October 2011

“God is behind the scenes and controls the scenes He stands behind.'” Anon

Good bye October and welcome November. October has been a month of travel. I found that over the years you get these months every now and again where you always feel that you are travelling.

I started off by travelling down with Jack, as his time with us had come to a sad end. He really wanted to see the great Victoria Falls and so we embarked on a 1500km bus trip down to Livingstone. I am sure that the specifications for the seats of these busses were designed for the pygmies as boy they are tight. One word of caution! If you suffer from claustrophobia never, I say never travel on a bus in our part of the world. Yes it is tight!

Well about 18hrs later we landed in Livingstone. Yes we landed! These busses hurtle down at such a speed I am sure that we were beating those who were flying over head. We soon found a very neat little backpackers and settled down for a good few hours of well needed rest. I felt like I had jetlag and yet I had never left the ground, well not to the best of my knowledge. The next morning we hit the Falls and what a sight it always was. This time of the year the water level is down and so they are not as impressive as just after the rains, but they are still magnificent. After a few hours of taking in the sights and filling up our memory cards on our cameras we headed back to our cabin. Except we decided to take a local mini bus. We had all sorts of folks in the bus. We had the quiet ones and the vocal ones who had all the answers to the current political challenges. Why we do not look for our government in the mini busses beats me? Many times they make more sense and understand the challenges far better than the guys in their Pajero’s and Landcruisers. Again a trip not for the faint hearted, tight, hot and well a strong tinge of all our body odours rolled into one. In fact I cant even remember seeing a fly in the minis bus. Perhaps there is something in this body odour thing. The scientists should be looking into this. I am all for natural remedies, but ok, perhaps with a slight bit of artificial fragrance thrown in.

The next day it was another 500Km at mach 1 back to Lusaka. No we did not take a plane but the low flying bus. In fact we even managed to shave a whole hour of our time for the trip down! It was good to touch ground in Lusaka and to be picked up at the bus station by a friend who  was  going to lend us a vehicle for our stay. The service was by far better than any vehicle hire company.

Well it was goodbye Jack, fly well as I saw him through the security part of the Airport. Not realising that the plane had been cancelled and poor Jack had to spend another 24 hours in the care of Zambezi Airline, whom I have just heard from reliable sources, have been grounded for owing a very large amount of loot. Glad you got out when you did Jack.

Earlier this year I was informed that a young man, whom we dearly love, was getting married. October of this year was to be the wedding. We have known Stevie for a good number of years. He did some peace work for us to pay his way through school and now has just continued to work for us. Well, his sister had found this great gal and thought that he should snap her up before some other unsuspecting guy. After a good few months of negotiating, and a lot of loot on the table as the bride price, the deal was done. The majority of the loot coming from my pocket so I was quite keen to see what this gal was all about.

My job was to travel with a small entourage to go and collect her. She was living with her folks about 200Km from where we live. Well after numerous date and venue changes we finally set on a date and the wedding was all go. Well the drive was a little more than I expected, a good 400Km round trip in pretty much 3rd gear. Once or twice I hit 4th for about 200m but 3rd gear it was to be. For me the proceedings were very interesting as final negotiations were completed, a meal was eaten, a small ceremony performed, where her relatives could give her some marital advice and gifts, and then we were off. And so 8 1/2 hours later we were back in Mbala. The next morning was the official Christian/Traditional wedding. Not held in a church but at the home of Jonas, our Evangelist, who is an African father to Stevie. He is not his biological father, but an uncle in our understanding. However, in African culture he is Stevie’s father. Wow what a great morning it was. Poor Stevie hardly knew this girl, did not even know her name! We are all hoping his sister made a good choice.

A few days later I was off to Lusaka again, and yes with our low flying transport. No not my Patrol, but Juldan Bus Service. We had a new bus, a long road and over a 1000Km to go. Well I do not know what we had under the hood, but she sure had power. We arrived a whole 2 hours ahead of schedule, safely. I bet these drivers and their busses could give the Formula One Teams a go for their money. The trip down was an administration trip to apply for Permanent Residence for Lynne and the children. I submitted the forms and now we wait. We pray that there will not be any complications. Since I submitted mine we have had a new government, who is implementing a lot of changes. A lot of offices are in limbo as they await directives from their new bosses. But our God is able!

And so with all these many miles travelled this last month I truly believe that God is in control of every situation. Whether the bus driver has the pedal to the metal or sometimes otherwise, God is greater than any situation and so a lesson learnt for me is that no matter what seemingly dangerous situation we face God is bigger and in absolute control. Lets learn to rest in Him! God bless you!

October 2011

“God is behind the scenes and controls the scenes He stands behind.'” Anon

Good bye October and welcome November. October has been a month of travel. I found that over the years you get these months every now and again where you always feel that you are travelling.

I started off by travelling down with Jack, as his time with us had come to a sad end. He really wanted to see the great Victoria Falls and so we embarked on a 1500km bus trip down to Livingstone. I am sure that the specifications for the seats of these busses were designed for the pygmies as boy they are tight. One word of caution! If you suffer from claustrophobia never, I say never travel on a bus in our part of the world. Yes it is tight!

Well about 18hrs later we landed in Livingstone. Yes we landed! These busses hurtle down at such a speed I am sure that we were beating those who were flying over head. We soon found a very neat little backpackers and settled down for a good few hours of well needed rest. I felt like I had jetlag and yet I had never left the ground, well not to the best of my knowledge. The next morning we hit the Falls and what a sight it always was. This time of the year the water level is down and so they are not as impressive as just after the rains, but they are still magnificent. After a few hours of taking in the sights and filling up our memory cards on our cameras we headed back to our cabin. Except we decided to take a local mini bus. We had all sorts of folks in the bus. We had the quiet ones and the vocal ones who had all the answers to the current political challenges. Why we do not look for our government in the mini busses beats me? Many times they make more sense and understand the challenges far better than the guys in their Pajero’s and Landcruisers. Again a trip not for the faint hearted, tight, hot and well a strong tinge of all our body odours rolled into one. In fact I cant even remember seeing a fly in the minis bus. Perhaps there is something in this body odour thing. The scientists should be looking into this. I am all for natural remedies, but ok, perhaps with a slight bit of artificial fragrance thrown in.

The next day it was another 500Km at mach 1 back to Lusaka. No we did not take a plane but the low flying bus. In fact we even managed to shave a whole hour of our time for the trip down! It was good to touch ground in Lusaka and to be picked up at the bus station by a friend who  was  going to lend us a vehicle for our stay. The service was by far better than any vehicle hire company.

Well it was goodbye Jack, fly well as I saw him through the security part of the Airport. Not realising that the plane had been cancelled and poor Jack had to spend another 24 hours in the care of Zambezi Airline, whom I have just heard from reliable sources, have been grounded for owing a very large amount of loot. Glad you got out when you did Jack.

Earlier this year I was informed that a young man, whom we dearly love, was getting married. October of this year was to be the wedding. We have known Stevie for a good number of years. He did some peace work for us to pay his way through school and now has just continued to work for us. Well, his sister had found this great gal and thought that he should snap her up before some other unsuspecting guy. After a good few months of negotiating, and a lot of loot on the table as the bride price, the deal was done. The majority of the loot coming from my pocket so I was quite keen to see what this gal was all about.

My job was to travel with a small entourage to go and collect her. She was living with her folks about 200Km from where we live. Well after numerous date and venue changes we finally set on a date and the wedding was all go. Well the drive was a little more than I expected, a good 400Km round trip in pretty much 3rd gear. Once or twice I hit 4th for about 200m but 3rd gear it was to be. For me the proceedings were very interesting as final negotiations were completed, a meal was eaten, a small ceremony performed, where her relatives could give her some marital advice and gifts, and then we were off. And so 8 1/2 hours later we were back in Mbala. The next morning was the official Christian/Traditional wedding. Not held in a church but at the home of Jonas, our Evangelist, who is an African father to Stevie. He is not his biological father, but an uncle in our understanding. However, in African culture he is Stevie’s father. Wow what a great morning it was. Poor Stevie hardly knew this girl, did not even know her name! We are all hoping his sister made a good choice.

A few days later I was off to Lusaka again, and yes with our low flying transport. No not my Patrol, but Juldan Bus Service. We had a new bus, a long road and over a 1000Km to go. Well I do not know what we had under the hood, but she sure had power. We arrived a whole 2 hours ahead of schedule, safely. I bet these drivers and their busses could give the Formula One Teams a go for their money. The trip down was an administration trip to apply for Permanent Residence for Lynne and the children. I submitted the forms and now we wait. We pray that there will not be any complications. Since I submitted mine we have had a new government, who is implementing a lot of changes. A lot of offices are in limbo as they await directives from their new bosses. But our God is able!

And so with all these many miles travelled this last month I truly believe that God is in control of every situation. Whether the bus driver has the pedal to the metal or sometimes otherwise, God is greater than any situation and so a lesson learnt for me is that no matter what seemingly dangerous situation we face God is bigger and in absolute control. Lets learn to rest in Him! God bless you!

September 2011

“God, give me work until my life shall end and life until my work is done”Anon

As I sit down to write this blog I cannot believe that the we are already in September.  Where has the year gone!  So much has happened in these last two months that I have found very little time to actually sit down and record it.  Before relating what has happened, I must give praise to God for  His wonderful provision and protection.  It is amazing what we have been able to do with what resources we have.

During the month  of July I was once again able to visit some of my students.  Again BaJonas, our Evangelist, and for the first time Renata, the Ladies Teacher, were able to accompany me. Most of these students live at least 60 kilometres (on bad roads) from the town and have to cycle in to the classes twice a year.  Visiting them in their homes and spending some time in prayer with them is a very humbling experience, you realise how little they have and yet they are so content.  It once again challenged me afresh as to how we take so many things for granted.  Just to sit on a flushing toilet is such a blessing when most of the community around us only have pit latrines.  I must confess that I have  absolutely no desire to crouch and read a magazine while busy on the loo in a pit latrine.  The modus operandi is to get in and out as soon as possible before you are completely overcome by either the smells or being carried away by the millions of cockroaches that make their abodes in these structures.  Visiting the students was so appreciated not only by them but the whole community in which they live.  We came back with many gifts ranging from  wild honey to live chickens, not forgetting bags of maize and beans.Thank you Lord for the experiences!

It was also time to start the classes on the College Land for the year. We have about a 4 month window period where we do not have rains or the students are not busy harvesting their maize. So when we hit these months it is go go go and more go. Hence you have not heard from me in a while. My voice actually  becomes a little huskier from all the talking and then recovers the rest of the year. Oh but it is so worth it when you see the Mighty Hand of God at work. What am awesome experience to see God at work! In July we met with the students Basic Discipleship Course. This is the first level of education with the College and we meet four times in all. It is wonderful explaining the basics of the Faith. Each time it reminds me of what a GREAT SALVATION WE HAVE FROM SUCH A GREAT GOD!

It was then time for the annual Church Conferences which are held in August. The first was the Baptist Conference where some 650 folks camped out in the bush for 4 days sitting under the Word, singing and dancing to the Lord. Many folks come with problems of all sorts and this is the ideal place where people find Jesus and are freed from their “demons” both figuratively and literally. I was asked to be the main speaker and it is so wonderful to watch how God begins to work in their lives as we move through the various sessions. The theme was “ Being Intimate with Jesus”. I preached using accounts we find in the Scriptures where Jesus met with people and how their lives changed after an encounter with the Saviour. Tears come to my eyes when I recall the folks responding to Jesus. Oh how the angels were rejoicing in Heaven! We keep on praying that God will tear down the strongholds of the evil one! COME LORD JESUS COME IN POWER! It was also such a wonderful privilege to baptise both Joel and Jack with many other folks at the conference.

It was then back to the College for another week of teaching with the Christian Worker’s Certificate folk. Only the Lord had other tasks at hand for me. The second day a Pastor in the Baptist Church lost his mother and so we all spent the morning at the mortuary comforting the family. They then proceeded to the village for burial. We did not accompany them but returned to class. Well the following morning I received a phone call informing me that a European farmer had been shot on his farm about 40Km from us. He is the only European farmer in our area. And so it was a day spent serving the family trying to get Paul to Lusaka, where his family lived. He just used to come up once a month to pay wages and see that things are ok. He continued to live in Lusaka with his family. Well praise the Lord he lived after being shot at point blank range with a shot gun. He had 25 pellets in him and none hit any vital organs. Clearly a miracle! Pray that this is the opportunity the Lord uses to speak to his heart about his relationship with the Lord. What a privilege to be in a position to be of service for people and the Lord.

Ok I told you things have been busy! Unfortunately, we could not finish the Christian Worker’s Certificate, but we will meet later again this year and then there will be a bit of catching up. And so it was off to the bush again to the Evangelical Church Conference. Wow, Satan has no power against the MIGHTY HAND OF OUR GOD. During the first 2 days it was really ploughing such hard ground with the Gospel. I could feel the heaviness and even the Evil One mocking me as I stood to preach the Gospel. The theme was Salvation, and what a sweet message! But on the last day the Heavens opened up God’s Spirit came down upon the group. What a difference! Even my interpreter went forward to be saved! Never had that before but praise God! God even uses the unbelievers for His purposes.

We now face a full September with three separate week courses to close off the year of teaching for the rural folks as the rains are just around the corner. Another blessing is that I have received my Entry Permit which allows me to stay in Zambia on a permanent basis. And yes we were also able to buy a new hot water cylinder. Clean baths at last! Some days my life up here is like a Country song. Our dog has a lame leg, the vehicle needs new tyres, the tumble dryer has blown up (needed to kill the putzi fly eggs that are laid in wet washing hung outside and hatch out as worms eating into your skin.), the well is drying up and the work needed to be completed exceeds the hours in each day. But then in typical Country style each problem will get sorted out in time!! Fortunately, we live in Africa and so there is no time limit.

These last 6 weeks we have had some great help from Jack, a young man from Cape Town, who has come up to help us. He has been superb! He’s been helping with school, painting and been our driver to pick up  supplies in town for the house and farm. At the end of this month I will be taking him back to Lusaka to fly out back to Cape Town. We are sure going to miss him!

Well, God is good all the time and all the time God is good! The family is doing great despite the onset of the hot season. The girls just love playing outside kitchen. Joel and Jack have been repairing a motor bike and that has been keeping them busy. Lynne is still producing the miracles in the kitchen and trying to keep the daily tornado in the house under control. We have had visitors from Russia, Tasmania and Burundi visit with us besides folks from Kasama passing through. Lynne has such a gift of hospitality!! We just keep being blessed with visitors. Take care and God bless you all.

25 June 2011

“Focusing on the character of God helps us to take our eyes off our circumstances.” RBC

How easy it is to get caught up in life’s circumstances that we lose sight of the trees for the forest. I must say that these last two weeks have been quite a hectic time and things have not always gone as planned.

It has also been quite an emotional time as we have had to say goodbye to some very dear missionary friends who are returning to Germany for good. They have been living in Kasama for about 9 years. It was always good to pop in and say hi over a cup of coffee. But life must move on and we pray every blessing for them as they make the big move. I keep having to remind myself, and I have been doing this a lot lately, that God is in control.

Well, last time I showed you a picture of our hot water cylinder. I just had to make a plan. Firstly, it was to patch up as many holes as I could with epoxy glue and bolts. Yes, the holes were so big I had to use bolts as a plug. Then the idea came to me that I could encase the whole cylinder in a metal drum of cement with just the top of the cylinder with the element and pipes sticking out. So too work we went. Four days later was the test. Blast, two more leaks in the area not covered by cement. More bolts and more epoxy. Is this thing trying my patience or what!!! Finally just a dribble of a leak, hang I can live with that.

These last two weeks Lynne and the children have been looking after a Lodge on Lake Tanganyika. The managers, good friends of ours needed a well deserved holiday. So it is luggage and food and school books all over to the Lodge by boat. I have the use of this old inflatable boat that I have been gluing together with special glue. The first try out on the lake and I get a bad leak and so it is back to shore for some repairs. Two hours later I can start off again. Safely across only to have to do some more gluing before I return. The beauty of this boat is that it is so light on fuel with just me. Well, I am due to cross tomorrow afternoon and I am still gluing the boat!! Now I get a brain wave. Fibreglass the pontoons to the rigid hull. Great! I get some cloth and resin from a friend in Mpulungu and half way through the procedure the resin goes jelly. I call up Mike and he says best not use it. Not sure what I am going to do tomorrow. Perhaps the Lord will return tonight so I don’t have to worry about it.

These last two days I was invited to attend a Zonal Conference of about 5 Baptist Churches. The meeting place is about 80Km from Mbala on some very challenging roads. Well, you saw the tyre in the last post. Repaired with a piece of wire and a gaiter. I manage to purchase a fairly good second hand tyre and so I use my patch job as a spare. Off to the village we go. We get to the area and we have to ask some young guys to direct us to the Church where the meeting is held. No problem and into the car they jump. Well we missed the road back somewhere and ended up on what looked like a path Livingstone used a couple hundred years ago. All of a sudden, yes you guessed it! My good or fairly good second hand has its sidewall totally ripped apart by some hidden stump. A sense of panic goes through me as now my patch job is up for the test. Oh, by the way I lost cell phone reception about 40Km back. There is only network for another company and I forgot that sim at home. Well, the tyre is quickly changed and we find the Church.

What a great time! I was able to teach on the Holy Spirit for about 4 hours in total. By the way they only informed me when I arrived that I was on the program and must teach on the Holy Spirit and preach a Salvation message in the evening. It must have been God’s prompting because before I left the house I decided to take a discipleship course with me. Boy did it come in handy. Somehow you always have to be ready for anything. The evening message was great as we all sat around a big fire and I was able to preach on real faith! It was amazing just looking up at the sky with all those stars while you are preaching the Word of God. Nothing quite like it!

I was prepared for camping with my tent and sleeping bag and so at about 10pm I called it a night. I am not sure when the rest went to sleep! I was so tired that I was able to sleep through their singing and dancing until all hours of the wee morning. At precisely 4am I thought the end had come. The Lord has returned. The choirs at the conference in unison decided to practise for that said Day of the Lord. It was beautiful but my at 4am! At about 6 am I was offered a bath and in the village it is a bucket of hot water. Over the years it has taken a bit of getting use too, but I manage ok now. Quite refreshing actually.

It was then off to my daily toilet ablutions and they have a pit latrine , which is really just a hole in the ground. Well, just before I go in some well meaning brother decides that a bit of ash from the fire the night before needs to be sprinkled around the said hole. Well, there was a challenge to face and a possibility of one mighty explosion. The challenge was that the ash still had live hot coals amongst it. Imagine squatting over a fire trying to do you know what! A pretty hot experience in more ways than one. The second was that you generally find a lot of methane gas in pit latrines. Now methane and fire do not go together unless you want an almighty explosion! Was it the quickest sitting I have ever done! Praise God no Kaboom.

Just before lunch it was time to head back to Mbala. I had to get back as I had so much to do!!!! I looked at my patched spare with some doubt. Goodbyes were said and I was off. I thought I just have to stay as light as possible. About 10Km into the journey two elderly women waved me down and wanted a lift. I thought the spare was ok up to now, why not help these damsels in distress. Well, they had all of 5 min in the pastors vehicle, because the spare thought, weight too heavy!!! SHHHHHHH! Oh my! Only 70Km from home with no cell signal and two flat tyres and three good ones. The maths says I am going nowhere fast. The dear old ladies are most disheartened and remove themselves from the pastors car and head off into the sunset.

Now, my Mambwe is not very good and so with very broken words I stop an unsuspecting cyclist riding by and very cordially ask if I can use his cell phone. He would have the right network out here as there is only one, the one I do not have. Well, low and behold he whips out this phone and believe it or not actually has talk time in it. My only hope at this stage is my close buddy Steve. We have been through a lot together, like running 56Km, and I am sure that he will come to the rescue. Sure enough he answers on the third ring and he says he will be there in a flash. Firstly, he has to go by my house and take off the tyres that are on our trailer. Fortunately the rims are the same size. He then has to drive out 2 hours to where I am, going nowhere fast. It is not a pleasant drive I can assure you.

While he is bouncing along, coming to my rescue, I decide to whip out a my gel stove and a packet of two minute noodles. Well, no rush here! Just sit back and enjoy. After lunch I sit, and then I sit some more. I bow my head feeling a little down and look at the earth. Bang goes my afternoon and all my plans. After moping for a while I realise there is absolutely nothing I can do until Steve arrives, which is in about another 2 hours. I then decide to glance up and I see how beautiful the sky and the clouds are. When last have you had absolutely nothing to do except sit and look at the clouds. An amazing experience! Well, Steve arrived and soon we were back in action. Two hours later I was back home tired and shaken to bits from the road. Thanks Steve!!! I am sure I would still be sitting there if it were not for your kindness.

I guess they say all in a days work. Who said missions was boring? God bless!

Ok now to try and post this!

7 June 2011

“By the sunshine of His love, God paints on our clouds the rainbow of His grace.” RBC

This last month has been quite a month of administration, which is not one of my strong points I might add. For me administration is a dark cloud that rolls in and seems to consume everything else and can become quite overwhelming. But God has been faithful giving me the grace to chip away at this cloud little by little.

Earlier this year I was appointed by the High Court in Kasama and the Local Court within Mbala to be the executor of an estate of the late Christiaan Kleynhans who passed away in September last year. Well the last two years before he died he was in the process of sub-dividing his farm and so now it has been left to me to complete this administration hurdle. And so for a number of days I have been walking through bush with surveyors trying to determine beacons and boundaries in order to get a site plan drafted in order to make application for the sub-division.

This year is also the year that we can apply for our permanent residence here in Zambia. It does not mean we become citizens but does give us the right to live here indefinitely, without having to reapply every two years for a permit to stay. Unfortunately this can only be done in Lusaka and so off to Lusaka I went deciding to ride down on my bike to save on fuel costs as well as clear my head a bit. Lots of time to think when you are on a bike!!! No fancy mp3s, just the bike, myself, the Lord and the open road. We  now await the result of our submission. Please keep praying!

Some time back Lynne accidently rode over a stump and damaged the sidewall of the tyre on our vehicle. It was so sad as the tread is still so good. Our spare was unfortunately like a very worn slick tyre on a racing car. I managed to buy a used tyres but felt that I had to have a go at repairing the damaged one. Well with a bit of sowing with some wire and a big patch on the inside we have a good spare tyre now.

This last week I decided to hook our pressure pump up to our house. I had had a leaking bath tap with I had to replace first, which I was able to buy in Lusaka. Well the big turn on came and boy were there leaks!!! Nothing a bit of legan (tyre tube cut into strips) could not fix. But then the leaks of all leaks, our pressure hot water cylinder! As they say, “ It was an old geyser and a new pump, boom”. After years of repairing it with epoxy glue it could not stand the pressure and the result, a blown hot water cylinder!!. The house came with a hot water cylinder but it is a gravity fed one. Unfortunately the hot water pipes are so narrow that the hot water does not quite make it to the taps and so is unfortunately useless.  But having said all this we have great pressure on the cold water. And so now we are just bucketing hot water directly from the hot water cylinder to the bathroom.

Last Saturday I was invited to a local ceremony held by one of the Chiefs in the area. I went along as a learner just wanting to soak up some of the traditions in order to be more effective in the ministry. I was exposed to traditional dancing and drama’s of which went way over my head in trying to find the meaning. But then he took a group of us to some of their traditional blessing sites. The one is on a large piece of land where nobody is allowed to cut any trees. On this land is a stone shrine where a white chicken is sacrificed to the spirits for blessings. He then showed us a stream that is said to never dry. Again sacrifices are made at this spring and then the water is said to have certain blessing powers. When talking to him he will tell you that he is a strong Christian! However, with his continued practice with divination I can hardly conclude the same. Pray for Chief Zombe that the Lord may truly open his eyes.

And so who ever said the life of a missionary was boring. I am always amazed at what each day brings and how the Lord gives us the grace to endure and also to shine for Him in the most strangest of ways. All glory be to God!!

 

10 May 2011

“Kindness and compassion have led more people to Christ than proclamation alone.” Anon

I was moved when I came across the words in Genesis 5 where it tells us that Enoch walked with God. I feel that sometimes we can get so caught up with performing our religious rituals that we forget that God really wants us just to walk with Him through this life. Our religious rituals are not bad, but they are not in an end of themselves but should be the vehicle that aids us in our walk with God. As it was said in the Book of Acts people recognised that the disciples had been with Jesus. Is our walk so real that people are able to recognise that we have been with the Lord.

These past few weeks have really been busy but such a blessing. I, along with Steve, were able to fly down to Cape Town and participate in the Two Oceans Ultra Marathon. We joined some 8000 other runners to complete the 56Km course. To add to this special time we were also able to visit with our Church in Simon’s Town and share in the ministry there.

Arriving back I found that the company that had committed to helping us to move the container had once again let us down. So a very good friend of ours and some 8 able men somehow lifted the 20' foot container onto the back a truck and delivered it to us. Where there is a will there is a way! My hat goes of to their ingenuity. We were then able to finally hand over the old house where we had lived for 9 years. And so now we continue to get the new place into shape. It may take a while but we will get there.

It has been a wonderful privilege to preach the Word of God again in our local Church. We have been looking at the theme of the Ascension of our Lord Jesus and its implications for us today. We have also started to look at the Books of Poetry in our Wednesday night class. Job is always such a challenge!

In Mbala life is always interesting. Last week we bumped into Andrew, a Russian man, who has ridden his motorcycle all the way from Moscow to Cape Town and was now on his way back to Moscow. How interesting to talk to him and learn a little of modern Russia and some of the challengers they are facing. For a week he has been trying to catch a cargo ship to Burundi. Well this is Africa, we live in a time of our own!

We thank the Lord that as a family we are all healthy  and settling down well. In the next month we will be requesting a residence permit which will allow us to live in Zambia for as long as we feel the Lord wants us year. Up to this point we have had to apply for new permits every two years. After 10 tears you are then eligible for a residence permit. Please pray that we are able to be be granted this! God bless you!

18 April 2011

“It’s the journey, not just the destination that is important.”Anon.

It is amazing how destination orientated we are. It happens when we travel, its all about reaching our destination as quickly as we can. Our work seems to be focused on meeting our targets and getting the job done. Home seems to be all about getting the children fed, clothed and educated. Life is all about focusing on reaching the end goal! Even in the Church many a sermon is about getting saved so that we can go to Heaven one day. But should it not also be about the journey in reaching our destination!

Yesterday I had to travel down to Lusaka, which is 1000Km. I had two choices. Either I could climb in behind the wheel with my eyes set on Lusaka and just drive as quickly as lawfully possible to get there, or I could settle in and enjoy the journey. I decided on the later. Yes it took a whole hour longer, but it was more enjoyable and I did save quite a bit on fuel.

In a similar fashion I believe that God does not want our primary reason for salvation just to be so that we can go to heaven, but that together with Him we can enjoy the journey there. Our Christian faith should never seem to be a grind for the sake of the end goal. I believe that God wanted us and still wants us to enjoy the journey.

Last Sunday I was privilege to be invited down to Mpulungu to preach at a Baptist Church there. It was a wonderful time of fellowship. More ministry opportunities have also opened up in Mpulungu that I need to pray about. It sounds strange, praying about opportunities, but I can so easily over commit myself up here as there are so many opportunities for ministry.

These last two weeks we celebrated Charley’s birthday by going down to the Lake for the night. Oh God had given us such a beautiful creation! Sadly, our butchery in town has closed and so before they shipped the equipment out, I slaughtered our 9 year old ox. It was quite emotional as he was kind of part of our family. He was the first calf ever born to us. But we have such disease problems, that I either slaughter him for the freezer or bury him as he died of a disease. Freezer just sounds better.

At the moment I am on my way down to Cape Town to attempt the Two Oceans Marathon. It is 56Km of sheer beauty. I have always wanted to run it and now the opportunity has come. But again I remind myself not to just focus on the finish line, but to enjoy the Km before. The scenery is absolutely amazing! My pray is that I have the strength not only to finish the race but also to really enjoy the journey to the end!

God bless!

31 March 2011

“The only way God hurries holiness is by turning up the heat.” Anon

It is amazing how so many of us desire to be holier each passing day, week, month and year. I mean that is what our desire is as believers. There needs to be this transformation taking place. I know a part of us wishes we could just wake up and be holy and then we would not have to go through the refining process.

But God’s ways are certainly not our ways! He takes His time in refining and honing us into the person He wants us to be. And it seems that when He wants us to learn a lesson quickly He certainly does turn up the heat. The refining process is always the difficult part but the finish product is well worth the pain. So let us continue to desire to be holy but realise that it is going to take a while. There is certainly no quick fix process. If it were I think we would all perish in the heat of the refining process.

Well the rains are almost at an end. Probably a couple of weeks and we say good bye to them until November. They have been good this year in our district. Other parts of the country have not had as much rain. It has taken a toll on our new driveway to the house. It has become a 4x4 only drive way. Numerous vehicles have got stuck that have come to visit or repair our electricity. In the dry season we are going to have our work cut out for us rebuilding the road.

The move is nearing completion. We still have our 20’ container to move and a big generator. A company that has been erecting some new power lines have offered to help us with their crane, but it has been a month wait. Boy does this place teach you patience!!!! earlier this month we lost our best dairy cow to common disease in the area. Even though we gave her all the medicines she never recovered. It is so frustrating when you try all you can and they just die!!!!

A few weeks later another of our young cows starting getting sick. Well I thought time to experiment. I have been using a zapper machine on myself for some time and have found that it seems to help me. So onto the cow it went. I did follow up with some medicine as well but only the next day as I was going to be out. Well amazingly she recovered!!! So mad Grant may be onto something. We then had a sheep get sick and so out came the zapper. However her situation was a lot more difficult. We killed the bacteria and parasite, but these have already effected her nervous system and so we have a very spastic sheep. She eats very well, but we are hoping that she will recover.

As a family we have also had our rounds of sore tummies, but that seems to have gone now. So we praise the Lord for good health and protection! I am still meeting on a Wednesday night with some folks and we have come to the end of the Period of History in the Old Testament Survey. We all learnt a lot as this shows us so much about God, His character and what He desires of His people. I also received an invitation to visit and teach another village higher up on the Lake. It is still in Zambia , but in an area I have never been to before. And so we pray that some how God will make this possible.

Well it is saying goodbye to March and hello to April!! God bless!