Along the River

Rundu is the second largest city in Namibia located along the Kavango River which makes up our northern border with Angola. This area of Namibia is one of the most diverse in terms of languages and people groups. One of those is the Hambukushu people living in villages spread along the river about 160km past Rundu. In one of these villages, SIM had a historic mission station that has since been handed over to the church. It was leaders of that church who invited me to come lead a weekend training seminar with their youth leaders.

It took the whole day to drive from Windhoek to Mbukushu, so that Friday evening we only had time for brief introductions. Since I arrived after dark, it was only the next morning when I could actually see where I was. The church plot is located right along the river, the rising sun glistening off the rippling water. It's a place where everything is green and the trees grow tall and the dry desert sinks into distant memory. There are a few old missionary houses on the plot. I was staying in one with another missionary, and the 20 or so youth leaders were all bunking in another. The church building is small but sufficient for the few from the surrounding village who attend.

Mornings were quite cool by the river, so we held our sessions outside where we could catch some warmth from the sun. We spent most of our time talking about why we do ministry with the youth, and how we need to be taking the gospel to the next generation. We also thought about their own circles of influence and who in their lives they need to be intentional about discipling.

The church building in Mbukushu

The youth workers of Mbukushu

Small group work at the training in Rundu

On Sunday afternoon I drove back to Rundu where I led some similar sessions on Monday and Tuesday evenings. We also had about 20 youth workers for these sessions, but they came from many different churches. It was a great display of unity as they are all working together to help the young people of that community grow up in Christ. We observed how our strategy is often inviting people to "come to church," yet Christ commissioned us to "go and tell." One of the cooler suggestions on how they can be "going to make disciples" was starting a ministry amongst juveniles in the local prison. I hope that, growing out of our time together, many ministries like that would be started amongst the youth in and around Rundu.

The Kehemu EBC church in Rundu

Sunset over the Kavango River