In December of 2020, we sent our first round of funding to feed 8 different churches in Zambia a Christmas dinner. In January, we more than doubled down, sending enough money to benefit people in 17 different churches on an extended basis. In February, we upped our goal and decided to target clean water, funding bore holes in these communities. We currently have an established network of 52 pastors in Zambia that we are blessed to work with, providing food monthly for around 1,500 households. We have also completed 13 clean water projects and 13 shelter projects.
After providing farm inputs for the first time in November, 2021, the vision has continued to expand. The purchase of harvested corn in June, 2022 and again in June, 2023, allowed us to store and provide monthly for church members directly from their church. And earlier in 2023 we added Conservation Farming Training – created a cycle that we believe will ultimately lead to self-sufficiency within the churches. We train, we provide inputs, and we purchase harvest – all to then feed more of our destitute brothers and sisters each year until such time as the church in Zambia will be able to tell us, “Shoulder 2 Shoulder, thank you so much! We can take it from here!”
Check out this video of the celebration following our 2021 contributions:
Check out our blog posts for more regular updates on what’s happening with Shoulder 2 Shoulder!