not so silent

Today, on this cool Winter day in Whiteriver, South Africa, we have planted 9 Camellia bushes. Our vision is that as they grow they will form a walk down from the orchard behind our house. From a distance we hope to gaze on the white, pink and red flowers. Visitors who come to the farm will see a walkway of green bushes that will be flashed with camellia colour. Erin and I have planted the Camellias after the recent death of my best friend Chris, known to me as CD. He and I met at the age of 5 on the way to school and stayed lifelong friends until his death at the age of 60 years. At this point in my grief I feel nothing good came out of his death, nothing dampens the pain of loss, emptiness and unfulfilled dreams; not Camellias, not the fine words at his funeral, or laughter in sharing his life with others. So for the moment we have planted 9 Camellias to try and mark his life on a continent he was never able to visit. Camellias - because they were his favourite plant and...

A typical landing scene  During May I had the privilege of flying in our helicopter with Joel to ASAM in Mozambique, and to be part of a mission outreach. We flew first to Chimoio and then on to Doa for two days, then to Mutarara for 5 days. We were a group of 5 people with various gifts and skills, plus local pastors. As two teams, every day we flew in to two remote villages where we were met by the local church. The pastors  in the villages were people I had met at the school ASAM where they were part of the twice yearly intensive teaching program.  It was truly amazing to meet these pastors in the own context where they live their daily lives. The pastors and students are part of a teaching program which takes them through 25 books over a number of years until they finally complete the course and graduate.  Three students who have graduated  Myself, Andy and Joao taught in the villages, and I was spoke about the role of prayer i...

On my recent trip to Mutarara with ASAM, the celebration had ended and we were just about to leave the village.  I was told that someone wanted to give us something for the mission, to say thank you. Well my background informed me to get ready to accept a cheque. We gathered in a semi circle and a young man stood before us clutching an old worn back pack. Large cheque I thought! He opened the bag and out popped a live chicken. Oh  this is interesting - where in my training was I prepared for this? So I took my lead from my friend Joao and the young man told his short but eventful story. He wanted to give us a chicken to say thank you for showing care.  He wanted to say thank you to the mission fo r the help they gave , when his wife was pregnant with their child. He wanted to say thank you, for helping him after his wife died after giving birth. He wanted to say thank you to the mission for giving milk for the child after the birth. He wanted to say th...

During my week on mission trip to Mamoli one of the highlights was to visit local schools. during the day these schools would very quickly become health clinics. I have spent a fair amount of time in schools in my adult life. I have shared many school assemblies with the children, I have been a school governor and helped in classrooms. But Mozambique gave me a whole new insight to what school is like for many children in Africa. At one school we visited there was two brick-built buildings firm and sound, they have no electricity or glass in the windows but they do have good old-fashioned blackboards. Here as always lively engaging children interested in new visitors. But outside on the ground in the sun lay the children’s school books drying out in the 35 degrees heat. The books were wet because of the heavy rain during the previous week. Then we went to another school this one had more children attending and seemed very busy. But it was the first schoo...

As I sat at a small bush clinic in an isolated community in Mozambique something unusual played out. A group of young men emerged into this mainly female community gathering. There were about 8 young boys heading towards manhood, late teens, I guess. They had a hint of that attitude I have seen in young men in England; they stand - no sitting in the dust for this group. They laugh and make fun of each other; it seems they treat life without too much seriousness. I listen but I can only guess what this very foreign language is saying.     But they have gathered within four confident strides of the folding table. Each one in turn takes his place, seated and patient.   For some the encounter is a joke; banter, laughter pushing, but for others the encounter at the table seems to have a misplaced silence. The day is hot, the medical team in action, friends meeting, this is a social occasion for local villages. This is a cheap folding table, small enough to fi...

As part of Mercy Air’ outreach to isolated communities, there have been regular mission trips to Mamoli Mission, in Mozambique, for a number of years now.  A warm welcome The journey began as we left Mercy Air to exit South Africa at Kruger and enter Mozambique at Beira. We stay at the Mamoli Mission base where we have two rooms, a secure place to park the helicopter, and storage for the   A1 jet fuel (always important). The day begins with a shower at 6, knowing you will be soggy with sweat by 10, then breakfast and prayers.   Joel makes a series of phone calls to check people are in place for the day ahead and does the helicopter preflight checks. The aim of the week is to take medical staff from the hospital and health care centers to communities only accessible by air. Each day we take a different medical team to a different community. This might be a school, with a building, with class rooms, but no electricity, but it could also be a ...

Dear All We urgently need your prayers! Tropical cyclone Ida i has worked its way through Mozambique creating much devastation and loss of life. The city of Beria suffered terrible destruction with damage to 90% of buildings and widespread flooding. This was made worse by the loss of phone services which are only just being repaired. As we write we are receiving messages from people asking if we at Mercy Air can fly to rescue children and families from rooftops and out of trees. At this point in time we have one helicopter in the Beira region helping people in terrible difficulties, and we are trying to mobilise our second. PLEASE PRAY : ·           That our crew, Joel and Philip, will continue to have wisdom to know where to go. ·           That they operate at their normal high level of safety even though they will be tired. ·           ...