Wed 9/24
- Mavis visited last night armed with lollipops!
Sometimes something sweet hits the spot! She explained in more detail how her
ministry works with her lot of orphan girls, how it’s handled during the two
months she’s gone, and how she does her visa without residency. I talked to Roy
for just a minute this AM – he is always so busy. He & Trish say they’re
glad I’m coming back.
We worked on the clinic today: I trouble-shot 2
fluorescent fixtures that refused to stay lit, and replaced a 3rd. Lovemore built the brick/cement wall for the
reception counter. Steph installed the
fire extinguishers and door dust-ruffles. We were going to paint the final two
room floors and touch up the scuffs in the other rooms from moving all the
equipment back in, but decided to wait since we’re trying to tie up loose ends
& walking all over the floors.
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| Steph installing fire extinguisher |
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| Replacing temperamental light fixure |
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| Lovemore building reception area counter |
Thurs 9/25
- Rosh Hashana started yesterday
evening, going into the 10 Days of Awe. I lunched with Sarah, Kees & Rubin
Tanis with Steph, Daniel & Jacinta. Kees explained the spiritual break-thru
at the Discipleship School. After 7 years, the leaders (Mozambican) confessed
that they don’t have a relationship with Jesus Christ. In fact, they said 95%
of Mozambicans are in bondage to their cultural traditions – they fear and work to appease the spirits of their dead
ancestors (Animism), who in turn intercede between God & man. They don’t
believe in demons & angels as we do – they believe in bad spirits
(ancestors that were evil in their lifetime) that will curse & haunt you,
and good spirits (kind ancestors) that bless you & protect you from the
evil spirits.
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| Lunch at Tanis' - Sarah, Steph, Jacinta, Daniel, Kees |
My heart is grieved with the thoughts that, as I was
worshipping my God during church, most of the locals were worshipping the spiritual
realm.
John 8:31-32,36 “Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed
Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall
know the truth, and the truth shall make you free…Therefore if the Son makes
you free, you shall be free indeed.” Make you free v32 & 36 (eleutheroo) =
liberate. Be free v36 (eleutheros) = unrestrained as a citizen with all the
benefits there of, in contrast to a slave. Indeed (ontos, verb form of on/ousa
from eimi) = emphatic existence of being.
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Last night with Roy and Trish -
Marie is sleeping on Trish' lap |
I visited with Roy & Trish for a while and
discussed my return next year. Roy recounted miraculous stories of the Holy
Spirit saving him countless times during war time, and how he came to be able
to hear so clearly from the Lord, and how prayer changes circumstances and
lives. I then finished packing and spent a restless night with mixed emotions
of leaving: hoping the truck would not start tomorrow so I could stay, but also
anxious to arrive in Cape Town for the Calvary conference.
Fri 9/26
- I said Goodbye to everyone @ Maforga
early AM, but to me it’s “See you later” not Goodbye, so I was able to get through
it without crying, although I did have to choke back a couple tears. Steph and
I made good time getting to Beira, so we had one last lunch together. We found
Fryer Chris, from the Catholic Mission down the road from Maforga in Amatongas,
waiting for a visiting bishop from Brazil, who was coming in on the same plane
that would turn around & take me back to Johannesburg. So we visited with him
during our wait. When I checked in to Beira, the agent was nice enough to also
print my boarding pass from JoBerg to Cape Town, to save time standing in
another check-in line in JoBerg. However,
I would still need to claim my bag (aprox 15-20mins), go thru Customs random
bag check (at least 1 hr on a Fri night), Border Control for my visa stamp
(another 1 hr on a Fri), recheck my bag (another 15-20 mins), then find the
departing terminal which will hopefully not be on the other side of the huge
airport.
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Saying goodbye to my roommates
Johanna and Sarah-Michelle |
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| Roy and Trish Perkins |
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| Saying goodbye to Trish, Daniel and Mavis |
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| My new truck?? |
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| Steph says, 'oh yeah!' to new truck/ambulance |
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| Steph and Fryer Chris in Beira |
My layover in Joberg is only 1hour 20 minutes, but with
the boarding gates closing 15 minutes prior to departure, I actually had only
1hr 5 minutes. I prayed that I would
make it on time, especially since I didn’t have the phone # of the guy who
would be picking me up at the Cape Town airport. About ½ way through the 2hr
flight, I had complete peace about it, although it appeared humanly impossible;
I decided I would look at my watch not even once, and let Jesus handle it. Not
only did God answer my prayer, He did it in an astonishing way! First, we
landed in JoBerg 20 minutes early, which is amazing for such a short flight. It
did take about 15 minutes to claim my bag. But next, Customs was not checking
bags – which I’ve never seen; 2 uniformed guys were standing there, but watched
everyone just walk on by. Then, the Visa line was long for South African
passports, but the visitor’s line was only a 10 minute wait. Finally, only 2
people were ahead of me to recheck my bags (again, on a Fri night, going to a
tourist place like CapeTown)!
My connection flight was indeed on the other side of
the airport, but when I reached the gate & sat down, I had exactly 1 hour
to spare! Astonishing, huh?! Especially when my CapeTown driver later told me
that when he confirmed my flight was on time, he also saw many other flights
from JoBerg to CapeTown, all arriving at the same time (he had wondered how so
many flights could land all at the same time). My 1 hour+ ride to Simon’s Town
was filled with great conversation with my driver – we talked about African
politics, societal corruption, faith, and why Noah allowed mosquitos on the Ark
and the possible ecological system collapse if he hadn’t. He was a cute widower
in his late 60’s who just started a shuttle business for something to do. I
arrived after dark, so I’ll have to wait until morning for sight-seeing, but
the sky is clear & the new crescent moon is spectacularly beautiful
tonight!
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