Reflections from the Zambezi

In this blog, I give an abridged version of the biographical sketches of the the first three pastors of Lusaka Baptist Church from 1959 to 1976.  Derek Harris (1959 - 1961) Derek Harris was the first pastor of Lusaka Baptist Church from 1959 - 1961. He played a pioneering role in establishing the church. He was passionate in evangelistic work. Derek Harris was born on 6 April 1927 and was educated and worked in London. Harris was converted during his teens through the Youth Ministry of the Brethren Assembly. He was called to be the first pastor of Lusaka Baptist Church on 1st January 1959. Claude and Charles Kidwell (brothers) were pioneers in establishing the Church and were key in calling Harris to Lusaka Baptist Church. Though the congregation was small initially, it grew in strength and numbers leading to the construction of a church building. Lusaka Baptist was constituted as a church on 2nd July 1961 with the building being opened for worship on 23rd October 1961. Harris's m...

On this day, exactly 100 years ago, one of the well-known Evangelical Christian leaders, John Stott was born. John Stott has been known to many Christians mostly through his books and to those that lived in the pre-World War 1 and 2 era's as well the post-world War era's through his preaching both in person and through electronic media. The Time magazine ranked Stott among the 100 most influential people in the world. John Robert Walmsley Stott was born on 27 April 1921 in London, England. His parents were Arnold and Emily Stott. Stott got converted after  hearing Eric Nash deliver a sermon "What Then Shall I Do with Jesus, Who is Called the Christ?" Nash discipled Scott in the Christian Faith as well as in Christian Leadership. Stott studied modern languages at Trinity College, Cambridge. Whilst at University he was active at the Cambridge Inter-Collegiate Christian Union. In terms of Ministry, Stott was ordained as a deacon in 1945 and became a curate at All Souls C...

Today (1st March) marks exactly 40 years since Dr. Martyn-Lloyd Jones (in photo below taken from Banner of Truth website) went to be with the Lord. Dr. Lloyd-Jones or "The Doctor" as he was fondly known was the pastor or minister of Westminster Chapel in London, England for thirty years until he retired in 1969. Previously, he was minister of a church in Wales, where he hailed from. Dr. Lloyd-Jones has been described by Peter Lewis, who preached at his memorial service in April 1981 as probably the greatest preacher London had since the days of Charles Haddon Spurgeon at Metropolitan Tabernacle. I first encountered Dr. Lloyd-Jones through his books in 1985. The first book I remember reading by hi, was entitled "Authority". I was given this book by Mr. Stephen Winter, my Scripture Union Senior Friend and Housemaster. I was given this book for having served as a Scripture Union Committee.  The next books I read by Dr. Lloyd-Jones were Expositions on the books of Roman...

Michael Eaton was the fourth pastor of Lusaka Baptist Church from 1976 to 1977. He was a good expository preacher/teacher and prolific writer of many Christian books including commentaries on a number of books of the Bible. Michael Eaton was born in 1941. He came from a very ordinary family in London. He became a Christian (late 1950s) when he was a teenager through a youth group in an Evangelical Anglican Church. The Billy Graham campaigns in London may also have played some part in his salvation. He did his Bachelor of Divinity at Tyndale House Cambridge. He then entered the ministry as a curate (assistant minister) at an Anglican church in Surrey, England. In 1967, he resigned from the Anglican ministry on theological grounds and joined an Evangelical Free Church in south-west London. In March 1969 he moved to Zambia where he and his wife Jenny joined Lusaka Baptist Church and later became a deacon and an elder. From early days in the church he taught an adu...

Graham Ingram (on the left) was the third pastor of Lusaka Baptist Church from 1969 to 1976. He played a leading role in seeing the church change from primarily serving the white community and expatriates to an indigenous church with a major outreach to students. Graham Ingram was born near Sheffield in the north of England. His family was not Christian. He became a Christian in 1955 when was eighteen years of age and doing compulsory military service. A few months before he had been strongly influenced by two young men who were preaching in the street. Through their words the Holy Spirit convicted him of sin. Six months later after meeting some more Christians, and seeing Christ in them, he knelt by his barrack room bed - in front of 20 other soldiers – and surrendered to Christ. Ingram was educated at the King Edward VI Grammar School in Retford, Nottinghamshire; the City of Sheffield Teacher Training College and Spurgeon's College in London. From early on in his Chr...

Basil Medgett was the second pastor of Lusaka Baptist Church from 1961 to 1967. He was instrumental in establishment of Baptist Churches in Luanshya, Ndola and Lusaka and also for the establishment of Fiwale Hill Bible College. Basil A. Medgett was born on 1 January 1924 in Whitstable, Kent, England. He attended Faversham Grammar School. He was born in a Christian home where the example of Christian parents meant a lot to him. His father, Cyril, was a lay preacher of the Church of England. Basil learnt of the of the gospel from his parents. He became a Christian at the age of fifteen during a series of special services held in his home town. His parents hoped he would become a Minister of the Church of England, however the Lord had other plans. Basil was posted to then Southern Rhodesia while serving in the Royal Air Force in World War Two and joined the Bulawayo Baptist Church. He did this after coming to see the Scriptural pattern for the Church. ...

Derek Harris (1959 - 1961)  was the first pastor of Lusaka Baptist Church.He played a pioneering role in establishing the church. He was passionate in evangelistic work.   Derek was born on 6 April 1927 and was the fourth child of a family of eight. The eldest and youngest were girls with the rest boys. Derek was born, educated and worked in London. Derek was converted during his teen years through the Youth Ministry of the Brethren Assembly. In 1945, just before the end of World War 2, he received his Call-up papers to serve in the Royal Navy. During those years he became involved in a “Force Witness Team”. He always showed a keen desire to win souls for Christ. Derek married Barbara Irene Monro on 8th January 1949 at a Brethren Assembly, where both had been converted and were actively engaged in the Lord’s work. They emigrated to Ndola in Zambia in 1951 where they got involved in Youth Work. To-date some testify of how this Youth work was a blessing t...