Pastor Mumbi is one of the oldest pastors currently enrolled in the Action Pastor's College (he's the fellow on the left). He also pastors one of the larger congregations represented in the APC class: regular attendance at True Worshipers Bible Church in Kanyama is over 100. As a big church, True Worshipers is able to provide a regular salary for Mr. Mumbi, which is very rare in Zambia. Most pastors work one or two jobs on top of their pastoring responsibilities, just in order to make ends meet.
Even though True Worshipers Bible Church is bigger than most house churches in Lusaka, the congregation breaks up into many smaller groups during the week to foster community and fellowship. Located in Kanyama Compound, to the West of downtown Lusaka, there are many opportunities for these "Home Cells" to reach out in their neighborhoods as the body of Christ, praying for others and serving in practical ways.
Here's a video of Pastor Mumbi describing what a typical week looks like at True Worshipers Bible Church... enjoy! As always, you might need to click here to see the video.
Check out this update from the Action Pastor's College!
A while ago Pastor Steve recorded all of the Action Pastors as they preached, and then was able to show them their own sermons on video. For any of you public speakers out there, you know what a valuable experience this can be.
Here is a taste of the progress that the pastors have been making. Please continue to be praying for these men as they are led by God through many trials.
Like many of the pastors currently enrolled in the Action Bible Institute, Bruce Kaumba was raised as a Catholic but wandered from his faith as a young man. He fell into a rough crowd for many years, but the Lord brought a Christian friend into his life during High School. Bruce came to know Christ as a result of this relationship, and he has been pursuing the Lord ever since.
Pastor Kaumba met his wife Cristobel while they were both attending a three year bible school. In the six years following graduation they were married and served in various ministry roles as they started their family. They now live in a compound called Makeni-Simpson, which is located to the Southwest of Lusaka.
Nearly three years ago Bruce planted Sanctuary of Grace Church in Makeni-Simpson, and Bruce and Cristobel now run a small Christian school from their rented home. They now have 30 students! Bruce is also heavily involved in a local seminary in Kanyama, where he trains pastors to teach the scriptures faithfully. Truly a teacher at heart, Bruce is always interested in passing on what he has learned himself. His attitude is rare in Zambia, where knowledge is often used to maintain power rather than to raise up the next generation of leaders. Please be praying for Pastor Kaumba as he works hard to provide for his family and to faithfully shepherd his flock for Jesus!
Here is a quick video of Pastor Bruce introducing himself: if you are getting this update via email you may need to click here to watch. Thanks!
"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
Patson Sakala and his wife Patricia have five children (Isaac, Patson Jr, Joyce, Gabriel, and Sherri), and currently live in a small two-room house in the heart of Ngombe (pronounced "nome-bay") Compound. In the past few years, however, the property on which they live has seen the expansion of a huge add-on. The five additional rooms on the side of their home serve not as extra living space, however, or for any business interests, but rather as a school for those who otherwise would not have access to education. A builder by trade, Patson has constructed this school with his own hands, often in the evenings after having worked a full day elsewhere to support his family. He truly gives beyond his ability for the furthering of the gospel in his neighborhood.
Patson is the son of a polygamist tribal leader from Mozambique. His mother, a Zambian, was his father's first wife, and so Patson spent much of his early childhood outside of Zambia until the Mozambican Civil War caused he and his mother to return to Zambia in 1989. A refugee, Patson had only a 4th grade education when he came to Lusaka, so he started looking for work as a builder. It was during this time that he met a local businessman and pastor who led him to Christ, and who helped to mentor him in the Lord as a father figure. Patson served in this man's church for several years, planting churches with him while working for his business, until deciding that he should continue to pursue his education. So at the age of 23 Patson began to study every evening until he was able to read and write in English, his primary motivation to be able to dive into God's word more deeply.
This period in his life gave Patson a passion for education that he has never lost. Today he is running a school built by his own hands, and is faithfully leading his family in the Lord as he attends ABI classes three times each week. Only a handful of his students are able to pay even a mere $3 per month for their education, so the teachers in his school work almost entirely for free. Patson works in constuction during the day in order to support his family, and in order to keep up basic maintenance at his school.
Please be praying for Patson 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. Thank you so much for all that you are doing for Patson 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 Patson introducing himself; if you are reading this post via email you may need to click here to see the video. God Bless!
As the year comes to a close, we want to again thank you for all your financial support, prayers, emails and packages. As you probably know, we have 15 pastors that we are currently training in ministry as part of our Action Pastor’s College and our Discipleship College. These pastors reside in poor compounds and cannot afford Bible college. Most of them work in addition to pastoring. So, we are looking for sponsors who can commit to sponsoring these pastors for a year to pay for a room in which to meet, to provide transportation to and from the training center, books, and a bag of mealie meal (their food staple) each month. With the economic crisis we know that there are many places one can invest money, so we don’t take it lightly that you might consider investing in our ministry. As we evaluate our program and the amount of money it takes to move forward, we have asked the question, is it worth it?
In some senses, it is difficult to demonstrate in pictures why we think it is worth it. A word picture we like to use is comparing the ministry to the growth of a tree. A picture taken of a tree from day to day would not be very impressive. But a picture taken over a period of three years would show tremendous change and growth in a seedling. Christ invested heavily for that length of time in a few disciples who ended up changing the world! Our hope and belief is that Zambia will only be changed by such a similar investment in a few people for a long period of time. As we are patient and faithful to water and prune the tree, the fruit will come.
With the first year of the program drawing to a close, we are seeing lots of encouraging signs that we are on the right path. The pastors are growing in their love and understanding of the Bible. We have given them the tools to exegete and interpret passages, to know how the Bible came to be, and they have seen how God has guided the church through twenty centuries to the truth of the Scriptures. They have also been taught how to interact with Jehovah Witnesses as well as how to address money matters in their congregations. Just this morning, one of the pastors could not say enough about how much he is learning and the impact it is having in his church and life. Because of the class another pastor changed the leadership structure of his church from a culturally Zambian model to a biblical model. We recently took two pastors down to the rural area to evangelize in villages and they couldn’t say enough about the importance of pastors being involved in missions. Because day to day growth can be hard to gauge we delight in such stories as shared above. These stories are a confirmation to us that this path is worth every minute and every dollar spent.
Recently the Pastoral Leadership Development team had an off-site retreat and one of the desired goals was to improve our responsibilities in partnering with prospective donors. A significant way in which we can be a better partner is through our newly created Pastors Blog. In the past six months two interns have worked diligently to put together videos, pictures, and interviews on this blog. Hopefully this site will help our supporters to better understand the impact of their gifts. If you would like to check out the site, the website is: www.az-pld-sponsor.blogspot.com. At least every three weeks, a blog will be posted and with the link provided you can check in on the latest from Zambia. By enabling you the opportunity to get to know all the pastors over the course of the year, the blog will serve to strengthen our partnership and broaden your heart and love for the pastors of Zambia.
While it takes around $60 a month to sponsor a pastor, we don’t want you to miss out on being an integral part in this ministry. It may be that you could give $5 or $10 or $25 a month and that we can get more people giving smaller amount and yet still accomplish the same goal. Would you consider joining us this year? You can give monthly or a one-time gift. If you would like to give,click here for the link to the Action International donation website. Thank you again for partnering with us.
