It has been almost 20 years since I was on the continent of Africa. I actually had some anxiety about the long journey, but was so excited to be a part of the ministry there. We finally arrived after two days of travel and were amazed at the hospitality of Darren and Elissa. Darren is a physician at Mukinge Hospital in Western Zambia. There are 200 beds, a great staff, and even a nursing school. The "boma" or town is about three miles away and I enjoyed doing a few morning runs through the market. The Tompkins have four precious children and they really love the people there, who are mostly Kikaunde, which is a language and a tribe. By the way, June or July is a great time to go to that part of the world because it is winter time, so it was a relief from the Texas heat. The Tompkins had put together a pastor's conference for us to lead for three days as well as several devotionals and Bible studies for the missionaries and hospital staff. I also was able to preach both Sundays at one of the churches which was without a pastor. The pastor's conference was a highlight because many of the pastors are laymen and do not have access to much training. Darren's dad found some study Bibles online that we were able to bring which they greatly appreciated. The pastor's requested that we teach on preaching, discipleship, and leadership. Brad Humphrey really knows his stuff on leadership and so we asked the pastors to invite local business leaders to come sit in on the last session and incorporate a Gospel presentation as well. Let me sum up our trip by saying that I loved Africa, it was amazing being with Brad and Jeannie Humphrey, the Tompkins are amazing missionaries and really fun to be around, the pastors were definitely filled with the Holy Spirit and their churches are evangelizing that small part of the world, and the hospital is hard at work saving lives and sharing the Gospel.
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