Brethren,

Thanks once again for reading our reports and praying for us.  We have had many happenings in the month of March and April.  The enemy brought trouble after the other in our ministry than ever before.  Most of the time we live life forgetting the gimmicks of the devil, not until he strikes at us than we realize his real presence.  Please, continue praying for us, at times ministry is not peaceful when trails begin to invade us.

Firstly, towards the end of last Month we had a scrupulous people who invaded our church plot and dug a house foundation on it.  They began digging in the early hours of the day and by 7:30 in the morning they had finished.  The news reached me by 8:00, while I was attending class at Lusaka Ministerial College where I am doing my theological studies.  I could not wait to go back home and see what was happening.  I called my wife to check what was happening, she confirmed the development.  I also called my Pastor friend to also check on the plot just to make sure, again he confirmed the development.  I realized how much money we used for this property.  My mind told me immediately to report this matter to the police station.  To cut the long story short, we found out that the one who sold part of our property was the former owner of the land.   We took him to the Police station and the Police advised him to pay back the money he had swindled the man who dug on our property or else he was going to be jailed.  He was also warned never to bounce and cheat people of owning land which he sold Faith Baptist Church two years ago.  The police where very shocked when I produced all the documents used when we purchased the land and where he (former owner) signed.

We thank you so much for your prayers.  The Lord went ahead of us and fought for us.  We have cleared the land and have commenced the foundations of the first phase building project which is a block of class rooms to be used for church services, Hope Ministry and other activities.  Pray that the Lord will be gracious to us as the work commences.  The Williamsons who are now members at Kabwata Baptist Church are missionaries working in Zambia running Ministerial Colleges and support orphans with educational necessities in the two reformed Baptist churches.  It is in regard to supporting orphans that they have partnered with our Hope Ministry.  Please, pray for the work of orphans at faith.  Our attendance has improved because of this and some are being saved and baptized among the orphans.  What a joy to see what the Lord is doing here.
Something I would also want to draw your attention to, is what happened last week.  Mr Bonaventure Lukwesa, who was one of the first converts and baptized attendees at our church, and serves in the leadership team as treasurer of our church, lost his wife last week Thursday in a road accident.  This happened in the road that goes to Eastern province of Zambia before the Luangwa Bridge in the area called Rufunsa.  We came to know about the death on Saturday morning and started looking for ways to bring back the body.  Thanks to some of our attendees who helped the brother with transportation and Faith Baptist church for standing with the brother in the difficult times.  The church did what it could on the funeral.  Please, pray for Bonaventure and the three daughters the wife has left behind.  Only one among his daughters attends our church.  They will need your prayers too, for salvation.  Our brother Bonaventure is a zealous man of God, among the men in the leadership team at our church.  He is a student at Lusaka Ministerial College.  He has encouraged me a lot with his desire to serve God, among the people I have met in Kabanana.  You will do well to remember him in prayers.

The Reformed Baptist Vernacular Conference of Lusaka province starts tomorrow Friday 22 good Friday.  We are sending 25 attendees to the conference and our sister church Chisomo Baptist church are hosting.  The venue is in Ballastone Lusaka West, not very far from Matter the home ground of Chisomo Baptist church.  We have only four Vernacular reformed Baptist churches in the townships of Lusaka and we have over 15 townships of very high population in Lusaka.  Faith Baptist church is one of them and is situated in the north of Lusaka a place called Kabanana site and service.  Chiyanjano Baptist Church is in the North east of Lusaka called N’gombe and is a church plant of Lusaka Baptist church. We also have Chisomo Baptist church, the only independent vernacular reformed Baptist church, planted by KBC.  Johnleng is also a church plant of KBC and is in the southern part of Lusaka in Johnleng Township.  Brethren from English speaking churches are invited to come and be part of the conference.

Pray for the speakers, at the conference.  Elder Chikondi Phiri from Lusaka Baptist is one of the speakers.  Pray also for the traveling mercies for the four churches as they find their way this evening to the conference venue.  Pray also for me as I bring the word of God in Kafue this Sunday for the Holy Spirit unction and the Lord’s direction.  Pray for the entire faith Baptist church ministry and the activities ahead of us.
Remember the Chirwas in your prayers as they labour in at the Kabanana site & service.  God bless you, Amen!

Yours in Christ Service,
Curtis Chirwa.
Pastor, FBC

APRIL REPORT 2011
CHACHACHA CHAPEL

29-04-2011
In this report, I look at the major activities that I did during the last half of the month of April.

13th April – I attended an evangelistic bible study in a house group meeting. There were few people, who came. We looked at genuine Christianity. We saw that many pretend to be believers, but they are far from God. We concluded by making plans for an evangelistic lunch.

14th April – We met for the Church bible study. I led the study from the book of Hebrews. We looked at the importance of being obedient if we have to remain true to the end.

15th April – Elders met for the time of prayer. We discussed some up coming events and spent time in prayer. Among the pressing issues was the children’s camp.

16th April – There was a wedding of one of my students and I was involved in transporting the bridal party. The whole exercise ended at 19:00 hrs.

17th April – After the group activities, we began the worship service and many people came. I continued with our expository preaching from 1 John. We looked at having confidence in prayer. Later in the evening, my colleague was preaching from 2 Timothy.

19th April – We had the elders’ business meeting. We had to look at the many activities that were coming. We had the children’s camp, Easter Conference and the youth camp.

20th April – I attended a house group meeting. We looked at the challenges of ministers and the honour they deserve. I moved on to attend another house group meeting. There were few people, who had come and we had a time of prayer.

21st April – I took a team to go and survey an area with a possibility of doing mission work. The area had few Churches, but villages were far apart. Later, we had a Church bible study and I led the study from the book of Hebrews. We looked at the importance of persevering in the faith.

22nd April – We had a time of prayer with the elders. We were thanking God for the children’s camp and praying for the Easter Conference. Later in the afternoon, the Easter Conference began and we were looking at the theme, ‘The Joy of the Lord.’ We had the main speaker from U.K.

23rd April – There was a wedding of my colleague and I was assisting with transport. The wedding finished late.

24th April – We had a guest service at Church. Many people came and we had a number of visitors. The guest speaker preached and the message was clear. After Church, I went to see a patient in hospital. The situation was not looking good because the man was having problems in breathing. The afternoon session was a continuation of the Easter Conference. We looked at how anxiety robs Christians of their joy. I rushed back to the hospital to check on the patient. This time there was a slight improvement.

25th April – I went to see a patient in hospital. He told me he was not feeling well. The wife could not hold tears from her eyes. I shared with them from the scriptures how Paul had to endure a thorn in the flesh. Later in the evening, I went back to the hospital and found that the situation had not changed.

PRAYER ITEMS
We thank God for the children’s camp, which went on well.
We thank God for the Easter Conference and the word we received.
Pray for Joshua, a brother in hospital. He has been in and out of hospital.
Pray for the youth camp starting on 30th April.
Pray for my son who is preparing for an education tour to the USA.

Submitted by Jonathan Mwalimu

Dear Brethren,

I am hereby, once again, writing for the report and prayer needs from Faith Baptist Church.  Thank you so much for praying for our church in all spheres.  I hope you are doing very well spiritually and in your ministries.  In a sweet hour of prayer, it is now time to go to the Lord and offer all our petitions and thanksgiving to him who is the great I Am.  The following is what transpired at Faith Baptist Church:

Last Saturday, I followed up on all the visitors who attended our church in the month of April.  I went to the house of Mr P Simbeye, who visited our church with his entire family.  He has been showing up at our church for a while now, particularly this year.  I presented the gospel to the family and we are hoping the Lord will make His way of salvation to this family.  They seem to be interested in joining our church.  They will need your prayers, especially concerning their salvation.  Pray also for us as we continue meeting with this family.

Pray for me as I visit yet another visitor who came to our church in the month of April.  His name is Mr. Chongo.  Mr. Chongo visited our church with two of his boys.  He used to live in Ndola rural and was a member of Union Baptist found in Ndola rural. They have relocated to Chipata compound, a township next to Kabanana.  I was supposed to visit him last week, but could not find the time.  Pray for me as we present the Gospel to him and his family.  He indicated that he had a lot the share with me earlier, when he visited.  My prayer is to have a profitable time with him.

We have been having good attendance in the children’s Sunday school class.  Children in our neighborhood have been coming and this has scored the increase in attendance in this ministry.  One of our children’s Sunday school teachers, Gertrude, resigned because of other commitments.  Now, only Raymond is leading the ministry.  Last Sunday we asked the congregation for a replacement of Gertrude by anyone with a heart for children.  Please pray for us to find a replacement.  It is clear that the Lord has been blessing us in this area, hence, man power will be needed.  We do not need to ignore this ministry, because tomorrow the same kids will make up our church.  If anything, pray for more than two teachers for this ministry.  We sometimes have up to 40 kids on any particular Sunday.  We cannot afford to lose the opportunity of sharing the Gospel at such an open opportunity.  Pray for us.

We are glad to mention here that the actual classroom block building project commences this week.  All the modalities needed to begin the work have been sorted out.  We have already found the manpower needed.  Please, pray for us to be able to occupy the building in the coming three to four months.  In short, our target is to complete the project within three to four months, if all the material needed is available.  Pray for the Lord to go ahead of us in our plans.

Continue praying for the faithful preaching of God’s Word every Sunday and the salvation of lost souls.  Remember our ministries at Faith Baptist Church and pray for the Lord’s direction.  Continue praying for Brother Bonaventure Lukwesa, who lost his wife not too long ago.  He seems to be doing fine.  Again you will do well to pray for our men whose wives and children do not attend our church.  Remember to pray for my family.  We do have a lot of needs as a family and school opens next week. Pray for us and may God bless you all, Amen!

Yours in Christ service,


Curtis Chirwa
Pastor
Faith Baptist Church, Kabanana

Dear family and friends,

Greetings once again from Zambia, in the name of Jesus, our Shepherd and Sustainer. He faithfully cared for His little Reece flock all the way from Zambia to Virginia, South Carolina, Illinois, Missouri, back to South Carolina, and back to Zambia.  He protected us over thousands of miles of travel by air and road.  He strengthened our weary bodies during a whirlwind schedule of non-stop running.  He strengthened our hearts through sweet fellowship with family and saints.  And, in answer to your prayers, He strengthened our spirits for the return to Africa. 

Our first stop in the States was HeartCry in Radford, Virginia.  What a warm welcome!  They loved on us and ministered to us.  We also benefited greatly from a very productive meeting concerning the future of the Lozi work.  Just as we had hoped, we came out of that discussion with confirmation of what we thought we were hearing from the Lord and a clearer vision of the path ahead.  I'll be sharing more in the coming days, but basically it boils down to simplifying our life and ministry here in Zambia - removing what we can in the way of distractions and drains on our time and energy.  Added to that is a focus on our very specific calling, and how our gifts and calling mesh with the strengths and experience of the indigenous Reformed Baptist Church of Zambia.

From Virginia, it was off to South Carolina for a wedding.  Having conducted dozens of weddings, I'm well aware of how stressful these events can be.  Isn't it strange how weddings and funerals bring out the worst in families?  Well, I thank God that this was not the case for Michael and Bette Jean.  The entire wedding week flowed quite smoothly.  Looking back, the happy couple couldn't think of a thing that went wrong.  The ceremony was simple, beautiful, and could not have been more Christ-exalting.  Of course, the entire event was more than a wedding - it was a huge reunion for us with family and friends from many locations.  We are so grateful to God and HeartCry for the privilege of being there.

After the wedding, we went "home" to Illinois and Missouri for sweet time with Joyce's family and mine, a wedding reception for family and friends that couldn't travel to South Carolina, and fellowship with precious saints in the Hannibal churches.  The trip wrapped up back in South Carolina for some post-wedding/honeymoon quiet time with Michael and Bette Jean.  While in Greenville, we enjoyed more fellowship with the saints there, and squeezed in a planning meeting for the next Lozi catechism.  Some really exciting ideas came out of that meeting, and we covet your prayers as the catechism project continues. 

While in the States, we were so blessed by the warm hospitality we constantly received. But more than that, I must confess we were totally amazed and humbled at the number of people who were so enthusiastic about the Lozi work.  You know how it is . . . I write these updates, wondering how many are actually being read and prayed for.  I am ashamed.  So many of you are faithful to follow these updates with intense interest, and I was deeply moved as I heard of times you called prayer meetings (even late at night) to help bear our burden.  May Christ richly reward your service to His Kingdom and to us.

We arrived back home in Zambia a week ago, and spent the next few days battling jet-lag, alternating between sleeping for 12 hours one night and 2-4 hours the next. In answer to your prayers, the Lord certainly helped our whole family in being ready to return to Africa.  Amidst all the inconveniences and annoyances of re-entry into the "third world," I feel such happiness, peace, and hope - proof that many of you must be praying.  We are particularly thankful for the grace that has enabled our children to be so content returning to our life here.

Now that our bodies are mostly back in this time-zone, it is time to get back to work.  We head back to the bush on Thursday for a short trip.  We plan to teach in Jacobo and Salamanu, and we are eager to see what the Spirit has been doing while we were away.  We are also planning a trip to Gift's village in early May. 

Our feet had barely landed back on African soil when we started getting exciting emails from the States. Two projects have come to our attention in the past several months which might really strengthen our relationship with Ilwendo village.  One is the construction of a playground for the village school.  The other is outfitting the local medical clinic in the village.  Let me explain.

There is a ministry from Belleview Baptist Church (the late Adrian Roger's church) that travels the globe helping indigenous churches build community relationships by constructing playgrounds for the children.  Having just returned from our entertainment-saturated country, I realize how difficult it is for most of us to imagine the joy a simple playground would bring to children in the village.  Lozi children live in a world of dirt, hard work, hunger, and extreme poverty.  There is very little fun or beauty in their little lives.  Playground equipment that we take for granted is beyond their wildest imagination.  We are working on long-term solutions for their hunger, but in the meantime, maybe we can add a tiny taste of fun to their lives.

Back in January, when we were seeking God's will for the future of our work, God led Shannon to visit the local medical clinic. The Catholics built a nice clinic building as part of their mission, but administration has been turned over to the Zambian government.  There is a clinic officer and a small supply of medicine, but the clinic is not equipped for overnight patient care.  I found this out the hard way when a drunk man from our village fell off a truck and his arm was run over.  Lusu Clinic could not help him and I had to drive him to Sesheke Hospital, an hour and a half away, in the middle of the night.  Lusu Clinic has rooms for a women's ward, men's ward, and lab, but they need beds, mattresses, mosquito nets, tables, I.V. stands, and other equipment. 

In the past week we have received emails from Belleview that they are trying to organize a team to come build the playground, and from friends in Shannon and Stephanie's home church who are committing to raise funds for outfitting the clinic. Exciting stuff!  Now, let me reassure any of you who fear that we might be slipping toward a "social gospel" of good works and humanitarian aid.  Don't worry, the preaching of the Gospel is and always will be primary in our ministry.  Let me give 2 good reasons for projects like the playground and clinic.

1.  Africa, for decades, has lived in dependency upon Western nations.  Missionaries have gladly fed this dependency in order to attract "converts." The result is that if you are a Western missionary in rural Zambia today, you are expected (even demanded) to give physical help to the community.  They don't value intangible things like knowledge from teaching.  They want physical benefits that they can see and touch (e.g. a building that outlives the missionary).  Many in the village have labeled us "bad" or "unhelpful" missionaries because of our failure to hand out free stuff.  Is this attitude wrong?  Yes.  But, as Brother Conrad Mbewe has reminded us more than once, there is a certain degree of working with what "is" as we work to change the thinking of the next generation through Gospel transformation.  "Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation." (1 PET. 2:12) These 2 projects, the playground and clinic, would be major steps in silencing the slander against us as "unhelpful missionaries." 

2.  Far more importantly, these 2 projects would stand as visible expressions of Christ's love for the poor and perishing Lozi. The medical clinic would certainly follow Christ's example of caring for the sick and hurting.  This compassion, by the way, was commanded of the first apostolic evangelists.  "Proclaim as you go, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.'  Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons." (MT. 10:7-8) Jesus was a living expression of the God who spoke in PS. 82:3-4, "Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.  Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked." Afflicted, destitute, weak, needy - you won't find a better description of the Lozi.  Do they have any right to claim any help from God?  As depraved rebels, of course not.  Doesn't that make God's mercy toward the poor even more amazing?  Shouldn't Christ's missionaries show that same particular love and mercy for the poor and destitute?

If the timing works out, we hope to have the next children's catechism, "There is a God of Light and Love," just before the playground team comes. Imagine if we could be teaching that catechism to the children as the playground was being built.  Every time they played on that playground, maybe they would remember that there is a God who loves them and knows them.  He cared enough to send His missionary servants to love and help them.  But far more important, He sent His Beloved Son to rescue them from their sin and the punishment they deserve, and open the way to an all-satisfying relationship with Him. 

Dear brothers and sisters, would you pray with us that it would please God to accomplish both these projects? Do you think the devil will just fold his hands as we show Christ's love to the people and gain favor in their eyes?  This is a war, and our strategic advances will not go unopposed.  Please plead for us (don't forget Enoch!) for supernatural wisdom, skill, power, and authority as we proclaim the Gospel in Ilwendo, Jacobo, and Salamanu, and as we begin to disciple Gift.  Cry out for a spiritual awakening in Western Province.  Thank-you for your faithful remembrance of us.

For Christ's Sake,
Sean