Make a loud noise!

As usual, the very day I wrote the last blog, everything changed.

Having noted that no-one seemed the slightest bit interested in percussion lessons, I was promptly badgered by all sorts of people who wanted to start. Thus, on Monday afternoon, I sat down with Erlanda, Paulinho, Adriano and Gabi. The first two are the church's young drummers, the others two of the main musicians at the church; they already play everything else (more or less). Gabi says he wants to be able to play the piano like me (he's already a phenomenal guitarist and musician to my mind) ... I think perhaps he hasn't heard of curbing one's enthusiasm! Having said that, he's useful to have around when my Portuguese fails me (often!), as we are able to communicate in French.

There are two secrets to being a good drummer: musicianship and technique. I don't need to teach them about the former (indeed I'm looking forward to learning FROM them!), and so my role is mainly in helping them out with their technique, so they can play the more advanced things they aspire to and help avoid injuries like carpal tunnel syndrome in later life. This, of course, involves individual practice (I feel like quite a hypocrite having neglected this for much of my life, but I am finding the time to do a lot more here!) for which one needs one's own sticks.

The problem was that until Erlanda arrived we had only the one pair of drumsticks - the pair I brought to Angola - between the four of us. I feared that we were going to have to wait a few weeks as I pleaded with folks in the UK to buy a few pairs of 7A nylon-tips and send them over. But hallelujah for local knowledge! Paulinho knows of a place in town where drumsticks are sold (he did tell me where but I am none the wiser) and so hopefully by this Saturday, I'll have a more successful lesson. The older guys can't make it, so I'll be able to focus on Erlanda and Paulinho for a few months, which to my mind is a very good thing.

I also feel that God is putting Erlanda on my heart - please pray for him, as well as for my Portuguese, so I can communicate better with him and others. The guys are all very gracious here, saying that I "falar portugues muito bem" or something along those lines, and I'm glad to have been able to understand Bible studies and so on, but I still have to pull out my blank-faced-foreigner look far too often.

Yesterday was February 21st, the date that has been imprinted upon my memory since January 27th when I met with the dean of students, and discovered that the 21st was to be my first lesson with my new (Intermediate level) class.

Having prepared a few ice-breakers and then planned to hit them with a bit of present perfect grammar (just to scare them a little), I was all ready to go, if feeling a little faint from all the puff I expended blowing up the globe to show them where I'm from (and to help with our "nations and nationalities" vocabulary). I went to the secretary's office and asked for the register. She looked at me as if I were about 99 pennies short of the full pound and explained that the class wasn't to start until the next day - this afternoon. But at least I get the day off from planning today ... watch out for the full report next time.

All of the GAP teams we're in touch with (nothing yet from Helen and Zara and nothing recently from Tim and John) seem to be finding God putting one or two people on their heart - and all are struggling to various degrees with the local language. Pray for all of us that we will find the right thing to say at the right time to the right people, and that our language skills will improve.

Please pray too for Tom and all his family. His sister, Hannah, will be going into hospital for a second operation tomorrow, and faces a possible break from her University studies to help her recovery.

My Dad says it's called a Twin Tub

Someone asked about the washing machine. It was even more interesting with our electricity troubles, as we had it in the living room draining into a bucket that I had to keep running to the bathroom with to tip away. Not good for your back. So I spoke nicely to Becky who got us some extension cable, so it was back to the normal system today.

Basically, there's two compartments, wash and spin. So you put all your clothes in (top load), fill up three huge buckets of cold water and pour that in as well, with a bit of washing powder. It sort of rotates slowly for about 15 minutes and then you switch it to drain and the bath is filled with the dirtiest water you have ever seen. As one of my colleagues said, if only the world wanted to buy dirt, Africans would be millionaires! It just seems to seep into my clothes.

Then there's the temperamental spin compartment. Only half the size of the wash bit, so I squeeze my clothes into it in two or three loads, and then you turn on the switch timer. Only the timer doesn't work. And the spinning thing often decides it doesn't want to go very fast. I seem to have got the knack of persuading it to spin quickly (which is when it sound like a helicopter trying to take off).

Then it's back into the wash compartment to rinse with new water and no powder, then we spin again. Exciting, eh?

Clothes dry very quickly, and don't need much ironing, because they're already pretty stiff. When they do need ironing, of course, I don't ...

Since the last blog there have been some overcast days, but not much rain other than a little overnight Thursday-Friday. The clouds have to be very heavy to bring any rain to Lubango. Whilst we sit only a couple of hours from the Atlantic, all of our rain comes from the Indian Ocean on the other side, dropping its watery load across Mozambique and Zambia before Angola gets a look-in. More prayer please.

Even over just the last few days, the timetable has started to fill out quite quickly. On Thursday, Peggy turned up with a student and suggested I would like to teach him piano - now! It's very much the Angolan way. I have since got another four students, although asked them to wait a few days for their first lesson to give me time to prepare and ask a few questions! Peggy will take over most of my students when I leave. I've discovered that the church actually has a drum kit, just next door, and I could give percussion lessons if anyone's interested - no takers so far! Quite a few people have asked recently about church - I will write about that on another occasion to give it its due.

I think I will be teaching piano on Mondays at 2, but apart from that Mondays remain empty. I have it in mind to ask what else is available. It would be nice to do some ministry with children, and as the church school is literally about 4 minutes walk from our house, there may be an opportunity there. More prayer please.

I hadn't heard directly from Connie (with Hannah in Kenya) and so EMAIL'd her direct. Up until about a week ago she was feeling a bit rough, like I felt here for the first week. In the last few days she has started to recover, worshiping God who knows what He's doing! Praise God that she's feeling better!

Do please ask questions through the Comment feature on the blog, or direct if you'd rather not have other people read them! I look forward to answering as many as possible.

Thank you very much for your continued interest and support.

Hoje choveu! Louvo o senhor!

It rained today! Praise the Lord!

Well, actually it has now rained twice - for about 30 minutes on Friday, starting at a spit and becoming fairly heavy, and then again on Monday night, soft and prolonged, just the kind we need. By morning, though, the ground already seemed pretty dried up and the sun was out. While we thank God for his answer to prayer in this wonderful precipitatory gift, the farms still need so much more if they're going to survive and people are going to have enough to eat next year. So please keep praying.

I've been asked about the students in our (shortly to be Tom's) English class. There are six, all Christians, whom we know as Kito, Tome, Aguinaldo, Benjamin, Cassoma and Madalena. Some of them it's their first names, others surnames, and in the case of Kito it's nothing like his real name - but everyone knows him as Kito. We get on with them all very well, and Aguinaldo (sometimes with Benjamin) quite often pops round to our apartment to practise his English, and I try to practise my Portuguese. Aguinaldo is always willing to have a go. I loved it when he said (we were doing a lesson based on Jesus' death and resurrection) that "Jesus died and res-, resur-, re-, got up!"

Tom has found a real niche here with his guitar teaching on Monday afternoons. Everyone, but everyone, wants to learn the guitar. I have started to explore what I might do then, as I can only sit in awe at guitar lessons. I was going to ask about childrens' ministry or perhaps teaching in the school, but it looks like there might be the possibility of giving some piano lessons. Please pray that the right doors will open and that I will be wise in accepting the right opportunities.

There is obvious poverty here, as you would expect, and beggars on some of the streets. A couple of weeks ago coming back from the internet cafe, I felt challenged that I had spent a couple of hundred kwanzas sending emails and yet a bread roll costs only 5 kwanzas. So now I try to remember each time to buy some on my way, or take some with me, so I can at least give a bread roll. Interestingly, I've just found out that Connie and Hannah are doing something similar in Kenya, but with fruit. I hope to befriend them in time, particularly as my language skills improve. I know how to say "God bless you!", so I can always start with that.

So, some points for prayer above.

We've been in contact by EMAIL with most of the others on the GAP programme. Please pray for Beth and Jenny in Thailand. They have made really strong relationships with some of their students, but at times there are so many opportunities and invitations that there just aren't enough hours in the day!

And give thanks that Tom's sister, Hannah, seems to be on the mend.

Sorry that the formatting is not quite up to the normal standard - something seems to have gone wrong with the interface I'm using. Hopefully it will correct itself for next time.

A YEAR IN: Part 5

BOM DIA FROM ANGOLA
(boa tarde or boa noite if you’re reading this after 12 or 6pm respectively)!

There was a time in the first few weeks of January when I wondered if I would ever be writing those words. But sure enough, after much prayer, three flights, a very bumpy landing and a unique airport experience, Tom and I arrived in Lubango: some six thousand feet above sea level and a good four or five thousand miles south and east of the UK.

Already, the days are starting to fly past at an alarming rate and I realise that fewer than five months remain before I clamber once more into an Angolan airline seat. So allow me to take these moments to try and give you a flavour of life in the African lane.

TEFL

The SIM team are easing us slowly into our ministry here. As planned, my principal role here is to teach English at ISTEL (Instituto Superior de Teologia Evangélica de Lubango), the local theological college. As the Dean of Students put it, we GAP students are filling a gap here! There is only one (Angolan) teacher of English at the college at the moment, who takes the beginners’ class, which means that English-speaking missionaries here are usually called on to teach. Our teaching English means their time is freed up to do other, often more pressing, things.

Currently, Tom and I are sharing a class for 90 minutes, four afternoons a week, as I attempt to pass on some tips from my own limited TEFL experience. On February 21^st, I shall leave him to fly solo as I pick up the Intermediate class, fresh from their summer break. There is also a very real possibility of a group of Angolan soldiers forming a beginners’ class, whom I would also teach each evening.

The great thing about teaching in a seminary is that students are not too surprised when lessons open with prayer, each week has a memory verse and we aim to use the Bible both to teach spiritual truths and grammatical principles. Whilst all of the students in Tom’s advanced class are already Christians, it is unlikely that this will be the case for my intermediate class, and all the more improbable should the military enrol.

As you can imagine, our days do seem somewhat empty at the moment. We spend the mornings planning the afternoon’s lesson, as well as buying any provisions we might need or making the journey downtown to the Internet café. I have also been trying to use my free time wisely and have been reading a fair bit: everything from National Geographic to missiological theology; from the Times Crossword book to honing my knowledge of English grammar.

This is not to say that we will be at a loose end indefinitely. Already, we have started to get involved with the local church youth group on a Monday afternoon, using our music and drama skills (including one occasion this week where Tom found himself attempting to teach fifteen people how to play the guitar, with only three guitars, a few pieces of paper and a limited grasp of Portuguese to help). Many other opportunities are in the pipeline, too. Please pray for wisdom that I would say “yes” to the right plans and will learn how to say “no” in ample measure too (something I have never been very good at).

The Apartment

Life in south-western Africa is of course not without its wee excitements. Water and electricity in the city are not to be taken for granted. We spend much of each day without power (praise God that this morning I found a shop that sells candles to replace our very low stocks) and the water supply to our flat – when it is available – is cold only. I have become quite an expert at washing under the cold tap using whatever water happens to be left in the system from the last time we had a supply. This week saw further complications with our electricity situation when we arrived back from youth group to the smell of burning plastic and the subsequent lack of any power. Brent – a Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) worker staying in a compound a short while away – found the problem a couple of days later when he inspected our fuse box … now complete with a few sets of burnt (and thus unusable) wires.

He was able to fix us up with a short-term solution which provides two working sockets on the end of an extension cable. I am still getting used to having to walk to the lounge to get something out of the fridge. Doubtless the ripping apart of walls which will probably be necessary to fix the problem will take some more getting used to!

Money Matters

You’ll be pleased to know that, thus far, Tom and I have been living well within our personal budget (10 US dollars a day).

I thank God for his wondrous provision so far, and look to him for the remaining £1500 or so that the mission will need during our remaining months. [Please ask if you’d like a breakdown of where the money goes.]

GAP around the world

The other six pairs have been in situ now for over a month.

Avril and Pip had a tough time of things as Avril was taken into hospital, first with suspected appendicitis and then a diagnosis of kidney stones. Praise God that she is now out of hospital and the girls can look forward to sharing the love of Jesus with children around Uruguay and Argentina.

Isaac and Colin seem to be having a whale of a time getting to grips with Wolof in Senegal.

Tim and John continue to enjoy working in the student café in Loja, Ecuador, as Tim explores ways he can get more involved with student ministries in the area.

The lack of rain is now causing deaths in Kenya, where Hannah and Connie are teaching – please pray with them.

Give thanks with Beth and Jenny for the relationships that they are building with their English students in Chiang Mai, and pray especially for Helen and Zara in Asia, from whom there has been no news for a couple of weeks.

Points for prayer and praise

One of the many things that has been new to me here is praying for rain.

This is a very serious need. We are in the middle of rainy season, in theory. In practice, it has been six weeks since rain last fell (30^th December).

Whilst we are not yet feeling the effects here in the city, beyond the need for sunscreen, our agricultural colleagues – as well as African farmers – further out in the bush are having to face tough decisions. Please pray for them.

Give thanks:

• that our visas and tickets arrived and that all the travel arrangements went to plan
• for the wonderful team here, with whom we're getting on really well, especially our flatmates (and medical workers) Jerry and Tim and
• that we have thus far remained well in mind, body and spirit and pray that this continues.

Please ask with us:

• that God's will be done concerning the dry weather here ans in Kenya, and for wisdom for those facing difficult decisions
• that we and those who supervise us would be wise in deciding which ministry opportunities to take up.
  

Thank you. Be assured that you all remain in my prayers too.

Monday 6th Feb

While the medical centre in Lubango is Steve's main project, he and the rest of the medical team travel to other clinics in the area. This week they have all gone to Caluquembe, so it's just Tom and I in the house. I am now fully acquainted with all the functions of our generator and have proven myself not too useless as a troubleshooter for it.

Angola is starting to feel like home, although obviously only a temporary one. I am gradually becoming more and more settled. I've been doing homework on my Portuguese. I want more Portuguese immersion! But I know it will come.

Teaching the English class with Tom is going well. The next thing being lined up for me is to do is some instrumental tuition. I want to conduct that in Portuguese as much as I can - for example so that I can translate and teach the group Cast your burdens. A great group with some real dramatic talent!

Yesterday I met Steve Collins about whom I had already heard much. Officially retired, he is still going strong as an eye doctor, a cool guy. I met him on Sunday evening at an English Bible Study - it's not just SIM missionaries in the area, there are people from a great number of organisations, and on Sunday evenings we get together.

And once a month - tomorrow in fact - as many of the SIM staff as possible in the area meet together for prayer:

• still no rain, although the forecast is a little more promising
• for progress in communication in Portuguese
• for the individuals and groups with whom we meet, that we may form good and fruitful relationships with them

• thanks for Avril's recovery (Uruguay) - after a couple more nights in hospital and a few days recuperation, she is feeling much better
• Hannah and Connie (Kenya) are also seeing the impact of drought leading to the failure of crops - many of the students they teach come from families involved in agriculture, and who are now facing real hardship; as reported by the BBC, in some areas in northern Kenya there are fears that the drought may be life-threatening
• for Tom's sister, Hannah, and the family as she has her operation.

A week in ...

... the service of God overseas, if you include travelling time. I'm settling in much better now. I think there's something significant about a week - the worst of being homesick seems to be over, although I still miss family and friends of course.

Absolutely beautiful weather today with mostly uninterrupted blue skies and beautiful views up to Cristo Rei. There are, I'm told, only three statues like it (Jesus with arms oustretched) in the world - one in Rio de Janeiro, one in Lisbon and one just at the top of the cliff near our house.

Our house is on the first floor with outside stairs up to our door. There's bathroom, kitchen, lounge/diner and three bedrooms, one of which Tom and I share. I've made progress with the plumbing and worked out how to use the shower - still cold only, but one advantage of Angola is that the bathroom is nice and warm when you get out.

We haven't eaten much in the diner. We have been eating our evening meals at Steve and Peggy's, where conversation is pretty gruesome (but I like it) as we hear of the operations of the day at the hospital (see http://www.sim.org/country.asp?fun=6&cid=13&mid=&pgid=&SID=987). Steve is helped in this very important ministry by Jerry who is a qualified physician's assistant in the USA (somewhere between a nurse and a doctor as far as I can understand), Tim who is pre-medical school and Kylie who is an Australian medical student doing her elective here for 6 weeks.

The diner is used instead for preparation. Teaching started yesterday. Tom and I are sharing a class at the moment, but the Intermediate class starts in about 3 weeks, and there's the possibility of a Beginners' class at some future date.

This is meant to be the rainy season here, but it last rained at the end of December. That doesn't affect us too much here in the city, but for both local farmers and for missionaries involved in agricultural projects it means some really tough decisions. Needless to say we are praying for rain - although if it comes too heavily now, it could destroy the crops.

So ...

• please pray for rain for Angola, and for guidance in the decisions to be made by the farming community
  
• give thanks for progress settling in and for Tom and I in our teaching
  
• pray for Dagmar who has settled us in well, and will shortly be leaving for a month

• give thanks for the many opportunities open to Beth and Jenny (Thailand) to deepen relationships with the students, and give them wisdom as to which opportunities to take up
• give thanks for the progress Isaac and Colin (Senegal) have made in the Wolof language so far, and pray for increased understanding so that they can answer questions raised by telling Bible stories in Wolof.

I will be in touch again as soon as I can.

If you would like to write, my address is
David Mackie
C.P. 33
Lubango
Angola via Portugal
Angola
but be aware that a reply sometimes takes 6-7 weeks even if sent on the day your letter is received.