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Friday, October 31, 2008

Long Flight Home

Our first flight from Johannesburg to Nairobi was 4 hours long, but with Nairobi one hour ahead, we arrived at about 6 am local time. We had close to 3 hours, and went to the frequent flyer lounge. I was so tired, I just slept there until it was time to go to our gate.

At 9 am local we left Kenya to fly home to Mali, a 7 hour flight, 3 hours back into time. I still kept sleeping because I was so tired. We arrived in Bamako at half past noon. Paul was so very excited, he felt like the flight was 3 times longer than it was. He couldn't wait to get home!

We got our bags, and found Emma who had come to pick us up. I let Paul sit in the front, so he could talk to Emma, and he was talking the whole time home. It was fun to listen to them.

Reunion

As we drove through the gate, all the kids came running to greet us. It was great to see them again. However, I was also dreading to see what just over 2 weeks away had produced. Within the first 10 minutes I saw numerous things that were not okay, and it didn't help my mood. Coming home is always hard for me.

I withdrew and started unpacking. I had work to do, but was too tired to work. I lay down, but was unable to fall asleep.

Later in the evening, though tired, we showed the kids the pictures from the amusement park, and the little video clips, and they loved it. We also gave them the gifts from South Africa, and they were happy.

At 8 pm I finally fell into bed and slept well and long.

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Thursday, October 30, 2008

Enjoying Our Hotel

For some reason I just couldn't fall asleep last night. I tried, then turned on the TV, then tried again, and finally fell asleep just before 5 am. I was wondering how I would make it through today's busy day like that!

Paul told me it was the opposite for him - he fell asleep right away, and got up at 5 am. At 9:30 I went to his room, to see what it looked like. It was smaller than mine. Together we went downstairs for breakfast. It was a buffet.

The hotel has been amazingly beautiful - like nothing I myself have ever stayed in before. I was amazed to see the TV sets in the wall by each table. We sat down next to a news channel, though you were free to choose the channel anyway.

Then we attacked the buffet. It was absolutely amazing! Nothing like the last hotel. They had EVERYTHING, and Paul and I ate lots. We didn't eat again until 9 pm (except for an icecream). It actually took us an hour, savoring our great meal. We were even sitting in armchairs, and Paul kept smiling and laughing, and saying he's the king ;-).

We went to the reception, and asked whether we could have two more hours in our room, instead of checking out at 11 am, which it nearly was already. After all, they made us wait three and a half hours last night, so that would be the least they could do for us. However, my room had to be vacated, but we were given those two hours in Paul's room. Good enough.

So we had about an hour to go to the swimming pool on the top floor of the building. We got changed, and found an empty pool. It was a little cold at first, but not for long. It was salt water, and we both enjoyed it greatly. Another lady was also there.

We got dried up and changed, and checked out of the room. The hotel had done nothing to reimburse us for last night's "inconvenience". On the contrary, they tried to charge me twice for our breakfast in the morning! Good thing I caught it.

Paul's First Amusement Park

We left our bags at the hotel, and got into the car the hotel provides to transport people. I had already paid for the 3 rides we needed - to the amusement park, from the park back to the hotel, and from the hotel to the airport. It's VERY expensive!

It only took us 20 minutes to drive to the park. We paid full price each, to do all the rides, and entered. Paul was already amazed at what he had seen from the highway and the entrance.

The park wasn't THAT big, but big enough. We had 4 hours to explore - and it was exactly the right amount of time. We made it through the whole park, and did all the rides we wanted to.

Our first thing to do was the 4D cinema - I love this kind of stuff! They showed a 15 min movie in 3D, plus the chairs are also moving, plus wind and water. Paul kept laughing and saying "my goodness" and "wow". He was totally amazed! When we left the cinema, he spontaneously hugged me and said "thank you". He said nobody is gonna believe him in Mali when he tells them about this! It was so much fun to watch his excitement!

The next thing we did was a roller coaster. Now, I've only been on a roller coaster ONE time in my life. I was 12 years old - the minimum age - and had been waiting eagerly to do it. It was my first, and my last time. Until today. It didn't seem too bad, so I decided to get on together with Paul. We even got into the FIRST cart! The ride was only 90 seconds, but it was bad enough. However, after the first few seconds, I started laughing and somewhat enjoying it, trying to encourage Paul who was holding on for dear life! They have cameras on there, and you can purchase pictures afterwards. I got our picture, and it's hilarious! It speaks volumes! As soon as I get to a scanner, I'll put it up!

Next, Paul did something courageous, and really loved it. He said he'd do that again, while he didn't want to get on a roller coaster again.

We continued on, doing different rides and things. Paul really enjoyed himself! We had an ice-cream at one point, and looked at some souvenir shops.

What was really funny was Paul's encounter with these "life-size animals". Paul was actually scared!!! He ran away from them once, with them pursuing them, and then he slowly approached them. He told me afterwards he thought they were real animals! Can that be? He assures me it's the truth.

One fun ride was this circular boat in the water. We were on with 4 young people, and the boat turns in the currents. I got soaking wet, and it took a few hours to dry, but it was a lot of fun!

We went into a candy store, and bought some unique candy for our boys. 5 o'clock had come quickly - the time the park would close. After so many hours of fun, the next few hours would be a nightmare.

Nightmare Hotel

We left the park and went to our pick-up location at the arranged time of 5 pm. The park closed behind us, and many people were leaving. One car after another pulled out. We sat down on the sidewalk and waited. No driver in sight.

It turned 5:20 pm, and I called the hotel - thankfully I had called the number last night, and so I had it in the list of called numbers. The lady on the line said she'd call the driver and find out. I should call her back in a few minutes. Okay.

When I tried to call again 10 minutes later, my phone battery had died. Wonderful! I didn't have the hotel's phone number anywere. At least I had called them once, so maybe they'd come soon.

Nothing happened. The carpark was empty by now, and the sun started to go down. With Johannesburg being the most dangerous city in the world, I didn't want to be out there in the dark. I had even been told that taking a taxi is dangerous!

We went to the exit where there were a few guards. One was so kind to call informaiton for me, so we could get the hotel's phone number. However, they didn't know our hotel - though I knew even the name of the street and part of town! Wonderful!

We had a choice to make. Should we just take a taxi back to the hotel? I had already paid for being picked up!

At 6 pm - an hour after we should have been picked up - we got into a taxi that the guard had called. We only paid 200 local currency - at the hotel we had paid 300 for the same ride. Thankfully, I had exactly 200 left in my wallet.

The driver - and older African - had said that he knows the hotel. However, that turned out to have been a lie. As we aproached our part of town, I could see our hotel to the right, and I even said, "there's our hotel". However, he hadn't listened. He continued on, and suddenly drove up to a hotel that was not ours. "Garden Court" instead of "Holiday Inn"?

We continued on, going back the way we came, trying to find our hotel. It was rush hour, and there was a lot of traffic! We kept going and going, unable to find our hotel. We even told the driver the name of the street it was in! Suddenly I saw the McDonald's we had stopped at last night - now I'd find it! I told him to turn left - which he couldn't do any more. He made circle, and finally we got to the hotel.

However, he turned too early. I told him to just stop, and we'd jump out, but he didn't/couldn't. He said he'd go around the block. He kept turning left, but ended up in a dead-end street. Also, a big truck had us waiting for a while because it blocked the road. I couldn't believe we were still not back at the hotel!

FINALLY, we got there! It had taken us an hour to get back - it was 7 pm!

We went straight to the guys where we had ordered the transport. They told me their driver was at the park right now. I told them we had said 5 pm, not 7 pm, and that I wanted my money back.

They called the manager, and told me, they didn't have any more cash, as it had already been taken to the bank. I couldn't believe my ears! I told them I had no cash left, and we wanted to eat dinner. I insisted on getting my money back. They said the manager would come down to talk to me.

Paul and I sat down in the lobby, and I got my computer out to do my emails. I had half an hour left online that I had paid for. I looked for a plug, but they were all South African - very unique plugs. Now I couldn't even plug in my computer!

The manager came, and asked me whether we had told the driver to come at 5 pm. I answered that it was written down on the paper! And thankfully, Paul HAD told the driver to not forget us and be there by 5 pm. The manager didn't say any more, but left, and came back with the money a few minutes later. Thank God!

I went to the reception and asked if there was a plug somewhere, like in the business center. I was told that there weren't any other plugs in the business center either, but that I could try look anyway. The only other plugs where in the rooms - the only place to plug anything in. I couldn't believe my ears once again!

I was pretty frustrated by now. Now I couldn't even plug in my computer and use up my internet time, and get some stuff done before leaving! Paul and I went to the elevator anyway to go to the business center and give it a try.

We got into the elevator, and a lady and a guy stepped in as well. We only had to go up one floor. The lady asked me whether I was very tired because she saw the expression on my face. I told her that our stay in this hotel had been a total nightmare! She asked why, and I told her about our wait last night, and the car not picking us up, and now nowhere to plug in my computer. She listened carefully, and even held the elevator doors opened to keep the elevator from moving on. She finally got off, and told us to follow her. I asker her whether she worked here, and she said that she is the manager for rooms (or so). I couldn't believe my ears!

She explained to me why the long wait last night - a new system implemented, that wasn't working the way it should, and so they were overbooked. I replied, why nobody could have given us a truthful answer like that last night, instead of telling us constantly that the rooms were being repaired.

And then she said she would give us a room for the next few hours, until we'd have to leave, so I could plug in my computer and use it. Wow! She picked up the phone and arranged it. We said thank you, and she walked away. A few minutes later a guy came with a room key for us - room 843.

We went to the 8th floor, and with amazedment I read what was written on the door to the room - "executive suite". Wow! I was blown away as we walked inside. I sure had never been in a hotel room like this! We had about two hours left.

I installed myself at the desk, and started working. Paul was watching TV. Since we had wanted to spend the remaining money on dinner, I decided it was smarter to just use room service, so we could make the most of the roomf. It turned out that I needed every single minute there to get everything done!

We ordered a good last meal that we greatly enjoyed. At 9:30 pm we left this amazing room. We returned the key, and picked up our luggage. One more time we needed the hotel service to take us to the airport - paid in advance. The driver was ready on time.

Half an hour later we were at the airport, and checked in. We went through security, immigration, and went to the frequent flyer lounge. While in line at immigration, the short last night finally showed its effect - tiredness overcame me big time. Just after 11 pm we were at the lounge. We had an hour.

I rested a little before we went to the gate, but I could still barely keep my eyes open. I was glad when we finally boarded the plane at a quarter past midnight. After getting settled into my seat, it didn't take long for me to fall into a light sleep.

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Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Leaving Mozambique

Paul left in the morning to go on his last trip, to another children's center. I kept writing emails and taking it easy.

Paul talked to me again, and together we went to the baby house so I could show him the before and after pictures of some babies there.

Also, Paul had befriended one of the dorm leaders, and so we were able to go visit one dorm.

We had our last lunch there - rice with beans - and then we finished packing. At 2 pm we loaded our stuff into the car, and said good-bye to everyone. Honestly, I was very glad to be leaving. Time to go home!

We got to the airport early, because somebody else was leaving some time before us and we rode together. So Paul and I went to the cafeteria at the airport and spent my remaining Mozambican money on some nice food. I coincidentally found out that there was a free wireless connection - to my great surprise - and so I took advantage of it. The president was leaving to go somewhere, and Paul took a picture - he really got into trouble for it.

At 4:15 pm we checked in, and went through security. Then we had another 45 minutes to wait. Suddenly Brenda and Andrea were standing in front of us. We had known in advance that we would be on the same plane. It was a great reunion! We've really come close to them during our time in Pemba.

We did some catching up since we left Pemba, and then boarded the plane. An hour later we were in Johannesburg.

Disaster Hotel

Brenda and Andrea wanted to change their flights so they didn't have to stay a night in Johannesburg, and they succeeded. So suddenly we only had 15 minutes left together. We sat down for a drink.

We had planned to take a taxi to the hotel, but were advised not to do that since it's too dangerous. So we called the hotel, and they said they'd send a car in 45 minutes. And the driver was very punctual! Other guys tried to get us into their cars, and they were very rough, and some drunk. But they got the message and left us alone. We loaded our stuff into the car, and started the 30 minute trip to the hotel, the Holiday Inn.

We had a very nice driver, and did some small talk with him for some time. As we got close to the hotel, we saw a MacDonald's, and the driver was so nice to go through the drive-thru. Paul had never seen a drive-thru before, and he was totally amazed! He loved it! We got some dinner, and continued on our way to the hotel.

The hotel was an impressive sight. We unloaded and went to the reception to check in. We were told that the room wasn't ready yet. It was 9:15 pm. We paid for the shuttle service, and sat down to wait and eat our MacDonald's dinner. There were two more people who were waiting for a room. One couple had been waiting since before 8 pm. We kept asking from time to time, but every time they said they're working on it. They're overbooked, and some people have left the hotel late.

Now it's 11 pm, and we're still waiting in the lobby. All the other people are gone, and I'm gonna ask once again what's going on. We've already paid the hotel! Paul is already sleeping on the couch here.

1:30 am - I was also fighting with staying awake. Once again I went to the reception desk to ask whether we'd have a room or not. We got the manager, who finally gave us a room - at half past midnight!!! I told him that we'd waited for 3 and a half hours, and what he would do about it. I asked for a price reduction, but he told me that we already had the cheapest room rate. He couldn't even explain to me why it had taken that long! In any case, we each got a room.

I filled out the registration card, and gave him my credit card that I had used online to book the hotel. He run it through his machine, and it was denied! He tried it twice. How come? How's that possible? I was shocked. Thankfully, I still had my American card, and money on my account. So I gave him that card, and it worked. I don't know what's wrong with my Austrian card, and I don't even want to think what I would have done if I hadn't had another card!

They took me to my room first - I was amazed at how nice it was! Though it's cheaper than the last hotel on the way in, it's definitely a category or two up! The guy tried to turn the TV on, but it didn't work. Having been cut off from the world the last two weeks, I really wanted to see some CNN news. They sent a guy up some time later who fixed it. However, CNN cannot be found; the only news channel I have is Al-Jazeera!

Late or not, I decided to still take the bath I'd been looking forward to, and it was wonderful! But now, I really have to go to bed.

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Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Last Day Resting

With four people in one room, sleeping in is unthinkable. I finally took a picture inside the room - my bed is the one on the bottom.

It's night now, and I haven't talked to Paul all day, and have only seen him from the distance once. He's upset with me (for nothing at all), and I'm so tired of that childish behavior. So I let him be today.

At 10 am they had a children's service, and since I was feeling somewhat better at that time (it's been going up and down), and I was getting bored, I went to the meeting.

The hall was filled with children and teenagers. Different kids did different dances, and Mozambican youth led worship. Then the base director did a mini-sermon about Jesus being our best friend. It was really good.

I then returned to my room and lay down again. I've been in bed most of the day today, or sitting outside my room. I'm reading, or replying to old emails, or playing little computer games. I'm counting the hours until we're at the hotel in Johannesburg, and I can get back online and be in touch with the world again. I'm also looking forward to going back home, though the work waiting for me is frightening.

I'm still battling some discouragement - especially with Paul's behavior - and am praying and wondering where to go those first two weeks of December, for my break to get recharged for the Christmas activities.

Paul is on an outreach to the prison, and then to the streets of Maputo tonight. I wasn't feeling well enough to go. I'll be curious to hear about it - once he talks to me again.

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Monday, October 27, 2008

Both Sick

It's 6pm, and everyone's leaving for a youth meeting downtown. I'm staying back because I'm sick.

Yesterday I was already not feeling well, but I thought it was just discouragement and tiredness. Last night I slept 13 hours - wow! I had breakfast at 8 am, and when the 9 am orientation for new visitors did not take place, I lay back down. I couldn't understand why I would still be tired.

At 10 am they had an all staff prayer meeting, for missionaries as well as Bible students. There were dozens and dozens of pastors, as well as white people, and they did Mozambican-style praise. It was great to watch, and I took a few video clips. After some time, Paul also joined in.

Then they prayed for different subjects, and one of the visitors preached for a while. As the meeting went on, I felt worse and worse, and I came to the conclusion that I should go and get a malaria test.

After the meeting, I approached the director of the base, Steve, and introduced ourselves. I shared a little of what we do, and then he prayed for us.

It was time for lunch. But first we went to the clinic for the malaria test. As he was getting ready to take a drop of my blood, Paul said he wanted to be tested as well. But when he heard that they would take your blood, he changed his mind. I encouraged him to go ahead, that it wouldn't hurt, and he finally relented.

We then went for lunch - rice with cabbage - and I realized that I'm pretty fed up with rice by now. We returned to our rooms, and I couldn't wait for them to open the computer room so I could get online. I had last checked my emails last Thursday - that was ages ago! And at the time I had bad news that a good friend of mine, and board member of H2TNI, had had a very serious accident, and I had been praying for her since, wondering how she was doing. I was hoping for news concerning her.

I was the first there when the computer room opened at 1 pm. To my shock, there was only 1 computer in there!! I got on, but the connection was extremely slow and barely worked. I went through my 950 emails, realizing the best I could hope for was to read that one email concerning my friend. The computer wouldn't even recognize my USB stick - I was hoping to put some blogs up that way, but it wasn't working. I found the good news concerning my friend, and that was all that I succeeded in doing in one hour. At least they only charged me for 20 minutes. I can't wait for when we have internet again in Johannesburg on Wednesday. Paul said I won't sleep that night - I don't hope so.

I returned to my room, feeling very miserable. Paul was gonna go to the garbage dump in the afternoon, but that outreach was canceled. Later in the afternoon, they came with the malaria test results. Paul's was positive, and mine negative! I could hardly believe my ears! You couldn't even tell Paul was sick, and I could barely keep myself on my feet!

We walked over to the baby house, where the doctor was. We had to pay for the malaria medication. She said the malaria test is not infallible and that it was possible I had malaria anyway. She asked me whether I also wanted the medication, and I said yes. I have all the symptoms of malaria, so I can't imagine what else could be wrong with me. Just fatigue and exhaustion? In any case, I'm taking the medication now.

We returned to our rooms with our medication. The next program point was at 6 pm - a youth outreach downtown Maputo. I knew I was absolutely not up to it, but Paul was going. So I gave him my camera and told him to give me a report. He said the presence of God was very strong, and that someone preached. He had loved it.

In the meantime, two new ladies arrived, and they moved into the room I'm in. We're now 4 people in a room, while Paul is still alone. I sure can't wait to move on from here. I can't wait to go to the airport and fly to Johannesburg!

I'm glad, though, that Paul is getting something out of our time here. And I'm also spending time strategizing and listening to God regarding things to do in Mali. Also, we have a visiting evangelist coming a month from now, and when we get back, we'll be very busy preparing for that.

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Sunday, October 26, 2008

Service & Hospital

It's 7:30 pm, and I'm so very tired though I slept in the afternoon. And it was a quiet day for me.

Paul picked up my bread for me, and we had breakfast together before 8 am. We still had time, and I spent some time reading my Bible, and then lay down again. In all honesty, I could have gone on sleeping, but forced myself up to go to the service.

The service started a few minutes after 10 am. They spent most of the first 90 minutes praising and worshipping. They prayed for the youth, as you can see in the picture. They also asked those forward who are leaving this week, and though I hesitated, after them calling a few times, we finally went forward. We sat down, and they put some fabric around our shoulders, while a few children and adults prayed for us. It was precious.

The sermon was the last half hour of the service. They had all those who don't understand Portuguese sit on one side of the sanctuary, where someone interpreted for us. In the end, there was an altar call. People went forward and knelt down. Then they asked the visitors to pray for these people. Paul went forward to pray, as you can see in the picture.

After the service, it was time for lunch. We had onion rice with pasta and potatoes. It was good. The tables are pretty high, and some of the little kids can barely even see their plates!

After lunch, we still had over an hour before 2 pm when it would be time to go to the hospital to pray for the sick. I decided to let Paul go without me. Instead, I lay down and slept a few hours.

Paul told me that they went from room to room praying for the patients and giving them bananas. He loved the outreach.

He returned at 5 pm, and half an hour later, we went for dinner. They have a tiny little piece of meat twice a week, and tonight was one of the two times. With rice of course.

After dinner, we tried to get a coke in front of the base, but were unsuccessful. We returned to the missionary quarters, and Paul retired, and so did I.

Day Of Reflections

It's not been a good day for me. Paul and I had a discussion at breakfast, and he would hardly talk to me the rest of the day. That discouraged me, and I got really discouraged looking at different things. After over 5 years on the mission field, I feel a certain fatigue. Five years of laboring, and certain things are still the same. I'm tired of certain things. I'm tired physically, emotionally, spiritually. I'm amazed at how tired I've been physically today! I slept two and a half hours this afternoon, and at 7 pm I'm ready to go to bed for the night! I guess the fatigue is coming out.

I was scheduled to go to a certain place in the US the first two weeks of December, but it fell through. Now I've been asking God where to go. On one hand, I'd like to just rest somewhere. On the other, I'd like to work on my book. And thirdly, I'd like to do some ministry so money comes in. I have a free flight, and could go anywhere in the world. And still, I have no clue where to go.

But first, I have a very busy month ahead of me in Mali. I don't even want to think of all the work waiting for me! We have a visiting evangelist coming at the end of the month, and lots of preparations to do.

Tomorrow is a busy day for us here. It's also our first chance in days to connect to the internet - but only with the base computers, not our own.

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Saturday, October 25, 2008

Downtown Maputo

I was meeting with Paul at 7:30 am to go over for breakfast. All you do here is to pick up your bread, and take it back to the missionary kitchen area. The kids sit down in the big hall to eat the plain bread with their cup of tea. The hall serves also as the church - you can see Paul right in front of it.

After breakfast we had some time, and I lay back down because I was so tired. At 10 am we gathered to go to town; Paul and I joined 3 Australians and a Scottish girl, as well as 3 Mozambicans. They took us to where the souvenir vendors are. We didn't really mean to buy anything, but ended up buying a few little things for ourselves and the boys.

One vendor we bought something from was from Zimbabwe, and he really wanted to give me his son to take him to Mali to learn French. I was taken aback. I told him to send him to the IRIS school. Still, he wanted to send the little 5-year-old to us during holidays. I told him it wasn't that easy. In any case, I did give him my email address.

Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take our camera with us, since there were a lot of great pictures we could have taken. From the souvenir place we went to a shopping center, where we went to the top floor for lunch. Paul and I were amazed to see a big shopping center like this, with escalators, as if we were back in Johannesburg! We wouldn't have expected this. Maputo sure has rich parts to it. In Bamako, you don't have anything from the first world at all. Not so here; the difference between rich and poor seems much greater.

We went to an Italian restaurant where we had a nice view. I don't think Paul has ever been in such a high building, and he loved looking outside and seeing the cars down there. You could also see the sea. After going to the bathroom, I told Paul he needed to go there. He was amazed, looking out the window there, with the cinema and shops, and at the modern and nice bathrooms.

He ordered his mandatory chicken, and I had a cheeseburger. We also had desert. I sat next to an Australian girl, and had a great time talking to her. I think there is a good chance she and her brother are gonna visit us next year when they tour through Africa for a few months.

After lunch we got back into the car to drive back to the base - a 45 min. drive after all. I felt a little sick, sitting in the back of the car with the others, facing to the side.

On And Around The Base

I forgot to mention that it was very cold and raining when we got up in the morning, and it kept raining a little all day - just like in Europe. Paul was amazed how cold it was - like during winter nights in Mali. He was glad to have his leather jacket with him!

Back at the base, we both lay down for about two hours. Since it was getting late, I knocked at Paul's door so we could go to the nearby gas station where they had an ATM. We needed some money, and some groceries. In the rain, we started walking, not knowing how far it would be. It was hard to walk in the sand - there's sand everywhere. There's also a lot of traffic. We finally reached the gas station, and I withdrew money. There was a little shop there, and so we went inside and bought a few groceries. It all cost a lot more than expected, and so I needed to use the ATM a second time.

As we were walking back, we passed by a little grocery stand and bought some oranges and apples. An Albino lady was the vendor - a sweet lady. That's the second time we've met an Albino here. The IRIS base in northern Mozambique had an Albino boy.

Back at the base, I cooked us some dinner with the groceries. Paul had missed dinner, and I had known from the dinner schedule that I wouldn't like tonight's meal. After dinner, we were told that there was going to be a movie in the church hall. Every Fri and Sat night they show a movie.

At first Paul didn't want to go. Then Paul said he'd just go with me to see and then return. When we go there, a worship DVD was on. Paul loved it, saying he'd like to learn some instruments, and be a singer for God. Then they put the movie on. It was in Portuguese with English subtitles. It was FACING THE GIANTS.

I've seen most well-known Christian movies, but never that one, because it's a sports movie. Paul decided to stay a little longer, since it was about sports, and I was curious to see what the movie was like. We both ended up staying to the end, with me translating for Paul. Paul really got into it, and loved it! He says he doesn't like movies, but he loved being encouraged in his faith. I told him that all the movies I brought back (and that he missed) were like this!

It was 9:30 pm when we returned to our rooms.

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Friday, October 24, 2008

Leaving Northern Mozambique

It was time to pack. Shara came by later and gave me something to deliver to the Zimpeto center. We said good-bye, and she said I'd see her with Heidi in April at the HIM conference.

After we were done packing, it was time to say good-bye to the wonderful people we had spent the week with. Then one of the staff persons took us to the airport. We looked at the sea one last time, and were somewhat nostalgic about leaving everything and everyone behind here.

At the airport, three of the guys were taking care of some things, and so we got to say good-bye to them there. Then we entered the terminal. Security looked into our suitcases, and then we checked in. No problems there. Next we went through security. We had been told in advance to have all our money on us as the security person steals all the money out of bags.

Then we still had an hour in the (air-conditioned) waiting room. I was really tired. Finally, we saw our plane arrive, and we boarded soon-after. Paul wanted to make sure I took a picture of him.

The flight to Maputo would be about 3 hours. However, we had one stop in a town between Pemba and Maputo called Beira. The president was coming through, and so we were grounded for 45 additional minutes, before we were able to continue our flight.

Picture: The coast of Beira.

Capital Maputo

We landed in Maputo at 5:45 pm. The sun was just starting to go down. We got our bags, and as we exited, we saw a young man with an IRIS sign. Samuel led us to the vehicle, and we started on our trip to the base.

It took us quite some time of driving to get to the base. Samuel's English was very limited, but I did ask him some questions. Looking out the window, I could tell we were in a real city now, and it looked much more like a city than Bamako. We had actually seen a good number of skyscrapers from the plane.

Arriving at the base, we could tell that this was a big place. We arrived at the missionary housing place where we unloaded. A lady received us and showed us our rooms, as well as giving us our keys. However, she was in a hurry. She showed us the showers, and the kitchen, and then ran off. She came back a little later, giving us some pasta to cook for dinner since we had missed the base dinner. Thankfully, I had a can of tuna and mayonnaise left.

The lady left, as well as other missionaries in the kitchen, and Paul and I were left to ourselves. We were a little bit lost, not knowing how things are done here. I prepared a basic meal for us, and we looked at all the papers on the wall. We looked at the schedule and what we can do during the few days that we are here. So we started to make plans how to use our time here.

After having eaten, Paul said he was tired and was going to bed. It was just after 8 pm. I also went to my room. There are 4 bunkbeds, but at this moment, there is only one other woman here. I had so many questions - like where to get drinking water - but no one was here to ask. Finally, my room-mate came, and so I asked her a few things. I also moved beds, so I'd be by the only power plug in the room, able to plug in my computer.

The most sobering news was that I cannot connect with my own computer here anywhere, and that the only time I can pay for using the base computer to go online is on Monday - and that only for 20 minutes! My goodness!

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Thursday, October 23, 2008

Another Hotel Visit

The last time I had been online was last Sunday, and it was high time to connect again. I expected more than 1000 emails (most spam), and I was not 'disappointed'.

Paul and I walked over to the hotel to get online. Arriving there, we met Ernesto there who had a meeting. We were pleasantly surprised. Ernesto is one of Heidi's first sons, taken off the streets in Maputo 12 years ago. We talked to him for a little while, and exchanged email addresses. He said he'd come over later today, and he did. We had a great conversation, talking some more, and gave him our flyer. I hope to stay in touch with this gentle, young man who's so obviously been touched by the power of God.

He returned to his meeting, and I opened my computer to do emails. In the meantime, Paul walked around the hotel taking pictures. He loved it! I was told that a night in this hotel costs about $400. It's THE hotel to stay in Pemba.

Paul enjoyed looking at the swimming pool and beach, and wished he'd brought his swim trunks with him. With the internet connection being extremely slow, it took me ages to sort through the spam, and delete it, and download the good ones. And in fact, my battery was empty before I was done. We were back at the base by 11:30.

Village Feeding

Paul and I went to have lunch - the typical rice and beans - and then we went up to the elementary school, where they do the daily village feeding. All the kids from the neighborhood come and first listen to a teaching. There were lots of them.

While they listen, the workers prepare their lunch, putting rice and beans into plates that they then stack (look on top of the wall).

When the teaching is over, they release the kids one by one to go get a plate and eat. Those who need healing can get healing prayer. The workers hand out plate after plate to the kids. I was told that there are 200 kids who eat every day. Don was there as well, and I continued asking him question after question.

Last Evening

We returned to the visitors' center and decided it was time to go swimming one last time. I also still needed to download the rest of my emails. Brenda decided to join us on our trip to the hotel. While Paul and Brenda went into the sea, I continued doing my emails. I looked at the website for the amusement park in Johannesburg and decided it would be great fun if we could go there. Hopefully it's not too far; money for transportation is the issue here.

Paul and Brenda returned soon, telling me that there were too many sea urchins to go swimming safely. It was also getting late, and so I didn't get to go into the sea. I finished the emails, and we returned to the base. Just in time for our 5 pm meeting.

In the morning, we had had a divine appointment with Marian. She is an intercessor on the base here, and her husband a pilot. Just talking with her for a few minutes, I realized the depth she has, and insight, as someone who's been on the mission field for decades. I asked her whether we could get together tonight - since she also wanted to pray for us - and so she came at 5 pm.

We started talking, and she showed me a great book she recommended to me. We talked for some time about the challenges and possible solutions, and then she started praying for us. Paul was on her left, and I on her right. She prayed for quite a long time, and tears came to my eyes a few times. I thanked her, and told her I'd like to stay in touch.

Then it was time for dinner. Since it was our last night, we decided to go to the chicken shack right outside the base. We were 8 people who went there. I had a great time talking to Roy and other people. We had to wait for over an hour for our food, and everyone was pretty hungry and impatient, especially Paul. But then our food came, and everyone was happy. We were blessed to be invited by the others.

We returned to the base, where they said they wanted to pray for us since we're leaving tomorrow. They gathered around us, and started praying and prophesying. We were very blessed, and thanked everyone for blessing us that way. It's amazing how we've become a family in less than a week!

Paul was extremely tired and went straight to bed, while I used up my remaining credit on the cell phone that I have to return tomorrow to call Hyacinthe in Mali. He said everything is going well. I hope that's true.

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Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Sowing & Medical Center

At 9 am Paul got me out of bed when he knocked on my door, asking whether I was alive. An hour later we were walking over to the medical center - a place we hadn't visited yet.

We found Brenda there, a visiting nurse, who was taking care of a little boy's wound. We met the Belgian doctor for the first time and started talking to him. He was very kind. He was somewhat busy, and so he told us to come back at 1 pm to talk.

Brenda was also done, and she walked with us to the sewing school. The classes are in the afternoon, so we only found an empty building, with sowing machines and clothes and bags to buy. We talked to some people there before we went on our way.

We had a few minutes at the visitor's center before our scheduled meeting at 11:15 at Don's house to find out more about the village of Mieze where we were going in the afternoon. Don is in charge when Heidi is gone. For an hour he told us about all the amazing things God has done in Mieze. Awesome! Paul was deeply touched when he left there, and I was also in awe. We were looking forward to going there.

But first we went to have lunch. It was rice with beans - the most common food here. We stood in line and got our plate each. We sat down with the children, and ate with our fingers like them. Then we returned to the visitor's center for a few minutes.

At 1 pm we had the appointment with the doctor at the medical center. I asked him a lot of questions, and he gave us a lot of answers. We found out that all medical centers and hospitals in Mozambique are free; people just have to buy the medication. But on the IRIS base, they also give the medication for free. It's a very simply medical center with hardly any equipment.

Village Of Mieze

At 1:30 pm we left for the village of Mieze - one of the greatest success stories of Iris. It's too long to tell you all the details. In short, there is an IRIS church and pastor, and a children's home for 35 children. A Canadian church built them a great playground, and a Zimbabwan Christian paid for 100 chickens that lay eggs. Paul was totally amazed to see chickens that are that well-fed!

Since the water pipe goes right by the village, Iris was able to have access installed right in front of the pastor's house. That has made a huge difference, and the whole village was blessed. Iris treats was treating worm problems because of bad water, but now they have fresh water, and no more worm or dehydration problems. These girls drink right from the tab.

Every Wednesday a team goes to Mieze, and they bring a medical kit. Several nurses come and treat the people that line up for help. After treating them, they always ask if they can pray for them, and many let them. The picture shows our truck and the church.

We were amazed at the beauty of the children's dorms - bunkbeds or single beds, nicely decorated, and very proper. A very beautiful home.

The kids were very beautiful as well. We were told that they are the most amazing kids, loving Jesus and knowing how to worship. You could actually see the difference in their countenance. Such a sweet spirit, and great smile!

Paul was intrigued by the playground, and started exploring it. I took a lot of pictures, and little videoclips that I will upload once I'm back and have a faster internet connection. It was so much fun! It was the first time Paul used a slide!

I questioned Don some more - the man in charge when Heidi is not here - asking him all kinds of things. After a couple of hours we got back into the cars to return home. It had been a wonderful experience.

Back home, I was pretty tired. I had some eggs, and then went to my room where I wrote some emails, hoping to get a chance to connect tomorrow.

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Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Prison Ministry

Every Tuesday they go into a local prison to minister. Paul and I signed up to go along today.

Knowing I'd have to get up early, I already woke up at 4:30 - and it was already light! I slept on and off until it was time to get up. I had a bite to eat, and at 7:45 we were at the meeting point.

We spent some time praying together first. The team leader was one of Heidi's personal assistants. There was also one of the first of Heidi's kids who was interpreting, as well as a Mozambican pastor who is the shepherd for the believers in the prison.

Since there was still room, three more visitors joined us before we left to drive to the prison. It was a 20-minute drive. Arriving, they opened the gates for us, and we parked in the courtyard. The guards had rifles, but the wall didn't have barbed wire or anything on top.

We walked into the building - the guard opened the simple gate for us. Inside, the prisoners had already gathered and were waiting for us. They sang a few songs first, then each one of us introduced ourselves and gave a testimony. I told them I was from Mali, and that Paul was my son. Then I handed it over to him, translating for him. Paul did a great job, nearly preaching as he encouraged them. The other team members praised him afterwards. I was proud of my son!

One of the team members gave a short exhortation, and then the team leader gave a mini-sermon. They sang a few more songs, prayed, and then we left. We got back into the car and returned to the base. Brenda wanted to invite us for a drink, and so we sat down in the chicken shack drinking our cokes etc.

Inside the car, we had started talking first with the pastor, and then with Ernesto, one of Heidi's early street kids from Maputo. We were amazed at how nice the prison had been and so we asked a few questions. We learned that people who've committed minor offenses go there. One guy, e.g, was in a fight and knocked out one of the teeth of his opponent. He got 14 months in prison for that!

While in the chicken shack, we continued talking with Ernesto, asking him questions and telling him about Mali. It was a precious time! We then returned to the visitors' center where we had one hour before our next appointment.

Fellowship Time & Downtown

At 12:30 pm we met with Shara at Heidi's office. Paul and I got in, and we went to the other base (the original one), where Shara lives. She had cooked a meal, and two other ladies were there as well, as well as some Mozambicans. We had a good time together, though I didn't really get to talk to Shara. I talked to another lady though who suggested for IRIS to send us missions school graduates who are called to West Africa/Mali. That would be wonderful!

We then all went to town. They had stuff to buy, and we had to go to the office of the Mozambican airline to try to change our tickets and leave for Maputo on Friday, to visit the base there. They dropped us off, and we ended up in there for more than an hour. The agent had a hard time knowing what to do, and made two mistakes. That's why we just kept waiting and waiting, and she was wringing her hands.

The others came back, but we weren't ready. Since they couldn't wait for us, they left us there, telling us to get a taxi. A few minutes later they called me telling me there was another IRIS car in town right now, and we could go home with them. We walked down to the market, where they arrived a few minutes later to do some shopping. I bought some oranges, and Paul and I both ate one. Paul was absolutely amazed! We don't have orange oranges that contain juice in Mali.

We returned to the base at about 4:30 pm. We had two hours before the next appointment. I was really tired and hoping for a nap, but I couldn't sleep. Instead I kept reading my great Christian suspense novel.

Eating Out & Injury

At 7 pm a group of 8 of us left the base to go out to eat at a restaurant on the beach; one of them was leaving tomorrow, so that was the occasion. We walked all the way to the restaurant.

One time, a car was coming, and so I quickly hoped onto the sidewalk. As I did so, my foot hit the stone of the sidewalk, with the stone going in between my foot and shoe. It hurt like crazy. I hobbled on and felt blood soaking my sandal; reaching down with my hand, my bloody finger confirmed that. I hobbled to the next place with light where one of the others gave me some wet wipes to wipe the blood of. Arriving at the restaurant - after having walked through sand with the injury - I went to the bathroom and washed my foot in the sink. That's when I saw that I had a very deep cut underneath the little toe. I was shocked how far I could open my toe. I wrapped one of the wet wipes around it and returned to the table.

We ordered our food, and it took ages (about an hour) before they served it. We were all getting pretty hungry. Paul loved his chicken. We had a great time eating and talking. And then we had dessert. Paul had strawberry ice-cream, as you can see.

It was pretty late when we left. We still had a group picture taken in front of the lovely beach restaurant. We stopped a pick-up truck and all hopped onto the back for the short way home. Back home, one of the nurses gave me some ointment for the cut to put on. I hope and pray the pain will stop quickly, and that it won't hinder me tomorrow.

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Monday, October 20, 2008

Questioning People

Though I had woken up earlier, I fell back asleep and slowly got up at 8:30 am. I was still tired, and wasn't very fit all morning. I took it easy, taking time to read the Bible and pray.

At 11 am Paul came to my door telling me that there was a service now. Though I didn't feel that well, I decided to go with him.

When we got to the church building, there was nothing going on. We waited for some time, and I started talking to Don, who is leading everything while Heidi is not here. He's been here for a couple of years. We finally found a person to question!

I started asking him question after question, and Paul also added his. We received a lot of information, and were very content. We thanked Don for his time, and walked back to the visitors' center. We had a lunch appointment at 12:30 with Jean & Teisa.

Jean came, but Teisa was at home because she wasn't feeling well. Jean drove with us downtown to a little South African restaurant with a wonderful view of the bay. He and his wife are in leadership here, and to my surprise, Jean told me that he was on that same trip with Todd Bentley in 2003 that I was on. He remembered me, and is even on my mailing list!

We talked about a lot of things, and shared with him about the work in Mali. After talking to him and to Don I came to one conclusion - the challenges here are exactly the same as in Mali. They don't have the answers to our questions either. So while I didn't find answers, I found some comfort in the fact that our challenges and problems are not unique but shared.

Jean took us to the market to buy some groceries before taking us back to the base. I'm thankful he took that time for us.

Paul wasn't full from the little meal at lunch, and opened the can of tuna we had bought at the market. Paul has been amazed at how little the kids get to eat here - especially for breakfast - and how little is in the sauce, and still, everyone is very happy about the food they do get.

Paul and I sat where all visitors usually gather, and we just talked with the others. Paul went off to get a shower, and then I did the same. We were thankful that the water was running.

Maputo Center

When we got off the plane in Maputo, I remembered the IRIS center there. Talking to Don today, I realized it might have been more profitable for us to see the center there - since it's working with street children, and is more organized. Talking to Paul, I was wondering aloud whether we could not leave here a few days earlier and go to Maputo to look at the center there.

I was given a phone number, but couldn't reach anyone all day. At night I caught a person who told me to call a different number tomorrow morning. If they have room at the base in Zimpeto, we will try to change our plane ticket tomorrow to leave here on Friday.

Chicken Shack

Paul and I went to have dinner on the base - it was rice with a sauce made of beans and some plant. I didn't like it and gave it to the kids who were very happy about it. Paul finished it.

Back at the visitors' center, I called Hyacinthe in Mali. We were upset about the news we received. Hyacinthe has not been able to sleep at our center because the whole schedule of the crusade he was busy with had been changed. Since Emma was not sleeping at the center either, nobody was there over night. And he told us that neither him NOR Emma was there on Sunday. So the kids were all alone on Sunday! Oh my! I used up all the money on the card. It's expensive to call Mali from here.

I still needed to call Maputo, so we needed to get more credit for the phone. Though the sun had gone down, they told us you could buy credit in front of the "chicken shed" right outside the center. They had already told us about it, that you can get good chicken there. I had not eaten yet, and wondered, whether I could combine that with it.

Paul and I walked there in the dark, and couldn't get a phone card. A guy working at the chicken shed offered to go and find a phone card for us. In the meantime we ordered one plate of chicken - I didn't have enough money for two on me.

Paul and I sat down to wait. Time passed, and we were starting to wonder whether the guy had gone off with my money. Finally the chicken was ready - it looked very nice! Paul and I shared it, and thank God, the guy came back with the phone card and the change. I gave him a tip for the errand. Paul and I finished eating and returned to the base. Paul started playing cards with the other visitors, while I returned to my room. I'll have to get up early tomorrow morning

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Sunday, October 19, 2008

Church Service

Tonight we had electricity, so that the fans were running all night, and the mosquitoes left me alone. I slept very well - until 7 am when one of the visitors informed me that a group was leaving at 7:45 to go to another church for service. I lay back down and slept until my alarm made me get up at 8:30.

Officially church starts at 9 am, but we were told it starts somewhere between 9 and 10. At about 9:30 we walked over to the church building for the service. We found a bench and listened to them worship in Portuguese and Makua. Worship lasted for about 2+ hours.

Different kid groups did songs with dancing, like the one in the picture. Then the preacher came up, with his translator, and preached for about 50 minutes. It was hard, since we didn't understand a word. I was tempted to leave before it was over, since I was getting very tired.

The preacher ended and they started singing again. Some ladies went forward and knelt down. We finally left at around noon.

We returned to the visitors' center. I was tired, and not up to helping with feeding the villagers. So I went to my room, and ended up not sleeping, though I tried at one point.

Hotel Visit

At 3 pm I asked Paul whether he'd go to the hotel with me to connect to the internet. We were told to never walk around alone outside the base. So we started walking towards the hotel together. It wasn't that far. It was very beautiful, and I paid for the internet at the reception. We then sat down close to the beach, and I went online. The internet connection was extremely slow, and so everything took a lot longer than expected. I was glad when the spam was finally deleted and the 60 good messages downloaded onto my computer. It was 5 pm when I quickly closed the computer and we hurriedly started to walk back to the base. It's not safe to be out at dark.

Back at the base we each went to our room. I read and answered emails offline, and wanted to go to dinner on the base tonight. However, Paul said he wasn't going, and so I stayed as well. It's been a quiet evening of writing and reading and resting.

We're actually here for the "worst" week possible, it seems. First, Heidi is not here (she was supposed to be). Secondly, the school of missions is on a 10-day outreach - the exact 10 days we are here for. Thirdly, there are no other outreaches for that reason. Fourthly, several long-term leaders are leaving Mozambique these days, so I can't meet them. Why did God send us here right now? I hope to find out...

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Saturday, October 18, 2008

Tour Of Base

I didn't sleep as well as I had expected, because there was no power and it was very hot, plus several mosquitoes bugged me all night. Still, I slept in and sure needed it. The picture shows the house with three little rooms that I'm in. I'm in the middle room called "hope".

Breakfast is at 6:30 am, and both Paul and I missed it. They just give out a little roll of bread per person. The picture shows Paul on his bed in his room. He's staying in "self-control". It's a room with 7 bunk-beds.

After having had a bite to eat and drink, we decided to explore the IRIS base. We had a map of the base, and simply walked around, talking to people and taking pictures.

They have 4 houses for the boys - one for ages 0-5, one for 6-10, one for 11-14, and one for 15-18. Each house has several rooms, with 6 bunk beds each. Every room has a "Mom" that also sleeps in there, and is their primary care-giver. These "Moms" stay for 4 days, and then spend 4 days in their home with their family, alternating with another woman.

This picture was taken in front of the house for the smallest children. Though it wasn't even 10 am yet, it was very hot, and the Mozambican Moms were lying in the shade, resting.

They have little things to play with - like playgrounds - at various locations. And Paul finally got to see his elephant ;-).

We talked to some older children who spoke a little English. Unfortunately the smaller children and the ladies didn't speak any English. However, both Paul and I understood a lot when they spoke Portguese.

We stopped by the kitchen where they were preparing lunch for a couple of hundred people. They have an inside place to cook with gas, and when they don't have any, they cook with wood. As you can see, their pots are pretty big!

As we continued our walk, we came to the offices, and saw Heidi's office. It says "Mama Aida" on her door.

We walked by the church, where they were practicing for Sunday, and walked all the way up to the elementary school that was empty. When we had finished our round trip, we returned to the visitors' center. What we had not seen was the children's play room, and the medical center.

The Beach

It was my first time eating in the cafeteria. We got a plate of rice each with a few leavces of cabbage and some thin sauce. No meat. Paul has been to all the meals and tells me that they haven't had meat once so far. We all ate with our fingers, like the Mozambicans.

After lunch, we lay down for a map. When it was 3 pm, I asked Paul whether he wanted to go to the beach. It was time, since the sun goes down at 5 pm here.

So we changed, left the base, and crossed the road to go to the beach. We walked down a little bit to where it was less rocky, and Paul wanted me to go into the water first. Since someone had to watch our stuff, we couldn't go at the same time.

After a few minutes, I came back out and let Paul go into the sea. He loved it! He first saw the sea two years ago when we went to Ghana, so this was his second time. He greatly enjoyed it!

We returned to the base before sundown. I was very tired, and ready to go to sleep early. I decided to eat some of the left-over food from South Africa and then retire. Even though I returned to my room, I started reading a great book and couldn't stop. In the end, I went to bed a lot later than intended.

What I didn't know was that Paul had gone to see the Sat night youth program. I had totally forgotten about it, and was upset that Paul hadn't reminded me or asked me to join him.

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Friday, October 17, 2008

Leaving Johannesburg

My alarm woke me up at 5:30 in the morning. I was tired, but in a lot better shape than last night. I finished packing and tried to call Paul to make sure he was up. He wouldn't answer. I knew there were two options - either he was fast asleep, or he was up and out of the room, and I tended to think the latter. I ended up being right. Paul had gotten up early, and I was proud to find out he had used the hotel's wake-up call!

We were downstairs by 6 am and checked out. The shuttle was leaving for the airport at 6:30 am, and we quickly went into the restaurant for the breakfast buffet. However, in all honest, neither one of was wanted to eat anything - after all, we'd had a big meal last night. Just the thought of eating again... I just had a cup of orange juice and tea, and Paul ate two boiled eggs. How fast a buffet can lease its appeal!

We got into the shuttle and arrived at the airport a few minutes later. We were dropped off at departures and now had the task of finding the Mozambican airline check in desk. We asked and found it. We handed them our ticket and passport, and there weren't any problems with Paul's ticket (see yesterday), praise God! Paul was also worried about weight, but that wasn't a problem either.

We went to the bathroom, and prayed a prayer, before moving on. We went through security - with a very unfriendly officer - and then through the passport check. Then we made our way to the gate - we still had plenty of time. We sat down at the gate and waited. Boarding time came - 7:40 am - and nothing was happening, except that more and more people gathered. It was nearly an hour later before we started boarding, and we left Johannesburg at around 9 am.

Arriving In Mozambique

45 minutes later we arrived in Maputo, the capital of Mozambique in its very south. Everyone had to get off the plane. The heat hit us as we walked down the staircase. We had to walk into the terminal where they gave us a yellow transit card, since we were going on to P. from there. Then we had to go to immigration to get a visa. A nice lady filled the form out for us. She then took our passports, the forms and the money, and took them to an officer. She then called us over there, and we gave them also the invitation letter from IRIS Ministries. Then she told us to sit down and wait.

There were two American ladies, and I had the feeling that they were also going to IRIS - I asked them and was right. It turned out that they're from Toronto, and are even leaving the same day we are. We got talking a little. After some time, they gave us our passports, and we moved on to the waiting area to board our plane again.

The nice lady led us all back to the plane and we got back to our seats. We then had another two hours flying north, close to the northern border of Mozambique, to P.. I was very tired and fell repeatedly asleep, but it was too uncomfortable to really sleep; I had the middle of three seats.

At 1:15 pm we landed in P.. We got off the plane and walked into the tiny terminal where we waited for the luggage. It came pretty late. We grabbed it and stepped outside, where there were lots of people. There was also a group of local women, all dressed up and painted, who sang. You can see them in the background on the picture.

IRIS Base

People from the IRIS base were already waiting for us, and greeted us warmly. Besides Paul and me, there were 4 other people. We loaded into a small van, and made our way towards the base. We stopped at an ATM where I got some cash out, and a few minutes later we arrived at the base.

What impressed us right away was the huge size of the base, and the coast/sea right across the street from it. There are lots and lots of buildings, and many people, black and white. We drove to the "visitors' center" which is where we are staying. It is for short-term visitors like us.

We sat down with two girls from the base who gave us an orientation, explaining everything. They also showed us to our rooms. Paul is in a room with 6 bunk beds, as are the ladies. I'm being blessed by IRIS with a nice, little room to myself. Thank You, God!

We were given keys and water, and they told us that at 4 pm there is a children's service. That was just 10 minutes later. So Paul and I went to get changed and then walked to the outside place where they had it. It took about an hour. They sang for half an hour, and then two ladies each gave a teaching. It was all in Portuguese, so we didn't understand a word - well, we did understand a word here and there.

I was fighting with staying awake, just wanting to go to bed early tonight. When we got back to the visitors' center, there was the lady I had emailed back and forth with, and her husband. I had emailed her my last report which she had enjoyed. It was great talking to them for a few minutes, and they gave me some helpful information. They were most helpful, and gave me a SIM card to use so that I can call back home to Mali. We then called Emma and heard that all is well back home. Abdias even got his new glasses today - the third this year alone, because he keeps breaking them!

I told Paul I would skip dinner on the base tonight, since we have so much food still from South Africa. After dinner, he came to my room, and we went to the kitchen to have some vanilla pudding from South Africa. We talked a little with the other visitors there. I learned that there are about 4 Austrians among the students of the 3-month missions school that just started. Unfortunately, they're all leaving on a 10-day missions trip tomorrow, only coming back the day we leave here, so I won't have a chance to meet them.

I then said good-night to Paul and returned to my room. The power was out but they had turned the generator on. They told me I could not plug in my computer without a voltage regulator, and they're trying to find one for me tomorrow. So I'm writing all this with my computer battery nearly flat by now.

It's 9:30 pm now, and the generator was just turned off, so that I'm lying on my bed in the dark. Unfortunately, it's extremely hot so that I can only hope the city electricity is coming back soon to make my fan turn again. I sure need a good night's rest right now!

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Thursday, October 16, 2008

Buffet Breakfast

I had set my alarm for 8:30, and it was a good thing I did. I slept so well, I could probably have slept another couple of hours. Paul and I had arranged to have breakfast at 9 am. We met at the restaurant and got a table. He was so very excited about his very first buffet! All our American visitors had told him so much about it that his anticipation was great.

Paul started discovering the long row of food - fruit, cereals, eggs of different kind, sausages, bacon, bread, pastries, juices - you name it. He was so excited, taking a little bit of everything. His plate ended up very full! In fact, he was unable to eat it all, but he sure loved every bite of it!

Breakfast took us an hour. We then went upstairs, and decided to get going right away. We had looked at the different options of what we could do in sightseeing. Unfortunately, everything was very costly. The 3-hour city tour was far too expensive. We saw the flier for the zoo, and it seemed that it wasn't that far. Plus, Paul really wanted to see the animals. So we decided to go there.

Johannesburg Zoo

We arrived at the zoo at 11:30 and decided to stay for three hours. A driver from the hotel took us there, and it was extremely expensive, just the transportation! He was going to pick us up again at 2:30 pm.

We got our tickets, a map, and started on the tour of the zoo. The greatest disappointment was that the elephants couldn't be seen - just today! They were cleaning out their area.

I led the way from animal to animal, and Paul loved it. He was amazed at a lot of animals he saw.

He was looking forward to the lions, and there were quite a few of them, including white ones. He stood right by the window, with the lions on the other side.

We also saw crocodiles, all kinds of birds and reptiles, camels, giraffes, hippos, rhinos, horses, all kinds of antilopes, bears, tigers, etc. etc. It was pretty tiring walking around, but Paul's excitement was very refreshing.

We then got to a water fountain - something Paul had never seen before. He was amazed that you just push a button, and water comes out for you to drink!

That reminds me that this morning at breakfast he told me with so much excitement that he accidentally turned the water fausset this morning, and suddenly the water turned hot! He couldn't believe that hot water was actually coming out, but loved it!

We had some icecream on the way, and got back to our meeting point in time. Since those car rides are so expensive, we decided to go straight to the shopping mall instead of going to the hotel in between.

Shopping Mall

We had two hours to walk around the shopping mall - one that has 250 shops. I was so excited to give Paul this experience!

We started at a huge clothes store, and I told Paul he could try on any clothes he wanted to. He put on a few different jackets that he loved - unfortunately they were too expensive.

Then we went to a grocery store - one that was even bigger than the one we went to yesterday. Paul walked around with his mouth open, not believing his eyes. He said he'd go to the UN and tell them to bring a store like this to Mali. He also told me that now he's starting to understand the things I've been saying about Mali being underdeveloped.

We bought some stuff and moved on. We walked by a lot of little shops and came to a movie theater. I would have loved to take him inside. He was amazed that they were showing 10 movies at the same time. Paul has never been to a movie theater, though Bamako has one.

We came to a store that sells jewelry and girly stuff, and to my surprise, Paul was intrigued. He kept asking me what the prices were in Malian money, and picked out several things for his girlfriend Rokia. In the end it was more expensive than he had expected, and he swallowed a little bit.

One final place I absolutely HAD to take Paul was McDonald's. He had never heard of it even, and didn't know what the big deal was. He was a little cautious and skeptical what it would be like, but then he LOVED his Big Mac. It was so cool to watch him! I wished all of you could have been there!

The two hours flew by and it was time to go back to the hotel. Back there, we decided to take a two and a half hour break before having dinner. I can't even start to tell you how tired I was! I was weighing how I should spend this time. I really wanted to take a nap, but I also knew it was my last chance to take care of emails. In the end, I watched the final debate between the US presidential candidates that they repeated on CNN, even though I had a hard time staying away. After it was over, I had half an hour left, and lay down for 20 minutes. Those didn't make much of a difference, and I still had quite a tiredness headache when I got up. I called Paul to tell him to dress nicely, and then I went downstairs to meet him.

Dinner Buffet

Paul had dressed nicely as well. I had decided to do this dinner buffet, because Paul has been so excited about it. They had all kinds of meat, grilling near the pool, and other stuff. Paul tried a little bit of each, having learned his lesson from the morning, to not put too much on his plate. He enjoyed his meal, and so did I. We sat out on the veranda near the pool. There was a slight breeze, and a plane flew over us every 5 minutes. We then called home to Malin on skype, and talked to all our kids, even saw them on video. It was great! Emma said that there aren't any problems at all.

I then started writing my blog, while Paul took pictures of his room and other places in the hotel. We have to leave here very in the morning, just after 6, to go to the airport and fly to Mozambique. Tonight we need to pack - including the food we bought and haven't had an opportunity to eat. It's gonna be a short night.

When I just downloaded my emails, I had one from our travel agent in Bamako. He said that they kept canceling Paul's ticket, but in the end, she was able to make a new reservation. Please pray there won't be any troubles at the airport tomorrow.

I won't have an opportunity to get online with my computer in Mozambique. So you'll probably have to wait till we're back in South Africa Oct 29 to hear from me again.

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Wednesday, October 15, 2008

From Nairobi To Johannesburg

We arrived in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, after 5 am local time, which was 2 am Malian time, which our body was on. We were tired, but the excitement kept Paul going, and it was contagious.

Walking into the terminal, we saw that our flight to Johannesburg was delayed by 45 minutes. Good! We would have been in Jo'burg too early anyway. We found the frequent flyer lounge, and thanks to my gold status, we were allowed into the VIP part of it. There were nice seats, and food for breakfast. Paul's eyes lit up! We had some nice food, and Paul loved every bite of this food he'd never had in his life. After about an hour, we decided to start walking towards the gate. I also wanted to go into some duty free shop and get some good chocoloate "from home". However, after seeing the prices, I decided against it.

We had to go through a security check and give up our water. Inside the hall, we still had to wait quite some time before they let us board. Still, we left at 8:30 am without additional delay.

This time the plane was much bigger, with two aisles. Paul had never been in a plane this size and loved it. However, we were sad to discover that their movie system was out of order - no movies. Plus, we were unable to plug in the headset because that was broken too. On the upside, the plane was only a third full, and so people were lying down everywhere. Paul and I lay down for a while on two adjoining seats. I was very tired, and was finally able to sleep a little bit, though it wasn't very comfortable.

Johannesburg

We arrived in Jo'burg at around 11:30 am. Paul was totally amazed at the huge size at the airport, and it state-of-the-art modern appearance. We went to the bathroom, and I encouraged him to go wash his hands. When he came out, he was laughing. It had taken him a while to figure out you just hold your hands there and the water starts running automatically. I knew he'd love it. But I wasn't expecting his astonishment at the hot air coming out automatically to dry your hands - something I've grown up with!

We lined up at immigration and got through without any problems. Then it was time to look for the hotel shuttle. We looked for information, and then followed their instructions. On the way I exchanged some money into local currency. We found the place all the shuttles leave from, but didn't know whether it would come automatically or would have to be called. I asked a few people, but they said opposing things. After nearly half an hour, the shuttle showed up.

It took us to the AIRPORT GRAND HOTEL for free, only about 10 minutes away. Paul was blown away by the hotel. We were told at the reception that it was still too early to check in, and so we sat down in the lobby. Paul just enjoyed being there. It didn't take too long before my room was ready. We were told they'd call us when Paul room's ready, but they never did.

We went up to my room and decided to use room service to have lunch. Paul loved the room and all its amenities. We turned on CNN and waited for our food. After our wonderful meal, the lack of sleep caught up with us, and we decided to lie down until the call from reception. We slept really well and woke up two hours later when a guy from the hotel suddenly stood in our room. I jumped up, and he left. I still don't know what this was all about.

It was 5 pm and talked about what to do next. First, we needed to inquire about Paul's room. He finally got his room key - he's a floor down, on the very other end of the hotel. We decided to go explore the neighborhood before the sun went down. Coming from the airport, I had seen a sign for a KFC and a sign for a supermarket.

We started walking, and sure enough, we arrived at the supermarkt - a SUPERSPAR. I was amazed to see that Austrian (German?) store here! And I couldn't wait to see Paul's reaction to a Western supermarket.

I wasn't disappointed. Paul walked around his mouth open - at the fruit, and every other food, and just the immense amount of choices. We walked through every aisle, and I just thoroughly enjoyed it! We bought some food for dinner, and for tomorrow, and to take to Mozambique. I even bought some cat food to take back to Mali. As the sun was going down, we walked back to the hotel with our treasures.

I wanted to get online and check my mail, and Paul to walk around a little. The wireless internet works only in the lobby, and so I went downstairs. After an hour, the connection was gone. It was only then that I found out that we were only given one free hour of internet! For additional online time, I have to pay! I couldn't believe my ears. One of the main reasons I chose this hotel was the free internet connection!

Having gotten the most important stuff done, we went back to my room and had dinner. Then Paul returned to his room. I enjoyed taking a wonderful bath in hot water - how I miss that - and watching the news. I then decided to write today's blog before going to bed. I can't wait for a long, quiet night of rest!

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Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Getting Ready To Leave

One last time Paul and I did the time of worship and Bible study with our street kids this morning. We told them we'd be traveling and be back in a few weeks. We're gonna miss them, and I'm sure they're gonna miss us.

Since Emma said he cannot stay the night at our place this week, Hyacinthe is stepping in to help. He'll be coming every night to relieve Emma, sleep at our place, do the ministry in the morning, and then leave when Emma shows up. Pray all that is going to work out.

I was surprised how laid-back this last day was. There was no stress, as we were able to get everything done. At 3 pm - 90 minutes before leaving for the airport - Paul finally go this new glasses. Praise God! I was worried he'd have to go to Mozambique without seeing anything.

When the kids left for school after their lunch break, it was time to say good-bye to them. I'm greatly gonna miss them. There is one regret I have concerning the last few weeks that is having spent little time with them. I was so busy with the translation - but I hope that's gonna change after this trip.

Also, good news concerning Sekouba - he's really changed dramatically since talking to him about different things. It seems he stopped sleeping at night and now spends time with the kids. He's also very eager to learn and study, and when we get back, we'll enroll him in evening school.

Emma arrived at 3 pm, ready to find out what he has to do to manage everything while we're gone. So I explained everything to him. Unfortunately he spends little time with us, so he really doesn't know a thing about how things work. I had already explained everything to Hyacinthe, so I hope together they'll be able to handle things.

Emma wrote everything down, and after I was done, and handed the money box over to him, he said he cannot share handling the money with Hyacinthe - it would have to be either one of them. I told him, since they alternate being here, they'd have to share, otherwise one person would not be able to have money for any expenses necessary. However, he wouldn't comply. I got upset, he got upset. It was time for us to leave for the airport by then. I told Emma I really didn't care, I was leaving now. They could do whatever they wanted. We put our luggage into the car, and said good-bye to those who were present. By then we had both calmed down a little, and I told Emma that I really didn't care whether it was him or Hyacinthe who managed the money - as long as there wasn't a problem of one of them not having access to money.

Paul and his girlfriend Rokia got in in the back of the car, and Jean was driving. It's actually the first time I was in the with him, since he started being our driver a few weeks ago. Paul was extremely excited about the trip, while I was still affected by the problem with Emma. Jean dropped us off, and they continued on to the kids' school to pick them up. They had to wait a little.

Leaving For South Africa

Paul and I showed our passport and ticket and entered the airport. They've been modernizing the airport which was immediately visible. We checked in our bags, filled out the immigration form, and went through the passport check. Then we went into the frequent flyer lounge - a first for Paul. He loved it. We each got a complementary drink, and talked. Paul got talking with his neighbor, a Canadian diplomat. After some time it was time to leave. We went through security and into the gate area (there's just one). I was surprised how few people were there. It was then that I realized that we had left the lounge an hour too early! Oh no! Oh well. We just talked right there and then, and I called Saloum to find out how his theoretical driving exam this morning went - he passed! Now he has to do the practical part tomorrow.

Finally it was time to get onto the plane. They checked our bags, and then we got onto a bus that took us to the plane. They checked our boarding passes, and we got on. Paul was so excited, it was a delight!!!

We were flying with Kenya Airways - a new experience for me. Everything was English and Swahili. Paul was very excited. The flight was 7 hours long, but the plane wasn't very big - just 6 seats in a row, and no individual screens. However, there was a movie on a overhead screen. Paul had slept little the night before, and so he soon fell asleep - after a good meal. I watched the movie, but had a hard time sleeping, even though I was very tired as well. We were sitting in an exit row which meant that you couldn't lower the back of the seat, so we had to sit upright.

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Monday, October 13, 2008

Departure Minus 1 Day

Another morning waking up too exhausted to do the 7 am Bible study. Paul has been great in leading it without me. I sure need a break - and so does Paul. I think we'll just be sleeping in the hotel for two days! In any case, we've been unable to get any contacts there, so it doesn't look like we'll be doing any sightseeing there.

Paul and Jean were off, running some errands, while I took care of things at home. I kept pretty busy all day, getting things ready for our trip, and our time away.

We took some new pictures, now that the metal sheet roof is on. When we get back, we can start using that room. Unfortunately the money is still lacking to continue working on the building, and now the architect wants a lot of money to put his name on the plans for the big building. I gave that money to Kossi today. I also looked at his revised cost estimate for the FIRST floor of the building (sanctuary, offices, medical center), and was shocked; it's $375,000. How discouraging.

I talked to Emma, and Paul's glasses should be done by tomorrow morning. We're praying he gets them before we leave!

Since Emma says he cannot spend the night here this week, Hyacinthe is making the sacrifice to sleep here this week, even though he has an evangelistic crusade going on every night. As soon as he arrives, Emma leaves to go home. In the morning, Hyacinthe can leave as soon as Emma arrives. Pray all this is gonna work out!

Electricity

Today is the first day we had power problems again since Anco installed the additional panels. With the rain yesterday, and rain again this morning and then clouds all day, too little power was created. When I wanted to make Paul a cup of coffee around 7 pm (using the electric kettle), the lights went out. Oh great! With all the work I still have to get done before leaving! And then the generator doesn't start again - what else! Looks like I'll be going to bed early for once!

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Sunday, October 12, 2008

Busy Sunday - Seybou & Family

I was glad not to have to preach today. With the upcoming trip, and lots of things to do, time just flew by and before I knew it, it was time to leave.

Yes, sigh, time to be the driver again. I left the house at 1:45 pm to go pick up Elisabeth and her kids, as well as the street kids that wanted to come to the service. I was surprised to see a good number of kids waiting there. Elisabeth and her kids got ready, and then she told me that Seybou had said that Hama and Sarata could come as well. Had I just heard right?

So we drove to their house. I was hoping not to see Seybou. But as we approached, I saw Seybou standing there. To my surprise, he was smiling at me. He greeted me, and asked how construction was going. I told him we had run out of money. Some silence followed. I forced myself to break it, and asked him if he liked his new job. He said yes. I started feeling more comfortable, and finally said I'd like to talk to him more some time, and to understand, since he had broken my heart.

Hama and Sarata came out and got into the car. Hama was dressed in a beautiful new outfit. Fanta came as well, since she also intended to come to the service - wow, what a surprise. However, just then Seybou's boss called for him to drive him somewhere, and since they live in an unfinished house without windows or doors, someone always has to stay there, and that someone was Fanta.

I was so glad to see my little ones! Sarata kept looking at me, and I kept smiling at her. She didn't say a word, and her gaze hurt my heart., since it seemed to say, why are we not with you?

And then, on the way home, she asked me whether they were spending the night with us. I said, "no, but soon". A short while later Hama asked the same question. How my heart was bleeding!

Hyacinthe Preaching

Back at our compound, we finished getting everything ready for the service, and then we prayed together. Back in the dining hall, Hyacinthe had arrived. He was going to preach at our place for the first time.

Things weren't going very well the first half of the service, and looking back at it now, I have to add it to the top 10 of our worst services.

I had never heard Hyacinthe preach before, and I have to say that it's not at all my style. He gave a simple salvation message - and no one responded. Also, in the middle of the service it started raining really hard.

I had Sarata on my left, and Hama on my right. Sarata fell asleep, and I put her on my lap, while Hama leaned against me and I held him as well. I was blessed to be able to hold them!

After the service, I carried Sarata inside and put her on my sofa. It was still raining hard. I talked to Paul and Hyacinthe, and in the meantime, the rains decreased. It's mind-blowing that it still rains like this in October, when the rains should be over!

Everyone got back into the car - except for the street kids who were gonna spend the night - and we drove back, first to Seybou's house to drop the little ones off. Then to Elisabeth's house to drop the others off, and then I took Hyacinthe to his place, before returning home.

I was totally exhausted by the time I got home! I just wanted to lie down and sleep! But of course, there was work waiting for me. At least Jean was coming back to drive to the bus station at night. I wished he'd stay with us over the weekend!

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Saturday, October 11, 2008

Weekly Kids Program

It was time for our weekly kids program! I use the pre-school curriculum of KIDS IN MINISTRY INTERNATIONAL, which is great. They have different schools, and I do 3 short teachings - one on WORSHIP, one on THE BIBLE, and one on SALVATION. We also do 3 games, before each teaching, and do praise songs.

For the first game I built a tower of coke cans, and they had to destroy it with a little ball.

The second game took a lot of time. I set up a course, where they had to throw a ball inside a barrel, tap a box, let a ball drop into a bucket, and walk around obstacles. However, the challenge was that they had to do it blind, while all the other kids told them where to go and what to do.

This was the first time we played that game - I spontaneously made it up that morning - and I was amazed at how much they loved it. Everyone wanted to be the one going round blind, but of course it all took a long time. Only one kid made it nearly to the end. It was a lot of fun, but my kids were unhappy with me, because I always favored the street kids and didn't let THEM do it. I told them we're here for our special guests, the street kids, so they'll come to know Jesus.

While we were doing the program, Elisabeth was doing the cooking. They had come pretty late, and so the program started late, and lunch was late.

Our third game was musical chairs.

I've found the pre-school curriculum to work better with these kids than the curriculum I used the past 3 years. Their attention span is short, and so I don't lose them with these 5-min teachings. They also memorize a verse with each teaching, and get candy if they remember it later.

The worship teaching was about teaching them to raise their hands in worship, and we practiced that immediately afterwards with a worship song. I was amazed at how well it went.

With one teaching I handed out paper smiles that we put on their hearts. It represented that the Bible encourages us and makes us smile.

At the end of the third teaching I did a salvation call, and many got up to start a life with Jesus. We prayed together, while I was holding a picture of Jesus on the cross.

Then it was time to eat. I was very exhausted by then, because I hadn't been able to fall asleep last night. I was ready for a quiet rest of the day!

While were doing the program, Kossi and his people put the metal sheet up as a roof on the two little rooms on top of the building. Now those can be used too!

Trip To Bus Station

Jean took the kids back to the bus station, and then left for the rest of the weekend. I was not looking forward to having to drive while he was gone. How come he's the only one here to have a day off?

We left to drive to the bus station at our regular time of 8 pm. I was tired, but looking forward to seeing my kids. The floodlights from the nearby stadium could be seen all the way to our property, and Paul informed me that there had been a soccer match between Mali and Tchad tonight. Oh no, I was expecting the worst, and wasn't disappointed. That road needs to be avoided right after a match!

There was police, and thousands of people, and lots of cars. We moved very slowly, and some of the people walking wanted to get onto our car, and were talking to us in a bad way. Some of our street kids were also there, and we told them to go to our property and wait for our return. We were glad when we had made it through.

Before picking up the kids, I still needed to buy some medication for Elisabeth. I couldn't find anything in the first pharmacy, and not in the second either. So I just asked for something to treat her problem and bought that. Thankfully it took care of it.

One of the most beautiful moments is when we arrive at the pick-up point. The smile on the kids' faces, as they run to our car, and their joy as they see me, and come to greet me - there is nothing like it! We loaded them on the back of our truck, dropped of Elisabeth's medication at her house, and continued on home. How tired I was! Still, there was still lots of work to be done...

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Friday, October 10, 2008

Malian Architect

This morning Kossi and I went to see the Malian architect who puts his stamps on all our plans. Our big three-story building is quite an undertaking, with a lot of work to be done that's gonna take a few months, and so we're starting the process now so that we can start building when we get to that.

I gave him the file, and explained everything to him. He's gonna do the work necessary over the weekend, and on Monday we are meeting with him again. From there, the files go to an engineer, who is gonna be even more expensive than the architect. More expenses, and the dining hall isn't even finished yet!

Quality Time

It's Friday, and on Fridays I go to Hama & Sarata's school - but today was the first time. Since there is an affordable good restaurant near there, I decided to have some quality time with one of my boys. Today I was gonna take my oldest with me - Saloum (18).

I drove to the kids' school, where I took a picture of all our 13 (one missing) kids at the school there. Great picture! I said hello to Hyacinthe, and talked to the director briefly. Then Saloum got into the car, and we drove off together. Jean got the kids into the other car and took them to our property for their lunch break.

Saloum and I went to the restaurant where we had a great time together. I learned more about Saloum, his thoughts, good things and bad things, and enjoyed this rare kind of quality time. After our great meal, we drove around the corner to Hama & Sarata's school.

Every Friday, the students present their week's work to the parents from 1:30 pm until 2 pm. I was looking forward to seeing what they'd do.

Sarata's grade did two things; she was part of the English song with actions they sang. She's on the very left in the picture. She was glad to see me, but also somewhat shy to perform in front of me, and so she didn't open her mouth to sing. Her teacher assured me though that she's a smart girl and making much progress.

Hama's grade also did two things, and he was part of the song. The kids in his class put him in the middle and did their dance around him. He seemed totally unfocused, probably tired. The director told me that starting in November, they'll have an extra teacher to help Hama specifically. She said that Hama is making progress, but the teacher cannot give him the attention he needs. Hama sat on my lap the whole time we watched all the presentations.

We then got into the car to drive them home, and Saloum back to school. Saloum told me how Hama & Sarata's parents really don't care about them at all. Hama is all alone at home, while Sarata is with Paul's family. Dropping them off was pretty painful. They live in an unfinished house - no doors or windows, no furniture. Fanta came out to greet me, and every time she sees me, I see true joy on her face. She even hugs me - something she'd only do when I'd come back from a trip. Poor Fanta is all alone in that house all day, and I hurt for her. I wished I could do something to love on her, help her. I wished Seybou came back to his senses. I want to shower them with love until they do. Now that the kids are in school during the day, and I'm done with the translation, I'll have more time, starting November after our trip. Please pray for all this.

Sekouba

Sekouba keeps sleeping at night, and we've had some other serious problems with him. Today Saloum told me that Sekouba is best friends with a neighbor's kid who is a trouble maker and bad influence. He also told me that Sekouba doesn't want to have anything to do with them, the boys, though he was part of them before he left us 2 years ago.

If we weren't leaving on Tuesday, I would fire Sekouba now. But for now we'll have to leave it as it is, until I get back. He could then be working with Kossi, in construction, so that he could stay with us. It would also mean having to find a new night guard.

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Thursday, October 9, 2008

Translation Really Completed

Today at 4:12 pm I FINALLY REALLY completed the translation I've been working on since late August. Thank God! Over the past week it put on hold everything else, as time was up. On Monday - when I thought I was done - they suddenly sent me another 20+ pages that had been "forgotten". In total, I translated about 200+ pages from English to French, all on reaching Muslims, so that I even learned some things. Tonight they told me how much money they're sending me tomorrow, and I was "positively shocked" how much it was. We surely need this money at this time, with all the expenses we've had!

We still need $18,500 to finish the dining hall. I'm gonna use most of that translation money to continue construction work. May the work go on!

Another New Child

A week after going to Bougouni because of Yoro, Paul told me that they were offered a child while there. He had forgotten to tell me about him.He is 3-4 years old, and roams the streets during the day, trying to find food. He lives with his grandparents, who cannot take care of him. When I heard all that, it was immediately clear that we would take him. The challenge now is to go pick him up. Emma doesn't have the time, and Paul and I are leaving on Tuesday. It might have to wait until our return, though Paul's family could take care of him until we get back.

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Wednesday, October 8, 2008

More Children

We've included two more boys as part of the group of children we support that DO NOT live with us. And those are Saloum's brothers Guédiouma and Madou. They are 11 and 7 years old, and the parents have no money to send them to school. Today I paid school for them, and tomorrow it's gonna be their first school day. That means more school supplies to buy, and more tuition to pay. We now have 16 children in total - 7 living with us and 9 from the neighborhood.

Please visit the KIDS pages on the website - INTERN and EXTERN and VILLAGE and STREET KIDS - to find out more about the kids.

Construction Update & Visitors

Not much is happening with construction since we still lack $18,000+ to finish the building. However, I gave Kossi some money to put a roof on the two littlle rooms on the roof. However, there is still no tiles or light in the building.

Those two additional rooms will help us big time. It will allow Paul's family to move in, and will give us additional guest rooms.

We have two visitors coming in November for a week - a well-known Austrian evangelist (Erwin Fillafer) and his assistant. We'll be evangelizing in the villages and our neighborhood, with our big 4th anniversary celebration on Sunday (Nov 30th).

After that, our next visitors will be our good friends Christine & Wolfgang in January. They have been amazing supporters, and it's a joy to have them with us for a week.

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Monday, October 6, 2008

Translation Completed!

For the past 6 weeks I've been working hard on translating several big files for another ministry in Mali, in between all the other work and things going on here. Tonight at 11 pm I completed it! Praise God! I did it because I enjoy translating and because we need the money. I told them I'm traveling next week and would like to have the money before then.

It's just 20 minutes after I wrote this first paragraph, and I just had an email that they found out there is yet another 27 pages that have not been translated yet. Looks like there is more work to do (sigh).

First Day In School

Today was the first day of school for my 7 boys. The plan was to do our time of worship and Bible study from 5:45 to 6:30 am, but when I got up, I realized that the sun hadn't risen yet, and since construction stopped a month ago, we don't have electricity in the dining hall; no power, no meeting.

Instead, I encouraged my boys to do their personal time with God. At 6:30 the sun was up, and they had breakfast. At 6:45 they left to go to school. Jean was driving them. He dropped them off at 7 am, and then went to pick up Hama and Sarata and drop them off at school, before returning home.

In the meantime, Paul and I were leading the time of worship and Bible study, and then the street kids had breakfast. Shortly afterwards Jean came back and left again with the street kids to take them back to the bus station. Jean and Paul then continued on to take care of a long list of errands.

My three "old" boys had been working hard all September to get their French level up and start in as high a grade as possible. These past 2+ years it was I who taught them at home. Hyacinthe who taught them and who is also teaching at their current school said they'd start in 3rd grade. Souleymane has been in school since the beginning, running the normal course of school life, and is repeating 7th grade, because last year's school was so bad as well as his grades.

Out of our 3 new boys two are in 1st grade, and one in 2nd grade. And then we have three more kids there, all from Paul's family - one in 2nd grade, one in 1st grade, and one in kindergarten.

They loved their first day in school. My three old boys loved especially when their teacher decided at 11 am that they should go to 4th grade! Right now they are very motivated to work hard and work their way up through a few more grades until the end of the academic year. Saloum in particular told me how much he loved it in school - and he's already 18 years old, sitting in a classroom with the little ones.

It's costing a lot of money to buy all the books and notebooks etc. for 10 children in school. And today Saloum told me that his two younger brothers cannot go to school because the parents can't afford it. I'd really like to see whether we cannot send them to school as well. Of course that means paying tuition for 2 more kids. We urgently need new sponsors for all these boys!

My boys have school from 7:30 to noon every day, and then from 3-5 pm (except Wed and Thu). Today Jessica - our helpful nurse - was so kind to take them all to a clinic where they do HIV tests for free. We get the results on Wed. The three new boys also need to be tested on the whole; at least one of them has a medical issue.

Everyone came back home around 5:30 pm. I had really enjoyed the quiet day, making much progress on the translation, though I was feeling somewhat lousy. My nose is still congested; I think it's the sinuses.

Street Children

I'm falling in love with "my" street children. We now have a considerable group that sleeps here every night, and we're forming relationships with these boys. We talk and laugh together, and get to know and love them.

Tonight, it started raining hard (the rainy season should be over by now) just as Jean and Paul were on their way back with the street kids. The poor guys got soaked on the back of our truck! However, I was really glad to know they'd sleep in a dry and warm place tonight. It was fun to see them all totally wet, and they were laughing and joking around with me. I thank God for my kids, and pray that many will know and follow Him. I also pray that we'll be able to actually give a home to many of these street children. We definitely need to find a way to be able to take in children even without parental consent. It's hard-breaking to see Yoro come every night to sleep here, and then go back on the street, when he was supposed to be one of our kids, having his first day in school today.

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Sunday, October 5, 2008

Family Picture

With our new family members, it was high time for a new family picture. However, Jean was gone for the weekend, so he's missing on there.

Sitting from left to right: dog Uppy, Souleymane, Abdias, Dramane, Moise, Amadou
Standing: Claudia, Paul, Sekouba, Saloum, Fousseni

Day Of Prayer For Israel

Every first Sunday of October is the DAY OF PRAYER FOR THE PEACE OF JERUSALEM, when thousands of churches worlwide, and millions of believers, stand up to support their brothers and sisters in Israel and pray for the people of God.

I used the sermon notes supplied by the the organizers of the event. On my last trip I had bought a few flags, including an Israeli flag, that I put over the pulpit. I then preached from Ruth, how we need to be like her, standing with Naomi, loyal to her, faithful in good times and bad times.

As you can see, our dog Uppy also participated. I'm actually pretty sick and tired of her, because she loves me most for some reason (skin color?). She keeps jumping on me, hurting me and making me dirty. I cannot go outside without her "attacking" me.

We didn't have many people in the service, and most kids left in the middle of the sermon. Hyacinthe is now coming every Sunday, since he'll be joining us some time in the future, and he'll be preaching while we're in Mozambique. He also brought another guy who enjoyed the service.

After the service, I talked to Hyacinthe for quite some time, because he was in a challenging situation. I was able to help some.

Also, we were glad to hear that Rosalie can come to cook every day - thank God!

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Saturday, October 4, 2008

Visits

We had so much to get done that we decided not to do the children's program today.

I was pretty tired because at 3:30 am the constant knocking of one of the children inside the locked dining hall woke me up. I was hoping Sekouba (our night guard) would answer, but nothing was happening. So I finally got up, got dressed, and opened the door so the kid could go use the toilet. Then I went to find Sekouba. I found him on the roof, very close to the door where the knocking had been, fast asleep. I shook him to wake him up. I was angry. Just two nights earlier, when Emma and Paul returned from Bougouni at 2 am, they could not get in because he was sleeping. Paul had to climb over the wall to get in! What kind of guard is that?

I spoke to Sekouba and told him very clearly that this could not go on like that. He's now required to stay in his room from 9 am through 4 pm to sleep.

One of the things I needed to do was two visits. One, Elisabeth. Elisabeth has been sick for 9 days and unable to come cook lunch for us, which has been hard. Paul is doing the cooking, with Souleymane helping him, and often they have lunch at 3 pm and dinner at 10 pm. It just can't continue like that.

When we arrived at Paul's father's house, there was Sarata running towards us. I was so happy to see her! I picked her up, and wouldn't let her go anymore for the rest of our time there. She put her arms around my neck, and I put my arms around her little body, holding her tight. They told me that Hama was home alone with his parents.

As for Elisabeth, nobody really knows what's wrong with her. We thought she'd gone to the clinic, but that wasn't true. Someone had given her medication, though, but it wasn't making much of a difference. I prayed for her, and told her I have faith she'll be fine by tomorrow.

Only reluctantly did I let go of Sarata, but we needed to continue. I had also given Etienne and Sama everything they needed for the start of school on Monday - books, notebooks, pens, etc.

From there we went on to see Jessica, the nurse who's helping us out when needed. We were talking about the new kids, and that I'd like them to be tested for basic things. We decided that Jessica would take them during lunch break on Monday and take them to have a free HIV test taken; another day the three new kids will be tested for other stuff, which is not free.

After a short visit to the market, we returned home. We parked the car and walked to the next person to visit - Rosalie. Rosalie is a faithful member of our church, and a neighbor. We talked about her possibly being able to help with cooking breakfast and dinner, and now we were gonna ask her. School starts on Monday, and the kids need to leave the house at 6:45 am - with a full stomach!

We found Rosalie and her two youngest sons. She said that her husband wasn't there. She was extremely surprised to see us - I had never been to her house before. She was also happy to have us visit. We talked for a while, and then we told her about her need. She said she'll talk to her husband to find out whether he'll let her do it or not. Unfortunately her husband never comes to our service, though he's also a believer.

Losing Yoro

Last Thursday Paul and Emma went to the town where Yoro said he was from. They did some research to very his story, and found that he had not totally told the truth.

It was true that his parents are both dead, but he'd actually lived with an uncle these past few years, until he ran away last year. We asked him why, and he said because his aunt was beating him all the time.

In the meantime our research continued by phone. We talked to his uncle's son who told us, he was actually coming to Bamako on Sunday, and that he wanted to take Yoro back with him. Now we were in a dilemma.

I simply could not be responsible for a child going back to such a situation, but I didn't want to lie to those people either. And the uncle is even a policeman.

We had only one choice that I could think of - let Yoro return to the street. That way when the uncle called to talk to us, we could say that Yoro wasn't with us. It broke our hearts, but we didn't know what else to do.

Driver Jean & Kids

Jean had asked to have the second half of Saturday and first half of Sunday off, and I had granted it. At the time I had not thought about needing someone to pick up the kids at night, and take them back in the morning.

So I had no choice, as the only one with a driver's licence. It was my first time actually picking up the kids from the bus station to take home with us. I loved seeing them wait for us there. By now I know most of them by name, and love seeing their smiles, as they greet me. I'm becoming attached to them.

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Thursday, October 2, 2008

Matt's Departure

Like every morning we had our time of worship and Bible study at 7 am. Since it was Matt's last morning, I asked him to give a little teaching. He did great, sharing what Jesus said about little kids and how to treat them.

The morning passed pretty fast, and before we knew it, it was time to say good-bye. Hyacinthe stopped teaching the kids at 11 am, which was perfect timing. Matt had 9 T-shirts with him - the remaining ones of his sale; he actually created them himself, with a map of Africa, a giraffe, and a heart where Mali is, to sell them and raise money for his trip to Mali. They loved the T-shirts.

Then I gave him our good-bye present - a 2008 calendar in Bambara, Soninke and French. And we all signed on there. I also gave him a dozen Todd Bentley teaching CDs, since he talked about wanting to learn more from him.

Together we walked to the car where Matt said good-bye to each kid. Paul was also coming to the airport, and I was driving. It was hard for Matt, and he was on the brink of tears. We chatted on the way to the airport, and then it was time to unload and finally say good-bye. We always have to be quick at the airport here, since the police is very picky about cars stopping there. We waved good-bye to Matt as he walked towards the terminal.

As we drove off, Paul was very quiet, and tears ran down his cheeks. He told me that it hurt very badly, more than it had with any other visitor we've had before. Some time later I started distracting him with my report of my conversation with Enoch earlier today that really concerned me because it seems that he's still not getting it. We agreed that if nothing changes this month, we'll have to stop supporting him financially.

Checking Yoro's Story

Paul accidentally took Yoro back to the bus station with the other kids in the morning, and so Emma and Paul left by themselves for his village, a 2-hour-drive away. They were going to ask the village chief, and try to find out more about his family, and see whether he's said the truth.

Well, it turned out to be quite a challenge. While I told them not to leave without the kid, they insisted they didn't need him. Thankfully the boy showed up at our house in the afternoon since he had heard that we were looking for him. So several phone conversations followed, with him trying to explain to Emma where he used to live, and what people know him. It was about 8 pm before they left there, and now it's after 10 pm and they're still not back. In the last phone conversation Emma told me that most he had said was correct, but not all of it. So I'm curious to hear what they found out.

The New Kids

Saloum is turning 19 in January, and in the process of transitioning from a kid to a team member. So I put him in charge of the new kids, to help them settle in and learn the rules.

Well, tonight we had to all talk together because things are not going so well with the new kids, especially the two older ones. Even I had already noticed that Dramane's behavior had changed since moving in. And Moise was also starting to cause trouble. Both Moise and Dramane don't like obeying, and show disrespect towards their elders. At this point they wouldn't dare that with me, but they're already doing it with Saloum.

So I told them very clearly that they are in their probation period, and if they can't obey and respect people, they'll simply leave the house again. I also told them I was concerned about their sudden disinterest in the Lord. Did they only participate in the Bible study to be taken into the house?

Bad News

Today I had an email from Mozambique that Heidi Baker's itinerary has changed, and now she won't be in Mozambique when we are there. :-(. They were asking whether we want to postpone our trip.

However, 12 days before the trip we cannot postpone it any more, it's all set. The tickets are paid, Paul has got his visa and shots, and the hotel in Johannesburg where we are in transit is booked. Emma is gonna move in for those two weeks, and Kossi is gonna help as well, plus Hyacinthe when he's available.

Our main purpose of going is to see how they operate their center, their policies, rules, way to do things, and learn from them for our center in Mali. Meeting Heidi was the second thing on the list, and I'm disappointed it's not gonna work out. But I believe we'll still be able to fulfill the purpose of this trip and come back inspired.

Paul is very excited about the whole trip - only his second time outside the country, and the first time going that far. It's a 7 hour flight east to Kenya, then 4 hours south to South Africa, and then 4 hours back north to Mozambique.

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Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Homework For Street Kids

Every morning at 7 am, we have 45 minutes of worship and Bible study together with the street kids. After two Bambara songs, we continue our study of the gospel of Mark, doing the next paragraph.

Yesterday we had talked about Jesus sending out his disciples to do what He was doing, and I encouraged the kids to go find sick people and pray for them. Today I was asking who had done just that.

Two had - 13-year-old Yoro said he laid his hand on himself, prayed, and was healed. The other one was one of the older kids who said that he had found a person suffering from Malaria. He prayed for him, and he was healed. Praise God! Now our street kids are doing the works of the ministry!

Another Family Member?

Which leads me to Yoro. He's been sleeping here every night for about a week now. And we've been amazed at his interest and keen mind, as he actively participates every morning and knows answers. So I talked to Paul about him, and he was thinking the same thing I was: let's interview him.

As he told us his story, Paul's heart was deeply touched, while I was somewhat suspicious whether he was telling us the truth. Last year his father died after being operated several times. A few months later she died also. He was the only child, and there weren't any other relatives. Somebody gave him money for a ticket to Bamako (the capital) to try his luck there. He's now been on the street for over a year.

When he was done talking, Paul just hugged him and held him; of course, they don't know what hugging is in this culture, and all our new kids still need to learn it.

Paul and I agreed that he fits exactly the kind of kids we take in, and if his story checks out, we'll take him as well. School starts on Monday, so this is the time. Tomorrow Emma, Paul and Yoro are gonna drive to his village to check things out - a 2-hour-drive one way.

Immediate Flood

It being Matt's last day, the plan was to go out to eat at the other end of town, and to go to the supermarket there, which I desperately needed to do.

In the morning, Matt accompanied Paul and Emma to the eye doctor where Paul had an eye exam and got a new prescription for glasses. I'm glad he's gonna see better again soon, and in time for the Mozambique trip.

The way the day went, it was evening before we left for the supermarket. I asked Paul whether he wanted to go along, and so the three of us went. It's a one-hour-trip one way.

Just as we left the house, it started to rain very heavily. I was surprised how heavily, since this is supposed to be the end of the rainy season. We proceeded cautiously, and things got worse and worse. And unfortunately I had taken the smaller car - without 4x4, and it's very low. I was praying for protection from accidents.

We stopped at the tailor's first to pick up the clothes Matt had made. Everything was under water. Paul and Matt jumped out of the car and ran inside, and then came back the same way.

We continued on downtown, and I was shocked at what we saw there. The other lane was entirely under water. One of the little green buses (public transportation) was stuck or had some problem, and the driver was actually DIVING underneath to fix it. Would our car make it through this?

Unfortunately we weren't really able to take a good picture - this one shows a little bit. It was like driving through a lake - water everywhere. Thankfully our car didn't cause us any trouble. We made it safe and sound to the supermarket, and thanks to the rain, we got one of the few parking spots there.

Last Supper With Matt

I got catfood - the only place in town to buy it at - and got some food for our dog Uppy, hoping she'll it that (she eats very little). I also got some groceries and other necessities. From there we continued on to my favorite restaurant in town - Broadway Café.

A Malian who had lived in the US for a few years opened it, and it has great food for great prices. He also makes his own icecream. We had great food, and enjoyed our time of fellowship together. It was getting late, and we knew that "our" street kids were waiting for us to come pick them up. At 9 pm we left there to drive home. We had spent wonderful last few moments together.

Back home I was shocked to find out that everyone was still up, and that they had not had dinner yet. It was 10:15 pm before they ate! No breakfast, lunch at 3 pm, and dinner at 10 pm - that's what you get when you don't have a cook. We desperately need to find one, especially with school starting next Monday. Our kids will have to be in school by 7:30 am every morning.

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