The Impact of Strategic Partnership
A case study on effective partnerships in Chibolya, Zambia
December 14th, 2023 | Rebekah Teuscher
Around the world, long-term partnerships play a vital role in creating change that lasts - but the path to establishing these partnerships can be challenging. How can a church, business, or university come alongside a specific community well?
Over the last 3 years, Calvary Community Church in Williams Bay, Wisconsin, has been a vital part of Jesus’ transformational work in the village of Chibolya, Zambia, partnering intentionally with a focus on education.
This partnership journey began with Ben and Kristin, two members of Calvary who were serving in Chibolya with One Collective. As Calvary learned more about Chibolya through Ben and Kristin, they discovered a deep need for professional development for the local teachers.
Mapalo Trust School in Chibolya was founded by three local Zambian teachers who saw a need for the most vulnerable in their community to have access to education, and for years the school had provided a space for children who otherwise would not attend school and learn in a safe environment. The teachers working at Mapalo had identified a deep desire for professional development in order to provide the best education possible to their nearly 200 students, and Calvary made the commitment to partner with them in this endeavor.
With a vision for long-term partnership, Calvary started by raising up a team from the congregation to visit Mapalo and conduct an initial assessment. Around the same time Calvary started making this opportunity known to congregants, Chuck and Linda Moehring began attending the church.
When the couple heard about the need for those with professional development experience to consider coming alongside teachers in Zambia, they share, “We immediately felt this could be God’s call”. Linda had over 15 years of experience in professional development education, and both had recently retired and were looking for ways to meaningfully engage locally and internationally. After meeting with Ben and Kristin to learn more, their conversations quickly confirmed this was the opportunity they had been looking for.
Chuck & Linda Moehring
““From my years of professional development working in the States, one of the things I’ve learned is that you can’t just walk into a school and ‘do’ professional development. You have to plan, and you have to work to understand the culture of the school. You have to build relationships with the teachers in order for them to trust you.””
With this in mind, that fall Calvary sent Linda and Chuck to Chibolya to conduct an initial assessment for the school, and to build relationships with the teachers. The Moehrings spent the week in classes observing the teachers, asking questions, and visiting other Zambian schools to gain more context for the needs and resources that were readily available. The teachers also asked them to teach a few of their classes so they could learn from their teaching styles and methods.
From their visit, Chuck and Linda developed a list of recommendations for the teachers at Mapalo, including immediate needs, intermediate needs, and long-term areas of focus for growth - one of which included constructing additional classrooms to allow for full school days and ability to better focus on different age groups. “Not only did the teachers work to quickly address the immediate needs that didn’t require additional resources, but they started addressing some of the intermediate needs, all within two or three months. We were shocked at how quickly they got so much done.”
Meanwhile, Calvary’s congregation rallied together to give $25,000 towards expanding the school. David Fogleboch, the missions pastor at Calvary, notes, “It was amazing to see how much the congregation gave - it’s not so common for that sort of money to be raised so quickly.” Through Calvary’s partnership, Mapalo now also has access to an established educational curriculum. Calvary has been able to consistently provide books for students where there weren’t any before, enabling teachers to focus on developing reading comprehension skills and literacy in students. And as of today, the process of building three more classrooms is underway.
Calvary going to Mapalo Trust was not a one-time visit - the church has continued to regularly send teams of educators in the congregation to support the teachers at Mapalo - often led by Linda and Chuck. In between visits, Chuck and Linda facilitate regular video meetings with teachers at Calvary and the headmaster of Mapalo in order to plan, strategize, and continue learning in real time where the school is at and how the church can best continually support the teachers in professional development.
Chuck and Linda share, “we had been wanting to serve cross-culturally since we were in our 20’s, but it took an entire professional career to find our niché. This opportunity to partner with the teachers at Mapalo through Calvary and use our skills served as a reminder to us that God has been in this partnership since the beginning.”
Looking to the future, Calvary and Mapalo are excited to see how this partnership impacts the next generation, through reading comprehension skills, learning about Jesus, and continuing to support professional development for the teachers of Mapalo.
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