The visits to Muriege, Chiluage, and Muconda were an eye opener to the poverty materially and ignorance spiritually that still exists in the outer regions of Chokweland. The visit encouraged the believers and there was good attention to the Word of God, but it was obvious that there is incredible ignorance of even the most basic principles of the faith. Numbers were not great, but it appears that the few testimonies that still exist are very weak numerically. There is a very real need to keep visiting to encourage the believers, and to teach them the basics of the gospel we have added this area to the list to try and re-visit them sometime in the future.
The visit to the assemblies in Lubalo region was very worthwhile with large numbers of elders from many assemblies present. We exhorted them on the basis of Romans 13 to be subject to the Government, and, as the Government does not require anything that contravenes Scripture, they should not be marked by rebellion. We left the Word of God with them and pray that godly elders will submit to the authority of Scripture. If they chose to ignore the Word of God, then they face a very real threat of closure by the Government.
We are greatly encouraged as far as the outcome of the meetings in Luena is concerned. We praise the Lord for men who stood faithfully on the Word of God and would value continued prayer that the simplicity of gathering to the Name of the Lord Jesus be preserved. Pray that the Lord would keep these men safe as they are the objects of Satanic attack in these difficult days of assembly testimony in Angola.
Please also continue to remember the Government of Angola in prayer. Pray that the liberty we presently enjoy in preaching the gospel be not eroded and that the Word of the Lord may have free course.
We were thankful for the prayers of the saints through the journey to the border crossing into Kalene, Zambia. This was undertaken as a possible alternative route back to the UK as the missionary house in Luanda will soon be unavailable to us. The road was little more than a track, extremely rough and very isolated and with very few villages along the 356km which took 10hrs to complete. The CMML flight service was excellent and their guest house in Lusaka was of very high standard.
The Lord Himself knows all that was done in His Name throughout this another visit. We count it a privilege to serve Him in that corner of His harvest field and value very much your fellowship with us in His work. In the will of the Lord my next visit to Angola will be 23rd November - 16th December.