As in many other African regions, AIDS is widespread in Zambia. This has led to new challenges for our ministry work in these areas. For over ten years, the Mungwi clinic and hospital has served the people of northern Zambia. The clinic has 30 beds and domestic nurses care for patients. Approximately 20,000 people live in the largely rural area. The hospital contains a quarantine ward for contagious patients; tuberculosis cases are common.

For AIDS patients there is a special care program. The clinic is also responsible for 13 small remote stations in the surrounding villages. In the past year 8,800 children under five years old were weighed once a month and inoculated. Mothers were taught about nutrition and hygiene. This contact allows the clinic pastor to encourage people through the word of God and to pray with them. Liebenzell Mission International participates in running the clinic with monthly support and supplying missionary medical personnel on a long-term basis.

One missionary couple has recently begun providing medical and other services at the prison in Chingola. Approximately 300 prisoners live here in inadequate conditions; until recently, only the most severe cases received any medical treatment at all. The prison warden and other personnel have been supportive, providing a separate room for their work. The goal is to establish regular hours for the medical clinic, social services and, most importantly, a Bible study and spiritual counseling.

The newest building of the Amano Christian School near Chingola is now open. Sixty-eight students are enrolled this term and over 100 children are on the waiting list for admission. The boarding school will eventually train 300 children each year – of which about one-third will be AIDS orphans.

In northwest Zambia, Liebenzell partners with a coalition of Baptist churches to run the Fiwale Hill Bible Training School. Of the 135 congregations in the church association, fewer than half have a trained pastor. The three-year program provides basic training, which can be used toward an equivalent bachelor's degree at the Theological College for Central Africa (TCCA) in Ndola. Recently, there has been a troubling decline in applicants and support from churches.

The Nabwalya Valley is a remote region in northeast Zambia. About 16,000 largely unreached people live in 103 villages. The area is accessible only during the six-month dry season – and a four-wheel drive vehicle is mandatory. For this reason, the Gospel message is unknown, while people worship spirits, ancestors and practice magic. At the request of a tribal chief, Liebenzell Mission International established an outreach with a missionary couple and a national pastor. A primitive hospital with a small pharmacy could be the foundation for medical work along with evangelism and pioneer church planting.