The mission stations Nkala and Nanzhila

During my travels in July 2016, I visited Nkala and Nazhila on the search for the physical traces of the Methodists. Previously, I had read the books of missionaries Arthur Baldwin, William Chapman, Kathe Kerswell, Julia Smith, George Butt and Henry Taylor, which made this search for traces an even more moving experience. I restricted myself to especially the pictures that I had made and tried to compare them to the pictures I had found in the previously named books.

Nkala was the first mission and originated from 1893. After the foundation of the Kafue National Park, it was assigned to the Nkala Game Managment Area and is for that reason not inhabited. It is only detectable with a guide who know his way around the area. Clearly legible were the Methodists criteria for their missions: close to a river and on an elevated platform because of the risk of flooding. After some searching, we found the remains of the church foundation, some graves and a small memorial for the deceased.

Die Nanzhila Mission wurde 1895 ist gegründet. Sie liegt ausserhalb des Kafue National Park und ist noch immer bewohnt. Es gibt, wie in den Missionszeiten, eine Kirche, eine Schule und ein Spital.

– Johannes van der Weijden