I’m here...I live in Africa...I’m ‘on mission’. It feels extremely
weird and fairly normal all at once.
Day 1
A relatively uneventful journey here. The staff at Heathrow
weren’t terribly happy with my one way ticket but, thankfully, I had a copy of
my school contract in my bag. It wasn’t signed and could’ve been written by
anyone...but it did the trick.
On the Nairobi to Bujumbura flight I got upgraded to
Business Class. Woo Hoo!! This meant that I got my orange juice 10mins early,
an orange seat cover instead of a blue one and...a choice of two horrible
breakfasts. How the other half live!
Please thank God for watching
over my journey.
Please pray that Allie
and the children will have an equally blessed trip.
The bags made it through customs with little fuss and I arrived at the house to find that Zebron (the weekend guard) had swapped with Nestor (the
night guard). Nestor just doesn’t get my French.
In fact none of them do. I was practicing my French with
Claude, the cook, and he didn’t understand...which worried me. But it turns out
that my French was correct...it’s just that my accent is horrible.
Please ask God to bless
my conversations.
Having not slept on the flight over, I arrived feeling very tired.
And tiredness = doubt. I explained to Nestor, unsuccessfully, that I was going
to sleep...which he found funny...and crashed. I woke feeling much
better.
My friend Libby had left me some food, made my bed and left
a card and cookies...it made me feel really welcome.
Milly, the dog, and I are friends. She’s bouncy, but lovely.
The power situation here’s pretty good. There are major cuts
each day...but they’re scheduled, which is very unusual. My district seems to
get it from 3pm – 3am...which works for me...except that the hot water needs electricity. More cold showers.
Power means internet, which means Facebook and Heart FM,
which (combined with Allie’s old copy of Prima) made me more at home.
Praise God for His
provision.
Day 2
Claude turned up an hour early for his 1st day,
which meant that I wasn’t ready for our first chat. I think he understood his
terms of employment...though dinner was 2 ½ hours early and I think he’s coming
at 6am rather than 7:30am tomorrow; but I’m sure we’ll get past the confusion.
Both Claude and Sylvestre, the day guard, have been lovely
and we’ve been collectively misunderstanding each other all day.
Two full-time workers is over-kill for one person. There’s
not a lot for them to do; but I’ve been telling them to make the most of it as
it’ll all change when the kids arrive.
Claude wanted to do some food shopping today, so took me to
the giant, covered market place. Imagine all the images of markets and souks
from films like India Jones...exaggerate it several times...and then you’re
close. The path ways were barely one person wide and the stalls were stacked
with impressive amounts of food. It was amazing. There were probably a thousand
people in there...and one muzungu. I don’t think they noticed (Ha!Ha!).
I made sure my pockets were empty before I went in and spent
the next hour being ‘frisked’ by an army of fairly ‘unsubtle’ pick-pockets.
Although we got charged a higher rate, thanks to my presence, we weren’t ripped
off as badly as I imagined. Though in future I’m dropping him off and going for
a coffee so that he gets the local prices.
Some time I should get someone to take me back there with a
camera...I'd love you to see it.
I was adamant that I wouldn’t withdraw when I arrived here
alone. So the trip to the market was ideal. I’ve also been driving a lot in a
tired, rented Toyota....and I love driving in this country. It’s hairy, but
great fun...you just have to be bold and get into the spirit of it. And you get to use your horn loads.
On the way to the market we got stopped by the police who
were checking for insurance documents. We couldn’t find them and I didn’t have
a phone yet. We got pulled over for about 30mins while Claude made call to a
colleague of mine, after which a few calls were made and we were sent on our
way. The papers have now been found.
I feel blessed that I’m settling in well and I’m half way
through the unpacking...but I also feel like a child. All of a sudden you’re
not street-wise anymore and old assumptions are redundant.
Praise God for His
protection and for refining me.
Day 3 will be bank account opening day, more unpacking and a
swim or run. Then on Wednesday I’m going to pop into school.
Back at home
Allie’s having to manage with the kids on her own...which
isn’t easy...plus getting ready for their departure.
More than anything,
please pray for protection and abundant blessings for Allie over the next week.
I miss her and can’t support her...but God can.
Our tenants should be in by now, though the letting agents
are asking us to fork out an astonishing amount of money on another clean.
Perhaps Andrew’s room needed a deep clean.
Extra costs aren’t fun and I’m fretting about whether our
budget out here is correct...but we’re following God and trust Him, so it’ll be
fine.
Again...please
continue to pray that we’ll trust in God’s provision and His timing.
God Bless,
Jez
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