ix young Adventist members of the Lusaka Conference in Zambia clasped hands as they drowned in Lake Kariba on the afternoon of January 1, 2022. Seventh-day Adventist leaders reported that the accident took place during a camping activity by the lake involving several church districts.
According to eyewitnesses, the six young men found a fishing skiff parked by the shores of the lake and climbed into it. As the skiff moved into the lake the young men jumped off, but the water proved to be deeper than they had imagined, and they drowned.
Church members and leaders have been sending condolences to the Youth Ministries Department of the Lusaka Conference. In a message from leaders of the Youth Department of the Woodlands Conference, they wrote, “words may not suffice to express what you and the bereaved families are currently going through. We can only imagine how depressing, tough, stressful, and challenging the past few days have been for the Lusaka Conference Youth Ministries Department and the families of the deceased.”
The Youth Ministries Department of the South Zambia Conference also posted a message of condolence. “Hearing about your loss has deeply saddened us,” they wrote. “Such an event and loss are a shock to the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and especially to Youth Ministries. We mourn with you and write to you with heavy hearts. Our deepest sympathies, prayers, thoughts, and well wishes in this dark time go out to you and the bereaved families and the church at large
