Fishers of men
David Livingstone longed to see the kingdom of God established around central Africa’s lakes. Continuing this vision, workers with Operation Mobilisation (OM) are identifying individuals in local villages with a desire to share the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The OM team knows these men and women are able to reach their own people more effectively than foreigners, because they understand the cultures and languages spoken in Zambia, Congo and Tanzania, which border the southern part of Lake Tanganyika.
Training is offered at the OM Zambia mission base in Mpulungu. Classroom topics include discipling others, supporting the local church, marriage roles, evangelism training, and more.
In the first few days, participants also go fishing together on the lake to practise sharing the gospel with each other, an exercise they can reproduce on their own when they spend long hours at night working with fellow fishermen. Life for these men and women generally revolves around subsistence fishing.
Those invited to the two-week course have shown tremendous commitment. The OM team was astonished when one of the participants arrived on foot, having walked eight hours over difficult terrain to get to the base.
After training and further follow-up sessions, these people will become self-sustaining missionaries, equipped to bring light to hundreds of village communities around Lake Tanganyika. They’ll work not only as fishermen, but as fishers of men.
