Lozi Mission Update

"No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him." John 6:44

"...even when we were dead in our trespasses, (God) made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved - ..." Eph. 2:5

Dear family and friends,

Greetings again from Zambia. As I update you on what's happening with the Lozi work, can I also demonstrate the practicality of theology in missions? In the past few weeks, I have witnessed some of the clearest pictures of depravity and the need for regeneration. No, I'm not talking about "horrible" sins of sexual perversion or witchcraft. It's much more shocking than that. I'm talking about people in an extremely religious culture who are very familiar with the Bible, yet they are completely blind to the glory of Jesus Christ and their need for Him.

A few weeks ago, I gave the youngest son of our village headman a lift into town. I asked if he attended a church, and he predictably replied, "Yes, I'm New Apostolic." I then asked him, "What is the gospel of the New Apostolic?" People in Zambia love to use the word "gospel" - "Oh, you're a missionary. You're here to preach the gospel in our country. That's good." There's so much use of the word "gospel," you would think that they know what it means. But my question was met with a blank stare. So I helped him out, "How would the New Apostolic tell me that I can be saved? How can I have my sin forgiven, be right with God, and go to be with Him?" "Oh yes," he smiled, "just do good things and keep the commands." I knew he was going to say that. At least he could accurately summarize New Apostolic teaching. So I asked how that is good news when all of us are sinners and no one can keep God's commands. He stammered something about God judging us by how hard we try and I proceeded to share with him the true Gospel.

But that encounter got me to thinking. We've been preaching the Gospel consistently for over 10 weeks to a little group. Every Sunday we use an Old Testament story to show our need for Christ's atoning work, or we explain how that story is a shadow of the coming reality of Jesus' substitutionary sacrifice. Not a single study ends without explaining the Gospel again. So I had to know - can anyone in our study group tell me the Gospel? Stormy weather kept half the group away from our last meeting. With the 3 guys who showed up, I read Galatians 1 and we discussed the danger of false gospels. Then I asked them what was the true Gospel. Once again, that same blank stare. Again I coached them - "If I sent you across the river to preach the Gospel, what would you tell them? How can they have their sin forgiven, be right with God, and go to be with Him?" They smiled and gave vague answers like, "Follow what the Bible says." After months of hearing the Gospel over and over, you would expect them to say something about Jesus or the cross just from shear repetition. But no, it doesn't even occur to them to speak of Jesus. Why aren't Jesus and His cross the first words out of their mouth when asked about the Gospel?

First, they've been brainwashed for years with the religious speech of demonic false churches that glorify good works and not Jesus. Second, God must make their dead hearts alive in order to see and respond to the Gospel. But there may also be a third issue at work. . . could there be a breakdown somewhere in the communication of the Gospel?

You see, we've lost our only reliable interpreter, our closest Lozi friend and co-worker, Dominic. No, we did not lose him in death, though that might be easier to deal with. We've lost him in the sense of Demas, who "in love with this present world has deserted me . . ." (2 Tim. 4:10). Whether he was ever truly converted, or was deceiving us all along, we have yet to discern. All I will say for now is that, in various ways, Dominic has abandoned us, the church-planting work, his family, and his closest Lozi friends. Please pray that God will lead him to repentance. This is one of those deeper and darker trials that I referred to last month. Besides losing a dear friend, the enemy has struck a severe blow to our teaching ministry. Dom at least had the ability to accurately translate theological concepts into Lozi. No one else in our study group has that ability yet, thus our concerns about a communication breakdown somewhere between our preaching and their hearing.

Our friend Joseph is doing his best to help. He may lack ability, but he has passion. One Sunday, Shannon was being asked about worship on the Sabbath (heavy S.D.A. influence). We took them to Colossians and Hebrews, explaining that even the Sabbath was a shadow, pointing to the reality of spiritual rest in Christ. One young man was really struggling with our answers, and Joseph prodded him on, "Please don't stop asking questions. You are my neighbor, and I don't want you to go to hell!" After reading one of the passages in Hebrews, Joseph was so excited that he forgot to speak in Lozi. He blurted out in English to the Lozi-speaking group, "You see, there it is again - Jesus only!" I wish I had time to tell you all the beautiful signs of regeneration in this precious soul. Please pray for Joseph's spiritual growth, and for his family's spiritual protection as the enemy tries to destroy any potential future leader in the Lozi church. And please continue to pray for the triumph of Christ's Gospel over all the schemes of the evil one. This IS war!

There's not much to talk about concerning building progress. Our last 2-week stay in the bush was spent collecting grass for the thatch roof. There were many long days making the 8 hour round-trip drive, plus loading and unloading grass. From the world's perspective, we just shouldn't have been able to find the massive amount of grass that we needed this late in the season. But God was faithful in providing every last bundle, protecting our vehicles and the borrowed trailer, and sustaining our strength for the task. Even better, we were able to preach the Gospel a few times in the Tonga (not Lozi) village. They are begging us to start a church in their village (from mixed motives, for sure), and we intend to follow up and see what God does.

We're back in Livingstone for now. After 5 months of living in tents during the rainy season, we were all ready for a break. It's nice to have electric lights at night, internet, indoor toilets, and grocery stores just minutes away. Shannon and I could not be more proud of our wives and children and how well they endured many dark and difficult days in the bush. We'll make short trips to the land, as we are able, until the camp structure is functional. Some South African friends and several teams from the U.S. are beginning to schedule trips. We may be very busy from now until October, but we look forward to the help and fellowship.

As we near our one-year anniversary (today is 11 months since we left the States), I think it's safe to say that both families have turned a corner spiritually and emotionally. Spiritual warfare and prayer have become a reality in our lives. Love and team unity has deepened. After the lack of visible progress in building and Bible-teaching, the devil and our flesh would have us return to Livingstone feeling like failures. But by a miracle of grace, we are more full of joy and peace than we've felt since arriving in Zambia. I have no doubt that your prayers are largely responsible for such an outpouring of grace upon us. Please keep praying!

By grace alone, Sean