Excellence Christian Academy

Location: Kabwe, Zambia

Timeline: On-going

Status: Currently operating

Topics: Christian education

The History

Pastor Eugene Kalunga, himself a teacher and lecturer at Mongu Teachers’ College, had a burden to serve the Lord by spreading the Gospel of Christ Jesus through education. He and his fellow Christian teachers began taking students for picnics during school holidays and teaching them the Bible. Many of these gave their lives to the Lord and later became pastors, elders and deacons in churches all over Zambia.

After his training at Highway Christian Academy (Accelerated Christian Education) and Durban Christian Centre, where he received a degree in theology, he returned Zambia. His first child was involved in the public education that was being offered, but was not receiving sufficient instruction, so Eugene removed his child from public schools and started educating him at home. Because of Eugene’s love for teaching and for using education to share the gospel, he began teaching other children in the area as well. ITMI discovered that this dear brother was home schooling 50 students in his tiny house and began to raise support for Eugene’s not-so-little school. ITMI was able to help them purchase some property that was previously owned by the Zambian Railway to use as the grounds for Excellence Christian Academy. Reverend Kalunga and his dedicated teacher-team have turned it into a first-class educational institution for grades K-12.

The Need

For years, the Satanists have been recruiting children from Zambian public schools and initiating them in pagan rituals. Muslim influence is also increasing in Zambia. The need for to teach African children about Jesus while they are malleable through good Christian education is greater than ever. We all know the law of physics that states: “Anything that moves produces friction.” ECA is moving for God. The powers of darkness have noticed, and are busily causing friction. According to Reverend Kalunga, ECA is “hard ground to penetrate,” but on one terrible day, the 13-year old daughter of Mr. Banda, ECA’s Vice Principal was kidnapped from her home. She was found almost two months later about 110 miles south in Lusaka, where she was being kept a prisoner with other girls, while Satanists tried to brainwash her. Because Rachel was a believer, there was no room for anything other than the Holy Spirit in her life, and she was returned to her family in strong faith. This is the kind of difference a Christian education can make on the young people of Zambia.

The Description

Excellence Christian Academy has over 200 eager students being educated in a Christian worldview. Not only is ECA growing in number of students, but it is growing in its influence on its community and even country. Eugene has a desire to see others use the ECA curriculum and use it to educate children from a Christian worldview. With this desire in mind, he has sent educational teams to Malawi and Lusaka, where they are building local Christian schools following the plan developed by Reverend Kalunga. He also hopes someday to start a college offering degrees in Education. This will create more educators capable of teaching the Bible-based curriculum currently being used at ECA. On the same property as the college, Eugene hopes to build an orphanage/boarding school as well as a medical clinic, which he hopes will grow into a hospital due to the lack of any other facilities nearby. Eugene’s plan is to sustain all of these facilities by running a farm on the same property and hopefully making the college, boarding school and clinic self-sustaining.

Goals

1. To educate and share God’s love with children and their families.
2. To raise funds to maintain current facility and grow as more children come.
3. To provide a Biblical world view with encouragement to spread the truth.
4. To reverse the humanistic philosophy in Zambian education.

Needs

1. Prayer exposure to those who understand the need for teaching truth to children.
2. Monthly operating expenses for students, teachers, and facilities.
3. Funds to build additional buildings for future growth.
4. Personal support for Eugene and Audrey.

Who’s Involved

1. ITMI provides oversight and US exposure.
2. Faithful supporters provide needed materials and funds.
3. Charl van Wyk, South African missionary provides local oversight and mentoring.

Would you like to help us mold the next generation of Zambia?