FOUR REASONS I AM PROUD TO BE ZAMBIAN

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!