(written by Emily H-F and Rachel W)
Tuesday 26th March 2024
Greetings from the team (Andrew & Rebekah Tutty, George Tice, Ben P, Emma L, Emily H-F, Kate B, Naomi H, Nick E and Rachel W) in Kapiri Mposhi! Thank you to everyone who is praying for us, we appreciate all of the support and prayers. We arrived safely late on Tuesday evening. All of our travels went smoothly, and we spent time in the various airports getting to know one another better and preparing to share our testimonies. Unfortunately we arrived in Lusaka airport to discover that none of our luggage had made it, however God has been good (Scarlett Tice has been persistent with the airlines – thank you Scarlett!) and we hope to have our bags within the next day or so.
Wednesday 27th March 2024
Day 1 we got stuck straight in! Emma and Rebekah led a career guidance session for senior secondary students, Ben and Kate led critical thinking games for juniors. Others facilitated clubs for upper primary students – art, music and debating which were all a big hit. Andrew led PE in the beautiful sunshine for secondary students – games including Gaelic football and tag rugby were among the favourites. This was followed by sharing dinner and a devotional time with the boarder students.
Thursday 28th March 2024
Day 2 was another fun-filled jam-packed day. Some of the team led a trade game for secondary students, while the rest of the day was spent facilitating PE for all ages. Primary assembly was a highlight of the day. Morale was high on the last day of term as teachers celebrated individual students’ achievements. Rachel, Nick and Naomi taught some new songs, while George and Emily shared a gospel message. Again, we had dinner with the boarders and shared great conversations over the meal. Rebekah and Emily facilitated some informative sessions and Q&A on female health for the girl boarders. The team then all led a time of devotional study, sharing testimonies followed by the boarders teaching the team some new songs requiring lots of dance moves!
Friday 29th March 2024
We are now in the middle of Day 3. We had a fun afternoon choosing material and getting measured for some traditional outfits to wear. The rest of the afternoon will be spent flyering and evangelising in preparation for a weekend of events being ran in Grace Baptist Church.
We would appreciate continued prayer over the weekends’ events as we spend time with local families and children and as George and Rebekah prepare to share about Jesus. We would also appreciate prayer over our team, that we would continue to be strengthened and for protection over our health and energy.
Stay tuned for more updates!
Friday afternoon we joined members of Grace Baptist Church to do some evangelism around Kapiri. We had the opportunity to share speak to locals about Jesus and invited them to the church events planned for the week. In the evening we enjoyed dinner and games with the Simbeye family.
Saturday 30th March 2024
Saturday was a busy but wonderful day at Grace Baptist Church. We started the day with a youth and children’s service. Rebekah shared her testimony and ‘Sister Rachel’ (as she is now fondly known) led everyone in worship. We then split into older and younger groups – the younger kids played games outside, were taught a parable from the bible, a memory verse and crafts. Meanwhile, George preached to the older kids and more songs were sung in the traditional Bemba language. We then provided a hot cooked meal for everyone in attendance – which was made possible by the generosity of those who supported our fundraising. The meal was followed by sports including relay races and a Zumba class led by Rebekah and Nick. Approximately 400 children and teenagers attended the event which left the team happy and exhausted by the end of the day!
Sunday 31st March 2024
Sunday morning we continued our team devotions in Philippians, reflecting on the gift of Jesus on Easter Sunday. We then attended Grace Baptist Church for their Sunday service. Ben led the church in worship. George preached indoors to the adults, while Naomi shared a parable from the bible in Sunday school under the shade of the mango tree outside (approx. 140 children!). We enjoyed time of fellowship and getting to know members of the church after the service. We had the wonderful opportunity to hand over the gospels of John to a church member involved in prison ministry. Following this, the team and the Simbeye children took a visit to the Mushibili Dam and enjoyed the beautiful nature, bird watching and sunset in the Zambian countryside.
Monday 1st April 2024
The last few days have consisted of doing practical tasks around Vinjeru Trust School. On Monday, Nick and Andrew started building two table tennis tables, while others were involved in building and varnishing benches under the shade of trees that will be used as an outdoor classroom. The remaining team members sorted through an abundance of donated clothes from Ireland so that these could be handed over to Pastor Manasseh and his wife for distribution to the locals. George spent half the day with Lamek who is responsible for the school farming activities. The chickens in the school have not been thriving as well as the previous year, so chicken-expert George stepped in to investigate and to advise Lamek. For everyone’s sake we will not include photos of the post-mortems! In the evening the team divided into smaller groups and went for dinner in different church members’ houses. A wide variety of food was enjoyed, those who ate at the pastor’s house were offered 5 choices of meat!
Tuesday 2nd April 2024
On Tuesday morning, the team congregated before sunrise on the basketball court to touch up the painted outlines before the heat of the day. Kate, Rachel and Emily met Pastor Manasseh at the church to hand over the clothes donations from Ireland. Grace Baptist Church wished to extend its thanks to all those who donated clothes. During the day the team spent some time preparing for the Vinjeru school staff appreciation dinner that evening. The dinner was a great success. The staff enjoyed a barbecue provided for by our fundraising money and prepared by the guys on the team. The evening was full of lots of joy and laughter, with highlights including Nick’s photography, Rebekah’s quiz and singing and dancing together to finish.
Wednesday 3rd April 2024
On Wednesday morning the team went to collect their traditional Zambian attire (chitenge) from the local tailors. The rest of the day was spent finishing off practical tasks and preparing for the music concert being held in Grace Baptist Church in the afternoon. This event was a wonderful time spent singing and worshipping together with church members and local visitors. We listened to the testimonies of Nick, Emma and Naomi, and heard Andrew preach from God’s word. The church choir performed some beautiful songs, as well as a local pastor. Wednesday was a very special day for one team member! We celebrated Nick’s 21st birthday throughout the day, with gifts from home in the morning and a surprise birthday cake from the Simbeyes in the evening.
Thursday 4th April 2024
A final update from the team. On our last full day in Zambia we got to enjoy a trip to Nsobe Game Park with the Simbeye children and a mother and her two children who attend Grace Baptist Church. We spent the day searching for wildlife, running, cycling and swimming. We returned to the school in the evening and enjoyed a final meal with the Simbeyes, reflecting on our highlights and learnings from the trip. We finished off the evening with a campfire and roasting marshmallows.
We have now safely returned home to our friends and families in Ireland. All in all, we had the most wonderful trip. We are so thankful to God for blessing us so richly. For health and safety on our travels, the fun and friendship we enjoyed as a team, the opportunity to meet and form relationships with incredible people and to serve alongside Vinjeru Trust School and Grace Baptist Church. We feel as though we have gained so much more than we have given. A final thank you to everyone who supported us to go to on the trip and has prayed for us before, during and after.
Donations
If you would like to support the work of the team, you can give on our GoFundMe page, any donations would be gratefully received by our team as we seek to further support the amazing work in Kapiri Mposhi.