Evangelists Report: Exciting News from Remote Zambian Villages
I went for the Gospel outreach to a remote village on the west bank [of the Zambezi River] called Chambi. Here, a small group of eager women and men were already gathered and ready to listen to the Word of God. I…
Merry Christmas From Your ITMI Partners!
We asked our partners to share some of the ways Jesus’ kingdom was advanced this year. We hope you are encouraged by their answers and the special messages they have for you!
Stuck in Deep Mud on the Floodplains
Mid-September, ITMI’s Johan Leach updated us that the drilling team arrived in Chavuma with their heavy truck overflowing with the supplies and tools needed to drill and install 8 new boreholes in strategic locations. About a week later, he reported…
DEAR TEAM: Unspeakable Gratitude
It’s tough to believe that the mere sight of a 2-ton flatbed truck with gravel and casings in the back can cause a community to erupt in riotous dancing and jubilation. …
Drillers Arrive to Begin Digging 8 New Wells in Zambia!
An exciting two-minute message from Johan Leach in Zambia!
DEAR TEAM: A Wednesday Morning Call That Changed Our Plans
It was a Wednesday morning when I got one of those calls you never want to get. …
The crocodile infested Zambezi River isolates a small slice of Zambia, just east of its western border with Angola. Because this area is so difficult to access, those who live there are cut off from most services and receive few visitors to their small, rural villages.
Due to the frequent flooding of the river, geographically, this area is a floodplain, named after the Luvale people who inhabit it.
Life on the Luvale floodplain is difficult. It's a daily battle to survive. For the daily water that they need to live, villagers dig holes in the ground or the women and girls spend most of their days hauling water.
Uncovered, these are contaminated by animals and pests.
A young village boy drinks from a puddle.
A hand-dug hole one village was drinking out of.
Animism - the worship of one’s ancestors - is prevalent in Luvale culture. If bad things happen, often the blame falls on a family member who is accused of cursing another and may be attacked, lynched or hurt.
A boy from one of the villages Johan ministers to clings to his new-to-him clothes, delivered by Johan and ITMI's Steve Evers.
A village listens to Johan share the gospel after receiving access to clean, safe water.
Johan sharing the gospel with one of the villages that received access to clean, safe water through ITMI's clean, safe water project.
A village man celebrates a gift of new used clothing from Johan and ITMI.
Johan and Lesley took everything they had and moved to the rural settlement of Chavuma in response to God's calling to share the Good News with the Luvale people. They built a garage as temporary living quarters. They cook meat on a barbecue or an open fire, they make oatmeal and maize in cast iron pots in the front yard.
They split wood for cooking, repair their own vehicles, use a generator to produce limited electricity and boil river water to drink.
Chavuma is their mission base where they could reach the forgotten villagers on the other side of the Zambezi River.
While there, they've developed relationships with local churches, built training programs and raised up leaders and evangelists to share the Good News on the flood plain. They continue to equip and teach so that healthy churches can be planted in villages where the Gospel message takes root.
A team of equipped evangelists, preparing to cross the river and visit rural villages to share the Gospel and disciple.
Johan partners with a local pastor, Pastor Teddy, to share the Gospel in a Luvale village.
How Our Partners’ Biblical Teaching is Helping Churches and Believers Be Faithful to Their Calling
ITMI’s Piotr Zaremba and Leszek Wakula have been faithfully preaching and teaching God’s Word. Now people are equipped for ministry as Ukrainian refugees come to their cities and churches.
How You Equipped our Partners to Embody Jesus’ Protection and Loving Care for Those in Need
It was 4am. ITMI’s Steve Evers couldn’t sleep. In a couple of hours, he would begin a 12-13 hour day of ministry in Poland, but he knew he wasn’t going to fall asleep. …
DEAR TEAM: Our God is a Global God
“Why have you forgotten us?” These are piercing words that came from the believers in the Democratic Republic of Congo to the missionary community. The believers of the DRC know the answer, but they still long in their hearts to have this fact erased from their reality. …
A Visit to the Village of Kawelele
When ITMI’s Johan Leach arrived at the remote village, one of the many villages on the isolated Luvale floodplain, he and his team immediately realized their plans were going to change.
Two New Believers in Mahina Village (Video)
Zea is a student missionary with ITMI’s Lesley and Johan Leach in Zambia and Angola. When Johan’s team travelled to the village of Mahina…
