Machenge Village

Machenje is a village that has been with the LIFE Project since the beginning.  The community is supportive and grateful to have any and all of the Overland Missions initiatives in their village.  They also host the most successful
More About Machenge Village

Sherril Auker volunteers for the SAM Project. She shares some of her ups and downs since being back in Zambia: "Life is full of light and shadow. O the joy and O the sorrow O the sorrow And yet will He bring Dark to light And yet will He bring Day from night When shadows fall on us We will not fear We will remember When darkness falls on us We will not fear We will remember When all seems lost When we're thrown and we're tossed We remember the...read more

I've jumped head first into the SAM Project’s sustainable development initiative of starting a Zambian owned agricultural cooperative (Lubemba.com). My time in Africa has shown me that long lasting impact comes from local ownership of projects and ideas. The most practical outlet I see for that is in small entrepreneurial initiatives utilizing local resources and local talent. There are a thousand problems and mistakes you'll make but in the end you just have to take a step into the unknown and trust God with the results. In our case we...read more

It’s only after you spend time here in Zambia that you start to better appreciate the challenges faced by the average rural citizen. The SAM Project was started in 2007 to help complement Overland’s vision of Holistic Christian Rural Development. Our original task of distributing food packages to community schools was quickly overwhelmed by the sheer enormity of the need we experienced here. Zambians enjoy a stable democracy, have suffered no civil wars or catastrophic environmental disasters, aren’t known to sponsor terrorists, and they are so darned cheerful and polite,...read more

After working in the Nyawa chiefdom for 2 years, Overland Missions has been able to build strong relationships with the headmen and leaders of the area. Through those relationships, built chiefly by Jacob Schwertfeger, Nyawa's Sector Manager, we were able to locate and designate areas of greatest need. One such area is the village of Siankali. Siankali is located 160 km away from the Overland Missions base. Only 90km of the 160km is "paved," and 40km of the 90km sends you off road due to construction and detours. It's a...read more