My name is Erik Mueller and in January 2018 I had the profound opportunity to go Africa for a mission trip with the Sinanzi Sepo Project (SSP). The destination was a small village in the Zambezi region of Namibia near the town of Katima Mulilo. Africa is a wild, wild world filled with every sort of adventure a person could possibly want. The culture, the landscape, the animals, the people truly make this land so unique and exciting. The famous poet Ernest Hemingway once wrote, “there never was a day when I woke up in Africa, when I wasn’t happy.” I must admit that during my stay there I would have to agree with Mr. Hemingway. The harshness of the living conditions in the village where we stayed was real and it took its toll on me over the two weeks I was there. However, the true simplicity of the place and the mission I had set out to accomplish would not allow me to become anything but happy.
The goal for this mission trip with SSP was to make connections with people within the villages, learn about their customs and cultures, work on building a fence for their community garden, interact with the children, teach, share the gospel, discover what their most pressing needs are, and take plenty of pictures to document and share with family and friends back home. The extent of needs within the villages is overwhelming to my American eyes which can’t fathom to see such poverty. Everywhere you look you see houses made of mud and sticks, old tires being used for chairs, dogs roaming the streets, children playing on old rusted out cars, and hungry people looking for a job to pay for their next meal. Many people’s first reaction to seeing this kind of poverty is to want to give “stuff.” Many people, including my old self, thought that it was good enough to donate money to pay for the things they need. The most important thing that I realized during my stay there, is though they may appreciate the “stuff” they far more appreciate the fact that you just want to get to know them. You want to be a friend. You want to help them learn and learn from them.
The single most important thing that you can give anyone is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Without this message you can gain the whole world and still lose your soul. It became so obvious to me while in Katima Mulilo that this message I had heard so many times was so accurate. The people in the village where we stayed were as happy as anyone could expect them to be, however they all carried the burden of poverty and for most of them it is something they’ll never have the opportunity to get out of. I met men who confided to me their feelings of worthlessness and failure for not being able to provide for their families. I talked with people who believed their lives were cursed because of the color of their skin. I met people living feeling depressed and defeated because they fully believed that there was no way to better their lives. The need for the heart changing, life giving, soul feeding, thirst quenching, complete Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only thing that can pick someone up out of these mindsets and lead them down a path towards freedom from the burden of these thoughts and feelings. Even if they never make it out of their Earthly poverty they CAN get out of their spiritual poverty. The Gospel makes it possible for someone to live a fulfilling, purposeful life even in the midst of great poverty.
My greatest opportunity during my stay in Katima Mulilo was getting to know the wonderful people that made up those villages and to share the Gospel from my heart and learn a little about theirs. Our time spent working on the fence brought an opportunity to bond with the men in a special way and also taught them some new skills. I sang songs with the children in the SSP Kindergarten and gave them some lollipops and a soccer ball and that was more than enough to win over their hearts. I took photos and videos and shared them with the world and hopefully inspired some more people to want to join me next year. Everyday I look forward to another opportunity to go back and do it all again.
