It has been an eventful weekend at Egichikeni. Friday we presented the story of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection with the plan being that Saturday when we returned to each of the villages / homes we’ve been visiting all week we would tell another Bible story and extend an invitation for people to become followers of Christ. That’s when events went off course.
The Land Rover we ride for 75 minutes each way had a problem and delayed our trip Saturday morning. But God was watching over us because it was repaired Saturday morning. That may not sound like a big deal, but in Londazi where missionaries David and Heather Petro live repairs are not always easily made. With Monday being a national holiday, the repair had to be made Saturday or it could have created issues for us because we need to travel four hours Tuesday morning to catch our flight to Livingston, Zambia and Victoria Falls.
We arrived at Egichikeni about 1:00 pm and each of our three teams were only able to visit one village each. Two of the teams visited three villages each day and my team made it to four. That was disappointing. What was exciting was the way God worked.
At my village, we had the largest crowd of the week and 14 people prayed to commit their lives to the Lord. The group of young men that Sara and Kathy stumbled on earlier in the week spent 90 minutes listening to the Bible story and asking serious questions about Jesus and Christianity.
Today we worshiped with the small church plant that is trying to reach Egichikeni. Kathy Troutman taught Sunday School and I preached. One man committed his life to Christ during the invitation. He was the same man that Sara and Kathy’s team encountered earlier in the week that had questions about demons. Witchcraft is BIG problem in Zambia. That is much false teaching that has to be corrected when a person comes to faith in Christ.
Tomorrow we return to the villages one last time to say goodbye – because hello and goodbye are very important in their culture. We are praying for opportunities to share a Bible story and perhaps extend an invitation to Christ in some of the villages we missed Saturday. Please pray for us as we go Monday. We will be in the villages while you are still sleeping, so please pray for us before you go to bed Sunday night.
Satan may have frustrated our plans but he has not defeated us. People have been saved and many more have heard the gospel. The church and the local pastors have been encouraged. We have learned much that will help us in the future as we serve with our IMB missionaries here.
Finally pray we have safe travel Tuesday to Livingston. It has been a great experience here, but we are also tired and need some rest. Pray we have fun and recuperate some while touring Victoria Falls for a little R and R.
I’ll post more blogs this coming week but know that we appreciate your prayers. We need them and they make a difference.
I’m looking forward to sharing with you Sunday a sermon titled “Lessons From Africa.” You’ll want to be on the lookout for each of our team members because we will look different than you’ve ever seen us.
Pastor Steve Hogg
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