Three Pigs and a Missionary
by Kristin Andre, photos by Jordan Andre
Serving as part of AIM’s African mobilization team in Southern Africa, Peter Kapinga, pictured with his wife, Irene, and their two sons, is working to mobilize Zambian believers into mission work.
Zambia is a country that is largely reached with the Gospel. The constitution declares the country a Christian nation and more than 90% of the country’s nearly 18 million residents are professing Christians. Yet, even with so many believers, the church in Zambia has yet to become a major sending force for missions. There are many reasons for this, but one of the biggest contributing factors is that the mission infrastructure (the infrastructure that enables missionaries to engage in their task more effectively, fruitfully, and sustainably) is vastly underdeveloped in Zambia (and indeed throughout Africa). African missionaries face many challenges, and financial support is one of the biggest ones.
Peter Kapinga, is a missionary from Zambia. He comes from humble beginnings and doesn’t have a large financial support network to pull from, but he has felt God’s call to tell his fellow Zambians of their role in the Great Commission.
Peter co-leading a bible study with a group of Zambians at the market.
Peter and his fellow Zambian believers meet once a week at the market for the Bible study.
This deep conviction has led to incredible ingenuity. He knew he would need a way to provide for his family, while still having time to devote to the work of mobilizing the Zambian church into missions, so he came up with the idea to start a pig farm.
Pictured here are the three female pigs, two of which are pregnant.
A pig farm is not your typical missionary endeavor, perhaps, but Peter is determined to make it successful. The continued consumer demand for pork meat means the pig business can be quite lucrative in Zambia, and Peter has a great team of people in place to help him run things when he’s out mobilizing the church to missions.
Peter teaching a group from his church about missions.
The Zambian team working to make the piggery farm a success.
He’s starting small, with just three pigs on a portion of his wife’s family land. But the hope is that as these pigs give birth to more pigs (in fact, nine little piglets have just been born!) and those pigs give birth to even more pigs, that Peter can then purchase a larger piece of land to continue growing the business. Eventually, the dream is that the pig farm will bring in enough income to help support other Zambian missionaries as well.
It’s a big dream, but this pig farm is not just another business venture. It’s for God. It’s for God’s mission plan in Zambia and throughout Africa. This is the work God has called Peter to. He knows that with all his heart, and if pig farming will allow him to provide for his family and still have time to tell the church of their role in missions then he will work with all he has to ensure the pig farm is a success.
An aerial view of the pig farm.
Africa is shifting from a major mission field in the 19th and 20th century (from about 9 million Christians in the early 20th century) to potentially one of the major global mission forces in the 21st century. There are now 685 million Christians in Africa. In 2018, Africa became the continent with the most Christians in the world, and Zambia has the potential to be at the forefront of a new movement of African missionaries. Peter knows this. He feels it deep inside himself. The Holy Spirit is moving, and Peter won't rest until he’s told as many Zambians as he can about their role in reaching those who have yet to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ.
There is a lot of potential for what this little pig farm can become. Maybe three pigs and a missionary are all that’s needed to start a movement.
