Skipton Baptist Church Blog

Hi
I’m just working on the web site to try and improve what we do

Rob

January 2010
What a diary you must have!
This from a friend who should know me better than to think I can do anything as organized as keep a regular diary. But so she’s not too disappointed, here are some notes from the diary that doesn’t exist…
A day in November 2009
My befuddled brain tried to work out which was worst – finding that I was sharing my bed with a lizard or 5 minutes later on my return from the bathroom, not being able to find the lizard ! Where had it gone? Would I wake up in the night to find it had returned? What kind of lizard was it anyway? Too tired to reach a satisfactory conclusion, rolled over and fell asleep almost immediately. Creatures were clearly on the move. Next morning there was a huge cockroach in my shoe – and cockroaches I do not like. I have tried really hard. I’ve even called them brown beetles, which helps a bit but not enough. I was in the end woken soon after 5am, not by the lizard but by one of the puppies outside, hollering for all it was worth. I crawled out of bed to prepare some warm milk. By the time the milk was ready and I’d made a cup of tea, the puppy had retreated into the kennel, joining the cozy heap of its sleeping siblings.
The next day …
Praise group took the roof off at church this morning with ‘Worthy is the Lamb’ sung in English then in Lingala. Lots of worship songs here are sung in 3 or 4 languages one after the other. It’s sometimes a challenge to know what language we’re singing in!
Guess what – he’s back! Why do I assume it’s a ‘he’? Smart stripy outfit and leering at me from the end of my bed. I refer, of course, to my ‘friend’ the lizard.
Youth group – a December afternoon – making garlands and Christmas cards. Something none of them had ever done. Although you do see Christmas cards in some of the shops in town, there’s no great custom of exchanging cards or gifts at Christmas here. On the other hand, the young people have yet to turn down the chance to do something creative. We had great fun, using all the bits and pieces I’d been able to put together, shapes cut out from old Christmas wrapping paper, glitter bequeathed by some teachers visiting from the UK, felt tips and some pastels that I got on Skipton market… plus oodles of glue! Even the templates got used. The end results were … not bad at all! I overheard one young boy proudly tell his neighbour ‘I don’t do technology at school but I can do this’. In schools here the orientation towards a career starts very young. Secondary school leavers may be primary school teachers the next day or set up their own tailoring, carpentry or car mechanic’s business. Subjects like art, music, drama fall by the wayside or never really happen and then it seems to me some part of who we were created to be remains under developed. At the end of the session, Papa Kas as we call Mr Kasongo, who’s in charge of Christian education at Kawama church, thanked God for his gift of creativity. It struck me that it was the first time I’d heard ‘creativity’ mentioned in a prayer since I came to Congo thirty some years ago!
Week before Christmas
I asked some friends if they’d be doing anything special for Christmas. Okende said that they would try to buy new clothes for the three youngest children in the family and that if there was enough money, they would buy rice for their meal. And, of course, he said, they would be going to church to thank God for having brought them safely through the year. Contrast with Mathy, a young hairdresser friend, who comes occasionally to talk English for an hour. Her family planned to buy rice, 3 kilos of beef, chickens, fish (tilapia), eggs and plenty to drink for everyone – and oh, of course, they would be going to Mass to thank God for having brought them safely through the year…
Christmas Day
Started the morning by joining Debbie and the church she’s part of at Luwowoshi, an area of new development on the edge of the city and a tented church in the middle of a great drift of long grass! The children’s choirs were well rehearsed and gave a lovely performance, far more confident than most children of their age in UK, while the young people did a simple re-telling of the story of the birth of Jesus, the visit of the shepherds and the wise men. Debbie had worked hard with them, including some overnight rehearsals and for once we didn’t finish up with the slaughter of the young children in the Bethlehem area, normally a highlight of local performances.
After church I joined a missionary family who live not too far away, with their two children and a Congolese friend, for a ‘traditional’ Christmas meal with all the trimmings, a Christmas tree (made from 3 upturned palm brooms), presents and lots of silly games!
New Year’s Day
I’d been invited to a service at a ‘Ministry’ in Kamalondo, across the other side of the city. Lubumbashi is awash with ‘Ministries’, small independent groups headed up variously by pastors, apostles, prophets and patriarchs! In this case the pastor is the brother of my good friend Esther, whose family I have got to know well. I picked up Esther and Eben-Ezer (her sister), in front of the Methodist centre and we made our way to another tent but this time one in the heart of a built up area. The service, which included the commissioning of Girls’ Brigade officers and the dedication of the first elders and deacons, started at 3pm or thereabouts and finished at 7pm. The early part of the service was accompanied by spasmodic explosions which had us all leaping out of and back into our skin – not gunfire, mercifully, but left over bangers from the night’s festivities which small children were taking great delight in doing what small children like to do with fireworks! Those who lasted the course of the lengthy service were rewarded with a soft drink and snacks – popcorn, peanuts and ‘crunchies’.
Shambuy came to the door this morning with a small bundle of sticks, dripping with resin. Firelighters Congo style! We’ve had another dearth of daytime power, so the charcoal brazier is back in use. With days and nights of drenching rain, there’s not a dry stick to be found so these will stop Anni having to come up with all sorts of ideas to persuade the charcoal to burn!
(We’ve since had a chance to use them. Amazing. Instant fire. I’ve never seen charcoal light so quickly!)
You probably need to have read this as a 3 part serial. I didn’t realize how long it had become. I should write more often!
Christmas and all your cards arrived again on 15 January. Much enjoyed! I should really take them down though…
Love and thanks for your support, prayers and love,

Bridget

Not a season for the house-proud!
Dear all
It’s still the dusty season here, although there have been a couple of very welcome storms which briefly brought the temperature down. I can’t stop sneezing and the layer of dust grows ever deeper throughout the house in spite of repeated dusting and daily washing of all the floors. Ah well! Just have to fix my eyes on something else – the crimson bougainvillea flowering on my garden wall, 8 little black puppies curled up in the corner of my living room, the amazing colours of the frangipani trees, pink, apricot and cream … definitely an improvement on dust.
There are mulberries to pick this morning. The mangoes are ripening on the trees all down one side of the orchard and some of the avocado trees are also starting to fruit. The little coffee tree is in blossom; maybe we’ll have coffee beans this year to add to our harvest of good things.
Please don’t check to see how long it’s been since I last wrote! The long college ‘holiday’ is coming to an end with the official opening this Saturday and courses set to begin on Monday. This year I will be teaching all 3 year groups both English and computers but for the first couple of months my classes will be on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday leaving Thursday and Friday free for other things (like admin, piano lessons, preparation for an SU ladies’ retreat, writing youth Bible reading notes etc). We hope to have a good intake in year 1 to make up for the smaller classes in year 2 and 3.
During the holiday I was able to run an ‘Introduction to text processing’ for a group of half a dozen young people, with a little jiggling of the programme to accommodate power cuts! This term I’m hoping to fit in an afternoon course for another group, particularly for those who have learned typing in the past but would like to adapt their skills to the computer. Our computers need a bit of an overhaul but hopefully that can be done fairly soon by someone who knows about these things.
It had long been my intention to try and get to Kolwezi to visit friends – a former student, Kheke Kalombo, his wife Francine and their family. The dry season is the best and the worst time to undertake such a trip which takes approximately 7 hours by bus. Less chance of the bus embedding itself in a miry hole for several days but more chance of inhaling several litres of dust and being covered in it from head to toe plus all the nooks and crannies. I made it, though and was able to have time to read, relax and enjoy playing with the children. I had planned ahead and taken games and puzzles as well as puppets to make so we had lots of fun. On the Tuesday afternoon I’d been invited to speak to a ladies’ group at Kheke’s church. By then I’d acquired something resembling flu so struggled a bit but was glad to have gone. At the end of the meeting the leader asked if anyone had prayer requests and just about everyone stood up and said they’d left everyone at home ill! Must be the season for colds, coughs and flu so I didn’t feel quite so bad. The pastor’s wife kindly visited me several times, bearing gifts of lemons, wild honey, oranges, bananas, potatoes, rice, eggs and a chicken! I felt very spoiled. At the end of my stay, Kheke wanted us to take the remaining eggs and the chicken back to Lubumbashi. I suggested they keep the chicken till it got bigger and let their family eat the eggs. I couldn’t quite see a tray of eggs surviving on my knee over the bumpy roads and the alternative didn’t bear thinking about! As it was, on the return journey we all had to get off the bus at the Lualaba bridge because the authorities weren’t sure the bridge could stand the combined weight of bus and passengers. At least I didn’t have to descend clutching my tray of eggs!
28 October
College is under way! All but 2 students reported in Year 2 and 3 classes and there’s an intake of 7 new students, with at least 4 more on the way. That’s more than in recent years so we’re encouraged. This weekend I’ll be taking some of the students to the Lutheran college at Kimbeimbe, on the airport side of the city, for a lecture on Christianity in the Third World given by a German professor who has worked in Cameroun and Tanzania. We seize every opportunity that comes our way for widening the knowledge base of the students (and our own‼)
With love to you all and thanks for every encouragement you send!

Bridget

Dear All

Nyota and I took our usual early morning walk just after 6 am and came across family members and friends of Pastor Mukala (one of the translators), armed with a machete and heading for one of two trees which have been home for many weeks to hundreds of caterpillars. The caterpillars holed up in amazingly sturdy cocoons and have dozed quietly now for some time. Apparently today was d-day. The grubs are seemingly delicious and eaten by the Basongye people but not by the local people here. Just as the caterpillars had lethal hairs all over their body, which cause serious itching, so, it turns out, the cocoons are still decidedly unfriendly. Touch one and you’ll itch all day. Furthermore, once a breeze gets up, the cocoons give off some kind of noxious fumes, which also cause itching, so they can only be collected when the atmosphere is completely still. The caterpillars follow one particular tree (the ‘mamba’) of which we have just two. The other one’s in my field. One young man climbed high up to knock the cocoons down and everyone else kept a safe distance. Then with the help of 2 sticks, the harvest was safely placed in a cardboard box and taken to the field to have the outer casing burnt off. The grubs, released from their fortresses, could now be taken home, fried and eaten. Having shared in the experience, I was given some to try. Anni looked horrified when I produced them but we will enjoy a new experience/challenge together when she comes on Monday. I’ll let you know how we go on.

This time of year, schools and colleges are busy with exams. The 6th year school finalists sit their last state exams between 22-25 June. The school on the centre has 23 candidates, taking 3 different options (education, business & administration and tailoring) Quite a few of the young people I know are either sitting the exams for the first or second time, hoping to be able to go on to higher education. I’ve been keeping a watchful eye on a group of six girls who came in as half-boarders in April so that they could concentrate on revision and catch up on courses where they had missed out because of illness earlier in the year. My friend Esther’s youngest sister, Ezer, is one of the group. Esther had to drop out of school for lack of finances after her father died and has made huge sacrifices to ensure the same thing doesn’t happen to her sister. Pray for Ezer, Caleb, Mudilo and all the other pupils that they’ll give a good account of themselves and that the exams themselves will pass off smoothly. There is huge pressure on parents, particularly those who have fallen behind with the payment of fees, as threats are made not to include their children’s names on the list of candidates. With the exams only days away, it doesn’t help the finalists either to know they may be excluded at the last minute!

We’re gathering in grapefruit and oranges today after noticing that quite a few are going missing and they’re coming in by the barrowful. The smell is lovely – sorry I can’t send you any! From the sales we hope to be able to invest some of it back into improving the orchard which is in need of quite of lot of work and any extra will go into the Centre fund which helps pay wages, National Insurance and taxes or the Centre maintenance fund which has huge demands on it. For now, I’m leaving most of the fruit on my verandah so it can continue to ripen in the sun.

A couple of things coming up: next Saturday the Kawama youth group are meeting for a morning of prayer and worship; then the following Saturday they are having an away day at Chemchemi, a Roman Catholic centre a few kilometers out of town, where there is a farm, also a boys’ school and lots of fishponds. (I seem to be into ponds at the moment though not literally, of course!) Pray for the leaders as they try to build stronger relationships with the young people and get alongside them. I’ll be joining them for both events and it looks as though the lot has fallen to Chantal, Judith and me to organize the food and games. We expect around 40 young people to be at Chemchemi and have invited 3 different speakers.

With love to all

Bridget

Dear Friends
Having gone round the mulberry bushes lots of times, I’m now gathering nuts … in January! The ground is so wet that once the pods have exploded off the trees and burst open on the ground, the nuts quickly start to sprout. So collecting them is a matter of speed! Lunchtime today I had a couple of narrow escapes as the afternoon sun got to work on the remaining pods and cascaded them round my head. We’re all agreed they’re very good roasted and salted, though peeling them is quite a job. I’ve also experimented with roasting them with herbs and spices – they’re good too! I’ll take some Sunday night to a fellowship meeting, having been asked to provide some ‘finger food’ for afters.
Yesterday was the last in the series of 4 ladies’ meetings at Kawama church at which I had been asked to speak. We had a fun meeting, which also included learning about some herbs and their uses, both culinary and medicinal. Everyone went home with some new herbs to try and I think our herb garden is soon going to be providing plants for half the back yards of Ruashi! I was hugely embarrassed at the end when I was presented with a gift which when I arrived home and opened it, turned out to be a beautiful length of material (6 yards) – you never open gifts while the giver is still around here, since the giver and the relationship with that person is more important than any gift.
After the meeting, I’d stayed and talked with Tete, a young mother with one child. She explained that to make a living she takes orders from people for clothes, shoes and so on. She then goes to town on their behalf and chooses something for them, taking a small commission for her ‘buying’ services. That allows the person to repay the full amount for the article over a period of several weeks, where they could never have managed to buy the same article outright. A ‘mail order’ service without the mail (the postal system still doesn’t work properly…)!
Sunday 1 February
Fresh pumpkin leaves from my garden today for lunch. Actually they’re from my flower garden not the vegetable garden. They self-seeded themselves and it seemed a shame to uproot them. However, they’ve now wandered all over the garden, up the fence, through the fence and are meandering in the general direction of the main road! It appears if you pick the leaves to eat, you don’t then get pumpkins and a friend who had no vegetables one day, had already asked if she could gather pumpkin leaves, so I thought I might as well do likewise!. We have some more pumpkins growing up in the field which, hopefully, will bear fruit. Someone gave me half a huge pumpkin the other day so I’ll enjoy that in the meanwhile. We’re also starting to harvest beans. The rains have been so heavy that some of the beans are already sprouting before we’ve picked them. We’ll put them back in the ground and hope for a second crop.
Sunday 15 February
Esther called in on her way to youth group this afternoon. 2 pieces of good news! The family were facing eviction but against all the odds have managed to find somewhere to live and moved in a couple of days ago. I say ‘against all the odds’ because there is huge pressure on housing here with large numbers of people migrating from other provinces in search of work. The house is near the centre of town, which should help all the family as they scatter to different areas of the city for school and work. The second piece of news was that a high court decision has ruled in favour of the family who have been fighting to get back their property which was illegally occupied before the death of Esther’s father. Her widowed mother has persisted in her quest for justice, going back and back to the courts in spite of the large bribes changing hands (her adversary is a wealthy business man, with several wives and several properties). We hold our breath as to what happens next because the long haul won’t be over until it’s over!
A young married man, Matthieu Mwamba, who recently started working at the Living Waters Centre brought his wife to meet me on Friday. Attractive, self-assured and painfully thin, Therese is determined to make a better life for her family. They are among the economic migrants from neighbouring Kasai province. They had come with enough money to settle their two older children in school (around $5.5 per month and per child) and to begin doing some trading. Then first Therese then two of the children fell ill and all their savings went on medical bills. It’s those unplanned ‘events’ which send people here tumbling down into abject poverty. Much of the time, they can just about scrape through and put at least one meal a day in front of their family but the unexpected drains their meagre reserves. There are no safety nets, no state benefits, and no health insurance.
My neighbour’s daughter, Nicole, is getting married next Saturday. The wedding was deferred because of 2 family funerals. Nicole’s fiancé is among those affected by redundancies as a big eye clinic in town has just laid off several of its staff. Not an easy start to married life. Nicole herself recently completed a university diploma in business administration but doesn’t have a job either. The wedding and the reception will both be here at the centre – her brothers have been busy cutting the grass and making everything look spick and span for her big day! I hope to go to the church service and the reception but will pass on the civil ceremony in the morning as the registry office is not known for its time-keeping and an 8 o’clock wedding is just as likely to happen at 2pm as at 8am.
It’s good to be kept in the loop of things that are happening at church and in your lives, so thank you everyone who has me on their mailing list. Keep them coming!
With love

Bridget

December 2008 / January 2009

Dear Friends
I’ve been doing my ‘secret garden’ thing, only in this case it’s not a matter of looking for a few bulbs poking up through the ground but of trying to locate groundnut plants, currently swathed in 3 feet of grass. Fortunately, although they look fragile plants with small orange-yellow flowers and delicate stems, they’re actually quite sturdy and hang in while I wrench out great clumps of grass and weeds. Anni has nobly volunteered to do 2 hours’ weeding in the mornings to try and speed things up.
Next it was time to go ‘round and round’ the mulberry bushes.
Whatever the supposed origin of the children’s song’, I’m sure there has to be some connection with the number of times you go round each bush picking fruit. The leaves are huge, the ripe fruit, either black or deep purple, hide in the shadows, under the low branches trailing the ground or high up almost out of reach. Each time you go round the bush you spot a few more. With all the stretching and stooping, I call it my aerobic exercise for the day. One consolation, I don’t have to do pick mulberries on cold and frosty mornings! We have quite a glut this year, some new trees fruiting for the first time, some older ones having given up and keeled over in the recent storms, aided and abetted by termites.
I’m seriously ‘off’ termites at the moment. I went to the cupboard to get a shirt and discovered that the termites had been there before me and had eaten their way from one sleeve, across the back to the other sleeve. I was even more gutted when I discovered they’d done the same to a new blouse I’d only worn a few times. We have to constantly check behind cupboards, inside cupboards, around the window frames, behind the cooker to limit their damage.
One day we hope to be able to develop more of the land at the Living Waters Centre but in the meantime it’s good to see so much of it under cultivation. College and centre staff members who live here, Bible college students and around 80 others all have small plots or bigger ones, planted with maize, beans, groundnuts and sweet potatoes. A good harvest would be a great boost as many people are struggling in the current climate of high inflation and rising unemployment (estimates suggest some 300 000 people would have lost jobs in the mining sector by the end of 2008 as many mining companies have pulled out of the province). There are no safety nets in place here in the form of benefits of any kind so those out of work become an additional responsibility for their already overstretched families.
Christmas Day was different this year. I spent almost half of it tucked up in bed, snoring. No, I wasn’t ill. Just recovering from the all-night service at church! By about 10pm on Christmas Eve, church was full of children, choirs, adults all looking forward to a night of worship, singing, preaching, praying and drama! The pastor drew the short straw as he preached last, at around 5am, by which time all the little people around me were fast asleep. The church has lots of choirs and each was allowed 2 songs. While the drama was being performed by the youth group, ladies came round with big mugs of sweet, milky tea and a large bread roll for everyone then came round a second time with additional doughnuts for the children.
And then it was the start of Term 2! A new student has joined the first year class bringing the total to 7 (better but short of the 20 we would have liked). Generally they seem keen and there is a good atmosphere around the college, with something going on in all the rooms most of the time. As of this week, the computer lab has 7 computers up and running so I now have 2 computer classes, one on Tuesday for first year students and another on Wednesday for the second years. That’s in addition to my English classes.
Towards the end of November I attended a Scripture Union Writers’ workshop organised by my friend Judith for around 15 new writers she hoped to have sign up to write Bible Reading notes for young people. We were able to use facilities at a Roman Catholic retreat centre and arranged for two ladies to prepare meals so that we could all keep up with the busy schedule. By the end of the weekend we had each been given a series of Bible readings around which to write the notes. A week on Thursday we will be meeting to update each other on how we’ve done so far and hopefully most will have completed their share, so that Judith (who now has her office in my house), can crack on with the collating, checking and typing.
The last 2 weeks I have been to a ladies’ group at a new church plant in Kawama, not too far from here. I was asked to be the speaker at their first 4 meetings, i.e. for the whole of January. This is definitely a new departure for me. I’ve hardly ever been to a ladies’ meeting and certainly never spoken at many that I can remember. So far it hasn’t gone too badly. The meetings are from 2.30 to around 4.30 pm. One of our colleagues, Kasongo Simon, an elder at the parent church here at Eau Vive, currently has the oversight of the new church. It‘s a big responsibility given all his other commitments but one to which he is giving his all.
Unbelievably, it’s now Sunday 18 January! After the first service this morning, I listened to – and was encouraged / challenged by - Lisa’s message of Jan 3rd, so I’m not too far behind the rest of you! I meant to say thank you too for all the cards, notes and email cards around Christmas and New Year. We had some before Christmas and some after New Year but it’s always great to hear from folk.
With love
Bridget

Dear All
Did I really come to UK for 6 weeks? Less than 48 hours after arriving back in Lubumbashi it’s already starting to seem a little unreal! But I do remember how good it was to see you, to enjoy meals together, Sunday morning services, café church, even time for a church meeting! It was a relaxing time and I’m grateful for your generosity and many kindnesses.
After Helen dropped me off at Manchester airport, I did some last minute shopping for items like heavy chocolate which I hadn’t wanted included in my baggage allowance. I think my hand luggage ended up weighing almost as much as my rucksack and I tried to be very inconspicuous as I went through 3 lots of security checks in Manchester, Schippol and Nairobi. Only the Nairobi onward flight was slightly delayed - due to rain was the explanation given by the pilot. 3 flights were leaving from the same gate so it was standing room only for most of the passengers in the lounge area. I’d been one of the first to check through so had a seat and was greatly amused at the huge number of pilots who were going out through Gate 4. By the time I’d counted past 20 (do they really have so many pilots on 3 planes?) I’d decided that they were on some kind of carousel going out one door and coming back in through the other. When it was time to leave, a lady was standing at the door with pink plastic mackintoshes for all the passengers as it turned out we were going to have to hotfoot it across the apron to the most distant of all the aircraft waiting for take-off!
I was met at Lubumbashi airport by John and Ann Leese, together with a Congolese friend who helped with some of the formalities. We had a lovely get-together at David and Julie’s house in the evening and yesterday it was back to work – well almost! Lots of people came by to greet me and in between times I worked on English courses for college. 1 November is the official opening and classes start on Monday 3 November. I will have more teaching hours this year and while I’m looking forward to that, there’s no escaping the preparation! As of Monday, for 10 days, I’m going to be busy interpreting (English to French) for some primary school teachers’ workshops, at the request of another church. I’m looking forward to it, even if I do feel a bit rusty.
A surprise invitation to lunch yesterday from my friend, Judith, had 3 of us – 2 of us former Scripture Union staff and Judith who still works for SU – enjoying a catch up on news for several hours non-stop! Hélène, who used to work for SU Kinshasa, is visiting Lubumbashi for the wedding of one of her brothers. She now runs an NGO which works with vulnerable and abandoned children as well as sex workers, still in Kinshasa. It was heart warming and heart breaking to listen to some of her stories. Judith has just returned from a long trip, part of which was spent in Benin at a writers’ workshop which produces Bible reading notes for children in Africa. The second book is ready to print and has now got the funding required to go ahead. I’ve been asked to be part of the writers’ group which will be based here in Lubumbashi and will contribute to the next 4 books. I’m looking forward to working with a dynamic group of young writers. Since most of them are working, we will expect to work at weekends but will have an initial meeting one Thursday evening in the next week or so.
Hélène has invited Judith and me to the wedding this afternoon. Not a clue what to wear, so I’d better go and investigate the wardrobe. It’s not till around 4pm… just as well, really as my outside thermometer is registering 480C and I’ve brought it indoors before it explodes. It’s at least 100C cooler indoors. ‘Swimming costume’ springs to mind but I can’t see that going down too well at a posh wedding. The brother works for Customs & Excise!
I hope the K3 team got back safely yesterday and felt their time was well spent. I’m sure it was!
Love

Bridget

Dear All

I can hardly believe there’s only a week before I’ll be boarding a Kenya Airways flight bound for Nairobi, Amsterdam and Manchester! If you could glimpse the chaos here you probably wouldn’t believe it either.

Even though this is officially the college holiday, I seem to have been extremely busy. On my ‘to do’ list, there are an extraordinary number of things but I’ll get there somehow.

Since last writing, we have been in Zambia for the biannual CAM conference. Although it’s quite a palaver to organise, with visas to get in and out of this country, Zambian visas, and all manner of payments to get the cars through the border, it was well worth it. We left around 8.30 and were through the border by 1pm. A glance at a map will show you it’s not far from Lubumbashi to Kasumbalesa, the border post but there are major road works all the way and it’s virtually single file traffic for considerable stretches of the road. We arrived at the first barrier to be informed we’d have a 15 minute wait, didn’t believe him and waited 15 minutes! At least we were always at the front at each barrier so got to travel at a good speed, without being in anyone’s dust.

The conference was held at Life Springs, a small Christian conference centre near Ndola. I loved having wide open spaces to walk in and had taken my binoculars so was able to do some bird watching, seeing a new (to me) kind of kingfisher (brown headed), marsh tchagras and drongos as well as some more familiar ones. Don’t you love the names? Our afternoons were free, with mornings taken up with business meetings and evenings for fellowship. We go to Zambia because CAM also has 2 couples working there. I had known one of the couples when I worked in Lubumbashi before and it was a delight to meet up with them again.

One super surprise on arrival at Life Springs was to catch up with all our post going back about 3 months and in with the post were all the cards you had sent from the Sunday morning service, encouraged by Lisa. I know our postal service or lack of it is a pain but somehow there’s an extra pleasure in receiving letters never entirely matched by e-mails (although I was touched by Jennifer’s email which she sent that way because she didn’t think I’d be able to read red crayon (!) and which arrived just after we learned of the death of the college director).

This is truly the dusty season. No rain for over 5 months. A pall of dust hangs over the city and the other day walking back across the centre, I could barely see the group of young boys playing volleyball near my house. The wind throws up twisters and woe betide you if you’re in the path of one as they gather everything up off the ground and throw it at you. The rains won’t come probably until after I get back at the end of October. We’ve had some water crises as the electric pump which sends water to the main tank at the centre broke down. For 3 weeks all the water had to be carried. They would have to be the 3 weeks when I had a young friend staying, who loved taking showers and not having to compete with family members for water. Esther has since hit the harsh realities of the world of work for the first time, having found a job at an English speaking school in town. She’s working with the younger children as a classroom assistant. On day 2 she turned up at my house early in the morning, to say she wasn’t going back, the work was too hard! In the end, she did go back, apologised to the head for her late arrival and is now in her second week, bubbling over with stories of her new experiences. Since her father’s death a couple of years ago, the family have gone through some difficult times and it is good to see one member of the family in regular employment. Sammy, Esther’s younger brother, has learning difficulties and last year was able to get a place at a school which caters for young people with special needs. He loves it there and can’t wait to go back at the end of the holidays. His mum and Esther visit each month but from the very beginning, he’s never wanted to come home with them – in fact he’s usually pushing them out of the door because it’s time for him to go and have tea or to watch some favourite television programme. He clearly enjoys the routine of his day and his teachers are pleased with the progress he’s making.

My travel plans are to leave here on Thursday 11 September, fly to Manchester via Nairobi arriving mid morning on the Friday. My return flight is on 22 October. I’m looking forward to a break and to seeing everyone, catching up on news and in no particular order enjoying rain (well, you’re bound to have some given this year’s UK weather!), eating yogurt and parsnips (not at the same time) and hearing Andy play the drums! And of course some walks in the Dales … and…!

With love

Bridget

Dear friends

I had a lovely time on the morning of my birthday opening all the cards you had sent.  It was a real struggle not to open them sooner as they’d been sitting on my shelf for a while (I only gave in to temptation 3 times!).  What a good thing you posted early – we’ve had no mail for ages now so anything posted later has yet to arrive!  Visits from friends, a chocolate cake baked by Carol and decorated by Ginny as a piano complete with pianist, then a meal in the relaxed atmosphere of an Indian restaurant in town, made the day a happy and enjoyable one.
The next day it was back to reality with a bump, with ISTELU students sitting their English exams.    Now with the exams over, and a staff meeting called for tomorrow morning to assess students’ results and progress, it’s all systems go for the graduation ceremony on Saturday morning.  My house is bedecked with navy blue and scarlet academic gowns (30 of them hand washed and ironed), and 30 mortar boards, scrubbed and ironed.  A friend has come by to help do some emergency repairs on some of the mortar boards and then we can turn our attention to refreshments which will be served after the ceremony, for around 100 guests.  Anni went to the market this morning, coming back with a huge bag of peanuts for roasting and has now gone off in search of a tray of eggs.  The wife of one of my colleagues is going to make 10kg of savoury crackers and Pastor John has been collecting up all the empty soft drink bottles so as to buy 6 crates of drinks.  The wife of another colleague will make a mountain of doughnuts and that just leaves Ann who’s heading to town this afternoon to buy sandwich fillings – we’ll leave buying bread until early Saturday morning, then the assembly line will kick into action, making sandwiches at top speed.
The graduation ceremony itself will take place in the church this year, which will allow for students to invite many more of their friends and family than was possible last year when the church was booked for a wedding.  Each new graduate can then invite 3 folk to the bash afterwards.  We don’t lay on a meal as such because usually either their family or church will have organised something for them but it’s good just to relax for an hour after the main ceremony, before everyone scatters.
Thank you for all the messages of support following the sudden death of the college director, Pastor Aaron Kalenga.  There will be many challenges ahead as the administrative council looks for a replacement.  His years of experience and his expertise in Biblical languages will not be easy to find in another man.   In the meantime it has been decided that there will not be a new intake for the degree programme this year.  Those in their second year will of course continue.  So the long vacation is about to start, with college reopening on 1 November.  Entrance exams will be held during the holiday and those students who need to re-take exams will do that in October – they include several retaking English!  I will need to leave a new exam prepared as I’ll not be here in October.  My flights are booked to come to UK from 12 September to 22 October and I’m really looking forward to seeing everyone and having a break at the same time!

Every blessing

Bridget

Dear all
It’s 3 something in the morning - all times before 5 in my book are indeterminate – and I’m aware that my mobile phone is ringing somewhere in the house. I crawl under the mosquito net and make it to the living room before it stops. It’s Simon, one of the Centre staff. My brain just about does ‘medical emergency’ but then what Simon is saying doesn’t fit my ‘box’. He and the pastor want me to go and see something they’ve found. Then I realise he’s used the word ‘baby’. Someone has abandoned a baby. I just about have the presence of mind to ask if ‘it’s’ alive. Simon is at my gate. 2 minutes later I’ve thrown some clothes on and joined him.
It seems that near a side entrance to the centre, a young man who’d come in to pray (the church is often open for prayer through the night), had discovered a tiny baby lying in the grass. These are nights of heavy dew and someone had hurried to find warmer clothing to wrap the baby in. He was still alive. We prayed quickly together for the baby and for his mother who had abandoned him, then the pastor and Simon left to seek medical help and advice. Eventually after being turned away by a local clinic who felt unable to cope, they were welcomed by the University clinic in the city. The appropriate authorities were informed but so far all attempts to find the mother have failed. Instead a local TV station picked up on the story and appealed for people of ‘good will’ to come forward who could offer the baby a home. The hospital was inundated! Initially they short-listed a couple of another faith. The pastor, who had gone back to the hospital with baby milk and other necessities and to see how he was, felt strongly the baby should be raised in a Christian home. After speaking to the hospital director and the bourgemeister, the process was started to make the pastor the baby’s legal guardian. Meanwhile, a couple have come forward from one of the city churches with a letter of recommendation from their pastor. They have been unable to have children themselves and it now looks as though they may well become little ‘Moise’s’ parents. He has been given a clean bill of health by the hospital and should soon be ready to go to his new home.
Needless to say, I didn’t get a lot more sleep last Thursday morning and the day turned out to be extremely busy. There was money to order for end of month salaries, electricity bills, national insurance and taxes (the routine stuff!). Debbie came round so we could work on an article she had to shrink to size and then together we spent a not inconsiderable time trying to send them via a recalcitrant server. I got home as the technician came to repair the photocopier and by 1 o’clock, Isaac – former ISTELU student - had turned up to continue his marathon trying to restore the piano at ISTELU. It was 6pm before we finished but Isaac’s determination to see the job through to completion was commendable. (I was flagging!) Unlike the piano currently at my house, this one had seen some rough treatment. On opening it up we found all sorts, including popcorn, sweet corn, bits of paper wedged between keys and to be honest, it sounded past saving! After taking out all the keys and meticulously cleaning them, then repairing a couple of keys (I love the way people here can ‘make do and mend’), we got down to the serious business of re-tuning the piano. I’m delighted with the result and had the opportunity to try it out on Monday morning, when John taught the ISTELU students ‘Venez et Célébrez’ (Come on and celebrate) during their morning prayers.
Snippets from 3 conversations to finish up with:
“The pastor has accused four women in the church of witchcraft and of plotting to kill his wife. The case may go to court. Many people are leaving the church. Maybe the best thing to do is put a big padlock on the door and close the church down. So many are hiding ‘fetishes’ and the enemy is doing anything he likes in the church.”
“Please may I have time to go home? My child has come to say I’m needed there urgently as all my son’s clothes have caught fire.”
So went two conversations early Tuesday morning. On the return of the second person, I asked how the incident had occurred, knowing that their house had recently been connected to mains electricity. “It was ‘spirits of the night’ who caused it. There was no fire nearby and the electricity is fine but my son’s clothes have all been destroyed.” Pray for the many people we meet who, like us, need to grow in their understanding of what it really means to be a Christian and know how to live out their faith here in 21st century central Africa.
And the third conversation? Kazadi and Claude, a colleague and one of the Kisongye Bible translators, deep in conversation on my verandah. I’m focused on something else but eventually some words drift through. ‘Arsenal’, ‘Chelsea’, ‘Liverpool’… Yes, they’re sharing highlights of yesterday evening’s matches and the different teams’ prospects for the Cup! “If an English team makes it to the final, I’m going to be sure to video it”, says Kazadi!
Have a good week!
Love

Bridget