the government. However, even a few months after we opened back up, there were some that were still afraid to come to church and others would only come sporadically. By God’s grace, several brethren have expressed repentance over the paralyzing fear that dominated them for so long (which does not come from God), and they are now very faithful to the church. We are, buy God’s grace, averaging around 150 people every Sunday.
For the praise of his name, in the last 2 months, eight new members have joined our church, four of which the Lord gave me the privilege to baptize a few weeks ago. Nonetheless, we are also receiving people every week that come from other churches and are looking for a Gospel-preaching church where they can grow and serve the Lord. Sadly, this country is permeated by the prosperity Gospel and it is very difficult to find a good church, but we are thankful the Lord is leading some to our congregation.
As I had shared with you earlier, our church will be sending Emmanuel Juma to the country of South Sudan, together with his wife Regina and their 3 children to plant a church. Emmanuel was my student at CABU and did his pastoral internship for one year with us a Kitwe Church. South Sudan is not only the newest nation on earth (2011), it is also the poorest, due to the decades of ongoing wars. Thankfully, a peace treaty was recently signed and there is relative peace (at least in Juba, the capital city). Therefore, we believe this is the right time for us to plant churches in this country. Our church has worked tirelessly to raise funds, but we are also thankful for churches in America and Mexico that have committed to partnering with us. Emmanuel is currently in Uganda and will be travelling to Zambia to be ordained to the ministry and be commissioned by Kitwe Church on the 5th of December. Please pray for him and for our church, as well as for the funds to support our brother.
Finally, we thank God that he allowed us to hold our first ladies conference at KC. Paola is part of the Revive Our Hearts ministry and she was able to organize this conference for the first time in Zambia. By God’s grace, around 100 women were in attendance and a couple of them have even began attending our church as well.
Our Family
By God’s grace our family is doing well. Everett had malaria for the first time a few weeks ago, but thankfully it was very mild and we managed to catch the febrile seizure before it kicked in fully (we are learning to read the aura or signs before they come). We are all well, just a bit tired since it has been a very busy year. Asher continues learning at school and has finally found the educational consistency he lacked for several years due to all of our travels and circumstances. Paola is also serving the Lord and the church in different capacities, particularly through counseling ladies and organizing and teaching weekly ladies Bible studies, a ministry that has been a great blessing to our church.
Please, continue praying for the salvation of our sons, especially Asher’s since he has not yet made a profession of faith. Every day we pray for the Spirit to regenerate him, so we ask you to join us in prayer. Once again, we thank you all for interceding for us and supporting our ministry. We ask you to continue taking us before God’s throne in prayer so that we would remain faithful to him and his cause.
Prayer Requests
• The end of the semester at Central Africa Baptist University
• Pray for our leadership conference at CABU the first week of December
• For the Young men that we want to bring to CABU
• Pray for Emmanuel and Regina Juma and the plans to plant a church in South Sudan
• Pray for our walk with the Lord, that he would enable us to be faithful to him
• The salvation of our sons, especially Asher’s
