Pastor, Sinda Reformed Baptist Church Sinda, Zambia

German is the pastor of Sinda Reformed Baptist Church in Sinda, Zambia. His church is enjoying a season of intense interest in the Gospel in eastern Zambia. Please pray for German and Gertrude, and their three children, Zingani, Francis, and Taonga.

Testimony

Introduction

My name is German B., born on 7th December, 1971. I’m married to Getrude with whom we have two sons, Zingani 10yrs and Francis 4yrs, and one daughter, Taonga 1yr.
I completed Grade 12 at Petauke Secondary school, in 1996 and later did a three year course in Automotive Engineering at Evelyn Hone College in Lusaka.

ÂÂ

My Life Before I Became Born Again

I was brought up in a Christian home where my parents took me to church every Sunday. Church-going for me was good, but I did not know the importance for doing so. What I knew at least was that every one went to church on a Sunday as was the tradition. Yet, I was involved in many wicked practices, which I did not realise were sinful at the time because I was in darkness. I had heard of Jesus, God, angels, prophets, and pastors. However, I was unsure who Jesus and God were.

ÂÂ

How I Became a Christian

In 1999, I heard the gospel preached at a funeral by Pastor Maxwell Nkhata. He preached from the book of John 1: 12-13 on the theme: ‘Who is a Child of God?’ From his preaching I concluded that I was not a child of God despite being a regular church goer. Then I followed the pastor to his home so that I could get help on how to become a child of God. He told me to repent and believe in Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Saviour. He read from Romans 3:23 and 1 John 2-9. I was then convinced that I was a sinner and I needed to pay for my sins. Fortunately, I was told that Christ’s death on the cross saved me from eternal condemnation. And on the 28th of April, 1989, I repented of my sins and believed in Jesus Christ as my saviour. From that time, my life has changed all because of the grace of God. I now love the Lord and I am able to worship him. After undergoing baptismal lessons, I got baptised by immersion in 1998.

ÂÂ

Calling in Pastoral Work

This is a mystery of God for a person to have a gift to serve Him, because according to the doctrines of grace no one can desire to serve the Lord if God has not placed that desire in them. Therefore, my calling was decreed by the Lord himself in eternity. It is by God’s grace that the Holy Spirit gave me a gift to preach the gospel to the lost.
However, I sensed the call when I was still young in faith that I should serve the Lord for the rest of life. I read Isaiah 6: 8 and 1 Sam 3: 10. These two passages convinced me that I was called to ministry. Paul explained in Corinthians 6 that people are called to different ministries as the Holy Spirit enables them. In the Old Testament people could hear God’s voice, but now he speaks to us through the inspired scriptures. Therefore the scriptures are enough to convince me that I have been called. I will never use a different method to prove that God has truly called me except through scripture – from the Old Testament to the New Testament.

German B.