“Some of the seed fell on good soil…” Matthew 13:8

The Kingdom of God is a messy, wasteful sort of business, if you ask me. Jesus, in Matthew 13, tells a parable where he describes the scattering of the good seed, the Message of God's Kingdom. And, if I read the parable correctly, most of the seed falls on bad soil. Only a small percentage of the seed roots itself in good soil, soil that produces a crop thirty, sixty or a hundredfold.

The secret to the Kingdom is that it doesn't require the Message always to take root, because the Message, by it’s very nature, multiplies. Multiplication, then. That’s the key.

I mention this because we had the opportunity during our training in Nangweshi, Zambia to hear so many stories of multiplication from our students. We were very, very encouraged. Here are a few…

Pastor Martin is actively sharing the Message with two witch doctors, one of whom has now released his wife and children to attend worship.

Pastor Sylvester has used our “Understanding the Bible” principles to instruct his congregation so that they have become resistant to the false teachings of the wandering, self-proclaimed prophets who are wreaking havoc in Zambia.

Pastor Patrick reports that he has become Kindom minded, and has stopped competing with other churches for members. Over the last year, he has counseled about twenty neighbors who had fallen away from Jesus and their churches. Once restored, he has gladly sent them back to their churches instead of keeping them for himself.

Pastor John has planted four new churches.

Pastor Sitali has used our “Discovering My S.H.A.P.E. for Ministry” training in his church, and they’ve begun connecting people to the ministry for which the Lord created them. A side benefit is that members have stopped seeking titles in the church, but have begun to focus on ministry

Pastor Titus has used our training in the “One Anothers" (love one another, forgive one another, build up one another, etc.) in his new role as District Supervisor of eleven churches.

As we left Nangweshi, we told our students to please continue to give us more grandchildren, to continue to pass the Message along to the next generation, and the next. After all, the Kingdom's nature is to multiply.

Please pray for us now that we're in Katima Mulilo, Namibia. Tomorrow, Abby is preaching at Believers Fellowship, our host church. Then, on Monday, we'll drive two hours to Chetto where we’ll meet the Bushmen pastors who are interested in our training. Pray that we will listen and discern well, and that we will connect just as the Lord intends. If it goes well, we'll return on Wednesday and Friday, as well.

And, remember, where we go, you go. We love you and appreciate you all!