Greetings from Luanshya!
It has been a busier than usual week in our part of the world!
Last Wednesday evening after the Bible study was completed, we saw one of the girls from our church walking down the street with her aunt. By the look on the girls face, I knew that she was troubled. I asked her, "Are you alright?" She looked at me and said simply, "No". I asked her to come inside and see Sherry. They arranged for a time when they could get together. The young girl shared that her mother claims to be a Christian, but she has a series of boyfriends who either spend the night in the home or invite her to spend the night with them, knowing full well that some of these men are married. This girl is heartbroken by the fact that her mother is living this kind of lifestyle and is afraid that her mother will either kick her out of the house or worse yet, become infected with HIV. This is a lot of pressure for a fifteen-year- old girl. Please pray for C. and pray for Sherry as she works with this young Christian through this mess.
On Sunday I spoke at a new church in Buntungwa, a village on the outskirts of Luanshya. The young believers there have built a mud-brick building during the rainy season. We had helped them with 48 metres (143 feet) of plastic to cover the roof and protect them from the rain. When the rains were completed, the church gathered grass to make a thatched roof for their building. There were 58 people in attendance. Of those, over 30 were children. Since it is a new church, everybody brought his or her own chairs on which to sit. These chairs included empty paint tins, plastic jeri cans and other assorted blocks of wood on which they could sit and keep themselves off of the soil. One lady brought a reed mat and spread it on the floor. There were about 20 children on that mat. I preached in Swahili and then the message was translated into Bemba by my helper, Albert Katandula. It is always exciting to see a new church begin. Another brother, Benson Chombo, has invested a great deal of time and his own money into this new ministry. This afternoon I will be taking some lumber to the church so they can build some benches so that the people will have a more comfortable place to sit.
Those who would like to see photographs of last Sunday’s meeting can click on Buntungwa.
While I was away, brother Chibumba did a beautiful job preaching at the chapel in town teaching from 2 Chronicles 14 on the life of Asa. He brought across the fact that during the first 10 years of Asa’s reign he served God with all his heart and because of his faithfulness, God protected the land, the people and his leadership. However, when he began to dabble in the things of the world, God’s blessing was removed and thus the demise of Asa and his heritage. What a timely admonition for all who serve the Lord. We must guard our hearts and our minds against the temptation to get involved in things that have no eternal purpose.
There is so much to tell you about and so little room. A young man named Mulenga has TB and is HIV positive. His wife’s family took her away from him because they want her to have a child. This couple had not had children in five years. Yes, the wife is also HIV positive but the family has ignored that fact. Another young man, Katongo, came in with questions about the Apostolic Church and what it means. Mr. Zulu is studying New Testament Church Principles from a series of tapes by brother Jack Spender. He is beginning to recognize problems in his own Pentecostal church when comparing it with the Word of God. Mr. Mumba has a youth ministry in Ndola with approximately 450 children and is looking for material for teaching. Sherry suggested networking with Child Evangelism Fellowship here in Luanshya. A reporter from Luanshya News Ltd interviewed me earlier this week. This man is working closely with the gentleman who came to see us a few weeks ago about a radio a few weeks ago here in Luanshya. The broadcast area for the station will cover the entire Copperbelt region. I have a meeting with the station owner this afternoon. Sherry and I have been asked to be the program managers for religious broadcasting. This covers a four to five hour block every Sunday as well as opening and closing broadcasts for the station and any other time slots that are made available. Please pray for this meeting. We will give you more detail as soon as we know more information.
It has been an incredible week with incredible challenges and incredible blessings. We appreciate our incredible partners for praying with us.
In His Service,
Patrick and Sherry
Dr. Patrick and
Sherry Coleman
Luanshya, Zambia Africa