Nkomozepi, Temba

Temba Nkomozepi is a missionary with the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries serving as an agriculturalist at Mujila Falls Agriculture Center in Kanyama, Zambia. He was commissioned in October 2017.

The Mujila Falls Center traces its origins to the Musokatanda Agriculture Project, launched in 1995 by Global Ministries missionaries in the southern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Civil conflict there caused the relocation of personnel to Zambia and the reconstitution of a food security ministry at Mujila Falls on 1000 hectares of land donated by Chief Kanyama of the Lunda people. The chief’s condition was that the center would teach basic sound agricultural principles to the residents of his chiefdom. It was dedicated in the year 2000 and has steadily grown in scope and importance to the area, also providing outreach to refugees from DRC.

Temba takes part in a range of agricultural, education, and health projects, as well as church growth and development. Mujila Falls raises essential crops, such as corn, and engages in small animal husbandry, cattle and goat milking, fruit culture, tree nurseries, fish culture, and research.

Temba is from Zimbabwe where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in agriculture from the United Methodist-related Africa University in Mutare. He holds both Master of Science and the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees in agricultural civil engineering, with an emphasis on water resource management, from Kyungpook National University in Daegu, South Korea. He has worked for the Green Impact Trust, Caritas Harare, and for the Zimbabwean department of agricultural extension.

Born into an Anglican family, Temba was baptized and confirmed in that church at age 15. “Since then, I’ve grown spiritually and experienced the rebuke and love of Jesus Christ.” At the time of his commissioning as a missionary, he was attending a congregation of the non-denominational Celebration Church in Harare.

Temba’s favorite Bible verse is from 2 Kings 3, where the Lord fills a valley with water and protects it so people and animals can drink. “This passage,” he says, “shows me that irrigation, or agricultural engineering, can play an important role in the will of God. I have made it my commitment to contribute to bringing together the perfect environment and inputs to grow crops and improve people’s livelihoods.”