Zambia… Africa… these words are well known to our Oblate missionaries and to you, who so generously share in our mission endeavors among the world’s poorest and most forgotten. The vast distances that separate us from Zambia became shorter in 1983, when the first Oblate missionaries from Texas arrived in that land.

In their care, Oblate missionaries have four mission centers: Lukulu, Kalabo, Lusaka and Mongu. Our missionaries serve more than 20,000 people scattered throughout many villages in Western Zambia. They live and work among the people, bringing the Good News of salvation, administering the sacraments and helping people with their daily struggles.

Oblate missionaries also provide many essential goods to the poor of Zambia. Young and old alike depend on the medical care and medicines received from Oblate missionaries for their very survival.

The Oblate sponsored Mongu Nutrition Center provides food and medicine for villages throughout the countryside. The lay missionary team stationed there is ready every day of the week to receive and help anyone who comes in their time of need.

At times our mission work there has virtually become a "ministry on wheels". Since so many individuals must walk hours to reach the mission center, our missionaries and the mobile healthcare team regularly drive out to reach and visit the villages in their care. In this manner the elderly, the sick and entire families, who can not make the trek, still receive essential services before it is too late.

To continue our "ministry on wheels", the motor vehicles must be kept in good working condition. In this part of the world, trucks are the only reliable means of transportation and they last only four years. Yet these vehicles are indispensable for obtaining supplies from the capital city of Lusaka, delivering them to the more isolated outposts and transporting people across hundreds of miles.

While Oblate missionaries provide villagers with life saving items of food and medicine, they also actively conduct numerous training programs to help the villagers to help themselves. This is the future to preventing many of the diseases and problems that plague our missions.

The lay missionary team works closely with mothers. A program called the "under 5" focuses on childcare and nutrition. Through monthly visits, the infants’ health and development are monitored to ensure continued progress. This is a vital effort -- one that increases a child’s chances to grow beyond childhood and survive the first few precious years.

Farmers are taught how to better cultivate their land through the use of fertilizers and drought resistant crops. Small loans enable villages to acquire an ox, a plow, hoes and rakes, provide a better harvest and more food.

All these services are made possible with the generous help of so many kind people like you. Your commitment to God’s poor in Zambia, Africa, shortens distances, strengthens bodies and provides hope. Most of all, it brings the Good News of Our Lord’s love and peace to countless people.

Our Oblate missionaries and the people whom they serve are deeply grateful for your support and prayers.

                   A Saint’s Intercession 

I thank God for St. Eugene DeMazenod. I would like to report a favor received through his intercession. When I visited the Grotto Shrine, I was given a relic of St. Eugene. After several months, my mother became very ill... She became paralyzed and was in a wheel chair after suffering two strokes.

When I remembered the St. Eugene relic that had been given me, I pinned it on my mother. Within a week, we saw a change in her health. And, in a few months, she was able to walk without assistance. She was then able to go to church and give thanks to God for St. Eugene’s intercession.     J. Alvarado