Some big YEAHS!

Brian got in the other day to a clearing agent in Lusaka! He had been in town 5 days in a row, he wasn’t entirely pleased with that, but you gotta do what you gotta do. There are a few very specific prayer requests from that conversation:
-pray we get good transport drivers. Sometimes they can get a little goofy and not want to deliver where you want them to or ask for more money to get your container there. Pray for good drivers.
-there has been a little bit of a back up at the Dar Es Salaam customs office. Some containers are sitting closer to a week to clear, instead of 2 or 3 days. Pray ours would clear right away. Once cleared, it takes probably 2 days to border, 2 days to clear at border, 1 day to Lusaka.
-pray that the border agent at the Nakonde, Zambia border would not want to overly scrutinize our inventory. It looks as if we will qualify for the duty-free new residents rebate; but if the agent goes over it with a fine tooth comb, they may charge extra “fees” on certain items. And quite frankly, they can pretty much do what they want! I have emailed frequently with Ms. Chama and she seems very warm and helpful. If we get this rebate, our duty/transport fees will probably be about half of what we were thinking.
PLEASE PRAY WE CAN GET THE CONTAINER TO THE SCHOOL AND UNLOADED BEFORE JULY 11th; otherwise Brian may need to stay a week or two longer to ensure it gets there safely.
For the most part I guess I am okay with that. Obviously this container is a big part of our getting there. I just get tired of being the one who hears all the tattling, being the only one to get after the kids. And with the ages that the six of them are, it’s just really hard to take them somewhere “fun”.
George, one of the Zambia pastors who drives bus, dropped Brian off at the office that day, then Brian walked the mile to Discount Steel. He said he really didn’t feel uncomfortable walking alone. He was the only white person on the street but it didn’t really matter. He probably figured it would be a bigger deal walking in some downtown metros in the States then over there. No one paid any attention to him. I said we walk with seven kids and I am sure they will!
Brian was told the other day that all the block was up at the house! I haven’t talked to him since then, he was going to check to see that it was. Then they put a top plate on, and the plasterers can start their work. During that time Brian will make the templates for the roof trusses and have some guys work on those, and then form up the patio/outdoor cooking area.
Lewis and Paul leave today (they are already in town). Another Gospelink rep, Allen Scruggs, is there for the next two weeks to help oversea the teams at the college with Brian. There is still a lot to be done, and Brian may have to help more with other areas now. Pray that all will get done, in its right time.
A pastor from the Eastern Province brought some trees to plant at the school, he wanted to contribute in some way. Brian didn’t get what they were called, but they were some type of pine/oriental- it’s green all year round. He had brought one for the medical clinic, one for Lewis, then figured Brian would take 2 or 3, so he was going to look to see where to plant.
I really don’t remember what I have typed before, so forgive me if I repeat. It seems Gospelink is now in negations with customs on their container. That means they go line by line of the manifest and through the container-this will inevitably lead to extra cost for warehousing fees and duties. Pray this will go smoothly and quickly, without huge disputes. There is a Gator, tractor, plow, steel for roofs, and other equipment on there that we could sure use at the school.
Brian also met the tribal chief today. He had heard the medical clinic was done, so he wanted to come and see it. Daniel has been coaching how to greet him in Sulu and all the formalities of the tribal structure.
We are looking to September already, thinking about a two week or so time period when Brian (and hopefully a handful of other guys) could go back and finish up the details on the house. We have looked at Sept 7th to 21st or 14th to 28th. Of course for those up here in the Midwest, this is very close to when they start combining soybeans. With the later planting this year, I don’t know how close that will end up being. One year they combined on Sept. 25th/2 6th, which was very early (I only remember because Brian was so exhausted that night-and Mariah was born on the 27th!) Let us know if you have an interest in going! The only costs I know for sure are the $140 for a tourist visa (that is good for 3 years-then you can come back and visit us!). September 1st marks the end of the main tourist season, so airfare will go down a bit, and then the other cost would be food. I just did a quick search and saw a flight for around $2000. But I believe Gospelink can get it a little cheaper as it would be a missionary flight.
There is a group at the school this week and next (they are staying an extra week) from LuVerne, MN. This is the group Brian was with last year, we spoke at their church in February, and we will go down again on August 3rd.
Brian is preaching again this Sunday-please pray for time to prepare. And as I said, it’s hard to get in a “groove” as you can only say about a sentence at a time. Pray for him Saturday night before you go to bed.
On the last trip to Victoria Falls, one of the women had a severe headache, probably a migraine. George, asked if he could pray for her. He laid hands on her head and prayed for her and immediately it was gone! We definitely see the spiritual battle out in the open in Africa! Later that week one of the Malawian pastors started preaching to the guys about prayer and fasting while at supper. How real and effective it is!
Some of the kids were out in the grass with their hoes the other day, killing mice. Then they brought them home and roasted over an open fire. YUM!
Brian saw a black fox walking down the middle of the road last week when he was driving back to the school. He also saw a cobra on the other side of the road, so swerved and ran it over.
The ladies who are helping with all the cooking and whatnot were joking about how sometimes they don’t know whose kids are whose; they just strap one on their back. Well, you’ll know when you have one of mine Brian said, and they just laughed and laughed!
We are looking (again) at satellite internet service for out at the school for us. I really don’t understand much though- there are Ku bands and C bands, and you pay by bandwidth, or data feed on different tiers…I have no idea. We can do the small one where you plug it in a USB port and get a new port every time, but that is like $300 a time, and basically we’d only have time to check our emails, not do much for research on it. I got an email of another couple who has satellite internet, I’ll see what they have and what they pay.
The Zambian kwacha continues to fall as the dollar falls. Not sure what we will do about that. The house has already cost more than we originally hoped as we planned when the kwacha was at 4000 to the dollar. The last exchange I saw was around 3300.
Some praises:
As I was up from 2-3:30 am Monday morning waiting for an email that didn’t come until I went back to bed (of course!), I prayed that God would make it clear Brian needed to do this and I couldn’t, or I would get all the details to do it. I awoke at 5:30 to an email telling Brian to come into the office, which would be best. Answer #1!
When I talked to Brian on Monday night he wasn’t planning on going into Lusaka until Thursday. I prayed and praised God for His sovereignty and that He will of course handle all of it in His time, but for my peace of mind, I’d love it if Brian could get in on Tuesday. At 5:30 am Brian called, he was at the office. Answer #2!
I still don’t know when the container will for sure be in Dar Es Salaam. The estimated time was 6/25, but I just wasn’t seeing the update of where it was on the shipping tracking site. So again I prayed last night to see something. So when I woke up, I saw it got off the ship in Salalah, Oman. Answer #3! Now I am waiting for it to tell me what ship it was loaded onto to get to Dar Es Salaam and what day that will be.
I need to talk to Brian later today, so I am sure I will update again of Friday or Saturday!