Last Day in Zambia

Lusaka, Zambia

Kambani and Shirley Banda arrived at 5:45 am to take us to the Lusaka airport for our flight to Johannesburg and continuing down to Durban where Andre and Elize van Belkum live. We have gotten very close to the Banda’s and admire their service to the Church people as their minister and his exceptional skill as administrator of the LifeNets projects. He is tough and disciplined, but that is the what it takes to get RESULTS in this part of the world. He doesn’t take excuses and demands that people do their part and holds their feet to the fire. Now after doing this for five years in Mumbwa, we can see outcomes that are quantitative leaps economically from where they had been. In the process they are taught to be more disciplined and to work hard and see the correlation between hard work, good management and prosperity. I thought we were getting to the airport a bit too early, but it took all that time to first pay the airport departure tax of $25 a person, then stand in line for the first security check. Then you check in. Then you go through immigration which took more than half an hour. Then another security check before being put on a bus to go out to the waiting South African Airways Airbus to Joburg and then to Durban where the van Belkum’s live.. It was great to see Andre and Elize again. He has been a special friend of ours the past 15 years – to me if there is any human for being one who has no guile, he and Elize are it. He’s a great pastor and takes life as it comes whether he is exalted or abased. With them we just enjoy sitting around and talking whether it be Church or LifeNets. He is the LifeNets chairman for LifeNets Southern Africa. Their main contribution has been with the Developing Nations Scholarship Program. They sent a young lady of Indian origin to University in Cape Town for three years and she now has a high profile job with Shell Petroleum in Durban. LifeNets SA is also sending Zimbabwe students for their higher education. They also send teens from impoverished families to summer camp. In the evening local church elder Neville Smith came over for dinner and we just had a great time telling stories and enjoying each other’s company.