The Chifubu Church

by zambiatripblog

Friday, May 10, 2013

                Our first full day in Zambia had a lot for us to experience. Mostly everyone slept well because of the exhaustion of traveling for two full days, so we awoke on a cool African morning ready to go. We began our morning with a quick breakfast and then drove to Jubilee Centre, which we found is only a couple of miles down the road. There we received an inside look at the Jubilee Centre ministry and we were able to worship and pray with the staff there as well. After that we headed out to a worksite in a nearby community in Ndola where we began working on building a church with the members of the community that attended worship there. Here to give an inside look into what we were doing today and her experiences is Kelley Ritsema!

Today we went to the village of Chifubu to help with building a church, which we had also helped fund through the money we raised for our trip. When we got there we were immediately greeted by many warm, welcoming Zambians. You could see the genuine joy and excitement in their eyes as they expressed how thankful they were to us in helping make reality the dreams they have had for their church. We were split up into 2 groups; the guys helped move stones, mix cement, and pour the floor of the church, and the girls helped pump and carry water to where the guys were mixing cement, as well as planting some fruit trees. It was really cool to be working alongside the Zambians and building relationships with them. It is amazing how the people of Zambia don’t have a second thought in wholeheartedly welcoming you into their lives. The community in which you see the people living here is that of one big family, everyone caring, sharing what they have, and looking out for each other. This is my second time in Zambia, and I am blown away just as much as the first time I experienced this wonderful community. It is one of the reasons that I fell in love with the people of Zambia. I feel so encouraged by the love of Christ I see lived out through these people. I also feel very challenged by the way in which they live. It makes me take a look at my own life and how selfish I live too much of the time. The people here live very selflessly, always thinking of others first. We saw this today through how many people from the church and the community were there, giving selflessly of their time and energy, to help build the church. I know that we will experience this every day that we are here in Zambia because that is very much ingrained into the way they live their lives. I love experiencing this and I look forward to the ways in which God speaks to me through their testimony.

                One of the most amazing experiences today was that we were able to work side by side with our sisters and brothers in Christ who live thousands of miles away from our own home to provide a place for the people of Chifubu to gather and worship God together. There certainly were a lot of differences and a lot of cross cultural barriers (language being a huge one) but we were able to work right alongside them, helping them to have a better facility. Something that we all were amazed by was how much the Zambian people of Chifubu embody the church as it’s supposed to be. Every Sunday in the U.S. we walk into buildings that are air conditioned, have seats with backs on them, and most likely have a P.A. system or something way better. Today, we walked into a building constructed of timber with no real roof on it, crude benches, and no P.A. system of any sorts, but we worshipped and praised God with those people like we were at a concert! Every person, young or old, was singing there heart out and praising God at every chance they got when listening to testimonies or hearing about the work God was doing. It was a humbling thing to experience and it was amazing to see the joy these brothers and sisters in Christ bring in being the Church and in being the hands and feet of God.

                With a day full of hard work and valuable moments we were able to come back with a new and different perspective on life in Zambia. We didn’t leave the village today feeling sorry for them for how little they had, rather we left full of the joy they gave us just from being around them and a joy that, too often, we lack despite being in a land of plenty. God is continuing to work in the hearts of those who are on this trip and it is amazing to wait in joyful anticipation for what opportunities he has for us around every corner.