For the last few years we have sent a team from CCC to Vinjeru Trust School in Kapiri Mposhi, Zambia. Read some reflections from this year’s team, and find out more details on their blog below:
Caitlin: Zambia was an incredible trip, we really got to see God working in the lives of those we met over there and our own as well. I really enjoyed getting to catch up with Bekah, the three evenings with the boarders, team devotions, the girls weekend away and spending time with the Simbeyes and Tuttys. I think two of the biggest takeaways I have from the trip and what I want to try incorporate into my life in Dublin are: to have a lens of Jesus in all I do in my day and the impact of how starting our day intentionally in his presence and praising him changes our whole day and everything we do, our interactions with others, our energy and mindset. Secondly to find joy in simplicity, not always looking for the next new thing and living in the moment, not being connected to everyone by phone all the time, but to enjoy being with the people in front of you and being really present with them.
Josh: I loved the trip to Zambia; there was a lot of chaos and fun. My trip highlights included spending quality time with Andrew and Ninza, alongside many boarder lads – whether it was feeding the rabbits, playing basketball, or cooking chicken in the dark. It is amazing to see how joyful the people of Zambia are, even though some of their basic needs might not be met, it really puts into perspective how a simple life without constant notifications was. It was also amazing to see the fruit of the Gospel within the school and among many of the students and teachers. I hope one day I will get to return back to Kapiri.
Kate: This was my second time going to Vinjuru Trust school. It was wonderful to be able to go back and serve both the school and Simbeyes. One thing I enjoyed was getting to know both the teachers and students better on this trip. There is a hunger for deep honest conversation about faith and God. Getting to share my own but also hear others life journeys with God was very special. To be able to witness God working in the students lives is something I cherish. Now I am back in Dublin, I continue to pray for these students. We spent a church night away and evenings with the boarders allowed for these one-to-one conversations but these times were also full of singing and joy. This trip also challenged me out of my comfort zone in the best way possible. Putting my trust in God and knowing that He would always be with me was such an encouragement. Through His strength, I was able to step out in faith and teach classes or even host a quiz night fundraiser.
Adeola: I’m really thankful for the opportunity to visit Vinjeru Trust School and play a part in the amazing work the Simbeyes are doing in Kapiri Mposhi. It was indeed a refreshing time to be of service to the community there especially with the school kids. I really enjoyed meeting new people, exploring the culture and sharing a bit of my career experience and testimony with the community there. I appreciated time away from the hustle and bustle of my corporate life in Dublin and living in a big city. The unhurried time in devotion and meditating on the word, Bible study with students is something I’ll miss so much. I’m looking to see how I take some of those practices in my life in Dublin, especially unplugging and spending more time 1 on 1 with God.
Rachel: I’m so grateful to God for bringing me on this trip to Vinjeru. It’s been wonderful to reflect on all that he did during our stay both in and through us. For me, the biggest highlights were all in the quality time spent with people; the students & church members, the Simbeyes & Tuttys, and of course the team! I particularly valued the one on one conversations I got to have with a number of the students. I was blessed to be able to share part of my testimony during the secondary school assembly and was met with such rich follow up conversations as students were just so hungry to know more about Jesus and what it looks like to follow him in the day to day. Something I love about Zambian culture is that the person in front of you is always the most important person, which does result in running on ‘Zambia time’! But it also leads to an unhurried kind of love that often gets lost in our western culture in all the busyness.
2025 Blog
Written by Rachel Sutton
Thursday 13th March 2025
We’ve had an incredible first couple of days in Kapiri. We were met on Tuesday afternoon at Lusaka airport by the Simbeyes and the Tuttys and arrived into Kapiri later that night. Wednesday consisted of a great tour of Vinjeru School campus led by the Simbeye kids, followed by a tour of Kapiri Mposhi. We picked up some food and supplies in the markets and then picked out our chitenge (traditional Zambian clothing) and got our measurements taken for tailoring!
Wednesday also happened to be international youth day, so we spent the evening at the Simbeyes’ house with a bunch of the teens and young adults from Grace Baptist. There were some *very* competitive games played, some impromptu guitar lessons, good food, and some great chats as we got to know the youth. One of the young people even said it was the best youth day they had ever had!
Today was a wonderfully busy day; after our team devotion in the book of Philippians in the morning, we set off helping out on Vinjeru campus as the staff started to get things ready for the kids coming back from their mid-term break. While Josh helped assemble some curtains, Adeola started prepping the staff social lunch, and the rest of us set out to tackle organising the library. The afternoon comprised of even more intense competition as Awana Games kicked off! We all hopped into teams with the school staff and despite some minor injuries and major sunburns, everyone had great craic. Having worked up an appetite, we enjoyed a lovely braii followed by some more team challenge games hosted by Bekah.
We’re really looking forward to all that’s to come over the next few days and are so thankful to the Lord for some great fellowship so far.
Sunday 16th March 2025
Over the weekend we had the opportunity to take some of the girls in Grace Baptist church on a weekend away! We left on Friday morning, picked up the girls along the way and headed out to Nsobe where we had a couple days filled with bible teaching, games, and a bike ride through the bush (literally through many actual bushes). Our theme for the weekend was discipleship, so Vanessa and Bekah took us through some helpful material and sessions where we really got to put our learnings into practice with each other. We also had the privilege of celebrating Adeola’s birthday on Saturday! Though we did not partake in the Zambian birthday tradition of drenching the birthday girl in a bucket of water, we did strongly encourage/force her against her will to hold a snake.
Meanwhile, Josh and Andrew spent Friday doing many practical jobs around the school. They set to work on the new primary school building site, sourcing prices for the roof, doors, plumbing, and various other things; they also cut and painted rafters and perlins necessary for building these. On Saturday, they put up the new nets for the football goals and gave the pitch some TLC, after which they collected the young men in the church for a boys day out. They went to Mushimbili for a hike which was followed by a well-deserved shawarma. To end the day, they tested out the new goals in a competitive football match against the local team called the ‘Medallas’ from Kapiri United. The Grace Baptist boys put up a good fight, just one point down with a 3-2 score at half time, however, the experienced team came out stronger in the second half and ended the game with a 6-2 victory.
Wednesday 19th March 2025
On Sunday we went along to Grace Baptist with the Tuttys and Simbeyes. We taught and sang some kids songs with the little ones from the Bemba service, and were able to bring along juice and biscuits for all the youth to enjoy. During the English service we were blessed with some songs from the church choir and a sermon from Pastor Manasseh. Adeola shared her thought-provoking and encouraging testimony about her journey of faith with the congregation, and myself (Rachel) and Caitlin led some songs of worship. That afternoon a few of us girls took all the Simbeye girls out to Mushimbili dam where we were able to go for a dip in the water. Sunday evening was spent at the Simbeye’s house where we enjoyed some sweet fellowship and had the final round of our ongoing creative bedtime storytelling competition, orchestrated and judged by the Simbeye girls with the help of Bekah. Josh, Kate, and Adeola were lucky enough to be selected as finalists with the rest of us as the audience. Though the points were extremely close, Josh came out on top due to his captivating performance which included actions, impressions, and even some singing! After an entertaining evening, we set about preparing for the coming week where we would shift our focus to working in the school and investing in the students of Vinjeru Trust.
On Monday morning we started our careers module with the students – planning to do this module several times throughout the week in different secondary school classes. We all shared about our career and education path, highlighting how we made our decisions and how we handled the various challenges that were involved. After which, we each joined the students in small groups to ask and invite questions about careers and their hopes and plans. After lunch, Josh led the primary school assembly. As the theme for their semester is ‘courage’, he took them through a live action re-telling of the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the fiery furnace from the book of Daniel. He emphasised how these men took courage in refusing to bow down to King Nebuchadnezzar’s idols, and how God was with them the whole time, sustaining them and protecting them from the fire. We sang some action songs about how we have a great big God and prayed for the kids. After this, we had the secondary school assembly where I had the opportunity to share a part of my testimony, encouraging the pupils to turn to Jesus as the only everlasting source of peace that surpasses all understanding. We ended the assembly leading some more uplifting songs of worship as a team. That evening, Andrew and Josh spent some time with the boarders; a short devotional, testimonies, and some games and chats. The rest of us did the same with the girl boarders, but also got the privilege of learning some Bemba songs and dances!
On Tuesday, we continued doing our careers modules. Kate and Adeola were kept especially busy, delivering business and marketing modules for many of the secondary school classes. Meanwhile, Caitlin led some sports games for the grade 1 primary school children, supported by myself and Josh. Very cute and very chaotic. After school on Tuesdays, all the students have their clubs so we each joined different ones. Caitlin joined Bekah in ‘play prep’ where they’re preparing to put on the school’s first ever musical, ‘Prince of Egypt’. Kate and Vanessa joined the art club where they helped create props for the play. Adeola hosted a coding class for the computer club, and I joined the drama club where students took it in turns to perform either a song, dance, poem, rap, or anything else they could think of! Josh took the time to work on fixing the Simbeyes’ car. In the evening we got to celebrate Andrew’s birthday! This time we did indeed partake in the Zambian birthday tradition and poor Andrew got soaked with many buckets of water.
On Wednesday morning, we joined the staff devotional. Kate and Adeola continued in their business modules, and then each of us on the team took an arts and crafts class in the lower primary school which Kate and Caitlin had prepared. After lunch, Kate, Caitlin, and Adeola continued doing arts and crafts with upper primary classes. Meanwhile, myself, Josh, and Vanessa joined Bekah in cultural studies where they’re doing an ‘Ireland module’. So we organised some Irish sports sessions and the students got a taste of rugby, Gaelic football, and rounders. After school, Vanessa and Josh then helped out with secondary school sport, and in the evening we all joined in on the Tuttys’ weekly bible study with a group of young adults from Grace Baptist.
It has been a busy but fruitful week; it’s been unreal to watch all the different ways God has been moving, whether in classes or one-to-one conversations or on the sports field. As we come into our last couple days in Kapiri, we’re praying that God would continue to sustain us amidst tiredness and that he would create more opportunities for us to share the love of Christ.
Tuesday 25th March 2025
Here’s an update from our final few days in Zambia:
Thursday was our last full day of ministry. In the morning, we ran some more Irish sports for the cultural module in the secondary school. This was followed by some intense ‘duck duck goose’ and other games for the primary school P.E. class, meanwhile Josh continued to work on one of the cars. A few of us also set about organising the P.E. equipment storage. We continued with the last of our careers and business modules before taking the secondary school P.E. class at the end of the school day. Josh had organised a bunch of ‘team challenge’ games, so we separated into a boys league and a girls league for another very competitive afternoon of sport.
For our last evening in Kapiri, ourselves and the Tutty’s went out for dinner to the most popular (and only) restaurant in the town – the local petrol station. We came back to spend our last bit of time with the boarders. In the girls’ boarding house we had a really rich evening of devotional discussions, worship, and many more wonderful Bemba songs. Some grade 12 students stood up and shared how the team had personally impacted them and their peers in their journeys of faith, and they also shared the long-standing impact that the teams from our church have had over the years. One student said that she had came to Vinjeru as a non-believer a few years ago and has since come to know Jesus through the school’s mission and CCC teams. We were overwhelmingly encouraged as a team to hear testimonies of how God has been meeting these young girls through the Bible studies, times of worship, and fellowship. To send us off, they all surrounded us in prayer and we shared some emotional goodbyes.
On Friday morning, we set about packing and tidying. Kate and Adeola finished their final business class and we said some final farewells to some of the staff and students before loading up the van and setting off to Lusaka with the Tuttys and Simbeyes. On Saturday, while the Tuttys and Simbeyes attended the wedding of a couple in Grace Baptist, our team headed out to an elephant orphanage sanctuary and safari. It was great to rest and hang out as a team, reflecting on all that God had done and taught us throughout the week. We then headed to the airport and said the last of our tough goodbyes to the Tuttys and Simbeyes, and also to Vanessa who will be remaining in Zambia for another 4 weeks as she begins her sabbatical.
It has been a wonderful couple of weeks in Kapiri – it’s amazing to see how much God can do in such a short space of time. We’re incredibly grateful for all who have covered us in prayers that have formed the foundation of everything we’ve done; and we’re so grateful to God for making a way for us to partner with the work that he’s doing in Vinjeru Trust School and Grace Baptist. We pray that he would take the loaves and fish that we brought and that he would multiply them, confident that he is faithful to bring every good work to completion.