Men at Work

Ray & Colin refurbishing Blackboards for the new classroom






Roger cutting panels for under the eaves



Daniel with Peter getting door frames ready to install

The team leaves shortly for a conference in Mwewa, approximately 90kms from Samfya. Thank you for your prayers.

Midweek and Power Problems!

Greetings all. The work on the Multi-Purpose Hall continues with the roof all on over the toilet block, the fiddly woodwork under the eaves progressing well and a concrete pour just about ready for the veranda. Please pray for continued safety on the work site. Power continues to be a major problem here with the voltage only ever getting close to full capacity in the early hours of the morning. Often there are power cuts completely and always from around 6pm-9pm the lights only just glow! It makes productivity very difficult indeed and things like meals are always a logistical problem to cook! The whole power issue is a significant challenge to effectively using evenings and the people here laugh to think that much work happens at night in pastoral ministry and care!

This weekend we are heading to a conference about two hours drive from Samfya where they have been inspired by our 2011 Impact Conference to teach on Stepping Into Eternity. We leave Friday afternoon and will return on Sunday afternoon/evening. Then on Monday the team begins the homeward journey via Livingstone (two days travel) with time to see Victoria Falls.

Donald returns to Samfya on Friday 17th and then on Sunday travels to the Mambilima Conference with the Bible School staff who have had a significant role in organising this year’s programme. It will focus on the life and ministry of the local church. With well over 10,000 attending and camping out in very basic conditions it is an amazing place but they come to be taught and also to hear the wonderful choirs from the churches attending.

Donald will teach the opening two sessions on the role of Leaders to advance and promote the ministry of the church which will feed into the later sessions during the week long conference that are encouraging various aspects of church life. The need to see leaders equipped and prepared to lead in their churches is significant, so please pray that this conference will be used of the Lord to strengthen the church and also that potential students will be identified for the 2013 student intake.

The Team passed through the Mambalima Conference site on the way to Kawambwa last weekend.

Tuesday 7th August

Sunrise over Lake Bangwelulu today Facia boards going up on the outside. More Photos to come but the internet has slowed too much to upload!! roof going on

Leadership Training in Kawambwa

What an amazing weekend! Leaders were gathered from 10 churches, some men biking 150kms to attend the training. We were able to give out a small booklet on eldership that the Bible School staff have translated into Bemba (written by John MacArthur). The issues in this booklet are the very issues that the Bible School staff have identified as necessary in training up leaders from these village church areas. Donald, Levy & Francis shared the teaching and there were great times of questions as the men shared the issues and problems they face in setting biblical standards in their churches.

We also had the privilege of sitting with five recent graduates of the Bible School. We were able to pass on Bemba Bibles to help them in their ministries and also a Study Bible each which will enhance the work that they do. They get little financial assistance from their own churches (an area of teaching we have been working on with the elders) but still remain very active in the ministry. They are involved with two church plants in the Kawambwa area as well as teaching and various ministries in their local churches. Transport is often a difficulty with only one of them having a bicycle to travel the distances between churches so they have to walk. They report that people are open to hear the gospel and they actively involve themselves in evangelism.

 Donald & Francis in Training Mode

The graduates reported that the training that they received at Samfya Bible School has been a significant help to them in their churches. Many of them commented on the confidence they had gained in studying the Bible and then teaching it to their people (the expository teaching classes have had excellent input). Before raining they had little confidence and were in some ways timid. Praise God that the school is equipping these people for their service in the churches. They also commented on how the agricultural training has helped them become a little more financially secure which assists them as they go away on frequent ministry trips.

We had a private meeting with elders from these graduates churches and without fail they reported how well these graduates were working and how much they fitting in with their leaders and willingly working with them. They can see how the training has blessed these graduates and they have very encouraged by the teaching that they have been providing. They are so impressed by the work that they have identified 6 potential students for the 2013 year and also want to send one student back to do further training when the second year programme begins. We are arranging to send three boxes of Bibles that will be sold to the church families in Kawambwa, the proceeds then going to help sponsor these six new students.

Thank you for your continued prayers for these workers in the gospel. They have little in material terms, however they are rich in spiritual terms as they live out God’s calling in their lives.

 The hospitality was fantastic!

We also had a meeting with a group of evangelists who are also helping with one of the church plants, but have a passionate desire to get out and do more in reaching new areas for Christ. Their challenges are financial and the Bible School staff tried to help them think through how local community resources could be rallied to encourage their desires. There are also other good models of local churches working together to send out evangelist teams – please pray that they will continue to step out in faith to preach the gospel.

Kawambwa Area Churches

Graduates with new Bemba Bibles for distribution

We have just returned from Kawambwa where leaders from 10 churches gathered for training and equipping. It was a blessing to see five graduates of the Bible School who are all excelling in the ministry. I will write more in the next couple of days but it is time for bed after a busy morning of teaching and then 6 hours of travel to get home to Samfya. We are all well and thankful for your prayers.

Leadership training - holding the booklet on eldership translated into Bemba. This resource has been a huge blessing in the training


believe it or not there is a Spitting Cobra in this photo - a bit blurry and just his head is visible ready to strike!! We backed off!

Photo Update

Ray & Colin with Peter Kausa putting the roof on the ablutions at the Multi-purpose Hall Daniel & Roger have been working on the panelling - long and painstaking work! Prudence our helper at the guest house - she is a blessing to us and such a willing worker. Tomorrow we head a way for a weekend of leadership training in Kawambwe - thank you for your prayers.

Building Relationships and Buildings

The team is progressing with various items on the Multipurpose Hall and attached ablution block. As always in Zambia there are many frustrations with time and materials and equipment to achieve the work but you have to learn to be patient – a fruit of the Spirit!!

I have had profitable meetings with two of the teaching staff, Peter Chomba and Francis Chola. Peter expressed how much his training in South Africa in Expository Preaching and Biblical Counselling have impacted his life and teaching. He has incorporated the things that he has learned into his classes, but also commented on how much his marriage and family life has been blessed through the exposure to God’s Word in this training. In regard to his teaching he expressed how much of a change the Expository Preaching course has made as he unfolds God’s Word. Peter is very thankful for the support received to achieve this training.

Peter would value your prayers as he endeavours to communicate the truth that he has learned  and breaks it down to a level accessible to the students who come from village areas.

Francis and his family will soon move into the new staff house that is nearing completion. The house they are in now is incredibly small so it will be a great blessing to them and will enhance their ministry opportunities. Francis has a real desire to do further studies and is considering whether the Biblical Counselling training would be a good option for him as well. I now he would be blessed if he was to take this on – please make this a matter of prayer. Francis is enjoying the ministry and rejoicing in the progress that is happening around the Bible School property.

Both Peter and Francis also spoke about the needs for more Village training visits. Would you please pray about this as it is a vital part of growing the church and seeing further students identified. The challenge is the costs to travel the hundreds of kilometres from where graduates live and minister. An annual grant of say US$2-3000 would go a long way to helping this need.

Thanks for you ongoing prayers