New York Dream Center Inaugural Zambia Mission Trip
Water Well Building
August 24-September 3, 2016
Trip Update from Carrie Nichols, Team Leader
I was part of the 2015 Hand of Hope Medical/Dental Team that served with Reaching A Generation (RAG) that summer. Having had a heart for missions since 2007, when I met Jacques von Bommel and the team host, Roelene von Tonder – which we would affectionately call Bus Driver all week – and had a chance to hear their hearts to serve the people of Western Zambia, I felt that God would be calling me back to Zambia. One night, Roelene and I were chatting and I asked what else does RAG do in Zambia. It was an impressive list of ministries for mainly children and youth and as soon as she said we build water wells, it hit me! That was exactly what I knew I was going to be part of at some point in the future.
I returned to my church summer of 2015 and met with my Pastors and discussed how the New York Dream Center could partner with RAG and send a team to help build water wells. Our church already had well-established city missions outreach platforms and we had sent a team to Haiti, but my Pastors were on board for Zambia! Early 2016, I began the process of praying about the trip and that God would put it on the hearts of people to go with me those thousands of miles. My church heeded the call and Pastor Brad, along with 8 other church members and 2 additional friends made up the team of 12!
August 24, 2016, we set out from NYC and flew 11,022 miles over 20 hours in airplanes then the 6 hour ride over the WORST pothole-filled road I have ever been on, just to reach our base camp. 54 hours from start to finish, but the team arrived in Sioma energized to be there to serve! Our church body is consistently saying we don’t have to serve, we get to serve and this team showed that energy.
That next morning, we hit the ground running. We met up with the drill rig team, rolled up our sleeves and got our hands dirty. Digging gravel to mix cement by hand, digging dirt away from the bore hole site, helping install the piping and the hand pump and building the concrete water catch basin – just for starters. While we did encounter some trouble that week with the drill rig getting stuck in the sand and we lost some time there, we were able to help build three water wells in remote villages. We ran out of time on our trip because of some mechanical difficulties, so our fourth funded well was completed by the local team after our departure.
One church member, Nancy, was our team’s octogenarian – working circles around the rest of us younger folk! Once again setting the best example of ‘we get to serve’. What an inspiration to the entire team to watch her tirelessly dig and shovel and do everything she could right alongside everyone else.
FOUR WELLS that would serve hundreds of Zambians with clean, fresh water for years to come! No longer would the women and children of those four villages be subject to walking up to 4 miles one way to draw water from the dirty, crocodile-infested Zambezi River. No longer would they risk literal life and limb by just trying to draw water to cook and wash dishes.
I had a little surprise up my sleeve (which is my style). On our last day, we returned to one of the wells, to dedicate it. I had the plaque brought out and we dedicated this well to Pastor Brad’s father who had passed away earlier that year at the age of 58. Pastor Brad and his brother Will had no idea this well would symbolize their father’s legacy that those two men were carrying out. Love of family, love of people and faith in God was all instilled in them and now here they are thousands of miles from home, carrying on their father’s legacy. What joy to be part of this celebration of life for their family and for the people of Zambia. The life-giving power of water!
One villager that we spoke to who was told through our interpreter that this well was here for them to use asked ‘will these people take it away with them when they leave? How precious were his tears when he learned that this was a permanent fixture in his village! To leave something tangible that will meet needs of people is not something I can fully describe in a few shorts words. I just know that I must continue to help where and when I can, as God allows me to do so.
Carrie Nichols serves as the New York Dream Center Global Missions Director, in the heart of New York City.
