Tragedy and Triumph

Last Thursday was the start of the evangelistic crusade in Kabwe, in Zambia's central province. Kabwe is know to be a stronghold of Satanism and the tiny Presbyterian church there has been struggling. John Wilson and John and Sue Steendam were due to arrive in Zambia to join Dean and Sandy on Wednesday afternoon. On Tuesday night, John S came down with a bad stomach virus. Although still weak and unwell, all three flew from Blantyre to Lusaka on Wednesday. We had a feeling this was going to be a tough few days of ministry and that our Enemy was trying to make it harder.

The front garden at Vineyard Lodge

At breakfast on the morning of the Crusade, we greeted our host, David. Dean and Sandy had already spent 2 weeks at Vineyard Lodge and enjoyed getting to know David and his wife Alice, both elders in their church. On the way out of breakfast, we heard David had collapsed in his room. Sue and Dean rushed to help. David was already unconscious and not breathing, so they started CPR immediately while others called for an ambulance. After about half and hour it became obvious no ambulance would come, so David was lifted into a friend's 4WD and taken to the hospital. Soon afterwards he was officially pronounced dead. Alice returned home and soon many of their relatives and church friends filled the living room and a great outpouring of grief mixed with prayer began. It was so moving to see the Zambian Christian's response to the sudden death of a loved one. Prayer and singing and crying intermingled while Alice, now widowed, sat on the floor with other women (Zambians always sit on the floor to mourn). We later learned that Dean and Sue's efforts to revive David will save Alice from any accusations that she had something to do with David's death, a common problem if someone dies without witnesses. We spent a couple of hours grieving with the family and then left to get on the road for the Crusade. This was not the day we had expected, but it gave us an insight into the difficulty and brevity of life in Africa.

Matero Praise Team on the stage

By evening, we arrived in Kabwe and went out to the church plot to meet the local church members and the pastors and praise team who had travelled to be there. The plot is down a LONG, BUMPY road and is a bare paddock. Two light bulbs swung on poles and speakers were set up on the rough wooden stage that had been built for the singers and preachers. We 5 Aussies were introduced to the team, then we all headed for dinner and bed.

Rev John Wilson leads morning devotions

The next morning, the whole team met for morning devotions, then we broke into 3 groups for training. John S, Sue and Sandy each led a workshop on different topics aimed at helping the team in street evangelism that afternoon. From 4-6pm John W preached in one of the local market places on "Jesus, the Bread of Life". Hot sun, dust and wind made it tough but the people were taking it in. The crowd were then invited to come to the church plot to hear more that night.

Sue teaching children and Sunday School teachers

That night, as John S and Dean preached, some of the people from the market stood in the shadows beyond the dim lights. We didn't know they were there until an appeal was made to believe in Jesus and about 40 people appeared out of the darkness! The first to come was a little girl, perhaps 6 years old. As the praise team sang, each of these seeking souls was counselled by CCAP evangelists who spoke the Bemba language of Kabwe. They lifted their hands in surrender to God as they prayed a prayer of repentance and faith. This scene was awesome to witness - right in front of us, souls of men, women and children were passing from darkness into light, from death to life.

"The boy" giving his lunch to "Jesus"

People responding to the Gospel: God at work!

The next day followed the same program of devotions, training, street evangelism, market preaching and evening preaching. This time we went to a different market area. The singing of the praise team quickly brought a crowd. John preached again on the Bread of Life from the feeding of the 5000 story. He and Dean added a little drama by Dean being the boy who gave his lunch of rolls and fish to Jesus. The drama grabbed the crowd's attention fully. More people came and moved around the edges of the gathered crowd. Many children stood at the front, many more were playing around the back of the crowds. A drunk man asked some of us at the back for prayer as he wanted to do away with his drinking and smoking. A deaf boy, who was at first afraid of the white-skinned Aussies eventually slipped his hand into Sandy's hand and smiled at her. Meanwhile, as the sun set, an appeal was made by a Zambian evangelist for any who wanted to take the Bread of Life that is Jesus. About a third of the large crowd came forward, adults and children alike! Out of the chaos and crowds in a dusty marketplace, the Spirit of God brought repentance and faith in Jesus. We couldn't see the Spirit, we couldn't quite understand what was occurring, but we could see that he was working again in the lives of the people of Kabwe.

On Saturday night we all gathered back at the church plot, where the praise team sang and John S and Dean preached in the dim light of the two bulbs. This time, there were not all the extras in the shadows. Today's response was seen in the marketplace instead. On Sunday morning, many of those who came forward on Friday night and on Saturday in the marketplace were there worshipping with us. John's message on coming to the Good Shepherd had such an impact that more people responded and were counselled and prayed for after the service. The church in Kabwe was being revived as we watched. What a privilege to see God at work!

The African sun sets over Kabwe

Dean and Sandy, with input from John Wilson