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<\/a>In her role in Zambia, Kathy will contribute to the development of the center\u2019s faculty and its facility, which is to serve as a training center and extension base for literacy programs and economic development initiatives. Agriculture, animal husbandry, small business development and micro-enterprise loan programs are some of the tools that the center will use to empower women and alleviate poverty in the context of Christian discipleship.<\/p>\nIn preparation for this new ministry, Kathy will spend much of her first year of active service in a series of short-term learning and serving experiences with cutting-edge women\u2019s center ministries in other places around the world.<\/p>\n
A ministry in Zambia has been on Charland\u2019s heart since 2007 when she did field work for her Master of Divinity degree in Zambia as an IM volunteer. \u201cMy eyes were opened to a world I had never truly seen before,\u201d said Charland in a recent journal. \u201cAs I entered that world, as I walked with, prayed with, sang with, danced with, mourned with, worshiped with the people in that world, I could no longer ignore it.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 2012, when Charland considered returning to Zambia for another short trip, Charland \u201csensed God\u2019s call to long-term service.\u201d She began the missionary application process through IM and shared her desire to serve in the areas of poverty relief and discipleship.<\/p>\n
At the time, Zambia was not a possibility for IM missionaries. IM identified a mission opportunity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and one in South Africa. As it happened, neither location was part of God\u2019s call on Charland\u2019s life.<\/p>\n
Late in 2014, IM reestablished its partnership with the Baptist Convention of Zambia (BCZ), opening the door to for IM to once again send missionaries there. The Reverend Zulu, president of the BCZ, commented, \u201cWe felt a void in our Christian journey when we were no longer in partnership of IM.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe renewed partnership with the BCZ could not have been better timed,\u201d said IM Area Director for Africa the Reverend Eleazar Ziherambere. \u201cWhen I visited the Convention in November 2014 and asked BCZ why they so badly want to resume our partnership, they quickly pointed out their need for a coordinator for women\u2019s ministries to help establish a Women\u2019s Center. I understood then that the mighty hand of God was indeed directing his call to Kathy to serve in Zambia.\u201d<\/p>\n
Charland was quickly identified as the person for the job, and she leapt at the opportunity. \u201cWhen I applied for mission service through IM,\u201d she said, \u201cwe did not foresee how God would use circumstances to direct me to a country and a people that I fell in love with so many years before. Can you imagine the great things he is going to do next? Truly our God is \u2018great and awesome.\u2019 (Nehemiah 4:14 NKJV)\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDiscerning and following God\u2019s call to international service is sometimes a winding and surprising journey,\u201d says Jim Bell, IM\u2019s director of vocational development. \u201cWe rejoice that in God\u2019s providential timing, Kathy\u2019s desire to serve in Zambia, the resumption of IM\u2019s partnership with the BCZ and a service opportunity that matches Kathy\u2019s gifts have converged at this moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
To learn more about Kathy Charland, sign up for her journals or email her directly, go to http:\/\/internationalministries.org\/teams\/637-charland<\/a>. Look for Kathy Charland on Facebook at Reason2Hope.<\/p>\n