Christ-mas!

Hello!!  Advent and the waiting is over -  for most, these await their food/medical supplies with the arrival of a MAF plane ...

 

 HAPPY CHRIST-MAS :o) 

 

      

 

 Here's "our" Christmas (flame) tree...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

...and some of our local friends:

There are loads of these colourful little chaps - wish we could show you them doing their  "press ups"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He's not so friendly, taken by Stewart in their garden in Dar es Salaam!... monitor lizards give a nasty bite apparently!

 

Termite mound

 

Buffalo... an old friend and a new one:

 



 

 



 A short 'n' sweet blog to send WARMEST of CHRISTMAS GREETINGS TO YOU as you remember and celebrate the birth of Jesus!               

Festive love from Jez and Carina xx

D is for...

Well hello!  Have you time to stop for a minute, now that it's mid December and a week until Christmas?! "You're having a laugh" as someone used to say because we've seen zero signs of anything festive around here, although we did see a tacky-tinsel shop in Juba:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here we have just lots of dust and dirt.....it has been a couple of weeks since we had the first few showers of rain: if we can draw smiley faces in the grime on our table that blows through our window in less than an hour after wiping it clean just imagine those dusty feet:

 Maybe you'd like to swap shoes with us for a bit, for a spot of HOT sunshine and respite from all the frantic activity we remember from the past, pre-Christmas build up/rush.  No Christmas trees or decorations, cards or wrapping, no concerts or candle-lit services, no lists or panic buying, certainly no nice tasty treats or full bellies for this sandal'd person.... he helps us feel grateful for all we do have, however 'low key' this Christmas will be.

 

 

So sharing Thanksgiving with these lovely Wycliffe friends recently was a joy...we'll probably see them next week too and enjoy some time together for a small  "Birthday" feast, maybe with a bottle of local wine too!

 

 

 

 

Having had a dull and pretty dismal week here (its feeling somewhat derelict), lots of drudgery in stock-taking and disposing of piles of dusty, out-dated materials, here's a helpful reminder of why we're here, from Finnish pilot Jarkko, on one of his routine days:

 

“Early morning I start the pre-flight checks and ensure the mosquito nets are on board the plane. It is already really hot in Dar es Salaam (35C) and the humidity is awful. These days we do all the essential pre-flight tasks ourselves, refuelling, etc. I am so wet after everything is done that I have to change into another pilot shirt. After that I go to the airport terminal (near the air condition device!) to meet the medical/evangelistic team, helping them to pass through from security, escorting them on the short walk to the plane... by the time we reach the plane I’m wet-through again. During the day I have to drink at least 5 litres of water to survive.

 

As I await clearance I see Government jet planes doing preparations, watching a pair of yellow Chinese-made fighter planes are take off. I didn't become a fighter pilot, nor an airline transport pilot. Instead I am leaving civilisation with my antiquated "bodaboda" (three wheeler) Cessna with a small YWAM three people team, mosquito nets, medicines and lots of Hope.

 

Sometimes it is hard to understand ATC traffic language through my headset here at busy Dar airport. From a big international airport I fly to another world where the villages of J and K have “airstrips” to land: some parts of the “runways” remind me of a seabed or a beach. After a day or two of rain a third of K will be gone, submerged.

 

The villagers eagerly welcome us – it was 11 months since MAF were able to visit last.  In the two villages 300 hundred people are treated and about 50 sick people ask to be prayed for, some make a decision to follow Jesus for the first time.  Halelu-JAH!  100 mosquito nets are delivered, mostly to mothers with babies, others for village elders.

 

Please remember these Muslim villages for the next year, that we might be able to provide more constant service.  There is a lack of medicine and proper medical care, with minimal government interest . In J they wanted more mosquito nets. In K they wanted just help. These villages have only few "non public" Christians thus far but with a few more after this recent flight :o)”

 

Our final D (that must easily be a dozen or so!) is D for DRAFT - we think we shall have a draft copy of the lease for the hangar next week granting CentralAviationServices the right to use the hangar.  This should mean that the TanzanianCivilAviationAuthority will grant permission for CAS to begin operations soon!  Please keep praying!

 

 

Hag Hannukah samakh if you're celebrating (we're so thankful you preserved the Scriptures for us). 43Ccworth of warm greetings to you all,

fondest love in this festive season,

Jez and Carina xx

Bye buy!

A warm (30C in the shade/43C in the sun)  hello to you and a goodbye to Pierre, our final MAF international staff member to leave Dodoma.... seen here outside the runway - we have a decidedly quiet compound!

 

Its empty here now having had a large  sale (picture below) of the contents of all the houses on both compound A, B and guestihouse!  It was buy buy buy for many local ex-MAF staff... not quite pandemonium!

 

 

 

 

 

Although we've not seen the colour of the money yet, all houses are sold in principle, along with the garage and radio Uzima, school bus with other vehicles in the process of finding new homes AND we are in the throws of fiiiiiinally securing the Tanzanian Civil Aviation agreement: Halelu-JAH!  This will finalise the handover of the hanger/assets to Heri and Central Aviation Services.

 

 

 

 

So what about us!?!  Well, we're sold already, sold out for Jesus we hope :o) 

 

Whilst back in the UK recently we met several lovely folk, one of whom is this wonderful chappie: Mr Stewart King, MAF's humble founder (with 90+years of godly wisdom under his belt!), who sensibly suggested that if we didn't "know" for sure where our next step should be then we wait until we are sure.....

 

With allllll the properties, agreements and many "etc's" having not yet fallen into place a couple of weeks ago we felt it right to formally agree to remain "in the interim" to see things through..and guess what?!  After SEVERAL months of waiting the very next day, with domino effect, one sale led to another and to another :o)   God willing we shall be moving north to MAF's operational base in Arusha at the end of January; praise the Lord we know we have somewhere to live there, too!  So for another 6 months or so we shall be sharing in more of  MAF Tanzania's crucial work, telling/showing more of where Kirstein, Jarrko and Steve fly, reaching those isolated communities up in "safari land"...rather than just telling you about who bought what, as exciting/nailbiting as it has been for us!

 

Meanwhile another thanks to Chris from MAF South Sudan who took these two piccies - of course we are still open to the possibility of moving there to Juba later next year:

 

 

 

These lads don't mind waiting in relentless heat, many having previously been trained as child soldiers, some lost limbs from tribal, civil war.  They are very happy to help out and eagerly await the arrival of one of MAF's food flights, helping to make a significant impact, with over a million malnourished bellies who survive disease, often rake-thin, tattered clothing but big smiles! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"March winds and April showers bring out the May flowers"....did you used to say that as a child too? Here in Dodoma with our short rains we have some glorious colours, the flame trees are known locally as Christmas trees, though they don't smell of pine!

 

 

 

 

 

  

...and not only flowers but much more useful is the fruit: here are Paul and Glory who look after the grounds on our compound, picking mango - by the ton!!!  Fresh mango and pineapple are our favourites (blend with passion fruit and water makes a refreshing drink!).  We had some friends from Safina Street Kids visit last week to pick loads - you should have seen them climb the trees, barefoot, speedy and confident! 

Time to say byeee then and thanks for sharing in some of our Advent Adventures. Our thanks to long time, supportive friends P and Richard for this super picture! (Maybe you'll have questions of your own)  We rather hope you're not getting swept up by pressure to rush 'n' buy yourselves.   

 

May God bless your Advent,

Jez and Carina xx

 

 

 

 

 

 

Juba

 

Is it really December.. it feels like mid-summer?! We've had RAIN - first time since April...wooohooooo; there was a drought here in Dodoma a few years ago where poor folk were actually dying for lack, not 20 mins drive from our house!  Desperate....so everyone is de.light.ed to have some heavy downpours!! However I don't suppose we'll be so excited when we notice the scorpions being flushed out from hiding :o(

 

Anyway hello... you came back!  You'd like to see some more of South Sudan then, great..... they're just coming to the end of their rainy season whereas our 'short' rains began, yesterday we trust!!

 

 

 One of the four MAF Juba pilot's took these super photos.... Chris has discovered that not all flights go to plan, sometimes it necessitates staying overnight in local accommodation, perhaps needing a tractor attempt to pull a plane out of mud or an engineer (somehow) supply a new part.... here he is outside his "tukal"..not an uncommon sight on disputed land, often behind more modern buildings!

 

Of course he was eager to get home to his family: here is Karyn with bump and little Will on our walk  to a nearby orphanage to meet some of MAF's young friends who frequently come to the compound for Bible and language study and simply to receive love, food and some semblance of family life. The girls at CCC are rescued from a dreadful life on the streets, incl prostitution at a shocking and dreadfully young age, many "lived" in the local graveyard - minus any running water, clean or otherwise

 

 

 

You may notice some scaring on this lovely girls' head: although moves have been made to outlaw the brutality still hundreds of thousands of South Sudanese wear tribal markings to differentiate their various groupings... these barbaric cuttings are made to denote 'adulthood' and involve ceremonial cutting with sharp knives at age 15 (tears are forbidden!) and the smashing/extraction of front bottom teeth... at a glance one can spot which person belongs to whom thus recent civil war made it easy for one tribe to butcher another....

 

On a happier note then maybe I can take you on a simple walk from the MAF Juba (metal/razer-wired) compound gate to the chapati maker at the end of the road, about 500 yards! As previously mentioned, their rainy season is coming to the end, meaning temperatures will soar and dry up the mud, causing the piles and piles of rubbish to rot and stink... without further ado:

 

 

 

We didn't walk very far before seeing crowds of bored, young men who hung around aimlessly, surprisingly tall and thin, the women too, also very, very dark skinned plus a large population of Arabic looking/speaking community too, plus clusters of Indians. A plethora of restaurants exist, pleasing to the enormous ex-pat community, mostly embassy or NGO workers.  We navigated our way through curiously dusty or muddy streets, flabbergasted at crater-sized pot holes and rubbish!  Here are some random views:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many folk are striving after peace; its unimaginable the conditions over a million people struggle to survive in, disease tragically ending numerous lives that have already endured/witnessed massacre of family members...we visited a nearby area where fighting recently broke out, thousands fled for their lives.. here's the surrounding areas where a new church as been planted, restoring Hope...

 

 

We couldn't be in Biblical "Cush" without seeing the Nile - here are a few photos en route...

Can you read the billboard: I choose non-violence in my relationship.  What about you?  Promote peace at home.  Stop violence against women and girls.  AMEN to that!

 

 

plus an ariel view of the White Nile:

 

 

So, apart from the heat, dust, mud and 'health' concerns we loved our visit to the warm and hospitable Juba team and admire their diligence and stickability... we continue to pray and wait for clarity regarding our next step....join us!

 

See you next week then we hope, with more news on the sale of  the MAF Dodoma properties/assets and where we shall be moving to!  Sending our love to you, as always

Jez and Carina xx

 

P.S. Thank you for praying with us for our look-see and the safe/speedy return of missing luggage!