“Expansion through Multiplication”
At the very core of the Great Commission is the concept of
expansion, advancement, multiplication. This is our
passion! While on pre-field you heard us talk about being church planters who
facilitate an indigenous church planting movement. What does this look like? An
indigenous church planting movement occurs when healthy churches are
planting more healthy churches. There is
often foreign missionary activity as the catalyst, but it involves Zambian
partnership at its earliest stages, gets handed off completely to qualified Zambian
leadership at the earliest possible moment, and is thereafter maintained and
expanded by Zambian leadership, Zambian finances, and Zambian efforts in the
area of evangelism and discipleship.
We see our role in this endeavor as training Zambian church leaders
and missionaries so they can be equipped to do the work. This strategy comes from 1 Timothy 2:2, which
says, “and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses
entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” We made a bold statement on pre-field and we
have only grown in our conviction that “no one can reach a Zambian better than
a fellow Zambian.” This philosophy has
been put into action in our ministry locations of Choma and Nambaaza. You have read the reports and seen the
pictures in our prayer letters that reveal the results of such a philosophy of
ministry. God has been at work! We are humbled by it and so excited at what He
is doing in the lives of those we minister to and with.
Yet, there is a sad reality.
As we drive 5 ½ hours out to Nambaaza we pass countless villages filled
with lost people in need of the Gospel’s life changing power. We can’t reach them all by ourselves, not
could we reach them all if this country were saturated with foreign
missionaries. What is needed is the
equipping and mobilization of a Zambian missionary force sent from Zambian churches. Out of the already existing spiritual harvest
we need new laborers to arise and enter the harvest field. This is what Africa needs and this is what
Africa is ready for.
Hear these words from a leading Zambian pastor and
theologian, Joe Kapolyo. “The African church must follow Jesus into mission
across many borders to show his love to people who are not related to us by
blood….Across the whole continent and beyond, Jesus calls the African church to
reach out with his love to all the peoples of the world. This
call is all the more important because, if current trends continue, the
leadership of the universal church will pass into Africa, Latin American and
Asian hands of the next fifty years.”
In our most recent prayer letter we closed by saying “We
also have had some big discoveries recently regarding open doors for
ministry.” These open doors definitely provide a critically strategic opportunity for expanding our influence from simple addition of church plants to the multiplication of a church planting movement and will mean changes to our current ministry.You will be happy to know that these open doors are not an
ending of ministry in Choma and Nambaaza, but our roles and frequency of ministry in these locations will be altered.
As you know from previous prayer letters, Jamie has been an
adjunct professor for Central Africa Baptist College located in Kitwe,
Zambia. He has taught many 1-week block
classes from CABC in Choma and Nambaaza that have been used by God to promote
spiritual maturity in these locations. We are proud to be part of this special
ministry of training leaders through CABC.
The purpose statement of the school is, “Training the Next Generation of
Servant-Leaders in Africa for Great Commission Living.” The school’s vision is to see the gospel
reach every village, town,
and city in Africa through
the presence of a gospel preaching church.
We share this vision!
Through a series of events over the past eighteen months
Jamie has recently been offered a position on the main campus of CABC that will
advance our effectiveness in facilitating church planting movements forward
beyond what we had dreamed possible so early in our missions ministry. CABC offers an on-campus Bachelor degree in
Bible with various ministry emphases including Pastoral Theology, Chaplaincy,
and Counseling. They have also desired to offer an emphasis in Global Missions
and believe that the time has arrived to do so.
Jamie has been asked to develop this program and then implement it as
the Missions professor. In addition to
the topics covered in class, there will be opportunities for Jamie to give
these students real-life practical experience in the missions activities and
church plants that we are already involved with in the Southern Province of
Zambia and will be involved with in the Copperbelt Province where we will be
moving to.
We have not taken this decision lightly. We have prayed much
and discussed it not only with our sending church and mission board, but also
Jim & Rachel Chambers who oversee the ministry in Nambaaza and with the
pastors we have worked alongside of in Choma.
Everyone recognizes the hand of the Lord in this opportunity. Truly it is an open door and God's will for us. Everyone is supportive because they see that
this is going to benefit the ministries in Choma and Nambaaza by multiplying of
laborers and leaders. The school
operates on semesters and the school breaks allow us the opportunity to
continue traveling out to Nambaaza to offer more of the block classes we have
already begun. One of the young men from
Nambaaza even desires to enroll at CABC and then return to Nambaaza to use what
he learns on campus. We may also see
more students from Choma attend CABC as they offer some courses and a master’s
degree program that is not available at the Bible College here in Choma.
So, it is with excitement that we reveal to you the
discovery God has made clear to us. We will
be moving to Kitwe, Zambia in January 2015 to step through this new door that
we believe will expand our effectiveness.
As church planters we may be able to plant five churches in twenty years
on the field, but with Jamie as the missions professor at CABC God can use us to see fifty,
one-hundred, or even more churches planted not only across Zambia, but the
entire continent of Africa.
If you have never done so before, please take a moment to
visit the website for Central Africa Baptist College and Seminary. http://www.cabcseminary.org
Thank you again for all your support and prayers. We have a lot of transitioning to do between
now and January!
* Quote of Joe Kapolyo from Africa Bible Commentary. Zondervan Publishing, 2006.
