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Dear Prayer Warriors,
Your prayers have empowered the ministry of Grace Community International here in Zambia. God the Holy Spirit clearly teaches the importance of the ministry of prayer warriors for missionaries in 2 Corinthians 1:11 “you also joining in helping us through your prayers, so that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the favor bestowed on us through the prayers of many.”
As you have been co-laboring with us in prayer, we have been busy preaching the gospel, baptizing the saved, establishing marriages and families in the church on the firm foundation of God’s holy, eternal, inerrant, written Word, strengthening pastors and staff and building up the church by creating new Bible studies, small groups and Sunday School classes as a result of our seminars and conferences.
Answered Prayers #1 The Boarding Process God greatly blessed your prayers. We arrived at the KLM check-in desk with twenty-one 50lb boxes of Bibles and bible study reference works, with an additional three suitcases of supplies, plus our own two suitcases. KLM had allowed us to pre-check sixteen pieces and gave us a verbal commitment to the others, but nothing was in writing. God provided us with a Christian Skycap who is the senior member of the team, as well as a Christian gate officer. Both went in the back to argue our cause to the KLM officials and, not only were we allowed to load them, but at a 20% discount of the usual fees.
#2 Arrival When you are sending this many boxes, it is not uncommon for them to come on two different planes. By your prayers this has never happened to us and this mission trip was no exception. When all boxes and bags arrive, not only are our hosts often surprised but those in the airport baggage area as well. I always say the same thing – all credit goes to our prayer warriors.
#3 Customs We had two strong Christians waiting for us at customs-- one a Baptist and one a Pentecostal, but both were moved to tears as we shared with them why we had come to their country and what the boxes held. They chose one at random and unpacked it, finding nothing but Bibles. They were very impressed that our boxes did not also contain other items, which is often the case when Christians make a duty free declaration. They personally escorted us through customs and security. One box did not make it on this flight. These two precious ladies, rather than entrusting the box to the “lost and found” room, kept it in their office until we could retrieve it.
#4 Kabwe Multi-Church Marriage Seminar and Conference God continues to expand the ministry of GCI. For the last three years, church members have been making the four hour drive from Kabwe to Kitwe to attend the conferences. This year, the number had grown to the point where Kabwe was able to host its own multi-church conference. This leadership conference was well attended. It was humbling to see pastors and elders faithfully taking notes and asking positive questions. We praise God for the broad range of ages of pastors and leaders who attended. The ranged from senior pastors in their 50’s to young men just starting out in the ministry in their 20’s. These couples were zealous, affirming and, during the testimony time, all shared different areas where God’s Word had touched their marriages and healed their relationships. All affirmed that it was the first conference that had been offered to “minister to the ministers,” which was a great blessing for us and an answer to your prayers.
#5 Post-Conference Leadership Dinner This was able to open doors for Nelson’s ministry in churches, as well as allowing much positive feedback. 1. One humbling event was the universal decision to have us back next year to do the Family Discipleship Seminar. This spontaneous vote did not have to take place and was pushed by the senior pastor present. We praise God for Navigator Country Leader Nelson Musipa’s commitment to the building up of the church of Zambia and the equipping of pastors and leaders. He and local staff man Abraham were responsible for hosting GCI for this multi-church conference. Those who criticize para-church ministries such as the Navigators of Zambia for not building up the church do so out of ignorance. Year after year I have witnessed first-hand the blessing of the church, building up of pastors and growth of small groups in churches through the Navigators of Zambia. GCI has an unconditional commitment to the local church and it is privileged to co-labor with godly men of like heart. 2. At this particular conference there were no “beak-out” sessions for men and women, nor workshops, so El primarily served in an administrative capacity, as well as counselor and helpmate to me as the conference progressed, offering valuable encouragement, observations and suggestions. It is indeed true that “as much is caught as taught,” for, at the share time, wife after wife stood to share how Eleanor’s love, affection, service and help was a living example for them as a pastor’s wife. I praise God for such a godly wife who can preach a sermon with her life.
#6 The Drive To Kabwe (and back) By your prayers, we safely made the drive to Kabwe and back. Besides seeing an 18- wheeler on its side and many accidents and disabled cars and buses, it was sobering to pass a marker where a large 18-wheeler recently smashed head-on into a bus and killed 53 people. If you go to our GCI Facebook page you can watch a short video clip of our drive through a market village and another of our drive to the home of the Musipas. This will give you a good idea of what it is like to drive cross-country in this beautiful country. Let me encourage you to take a moment to “like” us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/gciweb. In doing so, you will be alerted to real-time posts of our ministry. It is a good augment to our blogs.
#7 Ministering in Lusaka: You may be wondering how we occupy ourselves between conferences here in Lusaka. El travels with the GCI mobile office and can be found using her free time to do accounting, maintaining tax records and updating mailing lists and editing my studies, posts and messages. I have been spending a lot of time in the Word, in prayer and in iron-sharpening times with Nelson Musipa, as we challenge and encourage each other in the ministry. In addition I have been…
Ministering to College Students: I will be meeting with them in the cafeteria for a group meal followed by a discipleship talk. This first week I chose as my message “Do Not Stumble Over Jesus” and we looked at the danger of compromising the great doctrines of grace, so as not to run off young disciples. We looked at the ministry of Jesus in John 6:60 – 70 and John 15:18-27 and I exhorted them to keep the same standard of disciplemaking as exemplified by their Savior, who commissioned them in Matthew 28:18 – 20.
Single Career People: I also had the privilege of leading an evening workshop for single career men and women on “Witnessing and Prayer.” We looked at the verses we need to add to our prayer notebooks to prepare ourselves and our seekers for the gospel. We looked at how to set up a prayer program for preparing our sphere of influence for the gospel and then how to set up a weekly calendar to reach those with the gospel. Look for the announcement on our email dispatches and GCI Facebook page for this workshop to be posted on our Sermon Audio message site.
One-on-One with Mike Daily’s convert: Last year, Mike Daily, an engineer from New Mexico, accompanied us to Zambia. He led a number of men to Christ, including Dumesani, Nelson’s youngest brother, who is studying accounting at the university here in Lusaka. I have been meeting with Dumesani in the morning for quiet times alone with God. Has been a real blessing to see Mike’s lasting fruit.
As a Couple with Charles and Pricilla: Eleanor and I met for lunch with Charles and Priscilla. Charles directs the Social Security System for the nation of Zambia and I had the privilege of leading him to Christ two years ago. Charles was so impacted by the change in the life of his wife as a result of her applying the biblical principles of the Marriage Covenant Seminar that he was willing to meet with me each morning to discuss the claims of Christ. On the last morning, he prayed to receive Christ as his Lord and Savior. Charles and Priscilla have joined a Baptist church and are active there. Charles was on his way to Geneva to meet with a U.N. conclave on social security but delayed his departure to have lunch with us.
El with Staff Women and Staff Wives: While on mission trips, El brings along her mobile office and can be found using her free time to keep the administrative duties current. Not only this, but she is invaluable to me as counselor and assistant in all conferences. Eleanor has always been involved in teaching the Word of God. From my earliest memories of her as a young college woman at the University of Texas, through our ministry years with the Navigators, during her time as a career French and Spanish teacher and now with GCI, Eleanor can be found teaching the Bible to women with a heart for God. She is meeting weekly with the staff women and wives here in Lusaka going over biblical principles on” Convictions, Perspectives and Priorities.” You will be able to find this lesson on our website in just a few weeks. Till then you can go to our website, click “Hear God’s Word” and search by speaker under Eleanor Mahon and listen to her godly wisdom for women seeking to be disciples of Christ. If you are interested in Eleanor speaking to your women’s conference or ministry, just contact us via a message on the GCI Facebook page and she will be happy to respond. She has an active teaching and speaking ministry throughout the world.
#8 Looking to the Future – busy ministry week with weekend conference to rural churches deep inside Zambia, on the banks of the Zambezi River, by the border with Zimbabwe. Again, this is an expansion of the ministry of GCI. Attendees from this rural region will no longer have to make the long bus drive to Lusaka. Enough interest has been generated by their enthusiasm, for churches to issue an invitation. On our next post we will give you an update on this new and exciting opportunity which the Lord has presented us here in Zambia.
In closing, I would like to stress that these ministry opportunities to churches does not spring from any fame of my own. My good friend and godly co-minister Nelson Musipa has done all the groundwork on this. It is his reputation as a servant leader, godly husband and father and devoted man of the Word that has opened these doors. If you are interested in investing financially in a ministry which reaches a broad swath of the church discipleship ministry in an African country, I would strongly recommend you consider Nelson Musipa and his ministry. God is using him to encourage pastors and teachers throughout Zambia. It is a privilege to minister alongside of him as we build up the marriages and families of pastors and multiply the small groups and Sunday School classes of churches throughout Zambia.
This, then, is the ministry of Grace Community International: Preaching the gospel, baptizing the saved, establishing marriages and families in the church on the firm foundation of God’s holy, eternal, inerrant, written Word, strengthening pastors and staff and building up the church by creating new Bible studies, small groups and Sunday School classes, as a result of our seminars and conferences.
Your faith, prayers and generosity make this ministry possible and we do not take it lightly.
By His mercy, II Corinthians 4:1 Rev. John S. Mahon Director – Grace Community Int.
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