To be fair, I saw the hippo in Botswana.
But that’s beside the point.
This blog is about Zambia!
This is one of the hosts that didn’t live with us. Her name is Precious. I learned so much from her this month and she even braided my hair! (It took 20 hours.)
Ministry: Africa for Jesus
Location: Livingstone, Zambia
Currency: Kwacha (10 Kwacha= $1)
Language: Nyanja
Overview: This month we lived right outside the main area of Livingstone. We were about a ten minute taxi ride from coffee shops, grocery stores and restaurants, which was so nice and unlike anything I’d seen in Africa thus far. My team and I lived in a housed shared with another team and our three hosts: Bright, Charles and Isaac. We lived in a moderately sized neighborhood consisting of mostly cement block houses.
These were all our hosts and both teams, minus the other 2 guys in front of our home in Zambia.
What types of ministry did you do in Zambia?
This month a huge part of our ministry was forming relationships. It was awkward at first. We’d just join people in their homes and talk to them (through a translator), but what began as awkward small talk blossomed into genuine connection and care. By the end of the month we spent time with many families and individuals doing Bible studies, talking about the Word and the Lord and just enjoying one another. On the last night we threw a dinner party for everyone who allowed us to be a part of their lives and the community for that month. Another huge part of our ministry was kids ministry. We performed Bible skits, sang songs and played games with over 70 kids in our own front yard on multiple occasions.
This was taken at one of the kids events.
How did you get to ministry?
The majority of our ministry was done in our community, so we would walk. To go to church or evangelize in town, we would take a van (if it was working) or take two taxis.
What did a typical day look like?
8am: Breakfast
9am: Group Devo
10am-noon: Community in-home Bible studies
Noon: Lunch
1pm: Team Time
2pm-4pm: Kids Program
4pm: Prepare dinner
5pm: Dinner
7pm-9pm: Group time (feedback, movie/game night, testimonies, etc.)
9pm: Bed
11 Lessons from Zambia:
1. Half the country of Zambia is considered protected land for wildlife. We lived in that half. Our host said he had seen an elephant walk down his neighborhood dirt road before.
2. The main strip of Livingstone is very touristy. There are many hostels and 5-star hotels.
3. Victoria Falls is located in Livingstone.
4. If food is offered to you, you must take it, or it is seen as rude. (I was offered a caterpillar and said I would eat it later since I was full. Haha.)
5. Fried chicken is a favorite food in Africa.
6. This month we ate a lot of shema. It’s essentially flour mixed with water to make a paste with which you eat with your hands.
7. Popsicles are called freeze-it’s. You could buy them from people who owned a freezer for about 2 cents each.
8. We met a woman named Elizabeth this month. She was 67 years old and said she’d been a world traveler for 50 years. It was incredible to see how the Lord has shown her the world and used her gifts all along the way.
9. My team and I learned what it looked like for a team to consist of only three people. It felt more like living with sisters than a full team, and I loved that part of it.
10. I (continued to) learn more about flexibility, as we found out just a couple days before we were to leave that we could no longer be going to Zimbabwe and would be rerouted to Swaziland instead.
11. Leave your windows closed or else baboons will come in and eat your snacks while you are sleeping. No, this isn’t a joke. (Also, if you look them in the eyes they’ll slap you. Hahaha)
Oh ya, here’s that hippo I saw. Well, one of the hundred, anyway. Haha! (A small group of us did an overnight safari in Botswana for the weekend since it’s so close.)
