“I will bring the blind by a way they did not know; I will lead them in paths they have not known. I will make darkness light before them, and crooked places straight. These things I will do for them, and not forsake them.”
Isaiah 42:16
It wasn’t long until Zambia’s Ministry of Education began to hear reports that there were two disciple-making schools for Jesus in northern Zambia. They were so pleased by what they heard about the Gibeon and Elim secondary schools that they asked us, “How can we have this Schools-in-Discipleship training available for all our government schoolteachers? How can we get this training across the entire nation for our early childhood teachers?”
The Ministry of
Education decided that the
best way to start would be to bring twenty of the top early
childhood teachers from every one of their ten provinces. They would gather
these two hundred teachers together in the city of Lusaka,
where the government of Zambia is headquartered, and have
me come and train them.
I was very excited and amazed at what God was doing, but I had no idea how I was going to train all these government schoolteachers. I was overwhelmed. Our In Discipleship ministry did not have funds for such a thing, nor did I personally.
My wife and I prayed about this new opportunity, and we found a few dollars. Then God worked a miracle to provide a flight over to Zambia and back. But what would I do when I got there? I had no idea. As I prayed for direction, God impressed me to go by faith anyway.
With only a few dollars in my pocket, I decided to go spend a week, searching all over Zambia for men and women whom I could train to be disciple makers to assist me in discipling the government schoolteachers of Zambia.
I landed in Lusaka and a new friend of mine picked me up at the airport. I silently prayed, “God, these few dollars I have in my pocket must last me over a week, and I have nothing for hotels or food or anything. Help these funds to stretch!”
My new friend drove me to an inexpensive hotel for that first night. The next morning, my friend picked me up and took me to a bus depot to catch a bus to the far north.
Don't Lose Your Bus!
Worriedly he asked me, “Are you sure you’re
comfortable going by yourself all the way up to northern Zambia in a public bus?”
“I don’t know of any other way to get there,” I told him. “I’m praying and looking for people that will help me disciple all the government schoolteachers of Zambia.”
He prayed with me and then told me, “Here’s my advice. Whatever you do, stay on the bus.”
“Is there a toilet on the bus?” I asked.
“There’s no toilet on the bus,” he told me. “It could be nine or 10 hours to get to Kasama.”
“How can I stay on the bus for that long? How can I stay on there without a toilet?” I asked.
“They may stop halfway,” my friend encouraged me. “However, when you get off the bus, just remember where they park. I’m concerned about you and your safety and well-being. Whatever you do, don’t lose this bus!”
“I’ve got it,” I promised. “I will stay with this bus! No problem.” We stowed the luggage, waved goodbye, and I climbed on the bus to begin my long ride to Kasama.
The bus was quite full. I went all the way to the very back, sat down and prayed. “God, I don’t know who’s on this bus, but I am praying that You will give me divine appointments on this trip.”
The bus lurched forward, and we were off on our long trek to northern Zambia. Kilometer after kilometer, we went chugging along. I saw city shops and then hours of vast grasslands and forests, punctuated by small villages with many huts with grass-thatched roofs.
I asked God whom I should pray with on the bus. The Holy Spirit led me to pray with a young mother in the seat ahead of me whose little daughter was shyly staring at me. This mother and daughter led me to another mother, and I prayed with her. And that mother led me to another. And so it went that I prayed and prayed and prayed. And then finally, one of them asked, “Would you study the Word with me? I have questions.” I ended up having prayer meetings and Bible studies on that bus. That bus was a walk-in, disciple-making clinic hour after hour.
Oh, how I looked forward to the stop that was to mark the halfway point! There was no toilet on that bus. I waited and I prayed, and finally we stopped. I remembered the advice of my friend, “Whatever you do, don’t lose your bus!”
Quickly I got off the bus and pressed my way through the crowd of people eager to sell me their cucumbers, tomatoes, cabbage, and other assorted vegetables. I found a toilet and then raced back as fast as I could through the crowd. However, it took me a little time because everybody wanted to sell me something.
Finally, I found
my bus and clambered up the steps. However, the bus driver looked at me strangely, too strangely. “Sir,
what are you doing on this bus?”
he asked me.
“This is my bus,” I told him.
“No, this is not your bus,” he responded.
I politely, but firmly insisted, “Yes, this is my bus. I was just here, and I came back right to the same place.”
“No, you didn’t. Your bus just left about a minute or less ago. And I’m the bus that pulled up right beside it.”
My heart sank to my toes. Now the bus driver was worried. “Where are you going?” he asked me.
“To Kasama,” I responded.
“That’s where I’m going too. You can go on this bus.” “What about all my luggage?” I asked.
“Maybe we can catch up with your bus and find your luggage,” he told me.
As the new bus took off down the bumpy road, I walked my way through the crowded aisles looking for a seat. I didn’t have a place to be anymore. Where should I sit?
God, why am I on this wrong bus? I thought. Is there a holy reason? Is there a special divine appointment waiting for me?
As
I went down the
aisle, everybody stared at
me.
Everybody must have been thinking, What is this strange guy from America doing on this bus? How did he get on the wrong bus?
Divine Appointment
Finally, I noticed two, well-dressed gentlemen sitting on my left. The Holy Spirit impressed me to sit close behind them across the aisle. There was a seat open, so I sat down and introduced myself.
“I am here in Zambia praying that God will help me have divine appointments with anybody whom I can recruit and train to help me disciple government schoolteachers across Zambia,” I told them.
The two men prayed with me, thought about what I had told them, and prayed some more. Finally, they quietly handed me a little piece of paper. “Here is the name of one of the bishops in our denomination,” they said, “and he has a great love for young people. I think that he will assist you.”
“Oh, thank you,” I told them gratefully. My heart was moved.
We finally arrived in Kasama and as it turned out, on the way there, we had passed my original bus. However, my original bus caught up with us not long after we arrived. The driver stopped long enough for me to retrieve my luggage—God had protected it!
While I thought in the beginning that I had made a horrible mistake by losing my bus, it was very clear to me that God had led me to the second bus. I thought about how agitated I had been about getting on the wrong bus and losing my luggage. Yet God was guiding my footsteps, and He was leading me to many divine appointments.
After retrieving my luggage, I looked around. “Now what do I do, God? I have no money for a hotel and no money for food. What shall I do?”
God Provides
You know, my friends, God is good, and He knows how to take care of His children. Soon after I prayed, God provided a place to stay. He also gave me more divine appointments as well as volunteers to assist me in discipling teachers to disciple the new generations of Zambia.
I found a ride to take me to the bishop whose contact information I had received. I had no idea what to expect, so as I walked up to the large, busy church, I thought to myself, How unusual to see so many people here in the middle of the week during the middle of the day! Why are they all here?
I walked in the door and a room full of faces turned and looked at me. They were obviously in the middle of a very serious meeting and were surprised that I, a foreigner, would walk in unannounced.
As I looked at the sea of faces, I was startled to see the two church leaders I had met on the bus the previous day. They were presiding over a major business meeting for the many churches in their denomination across northern Zambia. They looked up, and recognizing me, they nodded.
The two leaders interrupted their meeting to tell the people about how I had lost my bus and ended up meeting and praying with them on their bus the day before. “We believe that God arranged this as a divine appointment,” one of the leaders testified. “And this man has something to say to all of you as leaders.” They then invited me to take five minutes and speak to all those assembled.
“Could we bow our heads in prayer?” I asked, as they turned the time over to me.
Everyone bowed their heads, and we prayed earnestly. And then I told them, “I am looking and praying across Zambia for God to raise up men and women who have a heart for discipling government schoolteachers to disciple the new generations to Jesus. Would you please pray with me on this search over the next week, that God will help me find such a team?”
The people nodded their heads solemnly. A few minutes later, as I left the meeting, two young pastors ran after me.
“The Spirit of God has moved our hearts,” they told me. “We want to assist you in this work of discipling government schoolteachers to disciple their children.”
Call to Action
Oh, my friends, remember, God always has a way.
What an adventure it was traveling for a week across Zambia with just a few dollars in my pocket!
From place to place, I would go with no promise of accommodations or food. And every place I went, God had already gone ahead of me and arranged a home for me to stay with enough food to eat. What a testimony of how God could take my few dollars and stretch them very far by the kindness and love of God’s people.
You know, this happened to me again and again until God raised up a whole team of fine Zambian men and women who love the Lord Jesus and who long to disciple the new generations.
Now, whenever something strange happens in my travel schedule, whether I don’t make my flight, or I end up at what seems like the wrong place at the wrong time, I’ve found it’s always good to ask, “Lord, could it be that You have a holy purpose for me in this place?”
His answer is always, “Yes!”
All scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
