I (Tom) just got back from a trip to Zambia. It was short but sweet, and many good things happened which I’m excited to share with you! While going to Zambia is challenging in many ways, I always come back feeling refreshed and am given a fresh perspective on the world and my life.
Our Discipleship Hall is nearing completion. It has taken longer than expected, and some of that is due to the power and diesel shortage in Zambia. It takes longer to get things accomplished. However, once it’s 100% complete it will be a very nice resource to have! In addition to the main area, there will be bathrooms, a kitchen, plenty of storage, and offices.
We were able to have our Saturday feeding in the Discipleship Hall, and about 330 orphans, widows, disabled and elderly people showed up to it. The Gospel was preached and a nice fellowship was had by all. It was nice to have this feeding in a shady spot with a nice breeze blowing through!
One of the things we want to do at DHOA is to have discipling for men, women and couples. With that, we were able to have our first men’s conference in the Discipleship Hall when I was there. We want to take a holistic approach to the issue of orphaned children, and that starts with building up the family unit. If the family unit is strong, there wouldn’t be orphans in such huge numbers. Men play a crucial role in the family, and as men go, so goes the family, and ultimately society. We had 125 men come to the conference!
We spoke about the qualities of a Godly man from Titus 1:6-9, gave some practical Biblical advice about looking at money and managing it and then concluded with a strong Gospel message. We then gave each of them a Bible. 29 MEN ACCEPTED JESUS CHRIST AS THEIR LORD AND SAVIOR!
They also signed up for ongoing discipleship with Pastor Wallace. This ongoing discipleship is crucial, as it’s easy to make an emotional response, but the growth happens in the continued seeking and learning. Pastor Wallace said that there aren’t any churches in the area that preach from the Bible. The pastors mostly preach about whatever they feel like, and the gospel isn’t presented accurately. When I was speaking, I could see these men yearn for what the Bible has to say. When I would say, “The Bible says…” they would frantically write down the verse and what it says. The true Gospel was very clearly articulated and many of the men said they hadn’t heard it like that. Some of the truths about the qualities of a Godly man hit home to many men, and they haven’t heard the truths from the Bible about this topic.
Another aspect of our ministry is to provide for the elderly and disabled people in the area. These people are often overlooked by society and in a country like Zambia, without a social safety net, life is especially tough for them. We handed out 24 “food packages” while I was there which consists of a bag of corn meal, cooking oil, laundry detergent, salt and sugar.
Thank you so much for your ongoing support of DHOA! God Bless you all!
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