I'm lying on my bed in my mercifully cool room on what is turning into another baking hot day...Zambia is working up to the rainy season so getting hotter every day. I made it safely back to Mkushi on Tuesday, the day after I last wrote, with a much happier and healthier car.
After a fairly intense first two weeks, the rest of this week has been a chance to catch up with Jon and Jude and talk about the plan for the rest of the time I'm out here...and wow! It's going to be busy!! But you know that's how I like life to be. The plan currently includes:
- helping run 3 conferences (one of which may be in Namibia!)
- a trip to Nchelenge to meet with people we're working with there
- another trip to Lusaka to carry on with the magazine
- a number of days out in villages trialing some practical teaching stuff that Jon and Jude have been busy writing
- some trips to villages to show the Jesus film and meet people who we can continue to work with
...so not too much! Ha ha!! Amidst all this I really want to do loads of reading and write some documents that have got lost over the really busy summer at home. One of these documents is some training on why its important to work with children in villages as well as adults and an introduction to teaching kids...a friend at church has helped out with some of this and I really want to finish it off and get the rest written and usable! I'm no expert and only know what I've picked up from time working with the wonderful St Margaret's Pathfinders and a few years at CYFA camp...but hey ho, we all start somewhere.
Yesterday was an amazing day. Some friends we are working with in different areas all travelled to meet at our house and we simply spent the day catching up with what's going on and looking forward as well. I think all of us were pretty blown away by what we heard. In a number of places where groups of people are meeting they have helped groups in different villages get started. We also heard that where groups are meeting we heard that unity is growing. This may not sound all that grand, but actually it's huge! For example, funerals here are hugely expensive as whole families and many friends gather at the home of the deceased and stay there for a week or maybe even longer. It is the responsibility of the nuclear family to feed all these people for the duration of their stay (and it's not acceptable to tell them it's time to leave now!) You can imagine this can be crippling to a family, already living in poverty. One of our friends told how in villages where groups are meeting all the churches are now rallying together to help families when someone dies and share the burden of the funeral. Imagine the difference this would make to your family at such a difficult time. This is not something we have told people to do - it is people (who are poor themselves) opening their eyes to see the needs of others and responding to them.
We also heard of a group of ladies who have come together to apply for a hammer mill, used for milling maize, through a government initiative. Their aim is to be able to raise money to put towards the work their village groups are doing, growing food to help feed the elderly and extremely poor amongst their villages. They can save money by using the mill to grind their own maize and that of the groups and also raise money by charging a small fee to mill maize for others in the area. Again, this is not our idea...it's theirs and it's a great idea! Much better than I would have come up with!!
These things beginning to happen are the signs of something deeper going on, the fruit of a richer work under the surface. When we start work in an area we simply begin a basic bible study course that looks at who is God, what is our relationship with him, what has gone wrong along the way and what Jesus has done for us and goes on to help build some firm foundations and challenge us on what it means to be a christian in a very practical way - I don't just mean going to church on Sunday, I mean actually walking each day with Jesus and inviting him into all the big and little parts of our lives. When we let Jesus in to our lives he begins to work in our hearts and helps us to serve God and other people rather than ourselves. I can say whole heartedly from experience that the times I am serving God and others rather than myself are the most fulfilling and rewarding...in turn bringing more happiness to me than the times I am being selfish...I think that's just the way we are made!
Now imagine you are really, really poor and fighting every day to feed your own family...why on earth would you look around to help anyone else? Surely your first instinct is to fight for you and yours...that makes sense to me! But what we are seeing is that people are being set free from this mind set as Jesus works in their hearts. Instead of villages where everyone is grabbing what little they can, even if it harms someone else, people are beginning to come together and see that as a group they are stronger and can help one another as well as others in need in their villages, improving life for everyone. This is a huge and exciting shift in mind set that reflects something deeper...if you ask me, its really, really exciting!!
I've just had a quick break (as my thumbs were worn out from typing on my phone) and played badminton with Ethan, Jon and Jude's eldest boy, for five minutes before running for cover from the sun under some lovely shady trees where I'm now sat in a camping chair! There's loads of annoying flies though...grrr!! So anyway, where was I?
Yeah, yesterday was a great day and really encouraging. It's such a joy to hear of the little things that are beginning to happen and our desire is to nurture these and see things like these spread to many more villages and areas. Generally, people living in rural villages here are hungry for knowledge as there is barely any help or teaching available to them. We have very little to actually give people in terms of resources and money. The biggest resource available in the bush is actually the people themselves and it is so important to value each person we meet and spend our time and energy helping that person realise their own worth and potential in Gods eyes.
So our plan looking forward is to carry on planting the Life! project in new areas, encourage those we're already working with and to keep learning as we do it. That's why we've got such a busy few weeks coming up as we travel the county to meet with people, hear their stories and run teaching sessions. Alongside us running various teaching sessions a number of the people we have been working with for a year or so are also beginning to do the same. This is really exciting. It means that what we are doing is already outgrowing us...on our own there is a limit to the number of people we could reach, but if people can help one another...it can grow much bigger and many more lives can be changed!
This coming week sees me setting off to Nchelenge...this is a mere 800km north. I went twice last year so think I can remember the way. I'm going with a couple of our Zambian friends but this means I'll have to do all the driving (about 12 hours each way...) Last year, we helped establish a few groups around the area and since then, more groups have begun and we are hearing exciting stories from them. While we're there its a chance to encourage people there as well as be encouraged by what's going on! I'm a little bit worried about the distance we have to go - it means taking loads of fuel for the car with us and stuff as there is quite often none at the petrol station there! It really is a long way away!!! The place we stay in is pretty basic so we also need to take lots of drinking water and food to cover all possibilities. It will be good to catch up with people I met last year though and I'm excited about going...if a little nervous!
And on that note, I think I've said enough...I just don't seem to be able to write a short blog post! Ha ha! Lots of love and thanks for sticking it out to the end xxx
