01.11.95
Two more little groups have opened up for us to minister. Sue is now sharing with the Presbyterian Youth Group and the Lord has given Andy a home group not too far from us. It’s quite something for him to go on the bike in this heat.
A door opened for us to share at the Department of Customs and Excise. A few of us went to the airport head office where we shared with a group of about twenty. What a magnificent time we had. Hearts were truly pierced right there in the middle of such a ‘dark’ department. I don’t have to tell you what goes on there under cover.
The discipling of our young men is ongoing, being our main ‘work’. It is a miracle to see how God has touched their hearts, they are attaining a real depth now. What gives me great joy is to over hear them sharing with one another and ministering to others in the area.
Conditions may become very difficult from time to time, but they never dampen the joy we feel at seeing these lives changing around us. Praise your Holy name, Father.
We thank the Lord that our little ‘spaza’ is doing well. It still doesn’t earn enough but it really helps a lot. It has provided a wonderful teaching platform for the disciples to put their faith into actions. Arthur and I are kept quite busy making sure that stocks are ok. Talk about juggling funds, there’s a whole new slant to…”robbing Peter to pay Paul…” (if you’ll excuse the names!).
We are constantly being approached by men to buy certain items from them. The prices are always attractive and the temptation to make a ‘quick buck’, is ever present. By God’s grace, we’ve been able to turn them away as the goods are always stolen.
We have tried hard not to go into direct competition with the other little shops, so that our testimony might always be in the clear, and we’ve been able to help them by delivering items for their shops.
A shop owner came to see us the other day to say that he was leaving the country for eight months and offered us his shop to rent. We agreed, mainly because the rent was quite good – R15 per month!! I suppose we could hardly go wrong. Now all we need is for the Lord to show us what we must sell in it!! We have been toying with the idea of a mini hardware because there is no such thing around here.
03.11.95
The situation of ‘lawlessness’ seems to be on the increase, as it probably is around the world, but here it just seems worse because the police are of no use at all.
The lady we get our eggs from disturbed thieves on her farm the other night, and they fired an AK47 at her. It seems that these weapons are easily available in Mozambique.
The other morning Titus and I were on the way to collect the bread when an elderly Malawian jumped out into the road. He tried to flag us down but something told me not to stop. As we passed him, we could see blood all over his mouth and chest, although no cuts or abrasions.
I drove around in a circle and then we saw about eight men running towards him with pangas, axes and spears. As they saw us approach, they turned and trotted off. I forgot who I was for a minute and put my foot flat down on the accelerator. Just before hitting the one guy I realized how anger had got the better of me and I braked. They continued running next to the Combi, not at all concerned.
As they disappeared into the bush Titus said, “It’s a trap, keep going!”. I didn’t argue and we drove off. The old man made an instant recovery and also high tailed it into the bush. As we discussed the event we realized that it was a setup.
We travel the same route every day at that time, just before dawn. They knew, being missionaries, we would stop for the old man whom they just smeared with cow’s blood. Then as we stopped they would have attacked and taken the Combi. It was quite an experience which didn’t really hit home until later that day in a communal prayer time when I clearly heard the words…” Today the Devil requested your life.”.
It was then that the whole event flooded back and I began to think about what could have happened.
(Continued in chapter 18) (Back to Chapter 1)
“…Time with The Master…”