February 2024 AIU Newsletter
February 2024 Newsletter
Training Africa’s Next Generation of Spiritual Leaders
Urgent Prayer Request!
Severe drought throughout our region threatens food availability.
Please pray for our campus, for Zambia, and for the southern region of Africa as we endure the effects of a prolonged drought. Our rainy season, normally spanning mid-November to mid-March, is a critical time for farmers to irrigate their fields. This year, however, the rains began over a month late, ceasing again after just one month. Fields have since dried up, greatly impacting farming initiatives on our campus and at the Chifundo Clinic. At AIU, we have been growing corn each year to reduce food costs for students. The Chifundo Clinic also produces corn and soy as supplemental foods to help impoverished patients from surrounding villages who suffer from malnutrition and hunger-related ailments. As the drought persists, so will the chances of famine. Our campus may also begin to experience a water shortage, as we have a limited number of boreholes to draw from. We trust the Lord for His provision through this crisis, and we greatly appreciate your prayers!
Practical Skills Training at AIU!
AIU staff and students learn new skills from ITEC that will greatly impact their lives and ministries.
God continues to bless AIU in unique ways. This includes essential skills training provided recently by ITEC (Indigenous People’s Technology and Education Center), a Christian ministry organization based in Dunnellon, Florida. Founded by Steve Saint, ITEC’s mission is to empower indigenous churches to overcome technological and educational hurdles impeding their ability to operate sustainably and independently. ITEC has developed programs to help Christians meet the felt needs of people within their communities while creating inroads for sharing the gospel and making disciples. Types of training programs they offer by relate to aviation, healthcare, engineering, media discipleship, farming, and more.
Graduates of the I-TEC training programs display their diplomas!
In January and February, ITEC led a select group of AIU staff and students through technical training in sustainable farming and motorcycle engine repair. “Farming God’s Way” is the name of ITEC’s farming skills training, in which 20 members of our staff participated. This farming method, minimizing land tillage while maximizing the use of organic inputs, is well known for reducing overall farming costs and reducing waste while enhancing the natural growing environment. Such training comes at a critical time given our drought conditions, as the emphasis on soil health contributes to greater soil moisture retention and less water usage.
AIU is thankful to ITEC for helping us in this way. Everyone who participated expressed deep gratitude and an earnest desire to train others with their new skills. We expect such skills to greatly benefit local pastors in our region who struggle to meet the needs of their families and ministries. Pray with us that we may glorify God through these skills while using them for great Kingdom impact!
New Study Bibles for our freshman class!
We are grateful for this generous gift from Shadow Mountain Community Church.
We are grateful to Shadow Mountain Community Church for their gift of Jeremiah Study Bibles to our freshman class. The students were overjoyed as Rev. Jim Gerhart, Vice Chancellor of Ambassador International University, distributed them individually. While instructing them to use the study Bible features to learn God’s Word in greater depth, he encouraged the students to remain diligent in their learning and service to the Lord.
We look forward to seeing how God works through our 25 new freshmen as they mature in their understanding of His Word and as they apply it daily to their spiritual walk. Pray for their continued desire to study and mature in their faith as they adjust to their new environment at AIU.
STAFF SPOTLIGHT!
AGABUS & CECILIA MWANZA
Kitchen Manager
Shortly after graduation from AIU in 2021, Agabus was retained to serve in our key staff position of Kitchen Manager. In this role, Agabus ensures that adequate provisions are available and prepared daily for our students and staff. This includes managing all of AIU’s food-related budgeting and purchasing, proper food storage, and preparation. For Agabus, this job is a ministry that produces great blessings. His work allows him to fellowship with everyone on campus, offering many opportunities to create new and meaningful relationships.
“I am privileged to work at AIU where God allows me an opportunity to study His Word in depth while serving Him. I take great pleasure in facilitating the smooth operation of our kitchen each day, making sure that the food we provide to our staff and students is always healthy and safe, and that the kitchen and storage facility are always maintained and clean.”
On December 11, 2021, Agabus married Cecilia Mwanza. On May 3, 2023, they were blessed with a baby girl whom they named Blessed. Agabus is grateful to God for his wife whom he describes as a loving, God-fearing, kind, and supportive prayer partner. He is also thankful for Gospelink and all it does through AIU. His prayer is to be a good example of a disciple of Christ and a role model to the students while continuing to grow in God’s knowledge, wisdom, and love by serving others. Please pray with Agabus and Cecilia for God’s strength and guidance in all matters of family life and ministry.
STUDENT SPOTLIGHT!
STEWARD LUBINDA
Senior
Steward Lubinda, is a Senior at AIU. Raised in Lusaka, he is the second child in a family of five, with three sisters and one brother. Despite being born into a Christian home, Steward spent much of his youth in rebellion against God. While in primary school he joined a gang of boys imbibing in dangerous drugs, alcohol, smoking, womanizing, and other delinquent behavior. He and his associates were eventually implicated in a crime and arrested by the police. Facing a jail sentence, Steward’s family was pressured to pay a large fine for his release, causing them great financial distress. Relieved to avoid imprisonment, he began to seriously consider the dire consequences of continuing on such a destructive path. Soon after, while in high school in 2015, a Christian friend shared the gospel with him. Quoting John 3:16, he explained to Steward who Jesus is and why He came to earth. Convinced that whoever believes in Christ would not perish but be restored to a relationship with God, Steward repented and placed his faith in Jesus.
“As the first member of my family to attend college, I am so grateful to be here. AIU has given me an opportunity to study God’s Word in depth, learn how to interpret the Scriptures in context, and deliver the Gospel effectively by applying Homiletical skills.”
As Steward began to grow in his walk with the Lord, he felt a great desire to fully learn God’s Word and share the gospel effectively with others. He prayed that God would grant him an opportunity to obtain theological training, and in the Lord’s providence, Steward was introduced to AIU by one of our graduates. Steward successfully applied and gained admission to our program.
After graduating from AIU, Steward would like to teach and serve as an evangelist while engaging in business to sustain himself and his family. We are thankful for students such as Steward, and ask that you pray with us that he would finish his studies well while experiencing God’s continued provision and wisdom throughout his life.
The Academic Calendar is in Progress!
We praise the Lord for expanding AIU in its ministry to train Africa’s next generation of spiritual leaders! The first term of the 2024 academic calendar is well underway with a freshman class hailing from a wide variety of African countries including Zambia, Mozambique, Malawi, Zimbabwe, and Togo. As we look with excitement to how the Lord will use each one of these students to impact their respective countries upon graduation from AIU, we do so with gratitude to our partners and sponsors through whom He makes this possible. We are equally grateful for the work and dedication of our professors, both local and international, for their tireless efforts to impart sound Biblical wisdom to our students.
Please pray with us over our staff, students, and professors for continued success through the academic year. Our local professors who are taking the students through the first term especially need prayer for continued wisdom and strength from the Lord as they teach. Pray also for our international professors as they prepare to travel to AIU to teach in the second term. Finally, keep our students and staff in prayer that the Lord will continually increase their desire to seek Him diligently as they increase in wisdom from His Word.