Before travelling to Zambia, Michael Harvey hadn't given much thought to what the trip might mean for his relationship with God. He travelled to Zambia with his wife Jenny, following their daughter Georgina, who was returning to Africa with Hands to lead a team. He didn't expect the trip to change much within him. Here, in his own words, is what he found instead.
I certainly didn't see myself heading into the mission field. My faith was strong, but life was busy, and I hadn't really stopped to consider what God might have for me in Zambia.
We spent nearly a week in the community of Mutoyo, long enough to move past simply visiting and start getting to know people.
I was impacted by encounters with three locals: a local 'Mother Teresa,' who once gave her own food to the most vulnerable and malnourished children in her community, and who today, supported by Hands at Work, coordinates 20 volunteer care workers serving 50 of the community's most vulnerable children; a volunteer care worker, who rides his bike to serve every day, often mocked by others for choosing unpaid service over easy money, but who keeps turning up; and a community member drawn to the carepoint, a man whose background included circumstances that were confronting and at times tragic, who I'd watch each morning sitting with his notebook, carefully writing down every word shared from Scripture.
People often assume a mission trip means going somewhere to build something. Hands at Work is building something, but what I saw built wasn't bricks and mortar.
It was community, dignity and faith, rooted in Jesus.
I went to Zambia expecting to help others. Instead, I found a group of believers whose faith, forged through hardship, reshaped my own.
Perhaps that's the biggest surprise of all: you can travel across the world to help someone, only to discover how much God uses them to change you.
We thank God for Michael's vulnerability, and pray these convictions continue to resound in every team that served on the ground this year, and that many more would encounter Jesus through coming to the communities we serve in Africa