Zambia - Christian Prevalence

I traveled through 10 African countries and my experience was that Zambia by far had the biggest Christian following. This caught me completely by surprise. The Christian prevalence in Zambia was so great that I felt uncomfortable voicing any other religious belief.

My first experience with the Christian influence in Zambia happened right at the border between Zambia and Botswana. As I was completing my paperwork to enter Zambia, I met a lovely American family. This was surprising because the only other Americans I had met in Africa to this point were in the Peace Corps. This family was not part of the American Peace Corps but were missionaries. I ended up hitching a ride with them from the border to Livingstone, Zambia. During the ride they told me they helped the people of Zambia in many ways. One thing they helped with was education. They taught the people of Zambia to read. They showed me some of the books they used. The books were at all different reading levels. Some had lots of pictures and others mainly text. The one thing these books had in common was that all the stories were about Jesus.

My second experience with the Christian influence in Zambia was on the bus ride from Livingstone to Lusaka. It was a 5 hour ride. Five minutes into the ride a man stood up immediately in front of me with a bible and began preaching. I was an unwilling captive audience for what could turn out to be 5 hours of what I thought was a bible wielding Jesus enthusiast. After 10 minutes of preaching I went to the front of the bus and asked the bus driver to turn on the radio. At first he did not hear me. I asked again but louder. I told him I did not want to listen to Jesus talk. The bus driver asked me what was wrong with Jesus. At that moment I realized that I should just sit back down. The man preached immediately in front of me for 1 hour straight. Then the bus driver turned on Christian music for the remaining 4 hours. This is when I began to realize the huge Christian influence in Zambia.

My third experience with the Christian influence in Zambia was on my village visit with a woman named Florence. Right before we were about to eat lunch, Florence's step father asked me my religion. Based on my experience with the missionaries and the reaction I got on the bus, I thought it best to reply Christian. Of course I was extremely conflicted over this entire situation, but I did not want to have a discussion on religion. Florence's step father then asked me to lead the prayer before the meal. I kept trying to remember what Pa or Laura Ingalls would say. The only prayers coming to my mind were the prayers over the Shabbas candles, wine, and challah said in Hebrew. I did not think this is what he had in mind. I thanked him but insisted that he do it. He kept pushing me to do it. Eventually Florence stepped in and said one. What a relief.

My fourth experience with the Christian influence in Zambia was by far my most over the top. It occurred on my bus ride from Lusaka to Chipata. As usual Christian music was playing. This time I knew not to request a change. About 2 hours into the 8 hour journey the music became unbearably loud. I was stuck between 2 people and could not get out to ask the bus driver to turn the music down. Eventually the bus stopped to let a woman out. The kind man sitting next to me got up to help the woman off the bus. I and the woman next to me asked the kind man to please ask the bus driver to turn down the music. We saw the man talk to the bus driver but did not hear any change in the volume. When the man sat back down next to me, I asked what happened. He said the bus driver refused. I could not believe this and was very agitated. The music was almost eardrum popping. A rude bus driver required rude tactics. I put 2 fingers in my mouth and gave a very loud and long whistle to get the driver's attention. Everyone in the bus looked at me. Then I stood up and started yelling at the driver to turn down the volume. Once again he did not. People on the bus were beginning to get annoyed. Another man got out of his seat and went to the front to confront the driver. They got into a heated argument. Again, the driver absolutely refused to turn down the volume. I was now starting to get nervous that we were going to get in an accident while the man and bus driver were arguing. Eventually the driver pulled off the road and stopped the bus. Now several passengers were on their feet asking for an explanation. The bus driver said there was a reason but it was none of our business. The man who went to the front yelled back to the driver that he is also Christian. Christian music was O.K. but just turn it down. The music remained piercingly loud for another 15 or 20 minutes before the bus driver turned it down. Later I found out the bus driver's reason. There had been several bus accidents on this route. He was superstitious and was playing the Christian music loudly to chase away the demons.

In no other African country that I traveled in did I come across such a strong Christian following. Some countries were split between Christianity and Islam. Most countries however had varying degrees of superstition and unique beliefs which were followed by his/her tribe or village.