News for Zambia.

LOCAL PROJECT WEEK AT ISUBILO- 17^th-23^rd June

Our local project saw us redecorate a prayer room and a youth room at Isubilo.

After enjoying a relaxing morning on Monday after our busy week in Kamfinsa, we also decided on paint colours and went off into town to collect enough to see us through the project. For the smaller prayer room we decided on a calming pastel blue and for the bigger youth room we chose a brighter yellow to cheer it up and draw the young people to use the space.

The prayer room is used every morning by the staff and volunteers as a meeting place before their busy days begin- we wanted it to be a space where they could centre their thoughts and meet with God.

The youth room is currently only used on a Monday as a baby weighing room, where mothers, babies and staff meet. We thought the yellow would give the room a warm and welcoming feel. Like we have said, the room is a good size and we are hoping that by giving it a lick of paint, we will encourage the youth of the CYC to make good use of its potential. They have recently started different clubs on a Saturday morning so before we leave we might see the drama or music club in there, making it their own space.  

On Tuesday, we all started washing down the walls, getting ready for the undercoat to go on. By midday Tim started rollering on the undercoat while the rest of us carried on scrubbing. Soon we all joined him and we were speeding along, working hard as a team, not stopping until both rooms were completely white.

On Wednesday, the colours started to go on the walls. The team split and we worked on both rooms at the same time. Tim quickly earnt his crown as ‘Best and Fastest Roller’, while Jim, Jan, Natalie and Jo tidied up the edges and painted in the cracks! It was handy that being in such a warmer climate, it wasn’t long before we could start on second coats so there was always something for us all to be getting on with. Our Zambian friend Malessi also showed up in the afternoon to lend us a helping hand- the more the messier!

On Thursday, Jo and Jan were excused to attend cell group in Kamfinsa, while Jim, Tim and Natalie returned to carry on with the project. Today was an important day for the Prayer Room as Natalie was set to start painting a designed cross mural onto one of the walls. The team therefore went armed with the laptop, USB, projector, fresh paint and new paintbrushes, only to find a local power cut awaited them. After a quick prayer against anything that was trying to stop us from painting the cross, we decided to crack on and finish in the youth room. We managed to get a third coat done with some more help from Malessi and her twin Esneya, before making a start on re-glossing a couple of the window frames.

On Friday, we all took a break from the paint fumes. Jim, Tim, Natalie and Jo visited Kamfinsa to lend a hand with last weeks project. The boys got to work nailing in the iron sheeting on the Hammer mill’s veranda, under the watchful eye of Pastor Albert. Meanwhile, the girls helped the men prepare some of the soil ready to make into bricks for the new shop. The four of us ended up helping with the water carrying to make the soil mouldable and left after seeing the first pair of bricks made- only another 2498 to go..!! Across town, Jan visited Lifeline and ended up going out on 3 homecare visits, spending time with people that were very ill.

On Saturday, all action stations back at Isubilo and the painting continued! We were able to project the cross image so we drew the outline onto the wall and Natalie started to fill in the words. The design basically was made up of words in lots of different fonts, describing the character of God, which made of the shape of the cross. The rest of the team added final touches to the window frames and cleaned up.

The design is not yet finished so will be completed during the next week, as will the giant blackboard we want to paint onto a wall of the youth room along with a height chart for the mother and baby group. We are also hoping to finish with nutrition and body posters to replace the papers someone had previously stuck up and to bless the rooms with doors! Watch this space..

Prayer Points;

-       That time is found to complete the project without taking away from the normal programmes.

-       Continued good health for the whole team.

-       Projects for the summer team.

-       That we will know God’s plan for our futures as we start to think about returning home.

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Sunday 9^th – Sunday 16^th June

Our week as TRUE Zambians!

This week we had our Local Project Week in Kamfinsa, the rural village we serve regularly in. We started the week with a brilliant Sunday church service where Jan shared the word of encouragement on the armour of God, before we headed into the village on Monday with our tents, camping gear and much needed firelighters (which we almost forgot!). The village has no electricity, no flushing toilets and no drinking water suitable for our western stomachs, so we arrived, as fully prepared as we could be, for a week living as true to the village life as we could.

Our first task after setting up camp was a hunt for firewood. Pastor Albert took the guys 5 minutes down a track road and just stopped, seemingly nowhere, walked off into the bush and picked up random pieces of firewood from a small field. Pastor Albert even came back carrying a small tree on his shoulder! Having a car made things 10x easier as they usually would pick up only one or two big branches and carry them back to their house on their head or the back of a bicycle. That night, beside our warm, glowing fire we watched the beautiful African sunset burning red as it sunk from the sky. We were struck by the awesome vastness of God’s creation as we looked up at the thousands of stars overhead and ate our dinner.

Tuesday morning we were all woken up at 5am to the sound of members from the church having an early Morning Prayer meeting. What a great start to the day- waking up to people singing praises to God! With that great start, we all kicked into gear and started hacking into the tough soil to create the foundations for a village shop, which will cleverly be named Pick & Pray (the local supermarket is called Pick & Pay!). Along with digging the foundations we went and found supplies of cement, stones and sand, all ready to start laying the foundations the following day. Late afternoon Natalie and Jo had the privilege of sitting in on the end of a woman’s church meeting. The women had such joy for God and were up dancing and praising Him, with lots of laughter. It was so great to witness and fun to join in!

The following day Jim and Tim picked up more building supplies from town, Jan helped out in the school and Natalie and Jo carried water (on their heads! Real Zambian women!), to the builders, which involved more hard work than just turning on a tap- but it was well worth it as the cement was mixed and the foundations were laid! Jo was also able to redress Fidis’ wound and spend some quality time with her. In the evening Pastor Albert and his wife became honorary team members as they joined our Bible study.

Jan and Jim went off to cell group on Thursday, about an hours hard cycle away, where 20 adults showed up plus children and babies. Jim spoke about how we see ourselves and how others and God see us. He used a mirror, which the children loved looking in. A man who has been paralysed for two years was brought on the back of a bike, to the cell for the first time. We spent time praying for him, and will continue to pray and believe God for his healing.

Meanwhile Tim and the main builder took yet another trip to town for more building bits, while Natalie and Jo did a spring clean of the Hammer Mill and collected blocks from the next village.

On Friday we all helped to cement in the wooden posts for a veranda over the Hammer Mill. Jim and Tim had fun learning to measure things with long grass replacing a tape measure!

Every evening before sunset we had been kicking the ball around with some of the Zambians, and on Friday night we had a 5 a side match with some of the younger guys who had returned for the weekend from school. Everyone was playing in bare feet with a now flat ball. LOTS of fun! It ended as a draw when the muzungu’s (white people) could no longer see the ball in the dark!

It was Jan and Jim’s last night in Kamfinsa and we invited Pastor Albert and all his family around our campfire for a lovely evening of hot chocolate, popcorn and marshmallows. What a treat!

Saturday morning we all returned to MFA for our morning lecture on Jeremiah. Tim, Natalie and Jo returned to Kamfinsa to watch Zambia play in a world cup qualifier match with Pastor and friends. We turned up with some petrol for the generator and managed to watch half the game before the TV started smoking! We listened to the remainder of the game on Pastor’s radio- T.I.A! (This Is Africa) and these things unfortunately happen on a daily basis.

Tim, Natalie and Jo’s last evening in Kamfinsa was spent around the fire with Pastor Albert, Phoebe and Dennis (the youth pastor of the church and a very good friend), sharing testimonies, talking and laughing.

We finished our week- as we started- in church. It was an AMAZING service, where the joy of God was really felt. There was a visiting speaker and the church was alive with singing and dancing (where Natalie and Jim got their groove on at the front!). Unfortunately we left the camera in the car, so you will just have to take our word that Jim was up dancing with the ladies! After the service the ladies of the church had cooked us a wonderful large meal of chicken, cabbage, nshima and rice. We felt very humbled, especially after seeing how little food they usually eat on a daily basis compared to us.

The week of sacrificing all our comforts really made us appreciate how privileged and grateful we are for simple things that we take for granted; taps and clean running water, a shower, plenty of food and a shop just down the road if we want something extra and a toilet seat! But on the other side it has also made us realise how much we are lacking in our own towns; the peaceful surroundings, the amazing display of Gods creation while sitting out under the bright stars, the real sense of community, where everyone knows their neighbour, willingly helps out with jobs that need doing and greats everyone they meet. What an amazing, insightful and inspiring week.

Prayer Points

Duncan and family - his daughter died while we were at Kamfinsa

Fidis' foot - for complete healing

Jonas - paralysed man brought to cell

Painting project at Isubilo

Continued health for the team in their last month

Blog 20^th May – 8th June

The early part of the week was the end of a very long process of getting our visas! But by Tuesday we all had the correct documents to stay here until July. Praise God!

 On Monday we invited Pastor Albert and his whole family round for a huge meal. It was great to treat them and see them in a more relaxed setting. On the Wednesday we had a heavy days hoeing at Farmfresh but it was all worth it for another great Zambian meal cooked by Zenia.

On Friday Tim and Jim recruited the help of Kris from Lifeline to finally fix Pastor Albert’s water pump. He was really grateful to have his clean water back. The girls had a nice time with Lifeline, meeting one of the volunteer’s new born baby.  In the afternoon the girls went to St. Anthony’s while the boys had a really relaxing (yet poor quality) 9 holes of golf with Kris at Ndola golf club.

On Saturday morning Tim’s brother-in-law Steve, and his father Phil came out to stay with us for a week. We introduced them to Africa with a 3 and a half hour church service at Kamfinsa on Sunday morning! On Monday Jan and Jim had a quiet day while the other 5 went to the sunken lake. It is a huge lake in the middle of nowhere, which no one knows how deep it is. We had great fun finding it down little dirt tracks and an awesome time jumping in to the water from the rocks. On Tuesday Jim, Jan and Jo went to St. Anthony’s Orphanage spending time mainly in the cerebral palsy unit. Steve and Phil joined Tim and Natalie on hut-to-hut where they met with a group of people that are struggling with addiction to alcohol. After praying for them Tim and Natalie shared how they should come back to church.

When Natalie, Tim, Steve and Phil returned to lead the bible study on Thursday some of the people they had met on Tuesday were there. Tim and Natalie spoke on worshipping God with an honest heart and one man came forward for prayer for help to stop drinking. It was amazing! In the afternoon we introduced Phil and Steve to St Anthony's. 

 On Friday, Jan and Jim went to Lifeline to work at the playgroup while the rest of us started our epic journey down to Livingstone and Botswana. We spent all day Saturday in Chobe national park, seeing so many animals we couldn’t keep up! We camped overnight in the park hearing the lions roaring all around us! We travelled back to Zambia in the morning and went to Victoria Falls for the afternoon. While they were there, Tim proposed to Natalie and she said YES!

Mean while, on Friday afternoon, Jim and Jan left for a relaxing weekend at Kapysha Hot Springs. They had an amazing time relaxing by the river and soaking in the warm water from the underground springs. It was just how they imagined the Garden of Eden to be with all the amazing vegetation and the beautiful river flowing by.

They arrived back in Ndola on the Monday evening in order to go hut to hut with Pastor Albert at Kamfinsa on the Tuesday. The afternoon was spent along with the rest of the team listening to Lene give her first lecture on Fasting.  The rest of the week followed its usual pattern with Farm Fresh Wednesday morning.  In the afternoon at Isubilo we met Oliver who will be doing some Puppet workshops with the children over the next few weeks.   On Thursday Jim, Tim and Jo went to Kamfinsa to do some painting on the teacher's house as it still hasn't been finished.   Friday we all went with Lifeline to Chipulukusu to run the playgroup.  On Saturday after Isubilo we enjoyed our first lecture from Henry Bambala on the book of Jeremiah.  In the evening we invited our neighbours Zenia, Emmanuel and family for a meal.  We had typical English food, cottage pie or pizza followed by apple crumble and custard.  Afterwards we enjoyed playing games with our Zambian friends.

Prayer Points:

·       Dwindling numbers at Isubilo on Wednesdays.

·       Our upcoming week camping and working at Kamfinsa.

·       The Landcruiser - we have a cracked windscreen and the battery has had to be replaced.

·       Continued good health for the whole team.