Growing Pains

Solwezi is growing. By a couple of hundred people every day according to someestimates.  In some places in the world,the streets are apparently lined with gold. In Solwezi, they’re lined with people selling, people walking, peoplesitting, people driving, people biking, people peeing.  And by streets I mean street.  One. Singular.  The same street used bythe large copper mining trucks, buses coming through the country from Lusaka, mini buses, taxis, funeral caravans, and anyone in the entire province who needs to buy groceries at our Shoprite – the only grocery store within two hours drive any direction.  One street, on a sort of ridge between valleys, with every storefront, shack and market along the street, because anyone who visits can easily see that this booming mine city was never intended to be more than a small stop along the main road.

And it’s only going to get bigger.  The Kansanshi copper mine is already one ofthe largest and busiest in the world – and expected to double in size this year, adding the biggest copper smelter to facilitate outputs from several mines in the area.  Currently underway some kilometers out of Solwezi is Trident, a trifecta combining smaller mines into one huge one.  Where there are mines,there are jobs, and where there are jobs, there are people.  “If you build it, they will come” has never been more real. 

Westerns depicting the American Gold Rush would be very fitting for the situation here: promises to make it big and get rich quick are transplanting whole communities and families to the point that we can hardly call this “Kaonde country” anymore.  Traditional values and conservative dress are being replaced with cheap pornography and skinny jeans.  Bars and taverns (or tarvens, as the signs usually say) and swanky guest houses are popping up all over town.  Alcohol consumption and prostitution are increasing simultaneously, especially among transient truck drivers, leaving a devastating number of unwed mothers with STDs.

Where does this leave us? Living a block away from the one real street has its benefits.  For example, stocks run out fairly quickly at Shoprite when there are 50 million transactions a month, but we’ve learned which days the vegetable trucks are unloaded and know that if the eggs are gone today, we can stop by again tomorrow.  The increase in mine activity also means an increase in expatriates, many of whom have become dear friends through a small church fellowship we’ve helped to start.  They are also great contacts for the who, what, how questions in the way things work here.  Additionally, though we’ve spent a lot of time on our Kikaonde, the influx of people from all over the country (and world) means we are able to function almost entirely in English within town.

But there are a lot of downfalls as well.  Be it in a car, on a bike, or walking, the roads are frightening (we’ve found walking to be the safest, though not always the sanest).  When we first visited in 2009, things were so much quieter, and we just thought we’d bicycle everywhere when we moved here long term.  Not a chance.  Additionally, there are regular gas shortages and cars will line up waiting to refuel.  Whereas even 12 months ago we had extremely reliable power and water, the only consistency now is the inconsistency.  We’ve had some weeks in which we’ve lost power every night just around dinner time. The electrical infrastructure of the city can’t handle the load.  This was really the tipping point as we became overwhelmed by stress last month.

On a deeper level, the increase in transplanted families from other tribes is something local Kaonde churches for the most part aren't prepared to handle.  Add to that Jehovah’s witnesses, Muslims, and various “natural healers” and “Chinese medicine practitioners” handing out pamphlets and invitations and this little big town in a nominally Christian country is becoming confused. Especially confusing is the increase in access to Western television, music, Internet and culture.  For years many Zambians have assumed that what is American or European is Christian.  After all, the first “bazungu” (white people) to come to Zambia were missionaries.  We’ve had several conversations with Zambian friends here recently who were convinced that all Americans are Christian, and therefore every music video, fashion trend, televangelist, politician and even Peace Corp worker they are exposed to is also “Christian.”

A few months ago one of our older missionaries who has been here most of her life said, “things are a lot harder than they used to be.”  Yes, there is far more available when it comes to food choices, airlines in and out, technology, etc., but those are all things you can work around and or live without. The quiet life where everything was simple but simple made sense once you learned the system is a thing of the past. 

I’m not sure where I’m going with this, other than to ask that you pray.  Pray for Solwezi, that evil and corruption will have no power, and that the Lord will bring about a revival for His truth.  Pray for the churches here, that they may find innovative and inviting ways to reach out to the increasingly inter-tribal and international community around us.  Pray for the missionaries as we discern what and who to pour our lives into, as we react to the changes around us, and as we seek to maintain a moral standard and serve as an example to our brothers and sisters here.  And please pray for us as we respond to lewd comments and begging, intense foot and vehicle traffic, inconsistent utilities and other “growing pains.”