The Need
Thousands of smart and capable Christian young people in Zambia never get a high school diploma. The
costs of tuition, fees and boarding are too much for families living at or near the poverty level. And
for many of those who do finish high school, college is out of the question. It’s just too expensive
when families are concerned with providing the basics of food, shelter, and clothing.
Without an education, young adults have few options for breaking the cycle of poverty. Without
educated leaders for the future, Zambia suffers, and the church suffers.
What We Do
The US Sponsorship Program matches donors from the US with needy students at Namwianga Christian Secondary School and George Benson Christian College. Donor funds enable the students to go to school.
Namwianga Christian Secondary School offers a comprehensive program for grades 8-12. Most students board at the school. A well-rounded curriculum provides strong academics, Biblical foundations, and Christian leadership training.
Students at George Benson Christian College of Education (GBCCE) earn government certification to become public school teachers in mathematics, English, religious education, civics, computers, and history. Students also take Bible classes and are involved in outreaches and ministry training. The expectation of our sponsored students is that they will become self-supporting church planters, evangelists, and church leaders. Very few local congregations in Zambia can support a full-time preacher, but our GBCC graduates work in communities all over Zambia, supporting themselves as teachers while they establish and strengthen local churches. In the past 20 years, GBCC graduates have planted over 200 congregations.
Namwianga Mission College of Nursing (NMCN) offers a three-year diploma program to train nurses who will minister to both the physical and spiritual needs of their patients. Students attend academic classes on the Namwianga Mission campus and gain practical experience at Namwianga Mission Hospital and other clinics and specialty hospitals. Student nurses also take Bible classes and participate in outreaches. Most sponsored students come into the nursing college after graduating from the Christian Leadership Development program (see below).
Our one-year Christian Leadership Development Program provides intensive training in Bible and ministry to prepare high school graduates for further studies at GBCCE or NMCN.
How Sponsorship Works
Sponsors provide monthly or annual support that pays for school fees and boarding expenses.
- • Each sponsor receives a photo and biographical information on the sponsored student.
- • Students write to their sponsors three times a year.
- • Sponsors receive a periodic newsletter about the sponsorship program.
Sponsorship Cost
- • $160 per month or $1920 per year sponsors a high school student.
- • $170 per month or $2040 per year sponsors a college student.
- • One-time donations of any amount and partial sponsorships of $20 or more per month are welcome.
Donate
- • Monthly sponsorship for a high school student
- • One-time donation for a high school student
- • Monthly sponsorship for a college student
- • One-time donation for a college student
Frequently Asked Questions:
Namwianga Christian Secondary School (NCSS) is a boarding facility for grades 8 – 12. Grades 8 and 9 are similar to junior high, and high school is grades 10 – 12. George Benson Christian College of Education (GBCCE) is a three-year teacher training program. Students receive a diploma and are certified to teach at the secondary level in two of the following subjects: English, math, history, social studies, science, computer studies, or religious education. The one-year Christian Leadership Development Program provides intensive training in Bible and ministry to prepare high school graduates for further studies at GBCCE.
Students apply for sponsorship and are selected by a committee of teachers, administrators, church leaders, and community members. Students who are selected for sponsorship must be academically qualified, financially needy, and show potential for church leadership.
We ask for a minimum of one year’s sponsorship. Most of our sponsors want to sponsor through the student’s completion of high school or college. At Namwianga, most of our secondary students come in grade 10 and stay three years. College is also three years.
The Zambian school year is very different from the U.S. system. The school year begins in mid-January and is divided into three terms. Term 1 runs from January until early April (secondary) or mid-April (college). Term 2 begins in May and ends in August. Term 3 runs from September through November, with some levels continuing into early December.
Make checks payable to Zambia Mission Fund and mail them to Zambia Mission Fund, Box 3393, Abilene, TX 79604. Be sure to note that your check is for student sponsorship. Payments are tax-deductible.
You can arrange for automatic bank drafts by contacting Ellie Hamby (see # 17). You can use a debit or credit card to donate online. Or text GIVE to (325) 313-3160 and select Student Sponsor.
Our fees are set up on a 12-month calendar, not the school calendar.
Yes. Many of our sponsors pre-pay for the coming year in December for the tax benefit. If you plan to pay later in the year for a current student, please let us know so that we can plan accordingly.
Yes! We accept any amount from $20 per month on up. If a student has less than the needed amount, we combine two or more sponsors to come up with the total needed. One-time donations of any amount are welcome.
We understand that circumstances and obligations change. We do ask that if you plan to discontinue your sponsorship, you let Coordinator Linda Gregersen know in December for the coming school year. If you need to drop your sponsorship during the year, please try to give at least two months’ notice so that we can seek a sponsor to replace you.
Students write letters to their sponsors once each term—usually in March, August, and November. College students in their second and third years of study are gone from April – August to do student teaching, so their letters are written in March, September, and November.
You are under no obligation to write to your student. However, the students love to receive mail, so you are welcome to write if you want to. You can send an e-mail through the coordinator Linda Gregersen linda@zambiamission.org. She will make sure it gets to your student. Or, you can mail a letter to your student through Linda (Zambia Mission Fund, Box 3393, Abilene, TX 79604) and she will send it to your student at the Mission.
Many of our students are extremely poor and come to school with virtually nothing but the clothes on their backs and one or two other items. In that case, we provide uniforms (high school only) and school supplies. The money for these items comes from one-time donations. If you would like to send extra money for this need, you are welcome to do so.
It is expensive and complicated to mail packages to the students, but sometimes a small package can be sent with someone who is visiting the Mission. Please contact the Coordinator if you feel you really want to send money or gifts.
That is fine! In the Zambian system there is a “gap year” between high school and college while the students wait for the results from the government exams. You might want to sponsor a different student for that one year. Sometimes a student will not score high enough on the exams to proceed to college right away and will have to re-take some of the exams, so it could be even longer than one year between high school and college.
High school students require $160 per month ($1920 per year) and college students need $170 per month ($2040 per year).
Linda Gregersen — Sponsorship Coordinator — linda@zambiamission.org | (417)
316-0192
Ellie Hamby — Zambia Mission’s Administrative Assistant —
ellie@zambiamission.org | (325) 665-0668