Caution: May Contain Nuts

Lions and other dangerous African creatures often lurk in the grass near villages.

After several weeks in Kabwe preparing everything for his girls, Timothy is now heading  toward Cape Town to pick us up.  Traveling the African roads is never without “adventure”, and this trip has been no exception.  Friday night he slept by the side of the road in his bakkie (pick up).  In the wee hours of the morning he heard gunshots, but no following noise.  Assuming the situation was a street brawl, he went back to sleep.  A little while later he and the friends traveling with him, Hannes & Christel, got ready to hit the road again.  While looking for an outhouse, they noticed that the villagers were all hiding in their huts… not a good sign.  Finally one of them whispered hurriedly, “Lions! There are lions in the trees!!  Get back in your truck!!”  Thank heavens they were sleeping in the truck, not under it (a common practice in the warmer seasons), as their bakkie was only a few yards from the trees where the lions were seen!  Lions rarely come near villages, as they are naturally afraid of people.  Any lion venturing into a village, is likely a “man eater”, a fearful prospect for the African people living in flimsy grass huts, often without doors.  Praise God no one was hurt and the lions moved on to find something else for breakfast.

No road trip is complete without some kind of near disaster; this trip was no exception.  Saturday morning the guys needed to pull the utility trailer out of the bakkie.  As they eased it down, the ropes broke with a POP and the trailer came hurtling out of the truck.  It nearly hit several people, and careened to a stop just short of the gate.  God’s hand was obviously on the trailer, as it could easily have seriously injured someone.  Fortunately, everyone (including the trailer) is fine and they continued after enjoying a nervous laugh.

Daniela and Monica play a duet

After a surprisingly uneventful day and a half of flights, Monica and I arrived safely in Cape Town late on Wednesday, 8/26.  Monica really was SUCH a good baby.  She slept through most of the flights and played nicely in the terminals.  I was grateful to be traveling with Lenora Hammond.  It’s so nice to fly with friends; good company makes all the difference.  The weather in Cape Town has been stunning- no rain, lots of sun (did I get off at the right place??).  Monica has finally adjusted to the time difference, which she found much more challenging than the flights themselves.  However, she is having a great time with the Hammonds and their kitties, bunny, and duck.  I am really happy to be back on my home continent and in one of the loveliest cities in the world.  Although, I will be much happier when I can enjoy all of this with Tim! : )

Monica enjoying the duck pond

PUSH!!!!!!

I can’t believe the Container is finally packed and on the way to Africa!  It seems like we have spent all of our time for the last 11 months either planning, collecting supplies, sorting, or packing.

This Project started out as a “don’t you wish” back in 2007.  On my first trip with Timothy up into Africa, I watched how quickly our bakkie (Afrikaans for “pick up”) was unloaded after driving over 1500 miles from Cape Town to Zambia to get the supplies there.  I asked, “Isn’t there a more efficient way of doing this?”  Tim laughed, saying that yes but it was almost more trouble than it was worth.  A rookie at the time, I thought a person could just load up a container in the US, ship it there, and voila, you would have tons of stuff to distribute.  Haha.  After a few more road trips around the continent, I learned that it just doesn’t work like that in Africa.  Sure, loading up the stuff on this side is do-able (I almost said “easy enough”, but having just completed that part, I can’t bring myself to use the “e” word yet), but just to get that far you have to raise the funding to ship it and gather the supplies to put inside, either through purchase or donation.  Then, once you actually fill the container, which is 40′x8′x8′ and 2300 cu ft, it travels over sea (which is the easiest part of the whole process) where it meets Africa. 

36,000 lbs of books is... heavy.

Ah, Africa.  Africans have a saying, “You white men have the watches, but we have the time.”  Oh, and they take delight in helping you experience time… a lot of it.  After a short time in the Dark Continent, I understood the meaning behind “red tape”.  After getting gummed up in a never ending stream of government paperwork and hassles, you quickly see RED.  Importing a shipping container full of valuable supplies (for everything has value in a continent that has nothing) means dealing with a LOT of red tape.  Once the container arrives at the coast, it will sit there until someone feels like loading it on a truck.  Then it will travel over the perilous African roads.  Land mines aren’t really a problem in Southern Africa (South Africa, Zam, Zim, Botswana, etc), but the roads are potholed and treacherous, petrol stations are few and far between, and road blocks (read “bribes”) are numerous.  Upon reaching the border (read “paperwork and bribes”), the shipping container goes through all kinds of inspections before it can pass on.  When it finally reaches your country, it has to go through customs (read “nightmare”).

The Word of God is precious.

However, once you’ve gone through all of that to get the container to the village, the impact is indescribable.  Having that many Bibles, school materials, and supplies to distribute is simply amazing.  You never forget giving someone their first and only Bible.  I’ll always remember the little old African woman in rural Zambia who gently wiped her tears off the cover of the Bible I gave her.  It wasn’t even a very nice Bible.  The pages tattered and the cover worn, this volume had obviously been well-loved by someone before her.  But she didn’t see torn pages or smudges; she saw her very own copy of God’s Word.  She saw the opportunity to read about her Savior to her children and grandchildren.  She saw hope for the future. 

When I remember those beautiful people, I forget how long it took to pack the Container.  Suddenly a few months of sweat seems rather inconsequential.  When we finally open those doors in Africa, we will have thousands of books to take to churches, schools, pastors, children, and dear people… people starving for hope and real joy.

Thank you for your help!

At the end of this phase of our Container Project, I truly understand what we saw in the beginning.  This Project is way too big for us.  I thank God that He was there every step of the way… before we were.  I am grateful that He brought His people together to help us gather Bibles and supplies, fund the shipping, and manage the logistics.  There are so many examples of God’s provision.  I will try to remember some of them to share in the future.  For now, I’m just so thankful that the Container is packed, the doors shut, and the inventory cleared.

Please pray that God’s hand will be on the Container and go before it.  Pray that He will be there at the roadside, the customs desk, and the road blocks.  Pray that He gives us favor in the eyes of the agents.  Pray that His Word reaches His people in safely.