MFA news

No. 7. April 2006

"My Lord and my God!"

John 20 v 28.

Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.”

Have we become like doubting Thomas?

So often I am so full of doubt. Questions in my head: “is this going to happen?”, “would we have enough money to complete this project?” “would we have enough strength to achieve the things our Lord has called us to?”, “are we in the right place?”. And so on doubt after doubt, focusing on my doubt.

Outside our office the weather is changing. It is getting colder; the rains have finished. It will be 6 months before we have rains again. It is 5 days before we are celebrating Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. It is 4 years since we arrived here, and my head is still full of doubt,

how can I??

A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

Every time I read this passage it is like a wake up call to me. I just have to look back and see God’s faithfulness to us. We came here 4 years ago to bring hope, open doors and give skills to less privileged Zambians. Since then 30 of of our students have graduated some with full certificate and some with full diploma in City & Guilds International. We know that at least 15 of them have already got jobs as mechanics. The college building is serving its purpose. The Library that was a run-down servant quarters is now a refurbished building with good facilities and is used daily by our students. The workshop never goes out of action; there are always clients vehicles to work on. And as time passes more and more organisations and individuals bring their vehicles to MFAZ. They know that the job will be done well and that they can fully trust our mechanics.

The Assembly Hall is complete; we have our assemblies there, lunches are served there for students & staff and, of course, our second graduation took place there.

Salim Kapalala one of our first graduates, now works as a mechanic at the government organization ZAMTEL, the phone company of Zambia

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George Solopi, who graduated this year in February, writes:

I come from a family of six and I live with my Grandmother, who is seventy- two years old, and my young brothers Felix and Chrispin. Uncle John and my sister, who is a widow, also lives with us. we live in a shanty compound without electricity or running water.

Both my parents died when I was young. It made me feel so helpless. Also the money was not there to send me to school, so I had to stop school. I did some piece-work for almost a year and then continued grade ten. My Uncle assisted in paying part of the fees until I completed my grade twelve. After school I started a small business buying second hand clothes, plates and cups and taking them to some villages in the DR Congo. This business was not so viable as it used to take us three days on foot to reach the villages in Congo.

One day when going to the field to work with grand-ma, we met our friend, Mrs. Mbulo. She inquired on what I wanted to do in life, so I told her that all I wanted to do was Auto Mechanics. She laughed and told me that she had friends, the Watts, who were running a mechanics college.

Although the college is a two-hour walk from my compound, I knew how important it is for me to concentrate on my studies. I used to get up at 4 a.m. to do some study before starting the walk to college. As we have no electricity in our hut I studied by paraffin light every night and early in the morning. It was all hard work but I knew that it is worth it when I took all my exams and passed them all. At my graduation the family came with Grandma, Mrs. Mbulo, my young brothers and my Uncle.

I have learnt a lot of things and with the skills which I have acquired I hope to make a significant contribution to this challenging society. At present I’m working as a mechanic with the missionaries from Germany and can now see a bright future. I want to thank Mr & Mrs Watt for the commendable job they are doing as their labour is not in vain. I thank my sponsors Paul and Penny Cannings, Mrs. Mbulo, Grandmother and all the people who played an important role towards my future.

George Solopi.

Pray for:

Some of you have said that it would be good to see a photo of us four once in a while; well here you are. As you can see both boys are growing fast. Samuel is now full time in his local nursery school from 8-12 every day. Baby Joel started walking when he was 10 months! They both bring so many blessings (and excercise!) to us. We thank the Lord for them.

I, Sharonne, still find it a struggle being so far from family and friends, it is often that I wish I had the close friendship and support that we have in the UK. I know that even through loneliness the Lord allows (helps) us to grow and learn to come close to Him. As for Charlie, as far as he can catch up on the Rugby and Cricket life is as good as it gets.

And Finally:

One way you could help, and get involved with MFAZ is to take on the challenge of fundraising for specific items. Needs range from library books at £25.00 up to a staff vehicle for £5,000. If you feel you would like to take on one of these challenges, please contact either Charlie or Amanda for a full list and details.