| Establishment of Friends of Gracious |
| Years of drought and serious food shortage caused many Zambians to die of malnutrition, as well as diseases such as malaria and HIV/AIDS. A gentleman named Mr. Pookie decided to build a hospital in one of the rural villages called Mazabuka, suffering from these conditions. Six years later, the hospital was completed along with the construction of wells for drinking purposes and to irrigate the fields. A reservoir was also constructed for fish farms. |
 The community in Mazabuka established a committee to run the hospital and the village itself. A clinical officer, Ms. Gracious Himakanta, was sent by the Government to assist the operation of the hospital. Eventually, the hospital became the focal point for the villagers, but unfortunately, by 1995, it was becoming difficult to sustain the hospital's operation. Then, one fateful day, Mr. Pookie met Dr. Osamu Yoshida who was dispatched to Zambia as an expert on behalf of the Government of Japan. |
 Dr. Yoshida arranged for Mr. Pookie and his wife, Gracious, to come to Tokushima, Japan and speak to the people about the conditions in Zambia. Mr. Pookie quietly told the audience in Tokushima, "We did not come here to beg. We just want you to be aware of what's going on in a small country in Africa." After listening to Mr. Pookie's speech, a group of people got together and decided they wanted to support Pookie and his partners to help out the people in Mazabuka. The group took on Gracious' name and Friends of Gracious was formally established in October 1996. Family in Christ Mission P.O. Box 670186 Mazabuka, Zambia |