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.