A Christian Nation

by | Dec 3, 2024 | Zambia Mission Trip

My first sense that things were a bit different was at customs. After presenting a letter from ACTION Zambia explaining what we were in the country to do, the woman got a big smile on her face, waived the visa fee and wished me the best: God bless your trip.

This became a very regular occurrence in Zambia, when people learn that you are a pastor coming to serve with a missions organization, you are received with open arms. This is, at least in part, because Zambia is a Christian nation. It is ratified in their constitution as the state religion and most recent statistics say that 95% of the country claims to be Christian. To break this down even more, the rate of Protestants in 75%, while Catholics make up 20%.

There is no separation of church and state. When you drive down the road, you see shops with Christian signage and even the minibus names have some religious overtones (my favorite was LordForce). When you talk to people, they are always ready to praise God or to turn to Him for prayer. Coming from a Western country, where the culture tiptoes around religious ideas, this can be a bit shocking — though in a positive way. Zambia has what many in America are striving towards.

In this, you also see the issues of uniting nation to Christianity. Since Christianity is the cultural norm, they tend to read common knowledge as Biblical knowledge. Practices and ethics passed down by tribes are assumed to be Christian, because the people giving this counsel are Christian. This has created syncretism: a blending of cultural ideas and Biblical concepts. Some of the tribal ideas that have found their way into the church are anti-Christian.

There are religious groups in Zambia that celebrate this syncretism, others who merely accept it, and those who actively push back against it. In Lusaka, the Reformed Baptists are one of the ‘push back’ groups, with an influential church led by Conrad Mbewe (the Spurgeon of Africa). They also have a college that was led by Voddie Baucham and a seminary with an amazing faculty. For many outside of Zambia, this become the obvious group and movement to connect yourself to.

For those ministering in Zambia, it is not just about picking the people who are the most right. You can spend all of your time with the safer, more theological groups (who often already have their own resources), or you can focus on where the greatest need is (which will mean being in a lot of very awkward situations). Depending on where you live, this may also mean that the majority of the people who you are in a community with belong to one group or the other. If you are investing in specific people, in a specific area, you may end up at a church that is a bit different than what you are used to.

This is how I found myself invited to preach at a Pentecostal church within walking distance of Camp Ciyanjano. The majority of the people who work directly with the Huckaby family attend this church and it was a great honor to have a pastor from America choose to give a message here. This honor was reflected in numerous song and dance numbers that they prepared for us. One group after another had a gift in the form of a performance. While it was very different from Communion Church, you could see how their cultural understanding affirmed and supported the ways that they worshipped God. After about an hour and a half of music, I was invited up to share the word of God with them. This was my first time speaking with an interpreter, but brother John made it a joy. He raised his voice when I did and even whispered at one point to mimic my inflections. While I have no idea what he actually said, people seemed to respond at the right points, so I am going to assume that it was a faithful representation of what I said. 
As I came down from speaking, a woman grabbed my arm and told me that I needed to go greet the kids. On the way out to greet them, she told me that she could translate, at which point I was wondering what she expected me to say. Did they already have a lesson? I asked. She let me know that this was what I was going out to do. In the 20 steps that I had, I came up with a few things to say and allowed their answers to guide the conversation. They also shared a song with me, which was less practiced, but just as beautiful. The style of singing is very different in Zambia, with almost everything done in a call and response fashion. They also seem to be able to harmonize from birth, and they are always clapping with numerous rhythms at the same time.
Worshipping with the people of Redeemed Church was a joy, but also gave me a glimpse into how cultural Christianity can so quickly become filled with practices that are not derived from Scripture. Throughout the rest of my time in Zambia, I began my answer to people’s questions with: let’s see what the Bible has to say about that. I don’t want the people to trust me because I came a long way to visit them (or any other reason related to education or skin color), but because I root my worldview in the Word of God. Which is how I decided to start the class that I taught the next day…
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