CHRISTMAS LETTER FROM MUJILA FALLS 2010

As is written in the book of the prophet Isaiah,
"The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: 'prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.'" Luke 3:4

We pray that all will see the Salvation of God in this blessed Christmas Season.

Dear Friends and Supporting Congregations,

As another year is fast closing, we find ourselves, again, in that most holy of Seasons, Advent. God's "breaking in" to a broken world to heal and to comfort His people. It hasn't been an easy year for many. In my own family there are many who have lost jobs and struggle to make ends meet. Many have experienced insecurity in their lives for the first time. They have lost insurance benefits, watched bank accounts dwindle, and struggle to make payments on bank loans.

Here in Zambia, insecurity is nothing new to the people I work with. The great majority have never owned insurance, never had bank accounts, and have lived each day from hand to mouth. I have been a missionary here in Africa since 1995 and here at Mujila Falls since 2000. In those years I am proud to say I have seen slow but steady progress. When Roxanne and I first came here we saw massive hunger, malnutrition, and the highest infant mortality rate in Zambia. Now I see fewer babies with the tell-tale reddish hair of protein deficiency. I see fewer with the bloated bellies and watery eyes of severe malnutrition.

Our project is producing more than 1000 eggs per day and our cows are producing over 70 litres of milk per day. Our goats are also producing 10 litres of milk which we make into yoghurt for sale in the District Capital. It used to be hard to sell the milk and eggs, though we have priced it as close to break-even as possible. Now our eggs and milk are readily being bought and we are in the process of doubling our chicken flock and continue to increase our milking herd.

This year we have seen our area go from being one of the lowest producers of corn to the highest in the district. People are learning from us and joining the market economy. We buy large quantities of their corn to mix into our feed rations for our chickens, cattle, pigs, goats, and sheep. With increasing demand, more people are encouraged to plant corn. Four of our workers have bought their own oxen, plows and ridgers from us and are expanding their private fields.

We are currently hiring 20 to 30 school boys and girls to help us with the planting of this year's crop of corn. With the money they earn, they will be able to pay school fees and buy uniforms, shoes, books, etc. When Roxanne and I first came here in 2000 there were few schools and most children did not go to school. This is changing and helping us to have workers who can read and write and speak the national language, English, and are more able to follow instructions and work more productively. Their experience here on the farm will help them to be more productive when they have their own families and fields. Progress is slow, but it is steady.

There are now more substantial houses being built in the villages around us and people are buying bicycles and even a few motorcycles. The road into our area has been graded for the first time in 10 years, and a new high school is being built in Kanyama. There are even plans to build a hydro-electric generation station in the coming three years. All of this started with our (yours and mine) heavy investment in the human capital of the area. This project feeds the new teachers and other government workers who come to the area so that they don't run away due to hunger as they did in the past. This promotes better administration of schools, clinics, veterinary services, etc. It was our project that interested an engineer to come in to investigate hydro-power feasibility on our Mujila River. Our presence has helped to create the demand that the Japanese investors needed to make the hydro-electric plant feasible.

This year we trained 2 veterinary students from a school in Lusaka and four Congolese who will take their skills back to the Kinshasa area where they also hope to set up a training centre. We hosted three VIM teams and a Engineers without Borders group. We hosted the fourth Zambian Provisional Annual Conference, and built a house for our District Superintendent and put in toilets at the large United Methodist Church in Mwinilunga.

As John the Baptist, we are called to "prepare the way". We found little hope when we first arrived, but with slow and persistent work we have built roads, cleared the brush, stumped out the fields and planted our crops. We have planted banana plantations, citrus, guava, mango, and other fruit trees. We have introduced many crops including strawberries, potatoes, plantains, forage crops, sorghum, black beans, moringa. We are currently in the fourth year of planting a sustainable forest of pine trees. These should mature in another 15 years and will provide us with soft-wood lumber for construction.

Our cattle herd now stands at 45. The young steers will become oxen and our heifers will be milking in another year and a half. We are building a new barn to accommodate the growing herd. We have over 60 goats now and 17 sheep. Again, we had to build a new structure to accommodate the growth in the flock.

Income from our eggs, milk, meat, and vegetables has helped to pay our workers and make us dependent upon donations from America. While we will likely always need your investment to keep everything running and expanding, we can see the day when more of our support will be internally generated and self-sustaining. Slowly, we are " filling in the valleys, cutting down the hills, making the way straight and preparing the way for our Lord".

From everyone here at Mujila Falls, we wish you God's Peace as you celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. We all thank you for your prayers and faithful support of our work here at Mujila Falls.

In Christ,

Paul Webster