Lusaka Conference Headquarters
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Lusaka Conference headquarters. Photo courtesy of Goliath M. Naini. Lusaka Conference GOLIATH MAUNGA NAINI Goliath Maunga Naini, M.P.Th. (Adventist University of Africa, Bagathi, Kenya), serves as the executive secretary of the Lusaka Conference since 2010. He served as a local church and district pastor from 1994-2006, and as a departmental director from 2007-2009. He is married to Pimpa Champita Naini. Lusaka Conference is a subsidiary church administrative unity of the Southern Zambia Union Conference of Seventh- day Adventists. Lusaka Conference covers parts of the Central and Lusaka provinces of Zambia. The conference’s geographical area is about 29,819 square kilometers, and it derives its name from Lusaka, the capital city of Zambia. Lusaka Conference occupies the southern half of the city of Lusaka using the two main roads, namely, Great East Road up to Luangwa River in the east, and the Lusaka-Mumbwa Road up to the border of the Central and Western provinces of Zambia on the western side.1 On the northern side of these roads is the Midlands Conference under the Northern Zambia Union Conference. Lusaka Conference was organized December 4, 2012, with a membership of 176,659.2 By 2019 the population stood at 1,300,551, with the Adventist church membership standing at 126,883.3 There are 215 organized churches and 303 companies. Lusaka Conference has 30 ordained ministers and 14 licensed pastors, inclusive of those serving at the office and in the districts. Origin of SDA Work in the Territory of Lusaka Conference Discussion of Adventism in any part of Zambia will not be complete without mentioning the contribution of the American missionary, William Harrison Anderson, who established Rusangu Mission in the southern part of the country in 1905. From Rusangu, the Adventist work spread to all parts of the country. One of the earliest recorded visits to Lusaka region by an Adventist missionary was that of A. Boekhout and four boys who left Rusangu Mission on July 1, 1913, passing through Lusaka to Mpiri (probably Kapiri Mposhi).4 Later, a longing to have a school in Lusaka was expressed in discussions between Rusangu Mission workers and students who originated from Lusaka region.5 A formal decision to enter Lusaka area with the Adventist message came when the Rhodesian Committee Council that met in Bulawayo on May 20, 1918, voted the following: “Considering the needs of the Northern Rhodesia field, it was decided that work be started in the Lusaka country by the means of out-schools under direction of Rusangu Mission, this to be followed by establishing an out station if the situation demands it.”6 Consequently, Adventism spread northwards, especially through the opening of church schools, in addition to the continuous migration of people from the southern part of Zambia, crossing the Kafue River, and settling in the western part of the Lusaka Conference territory. Many of those people who crossed (and many are still crossing) the Kafue River, which forms the boundary between Lusaka Conference and South Zambia Conference, spread the message wherever they went and settled. Many of those who came from the south had attended school at Rusangu, which gave them an Adventist background that enhanced the establishment and growth of the Adventist church in Lusaka west and to the north beyond Broken Hill (Kabwe).7 By 1922 there were already several Adventist out-schools in the Lusaka area that missionaries visited from time to time.8 One of the native camp meetings held in Northern Rhodesia that year was held in Lusaka.9 On another occasion, while F. E. Thompson, Superintendent of the Northern Rhodesia Field was holding a three-day teachers’ meeting in Lusaka, he learned from the district commissioner that Adventist teachers were the most preferred wherever village headmen wished to have a school opened.10 In 1926, a decision was made to organize all Lusaka out-schools into a mission station called Muchenje Mission Station or district (which now lies in Midlands Conference), with Wilford Mason serving as director.11 Sala School, opened in 1922, was part of that district. From that beginning until now, Lusaka Conference territory, like those of all other local conferences in Zambia, is managed through mission districts that are led by district leaders. The Adventist work in the Lusaka Conference region has developed steadily over the years. Its recent development patterns may be examined better under the following divisions: Eastern, Central, and Western regions. Eastern Region The Eastern region mainly consists of the three political districts of Chongwe, Rufunsa, and Luangwa, which are divided into five mission districts, namely, Chalimbana, Lwiimba, Chinyunyu, Rufunsa, and Luangwa. These districts have 39 organized churches and 53 companies. In this territory, extending for approximately 300 square kilometers, there are five chiefdoms: Nkomeshya, Bundabunda, Mpanshya, Mburuma, and Mpuka. Some of the major factors that enhanced the growth of the Adventist church include the good will of the traditional leaders, the global mission pioneer program (lay Bible workers), and the phenomenal influence of high-profile Adventists in public service. One example of the impact made by the good will of traditional leaders is that of Chief Mburuma of the Kunda people in the Luangwa area. In 2015 the chief donated a 44-hectare piece of land to the church. The conference drilled a borehole and designated the land to be used as a site for holding Luangwa camp meetings, until such time as it is needed for future developments. Lusaka Conference also promoted mission projects for opening up new areas that have not yet been entered by the gospel through the use of Adventist global mission pioneers. This program has been particularly used in the Luangwa and Rufunsa districts beginning in 2014. Since then, seven such unentered areas have been opened and 24 new congregations have been established. As a result of the global mission pioneer activities, 1,918 people were baptized. One of the notable people baptized was the wife of His Royal Highness Chief Mphuka in 2017. Earlier on, in the 1970s, two groups of the Sikasote and the Siame families arrived in Feira district (now known as Luangwa) in the eastern part of the Lusaka Conference territory. They went there on work transfer from the Northern Province of Zambia. In those days, very few government civil servants agreed to work in the Luangwa Valley because of the political liberation war that was raging in the neighboring country of Mozambique. These two Adventist families, however, trusted God and risked their lives by going there. They became the pioneers of the Seventh-day Adventist Church work in the Luangwa area.12 Thirty years later, between the years 2000 and 2010, another interesting feature took place in Luangwa when most of the high-profile government officers were Adventists. This provided the church with stable leadership in this isolated and largely unentered territory. Some of the prominent Adventist church members and leaders included members of parliament, senior district police officers, district magistrates, and workers in the office of the president. Others worked for the Zambia Tele-Communication Corporation, Zambia Wild Life Authority, Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Community and Social Development. During this period, the Adventist Church’s influence in the area became so strong that the civic authorities opted not to hold public meetings on Saturdays in order to allow for a significant participation of Adventists in those meetings.13 Adventist churches in the Lusaka urban area frequently extended their missionary outreach services to the Luangwa area. Many times, these churches and districts, such as Lusaka Central, Libala, Chilenje Main, Kanyama, and Avondale, adopted unentered areas like the Luangwa Bridge area, Manuweli, Mangelengele, Kavalamanja, Mphuka, Chiriwe, Chalila, and Kapoche, for evangelism. In these areas the Lusaka urban churches conducted evangelistic campaigns, provided community services, and helped to build churches. Urban-based supporting ministries such as the medical missionaries also took part in entering the Eastern region by conducting evangelistic campaigns. For example, at Kavalamanja, at the end of these efforts, a “One-Day” type of church building was constructed. Luangwa area benefited tremendously from the global “One-Day Church” building initiative spearheaded by Maranatha Volunteers International from the United States. A total of seven places in Luangwa benefited from this donation program when an evangelistic activity was completed.14 Central Region This region is made up of parts of Chongwe, Lusaka, Kafue, and Chilanga political districts. It is divided into 22 mission districts, with 184 organized churches and 89 companies. The central region extends for 25 square kilometers and is mainly made up of the Lusaka urban area and the two adjacent towns of Chilanga and Kafue. The Central region, by virtue of its urban location, has benefited much from its population concentration which creates a conducive environment for large city public evangelistic campaigns. The city evangelistic campaigns such as those of the 1980s and onwards contributed much to the numerical growth of the church. A few examples include those by Fritz Henry (1989), Cornelius Matandiko (1991), and Rosco Howard III (1997). Others include those conducted by Herry Mhando (2000), and the satellite evangelistic campaigns by Lonny Melanshenko (2003), and others ran by Ty Gibson, and Evangelist Kent.15 The latest campaign was Zambia for Christ in June 2018, with Lusaka Conference as one of the hubs of two-week long campaigns spearheaded by Adventist World Radio. This campaign resulted in the baptism of more than 7,500 people in Lusaka Conference alone.16 In the Lusaka, Chilanga, and Kafue urban areas, literature evangelism ministry has also been scoring successes. Meanwhile, the suburban region of Lusaka city has had its share of global mission pioneers in the Chanyanya area of the Kafue River flats.