The team consisted of 21 Americans from Sioux Falls, South Dakota. There were three married couples on the team. Ages ranged from 20's to 60's.
Upon arrival to Livingstone, Zambia, Africa on November 29th, we met our hosting team and shared introductions and living arrangements for the next two weeks. Our team was split into two different lodging locations both in Livingstone. Some stayed in a home where our African hosts lived and the others of us stayed in a home owned by a partner missionary family from the USA who use their home for mission teams visiting the area. Their home became the headquarters location for all of the team members to meet for daily devotions, team time, worship, teaching, and meals. The total team consisted of 40 members.
The first five days was spent waking at 0630, Zambia time which would have been eight hours ahead of South Dakota time, to help fix breakfast for the team. After breakfast we loaded a mini-bus and van to head into town for outreach. Each day we met at a church, Kingdom Impact, located within walking distance to community where we ministered to the people. We were divided into three teams as Americans and Africans mixed and leaders identified for each team. The first day, the teams walked the community for the first thirty minutes doing a prayer walk which consisted of us walking the street and praying for the community and it's occupants. It was great seeing and hearing all the children noticing "white Americans" walking with their African brothers only praying and not speaking. We were called, "Macoua's" which means "white people". After the prayer walk we returned to the same area and stopped to visit with families and children. We continued each day spending two and one half hours walking the community, visiting, and praying with the families. We witnessed miracles; served the people assisting with laundry and dish washing; praying for healing or physical and spiritual needs; and sharing life with the community members.
The first family my team met was a woman and her family from Ghana who was outside adding dirt to the yard for planting landscaping plants to provide additional shade and privacy. The dirt needed to be raked so we assisted with the raking and then gathered in the backyard under a shade tree to visit with the family and pray with them. We visited this family on three different days and they attended the celebration we hosted at the church "Kingdom Impact" on the following Monday.
Another family we met was an older gentleman, his wife, daughter, and two of his grandchildren who invited into their home to visit and have prayer. The gentleman asked us for prayers for his son needed a job, his granddaughter who was currently at the local clinic seeking medical care, and for continued supply of daily needs.
Other community members we met and ministered to included: many children of various ages, school with ten students of elementary age, mother with five children under the age of ten and the youngest who was ill with fever and diarrhea, two men who were nephew and uncle, older gentlemen, families, and young adults.
During the visits we shared fresh mangos from the trees with the children quickly climbing up the trees to gather the mangos for us. We roasted peanuts over a open fire and shared them. We helped with outdoor hanging laundry, raking, and cleaning dishes.
Prayers answered were for healing of a young man who had been experiencing weakness of his left side since a motor vehicle accident in August leaving him with a limp; a child under the age of one with diarrhea and high fever, restoration of water supply to wells, and others.
We spent time one afternoon driving out to the bush where we saw a new orange tree grove being planted and a church being built. This village had recently installed a hand pump well for water supply.
Other visits were made to orphanages, safari drive, Victoria Falls, and attended local churches on Sunday morning with our team dividing into three teams and attending three different churches.
One of the African team members played the flute for guests at a local hotel and we were allowed to attend one his performances and view the sunset over the mist from Victoria Falls. We experienced the sight and sounds of a large hippo in the Zambia River which connects Zambia to Zimbabwe.
One of the highlights for me was the visitation and tour of the Zimba Mission Hospital where a missionary couple live and work who are supported by our local Sioux Falls Church. They have 175,000 patient visits/year and 140 births/month.
The trip was truly an experience of living the Zambian culture and being humbled by their generosity and warm welcome. The trip was a life changing experience for me and the friendships made will continue well beyond these few days. Prior to leaving we exchanged contact information to allow ongoing support and relationships.
Thank you for reading and enjoy the photos.
