F L A M E

African Journals

Tuesday and Wednesday, November 2-3, 2004

It has been sunny every day we've been here, in Bissau, and very hot. How hot? We don't really want to know!

We have lots of errands yet to run and travel is slow because of heavy traffic. Monday and Tuesday we were blessed with the use of the Mission compound pick-up truck. On Wednesday it was taxis and lots of walking. The exercise felt good though.

Tuesday afternoon we met with Mario Martinez, Executive Director of LEAD International Ministry Network located in Vancouver WA. Mario and his group have been working in Guinea Bissau approximately eight years. They are working with Cashew farmers, teaching them how to process their cashew nuts and work through a coop rather than sell them raw in the sh

Mario gave us much advice and valuable information. Some things saddened our hearts, particularly in the area of government officials in high places. Some of them are controlling this country for personal gain and not working to help their impoverished people. Humanly speaking it looks next to impossible. Thankfully we have a heavenly Father with whom nothing is impossible. A couple bright notes: the Ministers of Agriculture, Justice and education are working for the people rather than just themselves, and young Christian men are studying with a focus on entering into politics

We are still working on adjusting to Guinea Bissau again. Our internal clocks haven't gotten the eight hour time difference figured out yet. We take three to four showers a day to avoid heat exhaustion. Sleeping at night in the heat is particularly difficult for Herb. He has tried counting giraffes jumping over a fence. It's amazing but it hasn't helped him to get to sleep yet. Note: we can't count sheep here - the poor little things would cook with all that wool on!

Preparing our own meals from day to day has been interesting. Martha fixed a big pot of cabbage, carrots, onions, potatoes and cut up canned lunch meat. It tasted very good along with rice which we are destined to get used to. We've been eating the same meal since last Saturday and will through Thursday night. We think we will be ready for a change!

Lord willing, we will move out to Canchungo Friday afternoon.

P.S. We are very curious about the election results in the USA. Hopefully we will find out when we can access e-mail.

Thursday and Friday November 4-5 2004

On Thursday and Friday mornings there were more errands to run. On some it would take three or four trips before we would complete the errand. We went to the Immigration Department four times to get Martha's Alien Residency Card renewed. This takes the place of a visa and is good for five years. It is also very handy to use here as it is also an identification card. She still doesn't have it because the department director hasn't gotten around to signing it. Thursday was our last day at the WEC Mission compound in <

We always learn things from other missionaries. Thursday afternoon a couple from St. Domingo, a city in the north, on the border with Senegal, stayed in our unit. They have been missionaries to Guinea Bissau for nine years. Cholera is fairly prevalent in Africa.We were concerned for Tiago's eight year old son who developed malaria on Wednesday. Malaria is the number one killer in Guinea Bissau. As we prepare to leave Bissau, he is doing better through medication and most important, prayer.

We are pre-packed and eager to move on to Canchungo. We left there March 14, 2003 anticipating returning in November 2003. God had other plans, so here we are returning a year later. At last we are reaching our destination. In 2003 trips from Canchungo to BissauWe arrived at Pastor Chenda's house in Canchungo at 6:00 PM, shortly before dusk - which doesn't last very long this near the equator. There were many hugs and tears of joy to be re-united with our "family" in Canchungo.

Teresinha prepared a wonderful feast for our return. It was kind of eerie to look out across town and see only darkness because there is no city electrical power. The city's antique generator is broken.

Saturday November 6, 2004

Today we start a new routine of life in Chenda's household; family devotions at 6:00 AM, before sunrise (at 7:00). We will probably be staying here until approximately December 3rd.

After breakfast we went to see FLAME headquarters/missionary house (where we will stay). We were filled with anticipation and excitement. When we arrived we were pleased to see two other houses close by. Before arriving we had concerns about being isolated from other people, therefore being at risk for break-ins. The headquarters is fairly close to completion. Things that are yet to be completed: floors, doors, window screens, shutters, limited plumbing, and framed ornamental iron work used as security around the perimeter veranda of the headquarters (house).We do lots of walking in Canchungo. It is about 2¼ miles from Chenda's to the house, and about 1½ miles from the house to Jesus' Industrial School and the Church. On the way back from the house we saw and talked with King Ferreira, the Manjako King we met in 2003. He said he was very pleased

The evenings are long with only candle light. We have only 11 ½ hours of daylight and will be getting less through December 21st.

Sunday November 7, 2004

Herb saw rain for the first time in Guinea Bissau. When we were here last year in January through March it never rained. The month with the most rain is August. By the end of October the rainy season is over thereafter we have an occasional shower through November, then no more rain through mid May or June. Since it is cloudy today it is much cooler and to our liking.

Today was our first worship service back in our Canchungo Church. We were warmly welcomed by everyone. We were given an opportunity to speak to the congregation and express our greetings from AmericaDusk is upon us and we've managed to bring this journal up to date.

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