Greetings from Luanshya!
Part of our goal as missionaries is to train national leadership. There are some truly dedicated Christians with whom we work on a day-to-day basis. One of those men is Philip Chibumba. Brother Chibumba works side by side with me at the chapel and I consider him an equal in our leadership responsibilities. His desire is to serve God and he pours every moment of free time he has into preparing himself to minister to others. Our Bible studies over the next few weeks will center on the exodus of the children of Israel from 430 years of slavery in Egypt. A number of our young men will be leading the bible studies, but brother Chibumba will be leading the over all program. He has just begun computerized lessons on the book of Leviticus in the Resource Centre. Please pray for brother Chibumba as he continues in his spiritual growth.
We did receive some disturbing news this week. Last Wednesday night a body was discovered near the railroad station just 200 yards from the church. The deceased was a victim of a ritual killing. Teeth and several of the internal organs had been removed from the body. This has not happened in Luanshya for several years, but it has raised the awareness and concern for any young person or child traveling alone in the evening. We make sure that all of the children at the Lighthouse Home travel in groups of at least three when they go back and forth to school or church. Please pray for the family of this young person as well as for others in our community.
John has volunteered to teach a Sunday School class at the chapel. Sherry spent some time with him today going over the philosophy of teaching Sunday School. She stressed the need for personal development as well as student development in his teaching objectives, classroom goals and individual discipleship. John is young and enthusiastic. Sherry has encouraged him to be realistic in his goal setting as well as to make sure that his goals are measurable so that he can tell when he has succeeded. She also stressed the need to build a team spirit in his class so that the class becomes cohesive in their atmosphere. John is a teacher by trade so what we are giving him for Sunday School will help him in his vocation. Many of you have prayed for John over the years. We are seeing fruit from those prayers.
Sara continues in her discipleship with Sherry. Today she completed a word-by-word study of 1 Thessalonians 3. She has one more chapter to go and then the final summary write-up for the entire book. This has been an eye opening experience for Sara and she said as much during her most recent lesson. Sherry has observed outstanding growth and comprehension with every assignment. At times she is awestruck at some of the observations and practical applications. Sara is also required to write questions for entire passages of scripture. It is thrilling see her find the answers to her own questions and develop cross references for future study.
Our prayer request for this week is concerning a number of our older members who have become enamored with "prosperity theology". Late night Zambian television has a thirty-minute broadcast featuring a woman who preaches that God doesn't want anyone to be poor or sick. The broadcast originates from Texas and this woman has been telling Zambians "If you are poor, you are out of God's will." Unfortunately, some of the local churches are taking up this teaching as well and drawing large crowds. The ultimate end of this will be frustration and anger at God. Please pray that believers will not get sucked into this heresy.
Your prayers on our behalf are appreciated more than we could express in words
In His Service,
Patrick and Sherry
Dr. Patrick and
Sherry Coleman
Luanshya, Zambia Africa