Zambia, located in south central Africa, identifies as a Christian nation. According to the World Fact Book, 95.5% of the population identifies as either Protestant or Roman Catholic. Despite the overwhelming majority claiming to possess faith in Jesus Christ, actual understanding of the Gospel remains relatively low. A faith of “works righteousness” (or believing that doing good things is what gets you in right relationship with God) is held to by people even as they claim that they believe only in Jesus.
The ministry team of Awana Zambia faces this environment as they attempt to spread the Good News of Jesus throughout Lusaka, into the villages, and into other nations. In 2014, YMI sent our first Explore (high school age) mission team to Zambia. As part of our training, the Explore team was equipped with a variety of ministry tools such as testimonies, puppets, Gospel bracelets, skits, and songs.
During the trip, missionaries Alex and Isaac arranged for their volunteer ministry team to come for a day and learn from the team. So, the group of 15-18 year old youth prepared a ministry training for the youth and adult Zambian volunteers.
Awana Zambia enjoyed the ministry training so much, that they asked the next team in 2015 to provide training for the ministry team members who couldn’t attend the year before.
One member of the 2015 team, Allison, said, “Youth Missions International trained us and prepared us not only to reach out to kids but also to the adults. We were able to take our training and train others. Alex (National Director of Awana Zambia) was so impacted by it, that he is now using what we prepared for their seed planter training.”
