Zambezi Union
WAR clouds continue to hang over many parts of the territory of this won derful union, and the progress of the work has been affected in a number of ways. In certain areas we have been unable to conduct evangelistic meet ings, since the people are not permitted to go out after dark. In spite of this there were approximately four hundred evan gelistic meetings conducted within the Zambesi Union during 1976. More than three hundred of them were conducted by our zealous and dedicated laymen. These efforts have resulted in approxi mately ten thousand people making de cisions for Christ. We have recognized that if evangelism is going to succeed, the administrators on every level must lead out. This has been true in the union and out in the field levels. The union president conducted a series of twenty-two meetings in a tent in the Mabvuku township on the outskirts of Salisbury. The Lord marvelously blessed with an average attendance of nearly one thou sand each night, in spite of the unsettled conditions prevailing at that time. The Lord watched over each one connected with this effort.
On one occasion two of our lay helpers unknowingly walked into a riot area. They were about to be attacked, but a man whom they had never seen com manded those around him to leave these men alone, stating that they were in no way connected with politics. The brethren walked on unmolested, fully aware that the angel of the Lord had been watching over them. As a result of that series of meetings two hundred and twenty-two took their stand for Christ and joined baptismal classes.
Good Hope Conference
AT A one-day workers' meeting Jan uary 12, 1975, the workers accepted a baptismal goal of 1,000 souls for the three-year period of 1975 to 1977. Dur ing 1975 a total of 352 souls (seven more than the previous highest in 1970) were baptized.
Amid a strong personal outreach pro gram conducted by lay members, church officers, and workers, public evangelism is rapidly being revived and is coming to the fore in our conference. Our present psychology, in view of difficulties over halls, budgets, manpower, and large pastorates, is that a number of men conducting shorter campaigns, sup ported by the laity, is of greater advan tage than one or two large campaigns, is cheaper and as fully productive.
The reaping campaign method has largely been used with tremendous re sults. By the time of this report 437 have already been baptized during 1976, with every indication that we will ex ceed the 500 mark by December 31. This is the first time we have ever gone be yond 400 in a single year. Our threeyear objective of 1,000 souls is well-nigh realized, but we pray for much greater blessings still.
Central African Union
THE Central African Union has one of the largest memberships of any union in the world field. These large numbers of believers are concentrated primarily in the northern portion of our union. However, during the past six months we have been thrilled to receive so many appeals to open up new work in the largely unentered southern half.
A governor of one of the provinces told me that he wanted the Seventh-day Adventists to bring their pastors, their teachers, and their medical workers into every county of his province.
Another government administrator went to our field president on two or three occasions, earnestly requesting that we send him at least one evan gelist. This official became so insistent that he said he was beginning to build a church for us on a seven-acre plot of land near his home, and if this plot of land was insufficient he had plenty more he would give us. He ended his unusual appeal by stating, "I cannot go back to my people without a promise that you will send us an evangelist to teach us the Word of God." We promised.
There was no evangelist available at that time, so I rearranged my itinerary and within three weeks the field presi dent and I, and later the union lay ac tivities director, joined in a full series of evangelistic meetings.
To date, thirty-six of these dear people have been baptized. Before this report gets into print we will have had another baptism, making a total of sixty-five dedicated members in this area where just a few months ago we had none.
In another one of our southern prov inces, composed of fifteen counties, where last year we didn't have a single church member, a series of miracles has taken place. A government medical worker by the name of Jaspar was im pressed to enroll in our Voice of Proph ecy Bible Correspondence Course. He is in charge of a government medical clinic, so he had to work all day, but during the late afternoons and evenings he studied the VOP lessons. These made such a deep impression upon him that he began to invite his neighbors to join him. Recently I visited Jaspar for the first time. Although he and his wife have not been baptized, we found that Jaspar had a fine group of eighty-one of his neighbors studying the VOP lessons, and quite a few of them were begging for baptism. He told us that all of his group of 81, plus others, had been sum moned by some political leaders to at tend an important meeting. I thought this would mean that we would not be able to have any meetings with them that day. But Jaspar said that we should go over to the place where the politi cians had gathered the men and women, and he would try to persuade them to permit us to have a meeting. When we arrived, Jaspar spoke to the leader and immediately the meeting was turned over to us. Before we left, Jaspar gave us all the tithes and offerings that he had been collecting regularly for the past few months. It won't be long now until we will have the first company of baptized members in that large, unen tered province of the south.
Zambia
IN THE Zambia Union, with its 26,560 members, there are 13,378 in baptismal classes. Of the team of 150 workers, only 29 are ordained ministers and 26 are licensed ministers. Ministers and laymen are working together for the finishing of the work. Witnessing for Christ training seminars have now been been conducted throughout the field and the results are coming in.
Soon after one of the seminars, which was held in Lusaka, Pastor Shongah returned to his district at Musofu, where he rallied his members for action. After training them he led them to the small town of Serenje on the Great North Road. As a result of their wit nessing program 29 people decided to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. At the teacher-training college nearby a young teacher from the University of Zambia had just recently been appointed to the staff. He is a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. He is taking an ac tive part now in instructing and guiding these new converts.
Our first graduation of ministerial students took place last December. At that time 14 young men received their diplomas. Pastors N. W. Palmer and J. Koko have done good work training these young ministers.
During the month of October these young men were sent out by twos into the fields to do practical pastoral work. They conducted prayer meetings, visited church members in their homes, and prayed with them and encouraged them. We are greatly pleased with this pro gram and believe that the work of the church in Zambia will be greatly strengthened by the addition of these ministers.
At the time of our first union session Pastor L. D. Raelly, a graduate from the four-year theology course at Solusi, was appointed full-time union evangelist. For the first part of 1976 his assignment was to conduct revival meetings and weeks of prayer in a number of churches. Since then he has been laying plans for a large city effort in the town of Kabwe, which is about 85 miles from Lusaka toward the copper belt. It is ex pected that he will spend up to nine months in Kabwe, and during that time he will prepare candidates for baptism, instructing them thoroughly in church membership and organizing them into action teams. Before he moves off to his next town Pastor Raelly will be sure he has established his flock in all the fun damental principles of the truth.
The work is going forward in Zambia.
