Bringing love and blessings to Zambia
Picture/Guo Yuanpei, Liu Yongling
God’s arrangements are always wonderful. He can connect little bits of chance into a long line that spans oceans and national boundaries.
Thirteen years ago, we sponsored a six-year-old poor child named Gerald through World Vision (WV). Gerald lives in a rural area in Zambia, Africa, and our sponsorship provides him with educational opportunities. Not only that, WV also uses these resources to help improve local quality of life, such as water purification, medical improvement, agricultural promotion, etc. We have brief correspondence with Gerald several times every year, and we also send gifts during holidays or birthdays. Over the years, I have also wondered, what is Gerald’s living situation like? What kind of country is Zambia? However, Africa is so far away and the travel expenses are huge, so it is difficult to make the trip.
▲Photo of Gerald when he was six years old.
wonderful invitation
In September 2018, when we went to Jerusalem to attend an international conference, we met Kondwani, a young pastor from Zambia. Pastor Kondwani invited us to the church he pastors to teach about marital relations. We were quite surprised by his invitation! Zambia is very far away and we have no idea about this country. Should we go there? His question about running a marriage fully demonstrates his eagerness, but we can only put this invitation in prayer first.
In early 2019, after corresponding with Pastor Kondwani several times, I began to feel the call to go to Zambia. Firstly, I can fulfill my dream of going to Africa; secondly, I can personally visit Gerald and his family who have been sponsoring for 13 years, as well as the villages he has helped; and Pastor Kondwani will arrange marriage and family lectures to help enhance the intimacy between husband and wife. He invited us to stay at his home and experience Zambian life and culture. In prayer, we hear God’s call. He wants us to bless Zambians because God loves them as much as he loves us.
▲After 13 years of correspondence, Guo Yuanping and Liu Yongling finally met Gerald (first from left) at school.
A distant and magical journey
This is the farthest and hardest journey we have ever taken. Departing from Newark Airport in New Jersey on July 31, after arriving in Dubai, he had to catch a flight to Lusaka, the capital of Zambia, within an hour. Because the flight to Dubai was delayed by half an hour, I needed to rush to another boarding gate in a short time. We walked quickly and ran faster, praying fervently as we kept pace, and miraculously, we caught the next flight! My heart is filled with gratitude and praise to God.
This trip to Africa has two missions: to visit sponsored Gerald and the community where he lives through WV arrangements, and to stay at Pastor Kondwani’s house to experience Zambian life and culture, and to teach marriage courses locally to promote Harmonious relationship between husband and wife.
▲The author and his wife took a small propeller plane to Mfuwe.
After two days of rest in Lusaka, WV arranged for us to take a domestic small plane and arrive in Mfuwe. Mfuwe is about a two-hour drive from the destination village. WV specially arranged to stay at the resort camp here for two days, giving us the opportunity to visit the famous "Safari".
Most visitors to the camp come from abroad. Thanks to WV, especially during the compact trip, we joined this natural ecological trip, allowing us to witness various wild animals and diverse landscapes in Africa. During the four-hour tour, you can see giraffes, herds of large and small elephants, hyenas, impalas, and more. God created the sky and all things, and even the natural ecology of animals bear witness to His complete power and glory.
The next day, WV co-workers drove to the camp and took us to different cities to spend the night. We arrived at Makungwa, the village where Gerald lives, the next day. After a long and winding drive, I set foot on this land, and I truly understand how difficult it is to come to this unknown and remote rural area. There are no signs or street names, so only locals know how to get there.
▲A group of children came to see "foreigners", innocent and cute.
love brings us together
We first went to Gerald's house to visit his family. When we arrived, the family was already waiting in the shade outside the room, with chairs and mats on the ground set up. We sat on chairs with our co-workers, and our families sat on the floor. The male host sat on a small bench to welcome us, introduced the whole family, and expressed his sincere thanks for all the help over the years. We responded through a translator: "We are here today because God loves us, so we bring His love. I hope you can all accept God's love."
Zambia was once a British dependency, and English became the official language after independence. However, residents in remote villages live in poverty and have no access to education. They only speak the local dialect-Nyanja. Through the ministry at WV, Gerald is the first child in his family to go to school and hopes to complete high school in the near future.
Because of our arrival, the children in the village came to watch the fun. Although they are plainly dressed and barefoot, they are innocent and cute. Thirteen years ago, Gerald was just like these children. WV’s “sponsorship ministry” changed his life.
1. Manual water pumps used in rural areas without power supply require human pedal water pumps to help with irrigation.
2. The bicycle can help Gerald reduce the time of commuting to and from school. He was so happy that he took a photo with the author.
The villagers also took us to see the well water equipment WV dug and built for the village to provide clean water to nearby villages. Twenty years ago, the water here came from a nearby polluted river.
Next, we visited Gerald’s school. The classrooms were built with the help of WV. Accompanied by the principal, I visited classroom teaching. Seventy to eighty students were crowded into a simple classroom. We take the opportunity to encourage students to dream big, think hard, study hard, and create their future. The teacher asked Gerald to come out to welcome us, and he gave us a deep hug. Before leaving the school, a dance team formed by students performed a wonderful tribal dance to thank us for visiting.
It was past noon, and our WV colleagues and we took Gerald to Chipata City for lunch. The plate includes Nsima, a staple food made from white corn (maiz) that looks like steamed buns; a piece of fish or meat; a dish of rapeseed and stir-fried vegetables with tomatoes and onions. This is a classic Zambian dish.
After finishing lunch, we asked Gerald what gift he wanted. He immediately replied: "A bicycle to go to school." Because it only takes 15 minutes to ride a bicycle, but it takes an hour to walk. We happily agreed and were taken to the city by WV co-workers to choose a sturdy bicycle that Gerald also liked very much. Gerald was overjoyed and let WV co-workers take us home.
3. Zambian home-cooked dishes that challenge your taste buds.
4. Fruit-laden tomato branches.
Hope in primitiveness and innocence
The next day, a co-worker took us to visit a farm where WV trains local farmers. Someone will explain how to cultivate crops needed by the market, how to deal with pests and diseases, and how to sell them to the market, etc. There are several acres of green tomatoes in front of us. Some of the fruits are unripe, and some are bright red. They decorate the farmland with red and green colors, which is very pleasing to the eye. The water source for irrigation is the well water next to it. A foot-operated manual water pump pumps the well water up to irrigate the crops. There is no electricity supply here.
WV arranged to visit another elementary school. There are more than 500 students here. Because there are not enough classrooms and seats, and there is a shortage of teachers, they can only squeeze into one room. There are 149 students in the small first-grade classroom. There are only two full-time teachers in the school, plus a few volunteer teachers. Although the equipment is simple, the students are innocent and cute, with smiles on their faces.
Before leaving Magungwa, we met Gerald and his family again. His mother held our hands tightly and even knelt on the ground, thanking us all the time, wishing us a safe journey, and presented us with a native chicken and a large bag of freshly peeled peanuts. WV co-workers explained that this is their deepest way to express their gratitude. We couldn't refuse, so we had no choice but to accept it with thanks and forward it to WV co-workers for them to enjoy.
5. Gerald’s mother knelt on the ground, held Teacher Guo Yuanping’s hand, and expressed her deep gratitude.
New son and new wife
After flying back to Luska on August 7, Pastor Kondwani hosted us to stay at his home. The pastor and the teacher’s wife treated us as parents and called us Mama and Daddy very affectionately and naturally. We also accepted it "with joy" and gained a son and daughter-in-law in Zambia. Their lovely little daughter also followed suit and was named Grandpa and Grandma.
The pastor frankly shared that his relationship with his wife was at a bottleneck and he urgently needed counseling. We jump at the opportunity to teach one-on-one the principles of running a marriage and encourage them to pray together every day. Talk to them that afternoon and help them until the fire of love is rekindled and the first love is brought back into the relationship.
6. 149 students are crowded into one classroom. The picture shows some students.
Lectures amidst the noise
The next afternoon, the pastor invited ten families to his home and asked us to introduce the basic principles of running a marriage and teach them how to promote intimacy between husband and wife. We found that most Zambian couples have no concept of running a marriage, and we must strengthen their education in this regard.
They had never attended a "couple relationship seminar" and did not pay attention to "punctuality". The party started at two o'clock, but they did not arrive until 2:30 with their young children. When the baby needed to be fed, the mother exposed her breasts on the spot without covering up at all, which surprised us very much! A teacher's wife brought three children to attend the class, but the pastor was absent because of something else. While the lecture was going on, there were young children walking around, and there were also children crying.
7. Family portrait of Pastor Kondwani and his wife.
8. The author and his lovely Zambian “granddaughter”.
In 20 years of experience in giving couples lectures, I have never encountered this situation. I could only pray silently in my heart, asking God to control the whole situation. Miraculously, after an hour, the students began to get into the situation. In three hours, the important principles of the relationship between husband and wife are shared through practical sharing, so that they can understand how to express love and care, understand the love language of their spouse, and how to combine "love" and "submission" in Ephesians Chapter 5. "Apply to marriage and so on. After the lecture, several couples thanked us for traveling across the ocean to teach them. I can only thank God for the wonderful things He has done in this small gathering.
On the day we left Zambia, three families with their children drove three cars from Pastor Kondwani’s house and drove us to the airport and all the way to the entrance gate. After taking pictures together, we reluctantly said goodbye. .
▲Although I left Zambia, God’s love remains with my new friends in Zambia, everlasting. The picture shows the author and his new friends who drove together to see him off.
grateful
After a long journey of 35 hours, I finally returned home in the early morning of August 14th. Looking back, it seems like a dream. The two-week trip to Zambia passed by in such a hurry. Before setting off, we asked ourselves: "What are we going to do in Zambia? Is it a short-term mission? Is it traveling? To see friends? Or to get to know Zambia? To learn the local culture and customs, etc.?" The answer is not sure. We just listen to God’s words, bring His love to Zambia, and share the blessings God has given us with the people we come into contact with there. Miraculously, during these two weeks, we shared our love and blessings everywhere, and the feedback we received was joy and satisfaction.
On the last day in Zambia, Pastor Kondwani said earnestly: "You must come back again!" We didn't dare to answer, because even if our "spirit" said yes, our seventy or eighty-year-old flesh would say, "The journey is so long." It’s so far away and so hard!” It’s not up to us to decide whether we will go to Zambia again. It depends on God’s calling and leading. We just want to follow His footsteps.
A trip to Zambia changed our view of Africa and the country. We realized that even in a small African country or even in a remote village, God would never forget Gerald, his family, neighbors and children. We are convinced that this is a special call for us to be His hands and feet to serve and bring the message of God’s love to the people of Zambia. Thinking that God’s love is so wonderful, all the fatigue of the journey has vanished. Let’s once again thank and praise God for the grace He has given us.
Guo Yuanping, Liu Yongling:Guo Yuanpei and Liu Yongling are the family ministry directors and special lecture teachers of the Kingdom Resources for Christ Association. They both received master's degrees in Christian counseling from Philadelphia Bible University in the United States.
The "Couple Unity Growth Camp" hosted by Teacher Guo and his wife, or the camps and lectures related to parents' marriage and sex education for their children, are particularly popular and recognized. They have been married for 46 years and have two sons. His books include: "Intimate Couple - Exploring the Mysteries of Sexual Intimacy as a Couple" (translation), "The Art of Loving and Being Loved - Exploring the Mysteries of Sexual Intimacy as a Couple", and "How to Avoid Boudoir Storms - 50 Things to Boost Intimacy" Secret Recipe".