The lights are soon to go on at a Bible school in Zambia.

Zambia (MNN)–Growing corruption, economic collapse, and poverty prompted multi-party elections in Zambia a little over a decade ago.

The result of those elections led to a change in the government structure. The second president, Fredrick Chiluba, declared Zambia to be a Christian nation with freedom for other religions.

The massive growth of evangelical churches has been encouraging, though there is the growing impact of Islam and other religions. Zambia has continued to be open for the sharing of the Gospel.

Because of enthusiastic response, church leaders are finding themselves in need of additional training. That’s where the work of IN Network partner Zambia Agriculture Crafts and Theological Studies (ZACTS) comes in.

ZACTS trains young Christians in agriculture, crafts (trades such as carpentry or home economics), and theological studies. ZACTS’ emphasis is on evangelism and discipleship, which results in church planting. Most ZACTS graduates enter the field with the skills needed to be self-reliant tentmakers.

However, in spite of the growth of the outreach, there was one area that needed address. Electricity, or the lack of it. The ZACTS Institute has functioned since 1986 without electric power and for the past three years has relied on a diesel generator for a limited power supply.
Recently, ZESCO, the national electricity authority, announced plans to extend electric power lines to the ZACTS Campus, Solwezi, in the coming months.

This will entail constructing 8km of overhead line and installing transform-ers and other necessary equipment at a cost of $US52,000. Funds for the project have been pro-vided by IN Network New Zealand donors.

The Institute’s mission to train church leaders will be enhanced by the change, and allow for better study.