biSome of the conversations I have had with local church leaders here have been heart-breaking. Felix, a brilliant, honest, and hard-working leader in Hope Church (and a five-star chef!) was sharing with me the other day as were working on the electricity for his restaurant:
“It’s so sad, because we want to do so much, but money powers almost everything, and we don’t have it.”
Now, honestly, I would be on my guard if most Zambians said that. It would feel as if they were looking for a handout, and I wouldn’t automatically trust that they would use the money wisely, whether it would be because of laziness or selfishness.
But this is Felix Umboya. He donates massive amounts of his personal finances and time to Hope Church and to reach out to rural villages. He closed his restaurant down (his sole source of income) so that he could go with the Dwelling Place team out into the bush to share the gospel (spending his own income to go), translate for us, and lead worship in several of the native languages. He is currently in the process of moving his restaurant and connecting it to Hope Church to create jobs for church members and so that the community would take more notice of the church. He’s now purchasing equipment for a bakery that he hopes will employ even more church members and allow more money to be funneled into outreaches to rural villages.
“How can Hope Church offer hope if we have nothing to give anyone?” he asked as he described his visions for making Hope Church self-funded.
The situation here in Western Zambia is sad. As I mentioned in previous posts, the people in the rural villages are hungry for the Good News that rescues them from their animistic fears. However, dozens of languages and people groups are unreached. There are also, sadly, only a few dozen Bibles (I know of only one Bible in Silozi, the dominant tribal language, that Hope Church has left to give away). And, if that’s not enough, gas and maintenance costs to get to the villages are high.
In the villages outside of Mongu, the life expectancy is 28 years. There is no clean water in most villages (and almost no water at all!). Diseases easily preventable by water and better hygienic practices run rampant. Honestly, I was there for 4 days and it’s the dirtiest I have ever been (except the Mud Run, for those Virginia Tech people out there!). Without water, it is impossible to stay clean. Children have dried snot on their noses and chins. Dirty hands can’t clean the pus out of their eyes, so flies constantly swarm until children and adults alike grow tired of swatting at them, and they are left to crawl over eyes, mouths, and noses.
And then there is HIV.
It is heartbreaking. We see pictures of kids with flies in their eyes and it’s sad, to be sure. But when you are here, they are not “African kids.” It is Elijah and Ethan, Tumelo and Supiso.
I don’t like many of those tear-jerking pictures that we often see from Africa. It somehow seems to dehumanize the individuals here. At the same time, I understand why those pictures are publicized. When you are here, you want to tug at people’s hearts somehow. I hope that many back in the United States would give, not just out of our excess, but that we would dig deep and sacrifice our time, prayers, and financial resources to love and serve the people here.
It costs about $4,000 to dig a water well (materials, transport, everything), which prevents disease, saves lives, and makes life liveable. It costs almost nothing to buy quality pencils for the orphan school (the current pencils wouldn’t qualify as writing instruments in the United States). It costs a couple hundred dollars to fuel jeeps for regular pastoral visits to the dozens of young churches in the mostly-unreached province of Western Zambia. 1,000 Silozi Bibles can be mass-produced and delivered to the Zambia Project for about $7,000.
The needs are endless. That can be daunting and cause each one of us to give less. I feel that. “What can I do?”
But please do not let that make us do nothing. Many non-profits are extremely inefficient. Many do not have appropriate accountability and follow-up. But I know Paul and Marinette. I know Felix, Morris, Moses, Leonard, Lloyd, and other Zambian Hope Church leaders. The Zambia Project’s management and systems of accountability are incredibly strong. Its leaders’ aim is to empower Zambia, and they are doing just that.
Currently, Western Zambia’s economy is a false economy. It is built on foreign aid. Without foreign aid, there wouldn’t be an economy (so aid can’t just stop, but it should not continue in the same way!). Many projects that provide aid Western Zambia simply are not structured to allow Zambians to take increasing ownership of their lives. The Zambia Project and Hope Church are not that. Paul and Marinette plan to leave. They are working themselves out of a job, and Felix, Morris, Leonard, Moses, and so many other native Zambians have incredible hearts that seek to serve and to continue to empower those around them.
Please consider giving financially and pray that the needs here may be met. I do not like to ask people to give to me, but I am not ashamed to ask you to give sacrificially when it will all go to the needs on the ground here in the western province of Zambia. There is accountability and follow-up. There is discernment to ensure that allocated resources will empower (and not enable) the Zambian people.
Please do not let the massive needs prevent you from doing anything. Let it do the opposite! As we give from more than our excess, we have the opportunity to see God’s provision in our lives, depend more on him, and see the truth that “it is more blessed to give than to receive.”
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