Missionary profile – Peter and Irene Kapinga

By Mercy Kambura

Peter and Irene Kapinga

A missionary from Zambia to the Kalahari Desert and mobilizer in Zambia

My first demonstration of Christian service was my dad – he was and still is an evangelist. I didn’t want to be a preacher like him; I wanted to be an army officer. Dad said that wasn’t my career. I disagreed with him, but time has vindicated him. God’s plan for me was to be a missionary and mobilizer.

My wife, Irene and I now work with Africa Inland Mission (AIM), mobilizing and training the Church in Zambia. We have a supporting team.

Before becoming a missionary, I was a casual labourer at Copper Belt. I worked in the mines for a year before realizing that mining copper wasn’t my calling either. I enrolled to do social work at the university. My dream was to become a lecturer in a Bible school, so I applied to do theology.

When we studied Church history, the stories of the early fathers of faith and their passion and dedication inspired me a lot. I wanted to change the world as they did.

When I was done with Theology school, I went back to Kitwe with a desire to serve the Lord in the local church. I could barely sustain myself financially, so I got a job in the bank and worked there for three years.

When I left the bank, I met a missionary under YWAM, and as we fellowshipped together in his house, he encouraged me to do a missions course. However, I was jobless – I didn’t have the money. He said, “If the Lord called you, He would provide.”

And the Lord provided through people and a missions mobilizer from Switzerland. He linked me with CAPRO and arranged for me to go to Botswana for missions training.

I went to serve in the Kalahari Desert as a missionary for two years. Ministry in the desert was brutal – the food, the language, the day heat and night cold were unbearable. My health was also greatly affected. But here, the Lord pruned me and made me ready for missions.

I returned to Zambia and worked at my local church, helping in the youth work and teaching the Word. My former college asked me to train the Church in missions. I was a mobilizer – mobilizing students, pastors, evangelists and leaders for missions.

CAPRO had a partnership with AIM, and a former colleague in the ministry introduced me to AIM. I was encouraged to apply, and after almost two-and-a-half years, I was accepted as a mobilizer.

The Church in Zambia needs to become a missional force. Churches are involved in beautifying their buildings, while mission work is not expounded. I have been a missionary, and I’d like to see the Church owning the African mission work.

The time has come for the African Church to be intentional about missions. We have overstayed with the gospel; we need to take it to others.

#Pray:

For wisdom to serve and to approach the Church to speak about missions.
For more financial support and partners in this work to back us up.
For protection and safety, that the work shall not suffer attacks.