The stable evangelical church
Nominal Christianity is huge in
Africa, the health wealth gospel is rampant and liberal churches are still
going strong. However my country is blessed with strong healthy evangelical
churches led by godly faithful pastors who preach Christ crucified and the need
for lost sinners to believe in him for forgiveness of sins. There are towns
that in my opinion have one too many evangelical churches and there are
churches for that matter that have men as members who could easily be pastoring
other churches else were. If there are places where the gospel has not been
preached it is not for the lack of knowledge and ability but the lack of drive
and desire. I am grateful that I can go to almost every town and still hear the
true gospel preached. That cannot be said about a lot of countries on the
continent.
The freedom to worship and preach the gospel
The freedom to worship and the
favorable response and platform Christians receive should not be taken for
granted. It is God’s grace on our lives. There are countries where someone has
to risk his life to simply get a gospel tract to you let alone preach to you. I
am proud that people generally recognize that there is a God in their lives. I
am certain there are Christians world over who pray for such a favorable
platform in their countries where they can knock on people’s doors and be
welcomed in.
The friendly people
You simply have to cross over one
of our boarders into another country to appreciate how friendly Zambians are.
There are countries were hostility is so visible you can literally hold it in
your hands! People are divided by color, tribe, economic and social status and
political affiliations. If you are a foreigner, you will know you are one the
moment you start dealing with immigration offices up until you return home. In
our country we meet with strangers in the barbershop, stadiums, super markets,
banks, hospitals, buses etc. and we strike up conversations without regard to
the person’s affiliation or status. We are so intermingled that if you wanted
to start a trouble war you would have to wage war against your own family. It
is a beautiful site. In fact at times we are so friendly it borders on naivety.
The abundant resources
My country is beautiful! We are
blessed with an embarrassment of natural resources. We have so much minerals
that we have basically run the economy on copper for over 50 years. We are also
blessed with plenty of water bodies that a large percentage of water in the
southern Africa region is found in Zambia. Wild life is plenty in national
parks and game reserves; we have a number of water falls with the majestic
Victoria Falls being the crown of them all. Time and space would fail me if I were
to talk about the rich cultural heritage show cased in our traditional
ceremonies. And as though that is not enough we have so much land that we can
spare at the moment.
I am proud to be Zambian, I love
the peace and freedom we enjoy. I am glad I was born in a country where I heard
the gospel from childhood and I can now go on and freely share the gospel to
others. I am proud I can visit the beautiful scenes and sites all over the
country and praise God for his great wonders and works. Yet with pride comes
concern. Concern at the slow rate of development, concern at the lack of
integrity in public offices, concern at the level of politics, concern at the
lack of proper education and most importantly concern at the lack of fear of
God. So as Zambia turns 51 years this week, I thank God for the beautiful
country he has blessed us with and I bow the knee to pray for mother Zambia and
strive to do my best to make a difference. As for now I will stand and sing of
Zambia PROUD and FREE!
