Kennedy Kawambale is pastor of Chamba Valley Reformed Baptist Church, a church plant of Kabwata Baptist Church in an affluent area of Lusaka, Zambia. In his latest report, Kennedy shares encouraging news of the church’s growth despite COVID-19 restrictions.
Church: The month of April saw us not having church gathering meetings due to the concerns of the Corona virus and the risk involved if we continued to meet. However, learning from other churches, we had our first live-streaming worship service on the 5th of April. Church members were encouraged to follow the events on Chamba Valley Reformed Baptist Church Facebook page. We have also introduced a WhatsApp church group where we are posting recorded sermons for those who may have been experiencing issues to follow the live stream on social media. Sometimes it can be quite frustrating when internet connection is bad.
Evangelism: Our regular organized evangelism programs have suffered a setback as we could not go door to door in the neighborhood. We were privileged to visit Miss Banda and it was such a joy to hear her testimony. The Lord indeed moves in a mysterious way, having lost her husband, she has been left with a daughter by the name of Taonga.
Coming from a Christian background, both her parents were born again, but she was still not saved. While she was at college, on her way going back from Lusaka, the bus ran off the road in a horrific accident. The carnage and numerous fatalities shook her awake spiritually. It was amazing that she escaped unhurt, surrounded by blood and mutilated, dead bodies all around her. It was during this trauma that she came to her senses and remembered are parents’ message of salvation. Why was it that she was saved when so many died? She had no choice but to seek God on her knees.
What I found encouraging about her is her sincerity. During the month, she called me to register her depression because of the lack of church meetings and fellowship. She requested if I could give her anything to study for encouragement. Please pray for the salvation of her daughter Taonga, and her desire to join membership when normal church meetings resume.
Pastoral oversight: It was also a joy to have conducted a couple of pastoral visits, with the first being Mr. and Mrs. Kabwe. It was such an encouraging thing to hear from them concerning the welfare of the church, and their intention to become part of church life through committing themselves to membership. This was also ray of hope, given Mr. Kabwe’s potential for church leadership. We look forward to welcome them into the family of Chamba Valley Reformed Baptist Church.
The next visit was with Mr. and Mrs. Nyirenda. I am grateful to God that after an interview with both, it also turned out to be a success and we look forward to welcoming them into the fellowship too. What is so encouraging about this couple is their love to serve among the young people. Even before they are joined into membership, they are already on fire for the Lord. They have so far organized a couple of meetings with the youth over dinner and some breakfast discussions. They have been teaching them on matters pertaining to life as youths. I have no doubt this is a shot in the arm for our church from the Lord, and we are very grateful.
Prayer needs: We are thankful to God about the church building project and the financial help we have received. Pray for us to find favor with the health inspectors as we seek to fulfill requirements for resuming congregational meetings.
