A Village, a Town, and a Capital City

A Letter from Dustin and Sherri Ellington, serving in Zambia

October 2018

Dear friends,

One in a village, one in a rural town, and the third in a bustling African capital city — after a month of orientation to Zambia, all three of our Young Adult Volunteers (YAVs) for 2018-2019 have now shifted into their year-long placements. They are living with Zambian host families and serving in ministries of the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian, Synod of Zambia throughout the coming year.

We are so proud of these Young Adult Volunteers’ willingness to dive in and experience life in a very different part of the world from the American towns where they grew up. And we are so thankful to our Zambian host families and partner church for embracing the adventure of hosting these young Americans in their midst!

Let me introduce the YAVs and their new communities so you can pray during the coming year as God may lay them on your heart:

Sophia – Egichikeni Village, Eastern Province
Sophia has been placed in Egichikeni Village, 42 kilometers north of Lundazi town, along a bumpy washboard dirt road. Though the name Egichikeni doesn’t register on Google maps, it is in an area where many good things are happening. The Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP), in partnership with the government, has a thriving health clinic there; Sophia will be joining in this ministry two days per week. The nearby town of Emusa, 8 kilometers away, has a CCAP Education Department “mission school” where the CCAP, in coordination with the government, teaches students for holistically transformed lives. Sophia will be assisting this school’s science department three days per week. She’ll also be learning the daily, weekly, and seasonal chores of Zambian village life, joining the Christian Youth Fellowship and a choir at her congregation, and learning to do as much of this life as possible in the local language, Tumbuka.

Emily – Lundazi town, Eastern Province
Emily is now living in Lundazi town, the district “boma,” or headquarters. Here, bikes seem to outnumber cars — yet there are two filling stations, to which vehicles come from as far as 180 kilometers away to fuel up! Emily has begun work with the CCAP’s Relief and Development Department. She will be accompanying her colleagues on agricultural trainings and visits throughout the area, as well as learning about and assisting with such varied programs as nutrition, Village Savings and Loan, and sustainable farming. Additionally, she has been invited by the government’s health department to assist in public health education work or other tasks on a weekly basis at one of the clinics in town. And approximately one day per week, she will assist teaching various courses in the CCAP’s Lay Training Department.

Miguel – Lusaka, Zambia’s capital city
Miguel has settled in with his host family within Lusaka, Zambia’s capital city of over 2 million people. He will become a highly experienced rider of African public buses, as he’s normally working in different corners of Lusaka from where he lives! Four days per week, he is assisting with teaching 5th grade at one of the CCAP community schools — makeshift schools the churches and communities have set up for students who for any reason cannot afford regular government schools. One day a week, he will also be assisting at the synod office with website updates, newsletter production, and other office tasks to serve the CCAP Synod of Zambia’s broader mission.

The motto of the YAV program is “A Year of Service for a Lifetime of Change.” Will you join us in praying for Miguel, Emily, and Sophia throughout their 2018-2019 year of service here in Zambia? Whether serving in the city, the district boma, or the village, they are virtually guaranteed countless experiences and relationships that will change them for years to come — and hopefully will touch their host communities and some individual Zambian lives in significant ways as well.

Please pray:

*For YAVs Sophia, Emily, and Miguel to each become healthy members of their host families, churches, and communities during these initial months of adjustment.
*For humility in their work, for grace in cross-cultural situations, and that they will encounter God more deeply through their experiences this year.

Additionally, we appreciate prayer for ourselves and Justo Mwale University:

*For our strength from day to day and week to week, and wisdom for a more replenishing lifestyle while also doing the things that matter most.
*For Justo Mwale’s curriculum-evaluation process — wisdom for administration and faculty while they think through how best to educate future leaders of the church for a broad part of Africa.
*For protection in every way, from illness, road accidents, and anything else that could come along.

Thank you for all the ways your care and support help make our ministry here in Zambia possible — both at Justo Mwale University and with Sherri’s coordination of the Zambia YAV site. We feel buoyed, protected, and enabled to serve through your prayers, care, and financial support.

If you would like to become part of our ongoing financial support team or give an end-of-the-year gift, please click here. The director of Presbyterian World Mission, Jose Luis Casal, also invites you to give; please see his words below.

Yours in Christ,

Sherri and Dustin Ellington

so.ellington@gmail.com – Sherri
ellingtondustin@gmail.com – Dustin

Please read this important message from José Luis Casal, Director, Presbyterian World Mission

Dear partners in God’s mission,

We near the close of 2018 inspired by the hope of Christ. God is transforming the world, and you are helping to make it happen.

Thank you very much for your support of our mission co-workers. The prayers and financial gifts of people like you enable them to work alongside global partners to address poverty, hopelessness, violence and other pressing problems in the name of Jesus Christ.

Every day, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) mission co-workers are blessed to be able to walk alongside their brothers and sisters across the globe. Listening to each other in faith and in friendship, they learn from each other how to work towards a world in which everyone flourishes. Acting upon what they discover together, PC(USA) mission co-workers and our global partners strengthen the body of Christ.

Because you are an integral part of God’s mission, I invite you to become more deeply committed to Presbyterian World Mission. First, would you make a year-end gift for the sending and support of our mission co-workers? The needs in the world are great, and World Mission is poised to answer God’s call to serve others.

I also invite you to ask your session to add our mission co-workers to your congregation’s prayer list and mission budget for 2019 and beyond. Your multi-year commitment will make a great difference in our involvement with our partners. The majority of our mission co-workers’ funding comes from the special gifts of individuals and congregations like yours, for God’s mission is a responsibility of the whole church, not a particular area of the church. Now more than ever, we need your financial support!

In faith, our mission co-workers accept a call to mission service. In faith, World Mission, representing the whole church and you, sends them to work with our global partners. In faith, will you also commit to support this work with your prayers and financial gifts? With hope and faith, I await your positive response!

At God’s service and at your service!

José Luis Casal
Director

P.S. Your gift will help meet critical needs of our global partners. Thank you!