Katima Mulilo

Far in the northeast of Namibia, out on the Caprivi Strip that sticks out like a thumb, is a little town on the banks of the Zambezi river called Katima Mulilo. It’s a small town with only two stop lights and just a few shopping centers. You don’t have to go far to see villages with stick fences and mud huts with thatched roofs. You may even run into the local witchdoctor in town like I did. It’s a bit off the beaten path where few travelers go, but they desperately need the gospel.

I had arranged to teach a 2-day youth ministry seminar to local youth workers. We were scheduled to start Friday night at 6:00pm, but at that time only about 5 people were there. So in typical African style we began with some a cappella songs and introductions while others continued showing up. We eventually started and talked about the biblical purpose of the church and how our job as youth workers is to build up and send out. We split up into small groups and they drew and described the ideal youth who would come out of their youth programs. Then we talked about how we as youth workers can help different people at different stages in their spiritual development. We looked at how changes during adolescence and a variety of youth cultural issues are affecting our teenagers. By the end of the seminar we'd had in attendance about 30 people from 7 different churches. We closed off our time with lunch on Saturday and a little “graduation” ceremony where we handed out Certificates of Attendance.

It was exciting for me to meet youth workers in this distant town who were so eager to learn how to better reach the youth in their churches and communities. Some people even registered to do the distance program through NETS to further their biblical and theological understanding. Jesus spent a lot of time with the poor and outcast because they were hungry. He told the disciples that if a town didn’t accept the gospel then they should shake the dust of their feet on their way out of town. Certainly some people are called, like Isaiah, to preach to a people who won’t listen to the message. But it’s certainly refreshing and rewarding to teach people who are hungry to learn.