In June 2010, a group of 12 Canadians and one American brother took a trip to Zambia to provide assistance to those living in the village of Magrimundi Zambia. Zambia is one of the poorest countries in Africa, and Magrimundi is one of the poorest villages in the suburbs of the city of Kolomo. People in this part of the world struggle daily to provide the very basic essentials of food, water and shelter. In addition, aids and other diseases are common place. The average life span for an adult in this part of the world is less than 40 years. Many die much younger than that. There are many widows looking after 4 to 6 children on their own, often with little or no income.
This particular trip was planned, organized and managed by a member of a Baptist church in Surrey BC who had been on two previous trips to the same area. We were not sponsored or affiliated to any organized missions organization. The majority of the participants were church members of the Surrey church and paid for the entire trip out of their own pockets. Some fund raising provided assistance for those who could not afford the full cost of travel and accommodation which was approx. $4,000 per person. We hired Zambian nationals as guides and rented a bus. We camped in tents and cooked all our own meals. This was by no means an easy trip and we were challenged physically, emotionally and spiritually.
The basic plan was to minister to the local people by providing children’s programs and looking for opportunities to provide any kind of relief we could to the families living in the village. The scope of the ministry developed as we were introduced to the people and discovered their particular needs. During the two weeks we were there, we accomplished the following:
- Purchased building lots for the 6 families most in need as identified by the local church pastor.
- Set up a family in a sustainable business
- Paid to have a roof installed on a local village church building
- Provided children’s ministries to give single mothers a break
- Provided six families with 6 months supply of food
- Researched fresh water options to be followed up on during the next trip back
- Provided clothing, toys and some sports equipment for local children
- Joined in and participated in evening worship gatherings at local area churches
- Visited families in the village and prayed with families and individuals
The leader of the group made it clear from the beginning that although we would be ministering to local needs, the participants, not the recipients would benefit the most from this missions trip. He was dead on in his assessment and every member of the group grew immensely as a result of their commitment to this project. We met amazing people and were deeply moved by the generosity and joy that these people displayed in the face of dire and extreme poverty. We learned the true meaning of community and the value that relationships play in the lives of these people. These are some of the most joyful, thankful and well adjusted people I have ever met in my life.
The begging question I came home with was this “Why are people with everything you could ever want or need in abundance (us living in Canada) so cynical, unthankful and generally messed up?” The simple answer is that joy and success in life are derived from the relationships we develop with each other and our willingness to share what we have with those around us.
