From the Superintendent's DESK

The Zambia camp meeting, which began on Sunday, April 3, has continued through this week, along with special visits to some of our Zambia branch churches. These visits were led by Zambia District Superintendent Boniface Banda and included John Musgrave on behalf of the world headquarters, Southern Africa District Superintendent Oniyas Gumbo, and several other Africa district superintendents and workers. Wednesday also marked a momentous occasion as the Zambia Board of Trustees met with leaders from our work in Southern Africa to arrange for literature distribution across both districts.

The camp schedule on Monday began with a Bible teaching in which Brother Gumbo taught on “The Plan of Redemption.” In the afternoon, while a youth service was held on the campground, a team of leaders and workers visited the Garden branch church where Robert Mainza is the pastor. After a warm welcome that included flowers, gifts, and singing from the choir, a short service was held inside. Then the group traveled to the town of Mtendere, which means “peace,” to visit the congregation there. Christopher Kabunda is the pastor, and Brother John reported that the church is in a beautiful area, though arriving proved difficult as a flash flood washed through some main roads just prior to their arrival. The Mtendere congregation also extended a warm welcome and everyone enjoyed a good time of fellowship.

In the evening, about seven hundred were in attendance for the service at the Zambia headquarters campground. Several testimonies spoke of divine healing, including one who prayed and was healed from being partially paralyzed. For the sermon, Jenipher Hatamba, our pastor in Livingstone, preached an inspiring message from Isaiah 55:1-2 on having a spiritual hunger. The meeting concluded with a rush to the altars. 

On Tuesday, the traveling team missed the Bible teaching and afternoon children’s service in order to visit four church locations in the Southern Province of Zambia, over one hundred miles from the campground in Lusaka. At all four locations, the congregations gave a warm reception to the visitors and then a short service was held, which included a brief history of the church location and their current plans for the facility in the future. These included: 1) The Chuula branch, located in a commercial sugarcane farm, where Robert Munkombwe is the pastor; 2) Our regional district headquarters church in Mazabuka, a city of about 74,000, where Samson Kalabaya is pastor; 3) One of our oldest Zambia churches, founded in 1971 and located in the rural village of Naluama, where Darius Mwenda is the current pastor; and 4) The Kafue church, where another beautiful welcome with singing and flowers awaited the guests. Brother John commented multiple times on the beauty of the places where our churches are located.

The team returned to the Lusaka campground in time for the evening service. During the testimony time, it was encouraging to hear some report experiences received during this camp meeting. The message was given by Wackson Lungu, the Eastern Province Overseer. He preached from Genesis 3:9-10, 21 and Isaiah 61:10 about the garments of salvation. There was another strong altar service with more praying through. By the end of Tuesday, fourteen had been saved, six sanctified, five baptized with the Holy Ghost, and eleven healed.

Wednesday began with a Bible teaching, where Brother John taught on entire sanctification. In the afternoon, the Zambia Board of Trustees met with other leaders and workers to review the plans for using the printing plant in Zambia as a production center for all of our work in eastern and southern Africa. They announced that they have formed the “Eastern and Southern Africa Print Hub” and have a road map in place to begin printing 120,000 tracts per month by July 1. This is contingent on acquiring a folding machine and a hydraulic cutter, which is also being arranged. This collaboration between the two African districts is a historic moment with great potential moving forward.

At the evening service, Brother John and Brother Gumbo said their goodbyes to the congregation, as they would be returning home the next day. Brother Confidence preached that night from John 8:3-11 about God’s direction in our lives, and there was another great time of prayer afterward. The Zambia camp meeting continues through Sunday, April 10, and we hope and pray for even more victories in their last days.