Greetings! Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I am pleased to offer up this report of my 18-day trip to Zambia. I first want to thank those who have prayed for and financially assisted me in returning this year. This was my fifth time in Zambia and the relationships I have developed on the ground continue to flourish. A lot was accomplished! Without the financial means I couldn’t do this… so thank you!

Instead of giving a chronological report, I’m simply going to highlight the various activities. Keep in mind that my primary ministry in Africa is teaching and preaching the comprehensive gospel of the kingdom. Africa needs Reformation.

Word Conference @ Christ Life Church Zambia 🇿🇲

Last year I had the privilege of meeting Pastor Mulenga Chella of Christ Life Church in Lusaka. It was a brief meeting but afterwards we stayed in touch via WhatsApp. I was invited to come this year and speak at their annual “Word Conference,” which was focused on “Loving the Lord.” I gave two talks on two different days: Friday’s talk was on “Sacramental Maturity” from Genesis 2 & 3, and Saturday’s message was called “The Reduction of Christianity.” There were 800+ in attendance and the feedback from my teaching led me to believe that it was well received. We thank God.

The Conference.

Pastor Chella quickly became a friend. His ministry is thriving and one thing I love is their holistic approach. They’re involved in a lot of great things: girls home (orphanage), tv/media ministry, schools, etc.

Eagerly listening to the Word.

Preaching from Genesis 2 & 3.

The notebooks were filling up fast.

Pastor Chella leading us in prayer.

Exuberant singing in Africa per usual!

Intently listening.

Bringing it back to the gospel.

Lunch with the other speakers and wives. It was a sweet time of fellowship.

I was also gifted this amazing shirt! They even had it tailored for me.

I noticed these young men talking theology so naturally I had to join the conversation! We’re now Facebook friends and my plan is to keep in touch so we can talk more theology.

Christ Life’s CBC Television & Media Programming

I did hours of media teaching this trip—both radio and television. Christ Life’s television ministry, CBC TV, continues to grow. I recorded several devotional talks (here is one) and participated in their regular programming. The have a flagship show called “Broken Truth,” and we did two of those. One was on “All of Christ, for all of life,” and the other had to do with marriage relationships and the apparent problem of married men being sugar daddys for broke single girls (I had no idea it was such a problem there!). I also did a few shows with their program “Men Talk.” (These have yet to be released; once they are, I’ll post them.)

Prepping for the camera.

Recording some episodes of “Men Talk” with Pastor Martin (far left) and Pastor Pishon (far right).

ZNBC Radio

My friend Pastor Martin (an associate with Christ Life Church), hosts a weekly radio show on ZNBC. He explained that it is the most-listened to radio station in all of Zambia. Even the President and his cabinet (and the military and police) listen to hear the latest news! At any rate, both Sundays while I was there, I was able to use my conference messages to preach to the nation. I’m told that there are roughly 3-5 million active listeners at any given point! Funny story: even the guards outside with their rifles were listening–and even thanked me for the ministry. Very cool!

ZNBC Headquarters.

Live Radio Program w/ ZNBC.

More Radio grind. It’s amazing how many people can be reached this way.

University of Zambia – University Christian Community Chapel

For the fifth straight year I’ve been able to minister at the UCC Chapel services and mid-week bible studies. There are two campuses in Lusaka: the main campus, and the Ridgeway campus (which consists of medical students). For both campus Bible studies I spoke on Mark’s Gospel and Mark’s explanation of discipleship. For the Sunday chapel services at Ridgeway, I spoke on the Reduction of Christianity. At the main campus, which was the following Sunday, I did a talk called “The Heart of the Gospel,” which focused on Luke 21:1-4 the concept of sacrificial giving. Ministering to the students is absolutely on the top of my priority list. It’s one of my favorite things to do while in Africa. They are such a joy to be around!

Main Campus: Discipleship in the Gospel of Mark.

Students always ask great questions.

Ready to preach to a packed house!

Speaking to the Ridgeway Campus on the Reduction of Christianity.

Intently listening and taking notes.

Ready to preach at the main campus.

Preaching from Luke 21:1-4.

The Heart of the Gospel: self-sacrifice.

Christian Word Center International 

Bishop Peter Mulenga is one of my oldest friends in Zambia. We first met in 2018. I had the opportunity to spend a Thursday evening with his people for a mid-week service. Fun fact: due to the load shedding issues, the electricity was out and I preached in the dark! By the end I couldn’t see my hand in front of my own face. I have preached in the Bishop’s church upwards of 15 times over the years. It’s always a joy. Thanks to technology, I can keep up with some of the folks there who have become lifelong friends. Oh, and who could forget! It was Bishop Mulenga who gave me my Zambian name: Pastor Mutale (which is from the Bemba tribe).

Smaller group that night (others came after this photo) but it was powerful.

Various Ministry Connections & Opportunities

James Phiri (another close friend of mine, and a tribal cousin!) is the chaplain at the University of Zambia UCC group. He is employed by the Council of Churches in Zambia to be a chaplain/minister on the campus. He invited me to lead a devotional for the council on the topic of “Creational Stewardship: Loving the Earth.” It was a brief but warm time together. They represent millions of Christians in Zambia. May God grant them wisdom.

Council of Churches in Zambia Ministry Leaders.

I got a chance to spend some time with my new friend Pishon, who lives in Chainda (which happens to be right around the corner from where I stay). Pishon is a pastor with Christ Life and has a church plant in this poorer neighborhood. They run a school that serves 800 students! However, they don’t have the room–but they make it work. Pishon gave me a tour of their facilities and I’m excited to see what opportunities might arise in the future as we partner together. Pishon and I quickly became friends. I really enjoy serving younger pastors.

Getting a lay of the land.

Pastor Pishon (Left), w/ Pastor Mutale (Right).

Chainda, a neighborhood in Lusaka.

More of Chainda.

Pure and undefined religion! I spent time at two different orphanages. This one is a girls home associated with Christ Life Church. Each of the ladies shared their testimony and even sang some songs to declare their trust in Christ amidst the very challenging lives they have lived. They range from roughly 12-18 years old. I was brought to tears by their testimonies. Abuse was a common thread, as was abandonment by their fathers. Horrible stuff. But what impressed me (and I exhorted them along these lines) was their declaration of hope in Christ. They acknowledge the bad stuff while trusting in the Good Stuff. It was amazing. I thought I was going to come and minister to them, but they ended up ministering to me.

The girls greeted Pastor Martin and I with a song!!

The girls from the orphanage share their testimony.

Pastor Ron Kronz and I have also been working with an orphanage in the Chawama neighborhood which is near center city Lusaka. We’ve been able to provide some financial assistance over the years and this year I was able to do even more (thank you donors!). One thing that we need to do is help them build some classrooms. Ms. Hilda (along with a young woman named Martha) runs a small school and orphanage that serves many neighborhood children. It’s a very, very poor neighborhood. They need about $5,000 to build 4 classrooms so they can expand their already cramped operation. If you’d like to help me with this, please let me know. I want to get this project underway. Pictures below.

Visiting Hilda’s Orphanage (2024)

Ms. Hilda and some of the folks involved in the orphanage and school (2025). The kids weren’t around because school hadn’t yet started. I was able to see some in the neighborhood, though. They always love visitors. :)

The four future classrooms. We need $5,000 to pay for materials and labor cost. It will help them greatly!

Talking with the folks who run the school and orphanage. Offered some encouragement and financial assistance. Pastor Davies is involved on the far left.

Took Pastor Davies out to discuss the classroom project. He’s involved with the school and orphanage.

Visited the Bible Society of Zambia for the first time. They distribute over 100,000 copies of the Bible throughout Zambia. Out of the 70 tribal languages, they have over 20 already complete. They’re constantly working on more!

Mr. Derick was kind enough to share a bit about the ministry. I was able to purchase a copy of the Bible in the Bemba language (which is my tribe while in Zambia!). I need to get better at the language.

More of the site.

Heroes Stadium. Finally got to see it on our last day.

Random Moment: Missionary John Leach (he’s wayyy out in the bush in the North West Province) randomly showed up to the guest house one afternoon…I hadn’t seen him since 2018. We spent 3 hours talking about discipleship and missions. He’s a South African who has been on the mission field for many, many years. They’ve been able to work to plant over 1,000 churches across the Norther part of Zambia. Amazing! It was such a refreshingly unexpected time together.

Many, many thanks to Pastor Martin for his incredible faithfulness to the mission. He and I spent a lot of time together (I got to spend time with his wife and five children, too!) and I was so happy to invest in him personally. His friendship, along with Bishop Mulenga and Chaplain Phiri, has been a blessing to me. God’s grace is evident!

The trip was absolutely wonderful. Words can’t express the gift it is to develop friendships, strengthen the church, and minister in the hard places. What isn’t pictured is the countless hours of discipleship—talking with students and other pastors about the Lord. James Phiri (my chaplain friend) had me over for dinner to his house to talk with some of the students. Next time I hope to spend a lot more time with the university students—not just in teaching but in discipleship moments. There’s a need for Godly counseling as they navigate the various challenges of life in Africa.

Thank you for reading, and thank you for your support! I hope my mission of “all of Christ, for all of life, for all of Zambia” will continue in the future. At some point perhaps we can be involved in church planting there. SDG!