Back In New Zealand

Greetings friends of Samfya Bible School! I have been back in New Zealand now for one week after a very encouraging time in the Zambia and with excellent meetings with partners in UK & Singapore. I have come home excited about the ongoing future for the Bible School and all that God is doing through this ministry in rural churches.

In my meetings in Singapore I briefly reflected on the truth from our Lord Jesus that He is building his church. The bride of Christ is the most precious entity on earth – it is His, it is what He is building and working in and through, so what a privilege it is to partner with a ministry that is all about strengthening, growing and blessing the ministry of the local church in Bemba speaking Zambia.

In leaving the staff at Samfya, I was encouraged by the large number of potential students for 2013, the possibility of the second year programme beginning in 2013, and also the new School Teachers training programme that is going to see these teachers given a great Bible Programme to help them in their ministries in the village areas that they are posted to by the government.

I was also very encouraged by the progress in buildings at Samfya. We have five great new units for married couples, a three block classroom, a new visiting lecturers house, a staff house just about finished and the multi-purpose hall (kitchen, dining, conference) nearing completion, but still needing about NZ$9000 to complete it. If you would like to assist with this let me know!!

Thank you for your faithfulness in praying for my time away and for the ministry of Samfya. God is blessing this ministry and using it to glorify His name! If you are interested in a visit to your church to speak about this work please don’t hesitate to drop me a line.

The mullti-purpose hall - looking great but needing a little more finishing

Update from the UK

My journey south to Lusaka was via Mkushi where I meet with Mr Moffat, the representative of the4 Beit Trust. We hope to put an application into the trust for single student accommodation, so it was good to have some thoughts on how to approach the application. I stayed at Chengelo School and was able to catch up with Delwyn Houghton who teaches at the school – she has a very busy life and needs your prayers for strength in her ministry at the school.

The following day I arrived in Lusaka and stayed with Webster & Elisabeth Nonde and preached in their church Woodlands Baptist on the Sunday. What a blessing to encourage and be encouraged by brothers and sisters in Christ.

On Monday I flew to London and have been able to learn of the work of Grace Life London a new church plant in the Central City as I stayed with Pastor Tom Drion and his wife Donna. The time here in the UK is to meet with partners of Samfya and further encourage the ministry of the School. This has gone well so far and I have a final meeting in Bath in the morning before heading to Singapore in the evening. Please continue to pray for our partners and that they will be encouraged with the reports that I bring of the ministry.

Charles – Hard Working Graduate!

You may remember I reported on Charles in 2010. He had just returned from church planting in the Congo and reported about the church walls that had been blown in by severe winds. We were able to supply Bibles for the needy Christians there and the small amount of money raised was used to rebuild the walls – Charles showed me a picture of the grass roofed Church – very humble but functioning.

Charles has again recently returned from a ministry trip to this area in DR Congo. He works with a team of five other evangelists and teachers. The aim of this visit was evangelism, teaching, training evangelists (Sowers Programme) and training a secretary. Charles reports that there were 58 people who placed their faith in Christ. He said that many of these were from Catholic backgrounds and indicated that any church involvement in this remote and forgotten part of Congo is devoid of the gospel and any churches are just social clubs. Praise God that this team is expending time, money and energy in seeing the life changing gospel message preached and bearing fruit.

Charles has two couples from his area that they are actively working to see attend Samfya Bible School next year. What a blessing that will be to the many churches that Charles gives encouragement through visitation and teaching by sharing the load with other equipped leaders. He has also indicated that one man in DR Congo form this new church plant is a very strong prospect to attend next year as well. Please pray that God will work in his heart and enable him to attend and become a blessing to this new work. Thanks for you prayers.

I leave Samfya on Friday and will have meeting in Mkushi with a representative of a trust based in Harare and London that sometimes fund infrastructure. Please pray for wisdom and insight in this meeting. Then on Saturday I arrive in Lusaka, teach at Woodlands Baptist Church on Sunday. On Monday I begin my return to New Zealand via the UK & Singapore and I would value your prayers for the meetings with various partners.

Please also meet Dixon who is one of the Bible School board members. It has been decided that Dixon will be the new Project Manager for the infrastructure development here. His working life was involved in this area, and with his seniority he will demand respect and be able to keep his finger on the pulse. He will also oversee the maintenance programme to ensure that procedures are being followed and buildings cared for.

Mupunda Church

What a wonderful Sunday with the believers at Mupunda. It is so hard to describe the joy and oneness in Christ that I witnessed from this church. We began with a communion service at 9:15am and I was able to give a brief word form Colossians focused on the salvation that we have been blessed with. This service was quickly followed by the main teaching service which then extended through until close to 1pm!

I taught from 1 Corinthians 3:10-17 on “How to Protect the Church” this precious bride of Christ. This was preceded by many hymns and then the mandatory choir items – these people know how to sing! After my teaching there was a special offering collected by the church. It was led from outside the building by the Sunday School children coming in bringing gifts of food and money all wrapped in cloths. This precession of children and then adults must have continued for around 10 minutes. The songs were of great joy and they danced as they came up the aisle of the church with gifts to give to the work of the Lord.

The children were encouraged to be part of this because the leaders of the church are focusing on needed teaching to the whole church on how to give from the overflow of the heart – something many of these churches have not focused on at all. The elders want all of the people to learn what it is to give with a grateful heart to the Lord. Little did I know as all this was happening, all the food that was coming in was for me to take back to Samfya!!  There was Kasava, ground nuts, popcorn, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, maize meal... How humbling to receive this from the overflow of their hearts – I must confess at times I had tears in my eyes.

This church is alive! It is wonderful to see the evidence of a strong children’s and youth ministry. The women’s ministry is excelling under the leadership of a Samfya Bible School graduate. They are evangelising both door to door and in the market place as they reach out to their community. These people are clearly being taught well and love the Lord.

After the service we retired to the house of one of the elders and waited for a most delicious meal to be served. Again their hospitality was an amazing blessing! We had a discussion after the meal – I have been in many of these before. This one was different – it was not just the elders, but the deacons and the deaconesses as well. These people are working together like I have never witnessed in a village church before – they love each other and they love to serve the body!

The needs in a church like this continue to be resource material for Sunday School, Youth work, Bibles... As you will see in the photos they are also in the process of building a new church building – it is all made of concrete block and the next job is to get a roof on the building. It is very large but they need it, there were 317 people in the service today! If only I had a supply of iron sheets I would give them – these people are not waiting for handouts – they are actively working, doing the work of the Lord and also building infrastructure to bless the people.

The old church building with the new building being constructed, visible in the background. They intend to use the old building for a skills training programme in carpentry and sewing!!

I would love to be able to pick you all up and bring you to a church like this – it changes the way you think! Is the Bible Training happening through Samfya worth it? There is no doubt. It has blessed this church and their leaders are looking at the teacher training that the Bible School will be running next year. Praise the Lord for His grace so active in this place.

DR Congo Graduate

Talaka from Kasenga, DR Congo

Talaka is a graduate from 2009 and lives with his wife and family in Kasenga, DR Congo.  He is visiting Samfya as there has been a donation from the UK sent for the church that he is part of as they are extending the building due to significant growth with well over 300 people attending the church. In 2010 Gwen Katie & I visited this church and I was privileged to be part of a leadership training seminar there with the Bible School staff and graduates and leaders from this area.

Talaka reports that his agricultural training from Samfya Bible School has helped him incredibly. Whereas prior to training he would have to seek extra work to keep food on the table he can now live off the produce he grows and also has money to invest in the work in the local church, including buying materials for children’s work. He is only able to grow food during the rainy season because all the people around have goats and pigs and in the dry season they are allowed to roam and they destroy gardens!! But he makes enough in the rainy season to supply his needs for the year. He also mentioned that the budgeting training he received at Samfya has helped him plan his finances properly.

Talaka is not holding back his knowledge – he has been training up people from his church to be more productive. This can only be good as they raise the standard of living and invest more back into the work of the Lord in these village churches. I also have been informed of another student in Luapula who has done so well from agricultural production that his work for the Lord has been able to expand and he has even been able to afford iron sheets for his roof! What a blessing to see the work of the Lord increase and also the standard of living of these dear brothers and sisters improve through very simple education processes!

Teaching, Staff and Prayers

I am writing this at 2pm on Friday. My week of teaching is done, however I have one catch up day next week to cover. It is certainly a blessing every time I teach 1 & 2 Timothy to see how much application there is to the students lives and their home churches. I have been very impressed with the questions these people have asked – they are digging deeper and wanting to apply the truth to their lives and church ministries. Keep praying for them for understanding and opportunity to pass on the things they are learning.

A gentle breeze is coming off the lake and I can hear heaps of children enjoying swimming at the beach we cleared of weeds two years ago – that beach is a hit with the locals!! But it is hot and I am glad I am out of the classroom and able to wear shorts again! Perhaps I should join the kids for a swim!

(this is my view accross Lake Bengweulu from the guest house as I type!!)

Yesterday I had a very profitable time with the teaching staff, Levy, Peter & Francis (Bible) and Aaron (agriculture). We were able to have an open discussion about the challenges that the Bible School faces but also the joys and plans towards the future. One of the areas that we have tried to help the Bible School in is funding for an Administrator. We have been helping with this now since January 2011, sending a gift of approximately NZ$275 per month (based on our strong dollar). This has only been able to help with having a person here part time – it has been a help, however not having an administrator here full time slows all processes down, especially the delivery of finances for needed areas.

To give some perspective to this a person employed in the secular workforce would expect to receive around $625 per month, so we are supporting less than half what is needed to supply this need. Interestingly the support that we give to the teachers is also at this lower level and I know that the Bible School board has been trying to establish the means to raise their support (Please be aware the staff did not raise this with me, but I know there are challenges). Regarding another administrator, there is another man who currently comes to teach on the issues of HIV/Aids who is interested in the work here. He has the administration background as well as a degree in theology so could help with some teaching.

We spent quite some time discussing the Bible Sponsorship that we facilitate.  This ministry is vitally needed. This year we have been able to supply 1678 Bibles – praise the Lord!! More would be great! 30% of these are being sold from the Bible school and the money raised from this is going to provide funds for the teaching staff to go and visit graduates, do leadership training and identify further students for the years to come. The remaining 70% are being sent to areas where graduates are serving. These graduates will sell them at an affordable rate to their people and the money will be used to help them in their ministry. One box of Bibles (28 Bibles) will cover the purchase of a Bicycle for ministry, or a tent for the frequent teaching and evangelism trips that they do. Some of this 70% will also be sold in these village areas and the money raised will provide partial scholarships for students to come and study at Samfya.

(Bibles being unloaded to the bookshop)

The visit of the Bible School staff to village areas is vital for the ongoing growth of these rural churches. The leaders in these places need support and teaching – so the visits that the staff do are critical to change and growth, helping people to break away from tradition (both church and culture). Your support of buying Bibles helps this necessary work.

The departure of the missionary overseeing the building work is a challenge. The board has identified one of its members who will be able to take on an overseeing role in this – please pray for him – he has a background in construction supervision, however he is getting a little older.

An area that the staff would like you to pray for is the support and ownership of the Bible School ministry from local churches. Their desire is that churches would really help students to come, assist them with their fees, help with transport. Some students come from 100’s of kilometres away from  places in the Northern Territory or the Copperbelt, DR Congo, some even from Central province. The geographical spread is immense, but it is where Bemba is spoken. Pray that churches will also see fit to support the Bible School directly – it is their ministry and it benefits them greatly.

Well this is probably way to long, but I trust that it helps you understand a little more. We are privileged to help this work. Let’s keep prayerfully uplifting these our brothers and sisters to the Lord.

At class this morning some ladies arrived trying to sell this catfish - it is very big. They wanted a big price K100,000 around NZ$25.00!!

As I write this Gabrial the maintenance man has arrived with a big bandage on his hand. He proceeded to show me in his other hand a significant part of a finger that he has chopped off on the drop saw when preparing timber. He has also badly cut his hand. Would you please pray for a quick recovery and no infection - he is a capable man and needed in the work here. Oh for better medical facilities!


This Sunday I am teaching at at church where three graduates fellowship. It is about 60 kms from here close to Mansa. Thank you for your prayers.