Sent to Zambia - May 2026

First Official Zambia-CLC Pastor Conference

It's Friday, May 22nd as I sit here in the Lusaka, Zambia airport waiting the first of several flights that will take me home after being away for six weeks that included visits to Nigeria and the DR Congo (DRC). If you haven't heard, the visit to the DRC is going to cause a little havoc in my return trip. Just yesterday, the U.S. Department sent the following notice:

 Event: As of May 21, 2026, all U.S.-bound American citizens and lawful permanent residents (LPRs) who have been present in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, or South Sudan within 21 days of arrival in the United States must only enter through Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) for enhanced screening. 

Since my departure from the DRC was just 10 days ago, I fall into the category of traveler who "must only enter through Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) for enhanced screening." Lucky me! I was scheduled to fly from Lusaka to Johannesburg, South Africa to Atlanta to home...arriving Saturday afternoon. I'm guessing I might arrive a little later, like a couple of days later. When I checked in for my flight here in Lusaka, I was told that my booking to Atlanta has been suspended and they are only responsible for my flight from Lusaka to Johannesburg and I would need to contact the Delta help desk upon arrival. Delta now has me listed (but not confirmed or ticketed) on flights through Nairobi and Amsterdam arriving at Washington, Dulles on Sunday morning. I won't know my actual flight schedule until they get something worked out in Johannesburg. All I know for sure is that I will be routing through Washington, Dulles airport instead of Atlanta. It's kinda funny, I don't really get too worried or nervous about these kinds of things anymore. I've witnessed Our Savior take care of much bigger issues than this, like my sin on the cross!! I trust He will just work all of this out according to His good and gracious plans! Romans 8:28, 31-32

Anyway, on to the topic at hand, my recent visit to Zambia...

I arrived in Zambia on May 11th after spending two weeks in the DRC with Missionary Evensen. This was an important visit as the Zambia-CLC (ZCLC) planned to take the next step in the organizational process and in a long partnership with the CLC that began nearly 16 years ago. It was a joyful and encouraging time filled with progress, fellowship, and clear evidence of God’s blessing on the work.

Upon arrival in Lusaka, I was immediately informed that plans had changed. Instead of hopping on a bus the next day to spend a couple of days visiting preaching stations with Pastor Ibrahim, I was informed that Pastors Mwansa and Mutale, along with Evangelist Reagan were in Lusaka to make the final push to secure official church registration for the Zambia-CLC. They, and Missionary Ibrahim had arrived earlier in the days and were planning to visit the office of the Zambia Registrar of Societies and not leave until they had the registration certificate in hand. They didn't want me to go with them to avoid any thoughts of asking for additional fees if the clerk or registrar got the idea that there was an American organization with deep pockets available. But they did want me to stay in Lusaka in case the registrar needed me to verify the letter of partnership that the CLC had provided a few years ago in the process. So, for the next few days, these men dutifully went to the office at 9:00 and waited, and filled out more paperwork, and testified in court that their affidavit stating their leadership of the ZCLC was true and accurate, and stayed until the close of business. By Thursday afternoon, they were told that everything was complete and approved and they could pick up the official certificate on Monday. That little piece of news was great to hear, not only because it seemed that all their work and frustration was finally going to pay off, but also because it freed them up to attend the ZCLC pastor conference and Bible training! 

On Monday, May 18, their persistence paid off—the registration certificate was finally issued and signed! The excitement among the men was obvious. I was told that there were prayers of thanksgiving said right in the registrar's office along with a few tears of joy! After years of delays, immigration challenges, lost paperwork, and many setbacks (including Covid), the church body now has legal recognition. This will now allow the congregations to purchase property, conduct marriages, funerals, and baptisms. This will also provide the necessary legal status for Missionary Ibrahim (who is from Tanzania and was trained in a CLC affiliated seminary) to work unhindered and unharrased under the banner of a registered church. This may not seem like much to many in the world, but to the pastors and leaders and congregations of the ZCLC...this is a BIG DEAL! Everyone involved was overjoyed and gave thanks to God.

That same week we held a three-day (Friday-Sunday) conference, Bible training seminary, and organizational meeting in Lusaka with twelve men from several areas across the country. It was the first time many of them had gathered together in one place. I have met and taught all of them on different visits over the past fourteen years, and they have all studied under Missionary Ibrahim for many years. We studied doctrine, discussed Lutheran worship practices, and shared reports on outreach efforts in their various districts. The men participated with deep humility and respect for the Word of God, zeal, and a deep commitment to the truth of Scripture. Watching them meet, exchange ideas, and strengthen their unity was a joy and a privilege to witness, not a memory I will soon forget! Thank you Lord!

From Lusaka, I traveled by bus to Livingstone for a Bible seminar. Missionary Ibrahim stayed behind to collect the registration certificate and joined me in Livingstone on Tuesday evening. We spent Wednesday studying key teachings of the Lutheran Reformation with a group of fifteen people, including six local pastors and leaders interested in sound doctrine. The discussions were lively and encouraging.

This visit marked a significant milestone. After years of patient work, the ZCLC has taken important steps toward greater organization and unity. The pastors and evangelists expressed genuine excitement about moving forward together, growing in their understanding of God’s Word, and reaching out with the Gospel. They have lots of plans for strengthening the congregations and preaching stations they are called to serve. They asked if I could make plans to come more than once a year and conduct longer, deeper studies of God's word. I told them I was not opposed, but we would need to see how the Lord leads.

I left Zambia encouraged and eager to return soon for continued training and support. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

Missionary Ibrahim Welcoming the Pastors, Leaders, and Evangelists to the ZCLC Confernece/Seminar

Pastors, Leaders, and Evangelists who attended the ZCLC Confernece/Bible Training Seminar

Lunch Time

My view of the ZCLC Confernece/Bible Training Seminar

Youth Choir from the ZCLC Shimabala Congregation on the Outskirts of Lusaka joined us for Sunday Morning Worship

Attendees at the Bible Seminar in Livingstone

Black Board in Livingstone--Missionary Ibrahim explaining the CLC

Waiting for Everyone to Arrive for the Bible Seminar in Livingstone

Missionary Ibrahim Welcoming Everyone to the Bible Seminar in Livingstone

See more pictures HERE

Zambia Visit - AUG 2025

Two weeks in Zambia passed rather quickly. Four days were spent on buses traveling to the three districts of the Zambia Confessional Lutheran Church (ZCLC). I was accompanied by Pastor Ibrahim, a longtime good friend and faithful servant of the Lord. Ibrahim was trained at the CLC-sponsored seminary in Tanzania. When it became necessary to close the seminary and CLC-East Africa was struggling with dishonest leadership, Ibrahim packed his bags and moved to Zambia. He was invited by a friend to relocate to Lusaka, where he started a Lutheran church that would stay faithful to the Scriptures. Around the same time, Pastor Yumba from the DR Congo was doing outreach across the border in the northern Copperbelt Province of Zambia. A few years later, as Ibrahim traveled regularly to Zimbabwe to work with a CLC contact in Bulawayo, he also did outreach in Livingstone, a border town between Zambia and Zimbabwe. This outreach led to the founding of a congregation. With no other Lutheran outreach in the area, several people became interested and excited about studying Lutheran doctrine with Ibrahim,  seeing that everything he taught was taken directly from the Bible. This was something new for many, as they were accustomed to hearing pastors preach about their visions or testimonies, often with little regard for the Bible's actual teachings. With help from the CLC-MDF, an unexpected anonymous bequest, and the generosity of a local Zambian who was eager to see a church get started in his neighborhood, a small building was purchased that would serve as a church, a Bible institute for training pastors and church leaders, and a pastor's residence. 

Over the past fifteen years, the ZCLC ministry has experienced various ups and downs, as well as many blessings from the Lord. The ZCLC is nearing the completion of its registration as an official Zambian church body. This process is not straightforward. Due to the prevalence of fraudulent ministries that exploit the people of Zambia, the government has implemented a strict procedure to ensure that only legitimate ministries receive the necessary documentation. Registration is important for a couple of reasons: 1. Since Ibrahim does not hold Zambian citizenship, he needs a registered organization to work under in order to avoid immigration issues. 2. The government will not recognize marriages and funerals conducted by non-registered churches. The ZCLC has been informed that everything is now in order, and they anticipate receiving the official registration documents within the next couple of weeks! Once registered, the ZCLC will be official in three districts: 1) Copperbelt District, 2) Lusaka District, and 3) Livingstone District.

My visit began with a week spent in Kitwe, located in northern Copperbelt Province. I had the privilege of preaching during the Sunday service, where members from all three ZCLC congregations in the area gathered at the Kalulushi congregation, which is about 40 minutes outside of Kitwe. Additionally, we conducted an outreach seminar and a training seminar for pastors and church leaders. We also took the time to discuss the church registration process, as well as some of the opportunities, needs, and challenges of the three congregations in the district.

Joint worship at the Kalulushi congregation in the ZCLC Copperbelt District

Joint worship service of three ZCLC congregations in the Copperbelt District

Pastors and Leaders in the ZCLC Copperbelt District

ZCLC Leadership Committee in Kitwe, Copperbelt Province

Ibrahim and I traveled back to Lusaka from Kitwe, which is a 9+ hour bus ride. In Lusaka, we met with contacts and tried to meet with the local ZCLC evangelist but there was some miscommunication that prevented our meeting. We also spent time following up on the church registration at the Office of the Societies Registrar.

 

After a quick visit to Lusaka, we took a bus for another long journey, this time to the southern border city of Livingstone. We spent five busy days there conducting worship, Bible study, outreach activities, a training seminar for pastors and church leaders, and several meetings to discuss the opportunities and challenges they are facing in the area, as well as future plans for the congregation and outreach efforts.

Worship at the ZCLC Congregation in Livingstone, Zambia

Pastor Ibrahim leading worship in Livingstone, Zambia

Pastor Ibrahim leading worship in Livingstone, Zambia

Participants and the Pastor/Church leader training seminar in Livingstone, Zambia

Livingstone is always a fun place to visit because it is close to Victoria Falls, making it a popular destination for tourists from all over the world. The hostel where I stay has become a sort of home away from home. The staff knows me well by now, and it's like a homecoming when I arrive. And, there are always many interesting people to meet.

I made friends with a father and son from New Zealand. The father had served for fifteen years as a medical missionary and pharmacist in Zambia, where his son was born. They spent five weeks doing construction and maintenance work on a hospital and a school in the town where they once lived. They are both very conservative Christians, and we found we had a lot in common, including views on creation, Biblical inerrancy, salvation by Grace alone through faith alone, and Christian education.

I also met a young man from Germany who came to Africa with only a bike, a small tent, and a few clothes. He started his journey in Cape Town, South Africa, and had ridden his bike for more than 2,000 kilometers before it broke down. He couldn’t find parts to fix it, so he abandoned the bike in Angola and is making his way by bus to Lusaka to either buy a new bike or continue his African adventure by bus.

I also met a man, about my age, from the U.S., who is spending 14 months riding his motorcycle around the world. He is a nurse and has taught at a nursing college in Phoenix, specializing in behavioral health. With his children all grown and out of the house, and his wife recently taking a new position in Flagstaff, Arizona, leaving him between jobs, he decided it was a good opportunity to explore the world. He began by shipping his motorcycle to Europe. After touring Europe, he made his way through Turkey, Iraq, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia, where he arranged to have his bike flown to Nairobi, Kenya, where he began his travels through Africa. It was fun to hear him describe his time in and around Arusha, where the Tanzania-CLC seminary is and where Missionary Bruce and Paula Naumann live. Once he finishes his travels in Africa, he plans to head to South America and then Asia. Both he and his wife have been involved in supporting Gospel outreach efforts throughout Africa, so he's been trying to find and spend time with pastors connected to ministries they have supported along his route. He also looks for opportunities to use his nursing and teaching skills wherever he can. This led to an opportunity to spend a few weeks taking care of an elderly woman who had returned home from major surgery. 

It's always exciting to meet such interesting people from around the world, and I stay in contact with several of them. I consider this a fringe benefit of my travels!

My lodging at the Hostel in Livingstone, Zambia

Rick and his round-the-world motorcycle trip

I'm back in Lusaka now, waiting for a late-night flight from Lusaka to Doha, then on to Miami, and finally home. If everything goes as planned, I should arrive home in the early hours of Saturday morning. 

 

I appreciate your prayers for safety, good health, and the blessings of our Lord on the Gospel ministry here in Zambia. Thank you! Please continue to pray that the Lord will bless me with safe and uneventful travels.

Sent to Zambia - APR 2024

Later today (Tuesday, Apr. 16, 2024), I'll be heading to Zambia for a two-week visit. I'll fly from St. Louis to Chicago to Istanbul to Lusaka, Zambia. From there, I will take a nine-hour bus ride to Kitwe in the north. Then, a bus back to Lusaka, where I'll stay overnight before another long bus ride to Livingston in the south. Then back to Lusaka before I fly home on April 3oth. 

Due to some unfortunate circumstances, it's been a couple of years since my last visit, so I am excited and eager to get back to Zambia!

We live in a sinful world where, even among Christians, jealousy and contempt can find a foothold. Unfortunately, this has caused a delay in my visit. The story of this jealousy and its consequences began back in 2022, a short time after the CLC Mission Helpers spent a few weeks in Zambia, proclaiming the Gospel to more than a thousand children. After the Mission Helpers went back to the U.S., a few pastors in the Livingston, Zambia area were jealous of their child evangelism efforts among the Zambia-CLC (ZCLC) congregations and preaching stations in and around Livingston. They began to cause trouble for Pastor Ibrahim and the ZCLC by challenging his immigration status and spreading lies about him. 

Pastor Ibrahim is originally from Tanzania and was trained at the, then CLC-affiliated seminary, in Himo, TZ, more than ten years ago. He relocated to Zambia in 2011 and has been spreading the truths of God's saving word and training church leaders and evangelists since. 

Shortly after the trouble began in Livingston, Pastor Ibrahim decided it would be best to temporarily relocate to Lusaka with the hope and prayer that with some distance and time, the trouble would subside. Unfortunately, Satan continued his attacks against Pastor Ibrahim and the truth of God's word he was teaching. After a few months, he returned to Livingston only to find that much of the ZCLC ministry and Gospel outreach had been abandoned, and false and slanderous rumors about him had been circulating. 

Pastor Ibrahim then went back to Lusaka to work on proper immigration documentation and found that it would be necessary to return to Tanzania to get paperwork from his home country. While traveling to Tanzania, he was bitten by a scorpion and spent several weeks in the hospital. For much of that time, he was near death and remembers very little from his time there. After his discharge from the hospital, he traveled to his brother's home in Tanzania for a couple months of rest and recuperation. A few months ago, he traveled to Dar es Salaam and Dodoma in Tanzania to collect the necessary paperwork to apply for the required immigration documentation to continue the ministry in Zambia. He has now returned to Zambia and is looking forward to restarting the Gospel ministry in Zambia.

Thank the Lord for preserving Ibrahim through all of these struggles and the attacks of Satan and his proxies. And pray that the Lord will bless his efforts and provide all that is necessary to restart and reorganize the work of the ZCLC!

Ibrahim and I will have a busy couple of weeks. Our work will begin  day after my arrival when we travel by bus to the Copperbelt Province near the D.R. Congo (DRC) border to the north. We will meet up with Pastor Yumba from the DRC, where we will conduct a pastoral training seminar and an outreach seminar and have organizational meetings with the pastors and church leaders in this area. We will then take a bus back to Lusaka, where we will spend one night before taking another bus to Livingston near the Zimbabwe border to the south. While in Livingston, we will conduct training and outreach seminars and have some important meetings with the ZCLC church leaders in the area as they begin to reorganize the work of training pastors and church leaders. When our work in Livingston is finished, we will travel back to Lusaka for a weekend of worship and outreach seminars before my flight back home.

What a privilege to be able to be a part of this important work of spreading the truths of God's saving word!!

Thank the Lord for restoring Pastor Ibrahim back to good health and for giving him the zeal and commitment to return to Zambia and get back to the Gospel ministry there. 

Ask the Lord to provide abundant love, wisdom, patience, provision, protection, and blessings on all that is necessary during this visit so that His will be done and the work of spreading the Gospel in Zambia may continue in a way that is pleasing to Him and brings honor and glory to His name!

Please also pray for my wife Beth as she takes care of her parents, who are both dealing with serious health issues and are in need of lots of care and prayers. 

From Tanzania to Zambia to Congo...NOV/DEC. 2022

 It's been a few weeks since my last post. That's due to a very busy schedule of travel, teaching, lesson prep, and meetings. My last blog post was just before I departed from Tanzania on November 24th. Since then, I have traveled from Arusha, Tanzania to Lusaka, Zambia (via Zanzibar, Dar es Salaam, and Harare) and then to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). 

When I arrived in Lusaka, I was met at the airport by Pastor Ibrahim in the late afternoon. After we discussed our schedule for the next few days, I made my way to one of my favorite hostels and slept. Having missed a night of sleep while flying from Tanzania to Zambia, I slept hard until rising early the next morning for our seven-hour bus ride to Kitwe. We arrived mid-afternoon and were met at the bus stand by Pastor Yumba (who leads the CCLC in the DRC but also works with a few pastors over the border in Zambia). We had some lunch and discussed the schedule for the next few days of teaching and meetings. We would be working with pastors and leaders of the Zambia-CLC congregations and preaching stations in this northern part of Zambia called the Copper Belt. 

Pastors and Leaders and Sunday School Teachers of the ZCLC Copper Belt Distric

The next three days would be spent teaching an impromptu seminar on what Lutherans and the Bible Teach. I had thought that I would be teaching a pastoral training seminar, but somewhere between the planning emails that had been exchanged a couple of months earlier and my arrival, the Lord opened a new opportunity in the Kitwe area. This opportunity to teach the truth of God's saving word came in the form of seven congregations that are led by one man and several evangelists. The pastor in charge of this effort recently became acquainted with Pastor Manza, one of the ZCLC pastors in the area. The two of them began discussing the ministry and the work of the ZCLC to train more pastors. This led the leader of the seven congregations and preaching station to ask about the possibility of training for him and the men who were assisting him in the ministry. The pastor in charge of this effort told me that he received a certificate that he paid for from an online theology school in the U.S. but he said he didn't really receive any training. When Pastor Yumba showed up a few days before my arrival to meet with the ZCLC pastors to organize our schedule, they asked if a special seminar could be conducted to explain the teachings of the Lutheran church to this group. Of course, Pastor Yumba agreed. When I arrived, the plans were all set, and I had one evening to begin preparations for the seminar. The Lord blessed the two-day seminar with these seven men, along with several members of the congregations. Plans are underway to begin a regular schedule of training classes for these congregations conducted by the three ZCLC pastors in the area. Pastor Ibrahim is also making plans to schedule a one-week training seminar to be held in Lusaka in March for all the pastors of the ZCLC along with several of the new contacts from the Kitwe area. Praise the Lord for unexpected opportunities to preach and teach the truth of His Saving Word!

Pastors, Evangelists, and Members at the "What the Bible and Lutherans Teach" Seminar in Kitwe

On Monday, November 28th, we headed to the Zambia/D.R. Congo (DRC) border town of Kasumbalesa to make our way to Lubumbashi, DRC. Crossing land borders in Africa is never a fun experience, but this border in particular is something else. I have crossed this border before, but it's been about nine years ago, and I had forgotten just how crazy it is. 

From the time we got out of the mini-bus that we had taken from Kitwe to the border, to the time we actually crossed into the DRC was over three hours. That's three hours of, what seems to be, total and complete chaos and frustration. I must have had my passport checked and scrutinized no less than twelve times. My luggage and backpack and all my pockets were looked through at least six times. They even opened my medicine bottles at one checkpoint and spilled half of them on the ground. And then there were more hands than I can count, being held out expecting "a little something" for their efforts. 

I struggle to find the words to even begin to describe the chaos of this place. Semi-trucks were backed up for miles, literally miles, waiting to be inspected on both sides of the border. The closer you get to the border crossing point, the more chaotic it gets. There are small cars and vans loaded to the sky with all kinds of products that are all trying to maneuver their way to the front of the line. And little shops and people are trying to sell just about anything you can imagine to everyone in the vehicles that are at a standstill in the traffic. And young boys running alongside the vehicle asking if they can carry our bags.  On top of all of that, it had rained heavily that day and everything was covered in mud. Our mini-bus driver tried to drop us off about a kilometer before the drop-off point by the border because he didn't want to sit in traffic. But Pastor Yumba convinced him that we had paid to get to the border, and we were not going to walk through all the puddles and mud with our luggage. It took some rather firm words and raised voices to get it resolved, but the driver took us all the way. Once we were stopped and began to get out, the real chaos began as probably ten to fifteen young men and boys began jostling themselves to get close to us to try to "help" us with our luggage. There was no other option than to physically push them away and I even slapped the hand of one guy who was trying to take my backpack away from me as I was putting it on my back. It was chaos, but we made it and it didn't require one "special gift" for any of the border police on either side of the border. The Lord is good!

Mini-Bus like the one we road from Kitwe to Kasumbalesa

My view from the Mini-Bus as we approached the border...still 5 kilometers from the border

Photo Credit: ZNBC article describing the trouble truckers face at the border.

Once we actually arrived in the DRC (after all the immigration checkpoints) it was smooth sailing. Pastor Yumba's brother is a DRC Army Major. He came to meet us at the border, in uniform, and there were no questions asked, just salutes, as we drove through all the customs and immigration checkpoints to get onto the highway. 

We made it to Lubumbashi late that night only to find out that the hotel room they had booked for me had been given to someone else because of our late arrival. So, the hotel arranged for a room at a much nicer hotel at the same price. It was a very nice hotel. I was really wishing I could have stayed there for a couple of days just to rest. But that wasn't on the schedule. We were up early the next day to catch a bus to Kolwezi where the CCLC of the DRC has a preaching station. 

Kolwezi is a fairly large and well-developed city that is about an eight-hour bus ride from Lubumbashi. It seems to be rather prosperous, which is because it sits in the middle of several copper and cobalt mines, most owned or at least controlled by the Chinese. When you drive through the town you see almost as many businesses labeled with Chinese characters and names as you do in French.

The work in Kolwezi involved a two-day seminar with the lay leader and members of the CCLC preaching station and a worship service on Sunday. The seminar went from 9:00 am until 4:30 pm each day. It was a wonderful two days spent in God's word as we worked our way through a study titled Twelve Priorities for Every Christian Congregation that focuses on making faithful use of God's word in every aspect of the ministry we are privileged to conduct in the name of Jesus. We studied God's word as we considered the privilege of preaching and hearing God's word, administering and receiving the sacraments of the Lord's Supper and Baptism, visiting the sick, praying for one another, applying God's Law and Gospel in the many and varied situations and circumstances that both those who are strong and those who may be weak in the faith struggle with, and working together to spread the Good News of Jesus. This preaching station was started a few years ago when Pastor Yumba's sister (who lives in Kolwezi and is married to a schoolteacher) asked him to come start a congregation there where they could worship and hear the truth of God's word. The Covid pandemic kept them from getting much of a start, but it didn't lessen their desire. So, Yumba and the CCLC pastor from Likasi (about two hours away) have been making periodic visits. When plans were taking shape for my visit to the DRC, Pastor Yumba sent word to plan some outreach while I was there. They invited friends and family to attend the two-day seminar. We met in the home of Yumba's sister. It was packed. I counted forty in attendance on both days! There were almost that many there for the worship service on Sunday. It was a wonderful group that demonstrated a sincere desire to hear and learn the truth of God's word. They are looking for a place to rent for worship in the not-to-distant future. And they hope to send a student to the CCLC seminary in Ntondo next year to train to be their pastor. In the meantime, Yumba's brother-in-law serves as the lay leader of the preaching station and receives materials from Yumba and the pastor in Likasi for worship services and Bible study. 

Praise the Lord for this opportunity and for the zeal He has worked in the hearts of this fledgling flock in Kolwezi, DRC.

Kolwezi town center round-about with a monument to their mining heritage

Members of the CCLC Kolwezi Preaching Station

Kolwezi monument to honor the mining heritage and the miners

After a long day on Sunday of worship and Bible study, we had a good night of sleep and headed to the bus stand to catch a bus back to Lubumbashi early the next morning. We needed an early bus because a four-day training seminar was scheduled to begin at 9:00 am the next day on Tuesday morning. 

After a few hours of sleep, we headed out to the CCLC Holy Trinity Lutheran Bible Institute for the first of four days of classes. The Bible institute is located in Ntondo which is about a 2-hour drive from Lubumbashi. There is nowhere to stay in the little town of Ntondo, so I stayed in Lubumbashi and drove out every day. Which means about four hours in the car every day on roads that are mostly rough dirt roads that are pretty slow going. Google maps tells me that it's only 33 kilometers but because of the traffic getting out of Lubumbashi and the rough roads to the property, it took us almost 2 hours each day. Yumba likes this location because it is quiet and there are no distractions for the students. 

Approximate location of the CCLC Holy Trinity Bible Institute...from Google Earth Screenshot.
The land donated to the CCLC is approx. 9 acres within the yellow square.

The Bible Institute sits on a piece of land that Pastor Yumba is working with the government to develop. About nine acres of the land have been donated and legally titled in the name of the CCLC as part of the development plan for this property. 

Pastor Yumba owns the remaining acreage and plans to develop it into a farm for the community. Pastor Yumba has been involved with several government-sponsored community development projects. He and the non-profit organization that he runs has a good reputation and respect of the government. The Lord has blessed him with many gifts that he is using in a variety of ways to serve the Lord. The nine acres that the Bible Institute sits on are already being used and developed as farmland. The students are required to spend time working in fields to raise food for the seminary and also to sell to provide financial support for their studies. Yumba is also training them in other secular occupations so that they can support themselves in the ministry when they graduate and are ordained. 

Holy Trinity Bible Institute...under construction

It's getting late and we leave early tomorrow morning for Kasumbalesa so we can get there early enough to get the Bible seminary started by 9:30 am. It's about a two-hour drive, so that means an early departure. 

Holy Trinity Bible Institute Building...under construction

Students in class at the Holy Trinity Bible Institute

As the Lord wills, I should be home in a little over a week, with a few days to spare before Christmas. Thanks for reading and for your prayers and support!