African Missions - September 2004

27 September 2004

Dearest friends and family,
Sorry for the delay in communicating - we have just got our email up and running: Just a few things about how our e-mail operates. We are connected via HF radio link, and cannot receive attachments, photos or long emails. Therefore please do not put us on your list for "Joke of the day" or you will bomb out our system. Text messages only please, and keep them to about 200 words or less, please. We have limited power on board, and the HF radio, laptop, modem and inverter required to run the email all use a fair amount of power, so we can access our emails about once or twice a week only - if you haven,t received a reply, it may be because we have not yet read your email. Lastly, this email address is for the entire crew, therefore discretion should be used with content and so on. Please put my name "Joey" in the "Subject" box above when you send me emails, and then the system will download our emails directly to our personal in-boxes. Please remember that this is not a secure link, and is open to anyone with a laptop and who steals our passwords - skryf in AFRIKAANS as jy iets will se wat miskien sensetief is.

Anyway, we are all well, safe and happy. The trip up was arduous, with the main problems being the border posts. Arriving in Monkey Bay, we had no crane to lift the boat off the low-bed, so we had to drag it off (all 8.5 tons) with a winch, onto it's own trailer, and then the slipway was crumbling, so we had to let the trailer down onto the tracks on it's axles, and let it slide on the greased rails into the water. Quite a splash, I can tell you. However, in all these trials and tribulations and sometimes seemingly impossibilities, we were more than conquerers through Christ who strengthened us! We saw God's hand in everything. Our prayers were for God to supernaturally launch the boat but He had the bigger picture (as always) in mind. I saw in this process the scripture in 2 Timothy 1:7 God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of love, and of POWER, and of a SOUND MIND. What was accomplished in Monkey Bay those 2 days would live on in the minds of everyone who were witnessesses to the miracles God performed through mere humans!

We are now lying at anchor (two) in Monkey bay, awaiting the registration of the boat with the Malawi Dept. of Transport. The number of large vessels on the Lake is amazing, with the container ship "Katundu" being the largest. There are several large passenger vessels, and even a Tanker!

We will be moving to Cape Maclear next week (if all goes well), and having a couple of days off before we start our ministry work properly.
We have been working with a wonderful Pastor, Peter, from the local Pentecostal church in Makokolo. Pray for him too, please, as he is doing wonderful work amongst the muslim population with very little support.

Thank you to all of you who are supporting me in Prayer, Financially and in so many other ways. I appreciate it, and could not be here without your support.

We also need some serious prayer support, the main concerns are: For the Red Tape to be sorted out, the registration of the vessel, final inspection for seaworthiness,work permits to be issued, our continued good health, and for the people we are going to be ministering to: The Yao people, and all those that we come into contact with.
I will try to keep regular contact from now on (weekly), so I will let you know more details as we go along.

It is beautiful here, very sheltered from the Mwera winds that suddenly blow up (2-3m swells) and it is very hot when there's no wind. We have no fresh meat here, and we still have not caught any fish, but I will try again today!! Talk about "Survivor Lake Malawi"

Ok, that's all for now, keep well and God bless and keep you all.

Lots of love
Joey