Pastor Joachim Chisanga is the lead pastor in Claresholm Pentecostal Assembly, Alberta. Pastor Joachim is Zambian. God called him to move his family and plant a church in Botswana, which he led successfully until the government did not renew his Visa. He adapted by moving to Vancouver to attend seminary. Upon graduation, he accepted an invitation to the pastoral role in Claresholm and moved his wife, Nancy, and their four children to the community.

Pastor Joachim is one of the millions of people on the move for reasons benign and tragic. He misses the warmer, free, expressive climate and worship in southern Africa but he has adapted to southern Alberta. His perspective on adapting to change and leading outbound, adaptive change is informative. 

Adaptive From Africa

In coming from Africa we had to prepare our hearts as we were moving to a new country. There were going to be many changes we would have to adapt to as a family. There is an old African saying: “The tree that does not bend in the wind, will break.”

We were aware that the weather in Canada would be a big change, and it was. A person can anticipate what it is like but not until you are actually there can you really know experientially. We had to change the way we were from when we were in Africa. It definitely was not suitable for here in Alberta. There were many changes we made to adapt to our new environment.

Just like when going to another country you may have to learn things about that particular culture in order to better understand those around you. They may have different expectations than those we have, and so we continue to adjust here and there.

Fishing in this country is different than in Africa, we cannot use the same bait, as we do not have the same fish. Consequently, we have to do a little research to find out what kind of fish we can catch here and what bait we use. We may fish all day and catch nothing because we are fishing on the wrong side of the boat, or maybe we are using the wrong bait. No one likes fishing and coming home with nothing, especially if you have been fishing all day and have nothing to show for it. You can be sure there will be those asking the question, "How many fish did you catch?"

Wisdom would tell us that we must find out what kind of fish we are trying to catch and what kind of bait we need. If we are the kind of fisherman who says, "Look I have been fishing like this since before you were born, this is the way we have always done it," then we may just miss the biggest haul of fish we have ever had.

We do not want to miss the time of our visitation, wisdom, and insight given to us.

Change is the discovery of new things that we would otherwise miss out on; even great things.

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