Sabbath, July 3, 2010

It was cold Sabbath morning. This time of year is the “cool dry” season in Zambia which is approximately equivalent to winter in the USA. At night the temperature dropped to around 40 ^oF but during the day when the sun came out it was often 80-90 ^oF. We woke up at 6:00am for group prayer and devotions then we spent time alone in prayer and Bible study. We ate breakfast quickly and then carried the equipment to the crusade site to set up for Sabbath School and Divine Worship. The sound system we were using allowed us to reach countless people in the village who did not come to the crusade site. Many people said that they listen to the messages from their home.

There was no Adventist church in Bukotelo but a group of Adventists from a village 7 or 8 Km away walked over to join us for Sabbath services. They provided special music and assisted with translating the services from English to Bemba. David, Mirriam, and I did Sabbath School for the children. Mirriam and David taught them 1 John 4:8 and several songs, then I told them the story of Joseph. We re-joined the adults at 11am for Divine Worship. Panji preached a sermon about Zacchaeus. After lunch we had a Bible study on the three angel’s messages of Revelation 14. Daniel led the Bible study and Gift translated.

In the afternoon, some of the team members held a baptismal class. They met every day in the afternoon to study the teachings of the Bible and prepare interested persons for baptism. Zukiswa, Muyereka, and I talked about the ministry on college campuses in South Africa and in Zambia. We spent some time with the children and then made preparations for the crusade. Tonight, we would be showing the first part of the Jesus film in Bemba.

Attendance was at an all time high that evening because of the film we were going to show after the sermon. Nelson gave a message about the family and love with Gift translating. The message was very well received, I laughed when I heard the loud “amen” from the women when Nelson encouraged the men to continue courting their wives… There was another loud “amen” from the men when he encouraged wives to respect their husbands. After the message we showed the first part of the Jesus movie. People were heated when we stopped it but they all promised to return to see the rest. We carried the equipment back to the house and had a short meeting to evaluate the success of the programs we had. After an encouraging devotional message and some popcorn we went to bed.