Mufulira, Copperbelt Province, Zambia
We drove to services in Mufulira at the new church building
about an hour away. We were here exactly
a year ago and dedicated this building on April 8, 2018. The building is a perfect structure for this
size congregation. It sits on 13 acres
of property in Mufulira. We are getting
quite knowledgeable of this territory, the Pringle’s home, the roads, the
Copperbelt. It is no longer a big
unknown.
Today was a special meeting with the Church scheduled for 11
am. We conducted a typical Sabbath
service as the people love to sing. The Church bus left the Pringle’s property at
8 am to pick up two groups of people. The process takes 3-4 hours in bringing
them to the Church hall. It takes that
amount of time to get everyone back.
It’s an all day experience.
The property has come a long way in the past year! There are nice plants planted outside the
building, including a tall banana tree.
It has been developed into a Feast site and more than 100 people
attended from all over the Copperbelt and beyond. Bath houses have been built.
A covered eating area sits adjacent to the Church hall. Walls have also been built. There is also new electrified fencing
installed by Derrick Pringle. We are awed by what we see.
Services were to start at 11, but nothing happens. The bus
arrives about 11:30 with the second load of people. Finally, at 12:15 we started. . . one and a
quarter hours late, but it does not seem to matter.
My first speaking part was to talk about what we’re doing
here, the Church and our visit to Africa.
My speaking was translated into the Bemba language. After the choir sang
beautiful music, I gave the second message, which was an overview of the
Passover from pre-history (slain from the foundation of the world) to the reference
to Christ as “The Lamb” in Revelation 22:1.
After the service, which ended about 2:00 pm, we had a
potluck lunch. It was as good as any
church potluck I’ve gone to. Of course,
nsima was king. The closest thing I can
compare it to is grits. A HUGE pot of it
was at the beginning of the line. The
server put a scoop of about a pound each on every plate, man, woman or
child.
. . maybe a slight exaggeration. I had to ask them to remove about ¾ of
it. Then there was chicken, beef, greens
of all sorts, peanuts, salads, etc. Great lunch!
I had the chance to talk to the deacon Luckson Chongo, who I
ordained two years ago. He was the Feast
coordinator for Mufulira. I talked to several others. I feel that I am well-acquainted with these
people! Some of the people we remembered well was the other deacon Luke Banda
and his wife Delphine. Gideon, Evans, Samuel and others. One notable one was Changwa Phiri who said he
was almost 90 years old. Then there were
new people to me: twin brothers Baldwin and Rex Kasuva who were 28 years old.
The capacity of the building here is 200 at max. Then we 60 here for the mid-week
meeting. Some people, we were told, were
sick with malaria.
There has been a drought in the Lusaka area as well as
points west and south, but up here in the Copperbelt the rains have been good
and the harvest, which is about to take place, looks good.
Then we drove back to the Pringles.
Tomorrow, we drive to Solwezi and stay at our
special place at the Mutunda Lodge and then have church services on the
Sabbath.
After Sabbath services we will drive to Mufumbwe and stay at
the church building where the Pringles have added on a room and calls this the
MLL…the Mufumbwe Luxury Lodge! Then Sunday to Manyinga to dedicate the new
church building and have a meeting with the area chief.
The one super high point from the day was to see the growth
of the Church in every way. I remember this as being a forlorn Copperbelt group
meeting in a dirty school room. Now, they
have a nice building that was constructed by Derrick Pringle’s company. This
building was his dream from about 2007 and is now a reality. It has served as a Feast site for more than
100 people. Some of the financing came from LifeNets and Good Works. There has also been a growth in leadership in
this congregation. It was a good feeling.
Derrick Pringle told me, too, how much this Church and the
Copperbelt appreciated Darris and Debbie McNeely’s three-day leadership seminar
back in December.
It was a great boost. They particularly appreciated the
speech sessions and learning how to give sermonettes.
One thing that strikes me is the open discussion of
witchcraft, spells, and curses of the dark world. Witch doctors are “normal” in
this society. They even advertise on
radio and TV. The discussion of
witchcraft enters into church talk of where and when spirits trouble us.
We spent the evening on the patio at Derrick and
Cherry’s. We grilled chicken and
sausage, which they make from lamb. All very tasty. We thoroughly enjoy each other’s
company as we prepare for our journey west to Solwezi, Mufumbwe and the new
Manyinga congregation. Their parrot, Sparrow, entertains us with conversations
he’s picked up on and says the most hilarious things. How does he do it? He has no vocal chords! It’s like a recorder playing. . . although recorders
don’t have vocal chords either.
One interesting thing about Derrick is that he has been
appointed as “Honorable Wildlife Police Officer,” something similar to what we would call a game
warden for this part of the country. He
knows game and even has a game preserve on his property.
There are many local languages spoken here and it’s
necessary that my English sermon be translated into one of them. In Lusaka the language is Nyanja. The Talama family language is Lossi which is
from a region far south and west where they are from. Up in Mufulira where we
were today, the language is Bemba.
2023-12-03