Safely Here

Sorry for the long delay on updates but our Internet access is very intermittent. I'm writing from my daughter's apartment in Knoxville - we are here for a couple of days and it is always a joy to be right next to the University where Ann and I met. We had a bit of a challenging time getting here because of a rock-slide that has completely closed Interstate 40 between Knoxville and Ashville. That caused us to use an alternate road through beautiful rural Tennessee and it was a wonderful diversion.

We arrived safely back in the US although we did get a big shock in Atlanta when our accepted our luggage from Mozambique. Because of the well-known pilfering of luggage that occurs in Johannesburg, we had our suitcases encased in plastic wrap in Maputo. It doesn't prevent it but it is supposed to help. One of the larger bags got the customs agents attention because it had some cans of a type of tomato / onion mix that our girls love and you can't get in the States, and Ann planned as a surprise for a meal. We had to do a lot of explaining about these cans, but it went well and they were loaded onto the plane.

When the bags came down the ramp in Atlanta in the International Terminal (you pick them up and shift them to domestic), the two larger bags were not only unwrapped, but were opened with stuff flying out onto the conveyor belt. Dratts, what did we lose?

The interesting part is that we had no tape, no scissors, nothing to really repair them with - They were strapped, which I think was the saving grace.

So, we gathered up all of the loose items we could find, wondering how much was in the back room. It appeared the zippers had been forced open and we were able to repair one but the other was completely gone. We found some large plastic bags and jury rigged the straps and plastic around the un-repairable suitcase, and turned it in to domestic, wondering what all we had lost.

In Huntsville, all the bags arrived and when we finally unpacked we were fortunate to have lost only a few gift items. Of course none of it is truly expensive as we are very aware of the risk in Africa and luggage, but it is still disappointing. But, it could have been much worse so we are thankful everything more or less arrived. So that completes our luggage story....

It has been quite an adjustment culturally. The day we arrived in Huntsville, we went to both a Target and a Walmart. One of my jobs was to get tea and coffee. Now, what I'm used to is arriving at the store and being thankful that they even have coffee and tea; but what I found was an entire aisle of coffee and tea - with more choices and prices than I could even possibly process mentally. I just stood there for a while and looked at it all. In the end I narrowed down by price and took what seemed reasonable but it was truly a culture-shock kind of thing.

The other thing that has amazed me is the number of big black Sport Utility Vehicles (SUV) with darkened windows. The drive from Huntsville to Columbia through Atlanta seemed like every other vehicle was one of these things. HUGE and moving fast. I wondered if this is the influence of the TV show "24" or other shows and movies where the heros seem to all drive these big things. My daughters say they are status symbols but it was remarkable how many we have seen - inconsistent with a difficult economy. I'm not passing judgement; I drive a big white SUV in Africa (and am daily thankful for it because of the roads we travel). It's just an observation. Or, maybe government agents are very busy in the Southeast US 'saving the world as we know it!' In any case, after our time in Mozambique, the affluence is breathtaking even in a time of economic uncertainty.

And the roads - oh my I had forgotten how wonderful the roads are in America. So wonderful. And, people actually follow the rules - wow. However, what is all of this driving on the wrong side? That continues to be a challenge to us, especially at Intersections. Stay right!

Some dear people are allowing us to use a house near Columbia that is comfortable and we are very much enjoying. We are almost through the jet-lag adjustment and no longer waking up at three in the morning. It has been very much a time of recovery for us and we are gaining some rest that we didn't recognize that we needed. And the joyous time with your dear daughters - there are no words.

We have sat under some amazing teaching since arriving and I'm working through a wonderful book by Dr. Ferguson called "In Christ Alone" that is paralleling our reading through the Bible in a year program that we do for devotions. I highly recommend this simple yet profound book.

This morning, I noticed something interesting in Romans I had not seen before. In the church multiplication program we are working with in Mozambique, our focus is to go into those areas where there are no evangelical churches and where people have not heard the Gospel story. Paul speaks to this as his priority also in Romans, Chapter 16. We have endured significant amounts of criticism about this program for all sorts of various reasons (we humans love to criticize others - we fall into that mode without even thinking about it) - and yet we have seen amazing fruit - growth from 10 or so churches to over 100 country wide - how can this be criticized? Paul says in verse 20:

"It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else's foundation..." He goes on to explain that he hasn't visited some of his older church plants because this is his call and he has even been hindered from coming because of this call. So, he goes on to explain he will stop for a while in Rome on his way to Spain, where they have not heard the Gospel. His mission and call remains certain.

May all of our various Calls remain as certain....

Blessings.

Dave & Ann

"Rather it is written: "Those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand."" Romans 16:21