ISB Zambia - October 2011

Jesus answered them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." Luke 5: 31-32

At independence in 1964, Zambia, rich in mineral resources faced a prosperous future.  Today tragically, this beautiful nation and many of its 13 million welcoming people suffer poverty and disease. 
-    60% of the population lives below the national poverty line
-    1 out of 7 adults is living with HIV/AIDS
-    45% of the population is under 15 years of age 

The one-week Gideon's ISB was my first visit to Africa.  I arrived in Lusaka and met the international team of 9 Gideons.  We were 5 from the USA, 1 from Germany, 1 from Australia, with me and our ISB leader Bill Thomas from the British Isles.  We partnered with approximately 20 Zambian Gideons and their wives.  The first day we talked, we sang, we danced (a little) and we prayed together.  We were united in the hope of the gospel.

We began each morning at 5.45am with a prayer meeting & devotion.  On 4 days we visited schools in Lusaka.  In teams of 2 or 3, we set out at 6.30am to arrive for school assemblies at 7am.  Often, children were already outside waiting to meet their visitors.  At other times, we would go class to class.  Every teacher interrupted their lesson to greet the Gideons. 

My team visited approximately 40 schools in Kanyama district.  In every school, we were asked by gracious teachers to share a short thought from the Bible before we distributed the scriptures.  We took every opportunity to talk of God's love for each child and teacher, to ask them to seek his forgiveness and to trust in Christ's death & resurrection for their salvation.  Many children shouted 'Amen'!  Many even cheered and clapped when we asked them personally to follow Christ. 

In hot, overcrowded classrooms, it was a humbling experience to see these smiling children cheering on our Lord and Saviour.

One morning we visited the hospital in Lusaka, before going to the University of Zambia in the afternoon.  At the hospital we distributed scriptures to staff, and placed hospital bibles by the bedsides.  We gave out PWTs to patients. 

We had full access to the University campus, and gave away thousands of PWTs.  I met Jonathan, an economics student, whose ambition is to become a pastor.  As the rain poured we discussed how scripture distribution will help students to discover Jesus for themselves.

The social and economic problems in Zambia are evident even to first time visitors.  But Zambians are hungry to know Jesus personally.  In a country where many don't have their own copy of God's word, we distributed over 200,000 scriptures in 7 days - we even gave 15,000 copies to all the serving police officers at the request of the Commissioner of Police. 

Thank you for your prayers during this blitz.  Let's continue to pray that the Lord calls many to Himself.

Matt Davies
Sheffield Branch