We have been joined by David, Keith and Simon who have come out from Manchester for just over two weeks to help run a week long conference in Chingola (where we were based last year) as well as getting an understanding of what we are doing. The aim of the conference was to begin exploring ways in which small groups, who have now been meeting for about a year, can make real changes in their villages.
September has therefore been a month of organising for me! I’ve had to put in place all the practical arrangements for the conference and check we had all the food and equipment needed as well as leading some of the conference sessions. Alongside this I’ve been making all the arrangements for the time we had three extra team members and ensuring that their itinerary was both interesting and beneficial. Thankfully I quite enjoy organising but it’s been a bit non-stop! I sat down the other day and realised that I’d not had 10 minutes to myself since the guys arrived - no wonder I was feeling a little tired!
Anyway, I am pleased to say that all the practical arrangements for the conference fell together without a hitch, everyone turned up, was fed well and returned home safely without incident...so, phew! Job done on that side!!!
The conference was also really exciting...it’s been so great going back to Chingola and seeing how things have progressed since last year, but up until now we have mainly heard what is going on through the 5 pastors (you remember Ponde, Joel, Vincent, Caspa and Ranger?!). The conference was a chance to meet other people who are group members and hear their enthusiasm and see the changes God has been working in them and their groups since last year. People really seem to love meeting in small groups and studying the Bible through the materials we have linked them to. There was a much greater depth to the questions people were asking and the answers they were giving to questions we asked them than there was last year. There was also a sense of excitement as people thought about what they are able to do rather than all the obstacles they perceive in the way.
The focus of this conference was looking at practical things people can do it their own villages to begin to make changes in their lives. Through it all was weaved a structure that looks at why God cares about the practical things in our lives as well as the more obviously spiritual things. We looked at good hygiene to stop spread of disease, particularly diarrhoea, ensuring safe clean water for drinking, providing a balanced diet and methods to store and preserve food for times of the year when there is no harvest. Alongside this we studied who we are in God’s eyes, his sons and daughters, stepping out in faith, trusting in God’s provision when we are stepping out in faith, not limiting what we think God can achieve and the power of the Holy Spirit. We also ran bible studies questioning why the practical aspects of our lives, such as food and hygiene are important to God.It was great to run the practical and the spiritual things side by side and really helped me see the value and importance of living healthily because God really cares about us, rather than just because!
We finished the week by giving people a chance to explore what they might do with all they had learnt or been reminded about this week. I was so encouraged by the response people had - there was a real eagerness to share what they had learnt with others in their villages and to work together to make a difference to their area.
Having the small group structure in place will really help to get things happening in villages, firstly because it is bringing together people who were previously divided and helping them focus foremost on God. Secondly, the structure will help as a group of people seeking to do something normally stand much more chance of achieving it than one person on their own would. What we have given them during the conference is a few small ideas that they can then take home to begin things in their villages. However, as people who live in their villages they are ideally situated to understand the greatest needs there and these will be differ from one place to the next. We encouraged them to think around these needs and begin to explore ideas for what they could do to help others in need. One or two of the groups have already been thinking of starting some small community farms to grow a little food to give to others in need, such as the elderly who are unable to farm. Another group has begun to make a few items they can sell to raise some money to help those in need. There are different ideas in different groups, but the important thing is that in each group it is their ideas and therefore they will own them and be behind them!
Somebody once said to me that poverty is not about what you do or don’t have, it is about what you do with what you have. So many people here believe they can’t do anything of significance because they don’t have any money. What I think we are beginning to see here is groups of people who are beginning to see themselves more as God sees them and understanding that actually, even with the little we have, we are still able to make a difference and that God can use each and every one of us!
For me, this is really really exciting! On one hand, we could come to Zambia and give people money, or build some schools or clinics, all of which are very valuable and I don’t mean to sound flippant about them at all, but if we can help people to help themselves and others then actually I think the impact can be much further reaching and much longer lasting. For me, the real strength in what we are doing is that actually, it is God who can change peoples hearts and mindsets, not us! We can teach people something about hygiene or diet that is useful and beneficial, but if we can help them to strengthen their relationship with God then he can transform their hearts and set them free from the mindsets that can prevent us from stepping out in faith...this in turn will free them to do much more than we or they can ever imagine!
The upshot is, rather than a team of 5 or so people from England trying to do stuff, there are now 19 groups around Chingola with another few on the horizon, about 10 or 15 groups hopefully starting soon in Mkushi and another 10 or 15 groups in an area called Nchelenge where a friend of ours is seeking to start up what we are doing in his home town. That’s potentially about 40 or 50 groups of 10 or more people, that’s four or five hundred people all growing in God and being his hands and feet on the ground to transform their villages...they can do so much more than a few of us from England!
Alongside all the scheduled parts of the conference there was loads of other things going on that made the week even better. For me, it was a chance to spend time with old friends, particularly the five pastors wives. During the evenings I played loads of games with the local kids, mainly the hokey kokey and duck-duck-goose! Having given someone a plaster for a cut finger and another lady some paracetamol for her headache I became the doctor for the week with people coming to share all sorts of maladies with me. Normally Jude, who actually is a GP and therefore capable of dealing with such things, is with us but as she wasn’t there, it fell to me who really didn’t have much wisdom to share with people. I had also forgotten about the early morning prayer meetings that the guys start at 5am which are half annoying (I quite like to sleep a little later than 5am!) but are also amazing. It’s quite an experience to be lying in your tent and be woken by the sound of 30 or 40 people singing their hearts out, praising God before it’s even got light. I have to confess I never quite managed to make myself get out of bed to join them but I did enjoy listening from the comfort of my sleeping bag! All credit to Simon though - he joined them on the last morning! I also quite enjoy living life in a such a different way for a while, although after a week I am glad to get back to running water and electricity. It’s always quite an amazing experience stepping out of our normal day to day life and living in such different circumstances - it really opens your eyes to the way it is for many, many people in rural Africa.
Following the conference we packed up our tents and headed back to a guest house in town where we all enjoyed hot baths and a yummy meal that wasn’t enshima! After a good nights sleep we spent the next couple of days visiting a few of the small groups to spend time with them and encourage them. We visited a couple of groups that have been meeting for a year as well as one that has just begun recently. It was amazing to see the difference in peoples confidence and attitudes between new groups and those who have been meeting for a while now. It was such an encouragement to see how the more established groups have strong friendships within them with people from different church denominations, how they are thinking about and beginning to take actions that seek to help others in their villages and just how much they clearly enjoy meeting together - there was much laughter!We spent our last morning visiting our friend Vincent and his family. Keith, David and Simon were really keen to visit one of the pastors homes to help them understand what life here is really like. So, off we set to Vincent’s house. It was good to see his family as I hadn’t had chance to so far this year - his youngest child was born when we were here last time so obviously he’s changed loads since then! We had a great morning just catching up and then Vincent took us for a walk around his farm and I think we all got a better understanding of just how much hard work goes into farming here. Vincent is fortunate as there is a stream at the bottom of his farm that is full all year around so they are able to grow food. However, each bed of cabbage, rape, egg plants, lettuce, tomatoes and what not needs watering by hand. We had a go and I can tell you, it’s back breaking! Each small bed required three watering cans full and there were about fifteen of them...if I wasn’t so stubborn and too proud to give up I would have stopped after a couple of watering cans full. With the hot sun beating down on you it soon becomes pretty tiring! However, between us it didn’t take too long, maybe half an hour. At the moment, Vincent is recovering from a broken leg so cannot manage to do any manual work. This means Martha, his wife, has to water the farm each day by herself which takes about two hours of hard work. We were happy to be able to give her a day off by each doing a little bit!
It was then time for us to head off to Mkushi for a couple of days. We broke our journey at a small game park called Nsobe on route. It was a chance for the guys to spot some animals as they’d not yet had chance to! We did quite well seeing some zebra, giraffes, sable antelopes, impala, kudu, bushbuck and even a couple of ostriches!
The time in Mkushi meant I could touch base, get some clean clothes and have a day at home (although it was busy and noisy as we had a house full of people!). For David, Simon and Keith it provided an opportunity for them to join Jon as he went out to a village and ran a session and showed the Jesus film. This is the beginning steps of the work that they guys had not seen in Chingola. I think they really enjoyed it although they were pretty tired.
To finish their time here, I was taking them to Livingstone to see Victoria Falls and be tourists for a couple of days. Livingstone is about 800km from Mkushi so we set of early and arrived just before it went dark, all absolutely shattered. Even though I’ve been quite recently, Victoria Falls were still amazing - I walked across the top with the guys and went swimming in Devil’s Pool again. I wasn’t sure it would be as much fun, but it was! It was incredible how much the Falls had changed in the few weeks since I’d last been. The water levels were much lower and we didn’t get our feet wet once walking across the top.
Other than walking across the Falls we took our time fairly easily. We were all worn out after the busy week we’d had so didn’t have huge amounts of up-and-go! The boys managed a quad biking trip and the rest of the time we spent visiting markets and drinking cups of tea! Jon had joined us for a couple of days and the guys took the opportunity to pick his brains about the work and the way things are happening. It was all really interesting but I think our heads were pretty tired to start with and even more tired by the end of it!
Then on Friday it was time to head up to Lusaka in time to get the guys to an early morning flight home on Saturday. It was sad to say goodbye to them as we’ve had a really good time together. Given that we’re a slightly random bunch of people, all of different ages and walks of life, we all got along really well and laughed - a lot! They were a really easy group to “look after” and, although I’m glad to have some time to myself today, I shall miss having them around.
So, it’s been a great couple of weeks. It’s been really encouraging to get a bigger understanding of what is happening in Chingola a year since we began working there and see the changes that God is bringing about. It’s also been really lovely to have a few other folks from home here for a little while - whilst I love the Zambian people, I don’t half miss the English sense of humour and it’s great and really relaxing to have a little bit of Manchester out here!
____________
Thank God for:
- a successful conference and the chance to catch up with old friends.
- continued safety as we’ve travelled many, many miles.
- a great time with the guys from home!
Please pray for:
- the excitement following the conference to be sustained so as people go home they will begin to instigate and share some of what they have learnt.
- God to continue the work he is doing in and through people around Chingola.
- energy for the next few weeks - once again, it’s going to be non-stop!
