Meet Pastor Kashewe

1 Corinthians 10:31-So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

Pastor Charles Kashewe wasn't looking to be a pastor, but when his pastor died, the church called on his to lead them. It has been a difficult road, but this humble young man is learning quickly. He is eager to learn, humble to change and desires deeply to see his church grow to love Jesus. Please pray for Charles for the courage to lead well and the wisdom to know how to lead well. Thank you!

Meet Pastor Phiri

"Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits;
Who pardons all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases;
Who redeems your life from the pit"
-- Psalm 103:2-4

Please be praying for Pastor Phiri right now, as he has been forced to drop out of classes due to failing health.  Please also be praying for his family -- Martin and his wife have eight children.  This is not the first time his health has been poor, however, and just as God has been faithful in the past, so He will be now.

Martin grew up going to catholic school and was very successful in his studies, so much so that he was sent to London to study.  While he was there he got sick and consulted many doctors, though none of them were able to find a cure for a lack of appetite -- the hospitals could not do anything.  So Martin returned to Zambia, where he visited 21 different witch doctors, many of whom gave him tattoos that were supposed to free him of the spirits that were causing his sickness.  On the way back from receiving the last of these tattoos, he sat down on a bus next to a pastor who knew through the Holy Spirit that he was sick.  Phiri wanted to know which spirit had given him this knowledge, and the pastor replied that is was the Holy Spirit.  Martin was curious to know more, so he followed the man off the bus and prayed with him to become a Christian.   Martin regained his appetite immediately, and though he never met this man again, he was able to find a home church at Grace Mission Ministries.  Martin knows what it means to say that God heals; please pray that He would do so now.

Below is a video of Pastor Phiri introducing himself; if you are receiving this post via email you may need to click here to see the video.  Thank you for your support and God bless!

Meet Pastor Ngoma

"1 Corinthians 11:1 - Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ"

Father Ngoma is a man worth imitating. He is compassionate, humble, encouraging and purposeful. He leads a church at the Anglican church in Makeni (just outside of Lusaka) as well as oversees a community where the daily needs are overwhelming. Whether he is helping feed impoverished families, encouraging bereaving widows or ministering the HIV/AIDs ministry, Father Ngoma continually pours out his life for his flock. Please pray for Father Ngoma for strength and endurance as he ministers daily in Makeni.

Meet Pastor Simuyemba

"A joyful heart makes a cheerful face..."  Proverbs 15:13


Pastor Manuel Simuyemba has one of the most blessed and joyful hearts in the world, and when you meet him it is reflected in his face.  Always smiling and laughing, Pastor Simuyemba is one of the most gentle and humble men in the ABI program, which is saying a great deal.  He is an encouragement to all who are privileged to walk with him.


Pastor Simuyemba, until recently, was an elder at Libala Baptist Church.  Like many of the churches in Zambia, Libala Baptist is actively involved in church planting and community evangelism, and Pastor Simuyemba was leading the charge in these areas.  Three months ago, however, Pastor Simuyemba left Libala in order to plant a church in nearby called Grace Baptist Church.  Steve Allen had the opportunity to preach their a few weeks ago and returned very encouraged by the solid foundation that has been laid by this young church. The future is bright.  In the midst of great encouragement by this church, he is also facing a difficult challenge in that his contract was not renewed for the new year and he is currently unemployed. Thank you for remembering our brother Manuel!



Please be praying for Pastor Simuyemba as he leads his young church to reach out to their community, loving the poor and the widows and the orphans.  There is much to be thankful for, yet there are also many areas where they are still waiting on the Lord to provide for them.


Here is a video of Pastor Simuyemba introducing himself... be sure to click on the link if you are receiving this update via email.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Meet Pastor Chiwuswa

"Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity." -- 1 Timothy 4:12

There are fifteen pastors currently enrolled in the Action Bible Institute, and all but one of them are married.  In the U.S. this might not be a big deal for the lone unmarried man, but in Zambian culture singleness and marriage carry very significant social connotations.  The married man eats before the unmarried man at meals, is addressed more respectfully in public, and so forth.  In this sense Zambia is far closer to Biblical culture than modern American culture: much the same way Paul encuraged Timothy not to let anyone look down on him because of his youth, young Zambian men likewise need to be encouraged that their faith speaks for them ahead of their culture.

James Chiwuswa has attended the Anglican church since childhood, and as a youth was very zealous for his faith, even being given his own congregation at age 21.  But he soon found himself surrounded with bad company, and so he gradually left the church as a drunkard in his early 20's.  After trying for many years -- unsuccessfully -- to obtain training as a mechanic, James found himself in a miserable condition, drunk and impoverished.  But God was gracious, and led him to move back home with his mother to live in Makeni Ecumenical Center, a small neighborhood center to the South of downtown Lusaka.  This decision led him to a renewed faith in Christ, and to this day he lives with family in Makeni Ecumenical Center, having been given another congregation in nearby Kalikiliki Compound.  James has not touched a drink since moving to Makeni, and he hopes to join the ranks of the married very soon to a beautiful, godly woman who he himself led to Christ with the rest of her family.

Please be praying for James as he prepares for marriage.  Also pray that he would have the ability to minister both to his flock and to his young family once he is married: the Anglican Church where James is a priest is able to provide only very little financially, yet God has proved himself faithful to provide for James thus far.  Many thanks also to you as you provide support for James as he takes time out of his week to learn more about God's Word which could be used for supplemental income or for further ministry to his people.

Meet Alfred Mulenga

If you were to ask the average Zambian today whether status and prestige are important, the answer would be a certain yes. Knowledge is power in a country where education is scarce; many pastors lord their position and their knowledge over younger men in order to retain their respected position. Even those who train up young men often fall into the trap of doing so harshly or with a critical spirit. Alfred, though a young man himself, has many reasons to boast he has been blessed with a wonderful family (he and his wife Gertrude have four children), and was only just recently admitted to the deaconate in the Anglican church after having completed his Anglican education. Yet Alfred Mulenga is a man with a gentle smile and a humble spirit, who is willing to serve others with gladness even when, by Zambian standards, he ought to be asserting his position.

Pastor Mulenga was raised in the church from a young age in the town of Kafue, which is about 15 miles south of Lusaka. Shortly after being married, a group of thieves broke into his home and began to steal things from him, but were caught by a mob as they fled. One of the thieves was severely beaten -- and eventually died -- despite Alfred's efforts to break up the violence against the very people who were stealing from him. After the incident, the rest of the thieves delivered death threats against Alfred and his family, so that they were forced to flee to Lusaka for fear of their own safety. Alfred soon found work at Makeni Ecumenical Center, where he has since finished his education and received a congregation in nearby Linda compound, where he is now serving as a priest.

Please be praying for Alfred as he continues to take classes from Action Bible Institute three times each week, having recently moved his family to Linda in order to live where he is actively involved in ministry. Also please be praying for God's continued provision for he and his family. The Anglican church is able to provide only very small means for its priests, so the support that you provide as Alfred takes classes from ABI has been, and will continue to be, a tremendous blessing. Please also be rejoicing with Alfred and his family, since being ordained to the deaconate is a tremendous honor. Hundreds of people came to the ceremony last month to shower the new deacons with gifts and to celebrate with them!

Here is a video of Alfred introducing himself... if you are receiving this post via email you may need to click here to see it. God bless!

Meet John Chitambo

"...and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him." James 5:15

John Chitambo and his wife, Victoria, have four children: Ruth, 24, Joshua, 22, Ethan, 19, and Emmanuel, who just turned 18 last week. Formerly a math and science teacher, John now works part time for Action Zambia as an HIV/AIDS consultant in the C.R.O.S.S. program (Churches Ready to Overcome the Silence and Stigma of AIDS). John helps to strengthen local churches as they implement counseling programs for those who have HIV, or who want to reach out to the many Zambians who are suffering from this horrible disease.

John has a heart for the sick and the downtrodden largely because his life has been marked by God's faithfulness in the face of illness. In the past few years God has truly tested John and his family pertaining to medicine, in that his son Joshua was recently diagnosed with two shrunken kidneys. His doctors are not sure what is causing this condition, which has caused Joshua to have to go get dialysis for many hours each week, but they maintain that others with his condition have been known to heal with time. The faith of John, of Joshua, and of the rest of the family has been tested greatly in the past year, but God has provided for them even in the midst of this difficulty. Pray that He continue to do so!

John became a Christian in 1980 at the age of 17. After finishing high school, he spent a year in the Zambian National Guard before attending college for two years to become a teacher. For the next 16 years, John worked as a science and mathematics teacher before joining the Action Zambia team. He currently lives in Libala compound, which is a poor suburb on the outskirts of Lusaka. John has been a pastor since 1997, and he is now copastoring a church in his neighborhood.

Thank you for everything you do to suppport John and his family as he sacrifices his time and his resources to take ABI classes three times per week. John truly has a heart for God's people, and the training that he receives is helping him to weekly grow and excel as a humble shepard. Please be praying for the health of his son Joshua as he continues to battle kidney disease, and for the rest of their family as they pray for God's healing.

Above is a video of John introducing himself and his family. If you are receiving this update via email, you may need to click here to see the video. Thanks and God bless!

Meet Joseph Zulu

"Who is there to harm you if you prove zealous for what is good?" 1 Peter 3:13

If there is one thing that you need to know about Joseph Zulu, it is the fact that he is a passionate follower of Jesus Christ. Not only in his preaching, but also in his everyday conversation, Joseph exudes a contagious zeal for the word of God and a love for the unreached which challenge as well as inspire. Even in the midst of discouragement and difficulty it is easy to see that Joseph is truly zealous for what is good -- for a life of obedience, for the unreached, and for the unity of his church.

Joseph, his wife Docas, and their two year old son Joseph Jr. currently live in Garden Compound, which is a very poor suburb located to the Northeast of downtown Lusaka. Joseph takes a bus into the city five days each week to teach Religious Education and Geography at a private high school. Public schools in Zambia usually require that their teachers obtain a university degree before teaching, but to teach at a private school only a basic teacher's training is needed, which Joseph was able to complete at a young seminary in nearby Kanyama compound. He has been thankful for the past few years to have a job where he can regularly speak the about the gospel to his students in an educational setting.

Joseph became a Christian on November 17, 1991, at the age of 21. There is a reason he remembers the exact date: that morning one of his good school friends told him that he needed to be "born again." Having been raised as a Catholic with his older brother Peter, he didn't quite know what that meant, but he thought about it for much of the day until he received a letter from Peter in the afternoon. The only thing that Peter said in his letter to Joseph was that he needed to be born again! "I don't know how God planned for it," he says. "It was a miracle." That night he went to a Bible study at his school where the topic was, again, the new birth. Joseph became a believer that evening, surrendering his life to Christ.

Ministry has been a hard road since then, but Joseph feels compelled by the Lord to shepherd a flock of believers. In 1998 he became a pastor, but discouragement and trial have twice caused him to want to quit. Each time, however, his call to ministry has been confirmed, and today Joseph is the preaching pastor at Triumphant Bible Church in Kanyama. Joseph is a zealous preacher with a heart for God's truth, and he preaches passionately about the need to share the gospel with those in Kanyama who have yet to accept Christ.

Thank you for supporting Joseph as he has opportunity to learn God's word more deeply through his ABI classes. You can be praying that Joseph would have continued wisdom and strength as he works a full time job, pastors a church, and takes classes from ABI three times each week. Please also be praying for Joseph's family, that God would continue to provide encouragement for them as they travel across town to attend church every Sunday.

Here is a brief introduction from Joseph himself: if you are reading this post via email you may need to click here to see the video. Thanks!

Meet Pastor Mwanza

"...make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you, so that you will behave properly toward outsiders and not be in any need." 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12

Alfred Mwanza is a quiet man. He is not the first to speak up in class, to readily share his personal thoughts and opinions, or to be the life of the party. But Alfred is a man with tremendous wisdom and humility -- he has a heart for the poor and the unreached, he loves the Word of God, and he works hard every day to provide for his family.

Alfred and his wife Satilda became believers together shortly after being married, when Alfred was working in a factory. He soon realized that his work left him little time to serve the Lord, so he quit his job and learned to work in construction for a living. Although he had no formal training as a builder, the Lord was gracious to provide enough work for Alfred as he learned on the job. After several years as a builder, he began to learn how to work with metal, and to this day he works in metal fabrication and as a general contractor. Between these two specialties, Alfred still has time to care for his congregation.

Alfred and his wife have five children and two grandchildren. They live in Garden Compound, a very poor suburb to the Northeast of downtown Lusaka, where they began a church in their home. This church, Eternity Global Ministries, recently planted a daughter church in, so that now Alfred walks for more than an hour every Sunday to pastor this young church plant. Please pray for Alfred as he leads his young congregation, that he would have the wisdom to balance his responsibilities both a businessman and as a pastor. Please also be praying for Alfred, as he takes an ABI final exam this upcoming week, and for his children as they prepare for their own final exams in the weeks to come. Thank you for your all the ways that you are supporting Alfred and his family as they further the gospel in Zambia!


Above is a video of Pastor Mwanza introducing himself: if you are reading this post via email you may need to click here to watch the video. Thank you for your support!

Meet Peter Zulu

"Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability." 1 Corinthians 8:2-3
Peter Zulu and his wife Adelesi have two children (nine-year-old Gabriel and almost-three-year-old Theophilos), and are expecting a girl to enter their family very soon. They currently live in a small two-room house in the heart of Garden Compound, although the property on which they live has a small, additional room built back-to-back with their home. Over the period of several years Peter built this extra room -- not for his family or for any business interests, but rather that he might start a church and a school for his community. This year, with the help of two teachers, Peter and his wife will see 80 students, from kindergarten to grade nine, pass through the 9' by 15' classroom on their way to an education that otherwise would not be available to them.
Peter's story is one of God's generosity, so that he can now in turn be generous to others. Now 43 years old, he came to know Christ at age 20 after trying to seduce one of his high school classmates. When she refused, telling him that she was a believer and that she was going to save herself for her husband, Peter was amazed. He had never heard of such a thing -- "I started thinking of the God who makes her like that," he says. "This is the true God." After becoming a believer, Peter strengthened his faith for many years before beginning his ministry, and only recently started Pillar of Truth Church. His young congregation has already planted two churches in Eastern Zambia, and has recently been blessed by the Lord with a new plot of land just down the street from their current location, where they hope to construct a new set of school and church buildings in the next few years.
Please be praying for Peter and his family as they continue to support both a school and a church out of their own home. Please also be praying that they be able to fight through the many discouragements that they face daily, and that they would continue to trust in the Lord for the daily provision of their many needs. Please also pray for Adelesi as she is expecting a new addition to their family in September. Thank you so much for all that you are doing for Peter and his family as he continues to take classes from ABI on top of a busy schedule with many other responsibilities!
Here is a brief video of Peter introducing himself; if you are reading this post via email you may need to click here to see the video. God Bless!

Meet Pastor Jere

"Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as {your} fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed, shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to {the will of} God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock."

-- 1 Peter 5:1-3

Anderson Jere, 49, currently lives in Valley View, which is a small compound about 30 minutes East of downtown Lusaka. Pastor Jere's parents were both believers, but his father died shortly after he was born, and his mother passed away when he was only 12 years old. He lived with a foster family for a few years, and became a member of a local apostolic church, as a teenager, even being voted the church secretary when he was just 14. His faith soon crumbled, however, after he was forced by circumstance to move away from his home. Failing to join any other church in his new surroundings, he soon fell into a life of drinking and womanizing that would last for the next eight years.

After marrying his wife Elizabeth in his early 20s, an elder from a local Baptist Church was renting a room from Anderson's sister, so that he overheard one of their choir practices. Attracted by their music and their fellowship, he soon decided that he wanted to attend on a weekly basis, though he was still drinking and womanizing on the side. This lifestyle was very short-lived for Pastor Jere, however; he impregnated a young lady and was asked to look after her for the duration of the pregnancy, and her family refused to "take her back" after she had twins! So for a season Pastor Jere was forced to live in a one-room home both with his wife and with the mother of his twins. This was, needless to say, very painful for everyone involved, and the other woman soon moved back with her family.

As is often the case, God used this difficult season of Jere's life to refine and to revive his faith and the faith of others. The mother of his twins is a God-fearing woman today, and his twin children are both now married, with families of their own, and walking with the Lord. Jere became a deacon in his church, and in 1998 he knew that God was calling him into ministry after reading Isaiah 42:1-8. He felt an overwhelming desire to visit those who were in bondage and in prison, and to bring them back to the Lord. After praying for several months, the pastor of his church left unexpectedly, and the deacons of his church asked him to be the head pastor at Hillside Baptist Church. Pastor Jere has since planted three churches, including the one he now leads in Valley View. He truly shepherds God's flock voluntarily and with great eagerness!

Please be praying for Pastor Jere, that he would continue to find the strength to humbly and faithfully lead his church, even as he is working full-time as a security guard. The following is a video of Pastor Jere introducing himself and his church: if you are receiving this post via email, you may need to click here to see the video. Thank you for all that you do!

Meet Pastor Mumbi

"The elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching." 1 Timothy 5:17

Pastor Bonaventure Mumbi is one of the older men in the ABI program. Like many in Zambia, he was raised with a Roman Catholic upbringing until coming to evangelical faith in later life. Pastor Mumbi always has a smile and is always laughing and encouraging his brothers in Christ. Though he may not speak much, he is known to do so at just the right times with tailor-made wisdom for difficult situations.

Pastor Mumbi lives where his ministry is -- he lives in Kanyama for with his seven children, many of whom are now married. Like many Zambians, Pastor Mumbi and his family have experienced great loss: when his wife passed away several years ago he was left to raise all seven children by himself with very scarce sources of income. God has demonstrated His faithfullness again and again over the years, however, so that all of Pastor Mumbi's children are still following the Lord and serving Him in various ways today, having been comforted by God in the midst of loss. And God has honored Pastor Mumbi's faithful love for his family with a new marriage, just last year.

Please be praying for pastor Mumbi as he leads a growing church in one of the biggest and most impoverished compounds in Lusaka, even as he travels across town three times each week to attend classes at ABI. Thank you for you your generosity towards Pastor Mumbi and his family: the support that you give enables them to purchase enough n'shima (the staple food here in Zambia) to make up for the time that he sacrifices in order to learn how to be a better pastor and shepard of his flock. Also, you can pray that the marriage conference that Action recently held, and which Pastor Mumbi attended, would sink deeply into his life and into the lives of the other pastors who attended it.

Below is a video of Pastor Mumbi introducing himself; if you are receiving this update via email you may need to click here to see the video. God bless!