From start to finish, my most recent trip to Africa was an unforgettable adventure.
Five hours before departure, I received an email saying our Amsterdam to Johannesburg, SA flight had been cancelled. After some stressful scrambling, my training partner Aaron and I had our tickets rerouted and off we went, three days enroute to Lusaka, Zambia. Covid restrictions these days create for more challenges, but we were able to make it to our destination, travel weary but excited for our time there.
Zambia is a southern African country, landlocked, yet beautiful and diverse. English is widely spoken, so building relationships with Zambians is easy. On a run early one morning, I passed perhaps a hundred people, and each person would stop what they were doing and break out into a huge grin and wave at me as I smiled and greeted them. “Good morning, sir. How are you?”
Aaron and I were asked to distill three Pathways workshops (Psalms, Mark, and Romans) down into one training time. That was a pretty daunting task, but we prepared well, and moved quickly through the material during four full days of training. By God’s grace and through His Spirit working, we witnessed much growth in skills as they learned about Hebrew poetry and different writing styles in the Bible, how to understand parables in the Gospels, and Paul’s use of linking words that unlock his meaning. The group unanimously decided they wanted one more workshop, perhaps in 4-5 months, to finish reviewing all the new material and to become proficient in Pathways principles. They have much work before them, both to practice these principles in their churches, and to pass trainings on to other pastors and ministry leaders.
Each day, it rained, and sometimes poured, during our training, and shouting over the rain as it beat down on the metal roof was a challenge. Praising God through song with the pastors was a great joy. This video captures both teaching through the rain, and the joy of Africans singing together: –>
Other trip highlights included preaching in churches in Lusaka, and spending time with our network coordinator (and host), Dr. Paul Kayumba, and his family. Aaron and I were also able to head down to Livingston for a few days and witness one of the seven natural wonders of the World, Victoria Falls. I’ve been to Zambia about seven times now, always focused solely on training, so this was an unusual and special treat.
It was the beginning of the rainy season, which meant many of the animals were hiding, although we did get to see some giraffes, hippos, wildebeests, baboons, impalas, zebras, a warthog, and a few others.
It also meant the Zambezi river had less water than it will in months to come, so the Falls were not as consumed with water as they will be over the next five months. Rock formations were visible which will be covered soon. I heard that in a few months, you won’t even be able to see the Falls because of the volume of water and powerful spray that shoots hundreds of meters into the sky and covers the area. The main day we were going to view the Falls, it was pouring rain, but the next morning, we were able to catch views between downpours. All in all, it was an amazing, unforgettable experience.
