we forget that we are so blessed

Hello again!

Internet's been a little sketchy here, so these posts are coming in ebbs and bursts - sorry bout that! TIA - "this is Africa." ;)

So I have to be completely honest. Initially, before and after I’d gone out to the bush, I had huge reservations about this whole evangelism-to-people-we’ve-never-met-before thing. What were we thinking, going into a Lozi town, camping on their soil, burning their trees for firewood, causing a commotion, and basically invading their space without permission? Were we going to just tell them what to believe and simply expect that four days of our time would make the slightest difference in their lives?

Best (and only) way to haul your firewood (and family) across town

 After I went out into the village for the first time, though, it really didn’t feel as awkward or invasive as I thought it would. Whenever we approached a hut, the women and men invited us to sit on their stools under a thatched hanging just outside their house while they sat on a mat or in the dirt (it’s a sign of respect to place yourself lower than your visitors/elders). Then, we just started to talk. We asked if they attended the service last night, if they knew about it, what they thought, if they’d heard of Jesus before. Actually, every house that our group visited that first day had both gone to the service we held the previous night and had accepted Jesus into their lives as their King! So we got to pray for and with them, answer questions they had, and talk more about God’s love and promises. What I eventually realized was (this is a “duh, Stephanie” moment) that we weren’t trying to sell something, impress our culture on another, or convince anyone of anything. We were just telling Truth – and the truth is so strong that when you hear it, accept it, and act on it, there’s no stopping its overwhelming power in your life.

Even so, it was still so strange how open and frank they were with us…welcoming us into their homes, letting us play with their kids, telling us about things they struggled with, laying out all their dirty laundry…that just doesn’t happen every day! I guess I’m just used to a culture where you lock your doors during the day, distrust the person standing next to you in line, and receive pamphlets and answer door bells with wariness and skepticism. But out in the bush, there hasn’t been any civil unrest, racism, mass corruption or political polarity. Most of the battles they face are wholly spiritual, and what they desperately desire is freedom – freedom from the curses that the witch doctors put on them, freedom from cycles of terrible habits, freedom from worshipping things that can’t love back – the freedom that only Jesus can bring. It blows my mind how different our cultures are and how much culture can impact the reception of Jesus.

Village woman carrying cassava

The people of Mwai Kalupe have nothing (and we’re talking NOTHING) – not even clean drinking water or unbroken shoes or clothes that aren’t literally falling apart at the seams. I tried fire-walking the second day we were there (I thought that a fire that’d been dead for 20 hours wouldn’t be hot anymore…silly me!) and burned my left tootsie, so I actually stayed close to camp most of the week and got to hang out with kids and teenagers. Precious three- and four-year olds’ eyes, noses, and mouths were covered in flies because they hadn’t washed their faces in so long. Nearly every one of them was sneezing, sniffing, and coughing, and they didn’t even try to wipe their noses or shoo the flies away. Lihana, the medical missionary with the Zambia Project, told me that the majority of the medical issues in the bush are preventable. Much of it is just lack of good hygiene, problems easily solvable with clean water and basic education (teaching parents to wash their children’s faces, swat at flies, etc.). In general, though, the average lifespan of villagers in the bush (right now around 28) can be extended by just adding nutrients and vitamins into their diets. Many of these villages believe that their farmlands are cursed by witch doctors and can’t produce vegetables, so all across Zambia, fields lie unnecessarily fallow. They don’t even have enough good food to eat themselves, much less package and export – so severe impoverishment remains year after year.

Jehosephat and the gang

The Zambia Project is working to help villages like Mwai Kalupe in both spiritual and practical ways, because spirituality and practicality are connected. When people believe in Christ and Christ alone, the curses that witch doctors put on their families and their land no longer have power over their lives. They experience true spiritual freedom and they aren’t afraid to start planting vegetables and nutritious foods in their fields. They begin to love one another as brothers and sisters in Christ and take care of their bodies because they are living sanctuaries. People like Moses, Felix, and Lloyd translate the gospel to Silozi, and missionaries like Lihana and Morris help by bringing traveling health clinics to remote villages and drilling water wells. The combined effort is staggering – people’s lives are being entirely transformed from the inside, out. And I’m getting to be a part of it! It’s AWESOME!

Lloyd and me!

Bryan, Lucas, and I when we got back from the bush (I'd had a nice shower - them, not so much!)

As always, thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers. It’s been so cool seeing God work here in Africa, miles and miles away from home, knowing that it’s the same God that watches over yall. Please continue praying for the Zambia Project and all the fabulous people here working with Hope Church in Mongu and throughout the Western Province. Hugs!

In His peace,
Stephanie :)