positive intervention, which carries wider motives and implications. Colonial era During the period of colonial rule in Zambia, up until independence in 1964, the church attempted to straddle the gulf between ministering to the needs of the local population without antagonising the colonial administration and bringing the local population to a point of passive acceptance of colonial rule. The administration viewed church activity as a possibly practical tool of indoctrination, but at times a vehicle for dissent against colonial rule too. The traditional view of the Church during this period was to provide social welfare. Churches became primarily involved in education and healthcare. Other initiatives such as orphanages, skills training and agricultural extension were also evident in the development of Zambia during this period. Though at times its role extended into advocacy and the formulation of law and the penal code. In the matter of healthcare the churches saw the provision of affordable healthcare as vital to a population that could not afford private medical treatment. Even in current-day Zambia, the Catholic Church alone is running 15 hospitals, 28 health centres, 54 home based care institutions. The provision of healthcare had a twofold motivation. Firstly, there was the concern driven by Biblical principles of care for the incapacitated. Examples include the parable of the Good Samaritan Luke 10:25-37, then Jesus' encouragement in Matthew 25:36 "I was sick and you looked after me, " and the Old Testament reprimand to the leaders of Israel, "you have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured," Ezk 34:4, Secondly, it was driven by a perception that the only alternative medical care available to the local population involved traditional healers and their use of, in colonial eyes, unscientific and crude methods as well as possible appeals to animistic or ancestral powers. These latter elements were of particular concern in ecclesiastical circles as, the Church has generally tried to change or discourage cultural practices that are contrary to Christian teaching. Christian missions were at the forefront of social change in Zambia. On the question of traditional penal codes, that were either considered too lenient or too harsh depending on the change the missions wished to see imposed, as opposed to a legal code more in line with that in Britain the Church was instrumental in pushing through reform. The involvement of missionaries was "more than providing correctives – spiritual or