Nearly November !?!

Warm greetings from Lubango!

The magnificent, endless blue skies have been brilliant for our planes to fly in to remote, isolated communities, offering some transformation, taking medical personnel and supplies in to villages and medivac'ing desperate folk out: some elderly, sick and dying, young mums suffering following complicated deliveries, newborn babies struggling to survive malnutrition.  This is Angola, our part of Africa.

Magnificent views from our kitchen, over the city

Just look at these skies: we last saw rain here in May, now its October and the rains are coming.... the first few most WELCOMED showers turned the dust into sticky red mud, the stagnant sewage swelled and swarms of flies awoke......as has the pong!

Most areas have piles and piles of discarded plastic - everything is recycled and reused until it is truly useless... then it's dumped for the next needy person to pick over..... ruining any potential beauty sites, at least around us here in the city.  Rubbish collection doesn't happen.  Burning does.  Going for a local walk just isn't a feasible option ... we were told it wasn't safe with "bandidos".









Carina was away in August, back in the UK, with lovely family, mostly on nanny duty, with a couple of weeks either side for other matters.   Gorgeous wee Zebedee J. Simpson delighted the hearts of us all, a surprising 9lb 7oz





Grandad Jez had saved up his annual leave and flew in at end of August, to meet the new addition to the family, this precious young fella!

Jez (and of course Zebby) arrived in time to celebrate adorable big sister Lily turning a terrific 2!   The photo shows her with her daddy: Asher, "dunkle Loliiii" (taking photos) and mummy Louise.


September is a busy month with celebrations galore, including this cherub: Lucas turning 7!

Before returning to Angola we met with a number of lovely, lovely friends, shared at our Chudleigh Church and had some medical appointments, one of which was physio/x-ray and discovered the cause of much of the pain Carina has endured this past year: osteoarthritis!  She is now on the "hip pathway" to the miracle of healing: supernatural preferably please, or a hip replacement with the marvellous National Health Service.   With air tickets booked we weren't able to wait for the (ultrasound guided cortisone) injections and instead returned with a suitcase full of pain relief  (medicines are hard to access here) and a heart full of thankfulness and expectant Hope.  No jogging for her then!

Ooops: Jez's trainer falling apart!

On our return to Africa we ran a mini retreat for some of our MAF staff,  staying in rustic beach "lodges"..... time away from the city for discussion, strategy, prayer, food, fun and fellowship.   The Faus family later joined us after this photo.  The Boer family are back in Canada on Home Assignment, imminent arrival of new baby and we look forward to their safe return early next year.

 

We had some personal time to walk or swim and fish too, some suitably kitted out with wet-suits for the chilly Atlantic Ocean!



There were no crowds at all, just us and a handful of local people to fish and cook, just shoals of fish and pods of dolphins with millions of sea shells on such a deserted stretch of the coast, down towards the Namibian border... and no shortage of whale bones!

The journey was amazing on the eyes (awful on Carina's back/hip) with some spectacular views, both on and off road, here one friend walks on the beach with a few of our team children, a Brides whale in the background....we saw a few: marvellous - a first sighting for us!!!

We were assured it just wouldn't have been a proper adventure without getting stuck in the sand....all three cars at once!  Interestingly it was a whale bone cleverly wedge under a tire for traction that helped us out!







Meanwhile "back at the ranch" there have been meetings to run,  plans to be made and executed,  stock to be counted, officials to liaise with,  internet to tackle!?! new friends to make, old ones to say goodbye to, networking to undertake, Bible students and MAF staff to teach English to and churches to share with:

Last and certainly not least (quite the opposite: the most important part in our minds) we would so appreciate your on and on and on-going prayers please for permissions to be granted for airstrips to lighten the loads; for our health and safety for both pilots and staff, navigating our hearts and heads, bodies and burdens, on "road" and sky in order to share Jesus: Hope for this beautiful nation of Angola, both here in the city as well as into the Interior where our faithful Partners in mission fight the good fight against malaria, TB and cholera epidemics, leprosy and laws (man's and nature's) ...to stay connected and faith-filled.

Grandad Jez, Dunkle Loli and Lily

Sending our love from afar .... after almost a year here!
Grateful for your friendship and (electronic) fellowship 😊
Wow it's over a year since we left Portugal!  Que giro!
Jez and Carina x💓x