Howard Worth
(Image credit: Salwa Ravensdale)
Yesterday, I was thrilled to discover a letter that I got from Howard Worth in 2009 where he wrote of his ministry at Ndola Baptist Church in the 70s. Below is a biographical sketch of Howard Worth based mostly on the letter that he wrote.
Introduction
Howard Worth was born in London in England on 7th November 1937. In terms of siblings, Howard Worth had an older brother, Colin and a younger sister, Valerie. His parents though not Christian, encouraged the family to go to Sunday School when they were living in Ewell, Surrey. Worth was the fifth pastor of Ndola Baptist Church after Terry Smith.
Conversion
Worth was converted at the age of 19 during his 2 years of National Service which at the time was compulsory. He was led to the Lord by a Church of England Chaplain. Worth describes it as “a wonderful and dramatic conversion experience and the Lord made a complete change in his life”. Although he had no help, he found myself witnessing to what Jesus had done for him and also reading the Bible regularly. He was moved to another camp where he met another Christian and together attended a Christian fellowship where he began to grow in grace and in his knowledge of the Bible.
Call to Ministry
Howard Worth says he knew from the time he first trusted in the Lord that he would be serving him full-time. That sense of call became clearer when he finished his National Service, and joined a local church. That church was Upton Vale Baptist Church in Torquay. Devon where he was baptised. He trained for the Baptist Ministry at Spurgeon’s College, London from 1961 to 1965. From there he went on to serve his first church as pastor from 1965 to 1970.
Call to Ndola Baptist Church
While serving at his first pastorate, Worth received a visit from an old college friend, Graham Ingram, who by then was pastor of Lusaka Baptist Church in Lusaka. He told him of a church in Zambia that was seeking a pastor. He gave my name to Ndola Baptist Church.
Worth received a letter from Ndola Baptist Church in the summer of 1970 inviting him to be their pastor. After a great deal of prayer, he accepted and flew out to Zambia in February 1971. Howard Worth was inducted as pastor of Ndola Baptist Church by Graham Ingram and George Smith on 28 February 1971.
Worth says that from the time he arrived he knew this was the place where the Lord wanted him to serve Him. He further says that knew the Lord’s blessing in a very real and wonderful way. The church grew so much that the church building had to be extend twice! The membership of Ndola Baptist Church grew from 25 to 38 in 1972. Worth did a l good among the secondary school students at chihuahua and used to collect many of them for Saturday afternoon youth group and for the Sunday service. Under Worth's ministry the church grew and became racially mixed. He had a during evangelistic programme among Africans who started coming to the church. Ín 1976 the congregation had grown to 200 people 80% been Africans among whom were many Zambian young people The church grow rapidly the church building had to be extended in 1974 and a 1977. Worth says that he had never seen such love and fellowship across racial barriers.
This is more or less what happened to the sister church or daughter church Lusaka Baptist Church in later years. Truly the Lord was at work in Zambia! Worth recalls “There are people serving the Lord in Zambia, UK and Canada, who first came to Him at Ndola Baptist Church”.
He also notes that there were many missionaries that attended Ndola Baptist Church. Worth spoke at missionary retreats in Mpongwe, Mukinge and Mwinilunga. He also spoke to the University Christian Fellowship at University of Zambia in Lusaka, as well as an evening service once a month broadcast on Zambian radio.
Worth observes that “We saw the Holy Spirit at work in the church and some of the gifts were manifested in our services. Looking back I can only say with the Psalmist “The Lord has done great things for us and we are filled with joy (Psalm 126:3). Howard Worth left Zambia in 1977 and came back to the UK in the southern suburbs of London. Worth also served as treasurer of the Zambia Baptist Association when it was established in April 1971.
Looking back, he was full of praise to the Lord for his goodness and grace. During his ministry at Ndola Baptist Church, the church grew in number with average attendance at Sunday School in 1973 being 150 children. In 1976 the church membership grew to 200 such that by 1977 the church building had to be extended again having been extended 3 years earlier!
Reflections
1. The ministry of Howard Worth at Ndola Baptist Church is an example of how God is able to use a single man for the the cause of his gospel. Worth like his counterpart Graham Ingram at Lusaka Baptist Church were both single and the Lord was pleased to use him in the building up of their respective churches at the time.
2. The commendation of a pastor to a church for a pastor they can consider calling can be useful. It is interesting to note how the Lord used Graham Ingram to commend his friend Howard Worth to the pastorate of Ndola Baptist Church. It proved to be a useful recommendation judged on how the Lord used Howard Worth to his glory at Ndola Baptist Church.
3. It is interesting to note how a particular bible college, in this case, Spurgeon’s College in London, produced a number of pastors who served at Ndola Baptist Church and Lusaka Baptist Church. Howard Worth trained at Spurgeon’s College as well as Graham Ingram, Michael Eaton, Joe Simfukwe and Alfred Nyirenda who served at Lusaka Baptist Church.
4. We see God's grace in using Howard Worth to grow the church numerically as well as it become a racial mixed church. This is how the church ought to be. A family of believers of various ages, tribes, races, social classes and so on.
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