Petrol and Diesel and Lines, Oh My!

Thankfully the fuel shortage is over for now. Several weeks ago service stations were out of petrol. The past week it's been diesel that has been scarce. If you look through the window of the mini bus that is for sale in this picture, you can see the front end of our vehicle as we waited for fuel. We were sixth in line and waited over one and half hours to fill up our tank as well as some jerry cans (gas cans). Our director, Tim, took this picture of our line while he waited as well for fuel.

Tensions were rather high among drivers especially when a third line began forming to our left, people who were nudging their way in line. However, peoples' sense of justice was high as well and drivers stayed bumper to bumper to keep out cheaters.

Once we got up to the pump the frenzy began of getting out of the car amidst a mob of jerry can users, making sure the wallet stayed in the back pocket, seeing that the attendant started the fueling on zero, pulling out the jerry cans for fuel, keeping the doors locked, and getting a receipt. Quite a stressful morning~and, we were supposed to be on a date! Anyway, we're thankful our first round of fuel shortages is over.

An Huge Thank You!

On Oct 28 we distributed New Living Translation Study Bibles to the pastors in Action Pastors College, our primary ministry to Zambian pastors. These Bibles came to Africa via a Tyndale Publishing's special program put together by Bonnie Cain, a personal friend, and also assistant to Tyndale's president. This program makes these Life Application Study Bibles available at a cost of $9.00, an unbelievably great deal for majority world pastors. We raised money to purchase Bibles to give to pastors in our programs. The students selected one of their own, Bruce Kaumba, to speak a word of thanks to supporters who helped provide these Bibles. If you are on Facebook, you can view and hear his message by clicking here.

APC Makes A Difference

Pastor Mumbi is one of the older, wiser, and also humbler pastors in our group. He also pastors one of the larger churches, with over 100 in regular attendance. At the close of a recent class he asked for a moment to speak to the class. Six months previous the class had a discussion about issues where Bible believing Christians disagree with one another. We were specifically discussing what the Bible says about how leaders are chosen for offices in the church. It is not uncommon among independent African Pentecostal churches that pastors have sole authority for the appointment of all leaders. Of course, there are problems with this approach and abuses of authority are common. In the discussion we looked at various Bible passages and talked about a range of options that would reflect a wiser and more biblical approach, from a democratic model in a congregational church to a Presbyterian model where leaders are appointed by the church elders.

Pastor Mumbi was the only pastor in the class who admitted that he had sole authority to appoint leaders. Now six months later he shared with the class that it was time for confession. As a result of our study and discussion he had worked with the church board to develop a new policy for leadership selection. The new policy required that the pastor would work with a committee of elders in the church for the annual appointment of new leaders.

This is a small but significant shift toward thinking more biblically about church life and ministry. This small step reflects the impact of Action Pastors College (APC) on the pastors in our program. It is exciting because this change is not just the impact of the teacher’s beliefs but also the result of pastors being taught to do exegesis of the biblical text and then together discussing their findings and critiquing their own practices. It is especially encouraging because in recent discussions among our PLD missionary team we identified the need to nurture and encourage pastors toward a more biblical model of leadership structure as a key component for extending financial aid to pastors and churches for ministry projects. Praise God that He is going with us and before us as we instruct and train church leaders.

Our Interns' Labors

Action Zambia Ministries broke ground this past spring by inviting two interns, Tyler Dingman and Owen Thompson, to become part of its team for a few months. One of their labors was to interview each pastor of our college and to create a blog, posting their stories in writing, pictures, and in video. I visited the pastors' blog today and was very impressed~thank you so much, Tyler and Owen. If you'd like to check out the testimonies of the pastors AZM works with, click here.

Join Us For A Braai

Discipling compound pastors is a ministry of Action Zambia Ministries (AZM). Led by teammates Brent Roberts and Luke Whitfield, Discipleship 2:7 (taken from Colossians 2:7) is a one-year program that meets each week on Thursdays.

AZM recently welcomed its new group of eleven pastors with a braai (pronounced "bri" with a long "i" sound), or barbecue. Also attending were Tracy, Steve Allen, and consultant, Wozifera
Ngoma.

After the meal Tracy introduced AZM's other ministries, namely NextGen and the C.R.O.S.S. ministry. The pastors shared where they live, mostly in the Matero, Ng'ombe, and Garden compounds.
Some shared their testimonies~one in particular shared how he used to be a Muslim and what his life in Islam was like.

The men also shared some of Zambia's interesting and bizarre cultural practices. Having children in this culture is very important and childless marriages are deemed abnormal. In fact, if newly-
weds aren't pregnant in the first three months the neighbors begin to talk. If a man fails to produce a legacy it is a huge disgrace. In days past when a man died without leaving offspring, a piece of charcoal was placed in one of his body's orifices before burial. And, it wasn't the mouth! Makes one wince, doesn't it? Why charcoal, I have no idea, but it symbolized that he had left no seed.

We're Cat Grandparents!

About a month ago a female, black cat adopted us. We think she actually belongs to the nuns over the wall, but for some reason she took up with us. We named her Molly II as she's the spitting image of the Molly we left in the States with Tracy's sister.

She is an outside cat as we have several teammates who are allergic to felines. We have thoroughly enjoyed her especially when we're sitting outside and she weaves in and out of our legs. It soon became apparent to us that she was in a "family way," which
convinced us to regularly feed her.

A twist in the story came recently with regular visits from another
young cat and our neighbor's dog, Bobby. We knew she would begin looking for another place to bear her litter as she didn't feel safe. Yesterday she grew quite restless, was waddling more, and tried to come into the house several times. She even scaled the nuns' wall and disappeared for a while. Later she came back still searching and meowing loudly. Tracy and I quickly created a safe haven out of a plastic bin and an old rug. I had to set her in it several times because she was unsure. As I sat out there with her (I've always wanted to be a cat midwife!) and stroked her, it was obvious these babies were coming. It was actually very interesting to watch her behavior as she went into labor~she began breathing heavily, her eyes glazed over, and her huge belly contracted. Hmm, these symptoms sound familiar!

Molly pushed the first kitty out and immediately went into action licking it. It had grey and white markings on its little face. Seemingly not interested in breathing, it lay there content until the mother and I stimulated it with vigorous rubbing. It reminded me of our son, Neal~when he was born he just lay there contentedly~not in distress, just resting! Then the doctor decided Neal had had enough rest and needed oxygen! The second kitten with white paws arrived breach but Molly knew what to do~she pushed it out and began cleaning its face.

At that point I became distracted with other things and when I returned, there were two more babies, one grey and black and one with a lot of white on him. I thought she had more in her as she still seemed quite large, but four was all she had.

What a blessing to witness the birth of these four kittens! One female is spoken for~any takers on the other three?

Luther Still Stirs Hearts

Because the pastors in ABI are studying the history of Christian doctrine they viewed a movie about the great Protestant reformer, Martin Luther. To make it a real movie experience Tracy and Steve brought popcorn and softies (soda). As I scooped out popcorn I teased the pastors that I was going to post a picture of them and tell people that all they did was sit around and eat popcorn. Without skipping a beat, one of the pastors wryly replied, "Tell them that when we're eating popcorn we are learning!" Pretty clever, I thought.

Afterwards Tracy led a discussion of the film by asking, "What about this movie impacted you?" Luther's boldness and courage impressed Pastor Kaumba. Even when Martin's life was at stake, he still stood for the truth when he could have been silent. Abusa (Pastor) James Chiwuswa shared an insightful comment about the similiarity of the selling of indulgences and the health and wealth gospel being preached in Zambia. Buying an indulgence in the 1500's was supposed to spring a deceased loved one out of purgatory. James remarked that preachers today in Lusaka tell their people, "Give to me and you'll receive a blessing."

By the way, if you haven't seen this film about Luther portrayed by Joseph Fiennes, it's worth a trip to Blockbusters. Please pray for these pastors as they shepherd their flocks~they face difficulties and hardships each day. Pray that they would be bold and courageous like Luther.