Meet Pastor Kamwata
This week’s post is written by guest author David Kamwata, who is a pastor in the Lutheran Church of Central Africa – Zambia Synod.
Personal Background
I was born on 1st November 1969, in Kaoma, a district in the western part of Zambia. I was the second-born in a family of five. My parents were members of a certain Pentecostal church, but they were not very strong Christians. They used to take us (their children) to church once in a long while. As a result, I had the freedom to go to many other different churches in the company of other boys provided there was fun.
It was in 1984 that I joined the Lutheran Church of Central Africa through a friend who invited me to church. That was at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church. It was at this congregation that I was to meet my future wife. And it was at this congregation that I would be encouraged to go into the public ministry.
Family
God has graciously blessed me with a lovely family. My wife’s name is Eness Mulando. Her father, Pastor Timothy Mulando, who is now a retired pastor in the Lutheran Church of Central Africa, inspired me to go into the public ministry. I have four children whose names are Clive, Beatrice, Alice, and Faith. As I look at my children, I confess with Solomon: “Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from Him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them,” (Ps 127: 3-5).
Public Ministry
I was ordained in 2009 at Mount Sinai congregation where I had been serving as a vicar under the supervision of Pastor Daniel Kroll and the then visiting pastor of the Copperbelt, Pastor Samuel Kawiliza. After my ordination, I served Mount Sinai Congregation up until 2015 when I received a call to teach at the seminary.
Teaching
When I arrived at the seminary after accepting the call in 2015, I started teaching Isagogics and Church History. Sometime later, I got involved in team-teaching the Biblical languages with Dr Wendland to prepare me to teach these courses in the future. When the seminary opens with a new class this year (2020), I will be teaching Hebrew and Greek.
Continuing Education
In 2010, I was privileged to be part of the first class to undertake a Bachelor of Divinity (BDiv) program offered by what was then called the Greater Africa Theological Studies Institute (GRATSI) under the auspices of the Pastoral Studies Institute (PSI). I completed this program in 2014.
Shortly after completing my BDiv program, I applied for the Master of Theology program which is now offered by the Confessional Lutheran Institute (CLI). God willing, I should be able to complete this program by the end of this year (2020).
My desire for higher education is not motivated by prestige, although this is an ever-present temptation that comes from our sinful nature. I desire to pursue higher education as long as there is breath and ability in me in order that I may “teach God’s Word with excellence.” There has been an outcry from the general Lutheran membership that although the LCCA teaches God’s Word in its truth and purity, the low level of education of our pastors is becoming a barrier to that Word in an educated society, especially in urban congregations.
Conclusion
As I look back at how the hand of God has directed the affairs of my life, I hear God speaking to me: “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you; before you were born, I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations,” (Jer. 1: 5).
I wish to thank our brothers and sisters in Wisconsin Lutheran Synod whose financial and material support has made it possible for me to be a pastor in the LCCA. It is also my prayer that support for formal education for pastors will continue under the CLI so that God’s Word may be taught with excellence in the LCCA.
To God be the Glory.
Rev. David Kamwata teaches at the Lutheran Seminary in Lusaka, Zambia.
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