Saturday, June 4

Portions of the team went off in two different directions on Saturday. The main group left early (around 6:30) with Dr. Joan for Botswana across the Zambezi River to the Chobe National Park for a safari by river and jeep to see the enormous numbers and varieties of animals that come to the park – the confluence of three rivers – during the dry season where they can get water. They didn’t return to Zimba until early evening (around 7:30). They were all very excited, having taken lots of picture of all kinds of animals and birds, including elephants, giraffe, hippos, zebra, impala, kudu, and even lions.

Dr. Kari and I had been on the safari twice previously and Dr. Kari really wanted to spend time in Zimba NOT at the hospital but also providing information on the Biblical directions for how to properly manage money, time, work, debt, etc. The material is based on a series of lessons developed by the U.S.-based Crown Ministries. Their review of the Bible had identified over 2,350 passages that pretty directly relate to these issues. She and I had taken the course for trainers several years ago. She has led a couple of groups through the lessons at home and the materials have recently been adapted for use in third world countries. She felt a special calling to bring the information to Zimba. A couple of months ago, she had contacted several individuals here to inquire if there would be interest and was assured that their would be. We had purchased the course materials and brought them with us in our luggage. There were several sets of three different workbooks and the DVD’s that go with them plus a couple of other pieces. One set was a series of seminar presentations designed for pastors so they could learn, apply, and then teach/preach the materials to others in their congregations. Earlier in the week we had asked to meet with Pastor Chikobela who is now the district director of the Wesleyan churches in the Zimba area so we could show him the material and, if he thought it worthwhile, enlist his assistance in arranging to share the material with other pastors in the area. He really liked what he saw and thought it would be very powerful and valuable. We had agreed to conduct two seminars for pastors, the first an interdenominational gathering of pastors of churches within Zimba proper on Saturday, and the second, on Tuesday, a gathering of pastors from the ten Wesleyan churches in the larger Zimba area, i.e., those within about a 14 km radius of Zimba. He would contact the various pastors to invite them. He was hoping for two individuals from each of the eight different denominational churches for the seminar on Saturday (16) and three from each of the ten Wesleyan churches on Tuesday (30).

Since Bob had been on safari previously in Kenya and we had asked him as a chaplain/pastor to assist us in this seminar, he remained with Dr. Kari and me to co-host the Saturday seminar at the mission house. We had arranged to have a traditional Zambian lunch meal prepared and had asked that those who attended to pay for the cost of their meal and the cost of the booklet they would each receive. Crown Ministries in Africa had strongly recommended this as a lesson in financial responsibility itself.

For the seminar on Saturday, six of the anticipated sixteen participants showed up. We watched the DVD lessons and talked about some of the key points and their application to this community in Zambia. The whole seminar lasted about 6-7 hours plus the meal. At the end of the afternoon, all of the pastors were very appreciative of the materials, thought it was highly relevant to their congregations, and were eager to get copies of the materials so they could use them in their churches. Although the turnout (short notice) was lighter than hoped for, but the response was very much what we’d hoped for.

The idea of people learning how to live within their means, to avoid or escape debt, to be able to give and save, and work as God directed was very persuasive and potentially very liberating, even for those who have meager means.