Setting the Stage for Lasting Change
In chibolya, Zambia
Ben and Kristen Choitz
Chibolya, Zambia
Six years ago, when Ben and Kristin moved to the village of Chibolya, Zambia, they quickly observed the spiritual, economic, and physical challenges facing the community.
At the same time, they also saw great potential.
Through Ben’s role as a Catalyst, they began their work by getting to know people in this community of 4,500 people, and over the next few months identified several challenges locals faced - poor education, joblessness, lack of clean water - as well as existing resources. One prominent challenge that emerged was a lack of resources specifically for women.
“For many women in the community,” Ben observed, “prostitution is the only option that allows a woman to earn a living. You’re born in a place and it’s the only way you know to survive. You have no choice.”
“I saw the abuse,” says Kristin. “I would go out into the town each night seeking to engage these women who felt prostitution was their only means of support – the only way they could make a living.”
Coming alongside the women of Chibolya quickly became an area of focus, and Ben and Kristin explored methods to tangibly provide opportunities for women to create sustainable streams of income outside of prostitution. “I began establishing long-term relationships with local women. I offered regular Bible study groups, mentoring, and options that offered training and skills towards establishing sustainable livelihoods.” Kristin shares.
One initiative that emerged from this has been an ongoing women’s empowerment program.
This program provides business and entrepreneurial training, as well as skill development in budgeting, leadership, and long-term planning for vulnerable women. With principles from Scripture as a foundation, this program not only provides an answer to the question of “how”, but goes deeper to the “why” - and has paved the way for relationships to grow beyond the program itself.
Throughout the past five years of this program’s existence, women who otherwise didn’t see a future beyond prostitution have learned to lean into their strengths, grow in self-awareness, and contribute to the economic growth of Chibolya.
Sylvia is a woman who completed the program last year.
As a single mother with six children, it often felt like the cards were stacked against her. But in the midst of illness and poverty, Sylvia persevered.
She has a unique gift – baking muffins – which she has now turned into a successful business as a result of having completed the women’s empowerment program. She is now able to pay the school fees for all her children, and freely shares her secrets of success with other women in the community – offering them hope and prayer for a brighter future.
This program has proven to be successful, durable, and long-lasting – a true testament to the transformational work being done in Chibolya and the support and generosity of trusted friends and donors. Instead of competing with other locally driven initiatives, it has complemented them.
Ben and Kristin couldn’t do this work alone. They have also observed older, more mature women in the community taking an active role in reaching out to the younger women.
Often with experiences shaped by hardship, these women help to guide each other, teaching them to have self-respect and self-worth. They joined in the mentoring process offering the younger women an alternative way to live.
As Ben and Kristin’s work has continued to expand, they began to realize a central gathering place was needed to serve as a hub - a place to host business trainings and discipleship courses, to provide a safe place where community members could meet, learn, relax, and pray, and to be a central, consistent location for coming together.
In an answer to prayers for the right space - in March of 2022 a building was purchased and offered as a place where this vision could become a reality!
Once fully refurbished and equipped, this ministry center will offer courses ranging from English as a second language to computer skills for local youth, as well as host the Women’s Empowerment Group.
In addition, there are plans for it to house a coffee shop, space for mentoring and Bible study groups, and outreach. As the work continues to expand, this building will offer a common meeting place for those from all over Chibolya.