2025 is filled with thankfulness towards every donor, prayer warrior and volunteer!
As I sat down to write this update, I realised, through God’s grace, how much has been achieved. Although it feels like forever, Daniel and Florence’s visit to Canada was only 7 months ago! They spent 6 weeks here with us, with multiple speaking engagements around Huron County, Acton, and the Ottawa Valley (Eganville area). Thank you to everyone who hosted, transported, made meals or organised an engagement! On their return to Zambia, Daniel and Florence began mobilising their church. They hosted a weeklong training session for pastors and church leaders at the training centre for 50. That was followed by a 10-day women’s training conference sponsored by a grant from the Women’s Inter Church Council of Canada that Bonnie Borchardt secured, along with a three-week carpentry training session making tables and chairs for the training centre. They covered multiple topics, and applied the Share Your Knowledge principle in teaching each other: Food production (11), Tailoring (20), Hand & Machine Knitting (7), Crocheting & doormats (4), and Carpentry (5)
My mom, Griet and I, with the help of Kizzy Mayapi, offered a three-day advanced training session for 11 women from Nyawa in Livingstone in September. This was the group of women who formed the first club when Griet and her sister Corrie started the Share Your Knowledge project in the early 2000s.
Daniel and his team also worked hard to upgrade the training centre, aiming to meet the Zambian training authorities’ standards to open sometime next year. They started to convert an old building into off-site temporary male dormitories; the main training thatched-roof building was converted into 2 classrooms and an office, and they added additional toilets and showers to the hostel block. The work was quite intense. They continue to work on the electrification, finishing and painting of the existing buildings.
This year, in June, we also added 2 more workers to a total of 8 – Daniel, Florence, 4 at the training centre, and 2 administrative helpers.
Thank you to all the volunteers who helped with the fundraisers – the pulled pork & dessert auction in Goderich, Spaghetti dinner and dessert auction in Acton, the event in Eganville, the Active for Zambia event north of Acton, my 60th birthday celebrations, the CN Tower stair climb, and now the Impact Zambia Christmas Catalogue. With all these efforts, our dedicated monthly contributors, donors, churches, and other sponsors, we were able to spend just shy of $50,000 this year on Impact Zambia:
Operational/monthly expenses:
- Salaries for 8 workers
- Upkeep and fuel for Daniel’s vehicle
- Electricity, internet fees
Building work:
- Installation of Starlink internet
- Restoration of the senior pastor Cephas and Roster’s house after a fire
- Building renovations on the hostels – added bathrooms
- Conversion of the open thatch roof building to 2 classrooms and an office
Training & Building connections:
- 10-day women’s training conference with a grant from WICC
- 1-week Pastors and church leaders training for 50 (food and travel)
- 3-day sewing group training in Livingstone for 11 women
- 6-week trip to Canada for Daniel & Florence
The Year ahead:
We need your prayers: for energy and health for our Zambian leaders and the New Life Tabernacle and Cell Ministries church; for the fundraising efforts and volunteers in Canada; for finding grants and foundations to support us; for wisdom in the designs and estimation of costs of the water and sanitation project; for reliable partners in Zambia to help; for new and young volunteers to join Impact Zambia:
- The dream is that we get phase 1 of the build approved so that the doors of Life Impact Training Centre can open. It will be 12 years since we dug the first foundations in 2014.
- A longtime friend and frequent team member, Rosanne Field, is leading a Rotary International Global Grant application for the water and sanitation work at the centre
- Steve Burns and Hugh Burgsma are helping with the detailed planning and validation.
- Daniel, Florence and their team are working on all the activities needed to open the doors: finding trainers, staff, students, and administration systems, etc.
- Team 2026 is to be confirmed, but the hope is that there will be funds to work alongside our New Life community on building or construction-type projects.
When one starts to feel discouraged, God has a way to pick you up! Our long-time team member Reverend Allan Studd purchased a charitable gift from the Christmas Gift Catalogue for $1,500, which will cover the fee to register the training centre with the Zambian Authorities! Every catalogue donor or their loved one will receive a beautiful custom-designed Christmas Card with a description of their gift and the knowledge that with each gift of love, we are changing lives and hearts, including ours. Click the link or type: www.iteams.ca/ZambiaChristmas
Wishing you a joyous Christmas and a blessed New Year
Lianti
