By Wendy Wilder-Blakey

Today has been another amazing and busy day.  We started with a few tours: to a Baobab tree, to the local hot springs, and to the shores of a very dry Lake Itezhi-Tezhi.  For me, nothing equals the immense size of the very old Baobab tree.  I think, if we 9 visitors had held our hands together, we might have been able to reach around. Yet, there were many more errands to do for the upcoming conference.

 I had the opportunity to get to know Mutinta.  She was at the Life Impact Training Centre last year drawing up the plans for the future of the centre with EMI (Engineer Ministries International}.  She has been such a wonderful source of truth about absolutely anything I asked about life in Zambia.  She is so alive in the spirit, and her enthusiasm for the dream of what the Training Centre can become can only be exceeded by that of Daniel Mayapi. 

Daniel took the time to show us completely around the land.  His faith in the Lord and the fulfilment of a nearly impossible realization of a dream he had 30 years ago, is immense.  He has a smile and charisma that is completely infectious.  He showed us exactly where more wells would be dug, buildings built, ponds stocked, and the agricultural land has begun.

Today, I was privileged to be invited to Daniel’s daughter’s school where she allowed me to teach a class.  Mercy is her name, and it is indicative of her manner as well.  The class, when everyone is there, consists of approximately 30 adult men and women, who in their childhood never learned how to read or write. Now they are learning this in English, as well as how to hand sew and how to do simple calculations. This knowledge will offer them the opportunity to work their way out of poverty. I taught them pronunciation, and some grammar constructs, but I think I truly was the student.  They all attended to all my ideas and worked hard to achieve the requested goals.  They smiled and they were so excited to show what they are learning.  It was amazing to me to see the resilience of these people and their faith in a better life through learning.

Thank you Mercy, Mutinta, Daniel, and everyone else I met today.  You taught me what faith and resilience can create for the future.