Teach them the Way they should go…

Jesus, undeterred, went right ahead and gave his charge: “God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I’ll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age.” And the Lord commanded us to go into all the earth and teach them the way they should go… Matthew 28:19-20
Here we are Heiko and I, living in the middle of Africa, a dream from childhood now realized by both of us. This place is addictive. Come only once and you will be gloriously ruined forever. You will dream for this place as if all of creation began here and you long to return back to the beginning.
At the same time we are surrounded by poverty, starvation, sickness, disease, hopelessness, ancestral worship of other gods, witchcraft, and multitudes of every form of total deception. It reminds us daily, very boldly, how blessed we are to know the truth and to be set free. To experience this kind of life around us and to sit in the dirt with those in it, is worth more than all the gold in the world. We are honored to hold the key that unlocks all bondages for every person’s prison, every circumstance, and every lie of the enemy. It is our blessed responsibility to give the key to all people that the Lord places in front of us. For Heiko and me they happen to be just outside of our gate. During the week we lead the poverty stricken, hungry, orphaned young men and women who have been held captive by the lies’ of the enemy into our home and we feed them and disciple them in love and in truth.
Right now we have 8 disciples. Aka, is a young man searching for a purpose and hope after an accident that left him paraplegic. His little brother joins us now too. Kefas, is young man living in a shack, with several small siblings, and no clothes but those on his back. John is living with his sister and with a serious drinking problem that is destroying his life. Nasilele, a young man searching desperately for the truth as he raises his 2 year old daughter. There is Cleopatra, the girl that works at the photo copy shop where I print my disciple teachings, she reads every word asking each week for more. Unike is our house keeper; she is a single mom and daughter to an Episcopal Pastor, on fire for the Lord. Then there is Peter our gardener, father of 6 and caretaker of his wife, her sister, and the sisters 5 children, and his mother.
Each week they come hungry for the word. Each week they are set free more and more. They’re stories and testimonies minister to us as we minister to them.
Here is Aka’s testimony, may you be blessed!
Aka is our adopted brother and is very special to us. He has found new hope since becoming paraplegic. Daily he comes to our home where we assist him with physical therapy. He designed a standing device which allows blood to circulate into his dead limbs. He is constantly doing research on the internet at our home for new surgical procedures that may help him walk one day as well as praying for God’s healing to manifest in him.
WHO I AM
I am Kapelwa Akatumwa, Zambian born on the 22 of November 1982 from the family of four, two guys and two ladies. We just lived as a family under one shelter for short. This is because my father died, when I was 1year 8months and my grandparents took me from my mum, who died four year later. For this reason I never called any person father, and never had chance to enjoy motherly love. For my sisters and brother, each one was taken by other relatives.
MY EDUCATION
I did my junior and senior secondary under hardships for this my grades were not good to get me a place into university, but managed to go college, and did a certificate in accounting, I would like to finish the accounting course for me to get a better job or if I can have an outer native of keeping myself such as having a employment or running a business. But talking of employment, it’s not that easy because employers would prefer physically able boded persons to disabled person (like me) which is African way. Being a determined person as I am, I would have made it. But as the common saying goes “the dog plan is not the owner’s plan”
In the year 2005 applied to join Zambia police and was accepted. The training was to start month end of December 2005, in the same month I got involved in the road traffic accident in which I suffered series of injuries including spinal cord injury, therefore partial paralysis and now wheelchair based.
AFTER THE ACCIDENT
The accident happened at a place which is away from my home town. We were four of us in the car and only I had serious injuries, such that I was half dead. I was taken to the nearby hospital where, I spent 7 days in coma with just a friend taking care of me. We had nothing on us since the local people got away with all our belonging which is a common trend in my country, whenever an accident occurs. After which I was transferred to the bigger hospital. During all this time my relatives did not know what had happened to me or where I was.
It was only the time when I reach at the bigger hospital that I was able to open my eyes, talk and hear. This was the time I was told of what had happened.
From 8th December 2005, I have been the hospital boy up to beginning September 2007. I was in the hospital for such a long time partly because of the pressure sores and partly because my family members didn’t want to take up on the responsibility of patient (pressure sores) and physically disabled person.
When I come out off the hospital my aunt (my father’s young sister) put me in her servant’s quarters, where I live up to this time. Thanks to her I’m out of the hospital.
LIFE IN THE WHEELCHAIR.
During the time I was in the hospital, my relationship with God was not good at all as I couldn’t understand what I was going through and I realy had many questions, like where is God to let me go through this alone, why did it happened to me and why me only since we where four of us in the that car.
During this time, I never wanted any one to tell me that ‘God loves me, that why he saved me from that accident’.
To me death was going to be better than life in the hospital. This was because:- I can no longer walk, I can’t be independent, as this is the time I was to be highly productive, and lost most of my friends and lost the employment opportunity.
MY COMING BACK TO GOD.
All this time many people talked to me about God, but I had made up my mind. But things changed when I met a friend called Heiko, who had time to listen to what had happened to me and then invited me to a live television church program. Then after he told me about the love for God, and two weeks later he took me with him for church service and from then I have been going with him to church with the difficulties of accessing places with the wheelchair, he has been there for me and shows me that, even if I am disabled some people still look at me as a person and I look at him as my real brother.

