18th August 2010
Greetings from Luanshya!
Great news! Andrew Silungwe, the youngest member of our Lighthouse Children’s Home Family, won the Junior Engineers Technicians and Scientists (JETS) first prize in the NATIONAL competition for Zambia in the Physics category. He designed a mobile shower that supplies both hot and cold water. We are very proud of Andrew not only for his science and math abilities, but for his Christian testimony among his friends. Thank you for keeping Andrew and our entire LCH family in your prayers.
This past week we hosted a leadership training seminar at the Christian Resource Centre. One of our outreach ministries is to go into the business community to make ourselves available to business and professional leaders – one of the people groups that are often overlooked in many missionary endeavours. We talked about leadership techniques and consensus building and were able to make ourselves available to the participants to share deeper, spiritual concerns. Many of them go to church, but when they see Christianity “lived” on a day-to-day basis it encourages them to seek for more than just being able to lead a meeting. We have seen some fruit from this outreach and are praying for more!
Expanding on the leadership training, on Sunday afternoon I conducted the first of several “Preachers’ Clinics” in Luanshya. Men from two congregations came together to learn how to put a sermon or Bible study lesson together and how to organise their notes. We started with different kinds of Bible study methods. Next month we will talk about how to put their notes into a sermon outline (something like “three points and a poem”) so the message they have can be effectively communicated to the congregation. Then we will go on to subjects like platform presence, gestures, voice control, etc. The purpose of the class is to train preachers and teachers how to be more adept in their ministries as preachers, teachers and evangelists. They have a desire to spread the Gospel; now we are giving the opportunity to use their gifts more proficiently. Please pray for these preachers. The oldest is in his late 60’s while the youngest is 23.
While I was teaching in town, Sherry was presenting a water storage tank and tower to a rural Bible and vocational school about 15 miles from the Luanshya town limit. This was a project where we partnered with the Rotary Club of Luanshya and a Rotary Club in New York in order to provide water for the school. The well and water tank are on school property, but the whole village will be using the water so the school has an outreach into the homes of the people in that rural community. As the people come for the water for living they will also be exposed to the Water of Life. We are excited about the various means God gives us to reach into the hearts and lives of the Zambian people!
