Over-evangelized and Under-discipled

One of the blessings of this trip has been welcoming Scott and Sandra Bauer, our dear friends and GTN colleagues from the Phoenix area. It’s their first trip to Zambia and they have loved being here so far. And we have loved having them!

Because Scott and Sandra are only here for a short time, they’ve been taking the lead in training both in Musokotwane and Livingstone. Their styles are very different, Scott being a nuclear engineer and Sandra a teacher, but they have woven together nine days of edifying and encouraging teaching. And they have been very well received.

The need for discipleship training in Zambia is acute. As Percy Muleba says, “We have been over-evangelized and under-discipled.” So sharing the opportunity with Scott and Sandra with the hope that they might return to Zambia in the future just makes sense. They’ve told us already that, Lord willing, they’d like to return next year!

What do we mean by over-evangelized and under-discipled? Broadly speaking, it simply means that the emphasis here through the years has been on conversion, not on maturation following conversion or on discovering one’s mission. It’s as if only part of the Great Commision (Matthew 28:18-20) has been emphasized. In the original language, the only command in the Great Commision is to “make disciples.” Three parts of that process are spelled out by Jesus, namely “going,” “baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” and “teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Of course, Jesus also emphasizes his universal authority to commision us and his supernatural presence to empower us as we make disciples.

It’s the third part of the process, “teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you,” that has often been been neglected. Consequently, we routinely find incredible zeal in the churches here without adequate knowledge of the Gospel, especially in any wholistic or systematic way. Consequently, despite many, many genuine conversions and baptisms, the presence of syncretism, heresy, immorality, an inadequate ecclesiology, and a lack of church discipline are common. Obviously, I’m painting with a broad brush because there are certainly many mature believers here. But, the rapid growth of the church, which some estimates put as high as 25,000 new Christians per day in Africa, means that conversion is rapidly outstripping maturation. There simply aren’t enough mature and well-trained Christians, especially in remote areas, to teach all the new believers.

The great news is that the believers here are hungry for sound biblical knowledge, and eagerly desire to grow. Over and over again, we find this to be true. That’s why we feel so incredibly privileged to train here. We often pinch ourselves and say, “I just don’t understand why we get to do this!”

Our recent training bears this out. Both in rural Musokotwane and in Livingstone, a city of some 230,000, our students have been hungry and receptive. They have asked great questions and contributed helpful insight into our discussions. Their openness and enthusiasm allowed Scott and Sandra to acclimate quickly in both settings, and made their trip a joyful experience of building disciples.

Please continue to pray for Scott and Sandra as they wind down after a busy Sunday and prepare for their Wednesday departure. And, pray for us as we prepare for an intense three day Boot Camp next weekend with Percy’s Biblical Worship Training Centre (BWTC) staff.

And, remember, where we go you go!

Scott enjoyEd his first taste of village chicken, nshima and gravy in musokotwane. Delicious!

Sandra made so many new friends in musokotwane!

Scott and percy worked beautifully together.

Esther is an absolute joy to teach!

Sharing bibles is a must in the villages.

ThIs is the combined congregations of the musokotwane and mwiinga churches.

Scott and sandra have been a great team!

Prayer Is always an important part of our training.

Smart phone bibles are beginning to turn up in the villages.

LeaDers from the mwiinga church begin their long walk home following our training in musokotwane.

Digging into gods word wAs so edifying.

Just another sunset on the zambez!