drumbeat

News from Jim Davis

Zambia Christian Mission
P.O. Box 910 335
Mongu. Zambia
Forwarding Agent:
Don and Wanda Moore
c/o Z.C.M.
4050 Shelby St.
Indianapolis, IN 46227
"How shall they hear. . ." Romans 10:14
Volume 3 April 1984 Number 1
1984 ALREADY?
Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ! I know it has been a while since you
have heard from me, but 1984 has taken off
and I can't seem to catch up. 1984 so far has
been quite a good year, and like all years it has
its ups and downs. This year has seen the one
year anniversary of the Imwiko Church of
Christ, the beginning and building of a
temporary church building, which, it seems
sad to say, no one has time nor desire to finish,
a weekend leadership seminar with the men of
the church, and thebeginningof a Bible study
on the book of Acts. There have been some
He expects me to say all that!
very uplifting and upbeat services, and some in which there seemed to be no enthusiasm. All in all, it
has been a good year, but your prayers are still desperately needed for the church here.
The church right now is at a plateau, with no real decline in attendance or interest, but little growth
or outreach. I am not sure of the reason or reasons, but feel as though it is a combination of many
things. For many, church is still ofsecondary
importance. They know what they should do,
and that they should be in church, but ifsome-
thing comes up which conflicts with church
activities, then that takes precedence. Also
many people have been transferred out of
Mongu and into other areas of Zambia. This
hurts the church as well. The job situation in
Mongu is very poor, and many move away
searching for employment. Alcohol is a
Imwiko Church of Christ tremendous temptation and problem here.
People drink merely in order to pass away the
time. Some of the church members here still
yield to this temptation.
What I have said so far may seem very
negative. In fact, I must admit that as I read
over what I have written, it seems negative to
me as well. Definitely you can see the need for
earnest prayer. But in spite of all this, my
outlook is positive. I am confident that the
power of the Lord will come through, and that
the people will experience a revival in spirit.
There are those who are seeking and striving
to do what God wants them to do. There are
those in the church who are eager and willing
to learn. The Sunday School is doing very
well, and Lenard, the teacher, is doing an
excellent job. The men are preaching and the
church is making decisions on its own.
Please pray for the Christians here at
Imwiko. Especially pray for them during the
time I will be away on furlough. This will be a
difficult time, yet one in which they can grow.
Paul was talking about himself here, but I
think we can pray this for the church when he
says, "Therefore I am well content with
weaknesses, with insults, with distresses,
with persecutions, with difficulties, for
Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am
strong." (2 Corinthians 12:10, NASB)
LEADERSHIP SEMINAR
The men who were there.
During the last weekend in February, Chris
Alexander, Douglas Monzila, and I held a
leadership seminar with the men of Imwiko
Church of Christ. The seminar itself went
very well, and the men commented much
about what they had learned.
Douglas Monzila is an elder from the
Matero Church of Christ in Lusaka, who is
also a Lozi by tribe. His teaching and
assistance was very good and I think helped
the men as much or more as the teaching that
Chris and I did. The men were able to see
someone just like themselves teaching and
praying with authority. All of the men were
impressed with and liked Douglas very much.
Douglas has willingly agreed to return to
Mongu every so often while I am on furlough
to teach and preach some more here. I think
this will definitely help the Christians here in
Mongu.
Chris also did an excellent job of teaching,
and has also been an answer to prayer. I have
had no reply to my call for a replacement while
I amaway, so Chris said he would gladly come
to Mongu one
weekend every
other for
teaching and
preaching. This
will help tre-
mendously
the growth of
the church.
While we
having our lead-
ership seminar,
Donna, Chris's
wife, held clas- .
ses with the wo- ..
men. The wo- Douglas Monzila
men thoroughly enjoyed that, and some of
them asked me when we would have a woman
here permanently to teach and help them. I
think that was a subtle (maybe not so subtle)
hint!
The leadership seminar went very well, as I
have said, and it is my prayer that the men
will use what they have learned. We are
hoping to have one more before I return to the
States for furlough.
Chris and Douglas
FURLOUGH NEWS
The time draws near and soon I will be
seeing most of you! I cannot believe how
quickly the time passes, and I often reflect on
what I have and haven't done. There are
things I probably should have done
differently, and there are times when I have
failed in what I wanted to do, yet I see howthe
Lord has worked, opened doors, and changed
lives. I am just grateful to be a part of that.
However, the time has come to return, and
report to you in person. I leave Zambia June
26, and arrive in the States June 28. My first
activity will be to attend the North American
Christian Convention in Atlanta. I hope to
see many of you there.
I will be living in Indianapolis, working
with the University Heights Christian
Church. They are my main supporting
church, and I am very grateful to them. I will
also be traveling, speaking to supporting
churches the first few months that I am home.
I am looking forward to this, as I will be seeing
many old friends and making new ones.
This will probably be the last newsletter I
put out before I return, so I will give you my
address in Indianapolis:
Jim Dauis
4050 Shelby St.
Indianapolis, IN 46227
I hope that you will continue to write after I
am home as well as you have done while I
have been here.
PRAYER ITEMS
Prayer ~ what is it? This question was
asked to some ofthe women at Imwiko. Donna
Alexander taught on prayer during the
leadership seminar, and the answer she got
was different, to say the least. "Prayer is
closing your eyes," was the response she
received. Now we may think it is strange, or
even childish to give such an answer. But
when we pray do we sometimes just close our
eyes and pretend we are praying? When we
close our eyes to pray during the Lord's
Supper, do we pray, or meditate on the football
game or the roast in the oven? Prayer may
only be "closing the eyes" to some, but in
reality it should be an opening of eyes the
spiritual eyes. Eyes to see Jesus and His glory
and love. Eyes to behold the great and
glorious Godwhoanswers our prayers. In fact
we should open our whole self to God when we
pray. Let us remember what prayer is. A.W.
Tozer said of those who truly want to pray,
"They want to taste, to touch with their
hearts, to see with their inner eyes the wonder
that is God."
37th
National missionary
Convention
KCACHAUl.!: MULTITUDESUMTOI.D
<A(umc!
*8\ai !
SxceUent
September 9-12 (Sunday-Wednesday), 1984
Civic Plaza Phoenix, Arizona
PRAYER REQUESTS
1. Dedication and commitment in the hearts
of the Imwiko Christians.
2. Developing leaders at Imwiko
3. The people while I am away
4. Safe travel for Mom and Dave as they
return to the U.S. this month.
5. Cyndee (Davis) Massengill as she is
expecting to give birth in early May.
6. Dad as he is away from Mom until June.
7. My preparations for furlough
PRAYER PRAISES
1. Chris and Donna Alexander helping meet
the need in Mongu while I am on furlough.
2. Douglas Monzila for the help he has given
and will give in the future.
3. The interest in leadership at Imwiko
4. The people as they grow while I am away
(James 1:2)
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SPECIAL EDITION
drumbeat
MNewsfrom Jim Oavlt
Zambia Christian Mission
Forwarding Agent:
Don and Wanda Moore
4050 Shelby St. V
Indianapolis, IN 46227
"How shall they hear..." Romans 10:14
Volume 3 November 1984 Number 2
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