AGENDA FOR August 2018 MMN CONFERENCE (updated 8/6/18) - subject to change

He is 44 years old. His wife, Madalitso, is a High School teacher, and they have three children; Miriam (18yrs), Esther (16yrs) and Reuben (14yrs).

 He is a holder of Masters Degree in Transformation Leadership – Professional Studies from Barclay College in Kansas. 

He was ordained in 2001 and served in three different congregations. He also served as the Synod Youth Director for five years. Furthermore, he was elected to serve as the Synod Moderator for two consecutive terms (2 years each). And he is currently in his fifth year, serving as Synod General Secretary. 

Rev. Dr. Davidson Chifungo
National Director, VERITAS College Malawi

 Currently Davidson is serving with VERITAS Bible College Malawi as National Director.  At VERITAS College,  Davidson is involved in training for Biblical and holistic development for grassroots Church leaders and believers

Rev. Davidson Chifungo previously served as  General Secretary of the CCAP Nkhoma Synod Church of Central African Presbyterian in central Malawi, from 2007-2013

Rev.Chifungo grew up as a poor boy in small village near Nkhoma. He was educated at the African Bible College in Lilongwe  (a USA based mission University) where he graduated in 1997.

After graduating in 1997, God immediately called Davidson Chifungo and Phoebe to serve as a missionary from Malawi into rural Mozambique.

In 2000 he was ordained by the Presbyterian Church in Malawi but continued to serve in rural and poor part of Mozambique.

In 2004, Davidson left Mozambique be part of a Christian organization called VERITAS College. Davidson Chifungo served as a program manager with VERITAS College, focusing on the training of lay leaders for Bible interpretation, application and communication.

The vision is to develop transformed communities, communities which are able to apply God's word in all sphere of life.

 Today Davidson is very passionate about facilitating and coordinating partnership between Churches, organisations and individuals from different nations working in Africa.

 Rev. Chifungo has received both his degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Practical Theology) and his Masters of Theology from Stellenbosch in South Africa.

  Davidson and Phoebe have three daughters: Thoko, age 18; Thandi, age 12 and Temwa, age 10.

Rev. Colin Leman Mbawa
Secretary General C.C.A.P.

Colin Mbawa has an extensive educational background and experience in accounting, management, and theology. He has served in the Malawi Government, British African Tea Estates, as well as World Vision, and other ecumenical efforts. Studies took Rev. Mbawa to Republic of South Africa, United Kingdom and Australia.

Rev. Mbawa has established programs for orphans and other needy children within the Blantyre Synod (southern Malawi). During his tenure as Secretary General has and continues to build the education system in Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe, and continues to encourage new theological initiatives and evangelism  within the denomination.

Ellen Sherby
Presbyterian World Mission
Coordinator of Equipping For Mission Involvement

Ellen Sherby is the coordinator of the Equipping for Mission Involvement office in Presbyterian World Mission.  She works with other staff to provide mission education resources to US Presbyterians and to help churches and mission workers connect with each other through letters and visits.  Ellen lived in Nicaragua for eleven years working with short-term mission teams from the U.S. to Mexico, Honduras, and Nicaragua. Nine of those years she was a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) mission co-worker with the Council of Evangelical Churches of Nicaragua (CEPAD).  She holds a masters of science degree in Pedagogy from the UNAN in Managua.  Outside of her work role, Ellen is highly involved in her local church, Beechmont Presbyterian Church, which is a multicultural congregation composed primarily of Sudanese and Latino immigrants.  At Beechmont Ellen serves as a ruling elder and often leads the weekly Sunday School class for children ages four through 11.  She is also active with her husband Elmer Zavala in house church ministry with Latino/Hispanic immigrants through Mid-Kentucky Presbytery, leading music on guitar during worship meetings among other things.  She and Elmer are the parents of three boys ages 17, 13 and 7.

Debbie Braaksma 
Presbyterian World Mission
Africa Area Coordinator

As Africa Area Coordinator Debbie is responsible for facilitating and resourcing PCUSA partnerships in Africa.  She supports Regional Liaisons in their work with 34 African partners and 40 mission personnel serving in Africa and is a member of the World Mission Leadership Team.  Debbie grew up in the First Presbyterian Church in Cambria Wisconsin.  Her call to cross-cultural service began as she served as a literacy teacher in Mexican migrant worker camps in the congregation’s Operation Friendship program throughout her high school years.

She is an ordained minister and served as a Reformed Church in America (RCA)   Mission Worker in an evangelism and community development ministry with semi-nomadic Muslim pastoralists near the Kenya/Somalia border for 11 years and as the RCA Africa Supervisor for 7 years.

Debbie served as a PCUSA/RCA mission worker engaged in peace building and trauma healing in Sudan from 2005 until 2010. She served as the Principal of the RECONCILE Peace Institute and also led community-based trainings in areas of South Sudan experiencing high levels of inter-ethnic conflict. She co-authored “Bringing Healing to Traumatized Children” and has been involved in the Sudanese peace building, outreach and children’s ministries of Beechmont Presbyterian Church in Louisville, where she serves as a parish associate.  Debbie received a Master of Theology degree from the University of Edinburgh and a BS in Social work from the University of Minnesota. She is married to Del Braaksma and is the mother of four children and has seven grandchildren.

Dr. Kondwani Zgambo
Medical Officer in Charge - Embangweni Hospital
Bachelor of Medicine;  Bachelor of Surgery

He graduated from the University of Malawi - School of Medicine. He comes from the northern part of Mzimba. Dr. Zgambo has visited China and Kenya  since graduating.   

He has a dream to see the hospital regain its lost glory through coordinating departments under him so that the hospital's performance registers improvements in its staffs upholding of Christian values, commitments to work and financial stability.

Jeremy is an ordained minister with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), and a BCCI Board Certified Chaplain. Jeremy serves as the Facilitator for the CCAP Chaplain Training program, responsible for developing programs for training CCAP pastors and lay leaders in pastoral counseling and other skill required to effectively provide emotional and spiritual support to individuals who are hospitalized and imprisoned throughout the areas served by the CCAP.

John Vernon is the founder of The Vernon Law Group, and is a member of the Firm’s Corporate Transactions section concentrating his practice in the areas of cross-border international and domestic transactions, including a full range of mergers and acquisitions, joint venture arrangements, privatizations, project financing, foreign investment, trade dispute resolution, dealer/supplier franchising, licensing product distribution transactions, export compliance, customs, transfer pricing and international trade, FCPA, FTZs, ITAR, NAFTA, FTAs, economic sanctions, OFA, BIS, EAR, CTPAs, CFTA and “deemed export issues.” He has guided the development of U.S.-based companies’ expansion into Mexico, Latin American, the Middle East, Europe, and the Far East. Conversely, he has guided the development of foreign-based companies’ expansion into the United States and Mexico. John is an accomplished speaker and writer on his areas of practice. He is also an adjunct professor at SMU Law School teaching courses in franchising and distribution law, Human Rights law and advanced international law.

Larry has demonstrated a passion for learning, leading, and helping others to reach their goals. He has served at the executive level in Fortune 100 firms and in small business. Since 2016 he has been leading the growth of Y-Malawi. A unique organization promoting organic partnerships and focused on developing the village church while empowering women and girls in Malawi. 

A graduate of Liberty University, Larry and his wife Terri have 3 children and 7 grandchildren. He is the author of three books including Letters from Pop, Life Champion and The Drummer Doesn’t Know.