Emmanuel S. will stop receiving financial support from HeartCry after August 2009.  He shall be moving to another town to pastor an established church that shall take on the biblical role of supporting him and his family, and will no longer require outside support.

Emmanuel is the pastor of Berean Reformed Baptist Church in Chililabombwe, Zambia. This is the third church plant in which he has been involved. Please pray for Emmanuel as he hopes to plant a church across the border in Democratic Republic of Congo.

Testimony of Emmanuel S.

MY CONVERSION

I gave my life to the Lord Jesus Christ in 1980 and this was at a time when I was still in secondary school, in Mufurila. It all started when two people from the Southern Baptist Church stopped me along the road and shared the word of God with me. Their sharing was from the Romans 3. From that sharing I learnt that I was a sinner in need of repentance and forgiveness through the Lord Jesus Christ. This particular encounter, however, proved the way of salvation for me. That night, I opened the Bible and read through the same passage of scripture in Romans. It was after I had studied this passage that I found myself overcome with a deep sense of sin and the justice of God. This condition was to remain upon me for a period of three months before I could find relief. Later in March of that same year, I attended a service at the Southern Baptist church where I received further enlightenment on how to be born again from a sermon preached from John 3.1-6. That same day I knelt down and prayed for forgiveness and salvation from God through the Lord Jesus Christ. This experience was very much overwhelming and left me weeping. I knew from then that I was born again through the Grace of God alone. I can now testify that my life has never been the same from that day.

CHARISMATIC ROOTS

Soon after my conversion, I joined the Southern Baptist church. After a short while, I moved out to join the Assemblies of God church even though there was not much difference in their doctrinal positions at that time. I was to remain rooted in the charismatic movement from the period 1980 to the end of 1985 when I moved out. My doctrinal persuasion then was purely American with an inclination to the charismatic belief.

DOCTRINAL REFORMATION

I attribute my doctrinal reformation to my close personal relationship and association with both Pastor Choolwe M. and Pastor Conrad Mbewe. The route to biblical reformation started off way back in 1984 when I worked with brother M. in the same company. During those days we would have a lot of doctrinal and theological discussions, which later played a major role in my reformation and moving out of the charismatic movement. Also my later interactions with brother Mbewe and the use of his ‘reformed' library books finally completed my doctrinal reformation. This library in particular was a source of spiritual enlightenment, refinement and biblical reformation in my life.

REFORMED CHURCH ASSOCIATION

In 1986, soon after leaving the charismatic movement, I joined hands with a missionary who had come into town to establish a new Baptist church. We labored together until the church was established, which later came to be known as Fairview Reformed Baptist Church. I was also associated with the establishment of Bethel Reformed Baptist Church in 1988 in the town of Kabwe, Central Province of Zambia. In 1995, I was again privileged to plant a new church under Chingola Central Baptist called Trinity Reformed Baptist Church. I was also involved in the doctrinal reformation of Luanshya Central Baptist Church where I am currently in membership.

MY FAMILY

I got married in 1989 to a woman by the name of Margaret and we have since had three children together. We are also looking after two dependants. Our first born is a girl aged 13, followed by a boy aged 8 and our last-born (a boy) aged 6.

CALL TO THE MINISTRY

My call to the ministry is something that has developed over a long period of time especially when you take into account my past involvements in church planting. The desire for full time pastoral work has always been with me, except that I could only be ready to enter the ministry this year and at this time. I have since resigned from my employment where I was working as Head of Supply, and my last working day is on the 29th of August 2003.
There is already an arrangement in place for me to be sent as a missionary to Chililabombwe town, in the Copperbelt, where there are plans to plant a new church. On this arrangement, I shall be under Chingola Central Baptist Church as the sending church. However, this program is already in progress and is scheduled to begin in September in this year as soon as all the logistics are put in place.