Life in Zambia ...

We have been in Zambia for 6 weeks now and it’s probably time for an update.

Zambia is different in some ways to South Africa but in some ways it is very similar. One of the major differences is the level of development. Some people refer to South Africa as the ‘European’ Africa because much of it is very modern. It is also the same reason why when people leave South Africa to go to another African country, they say ‘I am now going to the ‘real’ Africa.’  Just as an example, in the past 4 weeks, there have been at least 5 or 6 occasions when we had had either no power or no water. At first it takes some getting used to, but we have got some plans in place for when either of those things happen.

Our accommodation in Zambia is a working farm but we don’t really see much of the workings of it. The property is very large, so the accommodation and offices are far away from where the crops are. We are staying in converted chicken coops but they actually work really well as little flats. Morgan and I have the pleasure of staying in one which has a toilet and shower attached; most of the other little flats don’t have that luxury.

There is a small group of us staying at the farm, also known as Kachele, right now but we have been kept busy with new teams coming through from Australia, Canada and the US. It is also a pleasure to spend time with teams and get to show people what we are so passionate about and get to know new people. Morgan has been playing more of a role with teams since coming to Zambia, which means she goes to the community with them and generally makes them feel welcome here at Kachele. For myself, I have been in the office and not just one office. Last week, I spent time in 3 different offices offering help with finances. The financial support in Zambia is growing but at the moment needs some stability so that is what I am trying to provide.  I am also spending 2 days a week in one of our other service centres in Zambia in a town called Kabwe. It is about 3 hours away from the farm (Kachele) and so it means I have to drive there, stay overnight and come back the following day. It has been nice to get to know the team in Kabwe better and I am enjoying the time to build on new relationships.

A couple of weeks ago, we joined a group of people as we went to one of our Friday morning meetings called community prayer. If you remember, this is the one where we go out to one of the CBOs and spend time encouraging the careworkers and praying for them and their work. This month we went to a community called Mwaseni (near Kitwe) and joined a team from the UK to share about God’s joy with them and let them know that they are bringing joy to so many by doing the incredible work that they do.