A letter from Dustin and Sherri Ellington serving in Zambia
November 2014 - Jubilee and Mourning
Dear friends,
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Sherri celebrated Zambia’s 50th Independence Day with others at FENZA (Faith and Encounter Center in Zambia)
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One of many grassroots celebrations of Zambia’s 50-year independence: a Zambian flag in a field, on a flagpole fashioned from a long stick
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The traffic circle nearest our home now depicts Zambia’s national bird – the fish eagle – and celebrates “Zambia: Young at Fifty”
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Dustin speaking in a church recently; in honor of Zambia’s Golden Jubilee he also presented a paper at Council of Churches in Zambia’s Jubilee Symposium
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Dustin and Sherri on the eve of Zambia’s 50-year Jubilee
The month of October was momentous for the nation of Zambia on two counts: one jubilant, the other a reason to mourn:
1) October 24, 2014, was Zambia’s “Golden Jubilee,” marking 50 years as an independent nation.
2) October 29, 2014, the country learned that Zambia’s president, Michael Chilufya Sata, had died in office.
What a range of national emotions for one month; and, really, both of these events essentially happened in the course of one week. It was a celebratory time, and now a time of mourning.
First the Jubilee. We were thankful to be present for such a milestone in the history of Zambia. Although the official jubilee moment was probably the commemorative flag-hoisting ceremony as the clock struck midnight—viewed on TV by much of the nation and punctuated by fireworks in local communities—many organizations also conducted their own celebrations leading up to it. Dustin was part of a Jubilee Symposium put on by the Council of Churches in Zambia (CCZ), where he presented a paper on the apostle Paul’s jubilee perspective. You didn’t know Paul had a perspective on jubilee? Ask Dustin for the paper! (It is very thoughtful and contains recommendations and challenges for the church in Zambia.) Meanwhile, Sherri’s chiNyanja/chiChewa class shared songs and prayers with others who gathered for a Jubilee lunch at FENZA—the Faith and Encounter Center in Zambia—where her intensive language class takes place. Knowing she had a speaking role, Sherri wore her most festive Zambian outfit. It was a hit not only at FENZA but also on the drive to and from, and even at the grocery store!
In the 50 years since Zambia received independence from England—or from “our colonial masters,” as Zambians sometimes put it—there have been many ups and downs, much development and rapid urbanization. God has blessed Zambia with stability over the past 50 years, and with peaceful transitions of power through its five presidents to date. Additionally, the country was declared a “Christian nation” in the midst of these years, with Christianity gaining momentum as it became not primarily the religion of the colonizers but, rather, the chosen religion of a larger and larger proportion of Zambia’s fast-growing population. We invite you to pray for Zambia’s future—her next 50 years—that God would continue to touch Zambia’s people, guide her leaders, and give her peace.
A few days after the Jubilee the mourning began. Reports trickled in from sources like the BBC and Al-Jazeera that Zambia’s President Sata had died in London. Since Newsweek had (evidently through a mistaken source) reported something similar just one month earlier when President Sata was in New York, we held reports with a grain of salt until the Zambian government made an official announcement, which, this time, they did.
President Sata had already missed all of the independence/jubilee festivities, so the nation realized he was physically not well. Still, it was a blow to hear he had actually died, and people have felt deeply touched and saddened. The absence of the president from the 50-year Jubilee celebrations had cast a shadow on the festivities; now the loss of a head of state leaves Zambia in mourning as well as in uncertainty about what lies ahead. We ask for prayers of comfort for Zambia in this time of loss, and in the weeks and months ahead for God to raise up wise leadership who will make decisions not out of selfish ambition but with Zambia’s best interests in mind. We also request prayer that the reality of the current interim president being a Zambian who is white (born here but of Scottish descent) will be healthy and not detrimental for race relations in the country.
Jubilation and a bit of mourning are also themes that come to mind as we wrap up the school year—Southern Hemisphere school years typically run January through November—and prepare to send off 15 graduates to serve as new pastors across Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi.
This year’s graduating class is one we have come to know well and to respect highly over the years, so it is a particular joy to send them off—but we will also really miss them! They arrived at Justo Mwale in January of 2011, just a few months after we ourselves had arrived in Zambia. Sherri taught them a refresher English course that first school term and remembers one young man writing in his journal about the experience of learning how to turn on a computer—for the first time in his life. Dustin led their “spiritual companionship” discipleship group for a couple years. They have gathered in our home a number of times. Dustin has taught them in several classes. This is a group that has matured and gelled well in supportive fellowship with one another. A special thing about Justo Mwale is that we can really get to know students and feel close to them; but it can also be sad to see them leave. This group has asked us to host a going-away time with them, and for Dustin to share some parting words of encouragement. We very much appreciate prayer for these students as all of them leave Justo Mwale to serve as pastors of congregations. They all have positions waiting for them. The students are excited, yet also face the future with a certain amount of fear and trembling.
As we approach the end of 2014 we are grateful to all of you whose prayers and financial contributions have helped to make our life and ministry in Zambia possible. We invite you to consider a year-end gift; you may give toward supporting our ministry by clicking here. While our main financial request has been for our sending and support, yet another need is for student scholarships. Numerous more men and women would like to receive the training that Justo Mwale offers, but almost no future pastors can afford this for themselves. It takes about $5,000/year to support a student with tuition, housing, and a small stipend. We invite you to be in touch with us if your congregation, family, or group of friends might be interested in supporting a student scholarship.
Finally, we would like for you to pray for our family’s health. We are thankful that Ebola is far from Zambia. But since our return we (and especially Clayton and Christopher) have struggled with a number of sicknesses. In our years of mission service we’ve come to see that whatever problems exist in a place eventually come to impact our family in one way or another. We feel blessed to be where we are, but we would also appreciate your prayers for God’s protection—that our bodies would not be overly burdened by the various illnesses that affect people’s lives here in Africa.
Thank you so much for your love and prayers.
Yours in Christ,
Sherri and Dustin Ellington
so.ellington@gmail.com
ellingtondustin@gmail.com
The 2014 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 141
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