Percy Chisenga (1949-2012)

Pastor Percy Chisenga died on the 1st of March and was buried today. His death came as quite a surprise to me. I thought his cancer of the bladder was well under control. The truth is that with our medical system in Zambia, my fear for those who fall prey to terminal illnesses such as cancer increases every time. This is because I hear too few cases of people who go to the hospital with a serious ailment and are brought back to full health after medical treatment. Its unfortunate. I don't blame the medical practitioners who were in charge of him for his death, though, necessarily. That is not what has prompted me to write this note. I am stirred, however, to write something about Pastor Chisenga because of a comment the song leader at his funeral service today made.

Rev. Nyirenda was Pastor Chisenga's schoolmate in high school. After a few songs he exclaimed in his own rather humorous way, "I have never met a boy more notorious than Percy Chisenga!" Apparently, Pastor Chisenga was quite the character back in high school. Rev. Nyirenda went on to say how remarkable the change wrought by Christ in his life was. And rightly so, I mean, it was shocking to hear that Pastor Chisenga was once notorious because he had was a very humble man. A man from Malawi where Pastor Chisenga was pastoring called him the most humble expositor of God's word he had ever come across. Rev. Nyirenda went on to emphasize the life changing power of salvation. Pastor Chisenga was diligent in sharing that saving grace. In a thousand years, just like the rest of us, Pastor Chisenga's name will be lost in the sea of history. However, what he did for Christ will stand the test of time, and we praise God for that!