Voices of Zambia
“And this gospel of the
kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and
then the end will come.” –
Matthew 24:14
Yesterday our church hosted the Voices of Zambia, a
wonderful African worship experience. These six men wowed all of us with their
beautiful voices and their moving testimonies of God’s love and grace.
The young men are from Ambassador International
University in Zambia. They are here on a nine-month tour of the United States to
raise money for the school and for scholarships so that others might attend the
university.
Each student who attends AIU receives a university
education and ministry training at no cost. They are required to work at the
school but all education and housing costs, including meals, are free. There is a rigorous process that includes an
application and interviews to insure that only those who are men of faith may
attend.
The school also has a fully-stocked, up-to-date medical
clinic that serves the university and surrounding area. It has a full-time
American doctor on site. Eventually the plan is to train nurses. God’s work being
done by God’s people.
It’s not the first time this wonderful group has
worshipped with us. One of those who work for Gospelink is the brother of one
of our church members. We have been blessed by this connection.
We also have a visitor in our midst right now. He was
at our church before with the Voices of Zambia. He is now an AIU graduate. He returned
to visit for a several weeks and is staying with a couple who helped pay for
his education. They paid for his plane ticket here. We have all been blessed by
his presence.
I first met him at the local Christmas Parade. He was
amazed at the floats, bands and the crowd on what was a bitterly cold night. He’d
never attended a parade. He asked me if the parade would happen every night. He
loved that we celebrated Jesus with a parade.
I’m sure by now he’s seen the commercialism. He knows
that sometimes we lose Jesus in the midst of our hurry. But, I hope, he also
sees how much we love Jesus and each other in this season of His birth. I hope
he feels the joy that permeates each of us as we welcome the Christ Child.
The Voices of Zambia are a wonderful group but we
should never forget that their music is all about worshipping God. This is what
their brochure says about their story: AIU (formerly the International Bible
College of Zambia) was the dream of Gospelink’s American leaders, as well as
national preachers throughout southern Africa. The preachers wanted a place
where the young people in their churches and communities could receive a
quality education and ministry training. These preachers sought out and secured
the location for the university. They worked for five years alongside American
teams to build the campus. After much planning, sacrificing, and laboring, the
dream of AIU became a reality and was opened for classes on January 31, 2009.
To God be all the glory, honor, and praise!
If you feel so moved, contributions can be made at
gospelink.org.
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