Well, it’s been a while. I’ve been meaning to sit down and write the next stage of my blog for ages...about six months in fact! I’ve been intending to let you know that I got home safe and sound, found a job (miraculously I think, in a time of very little work for us architecty folks) and generally settled back in to life in Manchester. I think it’s a sign of how easy it is to get swept up in the every day busy-ness of life that it’s taken me six months to get round to it! So apologies for the delayed update on my return.
A number of friends have been asking me when I’m going back to Zambia again...not “if”, just “when”! Which makes me laugh - I’m glad people expect it of me now! I guess it shows that people think I stick at something when I start it. Sadly, I’m not planning a three month expedition this year, which in all honesty, I’m quite gutted about. I could do with some sunshine (although it’s beautiful in Manchester today) and a change of pace, but I’ve always said I don’t just want to go for the sake of going. I only want to go if it’s the right thing to do. This year I don’t think it is the right thing to do...there’s something else that I believe I’m supposed to be doing...here’s why...
The work in Zambia is growing and growing. We first started the whole idea of “Life!” groups in 2008...and now just 3 years later we have launched about 80 groups across 14 areas. A Life! group is a simple idea...it’s much like your cell group or home group. A group of people meeting together to study the bible and try to learn what it means in our day to day life. It really isn’t rocket science, but in a place where lots of people don’t have bibles, many people can’t read, training and teaching isn’t readily available and just feeding your family every day can be a real struggle there are lots of obstacles to something this simple being established and keeping going.
As part of a way of getting to know people in a new area, we regularly show the Jesus film as the sun is setting. (I can almost recite it in the local language Bemba now...) It’s an amazing atmosphere - anything between 50 and 200 people gathering in the dusk to watch a film projected on the wall of a mud hut! It constantly amazes me that people will come and say “I’ve been going to church all my life, but I had no idea that that is what Jesus did”. It is a real indicator of the level of teaching that some people are getting at church. There are just some huge gaps...
Another problem facing the church in Zambia is that of division. In so many of the villages we visit there are already a number of churches, but sadly they are not on good terms with each other. Members of different churches will often refuse to greet each other, which in Zambian culture is a big thing. If different churches are fighting each other, how can they possibly stand strong together?
So, by establishing Life! groups we are seeking to create environments where people can ask questions, people can learn together and grow together. We try to break down historic divisions between churches to help create strong christian communities in villages.
We are seeing something amazing happening. As people meet together and grow in faith together, we are seeing God working in their hearts and then we are seeing the very practical out workings of this. Simple things, like less arguments between neighbours. Slightly bigger things, like a husband stopping drinking so he no longer beats his wife and can afford some food for his family with the money he would previously have spent on local brew. Even bigger things, like a lady taking in two orphans in to her family home...and even bigger things with communities coming together to look after one hundred orphans or the elderly in their village.
It really is amazing to see people who previously thought they couldn’t make a difference...now making a difference! People are discovering skills and talents God has given them and putting them to new uses...and all because they are being set free from the previous mindset that says they are of no use, no value and with no hope. God is giving them his hope and his freedom.
Now it’s not all fun and games all the time. There are plenty of hiccups along the way. Times people hurt each other. Times people disagree. Times people give up. Times the rains comes and people simply can’t get together because the roads are so bad. Times people are so busy planting their crop they don’t have the time and everything grinds to a halt...but that doesn’t mean it’s time to give up. We are seeing group leaders stepping up and encouraging one another, visiting another group who is struggling and helping them keep going. One leader saw a problem in his neighbouring village and so decided he could do something about it and went to support them. How ace is that? Zambians helping Zambians. They are so much better at understanding one another and encouraging one another than I ever will be!
Natural leaders are emerging from different areas and as they keep going, so must we keep going with them. We believe that God trusts them to be his hands, feet and voice in their villages and we trust them too. Our role is to encourage and support those God has placed in each village as they step up in faith. Alongside this, we also continue to reach out to new areas through different people we meet. Strong leadership teams in one area are beginning to help us reach out to new areas. There is a movement growing and becoming stronger that is made up of individuals each seeking out God’s will for them and growing in faith in a way that means their faith is more than going to church, it is a faith with actions.
As a small number of people are emerging as area leaders and giving us more and more of their time we recognise that we must help support them as we would a missionary going oversees - they are simply missionaries to their own people. We need to strike the right balance in this, not drawing people in for money, but when people give their time and efforts we want to help stand with them in this. Along this line, we are beginning to establish Impact Teams, a group of three leaders who give two weeks time to help encourage existing groups and reach out to new areas, and then spend two weeks doing their everyday business. In this way, they maintain their own independence and do not cut all their previous means of survival, but can also give some time to really push forward in their own areas and reach out to others. We are learning on the job here and the exact details are becoming clear as we take one step forward at a time, but loosely speaking, to support one Impact Team of three local leaders will cost about £6000 per year. We hope to have two Impact Teams up and running by the end of this year.
But what has this got to do with me not going to Zambia? It seems like there’s loads going on out there to get stuck into...and there is! There is also loads going on behind the scenes...stuff that needs to go on back here to allow all that is happening in Zambia to carry on. The increase in work means an increase in spending, a greater need for people to get hands on and go to share skills they have and a greater need for prayer.
This year, I think God is calling me to serve him here, to simply get on and do it! I have committed to giving one day a month to spend in the Dignity office helping out with communications, fund raising and helping spread the word about what we do. I’ve also joined the board of the charity so am getting to grips with what this means and how it looks and how we continue to maintain our focus. It’s totally new to me. I’m definitely not an expert, but I am enthusiastic and willing to give it a go! A group of us who all support the work of Dignity have begun meeting every six weeks or to simply to pray and share some food (of course!) and you’d be welcome to join us anytime - just give me a shout if you want to know when we’re next meeting!
So, there you go...that’s what I’m doing. I’m still very involved with the work of Dignity...just in a different way at the moment and from the comfort of my own home...The wonderful thing is, that as I have begun to explore this slightly new adventure, I'm finding that God has already been putting preparations in place, he has been teaching me and getting me ready to do this. He has set things going already and I just have to keep faithfully putting one foot out in front of the other. It's a totally different type of adventure, but no less fulfilling! To me, it's proof that God fills us and equips us with exactly what we need, when we need it...and knows us so very well!
Of course, I still have the wondering bug in me and I’m possibly joining a short two or three week trip to Zambia later this year...let me know if you want to come with us to find out what all this looks like for yourself!
You can get involved in all that's going on and that Dignity has the privilege to be doing in whatever way suits you...you can pray, you can give (be it time, money, expertise...) or you can go!
If you want to know more or get involved, please feel free to email me: jo@dignityonline.org.uk
