The Story of Mount Moriah Community

The community of Twashuka is home to approximately 11,000 people who are predominantly seasonal farmers. As a result, many families travel outside of the area to larger towns to find domestic work and odd jobs for meagre wages. Poor access to health clinics and unclean water are just some of the issues the community faces.

When Pastor Charles Simbeye first visited the community of Twashuka in 2009, he noticed that there were a large number of children who were not attending school. He found that many children did not enjoy school and would instead travel daily to nearby towns to beg. Broken-hearted, Pastor Charles felt burdened to teach these young children, desiring for them to gain an education and enjoy school.

Mt. Moriah.png

100 Children currently supported

15 Care Workers Coordinated by Rosemary

Basic Services Started in 2010

10 km from the Luanshya Local Office

In 2009, Charles pulled together his resources and set up a school under a tree for 15 local children. New Wells Community School began! In 2010, New Wells Community School partnered with Hands at Work and became New Wells Community Based Organisation (CBO). New Wells CBO received its first plot of land that same year and a school building was constructed to accommodate 100 students. Hands at Work also encouraged Pastor Charles to mobilise the local church to help care for the poorest of the poor in the community. As a result, a team of 10 Care Workers from 3 local churches came together to begin visiting and supporting the children in the school.

The Care Workers pooled their resources to construct a temporary kitchen structure in the new location to provide care for the most vulnerable children in their community. The lack of rain in recent years has left the ground and wells dried up. Families have anxiously faced several seasons of unfavourable harvest. For the most vulnerable children, a hot, nutritious meal every day offers hope in these challenging circumstances.

In 2016, the New Wells CBO team, supported by the Luanshya Local Office team, reassessed the vulnerable children in their community to ensure that the most vulnerable are being reached. As part of this reassessment, the Luanshya Local Office team have spent time walking with Pastor Charles and his team of Care Workers to ensure that the leadership of the CBO is healthy and continues to represent the needs of the children.

In 2017, Hands at Work and Pastor Charles came to the agreement that they were pursuing different visions and decided to amicably part ways. Leaders of Hands at Work still felt that Twashuka remained one of the most vulnerable communities that they were called to serve in. In 2018, the Luanshya Local Office team, with support from the Zambian Regional Support Team, met once more with the leaders of the local churches in the community, where they re-shared the vision and model of Hands at Work. Out of this meeting, 14 local Christians with the heart and passion serving the most vulnerable in their community stepped forward, forming a new team of Care Workers.

In 2018, this new group of Care Workers, having recognised God’s faithfulness to them over many years, decided to rename the CBO ‘Mount Moriah’. Today, 100 of the most vulnerable children gather under the name of Mount Moriah CBO to receive access to life-giving services and are visited in their homes by the Care Workers. The local Hands at Work team in Luanshya continues to walk closely with the Care Workers, investing in these local heroes by building their confidence and capacity to care holistically for children, and to meet the needs of the wider community.

In 2023, a fence was constructed around the Life Centre property, providing security and defining it as a safe place for the children. On the property, there was a kitchen in bad repair, but this has been renovated to be a home for the caretaker of the Life Centre.

The local Hands at Work team in Luanshya currently supports ten Community Based Organisations, which exist to care for the most vulnerable in their communities. The office provides training, networking, and encouragement to those Community Based Organisations like Mount Moriah CBO. It also gives administrative support, including helping with funding proposals, monitoring and evaluation, bookkeeping and reporting to donors.  

BE INSPIRED BY UPDATES FROM Twashuka community 

MORE FROM ZAMBIA

Stories
Our Calling - Gideon and Ritha Mbuzi
Our Calling - Gideon and Ritha Mbuzi

“Through spending time with Hands at Work, I came to see the greater picture of what was being done and I wanted to be a part of it. My journey with Hands at Work reminds me of where I have come from. I have walked through many challenges similar to the children that we are serving. God has taught me to continue to trust in and hold onto Him because he never fails his people. I have seen how I should be depending on God because God is the only answer.”

Trust the Lord
Trust the Lord

“I’ve done many Maranatha Workshops and been to Chilabula many times and even done one in Chilabula before and not seen the fruit. We needed to depend on God, not on our own knowledge. We prayed for weeks ahead of time. We even delayed the start of the workshop so we could have more time to pray…”

My Calling - Blessings Sambo
My Calling - Blessings Sambo

I had started reaching out to the vulnerable in Mulenga, and it brought me great joy. There was a great fulfilment in my heart. I remember some people started mocking me because they had heard that I wasn’t getting paid. They didn’t know why I would do it for free.

An Urgent Call to Prayer
An Urgent Call to Prayer

Over this past week many areas in Southern Africa have experienced high winds and heavy rainfall particularly Zambia in the Kabwe and Chisamba regions have been hit very hard.

There has been significant damage caused to a number of homes within the communities we serve. In some cases, homes collapsed in the night, leaving families with nowhere to go.

Staying Connected to Africa
Staying Connected to Africa

The two of us who had previously gone to Africa through Hands at Work shared stories of what we might have experienced while there — stories of Holy Home Visits, attending local churches, and building relationships with long-term volunteers. At the end of the two weeks, the team realised that we would have arrived home. We agreed that we did not want to stop meeting.

Meet Rosa
Meet Rosa

When the Care Workers of Chibote community started to notice a line of four younger siblings following Rosa into the Care Point, and then huddled around Rosa’s one plate of food, they realised this was a home that needed visiting to understand more about the family.

My Calling - Michael Mwila
My Calling - Michael Mwila

Through serving and working with different people, I am a changed person. Not just in the communities, but in my family. I am a leader at my church because of the things that I have gone through and now people can trust me. If I was where I had been, than maybe I wouldn’t be alive, but God saved my life. That's why I also want to serve, to give life to other people.

Watchword Reflections 2019
Watchword Reflections 2019

“This year, I was fortunate enough to be able to participate in the two Watchword meetings that were held, first in South Africa and then in Zambia. Despite the passage being the same, what was shared was distinctly different from one another. As such, I learned different lessons from both.”

Our Calling - Lisa and Brian Dalley
Our Calling - Lisa and Brian Dalley

As the years quickly went by, early retirement became an option for us in September 2014. At that point we began to earnestly seek God about what our next steps would be. With many ups and downs, questions, concerns and conversations with our family about this big decision to make, we knew that God was calling us to Africa.

A Vision that Keeps You Coming Back
A Vision that Keeps You Coming Back

I was surprised, moved and thankful for the things that had changed. New additions to the team. New Care Points serving more children than was previously possible. New dreams and imaginative possibilities for partnership with the international church.