Three Years and God's Word Still Speaks

Today we celebrate our third anniversary of living in Zambia. We have had so much going on with our family and ministry lately that the fact that it was the 21st of April slipped our minds until late afternoon. Immediately, I began to think about a blog post that I could write about the past three years. The thunderstorm that had been brewing finally reached our home. I got up to check the windows and happened to look outside and to my surprise, there was a gorgeous rainbow that started on the one side of our house and the end was on the other side of the house! I ran outside in the rain and began to take pictures! My heart was overwhelmed with the beauty of the color and the fact that there were two of them!

 the rainbow on the north side of our house

the rainbow on the south side of our house

I came inside from the rain and the phone rang. Kendall was on his way home from a court case and Bible Study. We have had some difficulties lately and have asked our prayer partners to join us in interceding on our behalf about this matter. This is the email that Kendall sent yesterday.

Today, Joy and I are coming to you with a prayer request and asking you as our brothers and sisters in Christ to kneel before the Throne with us today.

About 2 months ago the pastors of the Nyimba area came to me with a report that the Pastor L of Kapulu Baptist church was practicing witchcraft. So the Baptist pastors of Nyimba formed a group to go and investigate the story from the church members at Kapulu. I accompanied them on this trip and we concluded that there was something wrong with the actions of the Pastor L. The committee then advised Kapulu Baptist to remove Pastor L at once. The church listened and the CHURCH removed Pastor L. Now Pastor L is quarreling with Pastor S who was on the committee of investigators and taking him to court saying that Pastor S stopped him from preaching, but that he is fit to preach. Obviously to everyone the court can say nothing about the business of the church, but we do not know what Pastor L from Kapulu is trying to accomplish. Please pray that this situation will not escalate any further. The court case is being presented to a headman of a village, pray he will have the wisdom to dismiss the case and let it stand as the church has decided. Pray also that the Pastor L will accept the discipline the church is giving him and that there will be a change in his actions. Pray that God would give the leaders of the Association of Baptist Fellowship Churches of Nyimba wisdom to deal with this situation. Pray that in all things God will protect Pastor S and his family, whom Pastor L is targeting.

Today, Kendall went to teach at at Pastor S’s church. An hour before Kendall was to leave to teach he received a phone call from a friend of Pastor S saying that Kendall did not need to come because he was busy. Kendall knew that something wasn’t right and decided to go ahead and go to the village. Paul went with Kendall and they went directly to the headman’s court. When Kendall and Paul walked in they made a place for them in the front of the courtroom (the courtroom was under a tree). The headman of the village was the judge and he asked the people in attendance if anyone had anything to say about this case. Kendall promptly raised his hand and began to speak. He stood and asked Paul to read 1 Corinthians 6:1-8 and asked Pastor L why he had brought this matter to the court instead of handling it in the church like 1 Corinthians 6:1-8 says to do. As Kendall was speaking, the nduna (the assistant and advisor to the headman) opened his Bible and read the passage and began nodding his head in agreement.
The headman and nduna left the “courtroom” to discuss the matter and make their decision. They came back about 10 minutes later and looked at Pastor L (the one who had brought the case to court) and said, “you owe me 2 goats and 2 chickens”. In Zambia, if you bring a case to court and you lose you must pay the headman in goats or chickens according to the extent of the crime committed. So Pastor L brought a case against a man of God, Pastor S, and God used His Word to resolve the case brought against him!
As the court case concluded, the men and women that were gathered said that they wanted to go with Kendall to the church to hear more teaching from God’s Word. He shared from Matthew 5:25-26.

“Make friends quickly with your opponent at law while you are with him on the way, so that your opponent may not hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. ‘Truly I say to you, you will not come out of there until you have paid the last cent.’”

He taught those at the teaching that as people of God we must try to work out our differences along the way and as we live with one another so that we do not find ourselves having to pay for bringing a matter to the court that should be solved one to another. It was an amazing time of teaching in the headman’s court! Everyone there was able to see God’s Word at work and come to fruition within about 30 minutes from the time that Kendall had arrived!
Kendall taught from Acts 6-7 about choosing leaders that are men of God and wise and full of the Spirit (Acts 6:3). Pastor S is that kind of man and the people of his village were reminded that God has chosen him to lead them and he truly is a man that loves God with all of his heart.
What an amazing way to celebrate our third year in Zambia! God’s Word has comforted us, challenged us, taught us, rebuked us, and humbled us more than we could ever have imagined over these years. A hymn that came to my mind that perfectly describes our time as missionaries in Zambia is:

“We Praise You, O God, Our Redeemer”

We praise You, O God, our Redeemer, Creator

In grateful devotion our tribute we bring.

We lay it before You, we kneel and adore You,

We bless Your holy name, glad praises we sing.

We worship You, God of our fathers, we bless You;

Thro’ life’s stormy and tempest our Guide You have been.

When perils o’ertake us, You will not forsake us,

And with Your help, O Lord, our battles we win.

With voices united our praises we offer,

And gladly our songs of thanksgiving we raise.

With You, Lord, beside us, Your strong arm will guide us.

To You, our great Redeemer, forever be praise.

- Julia Cady Cory 1882-1963