LUSAKA BAPTIST CHURCH BUILDING PROJECT
Those of you who may have visited Lusaka Baptist Church (LBC) recently may have been shocked to find that what used to be a church hall is now a heap of rubble. It is a construction site! The church hall, in which some of you held wedding receptions, has been razed to the ground and the baptistery, in which to you were dipped and made your vows to follow the Lord, no longer exists. The pulpit area which some preachers trembled to mount is no more! One cannot even tell where it was!
You may be wondering why all the precious memories of LBC are being erased. Well, Lusaka Baptist Church badly needs additional space and a new auditorium is being built to answer that need.
The current auditorium of Lusaka Baptist Church was put up in the early 1960s. Over the years the building has seen a number of additions and alterations in response to the pressures of growth. The current effort represents a decisive effort to address the problem of space in a more permanent manner.
As has been the experience of church planting in Zambia, Lusaka Baptist Church began with a handful of people who were meeting in a classroom at what is now called Lusaka Boys High School. Over the years, as the church has grown, so has the problem of space increased. Under the ministry of Reverend Joe Simfukwe, the problem was so acute that an extra service had to be introduced. However, this solution was only temporal and was found in many ways to be an unsatisfactory answer as it tended to split the congregation and introduce additional burdens on oversight and organisation. To decongest the numbers, the church embarked on parallel efforts to given birth to local churches in other parts of the city. This outreach endeavour saw the establishment of Kabwata Baptist Church, Evangel Baptist Church and, to some extent, Mount Makulu Baptist Church. Efforts to start another one in Chelston never quite got off the drawing board. The establishment of the other churches, however, did not reduce the problem of space. Under the late Pastor Nigel Lacey, the church hall was used to seat those who could not fit into the main auditorium and these were connected by video link. This was also not a lasting solution!
Although plans to erect a new auditorium had been on the cards for much of the 1990s, serious work on it only began some time in 2004 when it was felt that it would be a great milestone if the church could celebrate its 50th year of existence in 2010 in a new auditorium.
The leadership appointed a committee to think through the matter and advise them. The unanimous conclusion was that a new and bigger auditorium was required rather than extending the current one further. And so work started on the conceptualisation of the project, which, after many hours of dreaming, talking and consultation, has led to the current works. In order to pave way for the construction works, the church has had to relocate to the church’s school site near the Lusaka International School. A new tent has been erected where all the events that used to happen at LBC are now taking place—the Tent of Meeting!
The new auditorium is planned to seat just over one thousand people, effectively doubling the current attendance on a Sunday morning. Once the construction is complete, part of the existing auditorium will serve as offices. Construction work started on 2nd June 2008 with the demolition of some of the old buildings, and is expected to last about eighteen months up to December 2009. It is the prayer of the church that we will spend only one rain season under the Tent of Meeting!
The greatest challenges the church shall face during this phase will include, first, the raising of finances to ensure that the building is completed within the planned time. Then there will be, among others, the challenge of ensuring that the flock continues to pull together and grow numerically and spiritually under the new circumstances. We are trusting that the Lord will lead us, and we ask for your prayers and support in every way. After all, for some of you, LBC is your Jerusalem and it is your duty to pray and work for her prosperity!
Cheta Musonda
ELDERS ORDAINED AT CHISOMO BAPTIST CHURCH
On Sunday 25 May 2008, Chisomo Baptist Church (a vernacular Reformed work in Matero, Lusaka) had the joy of seeing two of its members, Mr Edwin Mwale and Mr Francis Ngoma, ordained into its first eldership. At the same event, the church was set apart as an independent church, after eight years of church-planting efforts by the missionary pastor, Lichawa Thole.
Since this was a church-planting effort of Kabwata Baptist Church, two elders from that church (Pastor Conrad Mbewe and Mr George Sitali) came to conduct both the installation of the new elders and the inauguration of the new church. Mr Sitali gave the charge to the newly-ordained elders of Chisomo Baptist Church while Pastor Conrad Mbewe preached on the qualifications of elders. He emphasised that these qualifications were not only for entering upon the office but were to be maintained throughout the life of an elder. The message was, therefore, not only beneficial to the new elders but to all of us who were present, as it had a number of challenges and appropriate applications.
Mr George Sitali leading the new elders in saying their ordination vows
The meeting was well attended by people from Chiyanjano Baptist Church, Evangel Baptist Church, Faith Baptist Church, John Laing Reformed Baptist Church, Kabwata Baptist Church, and Lusaka Baptist Church. There were also some pastors from local churches in Matero, who came to support the occasion. The room was packed to full capacity with a good number of people listening from outside through the windows. It was emphasised that from that day onwards, Chisomo Baptist Church would no longer be a daughter church of Kabwata Baptist Church. It was now a sister church, with its own bona fide eldership. Thus the brethren were commended to God as they forged their own future under the banner of Christ.
Wilson Kamanga
KBC Missions Coordinator
2008 ANTIOCH YOUTH CONFERENCE
Our major event on the annual calendar of the Kabwata Baptist Church Senior Youth Ministry is the two-day Antioch Youth Conference where we invite all the young people in our neighbourhood, in sister churches and in the colleges and university campuses to attend. Let me share briefly on the last conference we had.
Pastor Ndonji Kayombo preaching at the Antioch Conference
The conference was very successful in many ways. It was a rich time of fellowship, spiritual feasting and fun! It drew participants from Reformed churches and, much to our pleasure and surprise, we also had a lot of brethren from non-Reformed churches, apart from students from some tertiary institutions. We are grateful to our two brothers who came to the conference from Choma and Mufulira to give the conference a national status! On both days, the conference had an attendance of around 200 youths. Despite being a small church, John Laing Reformed Baptist Church brought two bus-loads of youths on both days!This year’s theme was “Marks of a true Christian” and it was held on 7th and 8th July. The conference was both evangelistic and spiritually edifying to the believers. Our main concern was to challenge ourselves with the biblical teaching on who really is a Christian and to promote true biblical lifestyles among believing youths. The conference was, as such, introspective in nature and youths were encouraged to “give careful thought to their ways”.
The main preacher was Pastor Ndonji Kayombo from Trinity Baptist Church in Kitwe and the accompanying preacher was Mr. Chikondi Phiri, an elder at Lusaka Baptist Church. They handled topics such as, “Who is a true Christian?” We also looked at true Christianity in the context of the home, workplace, school/college and church. The final message was “Give careful thoughts to your ways”. The Word of God was indeed faithfully preached.
We also had group discussions before the preaching sessions which enabled youths to air their views and then the preachers helped to clarify issues through their preaching. Apart from that, we ended our conference with a panel discussion which gave the youths a further opportunity to clarify issues.
Pray with us for true and lasting fruit from the Word of the Lord that was preached. In particular, pray for the salvation of our friends who were in attendance but are strangers to the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Pray also that the believers that were in attendance may give careful thought to their ways and shake off the spiritual lethargy that is fast becoming the number one enemy of the church.
As we begin to focus our attention on next year’s Antioch conference we are grateful to the Lord that he has already taken away one headache from the organizing committee by granting us a speaker in the name of Kendall Holley, pastor of Broadacres Baptist Church in America!
Bwalya Kangwa,
KBC Senior Youth Chairperson
EVERGREEN CHRISTIAN BOOKSTORE RELAUNCHED
The Evergreen Christian Bookstore in Lusaka was re-launched in July 2008. The re-launch was held at its new premises within Kabwata Baptist church. It was a colourful occasion characterised by singing, exhortation from the Bible, a show of the new bookstore and a serving of snacks.
Preaching at the re-launch was the guest of honour, Pastor Sam Waldron of Heritage Baptist Church in Owensboro, America. He is also the author of A Modern Exposition of the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith. Pastor Waldron exhorted the guests and the staff of Evergreen from Proverbs 30:24–29. He said that if the bookstore is consistently to supply good Christian literature to the Zambian reading public, we need to emulate the wisdom of the animal kingdom (e.g. ants which store their food in summer, hyrax that are cautious in their dealings and make their houses in the crags, and lizards that are despised, yet they can be found even in palaces).
Pastor Sam Waldron enjoying a hilarious moment during the launch
The chairman of the book ministry, Mr Bobbline Cheembela gave a brief history of how the bookstore has grown over the years from the time it started. The Evergreen Christian Bookstore has known growth in sales from K40 million to over a K100 million per annum. With the new bookstore open, and an increase of books on display, we anticipate the growth to exceed these numbers soon.
Kakonde Simbeye
Bookstore Manager
DR SIMON MPHUKA CALLED TO GLORY
Dr Simon Mphuka, one of the elders at Kabwata Baptist Church, went to be with the Lord at around 01.00 hours on August 4 2008 after a sudden illness that took the whole church by surprise. At an elders’ prayer meeting on Saturday 5th July, which ended with breakfast, Simon shared about his recent failing health. He had been to see a doctor who found nothing wrong with him and sent him on a week’s holiday. He returned feeling much better but not yet quite himself, he said, and asked for prayer. On Sunday 6th July, he led the church’s prayer meeting and showed no signs of failing health. He also participated in the prayer times we spend together as church officers before each service, and even in the worship services. Yet by Friday that same week, Simon had been admitted to hospital with an excruciating headache. That was the beginning of the end. He was never to walk out of hospital again. One complication led to another until, having been evacuated to South Africa for further treatment, he entered the immediate presence of God early on that Monday morning. We are all still recovering from the shock.
Dr Simon Mphuka became a Christian in 1978 after the preaching of God’s word at a Scripture Union camp. He realised his sinful state before God and God opened his eyes to see salvation by faith in Christ Jesus. He repented and believed in him. Dr Mphuka has been a part of Kabwata Baptist Church for the better part of the church’s life, having been part of the initial outreach efforts into the Kabwata residential area in the early 1980s when he was still single and a medical student. He was the fledgling-church’s second librarian in the days when the entire church library used to be carried in a plastic bag as Simon walked from the Ridgeway campus of the university to church every Sunday.
In 1986 he was chosen to serve the church in the office of deacon. He faithfully discharged his duties, until he left on attachment to a rural health institution in 1988. He also served as elder at Central Baptist Church in Luanshya from late 1992 to early 1994. When Dr Mphuka returned to Lusaka, he was very burdened about the Zambian Reformed Baptist churches’ lack of appropriate response to the problem of AIDS in the country. This led him in 1996 to spearhead the formation of an HIV/AIDS counselling ministry in the church called “Hope for the Afflicted Ministry”. This ministry put out adverts in one national newspaper inviting those who needed counsel to get in touch. Through this avenue this ministry counselled many people right across the country. In a book written to commemorate the first twenty years of Kabwata Baptist Church’s existence, Simon eloquently testified to the great fulfilment he found in this ministry.
Throughout Dr Mphuka’s membership at Kabwata Baptist Church, he played a teaching role in one form or another. He was either teaching a Bible study group on Sunday morning, or a mid-week Bible study in one of the home cell groups, or preaching during one of the Sunday services. He was also very supportive to the missions work of the church and spent a lot of his Sundays visiting or preaching at one church-plant or another. Missionaries benefited immensely from his generous heart because he never saw a financial need among them without wanting to meet it. The next major role that Simon played in the church was in 2003 when the church’s eldership disintegrated. The church chose him to provide leadership during the phase in which a team was put together to help the church back on its feet. He played this role with great maturity and wisdom, and thus the church was able to begin rebuilding its eldership a year later. It was partly because of the leadership mettle that the church saw in him during this period that he was asked to join the eldership in 2006. Dr Mphuka accepted this challenge, despite his very demanding job as the chief executive of the Churches Health Association of Zambia (CHAZ).
In the two years he was in the eldership, he carried out his oversight work with a great sense of conscientiousness. His life was marked by consistent humility, wisdom, generosity, hospitality, integrity, hard work and love for the cause of Christ. He had no personal pocket agendas. He was outwardly what he was inwardly, and so what you saw was what you got. Many testify of his love for the brethren and how he made them feel special when he related to them. Many valued his friendship because of all these traits, which commended the beauty of Christ’s saving work to those around him.
Dr Simon Mphuka leaves behind a wife, Lillian, and three wonderful daughters: Wankumbu Veddrunna (16), Dhozinta Zewelanji (14) and Wankunda Venna (12).
Conrad Mbewe
PASTOR ISAAC MAKASHINI INDUCTED AS A MISSIONARY
When, towards the end of 2005, Oswald Sichula who was Emmasdale Baptist Church’s first pastor, left to study at George Whitefield College in Cape Town in South Africa, no-one except God knew whom he was preparing in his place to take up the challenge of pastoring a reformed Baptist church in such a needy and critical part of Lusaka. That uncertainty has now gloriously been allayed by God himself!
At a reverent but joyous induction service held at Lusaka Baptist Church’s “tent of meeting” on the afternoon of Saturday 9th August 2008, Pastor Isaac Makashini, was set apart for the work at Emmasdale by the elders of Lusaka Baptist Church under whose supervision the church has been operating. Members of Lusaka Baptist Church, Emmasdale Baptist Church and other Reformed Baptist churches, and Pastor Makashini’s mother attended this seminal event. Charles Bota undergirded the jubilant hymn singing with his guitar, while he and his wife Mavis contributed a special musical tribute of their own to the service.
The statement of the elders, read by Dr Dennis Chiwele, the elder who has been superintending over the work in Emmasdale, contained a heartfelt plea to the congregation at Emmasdale to receive their new missionary pastor with open and teachable hearts, and to support his ministry in every way. Pastor Ronald Kalifungwa, in his sermon based on Jeremiah 3:15, reminded us all that Pastor Isaac Makashini, and his wife Shupe and their two children, are God’s gift to the church of Jesus Christ that congregates at Emmasdale. He also emphasised the church’s obligation to give of their material substance towards supporting their new under-shepherd.
Emmasdale Baptist Church will, for the time being, remain under the overall care and financial support of Lusaka Baptist Church, whose congregation Dr Chiwele exhorted to pray for this outreach work and to uphold it in every possible way.
Pastor Makashini’s face shone brightly as he read his testimony, a testimony that showed his love for the Lord and passion for the work of seeking the lost. The 20% of Lusaka’s population which lives in this catchment area is subjected to the influence of Islam and churches that preach questionable doctrines. So they will certainly require this sort of fervour in order to be brought out from the darkness and into God marvelous light.
Pastor Makashini was graciously saved by God at a camp in Luanshya in May 1985 and later attended the Theological College of Central Africa (TCCA) in Ndola from which he graduated with a bachelor of theology degree in 1996. Because of his contrary doctrinal position however, he left the Evangelical Church in Zambia.
When he had married Shupe, whom he’d met at the Emmasdale Church (now Bread of Life Church International) in 1997, they settled in Chingola and joined the membership of Central Baptist Church where Pastor Makashini served in the eldership until he was called to pastor Trinity Baptist Church in Kitwe. After serving there as a pastor for four years, in 2005, he applied for and was privileged to gain both admission and a scholarship to the Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson Mississippi, USA. In May this year, he completed his Master of Divinity degree.
In his time in the ’States, by God’s providence, Pastor Makashini and his family were led to consider returning to Zambia. Around April 2007, he shared their plans with the elders at Lusaka Baptist Church, who eventually called them to serve at Emmasdale Baptist Church—a call they prayerfully accepted. He has promised to strive to train and equip gifted men for the work of leadership, and to work towards establishing a biblical eldership, which will bring about the autonomy of EBC.
In his own words: “I…declare that Scripture alone is the supreme and sole authority for doctrine and practice, that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone for the glory of God alone. I believe in the pre-eminence of the preaching of the Word of God in the life of the church, and that true biblical preaching is ‘carefully exegetical, predominantly biblical, theologically harmonious, intensely practical in its overall thrust, and pervasively evangelical in its overall climate.’ (Jim Savastio).” Amen!
Conrad Mbewe
