The Council for World Mission (CWM) Mission Programme and Partnership (MSP) unit visited the United Church of Zambia (UCZ) from 5-9 August.
The MSP delegation—including Rev. Julie Sim, Mission Secretary for Mission Programme and Partnership, and MSP Project Manager Stephen Chia—affirmed the longstanding partnership between the UCZ and CWM as the delegation witnessed firsthand various challenges the church faces.
In an opening message to UCZ on 6 August, Sim identified UCZ as being one of the biggest missionary-sending partners within the CWM family of member churches, adding that UCZ missionaries also make up the majority of CWM’s 18-strong Partners-in-Mission team.
Sim further described UCZ as a member church through which CWM can learn how mission changes lives at the local level.
“We are here at the United Church of Zambia to learn from the church on how it carries out its mission, for we believe that no church is too big to receive nor too small to share,” declared Sim.
Chia also expressed his appreciation of UCZ’s drive in preserving mission heritage, praising its focus on efficient use of resources in furthering the church’s mission, often in creative ways.
UCZ has four million members across 10 Presbyteries in a country that home to more than 70 tribes with as many languages—yet coming together in one united spirit.
Giving a warm welcome to the CWM delegates was UCZ General Secretary, Rev. Chipasha Musaba, who gave a detailed presentation on the work of UCZ which he described as “pouring themselves out to the communities.”
The “pouring out” was evident in the bevy of life-affirming projects that the church in which has been actively and locally engaged. Various livelihood programmes encompass practical agrarian skills such as producing organic fertiliser and introducing syntropic farming – an agricultural technique that combines various flora and arboreal species for more sustainable yields.
Musaba also touched on UCZ’s strategic plans in the propagation of the gospel, its tireless work in member capacity building, and its commitment in further developing its youth programmes that currently involve all 10 Presbyteries in each of Zambia’s 10 provinces.
Visiting congregations and church-run enterprises
Throughout the trip, the MSP delegation also visited various UCZ offices, congregations, and church-run commercial enterprises.
One of these was the Liseli congregation in South Lusaka where CWM-supported initiatives were fully in place to make the local church premises more inclusive to disabled members.
The delegation also had an in-depth conversation with UCZ Secretary of Community Development & Social Justice, Deaconess Mable Sichali, who shared about the tough challenges in the church’s work in northern Zambia, from funding shortages to water and sanitation issues.
Despite the hard ground upon which UCZ is working, the church nevertheless remains steadfast in its collaboration with local government agencies on numerous social and health issues such as AIDS prevention programmes. Concrete steps are also underway towards eventual self-funding. Since 2018, UCZ has been operating a wafer-making facility that produces the majority of the Holy Communion wafers consumed by the church, with some excess left over for sale to other churches.
Another example that displays UCZ’s drive towards financial independence is the Mpongwe Beekeeping Enterprise. The company refines raw honey purchased from local farmers and subsequently packages and sells the product to wholesalers and retailers.
Facing tough challenges with faith
Ending off the visit was a meeting with UCZ’s Mission and Evangelism Secretary, Rev. Andrew Chulu, who offered the CWM delegation a holistic, on-the-ground snapshot of the church’s missional and outreach efforts.
He focused on engagement with the local youth who collectively face numerous challenges such as unemployment-related drug and alcohol abuse, gender-based violence, mental health issues, and suicide.
Yet the UCZ continues to prayerfully and actively journey with the local populace through every season in their lives – the very definition of what Chulu sees Christian mission is to be.
“[We need to offer a] complete gospel package for the people, as the gospel message should be accompanied by meeting the needs of the poor and sick,” explained Chulu, who also shared future missional ideas that include establishing outpost clinics, and supporting government-run refugee areas.
