Hunt the Trainers
Our main goal for the recent trip to Zambia was to find the trainers. If you are reading this and you’re British, we don’t mean ‘trainers’ for a kick-around at the park, but Human Trainers - those fire-starters amongst the leaders, who engage with the process, and want to pass it on. The kingdom is all about multiplication, right? So if we can train the trainers, with each trainer representing several church plants who are going to reproduce themselves, well, it starts to sound like one of the parables, no?
Colin went to Lusaka, the capital, with Tata Zakhile, who is an expert at reading situations in cross-cultural contexts. Tata taught brilliantly on the importance of apostolic ministry, and Colin did an introduction to biblical theology - learning to read and apply the bible as one whole story.
Lusaka was full of super-friendly people. The team enjoyed some bream from the Zambezi River, lots of chicken and nshima (maize meal). A lovely lady called Wendy cooked for them, bringing a bowl to wash their hands before eating. Colin is struggling to settle back in with his real wife (although she is a lot quieter in her sleep than Tata Zakhile - ha). They had fun at the reptile park one day, although one of the hosts was so terrified he went and sat in the car.
It was a great time of building friendships and digging in to the word of God together - the people were very grateful and the great news is, although we weren’t sure what we would find there, some of them clearly stood out as potential trainers. So exciting!
The main host was Bishop Brian who leads “Great In Christ” Church, which has 13 or 14 congregations across Zambia and Malawi. They have a vision to start a bible training centre there, alongside a school, guest wing, TV and radio station, and camp facilities where students can come and stay.
Colin and Zakhile went to pray on the land there, and the East End church in London have also prayed via a little video! It is fun to hook up these pockets of people with a heart for the nations. If you’re on Instagram or Facebook, you will soon see that same video of Brian on the land, as well as some local sights, and a snippet of the exuberant welcome that the guys received when they took their place to speak!
Also there, Bishop Davie Kawunda who is an African Methodist church minister, who oversees training for hundreds of churches across Zambia. Nawam Crispin works with four or five churches in Livingstone and Lusaka - you will see interviews with them soon on social media…
Mobilise Global left them with plenty of books, and a charge to go ahead and train more leaders. We will see how it goes in the next few months, and will keep you posted about progress. Colin and Zakhile came back happy to have made new connections, and hopeful these brilliant new friends will see much fruit. Trainers? Tick!
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