William Rethinks Bible Studies in Zambia

For years, William Nyambe tried to get members of his congregation to attend Bible study. The sessions were carefully planned, the teaching was ready, and the need was obvious. Yet week after week, the numbers kept falling.

William had returned to his home congregation in Eastern Zambia after graduating from African Christian College in 2004, filled with passion and ideas about how he could strengthen the church.

“I was filled with the desire and passion for the Lord and had identified several ways in which I was going to transform my congregation through ministries I had learnt at school.”

One of his greatest concerns was biblical literacy. He believed a regular Bible study programme would help members grow in their understanding of Scripture. At first, people came. But the attendance soon declined with each session.

William began to wonder whether the problem was a lack of commitment.

Then he asked one member why people were no longer attending.

The answer changed everything.

He discovered many members were not staying away because they lacked interest in God’s Word. They were struggling to find time. Between farming, providing food for their families, paying school fees, and meeting other responsibilities, attending another programme at the church building was difficult.

“After that conversation, it dawned on me that I needed to change the approach and start home visitation schedules.”

William and his wife began taking Bible study to homes.

The change was immediate. Families who had struggled to attend Bible studies at the church building were now able to participate. As William sat with members in their homes, he also began to understand their lives, challenges, and faith in ways he had not been able to from the pulpit.

But the home visits soon became more than a Bible study programme.

“The most amazing part is that whenever I arrive at the different homesteads, the sessions are attended by those who don’t come to church, and it has now doubled as an evangelism tool.”

In one family, two young people who were not attending church participated in the study and were eventually baptised.

What began as an attempt to improve Bible literacy has become an outreach ministry that is helping William understand his congregation, strengthen believers, and reach people who might otherwise never enter the church building.

William learned that effective ministry is not always about asking people to come to where the church is. Sometimes, it means taking the church to where the people are.