First Week Back!

So I got my internet bill for the 3 weeks I was here last time, and it shocked me into only going online ONCE a week for 30mins MAX… so I am so sorry I probably wont even be able to read emails, must less reply to the them! But send them anyway – you never know when a satellite installation guy might show up and tweak the wireless satellite internet connection so that we can have fast free (ish) internet!

I am back in Pemba after a 5 week absence while I was down with Malaria – It is so awesome to be back, it really is and I am enjoying every moment of it. Its been hectic, non-stop since I arrived and I am so looking forward to my day off tomorrow – got a rugby game scheduled on TV (dunno who is playing, but who cares!), some time on the beach and in the ocean and I was given a guitar a few days ago, so finally I will have a chance to have a play! (it hasn’t been used for a little while, and because of the humidity the strings are kinda rusty and I don’t have AAA batteries for the tuner) but play I will play – I sure there is someone that can help me out – I’m so excited – I’m still learning to play, and it’s great!

Outreach this week was kinda interesting – I am the only sound person at Pemba at the moment, the other 2 that have been holding the fort while I was away are in Niassa Province for a month long outreach, they left a day before I arrived back in Pemba. Anyways. I finally got a key to the sound system storeroom (only waited 3 weeks and many days of asking…) so I had a look at all the microphone cables I could find, tested them, sorted them nicely and got a bag with the ones we needed for the outreach.

Just loaded the truck when another truck pulled up and the driver hopped out – “Neekeeee, where is the sound for Niassa?? Felito says he put everything in the room.” Ooops… I had taken all the cables and sorted and tested everything – I had been under the impression that the Niassa sound system had been taken to Niassa a week ago… and there was a problem. Only 5 mic cables worked and we needed 6 (3 for each system) BUT even worse – we could live with one less mic on the outreach – even worse was that fact that out of the 5 power generators we have here in Pemba, only ONE works, ONE. UMA. ONE. That’s Shocking… And it had to go to Niassa so that left us with nothing.

Phone calls were made, and eventually Rolland agreed to fly the generator with him on Saturday when he and Heidi go to Niassa for the outreach. So that’s great, we get to use the generator for the night – quickly we go back to the other centre to tell the driver of the truck – but alas, they had already left!!!!! NOOOOOOO! When is something going to go right???? We were already over an hour late, and the outreach was in a village about 60km away, over an hour’s drive. We call the driver – ‘Please God don’t let them be too far away’ – they were just outside Pemba, so we were able to meet up with them and get the generator!

Yay. So off to the village we go (oh yes, Heidi called in the midst of all this and changed the location of the outreach, now it was just to a village only 10mins away, which was good news!), get there, set-up – its all going good, looks like we will be able to get the JESUS film started by 6pm, start the generator – we have lights, camera and action…. Oh, there goes the light… darkness… was there even petrol in the generator? *sigh* …guess not. In all the fuss and rush to get there we hadn’t stopped for fuel and the money that we had been given for petrol had been given back when the generator wasn’t going with us anymore and when we got the generator again we weren’t given the money – hassle hassle hassle – we waited for about an hour while someone got petrol, and finally by 7pm we had the film going.

It was an awesome night – there were many people healed, which touched me the most was the little deaf boy that could hear again! So in the end it was good – and we didn’t even get home too late!

Church today was also a pretty special time – Heidi has insisted that she wanted church to start on time at 4pm, so I was there and ready at 4! Never mind that no one showed up til about 4:30, but I was there! It was really an awesome time in the presence of God and the Holy Spirit just moved amongst the children, a little boy came up and shared that he saw Jesus telling him that we must carry His cross. It just brought home the fact that we must be as innocent as little children, and that if we listen we will hear. God can speak thru even the least of these, the poorest of the poor, the uneducated and the orphaned.


The rainy season is drawing to a close here and while I was away they installed 40 new water features in my kitchen. The Sunday night that I arrived, just driving back into the base it started pouring, a mini tropical rainstorm. We were sitting in out kitchen, trying to find a dry place to perch – we had all out 70L buckets out under the leaks (or water features as I like to call them) and we filled more than 200 litres of water in that hour… its been amazing – I haven't had to touch the putrid well water this whole week – we’ve been washing our dishes in rainwater, bathing in rainwater – and it even looked cleaner than the ‘sweet water’, so we boiled it for out tea! There is a major shortage of bottled water in Pemba at the moment – usually a week’s water costs about US$10, now only the expensive water is available and not much of that either – so drinking water is so so so so precious – I am rationing myself to only drink 2 litres per day, instead of my usual 3L, but its hard cos its so hot here…

Well that’s enough for this post – I’ll be sure to keep you updated!!! SMS/Text me instead of email – Its cheaper for me too! +258 82 550 9842

Keep on praying for my health – there is a malaria epidemic at the moment – at least 5 people ill, and 3 recovering. And the mozzies just laugh at the repellent I spray on myself and the citronella candles and nasty smelling coils I burn – they dare each other to see who can fly closes to the flame!

Back to Pemba

I am on my way back to Pemba! Please continue praying for me - I know prayer works!!!

As usual, I will be writing about all my interesting and unusual experiences right here on this blog (hopefully this will NOT include malaria again!) ... so stay in touch!

A quick trip to Maputo

I was in Maputo this past weekend - just popped over the border to drop off some sound equipment for our 'Revival Team', based at our centre in Zimpeto. This is the first time that they will use powered speakers, and I hope my repeated entreaties not to plug an amplifier into them will be heeded... actually if they do that then I'd love to be there - I've never actually seen a sound system go 'booom sizzle pop'...

It was great to be doing something again - getting all the equipment ordered, delivered, then soldering a bunch of cables... this whirlwind trip was all pretty much planned within 3 days!

Now just a few days in South Africa to catch my breath, then I'm off to Pemba!