Rev Mpundu Mutala, General Secretary of the BS of Zambia. Photo: BSZ (ZAM04DJ-3.JPG)

ZAMBIA – When a team of staff and Board members from the Bible Society of Zambia (BSZ) set off for the ceremony to launch the Mambwe-Lungu New Testament, they knew the journey would be a long one – but they could scarcely have been prepared for all the difficulties they were to encounter on the way.

The town of Mbala, where the launch was due to be held, was about 1,400 km [870 miles] from the Society’s headquarters in Lusaka. Bearing in mind the long journey ahead, the team held a prayer session at a petrol station just before 5.00 a.m. Then, their two vehicles set off: the station wagon was driven by the Rev Mpundu Mutala, the General Secretary of the Bible Society. Also in it were the Rev Esther Odani, Vice Chairman of the Bible Society, and Kelvin Samwata, chairman of the translation sub-committee, plus about a thousand copies of the Mambwe-Lungu New Testament.

Vernacular Bibles

After about nine hours, with some kilometres now separating the two vehicles, the minibus developed an engine problem. On a stretch of road surrounded for as far as the eye could see by grass, trees and bush, and with no mechanic on board, the only help was likely to come from another traveller, so the team set about praying for someone else to come along.

First to arrive was a police car heading in the opposite direction. After checking the vehicle, the police officer advised them not to try driving on. Instead, he flagged down a passing truck that was going their way and suggested they cut out the rear seat belts to make an improvised tow rope so that the truck could tow them to Serenje, the next town, which lay about 65km away.

In Serenje the three staff, still determined that the launch should go ahead the next day as planned, agreed that two of them should take a few boxes of New Testaments and continue the journey while the third remained to look after the minibus.

Right direction

Deciding what to do was one thing; executing their plan was another matter! They approached five different drivers – all of whom were going in the right direction – without finding one willing to give them a lift. Fortunately another, Mr Kabanda, was happy to do so.

Meanwhile, communication by mobile phone being impossible in such a remote area, the Society staff in the station wagon continued their journey a considerable distance ahead, unaware of their colleagues’ breakdown. In fact, the station wagon itself, it was later revealed, had problems of its own. One of the tyres burst on the road and the engine had reached boiling point. But a retired mechanic from a nearby village was soon at hand to repair the vehicle – for nothing!

“He must have been an angel sent by God to rescue us,” said Mr Mutala.

Meanwhile, the angel sent to the aid of the minibus party, Mr Kabanda, was keeping his two passengers entertained by telling them all he knew about the places they were passing through. Finally, at about 8.00 pm, he dropped them in a town called Kasama, where they were due to meet the party in the station wagon. As they were parting, the pair were so intent on taking the boxes of Scriptures out of Mr Kabanda’s car that Perdita Chenjela forgot her handbag. But as soon as Mr Kabanda realised, he returned with it. To show their gratitude, they gave him a copy of the Good News Bible.

A typical dirt road in Zambia. Photo: UBS/Maurice Harvey. (ZAM97T-76.JPG)

‘Read it!’

“Don’t put it away on the shelf,” they urged him. “Read it!”

Tired and hungry, the two sought out the house of a Christian couple they knew of in the town and were given a meal before continuing. The start of the launch ceremony was now only a few hours away and they still had some 300 km (190 miles) to cover… Fortunately, the rendezvous with the station wagon happened as planned. With some boxes of New Testaments removed to make room for the two additional passengers, the party drove through the night and finally arrived in Mbala at 2.00 a.m.

Shocking news

Even at that late hour Goodson Silavwe, an exegete on the translation project, was patiently waiting up to welcome them and take them to their lodgings. But at about 5.00 a.m. he awoke Mr Mutala to break some shocking news to him: the Vice Chairperson of the Mambwe-Lungu project, Ruth Nakazwe Kaite, had died of a stroke in Mbala, her hometown, just hours before setting her eyes on the New Testament on which she had been labouring for many years. Shattered and grief-stricken by the news, the team joined hands once more in prayer.

News of Mrs Kaite’s death meant that adjustments had to be made to the launch ceremony. Originally scheduled to start at 8.30 a.m., it was put back until 10 a.m and during the service, at Mbala’s United Church of Zambia Central Congregation, the congregation observed a minute’s silence in her memory. In the prayer he offered during the service, Mr Mutala reproved the Devil for trying to block the dedication of the Mambwe-Lungu New Testament which had taken 20 years to translate.

“We sincerely thank God for letting us pass through all these tests designed to block the distribution of God’s word to this community,” he said. “All that has happened should not shake us, for it is the Devil trying in all his power to block the spreading of the Word of God. Instead we should remain strong. The Devil has indeed tried all his tricks but God is right here with us. We are finally launching the Scriptures and you will all read the Word of God in your language!” (WR 408/9 - 01/02.07) [2 photos]