“Tomorrow you are going to Chibolya. The driver will pick you up at 9:30.”
Kathy and I had just flown to Lusaka, Zambia to spend a few days with WOW’s ministry champion CHRESO, our partner for 25 years.
Chibolya… “Where’s that?” we asked.
“It’s in the centre of Lusaka,” they said. “It’s the most dangerous place in the city, maybe in all of Zambia. Most Lusakans avoid it. And they would probably warn you to stay away because you’ll be seen as rich foreigners.”
“But you work there,” Kathy responded.
“We do, by God’s grace. He protects us from the drug dealers, hostile gangs, and disease. It may be one of the most violent, virulent slums in Africa but we felt we needed to have a presence there. A light in the darkness! (We’ve not taken you in the past because of the danger. But we think you need to see where WOW’s meds are being prescribed and delivered.)”
As we drove into Chibolya the next morning, the street was so narrow our vehicle’s side mirrors were almost scraping the market stalls on either side. And it was our first experience driving on a street “paved” with compressed layers of garbage, the acrid smell adding another dimension to the atmosphere.
Apart from mainly curious but occasionally hostile looks from the teeming crowds making way for our truck, and shouts of “mzungu!” (“white person”) from the children, we made it to the clinic without incident. It was hidden behind a cement security wall and a heavy steel gate. It looked like a prison compound.
The clinic was a simple structure of bare cement blocks and a low, flat roof, unglazed windows with rusted burglar bars. It housed two-and-a-half dimly lit rooms. The reception desk, a small pharmacist’s table, and a few chairs were the only furniture in the main room, and an examining table behind a curtain was in the back room. The registrar, the pharmacist, a nurse practitioner, a medical officer, and five angelic volunteers comprised the staff. There were about ten patients crowded inside.
The registrar worked with pen and paper, the pharmacist with a few boxes of medications (supplied by WOW), and the nurse practitioner and medical officer examined and prescribed treatment with minimal equipment but great expertise and a loving touch. The volunteers (I do mean “angels”) brought in the critically ill patients from the streets. They knew there was risk each time they left the clinic to find the sick and the dying.
As we took it all in Kathy and I felt we were on holy ground.
To this point our exposure to CHRESO’s medical ministry had been limited to visiting their mobile medical clinics in the remote rural areas of southern Zambia where WOW’s pharmaceutical supplies were/are being administered to 5000 patients per month. But now we were seeing the urban side of our ministry and the overall impact was/is humbling and inspiring.
There’s no doubt the Lord has led us to “the least of these”.
As you know, once a year WOW challenges you with the opportunity to fund life-giving medications for our champion partners in Africa. We’re able to do so in partnership with Health Partners International Canada (HPIC), a marvellous Christian ministry who source their pharmaceuticals from the major pharma companies. And it’s all done with matching dollars.
This year we’re so grateful to the Lord that we can offer a 14:1 match!
One dollar from you becomes 14 dollars of medications for humble, godly ministry to the poorest of the poor. The impact is incalculable.
We, of course, do not take you for granted. We know your gifts are prompted by the Holy Spirit and are bathed in compassion. We truly are “labourers together”.
So we thank you for your heart and commitment to extending the hands of Jesus to these needy ones. They are his children.
In conclusion, I’m reminded of the scripture that declares, “He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and He will repay him for what he has done” (Proverbs 19:17).
May the Lord bless you for your compassion and kindness.
Jim.
