Our Ministry
Church Planting – Personal Soulwinning – Training Zambian Christians
We began our service to the Lord as missionaries in June of 1995. We moved from our home in Illinois to Zambia on January 22, 1998. We were first located in the city of Kitwe in the Copperbelt province of Zambia. There we worked with another missionary for 7 months. In August of 1998 after seeing the need in Ndola, the capitol of the Copperbelt province, we moved to Ndola to serve.
Calvary
Baptist Church of Ndola is the first church that we have been able to organize.
We are still working with this church trying to train leaders from the membership.
In 2002 we completed a church building project, and had a nice facility
to hold our services. In November of 2005 this building was struck by lightening
and when the Fire Department informed us that their fire truck was not working,
it burned completely to the ground. Fortunately, we were able to remove
the church benches, Bibles, hymn books, pulpit and piano. The pulpit and
piano were scorched a bit, but are still usable. The church has organized
a building committee and funds are being saved to rebuild the church building.
Soulwinning
As Christians first we feel that our primary responsibility in Zambia is to lead lost people to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. We are very active in not only training Zambian Christians to be soul winners but also in reaching the lost ourselves.
Church Planting
It is our desire through the various ministries we engage in to train men who are called of God to serve Him here in Zambia in many capacities. There is a great need in Zambia for indigenous churches that are pastored by well trained and well educated Zambian men. There is a need for Godly women to be pastor’s wives and leaders of ladies in the church. There is a need for Godly church members who will serve the Lord by standing behind their pastors as deacons and trustees. Our life long ministry is to train Zambian men and women to fill these vacancies.
Strengthening Believers
An
important part of the Great Commission is to train and disciple those who
we win to the Lord. This can be a life long endeavor. There is so much more
to being an established Christian than just receiving Jesus as your Savior,
there is a relationship that takes years of learning to build. Zambia is
overflowing with many cults that are eager to proselyte new Christians and
lead them into an unproductive Christian life.
Family Training
The Godly Christian family is the building block of the Local New Testament Independent Baptist Church. If the families of the church are ungodly then the church itself will suffer with ungodliness. We put a special emphasis on teaching husbands and wives what their Biblical responsibilities are in the family setting. We also offer premarital counseling to those who wish to be married.
Training National Church Leaders
In order for a church to be truly indigenous there must be men and women who have the desire and training to be leaders in the church. These men and women need training and Christian education. An important part of our ministry is identifying men and women who feel called to serve God with their life right here in Zambia and assisting in training them for a life of service to the Lord in their own local churches.
Friends of Zambia Library and Learning Center
During
our first term on the field it became apparent that the majority of Zambians
do not have access to resource materials or literature. The libraries that
we have seen are very old and have not been updated in over 30 years. After
30 years of neglect and pilferage there is not much left. As a result there
is very little reading material that is accessible to the average Zambian.
We presented this need to our supporters on our first furlough and Christians
throughout the United States, Canada, and Asia joined together to build
and furnish a library building on our property. Funds were donated for
construction, and thousands of books were donated. It was our plan to open
the library in the Fall of 2005, but the tragedy of the Calvary Baptist
Church building burning down delayed our plans. We now hope that the Friends
of Zambia Library and Learning Center will be open to the members of Calvary
Baptist Church and the general public in the Fall of 2006. Through the
generous gifts of various people the Friends of Zambia Library and Learning
Center will have a large children’s section, a large reference section,
a very large non-fiction section, a modest fiction section, and an impressive
theology section. This same building will also serve as a classroom for
the men and women who feel called into Christian service as we will be
holding our Bible Institute classes there. Future plans include classes
for children and adults who want to improve their English skills.
In order for the Friends of Zambia Library and Learning Center to continue functioning we rely on continued donations of books and funds for operating expenses.
There is a great need in Zambia for more missionaries who will tell Zambians how they can know for sure that they are going to Heaven when they die, and help the Christians here organize their own Baptist churches. If you died today, do you know for sure that Heaven would be your home? You can find out more by clicking here.
There is also a great need for Christians who are willing to come to Zambia to work with orphans and widows. AIDS has decimated families here and literally hundreds of thousands of widows and orphans live without enough food and proper shelter.
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