Reflections on Siamunali

The second AMT expedition was very different from the first, but it was equally amazing. We went to the villages of Siamunali and Jafta in the Mukuni Chiefdom. It took a couple of hours to get there, but it was only about 20km from the base by the way the crow flies. The terrain of area was somewhat wooded flat to rolling hills. We were greeted by several eager and friendly faces as we arrived and set up camp in the afternoon. That night we had a meeting next to the small schoolhouse near camp. We gathered around a fire and Wilson gave a message of encouragement and explained what we would be doing in the area. We then broke into lively worship and chitenge dancing by the light of the fire. The next morning we broke up into groups and went to various churches in the area. My group went to the church of Christ. We met at a little outdoor cluster of benches. Jack gave a great message about his prison ministries and spoke into the lives of some young men. There was an old woman there who apparently did not know her age. When we asked her she jokingly said 100, and everyone laughed. After the service, she told us she could not see well and had pain in her legs and joints that made it difficult to walk. We prayed over her and I could feel the spirit moving. She began to sway and stumbled into the translator as he caught her. Then she looked down and started moving her feet and her face lit up! She started dancing and singing. As we were leaving, she called out something like, “Have as safe journey! I’m healed!” The night meetings were very fruitful as well, with salvations, worship, encouragement, fellowship, prophecies, and healings. There was a very personal feel about the meetings. The next day my group found some people tending to their gardens and helped them in their labor. After some hand motions and brief instructions, we broke some new ground dug small rows of holes for planting with water drainages between. After the work was done, we gave a message, prayed with some people, and played with the children. The remainder of that day and the next followed the same pattern. It was very interesting and rewarding to experience a more relationship based style of ministry. We took part in the basic aspects of their everyday lives and spoke to them as one friend speaks to another. Through these conversations, we learned a great deal about the people we were with and their amazing stories. One man had been attacked by a large crocodile and had the scars to prove it. His garden was near a small, secluded river and they said that there was a huge croc living nearby that had recently given birth. As we approached the river to dip water out for the garden, we heard some loud splashes. They had also recently caught a 7 meter python in the next village over. The man who had been attacked told us of another interesting story, but this one had a more tragic ending. He was fishing in the Zambezi when some of the displaced Zim rebel thieves from the mountains in Simwatachela came and forced him and his friend to help them. The men would often cross over into Zimbabwe to steal various things and bring them back to Zambia. They were on such a run when they came across the fishermen and recruited them into the effort at gunpoint. They had only a makeshift boat to cross the river, basically a few boards. The “boat” turned over while they were swimming across. The man telling the story made it to shore and could do nothing as his friend drowned in the rapids. The mother of the one who was killed was there as well; we helped tend to her garden and the girls prayed over her. We helped another woman whose daughter had been badly burned a few years before. Bev had tended to the child while she recovered. The woman named her Beverly, in honor of Bev’s act of kindness. On the last day of ministry, my group went to the home of a sweet old lady who had given us kind greetings each day. Her name was Mary and she had been healed of a tooth ache when we had prayed over her earlier. She said that she considered all the young people in the village her grandchildren. student

She and two young women showed us how to remove the shell from mungongo nuts. The presence of the Lord was heavy there as we each took turns speaking what was laid on our hearts. The messages were in no way generic, but rather directly speaking into the lives of each of them with encouragement and empowerment. We prophesied a powerful future in the Lord’s work over one of the younger women and I know that she was deeply affected. I was also deeply moved by the whole experience. That evening we had a community meal, learning cooking techniques from the local women and playing with the children for hours. When night came we showed a film on the projector and had a meeting. Wezi, Elise, and Jonathan gave salvation and encouragement messages and I challenged them to spread the Good News to everyone they could. We then had another productive call for prayer. The next morning, dozens of people came to wish us goodbye with huge smiles. I have seen expeditions with larger numbers ministered to and more impressive statistics, but the relationships formed and the lives touched cannot be described in numbers. It was a great experience that I will not soon forget. - Stetson, AMT