The Pause that Refreshes: “…refresh my heart in Christ!” Philemon 20

Bosco Kutoma was twenty years old when he became our student in 2012, just a boy by Zambian standards. I (Doug) can still remember well his eagerness to learn and his desire to study more as he walked me home from class on the very first day, enthusiastically questioning me about what his next steps should be. We both liked him immediately, enjoying his warm smile and passion for the Gospel.

As we left Mumbwa for Mongu, we were really looking forward to seeing Bosco and to meeting his fiance, Phenny. He is thirty-one now and over the last eleven years has successfully planted two churches, and is now on the church planting team for Hope Church in Mongu. Hope’s lead pastor, Moses, is an old friend of Percy’s and they enjoyed very much seeing each other again. Hope has planted 180 bush churches over the last twenty years, and Bosco has now been given the assignment of overseeing their church planting efforts in a new region of Western Province. In fact, he and Phenny, who is wonderful and delightful, are spending the month of May getting to know that region so that, after their August marriage, they may begin the new church planting process in earnest.

One of the exciting things we learned over two lingering meals with Bosco and Phenny is that the focus of their church planting efforts will be strongly on discipleship, and not as much on the sheer numbers of churches planted. The process will be slower, of course, but Bosco is confident that laying a strong discipleship foundation for each church will be a healthy approach, and more likely lead to the multiplication of other healthy churches. We are very proud of our student and friend, and excited as Phenny and he begin their new life together!

We also had the chance to catch up with our former students and friends, Yuyi and Mercy Mundia, while we were in Mongu, and were glad to see they are doing well. They were busily working on the planning of a large Gospel crusade coming to Mongu the week after we left which was specifically targeted on young people. It appears to have gone very well!

Our three days in Mongu were well spent on old friends, lively worship at Hope Church, and rest. As we drove away on Monday, May 1st, toward Katima Mulilo, Namibia, about four hours away, we were refreshed and ready for our next week of training. Thank you for enabling us to be here. Thank you for your support and prayers. We are incredibly grateful. And, remember, where we go you go!

The 8 hour drive from mumbwa to mongu included 2.5 hours on this dusty and, at times, very bumpy gravel road.

On our way to mongu, we stopped for a quick lunch at a safari lodge. As we drove into the lodge, these BEAUTIFUL impala greeted us!

Bosco and his fiance, phenny, are a delightful couple. You can tell he adores her!