Word from Angola

I received word from one of the Short-termers who I was with in Angola. Fernando (who's photo is at the bottom of this page) was able to leave the hospital. He arrived in April with 2nd and 3rd degree burns from his arm down to the tops of his feet. We did skin grafts and dressing changes, he spent 5 months in a wheel chair and his family was such a blessing to me. Praise God he was able to leave the hospital at the end of August. And he was able to walk out of the hospital. What a gift!

Gifts from Above

Never did I realize what a blessing hot running water is for doing dishes. In Angola I had running water sometimes. When we had electricity we even had hot running water but when we didn't have electricity we didn't have any running water other than the water we were carrying as we ran from the big barrel to the kitchen. Here I'm back in Saskatoon and not only do I have constant electricity I also have faithful hot running water. This water is amazing for taking off that stuck on food and grease! Little did I know what a significant choice I made when I decided to sublet my apartment instead of give it up this summer. As I was travelling home people told me about the housing shortage in Saskatoon. This was very surreal at the time but now the I am so grateful that God allowed me to be living here again.
I'm also back in class. For those who don't know I did get into the Anatomy and Physiology class I needed: Praise God. What a gift that was from above! Reminders of gifts from God: yesterday I was riding the bus downtown, it was pretty full. The guy I sat beside began talking to this guy who sat in front of us, who had on this crazy semi-latin american hat. They began talking to me and I asked where he got his hat from he said, "It was a gift from God." He explained how he bought this hat. But it's true everything I have is a gift from God.
My month of August was spent with my family at our farm. My mother enabled me to enhance my skills at the art of cooking. I was able to bake, cook and cann (peaches, pickles, make jam) until my wee little heart was content. I got to do up (snap, wash, cut, blanche, bag, freeze) beans from our garden for THREE days due to the bountiful year of the bean. We were able to harvest about 35 gallons or so- we didn't allow the beans to live on, we pulled out the plants and picked the beans! During this time I was able to think a lot about Angola and process a little bit of what I experienced there- my mom has now heard hundreds of hours about what happened in Angola! However, I'm willing to share with anyone else who wants to listen. I have many photos and stories to share. A huge thank-you to everyone who prayed for me. I had a wonderful, incredible time in Angola and I am forever indebted to you for coming before the Lord on my behalf. It was amazing to see what God did. Here's just a few glimpses:
1. I never knew when it changed. I just knew that in the middle of June I was somehow able to communicate with the Angolans. I couldn't get across everything I wanted to say but somehow we could communicate. What a blessing to have them tease me, admonish me, offer suggestions of people to marry, laugh with me and encourage me. Definitely a gift from God! (I didn't take them up on the offer.)
2. On my last Friday in Angola: there were only 2 of us staying at the flat. We decided to invite one of our Angolan friends for a supper of Canadian food. So Loid joined us, she helped us cook and do dishes and she LOVED the food. She said to us, 'What a blessing it is to have people come here. It reminds me that there are Christians everywhere. We are not just isolated in our little community or city, there are Christians all around the world. Thank-you for giving up your time and your life to come to Angola even for a short time. I know you have a life in Canada that you left to come here. Thank-you. You may not see it now and know what God has used you for but He has used you.'
This was such a gift to hear how this one Angolan was blessed by our coming to Angola! Thank-you for partnering with me in this ministry. God has used you.

Eu chegei. I've arrived.

That is I've arrived back in beautiful Saskatchewan; with its dynamic sky that looms above you and is constantly changing; with its beautiful green and golden fields and lush green trees; with its refreshing rain; and its relatively smooth roads. Angola is not far from my thoughts as I enjoy being with my family and getting into the routine of life here in my corner of Canada. There is something to be said for reliable electricity and hot running water!
God has truly blessed me in many ways, allow me to share one. I was assigned to register for my upcoming classes for the University of Saskatchewan on July 9th. I attempted that day to register and some of the classes I wanted to take were full. This was quite disheartening as I had my life planned out. However, God used this situation to remind me that He is good. So I worried over this (which really isn't a good idea) and prayed over this and asked others to pray too. I was hoping this class would be similar to the Angolan taxis- there's always room for one more. Well, as we prayed God listened. I got back in SK late last Wednesday. On Thursday I believe I sent an e-mail to some of the professors of the course. One of them was kind enough to lead me to the people in charge and they made a place for me in that class. Thank-you to those of you who prayed with me. It is wonderful to see God come through for me again and again. Not everything turns out as I planned and when it doesn't it usually turns out better!
Life on the farm is busy. There is no need for me to sit around and twittle my thumbs. Yesterday I baked until my wee little heart was content. I made muffins, cookies and cakes until the cows came home. I was taking a break by going for a walk. I was merrily walking along and picking flowers as I went- the clouds looked as if they threatened of rain but I didn't believe it was actually going to rain- well it did. Luckily my brother, Stephen, was coming home on his motorbike and gave me a lift. This sort of thing doesn't happen in Angola during the rainy season. O, may I assure you, if you wanted a ride they'd give you one, and if you wanted to pick flowers I'm sure you could BUT it wouldn't be raining.
Today I was able to get all 21 rolls of film developped. I'm willing to show you all of my pictures if you want to see! Just a peak of the Angola I saw and love.

Killing some time!

I never had this problem in Lubango, always lots of things to do, places to go and people to see! Well now I sit in the Heathrow airport in London, and I have a little bit of excess time! The Lord has blessed me with safe and wonderful travels over the past 2 days. I only have one and a half days of travel left- 3 flights down 2 to go! I've been meeting a lot of interesting people- a Jehovah Witness missionary (boy is it interesting talking to them, I met a group of them on the way down to Angola as well) please pray that people will know the truth may they not be sucked into believing a lie. God is righteous, faithful and powerful He will prevail! Please pray for me as I visit with people. May I be able to speak truth in love and may I have wisdom in my words.
I love to see the fluffy white clouds out the window in London. I've had 3 months of beautiful cloudless blue skies so it's nice to see some diversity in the sky!
Love you all see you soon!

Almost Home!

Hey Guys. I'm sorry my updates have been rather few and far between. However, I am alive and well. These last few weeks have been a real blessing for me. Last Monday I was able to go to Tchincombe Farm- it's about 250 km from Lubango. I drove down with 4 Angolans for a vaccination trip from Rio Da Huila. It was wonderful to be able to spend some time in a real Angolan setting. We had real Angolan food for one meal I helped butcher a chicken, watched the women make pirao, did dishes with them. The road to the farm is full of holes it took us about 6 1/2 hours to drive. We stopped at many little villages on the way and greeted people as we went. There was some Portugeuse spoken but more so olumhuila and mgumbwe- so I didn't understand a lot of what was being said but the Angolans were very understanding.
I did all of the prenatal visits with one of the Angolan ladies- Domgingues- as my translator. It was a little unnerving being the one considered the expert. I have done many prenatal clinics with the midwife from CEML but I had never done them without her present. God was with me and as far as I could tell the women seemed to be fine. 19 women came to the clinic- I measured their bellies, took their blood pressure, weighed them and they received iron and folic acid. All women over 5 months got Malaria medication and all women got 2 anti-tetanus shots. Most of these women will deliver in their homes.
The prenatal clinics have been one of my highlights during my time in Angola. As I have said many good-byes already, the Angolans all reply with send greetings to your family, friends and your church. So considered yourself greeted by the staff from CEML, Rio da Huila and the church at nGunga.
I will be flying out of Angola- Sun. Aug. 5 and I will arrive home in Saskatchewan on Wed. Aug. 8. Please pray for safety as well as opportunities to share the love of God on my travels home.

It's crazy to think that I will be leaving Angola in 1 month! As I prepare to register for classes returning to Canada is becoming a reality!
My time here in Angola has been so enjoyable. One of the things I love doing is learning the language and making attempts to communicate with the hospital staff. There are some wonderful nurses at the hospital who's smiling faces I love to see everyday. Many of my attempts of Portuguese, Umbundu and Mhuila (the two tribal languages in the area) are received with confused looks, a small smile or a loud laugh as they realize this white girl kind of sounds like she's speaking my language! At the Rio de Huila clinic we do a pre-natal clinic for around 35 women each week, who will be between 3 and 8 1/2 months pregnant. Shelley, a Nurse Practitioner Midwife, has started the clinic as far as I understand. We take take their blood pressure, weigh them, ask if the babies moving (mopi keta- in mhuila), measure their bellies if they're over 5 months pregnant and listen to the fetal heart rate. Most of these ladies don't speak any Portugeuse so learning a little mhuila is such a blessing for me to have some connection to them!
English class has been going well. Some students pick up the language faster than others. Two of the students have been working on: "Hello, how are you?" for the last 2 months. It seems to be pretty difficult for them, which makes it a little frustrating to teach. However, there are lots of students who are eager to learn and pick things up a lot faster!! We've been singing some English songs these last few days and that seems to be a hit!! Kids songs like: My God is so Big and Jesus Loves Me have great messages and relatively easy vocabulary.
Last weekend we had an SIM Angola retreat. It was wonderful to get together with other missionaries- Esther, another short-termer and I did the music- it was great to be used by the Lord to bless others. We had a good time of prayer, some relaxing time to play Nosht and Rook, and we had a great hike up a nearby rocky hill. On July 1st we sang O Canada and waved a Canadian flag- I think I'm more patriotic when I'm overseas!
I have a roommate- she arrived last week from Belfast, Ireland- Gemma. We've been having a lot of fun as short-termers in our flat. Grocery shopping in a foreign land and in a foreign language have been an adventure.
Thank-you for all of your prayers. Please contintue to pray for language learning as I now translate a little bit at the hospital who know less Portugeuse than I do. Please also pray for patience with English class and creativity in teaching. As I go into my last month here pray that I would know how to best show the love of God to those around me both in words and actions.

Life in Angola

Life here in Angola is going well. I am enjoying my experience at the hospital and teaching English. When I left Canada I was planning on working at the hospital for a while and teaching English later. Well no surprise my plans didn't quite work out like that. I am continuing to help at the hospital when I am not teaching English. So, I started teaching English 3 weeks ago or so. I help teach 2 classes each day from Monday to Friday. These classes were both started by Peter and I am now helping him with class. There are challenges with teaching English, for example somedays nobody shows up or they arrive 10 min. before class is over. But when the students, who are staff from the hospital, come we have a lot of fun together. Next week is the SIM conference- Esther, another Short-termer, and I have been doing some practicing for the music. For the past two weeks I have gone out to Rio da Huila with Peter and Shelly on Thursdays. Here we do an obstetric clinic- this week we had 32 or so ladies out from the villages. Most of these ladies don't speak Portugeuse but they do speak a tribal language, Mumhuila (which we don't speak very well so we use a translator). Each lady is weighed, blood pressure is taken, their belly's are measured and we listen to the fetal heart rate. This last week lots of the ladies were quite far advanced- mostly between 7-9 months.
One exciting thing is that we have electricity most of the time right now. Before we had power for 6 hours and no power for 12 hours but now we have power almost all of the time! So hot showers are more abudant now.
Congratulations to Tim and Erica on their wedding! I hope you had a wonderful day and you continue to see the Lord's blessing in your lives!