A dream come true!

We opened our initial library in 2018, and within the first year of operations, it was already clear that we would need more space.  The community interest in our Library was growing each week, and our small room couldn’t accommodate all of the children who would come.  We also knew that some day, we would expand our program into more schools and be more serving more children and teachers on a weekly basis. 

Our First Library

In 2018, we opened the doors to our Community Library. Very quickly, the interest in our Library grew!

School Visits

Every week, our partner schools would bring their students to the Library.

A tight squeeze

Most days, there were 30 to 40 children packed in this little room to read, borrow books, and participate in fun activities.

Getting creative

We had to use every inch of space available to make room for the children to do activities like Bingo pictured here.

Waiting for their turn

Our numbers on Community Day grew so quickly that children would have to wait outside until there was enough space to enter the Library.

So the dream for a bigger Center was planted in 2019, and we began the process of acquiring more land.  The road was long and winding, but God’s faithfulness was our constant anchor.  After many bumps along the way, by the end of 2020, the title deed was finally issued in our name and we could take the next step forward. In June of 2021, we broke ground on the land and laid the foundation for our new Center.

Phase 1 - Breaking Ground at our Building Site in June 2021

Then it came time for the daunting task of fundraising to complete the job. With lots of prayers and a mustard seed of faith, we followed God on the next step of the journey. We created a budget, developed a fundraising campaign, and prepared to hit the share button to all of our supporters. At the very same time as we set out to fundraise our greatest amount yet, the entire country of Zambia was in the midst of an election and there were some major changes happening on the ground. One of those changes involved a significant appreciation of the local currency, which meant our initial budget of $35,000 would not meet our needs. Rather, we needed to raise 30% more money to be able to complete the Center. Scared and uncertain, we continued to follow the dream God had placed in our heart years before, and we asked you all to give.

And you gave… and you GAVE… and YOU GAVE!!! You stepped up when we needed it most and gave enough to enable us not only to meet our budget needs, but to expedite the construction process. On October 17th, the construction crew started raising the walls. And because we had sufficient funds, we could overlap the many different projects that needed to happen at the same time. The raising of the walls, the building of a drainage system, connecting to local water, and more was happening thanks to our team on the ground.

Here comes the walls!

On October 17th, the construction crew resumed the work. They worked in pairs to lay the blocks - starting in the corners and working their way in.

Beam Level

They very quickly reached the beam level, and everyone had their role to see it through. Mixing concrete, ferrying it in wheelbarrows, lifting it bucket by bucket to those on the scaffolding, and then pouring in.

Temperatures were rising

The heat is intense under the October sun, but the guys worked hard from 6am to 6pm everyday.

Plastering the walls

After the walls were constructed, it was time to plaster them with a smooth finish and build this grand porch entrance.

The roofing crew

A special team came in to install lightweight steel trusses to ensure our roof was strong and weatherproof. They came in like puzzle pieces, and the crew arranged them and screwed them together.

And the roof is on!

Then up the trusses went followed by the roofing sheets. After the shell was built, it was time for all the finishing touches inside.

Bringing the fun

Time to add some life to all of these rooms. We chose fun, vibrant colors that would be welcoming to all who came in!

Installing Bookshelves

Locally made shelves were installed all around the room to allow us to store our books and create a better flow for our children to find them.

Turning on the lights

One of the final pieces was to install all of the light fixtures and fans in our new Center - keeping it well lit and mostly cool.

Just three months later, the Center was complete, and was more beautiful than we could have ever imagined.

On February 4th, we invited our 19 partner schools to our Grand Opening.  Together, we celebrated God’s amazing provision and prayed for His blessings over our Center and the work to be accomplished here.  We ate, we danced, we played games.  And our Chibanja network of schools who we have known for 8 years gave some very powerful testimonies of how God has worked. The following week we began using the Center for school library visits, Community Day, and teacher training events.

Welcome Sign

Our wonderful welcome sign lets you know you’ve arrived at a place of fun-filled learning.

Our new Center

This much bigger Center is connected to our original Library, and gives us more space for reading, activities, and teacher training events.

Library and Training Center

With more space, we can hold more books and organize them by themes. We also use this large area as a Training Center for our teachers.

Ribbon Cutting Ceremony

As you can see, we were pretty excited to open the doors to our partner schools for the first time!

Grand Opening

A thrilling game of Jenga with our partner schools. We also had spoons, 30 seconds, and hopscotch happening.

Partner Schools are Loving It

Our schools bring their students once a week to read, borrow books, and participate in learning activities. Here, you can see a teacher reading with his students.

Look at all this space!

There’s plenty of room for big group games in our new Center.

Activity Room

In this room, students get to do creative projects or find a quiet reading space. Today, they are doing fun color block artwork.

Checking out books

The highlight of any visit is the opportunity to borrow a book to take home. Books are a rare treasure, and our new Center is stocked with thousands of them!

We share this story with you so that we can rejoice together at what happens when we dream, and when we invite others to help us make our dreams come true. Already, our Center has expanded our impact. We have seen record numbers of children on Community Day. We have seen more adults engaged than ever before. We have been able to train more schools from our Center to expand our reach. And this is the just the beginning. Our dreams of a new Center are complete, and now it’s time to impact the world with it! Thank you for partnering with us to give children a life-changing education in Zambia!