Seeds of faith: Shepherd and Ruhtt Mbumwae bring heavenly focus to Zambia
PHOTO BY ERIK TRYGGESTAD
A family of two continents - Shepherd and Ruhtt Mbumwae grew up on two continents — South America and Africa. They live in Kalomo, Zambia, and work for Namwianga Mission. They have three children.
A family of two continents - Shepherd and Ruhtt Mbumwae grew up on two continents — South America and Africa. They live in Kalomo, Zambia, and work for Namwianga Mission. They have three children.
LUSAKA, ZAMBIA - While other Christians encourage Zambians to improve their crops, Shepherd Mbumwae and his wife, Ruhtt, encourage them to improve their physical and spiritual lives.
Shepherd Mbumwae is hospital administrator for Namwianga Mission. Each year the ministry hosts a large-scale medical campaign.
In 2012, the mission included 110 volunteers from North America and more than 250 volunteers from Africa. The medical team conducted six days of clinics and treated 20,220 patients.
Mbumwae met his future wife in 1993, while attending Abilene Christian University in Texas on an academic scholarship. Ruhtt, a native of the South American nation of Peru, came to ACU on a track scholarship and was baptized there.
In 1996, Ruhtt had the opportunity to compete for her home country in the Olympics in Atlanta. Instead, she moved to Zambia and married.
Here, she’s helped establish at least 15 schools for children, including those in underserved communities.
In 1998 the couple found a community of blind people huddled near a roadside, abandoned with no shelter or food. They mobilized students at Namwianga’s George Benson Christian College to build housing and start a church.
Now the community has a school that serves more than 400 area children.
The Mbumwaes stress the need for Zambian Christians to find ways to address the challenges they face without relying on donations and charity from overseas.
“It’s time for people to start doing their own for God,” Ruhtt Mbumwae says.
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Shepherd Mbumwae is hospital administrator for Namwianga Mission. Each year the ministry hosts a large-scale medical campaign.
In 2012, the mission included 110 volunteers from North America and more than 250 volunteers from Africa. The medical team conducted six days of clinics and treated 20,220 patients.
Mbumwae met his future wife in 1993, while attending Abilene Christian University in Texas on an academic scholarship. Ruhtt, a native of the South American nation of Peru, came to ACU on a track scholarship and was baptized there.
In 1996, Ruhtt had the opportunity to compete for her home country in the Olympics in Atlanta. Instead, she moved to Zambia and married.
Here, she’s helped establish at least 15 schools for children, including those in underserved communities.
In 1998 the couple found a community of blind people huddled near a roadside, abandoned with no shelter or food. They mobilized students at Namwianga’s George Benson Christian College to build housing and start a church.
Now the community has a school that serves more than 400 area children.
The Mbumwaes stress the need for Zambian Christians to find ways to address the challenges they face without relying on donations and charity from overseas.
“It’s time for people to start doing their own for God,” Ruhtt Mbumwae says.
Related Stories:
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