Carols in Glenwood

As it's the end of the month and we've got bandwidth to use, I thought I'd show you some of the pics from our carol service last week. Without further ado:

Ding Dong!

Wow.... the week has flown by, and at the same time been one long dragging time. Being busy usually makes that happen - both not being conscious of the passing of time and feeling like a lot of time has passed. Since it's been nearly a week now, I thought I'd just write something for all you eager people out there! :o)

Yesterday (Saturday) was our Christmas Carol service. You may wonder why, a month before Christmas, we did such a thing, but if you want people to come you've got to do it early here! Students all leave to go home this week, lots of others are going on holiday too. As Christmas is in the summer holidays here things hit a big lull in Dec/Jan, so last night was one of the last chances to do something.

For weeks now I've been chasing, plotting, planning, arranging, etc to try and make the whole thing fit together. Some of the things that made it difficult were:

• Wanting to do a large (1,300) outdoor event in a city where it often and heavily, so always having to have a backup plan.
  
• Arranging participation from several groups, including our guys who came down from Johannesburg.
• Having a myriad of people to speak to before we could confirm anything.
• A myriad of people all wanting to add their own little bits.
• A completely unrealistic budget.
• No opportunity to do a "dress rehersal".

We did switch to Plan B and do it indoors, which reduced space and meant we had to change venue. Good thing we did though because although it was dry during the day it poured in great bursts all through the night!

Apart from it being a huge amount of work, it was a great evening. Colin Vincent, and the guys from Jo'burg, were just excellent. They put together a very tight mix of carols, christmas songs, and general fun. Their musical variety was great, doing We Three Kings (for example) traditional, then rock and roll, the reggae, then opera, then thrash metal! Colin had a different wig each time to be Elvis (King 1), Bob Marley (King 2), Pavarotti (King 3 - actually no wig, but a pillow stuff under his shirt), and then a random Led Zepellin type. The kids who performed in the school choirs loved the whole thing, some of them jumping up and down like they were about to explode! They'd come and done very nice, but very straightlaced carols, and to see Colin and the guys go wild like this, switch quickly into songs in Sotho, Zulu, Afrikaans, and get people dancing, etc was just too much for some of them, I think!

While not everything was according to plan, it ended up really going well and with a number of people introduced to Hope Church, the Glenwood Forum (the neighbourhood group we're working with comprised of schools, churches, businesses, community groups, municipality officials, etc), and most importantly Jesus. After a long evening, it was time to pack up, eat pizza, then sleep!

So this morning I was up early again (after a week of late nights, early mornings, and long days) to play bass in church. I've never been such a fan of playing bass, but it was real good fun this morning actually and I think I might end up being a part-time bassist by the time I come home!

The week included other late nights when on Tuesday myself and Themba spur of the moment decided to go down to the ABSA stadium and watch SA play Canada in international football. Tickets for this international game were a mere R25 (less than £2!) and we had a hoot. Though there were only about 3,000 there, the atmosphere was huge with the Bafana Bafana (SA) supporters going crazy all the way through. SA won 2-0 in a fairly good, pacey game. We were just 4 rows from the front, near the halfway line, which made it great to watch. During the game a guy walked past with a clear plastic bag full of wrappers, and packets, and I put my empty Coke cup in there as well. He swiftly got it out and gave me a dirty look, and got on with selling his crisps and sweets to the crowd! Such a funny moment - I thought he was collecting litter!

Wednesday night was not such a great evening for football though. After our Connect group meal, and watching the amazing lightning storm overhead (Literally the thunder shook the roof! A bolt actually hit a petrol store a few miles away down at the coast and over the next 56 hours or so 7 million litres of petrol burned!), a few of us Brits sat down to watch the England Vs Croatia match. It started at 10pm here, so it was a late night for us. What a bad night to be English! It was terrible! It's got to be one of the worst England performances I've ever seen, and we certainly did not deserve to go through. May it give us a good kick up the behind and make us do something about the last 4 years of miserable play.

Thursday - band practice, followed by a birthday party for Mark, our FYP from Cape Town who's leaving this week. Just another long day!

Friday - Dashing about getting everything ready for the Carol Service. Started at 7:30am and didn't get home until 11:30pm, all to be up again the next morning!

So what's going on now? Sleep? No chance! We're playing football at 4pm today so that we can pick a team for the debut of Hope United - our 5 a side team playing in a league downtown, starting tomorrow at 7pm. I'll let you know how it goes!

Stay in touch, folks! Always nice to hear from you all!

The First Of Many

Not much to say today except that I got a pleasant surprise. I'd just gone to pay my speeding ticket (groan - what was funny was the place at the police station where they handled it. It was properly like a bank with 15 or so teller windows ready to take your cash!) when I got a message saying that my car was already done! Sweet! So I phoned back and found out that the good news didn't stop there - it was done quick because they'd managed to source the parts locally and from a different supplier and that meant that the cost was R1650, not R3300, i.e. half price! Given that there's a fixed labour charge in there (doesn't change no matter where you get the parts from) I'm amazed at what the difference in price there was for the parts! If I'm going to need to be getting parts from Saab factories rather than using some generic aftermarket parts I think there's another good reason for selling Saabine. I am still very much thinking to do that and getting something a bit more simple. I've been driving someone else's car while they were away in Mozambique and it's an ancient Ford Tracer - essentially an old Mazda badged as Ford. Even though it's definitely not a great car in some ways it felt a lot better to be driving that than a nice Saab. Partly because it wasn't mine, and partly because it was a pretty low value car I just didn't really have any reasons to be anxious about it at all.

So if I do go ahead and sell I'll probably be looking to do a private sale. A trade in is just going to get me ripped off unless I'm forking out a whole lot more cash into a newer car. What would be great is if I could get a reasonable price (R40,000 is not unrealistic) and then downgrade to something at say R30,000 and make a capital gain. Will let you know how it goes!

Oh yeah.... why the title? May it be the first of many unexpected providences that work for me in this situation!

What Happened Next

Oh, I almost forgot to tell you about what happened after Zim!

You may remember I went into some detail about my bag at the beginning of the last post. Well, it turns out that about an hour from the Zim border I suddenly remembered that my keys were all in there! ARGH! Okay, so not a mega problem as they were coming back with Drew (though it made it much more urgent to confirm that the bag was actually there!), but it did mean that we had to come back to Durban with the guys from Mtuba when we arrived back. That meant not only waiting around, but also leaving my car in Mtuba! I had to go back with them when they were going back the following day, and then stayed overnight with the leader of the Mtuba church, Antony Eastes. That was a bonus to that whole debacle because it meant I could build some connections further afield.

But in between all that I finally arrived home, after going around the houses and scrounging lifts, to find that the power was completely out at home. Not only that but it had been out for a while as the alarm (which has backup battery) was completely off. I looked in my fridge and voila - room temperature stuff in the fridge and the freezer section! I had actually cooked a huge batch of bolognese (and pretty good too, if I do say so myself) before I left and so there was loads of that in the freezer that just went to waste. Lots of stuff in the fridge smelled a bit dodgy, and so I sighed at the extra hassle and expense incurred there.

Then after church on Sunday just as I'm leaving to go to Mtuba, Gary hands me a piece of mail that's been delivered for me - a speeding fine! I think it must have been a temporary hidden camera and it's placed in a zone that goes between 60 and 80 (kph) on a massive four lane dual carriageway. Anyway, I'm driving down it in the middle of the day and the thing is empty, and I got caught at 90 (which happens very fast in my Saab - particularly if you're going to see the guy who sold it to you about a problem, as I was!). So to add to my parking ticket I've now got a speeding fine for R700 (about £50!). Just more good news!

So anyway, Monday morning I left Mtuba and started heading home for Durban. About halfway into my journey a loud noise that sounded like bursts of high pressure air started coming from my car! Was the turbocharger going crazy? Well, it seemed to recede a bit at lower speed though there was some definite weird noise continuing. I pulled over at the next junction and it was clear I was in the middle of nowhere. Looking around the car I found that a piece of exterior trim that guards like the oil sump and such and tucks in behind the front bumper was hanging down and dragging along the floor. Okay, so not a bad problem, but I couldn't pull it off, and it wasn't easily going back in. Eventually I managed to bend it about and get it to sit behind the bumper again, and though the fixing screws were missing, it was in with enough force that it shouldn't come out again. I continued home at 60mph just to be safe and was just glad it was nothing major.

But, I did notice a very slight droning noise as I drove. I thought it was probably nothing and I was just paranoid from the latest incident. However it did definitely get worse as I went along and about 100km from home I was sure I had a problem. I noticed the noise disappeared if I steered slightly to the left, though by the end I was steering a lot more before it stopped. I had thought perhaps something was rubbing against the wheel and turning it removed the contact. I got home and jacked the car up but found that actually there was nothing like that happening. Sounds like knackered wheel bearings, I thought. So I book it into a recommended service centre (the guy who sold me the car never managed to track down the guy who could give him the number for an independent Saab specialist, though when I saw him in the gym he of his own volition asked me why I didn't bring the car in for sorting out this remaining oil problem - which was an encouraging sign. Still nothing much has come of that suggested helpful attitude) who said they could only look at my car at the end of the week. After a couple of hours they phone me back, confirm it is wheel bearings, which means both right and left need to be replaced (if one's gone another is not far off), and the parts need to be ordered from the factory outside Durban, so they'll probably arrive Tuesday or Wednesday, which means I might have my car back by Thursday, and for the princely sum of R3300 (about £250). Sigh! I've considered selling it, and might try to do so via private sale, but no option seems particularly good at this moment except for perhaps God directing a thief to take my car and roll it off a cliff so I can get the insurance payout!

Paul says in Philippians,

"I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me." (4:12-13)

And,

"My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus" (4:19).

It's definitely the sort of promise that keeps me from being fearful and wondering if I'll be coming home early because of such hinderances.

While I don't mention all of this to pressure anyone into helping me out, or dangle it out there as a veiled attempt to solicit help, I do openly welcome all your support in prayer, finance, friendship, encouragement, etc. Part of me wants to not mention things like this because it feels like cheating to call on a security other than God to provide (of course I know he can and generally does provide through people, but I'm talking about the difference between relying on people and relying on God to give you people who will help you). Part of me thinks that's silly and recognises that Philippians 4:19 is actually a statement of the once needy Paul given to the church that had sent him gifts, saying that whatever lack they had incurred through generosity, God had all ability to supply to them as necessary in His good time. Paul also writes in 2 Corinthians 1 that "We don't want you to be uninformed of the hardships we went through". All in all I feel it more an antidote to spiritual pride (my faith being big enough to face this with nothing but God and receive all I need from Him direct) than an ungodly antidote to fear to talk like this and express a willingness to be helped. Each must do as they feel is right before God, and that is how I want to leave this - open, vulnerable, and thankful. Really what I want to ask is that you pray for me that God provides both means to sort out ongoing problems (not for convenience, real problems that make it difficult to live and work here) and any future ones, though it'd be nice if my car just worked from now on, for example!

Thanks for all your support, comments, emails, prayers, etc. It's great to be in partnership with you all.

Into Zim - Part Three (Out Of Zim!)

Well, I've described to you guys something of the journey to Zim and the Church and prayer and fasting. Let me tell you a little about the journey home, what happened after, and show you a few more pics.

While most delegates were staying on for the Friday and Saturday with Dave Devenish for Cross Cultural mission training, we were leaving right after breaking our fast so all our stuff had to go to the church on Friday morning. Though it was a short stay, it was a long trip, and there was a reasonable amount to carry - especially with the obligatory fat camera bag! After the session finished I went to where I had left all my stuff and noticed though that one of the bags wasn't there. For the most part I wanted to find it because I wanted the spoon that I had in there so I could eat the food everyone was being served after not eating for a day and a bit. I couldn't find it, nor could I find Josie whose car I was betting it was in, so eventually I had to just settle down and eat with my fingers as all the Africans did out of choice! We had a stiff maize pulp type stuff called pap, served with a bit of meat and vegetable stew - with the bones and such still in there, of course. The idea is that the pap is strong enough to allow you to scoop up some of the rest of the stuff, but I think I needed some more practice.

Anyway, after chowing down I was thinking I'd have to leave my bag. It wasn't a big deal - Drew could always pick it up and bring it home with him and all that was really in there was a spoon, a map, blanket - non essentials. Just as we were about to leave I spotted Josie and we looked in her car and found nothing. The bag must have been left at her house, but again, Drew could get it, and at least now Josie knew what to do with my things.

So off we went. Phil, the FYP from Mtubatuba who had organised the trip, was resourceful enough to get some money changed and picked us up some big, flavourful donuts from the Spar across the road. Zimbabwe didn't seem so bad any more! I felt a little more at ease to get my camera out, mostly because I knew what to expect, and shot a few things from the moving vehicle. Occasionally you'd see a policeman, or worse a soldier, and you'd quickly hide the camera, but for the most part you could snap if you just were very aware of what was around you. At one point I almost didn't notice some soldiers, but did spot them in time to drop my camera out of sight. Going past the Zimbabwe Broadcast Commission though one of the ex-Zim guys told me, "Here you don't even want your camera to be seen, let alone be seen taking pictures. In a coup the first thing people go for is the media, and they're very touchy about it here." I obliged, knowing it wasn't just my own neck on the line with all this.

The black and white picture is a township type area we passed on the outskirts of Harare. Inner Harare is fully urban, even if some of it is a bit run down (though most of it looks quite respectable), but in the outskirts you do get some of the more cramped, smaller, simpler housing.

With petrol in short supply and expensive it's not surprising a lot of people ride bikes, and you can see a couple of seperate occasions where I saw people just fixing bikes, seemingly with little or no tools.

The folk in white are devotees of what are called aposotolos, or something like that - an equivalent of apostle. They're a quasi Christian group who have a "holy day" on either Fridays or Saturdays, and they just gather a small group in open space and teach. They incorporate a lot of traditional and tribal African spirituality into the Bible, as many groups of people do here. Biblical Christianity is often viewed as a white man's relgion with a white Jesus. Lots of people have latched onto biblical elements that fit better with their own culture, e.g. circumcision, sacrifice, etc, and so have an OT type thing going on along with belief in the "ancestors" and that sort of thing. Breaking the stereotype that Jesus is some western God is one of those major things one has to deal with in evangelism here, even among a culture that has a lot of churchgoing and Christian influence.

You can also see a picture of a typical crowd. There didn't seem to be any clear reason for people to be there, but people were getting on and off buses, hitching lifts, selling stuff, etc. I think it was perhaps the last junction before the open road out of Harare, but there they were in their droves, both sides of the road, in the middle of the road, etc. Absolute anarchy as many people clamber for the few means to get a ride out of Harare and back to wherever they might have come from.

After a few hours of driving we stopped for a break and to refuel at a layby. There in the layby were simple stands containing hundreds of sculptures of various sizes, and we had passed a few similar roadside traders. Mostly things were sculpted from rock, but there were some wooden ones, some things made with rusted metal, and insects with coat hanger legs. Some of them were very good though and full of detail. Most of them were very cheap too, so we all picked up a few things we liked, and the guys were very glad to receive our custom. I asked how long it takes to make one of the pieces I bought (about 25 cm high), and I was told nonchalantly, "About a week". Looking at the vast numbers of things (though made by about 5 different people) even at half that time there must be years of work sat there in front of us. We asked another guy about the process and he said they locate good rocks wherever they can and increasinly have to go further away. They then borrow someone's truck, maybe giving him a statue, or sometimes just hard cash, and go pick them up from up to 50km away! Then begins the long process of shaping, getting finer and finer as the stages go on. Thing are then heated to toughen them, and for the dark ones several layers of shoe polish are applied. The whole lot is buffed and the shoe polish colour remains through the heat, but comes out a sort of greyish brown that looks really good. In any case it's a lot of work and I picked up three different things for a tenner! What was crazy to see though was how flexible they were with payment. One guy didn't have money, but bought something for three cans of coke! He even traded a couple of items of his clothing and some soap for other items as well. Anything goes in Zim!

Meanwhile refueling was going on. We had done it a few times (when I say "we" I mean Phil, who was very keen) and had to siphon fuel from the contaniners we'd brought with us into the van. What it involves is sticking a piece of hosepipe into the fuel and giving it one good, hard suck. That creates a difference in pressure between the hose and the atmosphere and, so long as the fuel is higher than the fuel talk, the fuel will continue to flow into the tank until the pressure is equalised by either running out of fuel or filling up to the level of the fuel in the container. On the way there we had to use more than one container and so it was unavoidable that Phil got some diesel on his lips, though he seemed to quite enjoy that! I was content to just know how to do it so that I can if I ever need to!

At Masvingo Shane pointed out some cannon that I simply had to take a picture of. So he pulled over and I jumped out, ran over to the thing, took a pic, and ran back. I never felt so conspicuous in all my life, especially as in this part of the world people don't run when just doing everyday things! Even now I don't know exactly why I have a picture of it, but I do. Again, you can see people just loitering, with not much to do as the economy has largely ground to a halt.

For all this Zimbabwe is a beautiful country and we did get glimpses (at 100mph) of some of the hills and wildlife. Unfortunately we were never anywhere near the famous Victoria Falls. If you want to join the Newfrontiers team planting into Livingstone, Zambia, then you can go and live very nearby this world class nature spot. I'll have to find my own way there one day.

Zimbabwe is also very dry at this time of year too. Though it was raining most of the way up you could tell it had not done so for a while in Zim. Even for them it was a dry period and very drove over a number of river bridges that almost need not have been there - the bed of the river was bone dry. In this last picture you'll hopefully be able to see the dry river bed that should be flowing with water. Zim does enter its rainy season soon though, so hopefully people will get what they need.

Just to add to the adventure coming back we almost hit another cow! I don't know quite how we missed it, particularly as a lorry was coming the other way. Some reckon the cow went just alongside us but got hit by the lorry, but either way it was very very close!

We got back to the border without incident though the queue was very very long. After a while of waiting around though a guard showed us some favour and let us go ahead (because he knew we'd be quick through) and that saved us at least an hour. Then customs just waved us through as well, again saving us some time. It was now about 10pm and we had a long drive back across SA. As much as I loved being in Zim, I had never been so glad to be on South African soil!

Into Zim - Part Two

Phew! Hectic week, which I'll tell you about at some point. Anyway, I'm due to tell you all a little bit more about Zim.

When we got to the church I was soon off to my hosts' home in Harare. They were a really great couple called Spike and Josie, who, for those who know them, were actually good friends of Sabrina and Toni Bin-Ali/Wiebe! It was a bit of a weird thought being in the church where they'd spent much of their lives and to see pictures of them on the wall at my hosts' house! Of course when I arrived we couldn't see anything as it was fast getting dark and the electricty was out. That also meant that water was out too, as municipal water isn't usually reliable and electricity is needed to operate the pump that takes water out of a 20m deep bore hole nearby! Given that this was a regular occurence it was interesting to hear Josie say, "You know what? We've just got to recognise that we're living in Zimbabwe and so we need a generator"! Every man needs to be an island (self-sufficient) because you can't rely on what others will supply. After a couple more hours the fridge started buzzing away and we knew the electricity had returned! It was so interesting seeing the number of ways even these relatively well off people had to adapt to everyday living. If you've got some resources you've got the means to adapt. If you don't, you're stuck.

We were soon joined by Bertin, a leader of a number of churches in Congo, and Kenneth, a young pastor from Zambia (and later Drew, our leader at Hope Church), and we sat down for a meal. Thankfully we were in a good house (Some of the houses in Zim are just huge colonial throwbacks. This one, owned by someone else, had a front garden and porch big enough to host a 500 seat concert, I'm sure!) and up on higher ground than much of Zim so we weren't seeing any mosquitoes, so I went to sleep, albeit on a thin matress on the floor (which is better than I was expecting!) and recoved from all the long journey.

Next day we were off to the church. Our "fast" didn't really begin until 11am, so we had breakfast, including loads of the "rare" (e.g. grapes, apples, etc) fruit that had not been eaten on our journey. Zimbabwean cornflakes were on offer too, with the price tag still on it reading 1,235,000 ZMD!

With breakfast inside of us we were off to the church again. I'd seen enough that made me want to pray for this place and was keen to get into things.

As ever we started off simply worshipping God for who He is, irrespective of what is going on in the world. For the Zim guys it was amazing how they generally didn't even seem mindful of the everday annoyances and hassles and hardships that a first timer like me was noticing. These people were genuinely joyful in God. It wasn't their pick me up, they were seriously more mindful of the greatness of the Gospel than they were about life. And so we celebrated as only Africans (though Dave Devenish told us that the Russians tend to celebrate just as wildly) do with infectious fun, happiness, and dancing. Coming from England it's actually so refreshing to see people who don't just dance, but are so happy that they love to dance! The passion, the confidence, the boldness continued into prayer. We spent much of our time praying for Zim, of course, and how the guys led us was excellent. They weren't at all concerned with their own "best interest" but purely those of the Gospel. They guided us to pray from 1 Timothy 2, which calls us to pray blessing, not cursing upon all those in authority so that we may live peaceable and godly lives. This is connected to the following verse which says this is pleasing to God who desires all to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. They asked us to call on God for more peace, more justice, etc, so that the Gospel not be hindered! Indeed these Scriptures were written when there was a harsh Roman Imperial governance over them that often persecuted the Church, and similarly these Zimbabweans responded in the same spirit of humility and God-centeredness as these early believers. They recognised that all authorities are put in place by God and that all kings and rulers ultimately serve His purpose, even by rebelling against Him. Their clarity of insight was incredible - seeing right past the present difficulties to eternal priorities.

These guys didn't miss a beat and we heard many stories of how the Church was responding with great success to the problems around and giving great witness to Jesus' power to save to the uttermost. They weren't simply offering people a bright hope for when they died, but even for life. We heard of care for AIDS suffers led by a doctor in the church we were in, and how they had confidence that God would display His wisdom through the Church (Ephesians 3:10). There was a college that was being built near Bulawayo to train people in many essential skills alongside a lengthy mentoring program that really addressed some of the bigger issues with the light of God's truth. Farming God's Way was another initiative being put into practice in Zim and seeing great success at turning people from dependents into suppliers. There were strategists and other Church connections looking to link people from the aforementioned college and others with world-class markets as part of a huge strategy of growth and empowerment. As I've said before, this is not merely humanitarian either. Their vision is through and through from the Bible, seeing the world as God's world, seeing with faith the abilities God has given all people to produce wealth, etc. The reason the Gospel wasn't a tack on to an aid program was that they saw everything through the eyes of faith and were able to give faith-based answers to practical situations where no one else had anything to say! That was one of the amazing things about this church - they could see no distinction between the natural and the supernatural - all things were God's!

The Church was in fact being granted a lot of open doors and favour by people who were seeing that there was leadership, motivation, vision, and of course power backing what they did, and all in all they were making Jesus known famously. I still struggle to remember some of the things they were doing and all of their breathtaking vision, but it certainly made an impression not only on me, but on Zimbabwe. That's one of the main reasons I want to go back there - they filled me with such faith, but it's all leaking out of me. When they speak you can so tell there's something so much more than mere human strategy, but now I struggle to remember it all and so I want to get something that will leave a bit more of a permanent impression. Currently flights are about R3200, which is about £225, so that's out. Might see about another drive with some people. Maybe take a coach. Who knows?

Sam Poe, with us from the USA, brought a prophetic word from Genesis 49 for the Church in Zim.

"Joseph is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a spring; his branches run over the wall. The archers bitterly attacked him, shot at him, and harassed him severely, yet his bow remained unmoved; his arms were made agile by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob." (vv 22-24)

Like Joseph, the Church in Zim have been feeding much of the nation and developing strategy to help it feed itself and make use of its abundant resources. He said God, like this, was beginning to grant them more and more power to not by stopped by obstacles (walls) but to simply grow around them and envelop them with a logic-defying ability to grow (this again informed our praying about not seeking to overturn the government but to simply grow around the difficulties by God's grace). The Church in Zim is on course, having endured much they have, and are to continue, to keep their "bow" steady and continue to press into things not yet seen. More than this he felt God was pioneering something special with the mix of gifts and abilities learning in this hard place that would go beyond Zimbabwe and see their success replicated in many nations of the world also in similar need of the Kingdom of God to affect everything. Wow! God is doing something amazing in Zimbabwe, He truly is. Again, I want to see what's going on and touch just the cloak of this blessing. Like these guys, I'm not just looking for God to bless me (to be a recipient), but to become a blessing (to be a source). Indeed, that is what God promised to us - that He will bless us and all the nations of the earth will be blessed through us.

I made tonnes of friends up in Zim too. I was forward thinking enough to take a football with me so a bunch of us were kicking around during some of the breaks. It seems football is an almost universal cultural in road! It was great to catch up with people like Scott and Mbonisi and Tash while we were there too - all of whom extended invites to come back.

One of the pictures you'll see above is of part of the food offering the various delegates brought, placed next to the world map in the church. This is no gimmick. Again, we saw so many evidences here of a church with a global vision, even though the local scene is so huge. They have big plans to be sending churches - sending people to all the ends of the earth for Jesus. With all their challenges, and perhaps because of them, these guys are some of the best examples I've seen of communities of God's people on His mission.

We also prayed a lot further afield, including SA, Lesotho, Tanzania, DRC, Zambia, Malawi - all of whom were represented amongst us. Like us, many of these people had travelled for days to get here, and the commitment to simply being together is just amazing.

There were of course loads of things happening as the Spirit of God was amongst us, ministering to us in a more general way that just made this gathering inspiring and powerful to be a part of. And yet, this is nothing more than normal biblical Christianity! If only we could all get a hold of just what God has done in Christ! That's why the NT so often prays for us to have wisdom and strength to comprehend what God has done and for grace to know exactly what the expansive will of God is. If we could just get that....! I encourage you each, find someone, something, that makes you feel like you've only just begun to understand the Gospel and feed on that. Your life will never be the same!

Into Zim - Part One

I'm finally and fully back from Zim with all the connected things (see later) now resolved. First of all, praise God! You'll see as I tell you about the multitude of things that have happened in the last week that God has so helped us, is so helping the Church in Zim, and is just altogether great and worthy of praise.

In this installment I'll tell you a little about the journey there, particularly my experiences of Zimbabwe through that journey by road.

It's about 2,000km from Durban, South Africa, to Harare, Zimbabwe, which is going to take some time no matter how you go about it. We were travelling with the guys from Mtubatuba, about 2 1/2 hours drive up the coast from us, so we went the slightly long way of going to them, and from them mostly up along the coast, cutting in before Mozambique. We left at about 8:30am from Durban, though we had to go back down the road to Amanzimtoti because someone forgot their passport. Anyway, before long we were off on our way and hitting some nasty rain on the way up to Mtubatuba. By the time we were there it was in full force and much of Mtuba was a squelchy mess. While we had arrived early it seemed there wasn't any point to it, so there was a frustrating wait until we finally left at about 3pm - once more in the pouring rain. Myself, Themba, and Mandy, the Hope Church people, were actually now all travelling in a car owned by the deceased uncle of one of our church members, which we were returning to his family in Zimbabwe. It was a slight last minute twist, but on the whole it wasn't a big issue.

Driving in the remaining daylight up the N2, which at this point is a single carriageway with no lights and many trucks, was difficult. The rain spray often meant you had no chance to overtake. Every time you thought about it a car would suddenly emerge from nowhere out of the spray thrown up by the lorries. It was going to be a long trip.

Things continued mostly like that until we got to Ermelo, in Mpumalanga. We'd had some pretty crazy lightning, which at one point completely blinded us, as well as the rain, which was still coming down. We stopped in a dark garage at about 10pm and ate our dinner. Someone had lovingly made lasagne for us and then found an ingenious way to insulate it using pillow cases and polystyrene beads. All these hours later it was actually at a very nice temperature! That was one of the last nice touches we were going to get on the journey.

We settled in for the long haul and started driving once more. By now everything was dead. We often passed through towns which were reasonably lit up, but there was not a person, not a car (not even parked), not a single sign of life in sight - which is pretty eerie! When not in towns (most of the time) we were driving through countryside in the pitch black along wet single carriageways. It's a battle to stay awake, but we helped one another. Shane, the hardcore driver of the van from Mtuba in front, was driving along with plenty of haste, even with a trailer on the back. He was headed for the border and he wasn't in any mood to waste time. We followed him along another winding, dark road when suddenly he braked, swerved, and then put his hazard lights on. We couldn't see what the problem was, but we slowed down anyway. Before long we could see something in the road that looked big enough to be a problem. Themba slammed on the brakes and we skidded to a halt no more than a few feet away from....... A COW! It was a huge, light brown (if it had been dark we might not have missed it!) cow just lying down in the middle of the road facing us. It barely even blinked as we nearly turned it, and ourselves, into mincemeat. It was shocking to see how such a massive cow could only just about be seen in time, and certainly made us more cautious as we continued the journey. Almost anywhere in SA at night the combination of unfenced, unlit roads, and loads of wildlife, means you've got to be very careful when driving at night.

At about 2am I decided I needed some sleep and drifted in and out between wherever we were and the border. Our last stop in SA was at a filling station just north of Messina, Limpopo. It was now close to 4am and signs that we were near the border were evident. Every vehicle around us was stacked to overflowing with all manner of things from beds and bikes, to foodstuffs and fuel containers. Literally every piece of available space was used, with wide loads sticking out of top and sides of pick up trucks and anything else. Empty containers hung on the outsides of these wheeled masses (the vehicles generally looked smaller than what they carried) like decorations dangling from a Christmas tree. Just what kind of place were we going in to? Things like toilets had gotten worse as we got north too and in a dimly lit rest room at the service station we were met with all sorts of smells, stains, and mosquitoes breeding all over the urinals! If this was SA, what was to come?!?! As with many places in Zim I was itching to take pictures to show you all just how mad it all was, but in many of these places you barely felt safe as a normal person, let alone one waving around expensive electronics.

So on it was to the Beit Bridge border crossing. We arrived at the SA side and queued (thankfully ahead of a number of buses that started to arrive) to clear our passports for exit and to register our vehicle for return to SA later. The car we were returning had been imported on a temporary import permit into SA and we needed to present that in order to get a gate pass to be allowed to head on to Zimbabwe's immigration area. Things looked bad when the woman I was dealing with insisted that the original, not the certified copy, of the import papers be given to her. We didn't have it, we didn't know where it was, but she wanted it and implied that we might use the original for some unlawful purpose. After a little argument however she relented, and stamped our gate pass shaking her head. Although it was 4:30am and there were many people at the border, everyone was dead quiet, and the atmosphere was palpably tense. Again - what were we headed for that seemed to produce such solemnity in everyone around?

As the sun began to rise we passed a troup of babbons, seemingly emigrating to SA, as we headed on toward Zimbabwean officials. Our car was waved on, but the van was stopped for a while. We waited, and it was not going to be the only time that our being able to be seperated was going to make for nervous times. All the people who had lived in Zim were in the other vehicle, and so all their experience and knowledge was not something we wanted to be cut off from - they were our guides! After a long few minutes they came through and the clouds filtered Wednesday morning sunshine onto what looked like a post-apocalytpic border crossing. Again, I would have taken pictures, but here it would have been guaranteed trouble from the security guys, some of which walked around with AK47s. But it was mad. You saw all these vehicles bringing everything they could carry, a border post that looked like it had had no maintenance in a decade or more, broken rocks and abandoned stuff strewn all over, all sorts of people frantically trying to wave you on so they can sell you forms that are free and perhaps con you into paying them the border fees, temporary buildings for cops, and just general chaos everywhere! It looked like people were fleeing from some disaster, but in reality people were fleeing into the disaster zone. For some unknown reason we saw a man running back toward SA and another man followed and shouted, "Get him!" Immediately soldiers started running after him and soon brought the man back. What happened to him or what he did no one knows, but it was not a helpful image at this point! We got out and went into the immigration office, batting off the mosquitoes that would sneak up on you every few seconds.

Everyone told you something different. You'd fill out one form only to be told you didn't need to, be directed to the wrong person, etc, etc. With all the foodstuffs we were carrying we struggled to work out how to declare it so that each person took a share of it on their duty free allowance. We wanted no mistakes, because we knew these border patrols would take any opportunity to fine us, confiscate stuff, or worse. In the meantime the brits among us got our visas, each costing R390 (about £30). After about 2 hours we had our paperwork done and went to go through customs. We were told we needed another gate pass, which is actually a bridge toll. We had already paid it, but were given no pass. There was no use contesting that though and simply had to accept it. It's so difficult when you have no idea what to expect and when you can't trust the people who will tell you. After unloading everything from the cars for inspection (I was at this point a little more worried than I had been about all my camera gear which Shane, an ex Zimbabwean, said wouldn't be a problem) and then paying the relevant duty we loaded up and were on our way. As soon as we were clear of the border we all shouted for joy. Phew!

However now we were in Zimbabwe and the tale of ruin continued as we saw all sorts of disorder, people everywhere, broken down stuff all over, and people clearly having salvaged anything they could to get by. There was so to keep grabbing our attention that by this time I can't really remember any of the specifics of that point. Being weary from lack of sleep only intensified the feeling of uncertainty.

Our celebrations at getting over the border were short lived. Within only a few minutes we met a police check point. The van was ordered to pull over while we were ordered to drive on, once again seperating us. We decided to pull over at the next junction for Harare, from where we could still see our travelling companions. With so many desperate people about it was not really a comfortable feeling sitting and waiting. Nonetheless after about 10 minutes they were moving again and we followed them into the countryside. After another hour of so we stopped for breakfast in a large layby and found out that the other vehicle had picked up a passenger! In fact there were two - one of the police officers and his mother, who were both needing to get to a funeral! Not surprisingly the police didn't have any vehicle they could run for that, at least not where we were, and "commandeered" ours! I say not surprisingly because you could see this police check point was pretty ill equipped by the small folding table that functioned as their "desk" at the side of the road. When seeing that Mandy remarked, "This whole thing is a joke", and she wasn't wrong. Many of the police and border officials had no uniforms, or perhaps only a luminous bib with the word "police" for their uniforms. They all try to keep an apperance of formality and of their official status, but it's an attempt that doesn't work so well. What a statement of Zimbabwe though - hitchhiking police officers!

The "joke" started to get a little more serious as we went on however. On the main road from the border to Harare, the capital, we were seeing hardly any traffic. But we would pass areas where there was perhaps a couple of shops, or sometimes just a clearing, and there would be hundreds of people standing around, or lying down, or burning some wood - just waiting. Many were hoping to catch a lift, no matter how slim the odds. Others just seemed to be waiting around. When I said to my host that it seemed everyone was waiting around expecting something to change he said that was a pretty good description of Zimbabwe. Some, I'm sure, were hanging around hoping to be the first when fresh stuff/any stuff came into the near derelict shops. Where there is simply no such thing as an economy there isn't a lot for people to do but wait.

We reached Masvingo, the first "major" town on the way to Harare and the scene was much the same, only on concrete streets. People manned petrol stations that had no fuel, nor anything in the shops. If they don't the government seize the "disused" property. Everywhere there was people there was police. It would seem like their job is mainly to make sure that people carry on as normal and don't descend into rioting and looting. The empty routine does at least give people something to do. Many queued at ATMs to get cash, others stood around counting theirs (we saw a lot of people doing this in Harare especially - money is an obsession in Zim), and people walked the streets in great numbers going who knows where. One large clothes shop was open and I managed to catch a glimpse of one woman looking at something on one of the three small rails of clothes that were in the otherwise empty shop. It's just bizarre to see - shopping when there's nothing to buy, selling when there's nothing to sell, trying to go on as though things were before but being constantly shown how things have changed by the things that haven't, e.g. many petrol stations for few cars, big stores for little or no produce, etc.

At Masvingo we got pulled over again by police. We had had another stop before this, again with us in the Zim car going through and the others being detained. That time it was only a few minutes before the others caught us up. This time it seemed something was wrong. We drove on slowly thinking, "They must be on their way by now, just needing to catch up". But after a while of driving and thinking they'd show up soon we decided to pull over and wait. Some 15 minutes passed, so we reckoned that they were at least 25 minutes detained. Something was wrong. We had hardly had any mobile phone signal since being in Zim, so no chance to call them and find out what had happened. Should we turn back? Should we wait? Should we carry on? We prayed. We had enough fuel to get us back to the border (though we could not have gotten the car back across), and enough to get us to Harare, but not much to play with for looking for other people. What if we went back and they were no longer there after such a long time? We could go on to Harare, but they were the ones who knew where to go, and had the contact details of the people we would be meeting. We'd have no chance of finding our way around in Harare! So there we were, in a completely foreign land, no place we could really go to, no way to contact people, with no chance of finding anything along the way to help us. We were in a right mess and it began to get more and more tense as the minutes ticked by.

In the deathly silence we saw a cow scamble over a fence and wander into the road. A large coach started to head our way and seemed to presume to cow would keep moving. It didn't, and the coach braked and lurched to the side, but ended up slamming into the rear legs of the cow and knocking it to the floor. It got up and hobbled away, with the coach stopping to investigate. Just then our fellows came along (who thought, "Oh no! They've hit the cow!"). We got back into the car and drove like the wind, not wanting to hang around this crazy scene unfolding around us. Mandy commented that in SA a similar thing happened and people simply got out and started carving up the cow! We didn't want to stick around for perhaps more police to show up or anything else.

What had happened was that the police in Masvingo decided they'd like to try and throw their weight around. They said, "Your vehicle is only allowed to carry 8 passengers". The reply was, "Fine, we have 8 people in the vehicle!" They then continued to change their mind, reducing the number until it became clear they wouldn't get anywhere with that. After a while they started to concentrate on the trailer. Unknown to us in the other car it was only found out at the border that the trailer's paperwork didn't match up with its markings! Somehow we got through, and other police didn't look carefully enough to see a problem. But these guys were threatening fines and who knows what else. After some discussion and telling them that we were on our way to a church prayer and fasting gathering they eventually changed their minds and said, "Make sure you pray for us then", and let them go! It was so odd, and it was a reaction we got a few other times too. It made for a very anxious half hour on both sides though!

Onwards we went to Harare. We reached the outskirts and went to the house of the in-laws of one of the ex-Zimbos in the van. We in the car weren't really told what was going on, so we never quite knew what was happening. We asked and were told, "We don't know exactly where the church is!" This guy had gone to find out though, so that wasn't too bad. After a while we set off again and drove through Harare. Harare was very different from all else we'd seen. There was some evidence of decline, but it was busy, full of cars, and it almost looked like there wasn't any real problem there. It was very grey though, full of police and soldiers, and full of dried out grass. Following the guys around town we almost lost them, but eventually turned up outside a store somewhere in a busy neighbourhood. After a while we asked, "What's going on?" and were told "We're just looking for a phone book and a phone to see how to get to the church!" I bit my tongue and held back the understandable, but useless tirade of questions coming into my mind. Just another stressful element.

So driving around the grey, harsh environment of Harare, doing U turns every now and then, and having no idea when or if we'd actually arrive, you can imagine our relief when suddenly we spotted the church! It was literally at the end of a strong rainbow (I've got pics of that,as you can see!), and had flowing fountains, lush green grass, bright colours, and just a general sense that some standards were maintained. All this stood in such contrast to the city around and it was like some beautiful oasis to us. We had arrived! For the first time since getting near to the Zim border we felt like we could relax.

For this experience I'm glad we drove. Flying we would not have seen anything like as much. What it helped me to understand was the sense of continual anxiety, frustration, and uncertainty that much of Zimbabwe (and many other places) must live in all the time. Nothing could be relied on, nothing could be trusted, nothing was predictable. If you were fine with one set of police, who could say about the next. Having the official papers doesn't mean you won't find trouble with them. If something works for you at one time there's no certainty about next time (e.g. bread in the shops). If you set off on a journey, you couldn't tell what you'd find at the other end or along the way - you had to take everything you might need with you. If something broke down on your journey, what could you do about it? You're very much on your own and it feels very vulnerable. Nothing is routine, everything must be questioned, and all your plans can fall apart at any minute. It's enough to drive anyone insane, which is what makes the Church in Zim so impressive. But that's part two.....