“We pray out of fear of Satan, not love of God” “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear…” 1 John 4:18
/Abby and I arrived in Livingstone, Zambia on April 13th where we spent several days resting and adjusting to the time zone change. We did worship at House of Kings on our first Sunday at the invitation of our friends, Innocent and Ossy, who are husband and wife co-pastors there. It was Doug’s privilege to preach, and his text was 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10.
Then on Monday and Tuesday, we traveled to Mumbwa, Zambia, about a nine hour drive. We went with a strong sense of excitement because last year, Dan and Nanah Mayeya had invited us on behalf of Percy Muleba’s Biblical Worship Training Centre (BWTC) to lead a weekend workshop for the churches in Mumbwa, and it had gone very well. Dan and Nanah are the Southern Africa Coordinators for BWTC. This year, Bishop Bishop - yes, that’s his title and name - had worked with Dan and Nanah to gather and prepare fifteen pastors, both men and women, from area churches who were eager to commit to all three phases of our training.
We began Phase 1 as we usually do now, with Abby teaching “The Wounded Healer” and Doug teaching “Understanding Guilt, Shame, and Fear.” These classes establish common ground with our students and open the possibility of sharing our lives and ministries at a deep level. After seven days of training, Abby and I agreed that this was, perhaps, the best Phase 1 training we’ve ever experienced because of our students’ engagement, openness, and vulnerability. In short, our students were amazing.
One of the benefits of teaching a small class is the opportunity to get to know our students at a deeper level than would be possible in a larger, lecture style format. One student we got to know better was a young twenty-eight year old pastor named George. One afternoon, we talked for a couple of hours with him and another pastor named Given, Jr. We discussed their backgrounds, calls to ministry, and current work.
During the course of our conversation, George said something arresting. “Here, we often pray out of fear of Satan, not love of God. I’m learning that we pastors are leading people into fear, not love!”
In a fear-power culture like Zambia’s, people are often driven to gain mastery over their fear through spiritual power, whether it’s through a witch doctor’s drugs and incantations or coming to church and casting out devils in Jesus’ name. Don’t get us wrong, the devil is very real in Zambia (as he is at home), and the witch doctors are well-connected in that realm. That’s why the fear of Satan and the cries for spiritual power can often dominate the prayers of Christians here, whether public or private.
The Bible teaches us, however, that the solution to fear is not the acquisition of spiritual power, but the reality and experience of the love of God for us in Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit. It is love, not power, that is the solution to our fear problem. As John, the disciple whom Jesus loved (John 13:23) says in his first letter, “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear.” (1 John 4:18)
Thank you for praying for us and supporting our work in Zambia and beyond. We are, as always, incredibly grateful for this amazing opportunity. And, remember, where we go you go!