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That's right - I'm leaving town! Well, not yet, and not for good, but I am leaving town for a while in November because I'm going to be joining a number of other guys for the Newfrontiers Prayer and Fasting (Southern Africa) in Harare, Zimbabwe! I wasn't sure I'd be able to make it because of the cost of flights, but thankfully those guys at Mtubatuba are travelling in a big van/small bus and have space to take me and two others from my church (with another 6 or so going by plane) for the measly cost of only R200 - which is about £15. Durban to Harare, if you didn't know, is a very long journey by road and will take probably about 16 hours, maybe more. I'm a fan of road trips though, so it'll be nice to drive through the country and get a better feel for Southern Africa.

If you've not really noticed recently, Zimbabwe is in a right mess. It's politically unstable and economically devastated. You simply can't count on finding any working infrastructure (apart from roads and maybe a few other things) in once rich and efficient Zimbabwe. Local money is practically useless as you need suitcases of it to buy anything, and more than that it's value goes down by the hour. One of the contributing factors (and results - cause and effect are often one and the same in economics) is that if you do trade something useful like bread for money, you might find there's nothing you can spend the money on because the shops are empty. Food is scarce, as is petrol, so just going there presents a challenge. We're taking a large trailer with us, partly filled with fuel we'll need for our driving in Zimbabwe (refilling at the side of the road is going to be interesting!), partly with our stuff, and the rest filled with whatever we can take to help the church in Zim. We are literally taking stuff like sacks of maize and drums of oil - absolute staples. We also need to take all the food we're going to eat (obviously not during the fasting times!) with us, and make sure that it stays decent from the time we leave on Tuesday 6th November, to when we come back on Saturday 12th.

Prayer and Fasting is going to be great though. It'll be a really good chance to meet lots more people, get a taste of a distinctly African setting, get a taste of what God's doing across Southern Africa, and a chance to see Zim. I hope to establish some new relationships, and strengthen some existing ones with people in Zim, hopefully ones that will last well into the future.

Anyway, please pray for us particularly at this time because we're i) Going into an unstable country that's full of difficulties (both serious and not so serious) and potentially dangers, ii) Wanting to be free and able to seek God and strengthen one another and the church in Zimbabwe at this difficult time.

I look forward to telling you more on my return!