Every other month our CLC Board of Missions updates us with recent news from various mission fields.
Our fellowship in Zambia began in two separate locations over a decade ago. Pastor Ibrahim Lyimo of Tanzania, who was trained at the former CLC seminary there, started outreach in the capital, Lusaka, and later established a congregation in the southern city of Livingstone. Many people were interested in his Bible-based teaching, which was different from the focus on personal visions and testimonies common among other local preachers. At the same time, pastors from our sister church in the Democratic Republic of Congo were doing mission work across their border in Zambia’s Copperbelt Province. Eventually, the practical need for official government registration brought these two ministry efforts together to form one body: the Zambia Confessional Lutheran Church (ZCLC). The process of uniting also served to refine the group. As doctrinal discussions clarified the CLC’s focus on Gospel work over monetary support, the group was sifted down to the faithful core of pastors and leaders who serve the ZCLC today.
Missionary Todd Ohlmann with leaders of the ZCLC
To encourage this church body, our visiting missionary, Todd Ohlmann, recently completed a fourteen-day trip with Pastor Ibrahim. Their travels took them through the ZCLC’s three main districts, where they held meetings and services in the Copperbelt and Livingstone districts, and stopped to meet with contacts in Lusaka. Their time in the Copperbelt District was particularly busy. Missionary Ohlmann preached at a joint service for three congregations at the Kalulushi church. They also conducted an outreach seminar and a training seminar for local pastors and church leaders. The members there have started a small preschool for thirty-five local children, which is run by a lay leader from the congregation.
An encouraging development is the near completion of the ZCLC’s official registration with the Zambian government. Official registration allows the church to perform legal marriages and funerals and provides the standing for Pastor Ibrahim to continue his work without immigration issues. We pray the final paperwork will be completed soon.
In addition to the work within the established congregations, the ZCLC is also carrying out mission work. Pastor Ibrahim has been working to start three new preaching stations in the rural areas of Nakonde, Mkushi, and Mansa. These areas have no other confessional Lutheran presence, and are influenced both by ancestral religions and Pentecostal false teaching.
Please keep the pastors, leaders, and members of the ZCLC in your prayers. Pray that the Lord will continue to bless their efforts to remain faithful to His Word.
is pastor of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Winter Haven, Florida, and a member of the CLC Board of Missions