The chart to the left is a five year snap shot of the value of the Zambian Kwacha compared to the US Dollar. Most Americans have little concept of foreign exchange rate and the impact on missionaries. This chart is my attempt to explain how a missionary is impacted by such fluctuations.Lets take for example, fuel. The current cost of 1 liter of diesel fuel is roughly 8,000 Kwacha. At todays exchange rate - it works out to be roughly $2.13 USD for 1 liter of diesel fuel or $8.10 per gallon. This same gallon of diesel fuel purchased in January of 2007 would be $ 6.90 USD - this represents a 15% change in the price of fuel within a couple months - not because of taxes, or inflation, or supply/demand - but simply because the value of the US Dollar has changed compared to the Zambian Kwacha. Many missionaries enter the foreign field not understanding the issue of foreign exchange rates. Unfortunately, I know too many men that have left the foreign mission field simply because the money they have is not enough to sustain their family.
Pray for stability!
2 comments:
Kev,
I posted on the same issue a while back.
Since I left Germany, the Dollar has devalued 59%!
A pastor friend of mine over there has been hit pretty hard.
I couldn't believe the difference in the exchange rate until some of the charges for my upcoming trip to Berlin hit my credit card....I about lost it!
I hope you don't need to use Diesel generators too much!
Actually - the Zambian power company is struggling to keep the grid online. They are experiencing loss of power 3-4 times a week for between 5-10 hours at a time. We do have a diesel generator, but as you know, it is quite costly to run over long periods of time.
I may look into supplementing with solar panels - need to do some research.
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