From death...life!

Msoro is a small town, a little better than 4 hours from where we live. It is “on the way” to absolutely nowhere.  The only visitors Msoro receives are those who intentionally go there.  Suffice it to say, it’s remote.  When you imagine Africa… mud huts, thatched roofs, girls walking with buckets of water on their heads, you are imagining Msoro. It was small, but with a bit of charm. Of course, being the only mazungu (white man) that had visited in some time, I was quite the attraction.

 This is one of the riverbeds we had to cross to get the Msoro.  When the rains come we are not able the river fills with water preventing us access to them about 8 months during the year.  

On Saturday, a group of four pastors and myself traveled to Msoro to offer encouragement to the pastor of this congregation as well as do some teachings on what it means to be a church member.  Although I had talked to the pastor, Thembo, on the phone, I had never met him before.  This was to be our first face to face meeting.  

David with Pastor Thembo, the winsome pastor wanted to "pose" for this picture.

We left around 9:30 am and arrived right at 2 pm and called him so he could meet us in the town and show us to his house.  We stopped at the cell tower that was installed a few years ago and called him.  Prior to the tower, Pastor Thembo recalls, “we just switched off our phones when we left Katete (about 4 hours drive) because they became useless.”  Only a few minutes after I called Thembo he showed up with a huge smile and the welcoming words, “Muli Bwanji?” He jumped into the car and directed us to his house a short drive down a dirt road.  

The four pastors from Lundazi Association with Pastor Thembo.  

We were served lunch, a table full of sima (the traditional food here) chicken, greens and rice.  Being served meat is an honor here, and we were certainly honored and appreciative after the drive.  It was all delicious!  As we sat around the table sharing a meal, he told us about the work in Msoro and how he ended up here.  

Back in 2007 he was staying a few hours away when a member of the church he attended had a daughter die in Msoro.  They said that because she was Baptist, a Baptist would do the funeral and asked Pastor Thembo to come and preach.  When he preached the people of this town were surprised, they had never been taught the true Word of God, only versions of this truth tainted with prosperity promises or ancestor worship.  He was the first, as far as we know, to ever preach Christ as Savior in this small community… and people responded!  The people asked him to come back and teach them more.  He said, “From that point, people knew that the Baptists were different from other groups that had come through, the Baptists were people of the Bible.”  This story struck me, out of death… life.  Not equal in importance but similar to the hope that we hold through the death of Christ… and His resurrection.

Shortly thereafter he moved with his family to Msoro and acquired two pieces of land.  The first to build a church on and the second, which was further away, was to be a farm to support himself.  He isn’t paid, despite having a theological education.  Pastor Thembo does what he does because he loves the Lord.   He is one of those guys who people are drawn to, yet, he doesn’t compromise the truth for popularity. 

He told a story of a man who had multiple wives who came to him for counseling.  The man asked him what he should do.  His response, “You want to know what to do? Read your Bible. And then when you see what it says to do...do that.”   His direct approach isn’t at all insulting as it might come across if it came from 99.9% of the rest of the population, it is in fact, winsome.

It was a short five minute walk to Msoro Baptist from his house.  As we passed a drop bucket well the kids paused from their game, stare… and then followed us…. giggling and announcing to other kids “Mazungu! Mazungu!”.  Somehow I feel I’m the leader of an undesired parade, yet certainly the highlight of their day.  The sign at the road greeted us, as it does the hundreds of others who pass by it daily, inviting us to “Start a new life with Msoro Baptist Church.”  It was a premonition of things to come and a reflection of the heart of this pastor, Thembo.  

The church is filled with singing, beating drums and a tambourine made of an old bicycle rim, wire, and small pieces of metal.  The tambourine is a nice compliment to the drumming.    Zambians have beautiful voices and the people of Msoro are no exception.  Several choirs sang, and danced, and smiled.  It was nice and worshipful.  Profoundly worshipful.  

The first pastor taught about being a church member, we recounted later that evening, speaking from John 15.  I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.  Pastor Thembo laughed, “What can we do… NOTHING!” 

The second teaching time will start at 8 pm Thembo told the pastors that came with me from Lundazi.  This reminded him, “last month at this time it was not safe to go out after 8 pm because there were lions.  But don’t worry… we got one of them.”  While lions are not a common problem in this area, hyenas are.  Upon hearing this news I make sure to instruct the pastors to be sure and zip the tent if they need to go out during the night.  If the tent is zipped up you are safe, if it is open… 

We arrived a few minutes late, if there is such a thing here, and a few were gathered.  As they started singing more joined us until the church was filled.  A single light shined from behind as another pastor from Lundazi spoke.  I wanted to take a picture, but decided the memory was to important to ruin it with trying to get the right angle and lighting.  So I sat and soaked it in.  People sitting in the heat, listening to the word of God, with a single light destroying the darkness.  By the time we finished the moon was up and we walked the dirt path back to our vehicle and put up our tent.  

The only interruption to my sleep was not by hyenas, but the pastors exiting the tent during the night.  I has positioned myself at the entrance of the tent volunteering to help unzip (and zip) the tent doors.   There might have been a slight amount of self-preservation that motivated my desire to be helpful with the tent doors.  

David with the Chief of Msoro.

The next morning we went to meet with the Chief of Msoro who welcomed us and asked us to continue to spread the Gospel in Msoro.  I presented him with a Bible before we departed and headed back to the church for another teaching followed by a time of preaching.  My sermon was from Luke 5, Jesus calling of the first disciples.  My ending challenge was taken from verse 11, “And as soon as they landed, they left everything and followed Jesus.”  I love the Word of God and how is transcends time and culture.  How it penetrates our souls. How it reaches in and grabs us, convicts us, and encourages us regardless of the color of our skin our the language of our hearts.  “What this verse tells me,” I paused, “is that we as the people of God, must desire the presence of God more than we desire the blessings of God.” 

Even as the words passed over my lips and into the air I saw they connected.   The Word of God does that.  Downward glances and nodding heads filled the silence. Yes, the words spoke earlier by Pastor Thembo to the man with multiple wives came echoing back, resonating in my own heart “when you see what it says to do...do that.”  

-dp