Church of Christ mission work was begun in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) about 1920 when Brother John Sherriff began making preaching trips, which carried him across the Zambezi River. One of his African workers, Peter Masiya, worked with him and was instrumental in bringing the gospel to Zambia. A few years’ later missionaries arrived to help in spreading the Gospel. Some of the early missionaries were the Shorts, Lawyers, Merritts, Scotts, Reeses, Browns, Sister Rowe, Brittells, and the Shewmakers.

Three mission sites were opened, and these were Sinde, Namwianga, and Kabanga. These early missionaries began schools for the African people teaching them to read the Bible and promote the cause of Christianity. Throughout the ensuing years, a vast number of the leaders in the country and church have been taught at these schools.

When Zambia gained its independence in 1964, the Church of Christ operated 26 primary schools. At that time, the government decided to nationalize all primary schools but did ask Namwianga to build a secondary school on Namwianga Mission's 7000 acres. Funds were raised and the secondary school was built. From 1964 to 1982, Namwianga Christian Secondary School was staffed and directed by mostly American missionaries. At the beginning of 1980, approximately 211 congregations of the Church of Christ had been established, mostly because of the efforts of the missionaries and graduates of the mission schools.

From 1982 to the present, a significant expansion program in both facilities and outreach has taken place. We now have nine basic schools, two high schools, George Benson Christian College, one vocational center, two medical clinics, and a hospital.  Bible is taught in all these schools and the students are trained to become church planters.

One of the more significant developments since 1982 is the turning over the running and staffing of the mission to Zambians. Now George Phiri, who serves as Superintendent, directs the mission.  Zambians fill all other administrative roles. The teaching staff is now 99% Zambian.

There are approximately 1300 congregations of the Lord's church in Zambia. Since 1990, the Zambian brethren have mainly planted most of the new congregations. Many of the congregations are started by another congregation in order to reach out to areas where the church does not exist.   Church planting programs are now in effect in Northern, Northwestern, Western, and Eastern Provinces.  Along with these  programs and the outreach efforts in Southern Province a number of new church plants have taken place.
The evangelistic fervor of the Zambians resulted in their making plans on their own to take the Gospel to Angola. The plan they made and carried out was to send one of their own to the Meheba Refugee Camp in Northwestern Zambia. This camp consists mainly of Angolan refugees. Brother Leonard Mujala, a product of the mission schools, went to the camp and though there were great difficulties, he still was able to start several congregations of the Lord's church among the Angolan refugees. These Angolan Christians are already taking the Gospel back to their country now that peace is in Angola.

A significant emphasis is being placed on the efforts of George Benson Christian College. The college trains secondary teachers in the areas of Math-Religious Education or English-Religious Education. The college is affiliated with the University of Zambia and is one of only three secondary teacher-training colleges in Zambia. It is the only one that is private. All of our graduates are guaranteed teaching jobs by the government. When new students are interviewed one of the main criteria for

admission to George Benson Christian College is their willingness to be placed, upon graduation, in areas where the church does not exist or is weak. They will earn their living by being teachers but will be actively involved in sharing the Good News. We are already sending graduates out to areas where they are desperately needed. We feel this will be a major way to grow the church in Zambia and again Zambians will do it.

The hospital at Namwianga is almost ready to open as an inpatient facility. The first phase of fund-raising is complete and construction has been completed for Phase 1. The fund-raising and construction has begun for Phase 2. This hospital will provide general health care to the area around the mission and will be able to reduce physical suffering and bring many, many lost souls to our Lord.

Namwianga Mission has taken Matthew 28:19-20 seriously and the results are evident in the over 500% growth in the Lord's church in the last 237 years. This has proven to be an extremely successful way to share the Gospel and we are confident the Zambians will continue to be even more successful in sharing the Good News with the lost of their country.