Sach Cafe Service

Our Mission Visit to Sachibondu: Stories from Zambia

At our recent Café Church, Mark and Jane shared their inspiring stories and photos from a visit to Sachibondu, a remote Christian mission in Zambia. If you couldn’t be there, here’s everything you need to know about what they saw, did, and learned — and how your support is making a difference.

📍 Where is Sachibondu?

Sachibondu is a rural community in the Mwinilunga District, in Zambia’s North-Western Province, right near the borders with Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo. It’s so remote that getting there means multiple flights and long, bumpy journeys on dirt roads.

Mark explained that they:

Flew into Lusaka, Zambia’s capital,
Took a domestic flight to Ndola, in the Copperbelt region,
Drove north through Solwezi (the local regional hub),
And then travelled for hours more on rough roads to reach Sachibondu, which sits deep in the bush close to the Congo border.

Despite its isolation, Sachibondu is a hub of hope. The mission there runs a health centre, local schools, community outreach and sustainability projects, and provides practical spiritual support for surrounding villages.

🧭 Who Runs Sachibondu Mission?

Sachibondu is run by a faithful team including Jon and Becs, who have a special connection to our church. Jon grew up here, attending Boys’ Brigade, and Becs was born in Zambia to English parents. In fact, her grandparents were the original missionaries who established the Sachibondu Mission after being given land by a local tribal chief. Now, Jon and Becs have answered God’s call to return and live alongside local people — showing them practical care and the love of Christ.

👩‍🏫 Jane’s Highlights: Orphans, Schools, Cooking & Crafts

Jane shared lots of highlights:

She visited an orphanage run by Mel and Ross, who care for 18 children in their home about an hour away from the mission. She ran craft sessions, gave out decorated bags, colouring books, and cuddly toys — simple joys that meant the world to the children.
She spent time with children at the mission’s pre-school, bringing art and craft activities they’d never seen before. The children were thrilled by stamps and colouring books, and thanked her with big smiles and traditional clapping.
Jane learned to cook traditional Zambian meals, including nshima, taught by Sydney and Sam — two young men who live on site.
She also organised a painting morning with young local women, helping them create beautiful bookmarks and take home paint sets and brushes to keep practising.
Jane even helped tutor Sydney as he prepared for his international GCSEs, revising genetics, chemistry, and English.
One moving moment was visiting the Sachibondu Mission Hospital, handing out teddies and praying with patients and families — a reminder of how much the health centre means to the whole region.

🪚 Mark’s Highlights: Building Skills for the Future

While Jane worked with children and crafts, Mark tackled practical tasks. Using money our church raised before they left, he and three local lads — Josiah, Peter and Willie — built kitchen units for one of the mission’s simple round houses (called rondavels).

They:

Bought tools in Ndola,
Cut and assembled blockboard,
Fitted the units with worktops and even salvaged an old sink,
Built a bed frame (with the lads sanding rough timber by hand!).

Mark loved working alongside them — showing them new carpentry skills so they could carry these on in future projects.

⛪ Church Life & ‘Villaging’

Sunday mornings at Sachibondu are full of energy! Jane described how the choir sings and dances long before the congregation arrives — and how Sam, one of the local young men, translated a whole sermon into English for the visitors, with enthusiasm and expression to match the preacher.

In the afternoons, they joined in ‘villaging’ — visiting surrounding villages to play parachute games, skipping, football and to share Bible stories. On their first visit, about 80 children came running from the bush! Some of the children had never tasted sweets before and needed help opening their wrappers — a small gesture that brought big smiles.

They also offered to pray with anyone who wanted prayer, and many villagers came forward for healing and blessing.

🔗 A Legacy That Connects Us All

This visit reminded us how deeply our church family is connected with Sachibondu — not just through Jon and Becs’ story, but through the prayers, fundraising and gifts that help this community thrive.

If you’d like to hear more, there will be an evening sharing session on Thursday 24th July 2025 — with extra photos, stories, and a chance to ask questions.

🙌 Thank You

Thank you for every prayer, gift and encouraging word that helps bring hope and practical help to this remote corner of the world. Together, we can help keep Sachibondu’s spiritual, health, educational and community work going strong.