2012 Campaign

We had a great campaign this year. We had 13 visitors from the US who stayed for about 10 days in June-July. We focused on three activities working side by side with the Zambian Christians: Evangelism, Village Education, and Medical.
 

Evangelism

We worked with two local congregations to visit their families and neighbors for three days each. In the morning, we trained in how to build relationships and teach someone about Christ. Then in the afternoon, we formed groups – the Zambian Christians paired up with their American brothers. The groups then went out visiting family and friends: introducing them to the basic message of Jesus and giving them a chance to ask questions about God. During the night, we set up a projector and watched the Jesus film in Kiikaonde outside the church building.
This effort went great and afterwards Shadrack, one of the church leaders, said that it was a great encouragement for him and wanted to thank everyone for their work.
 

Village Education

Six Campaigners came to work with home education in the villages. We trained five families in how they as parents can teach their children at home. In the mornings, we trained the parents with their children. Then, in the afternoons, those parents taught other parents in the community to do the same.

James teaching his daughter to trace her name

Phythias demonstrating how to teach the children how to write their names

We focused on three core subjects: Reading Comprehension using the Bible, Writing, and Arithmetic. For each subject, we taught many activities that progress in difficulty. For example, with writing, we showed them three activities that lead the child to write his own name:

• First, the parent would write the name in the sand, and the child would trace over it.
• Second, the parent would write the name, and the child would copy it below.
• Third, the child would write his name without seeing it first.

All the activities used local resources from the village: charcoal, corn cobs, sticks, etc. This made it natural to spread the teaching to other villages.
For reading comprehension, we showed the parents a simple method for teaching Bible stories:

• First, summarize the Bible story
• Second, read it from the Bible
• Third, help the children act it out as a skit
• Fourth, ask comprehension questions

This turned out to be a great way to teach the Bible for both children and adults. Everyone saw how these activities could be used for evangelism while providing a great service to the community. They combine preschool, grade school, adult education, and Bible lessons into a fun hour or two. This is a great draw for both children and adults who want to improve their English or Math or want to help their own children.
We will continue to train other parents in all the congregations and follow up to train in additional activities. Also, we have begun to demonstrate how each congregation can do these activities for evangelism.
 

Medical

Two campaigners spent each day building relationships with the nurses at the local clinic. They learned how the nurses deal with the common ailments in this environment and also how to work in this culture. The nurses appreciated their new friends. The time together gave them a joyful memory to remember as they continue their daily work.
At the end of the week, everyone went to the clinic to help with the medical clinic day. We worked together with the clinic nurses and two local Dentists from Solwezi. We gave out reading glasses and directed the lines for the dentists and nurses. Again, the local church leaders were at the forefront of everything. The work was done in the name of Jesus and his church. In this way, the clinic day demonstrated to many that God does care for them and works through His family.
We four families greatly appreciate everyone who came to visit and work alongside us and the local Christians.
May God make you fruitful as you serve Him,
Rick & Karen Love
Along with the rest of the team:
Sam & Ellie Rodriguez
Jeremy & Whitney Davis
Jason & Erin Davis