The New-Look KBC Campus Outreach Ministry

For years now, Kabwata Baptist Church has been reaching out evangelistically to students on the various college and university campuses of Lusaka through its senior youth ministry. However, we have always felt that this was insufficient for three reasons.

(1) The energies within the church have been bursting at the seams. The engine has been raving in overdrive. There has been need to increase speed to avoid a sense of frustration in those who want to do more. (2) The students who come to KBC testify that there is much more we could do because the campuses are being overrun with liberalism and charismatic chaos. (3) With the liberalisation of education in Zambia, many more private and public colleges and universities are being opened in Lusaka, and so there is need to increase our capacity to catch the wind in our sails.

Hence, finally, at the beginning of this year, the eldership asked one brother at KBC, Macarthur Mudenda, to lead a ministry to reach the campuses of Lusaka.

THE LAUNCH
With that done, the KBC Campus Outreach Ministry was launched on Saturday, 25 May 2013. About thirty members attended! Macarthur explained the vital place of a campus outreach ministry for such a time as this so that the “dream team” could see why they had been assembled. He made it clear that it was not the intention of KBC to start another student group on the campuses, but rather to work with groups like the Zambia Fellowship of Evangelical Students (ZAFES) to reach out to students.

MINISTRY OVERVIEW
The purpose of the KBC campus outreach ministry is the salvation and sanctification of individuals who are on the college and university campuses of Lusaka. This involves ensuring that the students are exposed to and challenged with the gospel, discipled in the truth on an individual basis according to their stage of spiritual growth, and groomed to take their place in professional life upon graduation.

Welcoming first years
This begins with welcoming the first years. Most of them are new in town and therefore very insecure and vulnerable. We want to be a part of their settling down process on their new campuses, especially during the “orientation week”.

Campus visits
Our campus outreach ministry will involve a lot of campus visits, especially towards the beginning of their terms and semesters. Towards the end they want to be left alone with their books, and so it is important to be sensitive to this. Part of these campus visits also include attending and ministering to the ZAFES groups, as we have opportunity.

The campus outreach "dream team"

Personalised attention
Students are individuals with very personal needs, which they are only willing to share with those who have shown love and interest in them. They are in that stage of life when they are discovering themselves spiritually and morally. They are very vulnerable, especially that most of them are far away from home. Thus there is a great need for personalised interest in them by members of KBC.

Specialised biblical studies
Sunday is special to the students we reach out to. The great challenge is to provide them with transport to church. Thus we need to have buses and cars dedicated to picking up students for church. We also want to minister in such a way that students will feel as if we are scratching where it is itching. College and university students are the intellectual cream of any society. Thus it is important to think about their individual development through deliberate mentoring, so that they are prepared to become tomorrow’s leaders.

Short-term missions involvement
College and university students are at that stage in life when they have a lot of energy. Thus it is important to get them involved in strategic activities that utilise that energy, especially when they are on holiday. Short-term missions trips, handling children’s vacation Bible schools, etc., are very good examples that we are currently exploring.

CONCLUSION
So, we are setting our sails to the wind. As Lusaka brings in college and university students from right across the whole country, like Pentecost in Bible times, we want to be ready to minister to these young lives. We want to be relevant to what God is doing in his providence in this country. We know that if we reach this generation of students, we will be reaching the decision-makers of tomorrow. Our prayer is that God may use our efforts to bring about a revival of true religion through the young lives that we will impact in this way.

We are mindful that we cannot do this alone. We will need partnerships. We will need your prayer and financial support. We know that it is often on college and university campuses that Satan destroys many young lives. He will not easily let go of his prey. But with Lord Almighty on our side, he will be vanquished. Those of you who are able to help in kind, please feel free to get in touch via my email address. Thank you!