... The People of Zambia

Serving and Loving the People of Zambia. This is the phrase that is on most of our prayer letters, photos and other materials. This has been the plan, the goal, the intent of preparing for ministry here. Little did we realize that the “People of Zambia” hardly includes just native Zambians.

Since arriving here 2 ½ months ago, we have had opportunities to serve and love – and be served and loved by – people from Zambia, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, South Africa, Ghana, Ethiopia, Angola, New Zealand, Malaysia, Korea, India, Ireland, United Kingdom, Germany, Holland, Canada, and the US. And every expectation or stereotype I might have had of people from each of those countries has been stripped away. And though we and many of our expatriate friends, and fellow missionaries find ourselves immersed in Zambian culture, many of these individuals seem to be living in a completely different world.

The copper mining industry has really grown in Zambia, and our town of Solwezi is no exception. The mines certainly employ many Zambians, but there are also “experts” brought in from all over the world. Some, like many of our white Zimbabwean friends, have fled their countries and started life over here in Zambia. Others know their time here is only temporary until projects are completed and they return to their respective countries or move on to a different project. But while here, they form a community – or two very distinct communities. There are the miners who are Christians, and those who aren’t. They all live at what is called the Kansanshi Golf Estate, a gated, guarded, manicured facility complete with an 18-hole golf course, clubhouse, pool and gym. The houses are very westernized with modern appliances, and a lot of their food needs are shipped directly in from Lusaka, or even Johannesburg, so they rarely have to venture into town or away from the estate.

Just a side note here: we don’t look down on our friends at the mines for their lifestyle. They’re here to work, and they work very hard and tirelessly. We actually appreciate having the mining estate, because having both grown up in water, we dry out if we don’t get a good swim in now and then!

Though there are English-speaking churches in Solwezi, the Christian community at the mining estate has started a home church fellowship. There is no one who is trained theologically, but their faith is real and a few of the men have taken turns sharing a message and leading the group in songs and prayer each week. They also have a women’s group that meets and discusses Christian books (currently they’re reading The Five Love Languages). Though they tend to stay there on the complex, they have offered resources, assistance, and friendship to us (even frontline spray for our dog!). While their fellowship is strong, there seems to be a divide between those who believe, and the other miners who spend much of their free time at the clubhouse bar, and little effort to reach the others for Christ.

I write this because we’re realizing more and more that God has plans for us that go far beyond the Kaonde people of Solwezi. Though our primary ministry is focused on training, teaching, discipling and loving our friends in the villages around Solwezi, as white, American missionaries living in town, we are also in a unique position to reach out to and serve those on the other end of the economical and social structure. And what’s more, to possibly help bridge the gap between the two. I hate distinguishing people based on the color of their skin, but racism and stereotypes are very strong here, and the wealthy, white folks from Zambia and other parts of Africa (mostly of British roots) have definitive attitudes toward the poor, black population and vice versa. But God’s love for both groups – all people – is very real, and we will be honored if He uses us to demonstrate that love here through our interactions with people from all classes and nationalities. There will likely be opportunities for Luke to “preach” in the home church fellowship, and I have gotten involved in the ladies Bible study. Yet, we speak Kikaonde to their gardeners, maids and guards, dress in our long pants and skirts, and share of the positive things God is doing in the villages and homes of our Zambian friends. We also seek to be lights to the other miners we see around – those outside the Christian fellowship. (Additionally, we sometimes find ourselves working side by side with Peace Corp volunteers in the village – a HUGE opportunity for sharing Christ.)

Isn’t God amazing? It’s like our Cameroonian pastor in Dallas – there in the US to reach other Africans for Christ – culturally equipped in a way an American pastor would not be. Perhaps we weren’t just called to Africa to love our African brothers and sisters, but also so that we might reach other Westerners for Christ in the process. May we keep our eyes and hearts and home open to the ways God intends to use us here in Zambia!

A Series of Goodbyes, Part 1 - The Missed Opportunity

A good person died just a couple months ago - Christmas eve, actually.  I could have written this then, but the at the time I didn't know what to say.  Little would I know that this would be the first in a series of goodbyes that have affected me more than I realized they ever would.

David Myers was home from school to celebrate Christmas with his family.  It was early in the morning, around 2, and the wet weather and freezing temperatures had made the roads slick.  I don't know many of the details, but I do know that he was in his own neighborhood when his car left the road and struck a tree. He was wearing his seatbelt, but the impact was too much and he died.  He was 21.

When I found out, I didn't know how to react.  I didn't know David that well, but I had gotten to know him over the course of a few months when I was helping him get back into diving after he had taken some time off due to some serious injuries.  The fall of his senior year of high school I coached him off and on for a month or two, encouraging him to stick with it and make the most of his senior year.  He had so much talent, but had severely injured his back, making diving painful for him.  Yet he loved what he did, so he fought through it.

At the time I worked with him David was already taking college level science courses, as he was preparing to go to college to study Pre-Med, I assume to someday be a doctor.  I had heard that he did at one point have a wilder side to him, but he had calmed down and was beginning to take life more seriously.  I didn't pry into his business, but rather tried to remain a positive example for him as I encouraged him to improve as an athlete.  In all this, however, I never sought the opportunity to share my faith with him.  He and the rest of his family were aware of my goal of getting into the mission field, and, being Catholic, they understood.  Yet I never talked with David about his faith, about what he believed.

I missed the opportunity to share with him what really matters.  And now I will never have that chance.

For several weeks I beat myself up about this as I continued to wrap my head around the fact that he was gone.  I pray that he heard the Gospel from somebody else, as he had not heard it from me.  In this grief, however, I am reminded of the urgency to share the Good News of Christ with anybody and everybody I can, for we never know when it may be over.

So goodbye, David.  I'm sorry I let you down.  I pray that lives may be changed forever by your life and death, and by the revived sense of urgency for sharing the Gospel that I now have.  You were a good person, David, and there were many who cared about you, including some of us who never told you, and it was only in your death that we realized we missed that chance.