In July 2019, Pastor Theo Low visited Zambia with a team from Sunset Church in San Francisco, California, with Hands at Work. He shared his reflections as he finished his fourth full day in Africa and his third day of church mobilization with some Zambian local pastors in Kafubu Block, a community where Hands serves.
After Hands at Work and Pastor Joey and Abe gathered them all last year, these 15 pastors began to meet together regularly throughout the year. Because of that, they’ve grown together. Most of these local pastors are bi-vocational, which means they have small churches and they are not paid to pastor their church. But these men have a great hunger for the Word of God and they are so humble, teachable, and joyful! They used to be so isolated, but now in this past year, they’ve grown so close together and have unity in the gospel.
It’s been great to see and hear the pastors’ biblical wisdom as they wrestle through how to not only know the gospel but live it out in their lives and in their neighborhood. I’ve learned so much from them and have been so encouraged by them, their faith, their wisdom and their love for their neighbors.
Some of the local pastors and I visited a family who has a lot of disease and pain afflicting them. One pastor who regularly visits this family opened my Bible to Psalm 139 and started reading and encouraging them. I realized, I may leave, but this family and this neighborhood will still have faithful men preaching and teaching God’s Word. These men have affirmed their love for the true gospel, they hold God’s Word up high, and they constantly reference it. Abe, who accompanied us on the visit, kept repeating the phrase, “saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.” That phrase described the faith of the pastors I met in Kabufu Block. Praise God that He is working here in this neighborhood through these men. People who desperately need hope have men who are faithfully preaching gospel hope!
I’m so thankful to God for how he is working in this neighborhood, the unity of these pastors around the gospel, and the work that they and Hands at Work are doing here. It’s amazing and humbling! The Hands at Work team has been such an encouragement, blessing, and inspiration to us.