Happenings

Happenings

This past week we were able to drill another well with funds provided by a donor through Healing Hands International. It did not happen at the site we had planned due to problems with the ground. There was too much sand that went deeper than the double casing could handle. The council has a method that it will try there at a later date.

We shifted to the area of Zalaunga; specifically the village of Mashonga. Mashonga is a village of just over 2000 souls. It is less than a kilometer from the Kafue River but the river is full of crocodiles and is extremely dangerous as a source of water. But, if no other water is available people must run that risk to survive.

While the well work was going on Charles and Chilemena were passing out printed material on NT Christianity and the church. By the time the well was completed the senior head man and vice head man for Zalaunga along with 4 others were asking to be baptized. But, when they went to the river there were too many crocodiles so they will return with the pool that we have to baptize people when water is not available. They also had a list of 19 individuals who were also very interested. All in all it was a really successful effort of uniting community outreach through providing water and teaching people about NT Christianity. There will now be a new congregation in the village of Mashonga.

The materials that were distributed were those that we have translated into the Tonga language. The tract you see them reading is Joe Barnett’s “The Churches of Christ: Who are these people?” in Tonga. We find that people are happy and eager to read materials in their own language, especially those out from a large town.

Perspective

It is difficult for people to realize the size of the continent of Africa. This year when I returned I was asked a number of times about the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Many do not realize that Zambia is several thousand miles from the area where the outbreak happened. The bottom line is that Africa is big, really big compared to almost anywhere else in the world. This map shows its size in comparison to a number of countries of the world.