By: Craig Waddell, Global Volunteer to Zambia, Africa and Matt Janes, STM Network Director

Going into a new culture you can expect to be uncomfortable.  Coming to Zambia wasn’t any different. Everything was new to me; the people, places, languages, customs and weather. My mission was clear though. I was here to implement a garden project for the students at Village of Hope Kitwe. Simple enough, right?

I’ve gone on a handful of short-term mission trips and greatly enjoyed them all. God’s formed a big part of my heart that beats for missions. After I finished high school and worked the summer and fall on my family’s dairy farm, I wanted to take time for a mid-term missions trip. I had meet Matt Janes in 2012 when he came to Parkway Road Church and did a training session for a short-term missions trip I was a part of. I contacted him looking for a placement or some connections. The STM Network surpassed my expectations finding me wonderful hosts at the Village of Hope in Kitwe, Zambia.

I am very grateful for the STM Network and how much they’ve helped me prepare before my departure as well for the support they have given me while I’ve been on the mission field.  It’s very easy to talk to Matt Janes and Mark Crocker, I feel like I’ve know my coach Matt for years while it’s only been a few months. Their wisdom and experience in the world of missions have been a enormous help to me.

Agriculture is very different here in Zambia, with drastic differences in climate, methods and resources. I’ve had to ask humbling and some times embarrassing questions to locals about how agriculture works in this part of the world. There are strategies that I’ve had to implement to combat the very wet rainy season. They are seedling nurseries and raise beds. Seedling nurseries protect fragile seeds as they germinate and become seedlings. Once at a mature and healthy age they can be transplanted into raised beds were they have the needed space to flourish.

Two or three times a week I meet with a class of approximately 50 grade 11 students. I teach a lesson and we then move to the garden we’ve created to apply the new knowledge. If mistakes are made, I let it go so that they might learn and have ownership of the situation. The students have been divided into 8 groups comprising of 6 or 7 students each. Among their group they share responsibilities for the maintenance and well being of their vegetables.

I’m a strong believer that people don’t deeply care what you know, until they know that you care. This is a motto I often apply to mission work. This agriculture project doesn’t directly serve for a kingdom purpose, but it does allow for opportunities to speak life into those involved. For young males especially, it’s often hard to sit down and open up about our problems, struggles and faith. But when there’s a stimulant like sports, vehicles, music, etc, it helps to build relational bridges that God is able to use to shape or change someone’s life.

The most difficult part of my task here is to make the project sustainable, meaning that it will survive and thrive after my departure. I don’t want it to be “Craig’s” project, because when I leave the motivation would leave with it. I’m taking the time to train one of the nationals that works at The Village so he will know the in’s and out’s of the project before I leave and will be able to continue the project.

It’s through short-term missions that I have developed my own faith further. Actually getting the opportunity to live out what I have grown up listening to in Sunday school and Sunday morning services. My own faith has been challenged by how Christians live in Zambia. Their extreme selflessness and sacrifice is a trait to admire and desire.

 If I were to sum up my experience with one word it would be hope.  For the people I’ve come to know and call my friends, for the nation of Zambia and for the future. Through all of the struggles and challenges that have been presented God has provided, and will continue to provide.

This Isn’t Your Grandpa’s Missionary Work

Craig’s story is pretty typical of today’s mission volunteer. Having grown up on a farm and believing he could use his skills to make a difference in the world, Craig started looking for an opportunity to serve overseas on an agriculture project.

This was Craig’s gap year: his one chance to have an adventure, and change the world all at the same time before launching into college, responsibility, career, and full-blown adulthood! Craig and I had met at a short-term missions training event at his church a few years earlier and he reached out to see about serving overseas for a few months.

 Craig had a specific skill set, a pre-determined availability, and an idea of what he wanted to experience and get involved with. We needed to get this right, because fit is so critical when it comes to pairing volunteers with mission opportunities.

 As things came together and the opportunity at VoH in Kitwe, Zambia presented itself, we put together a solid plan for Craig to engage with Zambians on starting a garden of rapeseed, or as we know it, canola. The plan called into question some of Craig’s own ideas, and forced him to rethink his concepts about helping. Craig knew he had transferrable skills, but what were the best ways to transfer those skills? Through our valuable one-on-one mission coaching, we were able to assist him in making sure that first he did no harm.

 Always a hard worker, Craig wasn’t afraid to roll up his sleeves and just get the job done. Instead, Craig took on the more difficult task of teaching and transferring skills, rather than doing the work himself. On top of the work in the gardens, Craig was more than willing to spend his down time not working or teaching, but simply hanging out and doing life with the 50-odd 11^th grade students who were with him each day. Jesus called that making disciples, and he asked us to do it in all the nations.

 This is the kind of mission volunteering (or help) that is actually helpful. The real risk of volunteer failure – launching an unsustainable mission project – is mitigated when the STM Network is involved. Craig will soon be gone from Zambia, but the gardens he planted alongside Zambians will live on. We need more volunteers with Craig’s approach to serve around the world with our Global Workers.

 Everyone wants to change the world - most people don’t. If you want to make a difference overseas, here is the one step you need to take to make it happen: get in touch with the STM Network and tell us what you’ve always dreamed of doing. We will take it from there, and we’ll write your story together, next!
  
To learn more on STM Network, visit their website at http://stmnetwork.ca/.