15th December 2010
Greetings from Luanshya!
Welcome Yvonne Banda into the family of God! This afternoon I was teaching at the Kafubu Block Chapel and a young lady came who had been coming to the Sunday services for a few weeks. We have been going studying personal evangelism and we have just finished the 6th (and hopefully final) draft of the translation of the Evangelism Explosion Presentation of the Gospel into ciBemba (chee-BEM-bah) language. As we were coming to the end of the class one of the men introduced Yvonne to me. He said she had some questions about knowing she had eternal life and he told her that I had the answers. Right there in front of 12 members of the class I asked Yvonne if she had come to the place in her life where she knew that if she died today that she would go to heaven. She said she would. When I asked her what she would say if God asked her why He should allow her to enter into His heaven she told me what her denomination had told her: “I have been doing good things.” It was a great joy to let her know that heaven is a free gift and our good works will not get us into heaven. In just a few minutes Yvonne bowed her head with Bro Simwanza and prayed a simple prayer of repentance asking God to save her from sin’s penalty. The class burst into cheers – as the angels rejoiced in heaven! Pray for Yvonne as she grows in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
Last Friday evening it was my pleasure to attend the end-of-year dinner with the Mobile Mission Maintenance Vocational Training Centre administration and staff. MMMVTC trains young men and women in practical life skills as well as bible training. When the school was handed over to local leadership by the missionaries 10 years ago they graduated 5-10 students per year. This past year they graduated 94 students and enrolment applications are multiplying for next year. Many of these young people will return to their homes in rural Zambia and not only be trained in building skills, but be able to spread the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to those in their towns and villages. As a member of their board of directors I am proud of the director of the school, Leonard Mutono, for his vision for the future. This young Zambian preacher/teacher has a desire to see his nation become the Christian nation it was declared to be many years ago. He knows that declarations do not make it a reality; practical applications of God’s Word will. Please pray for MMMVTC and all who are involved in this ministry.
If you have been following our work for some time you will remember Johnny Banda. Johnny was one of our first wards in the Lighthouse Children’s Home in December 2000. When he reached his 18th birthday he decided that the LCH rules were not to his liking and he left our care. It was not long before he realised that he had bitten off more than he could chew and found himself with no work, no food and no place to sleep. The director of the Encounter Evangelistic Ministry, leonard Bwalya, was contacted and Johnny was invited to stay there – with the same rules that applied at the LCH. Johnny began coming to church again and even attending Bible studies with EEM. This past week Johnny asked to see Sherry. He admitted that he had made a grave error in judgement and said he knew that God had used the circumstances of the past year to get his attention. He had accepted Christ as his Saviour several years ago, but had resisted being baptised. He told Sherry that he needed to step back into God’s will and declare his faith publically. He will be baptised on Christmas Eve along with another young lady who made the same decision without so much “baggage.” We are sorry that it took Johnny so long to realise his rebellion would only hurt him, but we praise the Lord for Johnny’s growth in the past few months and for his decision to proclaim his repentance and dedication to the Lord.
The end of the year is not without it’s challenges, but we see God working in so many areas of our ministry that we are excited about what He has in store for us in the coming year!
Together in His Service,
Patrick & Sherry
Dr. Patrick & Sherry Coleman
P.O. Box 90010
Luanshya, Zambia Africa
tel: (h) 260-21-2510033
(w) 260-21-2512359
(w) 260-21-2512539
(fax) 260-21-2510718
cell: (Sherry) 260-96-6780112
cell: (Patrick) 260-96-6780113
Skype: patrick.g.coleman / sherry.i.coleman
