“The LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore” Psalm 121:8
This story is both late and early.
It is late because it is partly about the retirement service for Pastor Mutebele Chijoka (pronounced “moo-tay-BAY-lay chi-JOE-ka”) of the Lutheran Church of Central Africa – Zambia Synod on Sunday 27 November 2021 at Saint Matthew Lutheran Church in Kabwata, a neighborhood in Lusaka, Zambia.
This story is early because the installation service for Pastor Chijoka’s replacement at Saint Matthew, Pastor Foster Soko, has just been announced for 27 March 2022.
Both men have been faithful servants of the Lord for many years. Pastor Chijoka was in church work for 47 years before his retirement. From 1995, when he was ordained, to 2021, his retirement, he shepherded the flock at St. Matthew.
Pastor Soko is younger. Born in 1975, he was ordained in 2006 and most recently was serving God’s flock in Nyimba, in Zambia’s Eastern Province. Now he and his family have moved to the Kabwata area of Lusaka.
So far details like these might fit many pastors in the States. What makes these Zambian pastors unique?
Both men are bilingual, for one. Pastor Chijoka is fluent in both his native Tonga and in English. Pastor Soko is fluent in both Chewa and English. (Both men are also somewhat familiar with other Bantu languages, such as Bemba. That’s how it works in Lusaka, Zambia.)
Both men are scholarly. For instance, in April 2002 Pastor Chijoka delivered an essay to the distinguished participants of the fourth triennial convention of the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference in Gothenburg, Sweden: “The Work of Christ as Prophet.” He helped translated many LCCA-Z Tonga publications.
In December 2020, Pastor Soko graduated from Chalimbana University in Chongwe, Zambia. He received a bachelor’s degree in both education and English language, including English in literature, along with religious studies.
Pastor Soko is aiming at another both: He also is pursuing a bachelor of divinity degree through the One Africa Team’s Confessional Lutheran Institute, in conjunction with the Pastoral Studies Institute of Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary.
St. Matthew, the congregation both men now have in common, is unique too. Take its choirs.
PHOTO 6 https://www.facebook.com/LutheranChurchofCentralAfrica/photos/pcb.451139769774577/451133773108510
Here is a video in which St. Matthew’s youth choir joins with a choir from the LCCA-Z congregation in Kanyama.
But St. Matthew has more musical talents than just those, and their choirs can sing in both African and western ways:
Soon we hope to post joyful music and more from the celebration of Pastor Soko’s installation at St. Matthew.
In the meantime, it is fitting to conclude with words of appreciation both for Pastor Chijoka and for you.
So here is LCCA-Z chairman Pastor Davison Mutentami speaking at Pastor Chijoka’s retirement about the many ways Pastor Chijoka had served the Lord.
And truly, dear reader, thank you for your love, prayers, and financial support for pastors and congregations like these in the Lutheran Church of Central Africa – Zambia Synod.
I will say it both in Tonga and Chewa: Twalumba kapati. Zikomo kwambiri. (Thank you very much!)
Pastor Daniel Witte serves as a member of the One Africa Team in Lusaka, Zambia
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