Home Office Director’s Report
It is a privilege to participate and watch as God builds His Church in Southern Africa. We are thankful for so many who join us in this work! By keeping informed, offering your prayers and the many other ways you have encouraged ZEMA’s missionaries, we stand together as one Body. And He does the amazing work of bringing people together. As people from a variety of ages, nationalities and cultures coming together, it is a joy, and one that foreshadows the greatest celebration of the unity we share in Him. This, His grace, we’ll one day we’ll feast together, and share, as one! (Rev. 7)
The four summer interns are now processing their experiences with family, friends, and fellow missionaries. We look forward to uniting with them in August and continuing to process and participate in their lives as they trust God’s promise to complete His good work and direct in their lives!
From ZEMA’s new fields of Malawi and Zimbabwe respectively, Greg Akers recently reported: “Today the village headman joined [our] class and afterwards greeted the congregation. He said he has had many missionaries pass through his village, but this is the first time he has heard the clear gospel. He said he opens the doors wide to further work here and welcomes this teaching.” And from Matthew Kuehl, “At the new school in Harare, I overheard [some students talking about the] …excitement they felt, and how there had never been anything like this [in Harare] before. They indicated they felt ‘proud to be present for its maiden voyage.’ It got me thinking. Sometimes I forget that what is happening is not a small thing to them. This is exciting! It’s everything. God is doing something, and all I can do is hang on for the ride!”
In ZEMA’s home office, we continue to rejoice and be amazed that we get to participate and watch God at work preparing for that Great Feast, and celebration (Rev. 19). Pray for the missionaries, the executive board, these interns, and for us. Pray the Lord of the Harvest to send more workers. And please, rejoice with us at God’s good work, and your part in it!
Very Sincerely in Christ,
Carlene and Greg Seghers
ZEBS at Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
Josie Praytor Interviewed amaZioni students and teachers around South Africa.
Ian & Mia McFarlane interact with amaZioni Bible school students from Union Bible Institute in KZN.
Micah Janku teaching English in amaZioni communities in the Eastern Cape.
Standing With the Saints
ZEMA’s focus has always been the “People of Zion”: the AmaZioni. These African initiated churches, found in many Southern African countries, are +20 million people strong. Beliefs vary from conservatively Christian denominations, to strongly syncretistic. Zion congregations range from small house churches to independent denominations with thousands of congregants. After years of enthusiastic invitations to Zion churches, ZEMA missionaries, experiencing the traditional African services of the amaZioni, recognized that many Zionists have a zeal for God, who they do not know. Opportunities to study the Bible are scarce and costly, especially for Zion pastors who most often need additional employment to support their families. ZEMA missionary, Richard Akers, began to write curriculum much like one would find in accredited Bible schools in the 1990’s. This was the beginning of ZEMA’s Zion Evangelical Bible School (ZEBS), and Zioni Bible Colleges (the Bible Schools located in eSwatini). The curriculum, by design, caters to the needs of the African initiated church leaders. But the schools are open to anyone, regardless of denomination and educational background, who want to study the Word of God.
In a 2016 video on the Zion Bible Schools, Tim Kuehl states, “When we first started ZEBS we didn’t know what to expect. We didn’t know if people would come even. And we were amazed at the openness of the people to receive the truth of the Bible. They were so open, asking a lot of questions just trying to know exactly what does the Bible say?! The amazing thing is that when they see what it says, they do kind of compare it with what they’ve learned before, what they’ve been taught before. And then when they see the truth, the majority of them, receive the Gospel with joy! Because the Gospel message is so much better than the false gospels they’ve been given.”
Bishop Shumi Shongwe a 2013 graduate of ZEBS said, “To tell the truth, before coming to ZEBS I was not born again. I came to ZEBS and learned the Gospel. Then out of that I got a deeper understanding about salvation. Members from my church, they are benefitting a lot because even if they come with problems to me in as far as salvation, culture, traditions, rituals, I can give them a better explanation now and they get born again. They understand God better.”
Similarly, Pastor Emanuel Mhlongo shared, “I was born and grew up in a family whereby my father was a pastor in Zion. …. [At] ZEBS I started to realize there is a difference between the cultural practices [of ancestor worship,] and the Christian practice. I was just a church goer [but] not knowing which is wrong and which is right. … Since I started attending ZEBS I know that we are not supposed to mix [worshiping] God and other gods. I am one of those people who was changed by ZEBS. I am a living testimony, because ZEBS has transformed my life. … I [now] cast all my burdens onto [Christ]. He was the one who decided to die on my behalf and through Jesus I know that I’ve got eternal life and my sins are forgiven. He is the one who gives me strength to keep going, and I will never turn my back on Christ.”
In 2025 there were 83 Zion Bible schools in South Africa, eSwatini and ZEMA’s new fields of Zimbabwe and Malawi. Studying God’s Word with +3000 Zioni church leaders, there are 77 missionaries and pastors running those schools. Sixty-one of these are trained African leaders with a heart to reach their own people with the truth of God’s Word. Pastor Mhlongo is one of those who has continued with ZEBS. He became a ZEBS teacher in Gauteng and currently accompanies Matthew Kuehl as they administrate ZEBS in Zimbabwe. As part of ZEMA New Fields Ministry Focus, Tim and now Matthew Kuehl, along with Pastor Mhlongo have begun ZEBS in Bulawayo, Ngundu, and most recently Harare, Zimbabwe. Luaan Goosen along with Greg Akers currently run ZEBS in Ntcheu and Blantyre, Malawi.
Board member, Lorraine Green, recently reminded ZEMA’s Board of Directors: Long ago, in Jerusalem, the Apostle Paul and the Elders met to discuss major doctrinal issues that deeply affected the Gospel message communicated to the Gentiles. Luke the Physician recorded in Acts chapter 15 that Peter stood up and said, “Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the Gospel and believe. God, who knows the heart, showed that He accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as He did to us. (vs. 7-8)” The minutes to that meeting are recorded in Sacred Scripture, [while] the minutes to our meeting[s] will be recorded and filed away in the archives of ZEMA. Our meeting might not seem to be as momentous, but I [believe] that the Apostles Paul and Peter would love to sit among us and rejoice with us that the Gospel message they clarified so long ago has borne such rich results around the world and particularly in Southern Africa. Imagine their delight to hear the reports and to participate in our community as we celebrate together over what the Lord is doing for the amaZioni. Brothers and sisters, we share in the great privilege of standing with the saints through the ages who carried the banner of our Lord Jesus Christ into the far corners of the world.
As we participate and follow God building His Church in Southern Africa, may we rejoice and celebrate the grace of God and salvation in Jesus Christ. To God be the glory.
Board Member spot – Lorraine Green
“In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” The promises of God to Abraham so long ago made a deep impression on Lorraine Green when she studied at a Bible college in Western Canada. There, Lorraine realized that the promises belong to us as Abraham’s descendants by faith. Imagine the potential, and the responsibility, wrapped up in those words! Through the study of God’s Word, Lorraine sensed that the Lord was calling her to full-time ministry. She left for Chad, Africa in 1980 and served for 30 years as a Bible teacher among women. In 2013 Lorraine relocated to South Africa as TEAM’s Senior Director for Sub-Saharan Africa. There she got to know the ZEMA missionaries and appreciated their ministry model of satellite Bible schools for training church leaders. Being familiar with traditional religion and the devastating effects of syncretism, Lorraine affirms the power of the Word to transform individuals and the entire Christian community. She is fascinated with ZEMA’s ministry expanding into Zimbabwe at a time when TEAM can no longer secure long-term visas, causing the missionary community to dwindle. Now retired and living in Rapid City, SD, Lorraine joined ZEMA’s Board of Directors in 2024.