Chris &Donna Alexander)

Ryan &Nicholas /
September, 1991/
of being the cattle-producing capital of
Zambia. Other important agricultural
products include some of the best cashew
nutsyouhave evereaten, plus cassava and
rice. Also, due to its close proximity to the
Zambezi River, there are a great number of
people involved in fishing. ,
One of the first things you notice in
Mongu is the amount of sand. No other
place in Zambia compares to Mongue in
this regard. No matter where you go you
find sand. And, it seems that no matter /
where you go you are destined to carjyy lo'
some of it with you. IfSjiike living at the ^ ^
beach -- only without the water. With the'
exception of two tar roads, every road
requires a 4x4 vehicle or cannot be driven
on. About once a week we even get hung
By June 1990, wfien Donna and I had
relumed to Zambia from our furlough, we
had received word that the church at tmwiko
had almost disbanded. And on our first
visit, there were a total of 6 adult members
remaining.
At that time it had not even crossed our
mincji that the Lord might be calling us to
move to Mongu, but after the doors of
ministry in Lusaka continued to close we
prayed and in the end felt the Lord leading
us to work with the Imwikochurch.
Information about Mongu
and the Lozl People
"Mongu - ifs not the end of the world,
but youcan see itfrom here."
That was the description sent home by
our summer intems/tPon and Aieta Hulsey^^^P ur driveway. One benefit, however,
immediately after their arrival. But, perhaps
first impressions are deceiving.
Mongu is the provincial capital of the
Weslem Province of Zambia, It is located
approximately 400 milesAor seven hours
drive, due west of our old home in Lusaka.
The town itself, though not extremely large,
has a growing population of about 20,000
people. There are several government
offices, also a number of secondary
schools, and quite a few shops in the main
part of town. Agriculturally, Mongu boasts
Is that there is no grass to mow so if you
hate yard work maybe the Lord is calling
you, too,
The second thing that you notice about
Mongu Is the great Zambezi Flood Plain.
From our house on the hill you can literally
see for miles out onto this great, seemingly
endless plain that seasonally fills with water >
when the Zambezi river floods its banl^r^
The sun sets out on the plain and it is
gorgeous - but before you comment on
missionary slide presentations, I am not
^ pasl for this type of camp, only with other
A church groups. The agenda Included study
\S sessionsonthe participalion of youth in the
Church. In the moming, games and
activities In the aftemoon, preaching in the
evening and then Christian films before
turning in. Those In charge used a lot of
Initiative in the program and were able to
finance the camp completely on their own.
Thiswas quite a step for these churches.
Chawama Church Project
Another reason for my being in Lusaka
was to complete the work on the Chawama
Church Project. Before leaving Lusaka, I
agreed to assist one of our larger churches
to secure their building. The Chawama
Church is in a highly populated, lowincome
area, and a place where there is a lot of
trouble with theft. The church windows had i
been broken, the window frames had been i
stolen and the church was afraid that they
weregoing to lose even the wooden planks
whichthey use for benches.
The work involved first removing the
window frames and replacing them with
decorative cement air blocks, We then
installed security gates and finally painted
the building. We were assisted in the
painting by one of the other church youth
groups.
Repoti on Zambia Today
I know that many people are concemed
today about the politics and economics of
Africa. I thought you might like an update
onwhatis currently happening inZambia,
Missionaries:
Chris and Donna Alexander
P.O, Box 910273
Mongu, Zambia, Africa
Phone: 260-7-221514
Politically, there are many changes In
process here. This Is an election year in
Zambia, with voting taking place sometime
In October. It Is a special election, being
held two years early, so that Zambia, which
used to be a one-party state can now
become a multi-party state. This is the first
time since her independence when an
opposition party can legally run against the
party In power. For months now we have
been witness to the campaigning of two
major parties with commercials. T-shirts,
buttons and slogans. Now as we approach
the October voting we pray that peace will
be the order of the day. Please pray with
us.
Economically, Zambia is still suffering
the pains brought on by developing an
economy solely around copper. Though
there are changes taking place, they are
slow in producing the kinds of results which
are needed. Currently the strength of the
Kwacha to the US Dollar is about 70:1, As
always those who suffer most are those
who can afford it least.
A Final Note of Thanks
As always we cannot express our grati
tude to you who continue to pray and finan
cially support the work here. We reap the
rewards on a daily basis of seeing lives
changed because of your generosity. Our
prayer for you Is that the Lord will continue
to bless you as you do His work here
through us. Thanks again!
Chris, Donna, Ryan and Nicholas
Forwarding Agents:
Mr. and Mrs, Jim Maddux
12803 U,S. 42
Watton.KY 41094
Phone: (606)485-6926