Staff Blog

Listen to 2 AMT students' testimonies from their final village outreach in November: Testimony #1: The four of us sat around a mango tree with the translator and 10 villagers from Chabule. (In the Mukuni Sector) After a few minutes of small talk, I asked them if they attended church anywhere; they all nodded their heads. I then asked “So, then do you all know about Jesus?” The silence became palpable. Finally, one of the women nervously laughed and stated that they didn’t not know who Jesus was. These were competent adults who attended church. The most saddening issue with the situation is that I began to understand that the local church had failed these people. Furthermore, since everyone who is a believer is considered part of the church, all of us had failed these individuals as well. After we presented the gospel, we were able to begin to disciple them. We told them about the importance of prayer and our power from it; and we also prayed for healing in three of them (to which they were all delivered of their ailments). I was able to walk away from the household knowing not only that 10 people were now entering the Kingdom of Heaven, but also that we helped lay a foundation that gave a revelation to the love and grace of Christ. Testimony #2: “You don't know?” I couldn't believe it. We were having a conversation with an entire household under a mango tree in Chabule village and none of the ten adults had ever heard of Jesus. They said that they go to church and knew a few things about God, but they had absolutely no knowledge of who Jesus is and what He had done. How is this possible? How can a church just let Jesus fall through the cracks like that? Can it really even be called a church anymore? It blows my mind that the gospel message is so easily left out of church teaching. Maybe it's simply lost in the labyrinth of overpowering structure, routine, and habits among believers. Maybe it's overlooked in favor of more "advanced" teachings. In any case, the gospel must not be overlooked, underestimated, or bypassed. There is no more significant message in all of the world, no greater freedom available to man, and no more profound revelation to be meditated upon. It is the root of all teaching in the Bible and the whole of the Christian faith hinges upon it. After taking a moment to collect ourselves after hearing this inconceivable news, my companions and I explained the gospel to the family. We laid before them the truth of the love of Jesus and explained that is it possible to live as His child in His presence here on earth as well as for all of eternity. We gave them the opportunity to make the decision to give their lives to Jesus and accept His love and all ten of them immediately seized it. We prayed with them as they accepted the salvation of Christ and then we went on to teach them more about the new life that they had just begun. We laid our hands on them as we prayed for their physical ailments, blessed them, and said goodbye. Truly, salvation has come to that house. God continues to move! God is truly good towards His people and continues to move on the hearts of the Zambians in our Sectors. Each Sector Manager follows up the short term ministry of the AMT teams and continues to disciple new believers and plant them in good churches in the area. Truly our task will not be accomplished without gifted and called Zambians that we can work alongside. The answer to Zambia is Zambians! And the answer to sin is Jesus Christ! He is the only solution for "He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself." Hebrews 9:26 As the rainy season begins in Zambia, please pray for the seeds sown and harvested to grow into strong witnesses for the Lord. During the rains the roads become virtually impassable by vehicle and so our village efforts slow down. We are believing that the hard work accomplished this entire year will germinate into greater things during 2011. Thank you for your prayers and God bless you during this Christmas season!