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The First Residence
We are pleased to announce our first orphan care house in Zambia is under construction. Rather than one large building, the vision is to have multiple residences, each one housing 8-10 children with a couple who will serve as the “parents” in that home.
If you would like to be part of meeting these significant needs, consider giving today!
Building Project
Breaking Ground
Breaking ground on a new building project is always exciting. It is especially so when the building is being constructed for an important purpose.
The Zambian Mission Project is elated to announce that our first residence is now under construction. This means that soon our Zambian Mission Project leadership team in Zambia will be able to move our first orphans into a new home with adoptive parents in place to love and care for them.
This residence will join other facilities on the grounds that include a chicken coop, the caretaker’s home, a kitchen, a water tank, vegetable gardens and an irrigation system for the gardens.
Part Of A Larger Project
This will not be the last residence or building that will go up on the grounds. There will be other residences, as well as a community building that will also host a church, which will be vital to the ongoing care and economic development of the community we are serving a couple hours west of Lusaka.
But there is even a greater building project this residence is serving. In the Old Testament God gave to Israel a tabernacle and later a temple building that taught them how they could worship God and how God could be in their midst through sacrifice (Exodus 25:8). They were learning that the only way God could forgive them of their sins and be close to them was for the penalty of their sins to be paid by another (Isaiah 53). As Israel learned these lessons, worshiped God, and following him, they were to attract people from other nations to Israel so they could worship God and be close to him through the important building of the temple (Isaiah 49:6). We might say their key word was attract!
Now that Jesus Christ has come as the perfect sacrifice for sins (John 1:29), the New Testament Church now serves as the spiritual temple of God. You might say our key word is expand! No longer are we merely to stay in one place and only attract others to the true God. Instead, we are to be a temple on the move, and to go out to where people are and “to proclaim the excellencies” of the one who has saved us (1 Peter 2:4-10).
The current building project is part of this greater purpose. As orphans are taken into new homes, adopted into new families, this not only gives a picture to the world of how God adopts us into his family (Galatians 4:5), it also provides the opportunity for these children to learn about Jesus Christ, in addition to feeding, clothing, and teaching them how to make a living.
What a wonderful mission this first building represents.
Your Project?
Let me take this opportunity to invite you to become part of this exciting greater project. If you would love to partner with us through prayer and/or giving toward orphan care in Zambia, we would love to have you on the team!
Joyfully Serving Orphans In Zambia,
Tom Barnes
November 2022 Update
In this post, I just wanted to share with you some ZMP news from the past several months. In September, our Zambian board purchased and installed a new water tank since our first one had developed a significant leak. The water well and tank are a critical part of our Center and allow us to provide water to the garden, caretaker and people from the community. I made a video that contains photos and videos of this project.
Then in Oct our US board president, Tom Barnes visited Zambia for the first time and spent some time at the Center. Please, see his blog post discussing his perspective on our Zambian team.
Sandwell and Family visit us in Minden
We were honored to have Sandwell Zgambo, the founder of Zambian Mission Project, and his family visit us this past July. He came to the US to attend a family member’s wedding and was able to stay about 5 days in Minden. It was a wonderful time of fellowship, fun and learning from each other. Abigail and Sandwell have two beautiful little girls who immediately stole our hearts. It was such a joy for us to spend time with our dear friends from Zambia.
We were blessed to have Sandwell speak with our US board and our home church, Minden Evangelical Free Church. It was a great opportunity for us to have extensive discussions on the future of the ZMP Orphan Care Center. Please, remember to pray for them in their ongoing work for God in Zambia.
-Frank A Kovacs, July 15, 2022
May 2022 Update
Good things are going on at the ZMP Orphan Care Center in Zambia. I just wanted to share a recent email exchange I had with the chair of ZMP-Zambia, Sandwell Zgambo along with photos he sent of the recent installation of a chicken coop at the Center.
My original message:
“Hi Sandwell, Thanks for the great photos. Can you give me a description of what you guys were doing with the children on that day. – Frank”
Sandwell’s reply:
“Dear Frank,
You are welcome. On Saturday last week, Pastor Lukas, Rev. Isaac and I went to the Orphanage Centre to meet the Orphans and vulnerable children. We also invited their guardians to help us harvest maize (corn). Praise the Lord that the guardians came and worked in our field for more than 4 hours. While we were there Lukas preached the good news of salvation. We had time to interact with the children and eat together. Most guardians can’t afford to buy books and soap for the children. Thankfully we used the money that was sent for the children to purchased school supplies, books, pencils etc. We had more than 35 children who were helped. As you can imagine, children were very happy and grateful to receive these gifts.
We also had the privilege to take photos of the finished chicken house. We have a few chickens and some have started laying eggs. God willing, we have more chickens at the center this year. We hope that we can start selling some in future to sustain the operations. If all goes well, we can reach at the point of raising money through chicken sells and lessen the burden on ZMP USA. Pastor Lukas and Rev Isaac have great ideas on we can develop our land into a more self sustainable place. It was a huge blessing to meet and share ideas. Active (our caretaker) is very excited about the new development of chicken project.
Always grateful to God, Sandwell Zgambo”
August 2021 Update
We wanted to provide an update of what we’ve been up to over the past several months. We also want to thank you for making this progress possible!
In June, we had our 2nd Annual Fun Run in Minden and were able to raise a little over $1500. Big thanks to all who were able to participate in this event. We sincerely appreciate the enthusiasm and generosity of our supporters. You can view our pictures at our Facebook page.
In July, we were able send funds to Zambia for the purchase and installation of two major items.
- Solar panels for powering the water pump for our water tower. This will save us a significant amount of money for fuel for the generator.
- Irrigation system for our vegetable garden. This will greatly enhance our ability to grow food for our board members, the caretaker and his family as well as orphans of the surrounding community.
Special request for help for ZMP Zambian board
I have recently messaged with some of my friends in Zambia about the impact of covid on the Zambian economy. Apparently, price inflation has become a significant issue in Zambia. My friend Jim Evans who works in Lusaka shared the following with me:
“Yes Zambia is experiencing some significant financial issues. Inflation coupled with the fall in the value of the kwacha against the dollar has been significant. We have have had prices double on some items in less than a year and I have noticed some items increasing over night. Pray for Zambia. Times are tough and this is an election year. That always brings turmoil and this one could be very rowdy.”
Because of this I have felt the need to try to raise money to help our Zambian Mission Project Board members in Zambia during this time of financial struggle. We have decided not to use ZMP funds because this is not directly related to the orphan ministry. So for this, we as US board members are simply sending funds from our personal accounts. My motivation for this effort is simply to attempt to help our Zambian brothers and sisters in their time of need.
My plan is to send the funds to our treasurer in Zambia (Rev Isaac Muswala) via Wester Union and ask him to disperse the funds evenly among our 5 Zambian board members. I would like to do this by the end of the week. So, if you are willing and able to help me in this, contact me in one of the following ways:
- Call or text: 308-627-8147
- Email: kovacsfa1@gmail.com
- or DM me on Facebook.
I will then let you know personally ways that you could send me anything you’d like to contribute.
Thanks for your consideration,
Frank Kovacs, US ZMP Board Member
Aug 2020 – Update
We are continuing to work on the ZMP Orphan Care Center and I wanted to give you a quick update on how things are going.
Pastor Isaac and Sandwell recently met with the village headman and some other villagers to discuss beginning to identify orphans in the community. They will be meeting with the chief next month to give him more details about the Centre programme.
Also, Active continues to do a great job of developing the land for farming and has been able to successfully grow a garden that is producing.
Pastor Isaac watering garden at the centre. 
Active 
Meet Mirriam Kunda
Mirriam Kunda is ten years old and the second born in a family of five. She lives in Kanyama township, west of Lusaka, the capital city of Zambia.
Mirriam is a double Orphan Child, meaning both her parents passed away. She experienced this tragedy when she was seven years old. Her parents were diagnosed with AIDs, they both suffered from this disease for a long time. Her mother died first and a year later her Father died as well leaving Mirriam and her siblings as double orphans. The children were left in the hands of some family relatives who took custody of them. The children had to be separated among the family members. Unfortunately, Mirriam was taken by her Aunt who is abusive towards Mirriam.
In her current home Mirriam undergoes some form of different abuse. She has been denied her right to education, while other Children from the same home have the chance to go school. She is told to stay home and do house chores, while her friends are in school learning. As for Mirriam attending school and being class is just a dream. She is given hard tasks that do not match with age. She is required to fetch water from the community tap which is quite a far distance from her home. She receives some emotional/verbal abuse from her aunt.
We met Mirriam in the street of Kanyama selling some merchandise. Mirriam is a prospective orphan of Christ Heart Transforming Ministries Orphan Center.
A More Prosperous Zambia Through Orphan Care
According to Terry Miller and Anthony B. Kims (2016 INDEX OF ECONOMIC FREEDOM, Heritage Foundation), in the year 2014 the average per capita income in Zambia was just over $4,000. This puts the country at the lower end of the low middle category of nations in the world. In other words, it is not among the very poorest countries, but just above the poorest.
As you help us care for orphans through the Zambian Mission Project you have the opportunity not only to put clothes on the backs of orphans, a roof over their head, and food in their stomachs, you can help them flourish physically and spiritually as they learn about Jesus Christ and as they develop skills that will serve them long-term in supporting themselves and their family someday. And, who knows? Maybe some of these orphans will spread what they learn to others and start a movement of this flourishing among many in their generation and generations to come!
Join us in our vision!