Discipleship Training in Action

Priscilla and her husband walked from a remote village in Zambia to a medical facility in Petauke. The distance was about 18 miles and the Priscilla was in severe pain. She was admitted to a hospital and scheduled for surgery. Pastor Banda, one of the first graduates of the Emmaus Bible Study Program, made a routine visit to the hospital to comfort the sick. He met Priscilla. She told him she was very scared because she was sure she was going to die. Pastor Banda taught Priscilla and her husband about the love of God and assurance of eternal life through Jesus Christ. Both husband and wife made professions of faith.

After Priscilla was released from the hospital, she was in no condition to walk back to her village. Pastor Banda and his wife, Lyness, have a tiny house with 5 children, but they made room for Priscilla to stay with them for a couple of weeks to recuperate. During that time, Pastor Banda and his wife had many opportunities to teach Priscilla and her husband. Each day, the husband would walk back to the village and explain to his friends what the pastor had taught him.

People are taught – People believe

By the time Priscilla returned home, there were 15 families who wanted Pastor Banda to come and teach them. After a couple of months there were over 80 new believers and they wanted someone to come and help organize a church.

The village was so remote that there were no roads to get there, only a foot path. The villagers said they would make a road for us so we could drive there. When we arrived, we found almost a mile of new trail wide enough for a car to drive through the trees. We could see many cut trees lying beside the roadway. This was not the typical village where people build their huts close together in a community. These people were farmers and lived some distance from each other. They had cleared the trees and brush at a central location and there under the shade trees they had arranged a meeting place with a table and chair for the pastor and rows of logs for the people to sit on.

After the preaching and singing and all the necessary steps in organizing a church, the people gave the American visitor the honor of selecting a name for the church. This was a mountainous area and the meeting place they selected looked out over a valley to the next mountain. I told them that it reminded me of my hometown, called Longview, because from some places you can look out for a long distance. They liked that name and agreed on a translation of Masomphenya for “long view,” and so the church was called Masomphenya Baptist Church.

 

Gifts of Gratitude and Plea for help

The members had gone to great preparation for this meeting. They prepared a delicious meal for the guests, including “bush meat” and a vegetable sauce. It was a bit embarrassing, because there was food only for the guests. The members sat on logs and watched us each. Someone remembered that we had purchased some sugar cane along the road, so we got it out of the truck and cut it into short pieces. There was enough for everyone and we were all happily enjoying a meal.

At the conclusion of the meeting, the village headman stood to speak and thank us for coming and bringing his village people together in a special way. Then he made an impassioned plea for us to return and educate their children. He explained that without education, they had no future. The Headman offered us land and a portion of their crops, if we would come and teach their children.

When we returned home, we discussed the possibility of starting a school there. We had several young men in Petauke who were graduates of our Emmaus Bible courses and also had a high school education. With a small amount of money, we were able to purchase some writing books and pencils for students and a primary school text book and some chalk for the teacher. You can see from the pictures that the villagers contributed their work to build a classroom for the students. The response from the children was overwhelming. We now have 115 students (including some adults) and it was necessary to split the group into a morning and an afternoon session.

Can God turn Tragedy into a Blessing?

From a pastor meeting with a frightened woman who feared for her life, emerged a new church with 80 new Christians and a school for 115 children who would otherwise never have an opportunity to be educated. Good news travels fast from village to village, and soon, Pastor Banda was receiving frequent requests from village chiefs to come and start a school in their village also.

This whole series of events is a direct result of the ministry of Jericho Road Ministries. Over the past five years, they have established close to 1,000 Emmaus Bible Centers through out Zambia and have distributed well over 20,000 Bible Study Courses. Now these graduates are becoming true disciples by becoming missionaries and teachers to people in the more remote areas.

Rapid Expansion for Christian Education

As of the April, 2011, we now have five village schools with 525 students. We have ten teachers who are all high school graduates and also graduates of the 12 Emmaus Bible Study Courses. They are all proficient in the English language and basic math skills. We try to give the teachers a gift of $40 per month for their time and work. You might ask, “Are they qualified to teach?” We believe they are if we provide them with the right tools. In the US, we have hundreds of thousands of parents teaching a home school with little or no college preparation. It is our hope to get home schooling materials to Zambia to help support these teachers. If you know of a source where we can get donated educational materials, home teaching or otherwise, you can contact us through our web site at www.jerichoroad.org or email to glenn@jerichoroad.org.

Not only are the children being taught reading, writing and arithmetic, they also get about 30 minutes of instruction each day about the Bible, taught from the Emmaus courses. The example and instruction of the teachers are preparing these children to be new Christians in the near future. If you have any children’s Bible story books that you could donate, they would be most helpful.

Recognition of our Village Schools

The National Education Director and Council of Village Chiefs have examined the village schools and give their official recognition and support. However there is no funding available to support the schools. The village elders gladly organize their people to construct a classroom from logs, sticks and grass roofs. When food is available; they also provide one daily meal for the children. Many of the children are orphans and this school meal may be the only meal they have that day.

We have a letter from one of the chiefs over many districts, which reads in part:

This is to certify that the Masomphenya Christian School does exist in Chief Nyamphande’s chiefdom in Kafonda Area. The Royal Establishment shall be grateful if you can assist them with whatever help, so that they can advance their noble objectives.

Thank you. Yours in National Services,

Chief Nyamphande

What Does the Future Hold?

There is such a need for education of rural children in Zambia, that we could easily double or triple the number of schools this year if funding were available. The Muslims are also at work in the villages. They often go to existing schools and offer to build new schools buildings and provide teaching from the Koran, provided that the Bible is removed from the classrooms. We have ready and eager children. We have willing Christian teachers who have proven themselves in the Emmaus Bible Courses. What is needed is financial support from the USA.

What is the Cost to Educate Zambian Village Children?

Where schools exist in urban area, families must pay close to $200 per year for each child. Consider that the average wage is around $30/mo., it would take over half a years earning to educate one child. More than 50% of children never attend even one year of school. Less than one in ten of those who start ever graduate from high school.

Our village Christian schools operate on a budget of about $180 per month for over 100 children. For less than $2.00 per month, one Zambian child can receive a Christian education. Some families have pledged to support 10 or 20 students or more through monthly contributions. 100% of the funds donated go directly to the village schools. We believe this to be one of the most cost efficient charities in the world. Each donor receives a receipt for a tax deductible donation. Jericho Road is a recognized 501c3 non-profit organization.

For more information, go to www.jerichoroad.org. There is a link to make online contributions there. Or contributions may be mailed to:

Jericho Road Ministries

PO BOX 3067 ●  Longview, TX 75606

= Cost to educate one child