Mud, dancing, rain, mud, lightning, thunder, more mud, chicken, Patricia and Charity.

Stuck in the mud

A few weeks ago I experienced a very African phenomenon of super thick sticky mud. Anne-Mette and I were driving out to a youth conference in Misaka. There had been quite a lot of rain so the puddles were huge and the road very muddy in places. We got to one part where the options we're go through a huge puddle, or follow the other car tracks through some very thick looking mud. Having no idea how deep the puddle could be the muddy route looked best. So we went for the muddy path. Unfortunately turns out mud is pretty slippery, so our back wheel ended up in the deep puddle and the others were just spinning. We weren't to far from Misaka so Anne-Mette ran to get some help. With a few more hands and some more experienced mud drivers we managed to get the truck out with not too much difficulty. It's all part of the fun!

Catch the fire

We visited the Catch The Fire church with the team from Denmark. It is a great place. I enjoy going the church there. When we were last there we had a great worship time! I felt led to go and dance with some of the older ladies in the church. Dancing with them was so much fun, they were full of so much joy and thankfulness.

Mid term break.

We went away to Nsobe bush camp, where we stayed in some really nice chalets.

With outdoor bathrooms, a bit strange showering in the rain and hoping no one will walk past while you are on the loo. But thankfully being quite isolated none of us were caught unawares.

It was a very relaxing time of chatting, playing games, going for walks, eating and drinking yummy things. The rain continuers! We were out for a walk one day and it started to rain we carried on regardless, as the rain got heavier and heavier we had to make a choice, continue and accept we would be soaked or turn back and try to avoid a total drenching. I'm sure you can guess which option I went for. A few turned back but Charlie, Malene and I continued enjoying the refreshing rain and eventually, after giving up the flip flops, the squishing of mud between our toes. We got back to camp drenched and joyful.

Storms

The storms are still here the lightning and thunder  is crazy. The thunder has been unbelievably loud at times, making you jump out of your skin and causing the windows to shake. They also bring with them the increased possibility of power cuts, and lots more mud.

Kapumpe

School is still going well! On the whole the children seem to be picking up English well although there are times when we realise that maybe they haven't understood everything as well as we had hoped. One funny incident was when asking what day of the week it was their reply was chicken, followed by all sorts of other answers, fruits of the spirit, banana, patience. Clearly we are teaching them something!

We also have our official opening day this Wednesday so we are busy preparing the kids for doing a little presentation of the work we have been doing including a few songs.

Adventures
In the past few months me and friends here have decided that we want to make sure we have some adventure times with God just asking Him what he wants to do and then going out into the community and following His lead.

So last week Anne-Mette and I met to pray, as we started it began to rain but we were to excited to not go out, I felt God gave me the name Patricia and word orange, Anne-Mette felt we should walk rather than cycle and go in the direction of town. So off we went in the rain which got heavier and heavier! Chatted to a few people at the roadside stalls, where they sell tomatoes, bananas and onions. We offered to pray for them they looked a little confused and said they were all well! So we carried on up the road.

Everyone in cars driving by looked very shocked to see two girls walking in the pouring rain, but we were having fun. By the time we got to the next stall it was torrential rain so we sheltered with the ladies there, they introduced themselves and then Anne-Mette saw a little girl about 2 years old playing in a puddle she asked what her name was "Patricia" WOOO! We noticed it looked like she had an infection in her eyes so we prayed for her. I was so excited and surprised, love how God loves to speak! On the way home we celebrated by jumping in all the pothole puddles it really fun you have no idea if they will be toe deep or knee deep before you jump in!

Hospital

As part of the work I'm doing with the orphan project we go out on visits once a week to see how the guardians and kids are doing at home. Through this I have met a lady called Charity she has been sick for a very long time about 3years or so. When we first went to visit with the Danish team she was quite unwell and it was clear she was very weak, we encouraged her, sang and prayed with her. A few weeks later we visited again,  she has sores on her lips, fingers and toes. She said she should have gone to the hospital but didn't have the transport money.

Last week her grandson came to see us and said she was worse and thought she needed to go to the hospital as she had been given medication from the local clinic but there was no improvement. So we went to pick her up. She found it very difficult to get up and into the vehicle. We made it to the hospital. Driving in I realised I had never been in a hospital like this before. We drove up to the door saying casualty and helped Charity out. Walking in we were directed to an assessment type room which was very bare with a desk in the middle surrounded by nurses and doctors on stools. There were people sitting all around the edge of the room having various treatments. The label on the door said medical and gyne cases. The nurses struggled to find Charity's veins tying a piece if plastic tubing around her arm and tilting their heads trying to get a better angle, eventually after about 4 attempts they managed to get a needle in. She was clearly in pain and afraid of the needles, it was hard to watch.

After the assessment they decided she needed to be admitted so we went to buy her some food, so that she would have something to eat while she was there. We prayed for her and encouraged her that God was with her.