Student Outreach at Kanyaya

Outreaches are an important part of the training that sponsored students receive at Namwianga. By visiting and ministering in other congregations, the students develop their leadership and preaching skills. Most outreaches from Namwianga are on Sundays. Students get up early to load onto vehicles, jump on bicycles, or just head out on foot to village congregations. But now and then there is a weekend outreach like the recent area-wide meeting at Kanyaya.

Loading for this weekend outreach began on Friday afternoon. And what a load it was! Students brought their mattresses from the dorms and stacked them in the open backs of pickups. Luggage and blankets were tied on top or wedged in on the sides. Vegetables and other food items found a place. And then the riders squeezed in wherever they could. Somehow there was room.

The students were driven to the village of Kanyaya where an area-wide meeting was held. Almost 150 people from seven congregations gathered in and around the tiny mud brick and thatch church building. Grass-fenced shelter areas had been built underneath shade trees to provide a larger gathering area, and another grass-fenced area was designated as the kitchen where meals were cooked over open fires. For this weekend outreach, the students brought mealie-meal, vegetables, and cooking oil from the college’s kitchen. The village congregation provided water, firewood, and grass shelters.

Rodgers Namuswa is the coordinator for student outreaches. He says the students did most of the teaching, preaching, and song leading for the weekend. On Friday night there were some lessons, but the singing went on until well after midnight. Finally the men settled into their sleeping spots inside the grass fence and the women slept inside the building.

On Saturday the sessions resumed with more preaching and teaching. The college women taught Bible classes to the children and the college men did most of the lessons for the adults. By Saturday night the weather had turned very cold, so three big fires were built to ensure that everyone could be close to a source of heat. At 11:00 the GBCC Heavenly Echoes choir began singing to those gathered around the fires, and the singing continued until 6:00 the next morning.

Rodgers Namuswa describes the warm welcome that college students receive on outreaches like this one: “People like the college students so much! Many village churches are really encouraged a lot by visits from the students. The students are able to do the work of the outreaches because they like to go out and share God’s word.”

Workshop at Kanyaya

Last Saturday I did a teacher training workshop at Kanyaya. Four congregations sent representatives to learn how to use the Beginner’s Bible to teach children in Sunday School classes. I have taught many of these workshops through the years, but I think this was the best one yet.

For one thing, it was a small group—only about 20. I have had over 100 in some of the workshops, and it is difficult to involve the participants when there are so many. And these women were active! We acted out the story of the good Samaritan, and they really got into it. Then I had them create some skits to demonstrate kindness, and once again they gave it their all.


One thing I always do is teach them how to use the “Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down” as a review game with kids to make sure they are getting the point. These participants loved that, and even after our workshop was over, they were giving me the “Thumbs Up!” sign when they were happy about something.

And the grand finish was a delicious lunch of village chicken and nshima that we ate outside under the trees.


I met this lady at the workshop. Four of her children have attended or are now at Namwianga.

Saturday at Gwangwazu

Rodgers Namuswa arranged for Shawn Daggett and me to do a leadership seminar at Gwangwazu on Saturday, October 16. It turned out to be quite a trip--over an hour on the Kabanga Road and then another hour jolting through the bush on bad roads and cow paths.

We arrived to find a large crowd already gathered under the trees, singing as they waited for us

. I took the ladies to the nearby church building for our sessions, and the men stayed outside. This turned out to be one of the the largest groups I ever taught in Zambia--over 120 women from 12 different congregations! I had warned Rodgers that I only had 7 Beginnners Bibles because that's all I could fit into my luggage. He passed on that information to the leaders who were organizing the seminar, but the bush grapevine spreads quickly, and additional congregations came without invitation. Now I have to figure out how to get additional books to Rodgers in Zambia, and Rodgers has to figure out how to get the books to the congregations in the bush. Zambians are patient people, and I trust it will all work out.

Two Worlds

We said goodbye to the people of Mukonda on Saturday afternoon and traveled through breathtaking scenery back to Namwianga. The sapphire sky sparkled over clusters of thatched roofs on verdant rolling hills. Goats and cows meandered across the dirt road. Ten Zambian ladies filled the back of the Land Cruiser, singing in the rich Tonga harmony that I suspect will be the melody of heaven. It was one of the times I tell myself that I am experiencing a National Geographic Moment.

We had been back home a few hours when I got an e-mail from one of Sara's friends. She was with Sara in a Dallas bridal shop, and Sara had narrowed her selection down to two wedding dresses. Sara's friend sent me pictures of the two gowns via her iPhone, and I e-mailed my feedback on which one looked best. I was thrilled to get to be there for one of my daughter's significant moments.

Two incredible experiences in two starkly contrasting worlds.

Weekend Update

Saturday David and I traveled with Rodgers Namuswa and Fortune Masiya to the village of Kasikili for an area-wide training seminar. Fortune and I taught the women how to teach children's classes using the Beginner's Bible, and David and Rodgers led sessions on the qualities of a Christian leader. We had over fifty women and nineteen men in attendance. It is always refreshing to get out into the villages to teach because the people are hungry to learn and so thankful for our lessons!

The women were quite animated and enthusiastic in the classes. We acted out the storm at sea, played a few games, and had a great time learning together. As we left they lined up in front of the building and sang a farewell song for us.

On Sunday David and I (with Jason along for the day) took the Amazing Brothers singing group on an outreach to the Twin Fountain congregation. These nine high school guys love to sing and love to share the word. They sang from the time they got in the Land Cruiser until we arrived at the church building. The congregation served us lunch after services, and then we loaded up to head home. They sang all the way home and were still singing as they got out of the vehicle at their dorms!

Seven of the guys are under the US sponsorship program, one is sponsored by Zambia Mission Fund Canada, and one is sponsored by another missionary. Without sponsorships, none of them would be able to go to school. What an encouragement to see such fine young men getting an education and learning how to lead.

Kasaka Outreach- January 4, 2009

Sunday was a day of surprises and encouragement! We weren’t scheduled for an outreach, so when our friend Andrew Sibwaalu called at 8:00 and asked us for a ride to the Kasaka village congregation, we were glad to go.

We had been at Kasaka in April of 2007 when the congregation was meeting under the trees and using logs for benches. Today we drove up and found a spacious, new brick building with a metal roof and brick benches (still not comfortable, but better than logs). There were less than 30 people in attendance when we gathered in 2007; today there were 79. We enjoyed our worship time with the group and then stayed around for some fellowship and snacks. Andrew and his family had worked all week to gather enough mangoes to share with the entire congregation.

The next surprise was finding five sponsored students in the congregation. Three of them are shown above. Fleming Kaango (left) graduated from GBCC in 2006 and is now part of the Westreach evangelism effort. He and two other GBCC grads teach at Sesheke High School and work with a new church that they planted in the town. Fleming reports that the new congregation in Sesheke has 30 members now. Wisborn Siatubebe (center) just graduated from Namwianga High School. He was the song leader for today’s worship service and did an outstanding job. Riffar Kaango is Fleming’s sister and a 2007 graduate of Namwianga High. Riffar recently attended one of the Sunday School training classes, and today she used her Beginner’s Bible to teach the 23 children in Bible class.

What an encouragement to see these Christian young people at work for the Lord, and to see a new congregation growing strong!

Sunday Outreach

I love Sunday mornings at the Mission, especially when there are outreach groups heading out to minister in other places. Last Sunday morning the yellow bus revved its engine as the Heavenly Echoes college choir climbed on. Soon they were joined by a high school boys' singing group. The bus driver dropped the boys at the Kalomo High School church and then took the Heavenly Echoes to Mawaya.

Four college students rode with college English teacher Kenneth Siaziyu to the Kalomo prison for their weekly Bible study and worship service with the prisoners. This Sunday they took along bars of soap donated by college students to share with the prisoners.

And I finally got to go on my first outreach in six months. David and I took a group of six college students to visit the congregation at Seven Fountains Farm.


Bagley and Humphrey are two sponsored students who represent the best we have to offer at George Benson Christian College. Both are excellent students, spiritually minded, and capable leaders. And both were orphaned in their teens. Without sponsorship, they would not be getting a college education. This Sunday Bagley led the meditation at the Lord's Supper and Humphrey served as his translator.

Surprises

Sunday's outreach brought some pleasant surprises. Don and Laura Oldenburg and I took a group of high school boys on an outreach to the Tara congregation about an hour away. (David ended up having to drive on another outreach at the last minute.)

We arrived a few minutes before the worship service began. Laura and I sat down on the women's side of the building and were greeted by two ladies in the row ahead of us. One lady had a four-year-old son who couldn't seem to keep his eyes off of us. He looked like a healthy, happy child, and we enjoyed watching him as much as he enjoyed watching us. The mother sang with obvious enthusiasm during the worship and gave me the overall impression that she was a committed member of the congregation. Later one of the students we had brought with us introduced me to the woman, and I found out that she is my special little Bernard's new stepmother! (Bernard's biological mother died in childbirth; Bernard's father has since remarried.) Bernard's father was in Choma on Sunday, so I didn't get to meet him, but I did assure the stepmother that Bernard is old enough now for them to come get him from the orphanage and take him to live with them. I was thrilled to meet her and find out that Bernard will be going to a home with Christian parents and a sweet big brother. I'm also thankful that Bernard will be living close enough that I can visit him every now and then to see how he's doing.

When the sermon started, the thirty or so children in the congregation got up and went outside for Sunday School. The other lady who was sitting in front of us left with them to be their teacher. After the service ended, she led the children back in and took them up to the front of the building where they sang a song and acted out the story of Naaman. The teacher carried with her one of the Beginner's Bibles that I had given out during teacher training classes in 2006! It was a joy for me to see that teachers are continuing to use the Bibles and doing the activities that I taught them.

Once again I am reminded of the Zambian saying: God is good all the time. All the time God is good.