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.

Gospel Partners

 Let me introduce you to Elisha & Agnes and their family. Elisha is a man I came to know a few years ago as one who would exchange US$ into Kwacha. He started as a poor street marketer who was selling sugar in small plastic bags. He has gradually grown his business and he now has too very small shops in the market place (we would hardly call them shops). Elisha makes travelling trips to Dubai and Tanzania to purchase for his shops and also wholesales some goods to other areas. He is a true businessman and a fine Christian man.

God has blessed Elisha with much materially through his business, but this man constantly invests in eternity. He supports the Samfya Gospel Workers Trust, a group of Christian businessmen who fund regular ministry trips to village areas by evangelists and teachers, as well as often going on these ministry trips himself to promote the gospel. Three mornings a week, he and a team attend the local hospital to preach the gospel to the patients, and they also help with food and assistance for patients, especially for transport costs when they go home to their villages (I hope to attend one morning next week to witness this work).

No wonder his business is blessed – he continues to give with a grateful heart for all God’s blessings to him. I know very little of the various ministries that he is part of but it is clearly evident that he loves Christ and invests in eternity. Last Friday it was this man who drove me in his vehicle from the Mambalima Conference site to Mansa (about 90 kms) so that I could have my visa renewed. Elisha would not accept any payment for fuel even though he was turning around and heading back. He also organised the right taxi for my trip back to Samfya.

I find it a real privilege to work alongside men like this that are devoted to gospel ministry. Zambia is often seen as a place that has its hand out for money, however many brothers and sisters are doing all they can with the resources that God has given them to bless others. That applies to many graduates of the Bible School who exist on very little but expend themselves for the church and the glory of God. We see at the Bible School itself the chicken projects, broilers and layers that add significant income to the Bible School for its ministry. These people are genuine partners in gospel ministry – what a privilege to encourage them in their vital work and also bless them witrh the abundance that God has given us.

 

Peter & Patricia Tembo and family. Peter is an elder in the English Chapel - pray for meeting that he is organising next week with his elders for us to address issues of tradition in church and how they can make changes for the future.

Teaching Pastoral Epistles At Samfya

Today I began teaching the Bible School Students 1 & 2 Timothy. This will be a week long course, starting at 8am and finishing at 1pm each day. I was very impressed by the questions that these students asked. They are certainly thinking about the text and also of its implications on other portions of God’s Word. The picture below is in the new classroom block. Power is not yet connected, however the classroom is fully functional.

These Pastoral Epistles cover so much material that is essential in the village churches that these students come from: prayer in the church, women’s role, qualification of elders, the care of widows (with necessary application to orphans), the priority of the Word of God and teaching the truth. I count it a huge privilege to walk through these chapters with our brothers and sisters in Christ. It would appear to me that the training these students are receiving has improved significantly – the staff have worked hard to ensure they are truly equipping these people for fruitful service.

On Sunday I taught at the English speaking Chapel here on the Bible School site. With English becoming more and more common this church has the potential to have significant impact in the community but there is a real need to apply change to long standing traditions! Lucy & Elisabeth Chama were at the service (picture below), the widow and daughter of the previous Principal Rodgers.

Reports back fro m the Mambalima Conference have been incredibly positive – it seems that the clear teaching of truth is something that the people are hungry for (I am told they had a tally of 18,543 people – not sure how  they got that number but there were huge numbers of people). Oh that we can see more and more men & women trained for these needy rural churches. The Bible School staff indicate that a large number of applications for next year’s course have been taken, and also there is strong interest in the School teachers training during school holiday periods.

One need that I was talking to Levy Kasoma about today is for an additional teacher as they plan to begin a second year programme next year. There is much interest in this additional year and it would be wonderful to see it established. There is a potential teacher who has a BTh degree, has pastored in a CMML church for 14 years and is ready to come to Samfya and teach. He is also keenly interested in writing Bemba resource material to get into the hands of local churches – these are the kind of people that we need to partner with!!Maybe your church would like to consider sponsoring this man for this growing work. Let me know if you are interested in talking about this very cost effective supporting a national worker!!).

Well I have much more to do this week – we are working on the figures to see how much more is needed to finish the multipurpose hall and then looking at the potential next stages once things have consolidated. Thanks for your prayers.

Sunday afternoon entertainment at the park just behind the Bible School - probably about 3000 spectators for this local club game

More Photos from Conference

I have arrived back at Samfya after having my visa renewed at Mansa Immigration. Here are some Photos of the conference: One of the choirs singing in front of the rock - the pulpit is under this rock and you can see our team when we passed through here about two weeks ago.



The children singing as they walk up the dusty road after Sunday School lessons



School Teachers gathered to hear about the new training programme for them in their school holidays
beginning April 2013



The road that leads down to the conference has a lot of street vendors selling goods



These rapids are called Mambalima Falls and are 5 minutes walk from the conference site. I swam a couple of times in an eddy off to the side to cool off in the afternoon heat getting close to 40 degrees!



This area had heaps of cooking, although this was happening everywhere you went. This lady really wanted her photo taken!!



view down the river towards the Conference site



Levy - Sometimes the day is just too hot and long!!

Hungry Hearts – Feed Them The Word!

Well this afternoon was elective time and I was expected to give time for interaction and feedback. We tried that for the first 10 minutes, however with a couple of thousand or more people in an elective that is fairly hard. We ditched that plan and I taught on the role of an elder – what should an elder do? I was blown away by the response and desire from these people to hear God’s Word. Notebooks were out, people were constantly writing. They were devouring the Word of God and its explanation – they are hungry to hear truth explained and as I talked with the Bible School staff later we reflected on the lack of depth that happens in the teaching in many churches here.

Praise God for his work in these dear saints. We have been able to leave each church represented at the conference with two translated copy of John MacArthur's small booklet on Elders. The Bible School staff translated this resource as it covers so many necessary areas for these rural churches to grapple with and will reinforce the teaching from today's session.

After this meeting it was a joy to see many school teachers come and visit with the Bible School staff as they promoted the new training initiative for teachers in their holiday breaks starting in 2013. These people were keenly interested in taking in teaching that will equip them for further ministry in their local churches. Pray that this new initiative will really impact lives! At the same time a troop of kids came singing up the track having just had a Sunday School sessions.

I wish I could convey all the sights and smells and experiences of being in this huge throng of humanity (they report 18,000 people - maybe a little inflated but it is packed). It is alive with joy in Christ. There are more challenges than you could imagine with various ministries desiring help. Life in Christ is such a blessing and these people are rejoicing in this life and also desiring to learn so much more. What a privilege to see Samfya Bible School play such a significant role in the teaching and focus of this event. Please pray that even more students will be identified for the coming years so that the church here will be strengthened and grow.

Tomorrow I head to Mansa to have my visa extended and then I head home to Samfya. Next week I will teach the Bible School students through 1 & 2 Timothy. As always your prayers are valued, and thank you for the regular feedback coming through.

Bibles and Vision

Please meet Kafusha Kanyemba a graduate of Samfya Bible School working in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Kafusha has been attending conference but today makes his way back to the border, across the Luapula River and home. He is taking three boxes of Bibles (84 Bibles) and these Bibles will be sold at affordable rates to the village Christians in the Congo and the funds raised are going to provide three sponsorships for students to Samfya that have been identified by two churches there. What a blessing Bibles are – meeting the needs of Christians but also supporting ministry.

If you look at Kafusha’s bicycle you will see that it is just about worn out. These graduates are very active in ministering to churches and bicycles make them so much more efficient in the use of their time. Sponsorships for Bicycles would be a real blessing costing around NZ$130 each.

  Since arriving at the Conference Levy and the Bible School staff have been burdened to design a course for School Teachers. Many of these people are placed in village areas and they have good English and can have a significant effect on the ministry of local churches. The staff are planning a Certificate in Biblical Studies that will be available to these teachers in their holiday break times. Here is what the course will cover:

• Theology Survey - Theology Proper, Bibliology, Anthropology, Soteriology
• Bible Interpretation
• Expository Preaching
• Biblical leadership
• Biblical Counselling

There is likely to be electives of women’s Ministry and Sunday School ministry to cater for the many lady teachers that are also in these rural schools. Zambia has a very large school system right through rural places and teachers are often placed in these rural areas for a number of years. This vision of inputting into these teachers lives and seeing them strengthen local churches is very strategic. I am excited that we can partner with people who are thinking mission and strengthening local churches. Praise God for these faithful people.