Ffald y Brenin 3 The Chapel

This simple "beehive" chapel preserves at its heart the outcrop of rock on which it's built. It is a special place, a place where a rhythm of prayer is perpetuated - morning, noon and night and a place where the presence of Jesus has been made manifest according to many testimonies. It is is place from which prayer for Wales and our nation rises daily. Roy Godwin describes it as a "thin" place, a place where the veil between an ever-present heaven and earth is often drawn aside. It is a simple, peaceful place - a place of light.

Ffald y Brenin 2 The High Cross

When we arrived, Roy and Daphne Godwin were preparing to leave for a holiday but Daphne very kindly took time out to show us around while Roy caught up with some last minute calls. We had an enjoyable three quarters of an hour being taken around the various buildings which culminated in a cup of coffee in the sunshine outside the farmhouse. We thoroughly enjoyed the conversation and Roy and Daphne having departed for their break we were left to wander around the buildings and grounds.The first wander took us down a tree-lined lane.

The lane leads to a promontory which overlooks the valley on which there is set a simple wooden cross which is at the centreof this picture.

What a wonderful spot to stop and meditate and pray - which we duly did.

There is a simplicity about this place which is truly wonderful

Flash

Ffald y Brenin 1

On the evening of my daughter's wedding I fell into conversation during which the book "An Outpouring of Grace" by Roy Godwin was mentioned. The book had obviously had a profound effect on the person who I was talking to  and the following morning I found myself googling it and sending for a copy. Having read the book I can recommend it to anyone who is interested in what God is doing in a comparatively remote community in the North of Pembrokeshire. Ffald y Brenin (The Sheepfold of the King) is a Christian Retreat Centre situated high above Cwm Gwaun (Meadow Valley) just south of Newport on the edge of the Preseli Hills National Park. The story of how Roy and Daphne Godwin came to Ffald y Brenin to become leaders there is in itself a glorious testimony to God's leading but the testimony of what God has been doing at Ffald y Brenin since that time is simply amazing. You can find details of the centre on-line but I really recommend you read the book. As it happened my wife and I were on long planned holiday in Pembrokeshire and we decided to drive up to Ffald y Brenin one morning. It was a reasonably good day with a cool wind but dry. We made our way up through the lanes and through the wonderfully named Maenclochog (Bell Stone) and down into the beautiful Gwaun Valley. Turning up the steep drive we climbed up the winding road to the group of buildings and wonderful gardens which are Ffald y Brenin.

The Buildings in the photos above are the main residential block and the wonderful beehive chapel can be seen at the rear - see next post for the interior.



This is the original farmhouse at Ffald y Brenin.

More about Ffald y Brenin to come.

Flash

The thing that amazes me about the Gospel

I must confess that as a Christian I am often beguiled, fascinated and also frustrated by the great (?) theological debates of the moment. We have the New Perspective - every adherent of which has to carefully specify exactly where he or she stands in a range of views on the poor old Apostle Paul and his theology. Then the same thing seems to apply to Jesus. Should we be part of one of three quests for the historical Jesus (nothing but the latest quest will do!)

On reflection I realise that I have never met more appealing Christians than those of my mother's generation - not only in belief but also in practise. I believe it was G.K. Chesterton who said, "Christianity has not been tried and found wanting, it has been found difficult and not tried." I have been blessed to meet may Christians during my life who have not only tried, but with God's help have succeeded in literally shining the truth of the transforming power of the gospel of Jesus Christ into the world in which they lived. That world was mostly what would today generally be called 'mundane' - but against this grey and often dark background they shone - they radiated!

How could they do that without ever having known about the New Perspective on Paul or the Third Quest for the historical Jesus? It does not take much reflection to realise that in the fires of the reformation, the revivals of the 19th century, the early to mid 20th century, men and women of comparatively little means and education were transformed by the simple message of a Saviour who had come down from heaven's glory to live among men and through His sinless life, sacrificial death and resurrection made it possible for them to not only know forgiveness of sin and release from guilt, but to enjoy fellowship with their Creator both in this life and the next.

This is the glory of the gospel - the transforming power of truth believed and lived. I thank God that in my family history I know of a mother saved through the Pentecostal movement of the 1940's and a grandfather saved in the 1904 revival. I know of older generations who, in the 17th century worshipped in a cave before a relaxation in legislation allowed them to meet in a small chapel in a valley many miles from their homes.

I think of the days of Daniel Rowland of Llangeitho in Cardiganshire (1713 - 1790) when hundreds, even thousands of Welsh people would walk to what must have seemed the middle of nowhere to hear the good news of what God has done and to be transformed by that message.

And so, when I hear of the 'Third Quest for the historical Jesus' and the 'New Perspective on Paul', I think of my ancestors who did't have the benefit (?) of modern day theological thinking and thank God for what Thomas Scott in 1814 called "The Force of Truth". "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes" Romans 1: 16
Flash

A brief test

Just to prove it can be done this is being written on my iPhone.

Back on the Blog again

To cries of "Oh No!" and "Geroff" I fell compelled by some inner instinct to blog again. It's been a while and I am fully aware that nobody has missed me out there in ciderspace (feels right even though I know it ain't right). Ah well, dat's da cidermen's loss! This blogging feels so unnatural to me. Hard to believe I tend to be a private, nay annually retentive kinda guy (that is I hate to see all these years going by so quickly) and so to share my world view with cidermen involves some major effort. Having said that, I have never been accused of being dumb, rather the opposite. Unlike some linux scripts I don't have a non-verbose mode.

So celebrate (or indeed mourn) with me the decision to once again inflict myself and my thoughts on an uninterested and indeed, largely uncaring audience and just go look for something more interesting. I may have misread this recently but I believe I saw somewhere that there are now over 6,000,000 bogs (was that a Freudian slip) flying around out there in ciderspace and so I proudly take my place as 6,000,001 on the list of (someone's) favourite blog.

I suppose that begs a question. What does it take to be a blog that wins an award? What does one (as our Queen would say) have to do to attract the attention of one of the many institutions that give away such awards? I have given this issue at least a minute's thought and have decided that whatever that winning element is, I neither have it nor do I not intend to pursue it. I will be content with comparative obscurity.

So let me nail a few colours to the mast. Those who may have read previous posts (if they are still alive and have their sight) know that I am one of those rarities in a postmodernist world - a committed Christian. This is not a matter of taking up a position either for against anyone, but a matter of deep and serious personal conviction. However, I admit immediately that I am not immune to the desire to share this conviction. For 32 years of my life I consciously rebelled against such a commitment - and the 30 years that have since gone by haven't been years of simple, uncomplicated faith either! But as I grow older I am more and more thankful that (in the word of Thomas Scott, a contemporary of John Newton and much influenced by him) I have felt the "Force of Truth".

In one of the great scenes of the gospel of John, Jesus stands before Pilate and testifies, "To this end was I born, and for this came I into the world, to bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth hears my voice." To this stunning statement Pilate replies, "What is truth?" (John 18:37-38). It is plain that this question wasn't intended to be taken seriously - in fact, that reply sounds very (post) modern and will no doubt be the response of many (or few) that read this. It is rhetorical and sceptical and the implication is plainly that there no such thing as absolute truth (I am reminded of the Manic Street Preacher's album "This is my truth, tell me yours" - truth has become simply what I happen to believe. But the fact remains, Jesus claimed to be the truth and He also claimed that if we knew the truth it would set us free - truly free. No one could have been more surprised than I to discover (and go on discovering more and more as the years go by) that His claim was justified absolutely.

"Believe what you want", you may reply, "but don't expect me to agree with you!" And there's the rub. I don't expect you to agree with me. But I truly wish that you would at least hear what Jesus has to say. You can (like I did constantly for all of 32 years) want to hear nothing which will disturb or interfere with my worldview and lifestyle, but I will be (literally) eternally grateful that there came a second in a minute, in an hour, in a day, in a year, in my lifetime when in spite of my active reluctance I saw that glint of truth in an old, old story which involved a cross and an unjust execution and an empty tomb that signalled an ending and a beginning. It signalled the ending of an alienation and the beginning of a reconciliation; the ending of an enmity and the beginning of a personal, living relationship with an offended God, who had never ceased to love those who had offended and had done something about the situation through the sacrifice of His Beloved Son, our Saviour and rescuer, Jesus Christ. That glint I saw was just that - a glint. But just as a miner,seeing aglint of gold will put a deal of effort into digging deeper, so with all those who catch a glint, a glimpse, a whisper, a hint. The digging exposed a narrow vein of truth which became a treasure store of limitless worth - but then that is for me to tell and you to find.

I can imagine at least the follwing reactions to this.

1. "Let's get outta here - let's find an interesting blog". I wish I could say "Go in peace", but I guess that's an oxymoron from God's perspective.
2. "The guy's nuts!" I ain't arguing! But at least permit me to apply that description to myself for all the years whan I had no inkling of the wonder of God's truth.
3. Hmm. "I wonder if there isn't something in this claim of Jesus to "absolute truth". Beware reader - you are in serious danger of thinking for yourself. But fear not, for the combined forces of postmodern rationalist thinking will quickly dispel all such wondering and lull you back into a sense of calm indifference and if postmodern rationalist pressure fails then rely upon it, distraction and busy-ness will never fail.

But if, when you are alone (in the sense that you have given yourself time to be still and without distraction), a sense of your finitude and perhaps "a horror of great darkness" should steal upon your heart as you ponder the great questions of life and personal meaning and purpose, then whisper (or shout) a prayer / challenge / cry /invocation to a God who not only hears, but answers and you too will in His time feel the force of truth. Flash

a video experiment

While we were at the orphanage at rehoboth last year the kids sand to us after we had had the most amazing brai (barbeque) on the last Sunday we were there. For those interested .... (be warned - this is like the song that never ends!

A Second Day of Snow!!

Sorry folks - you have to endure the robin pic. The snow almost vanished by last evening but much to the delight of my wife (who is not working today and so will spend most of the morning happily playing in the stuff) it's unexpectedly snowing again! Wow - two days of snow in a winter! Global warming - what global warming?

The annual Day of Snow

Today the annual snowfall happened in South Wales, U.K. to my wife's absolute delight and glee - I tend to have a Scrooge-like mentallity towards it personally born out of too many bad experiences with the treachorously slippery nature of the stuff. Anyway it was an opportunity to tale some Christmas card pics of robins in the garden and our cairn terrier fighting his way through to his "piddling tree". He looks suitably disgusted and a fast shutter speed was required to conceal his shivers. Here's some pics. Be suitably horrified or enjoy! Flash

2007

I've just realised how boring this blog has become - it needs some graphic input to spice it up a bit. I've neen busily beavering away at a family history project over the winter and one bit of it is almost complete - hope to publish it on a website soon. I know it won't be of interest to the world but it still amazes me how interlinked families get and how out of nowhere you find some distant cousin umpteen times removed who has some invaluable bit of info about your family or vice versa. This business certainly appeals to the "private detective" instinct - and it's really addictive. The problem is that you can get the tree trunk done fairly quickly but then you get caught up in the branches and Here's a picture I took in Cardiff just before Chritmas - this guy with stilts was about 10 ft. tall and I happened to be following him as he was walking to his pitch. He overtook a mother and little girl and promptly frightened the life out of the little girl.

A Filler

I know that I haven't posted for ages and it's annoying me too! Readers who live in UK will know that we're experiencing a heat wave - and being so unused to such a phenomenon we're all strugging - well I am anyway. I chose July as the month to rip out the old bathroom and install the new and boy has it been tough! I've finally resorted to getting up really early (it helps that Sian's been on an early shift for two weeks) and getting as much as I can done by lunchtime or just after and then collapsing for a few hours until the evening brings the solace of being able to sit out the back of the house and gaze at the hills cooled by a hint of a breeze if we're lucky.

However these summer morningspresent a far more subtle and almost overwhelming temptation. The only way to avoid it is to refuse to go outside. The temptation of course is to sit in the cool shade a while the morning away with a good book taking frequent breaks to just drink in the fresh morning air with the added bonus of fresh cut hay in the field over the fence. (the odd cup of coffee doesn't go amiss either). Evenings are great too in a different way - but ah the mornings. But I musn't think about it or there'll be no tiling done tomorrow.

There is lots of good news from George and Anne Marie in Rehoboth and I will provide an update soon.

I have also decided (most people would probably say it's a decision long overdue) that this blog is boring - there's a distinct lack of pictures etc. so something must be done about it. That too is now at the end of a long list of "to do" items. Flash

Update and some Boring News

Well, a week and a half has gone by and we've had to get feet back on the ground and get back to day to day stuff. We were so thankful for the fine weather when we got back which gave us a chance to get the marathon clothes wash out of the way. It has also given us time to reflect and pray and to give thanks - not least for all you wonderful people out there who have been kind enough to pray and contribute.

We have kept in touch with George and Anne Marie by phone although they're very busy at present. Rock Harbour Church from Southern California (site at http://www.rockharbor.org/) currently have teams in Rehoboth and they're busy carrying out the Care and Compassion ministry in Block E as well as school visits in connection with the "Choose to Wait" programme which seeks to encourage and inform teenagers about the dangers of HIV / AIDS and advocates a biblical approach to sex before marriage. They have a container on route which should arrive Monday filled with clothing and other commodities for the poor people of Block E as well as clothes etc. for the Ark. To read more about their mission to Rehoboth go to http://www.rockharborinnamibia.com/ They are also helping to support the garden project and I know that George is excited about the fact that they are bringing some mechanised implements for the cultivation of the new ground as well as shade netting etc. Pray for the teams as they serve in Rehoboth as well as the safe arrival of the container.

Great news about the borehole - George rang me Wednesday to let me know that the drilling team had turned up on Tuesday night. I think he was pretty nervous at first since the drilling equipment was pretty ancient and bits kept on breaking - so not a lot of sleep for George that night! But they started drilling on Wednesday mid day and soon cleared out the borehole. The clay plug that had formed wasn't so very large after all. There appears to be plenty of sweet water in the borehole - verified by Anne Marie who sampled it and pronounced it good. So the drilling team returned the following day to make the top section wider down to the rock bed and install the PVC casing which will prevent any further blockages occurring. As I write (Saturday) I know that George will be installing the submersible pump and I hope to hear later today that they've commenced pumping which will be cause for great celebration and thanksgiving. George has promised me some photographs.

I have decided to take the plunge and rent some server space to set up a web site so that I can actually put up some of the hundreds of photographs that I took in Rehoboth as well as other personal stuff. I do have some photographs of the garden project on line on a temprary site and you're welcome to look at them. I put them up quickly in order to show the progress to a Dutch Church who are also supporting the project. Corry van Noordenne, one of their members, is a Dutch teacher who gives up her summer break to volunteer at the Ark. She helps teach the children but was also interested in the garden project. You can see the gallery that I hurredly created at http://home.btconnect.com/jonesdip/reho_evergreen/

It is important to realise that it's winter in Namibia and the night-time temperatures often sink to below freezing so the current crops are mainly root vegetables - beetroot, carrots, onions, lettuce, cabbage etc. Come August there will be a rash of planting - particularly of sweetcorn which grows very well in this area and in the space of a few months produces a profitable crop.

I will get on with the web galleries asap. Flash

Catch up Blog No. 3

Tuesday 27th June - the dreaded day dawned when we had to get packed up ready to leave. We have spent such a wonderful time here in Namibia and we are genuinely reluctant to go home. I collected Bex early from the Ark where she had taken some of the girls to school at 6 a.m. I was really pleased that Auny Nellie's husband Koos had waited at the Ark to see me - he was on his way to work at Windhoek. He had been such a help at the garden with the borehole and I was really pleased to see him again before we left. Then we got the packing out of the way and called at the Ark for some final photographs and farewells - some pretty tearful! Having said our farewells and prayed we headed for Windhoek for some last minute shopping and then got to the airport around 4.45 which gave us time to return the car, check in and relax before the flight. I shall pass over the flight in relative silence, because while I don't mind flying in the least, I hate long flights and particularly long night flights - I find it impossible to sleep. We arrived in Gatwick at 5.45 and having freshened up and consumed some coffee we caught the Reading train at 7.55 getting to Cardiff at 11.30. That concludes the detail, but I hope to post some impressions of aspects of the experience in the next week or so and also provide some links to some of the photographs I took. So thanks again to all who prayed for us and supported us during what turned out to be a wonderful experience. Flash

Catch up Blog No. 2

Sunday morning Sian and I went to church with George - to the Gospel Mission church to be precise. Sian soon got into the worship which was lively to say the least. Twenty minutes of "I have decided to follow Jesus" with the repeated chorus "No more turning back" all to a wonderful swinging rhythm, was quite an experience followed by a joyful conga to an Afrikaans song. Then we enjoyed a slow but beautiful song about enjoying the presence of the Lord. The service was in Afrikaans but a young man sat next to me and a young lady next to Sian and they interpreted for us. The young man's name turned out to be Llewellyn (very Welsh!) and they both did a marvellous job.

Afterwards we went to the Ark where we enjoyed a traditional Sunday afternoon Braai (Afrikaans for barbecue) the highlight of which was for me the wonderful Roosterbrod (roast bread) prepared by Aunty Nellie and cooked on the barbecue. We were very privileged to share this Braai with all our friends - thank you George and Anne Marie and all who made this possible. After eating I had to play the organ for the kids and this was rounded off with all the children singing for us. This was wonderful - they all have such natural rhythm and enthusiasm. We finally left for the lake after sundown having had a wonderful day.

Monday - just one last full day. We spent some time discussing the future of the garden and the priorities and made arrangements for George and the family and Bex's friends to come to the lake restaurant for a meal in the evening. On our way South the previous week I had noticed a sign for "Tropic of Capricorn." It didn't dawn on me until later that this sigh actually marked the Southern tropical line. So Sian and I drove down to take a photograph. It was a bit further than we had thought but we did it. On our way back I was driving along when something disturbed a flock of birds in the bush to the left of the road (locally known as tarantal (?) - a bit like a large pheasant. All of them managed to get off the ground quite quickly except for one who failed to make it and smashed into the windscreen. Thankfully the windscreen was made from toughened safety glass and although it crazed, it didn't completely shatter. A phone call established that no hire company provided insurance against damaged windscreens in Namibia due to the high proportion of gravel roads. Again, thankfully the windscreen was only badly crazed in the centre so I could drive it to the airport ok the following day.

We spent a very enjoyable evening at the lake restaurant and also met the owner of the resort and his wife Helena. Helena has been very kind to us during our stay at the lake. After dinner, George and Anne Marie came back to the house. Flash

Catch up Blog No. 1

I'm sorry there's been such a gap but I hope that everyone will understand that our last few days in Rehoboth were busy and since we've been home it's surprising how little time I've had to update this blog. I think I last wrote on the Thursday before we left Reho and now I guess I'll have some difficulty remembering the detail - but here goes anyway. Thursday was a quieter day. We chilled at the lake in the morning and went to Reho for supplies and a look around later. It was a chance just to catch up on a few things although I did look in at the garden.

Friday also started slowly. In the afternoon I was at the garden helping get the armoured cable from the main supply point into the building. Albertus the electrician has done a good job of getting the wiring installed and it only remained to get hold of a three phase switch to terminate the main cable. However, something of an anticlimax when we found that there was no supply coming from the meter. Reho Electricity were on the scene and I left them puzzling over the problem. I later learned that a healthy tap on the back of the earth trip switch had cured the problem - ah well!

Friday was a lot cooler and as evening drew on it got pretty nippy (or nobbling in Bex-speak!) at the lake. George, Anne Marie, Jennifer and Suzette joined Sian and myself for a prayer meeting while Bex headed off for a weekend of fellowship with all her friends at the Ark. It got so cold that we had to get a quilt for the girls but then all the cold was forgotten as we had a wonderful time of prayer and communion together. The guys working at the lake have a room one side of us and there were also guests along the row from us and whether they spoke Afrikaans or English they certainly would have known that we were praying and probably what we were praying. It was a wonderful, blessed time and will remain a very precious memory for Sian and I.

Saturday, Sian and I went to Windhoek to see if we could do some shopping for a few family presents etc. Sigrid, the Dutch volunteer at the Ark came with us and we had a very pleasant morning including breakfast at the Mug and Bean - an Americal style diner in Windhoek. We got a bit of shopping done but most of the shops closed at one so we had lunch and drifted back. On the way back we made a bit of a diversion up into the hills which were very beautiful. Baboons are a regular sight on a certain section of the Windhoek / Rehoboth road and when we stopped to video them, I saw a warthog. Sian is not so sure that I saw a warthog but I am adamant that I did - so there! No video evidence I'm afraid so you'll all have to take my word for it! Flash

Apology

I'm afraid I've not been able to keep up the blog over the last few days at Rehoboth - we were so busy and the slowness of dial up connections make blogging a challenge. However, this is just a short message to say that we are home back in the UK safely after what was a very long and tiring journey - thanks to Beci Sherms for her kindness in volnteering to taxi us from Cardiff Station - and I'll fill in the detail of our last days at Rehoboth over the next few days. Thanks for your patience and prayers. Flash and Madge.

Thanks

Thanks to all of you who have figured out how to leave comments - Lulu, Sherms, DnA, Hywel Beth and Deiniol and to all of you who haven't figured it out but still read and pray - you're all a great encouragement. Flash

Update Thursday 22 June

Missed a few days blog but have been busy this week. Monday went well. Sian and I got up at 5.15 to go to the airport to meet Bex. Her journey had gone well and we acknowledge God’s blessing in this. Dan, Bex’s boyfriend has been absolutely wonderful, supplying the support and help and company that Bex needed in sorting out her tickets etc. Big thank you from Flash and Madge to Dan and all Bex’s friends who have supported and helped her. She managed to get a centre row seat on her own on the plane and so was able to stretch out and get quite a lot of sleep en route. We arrived at the airport approx. 20 mins before her plane touched down and we were thrilled to see her walk into the arrivals area. We headed into Windhoek and as we travelled caught up with news on both sides. We took our tyre for repair and picked up some final plumbing requirements and also the electrical equipment to wire out the garden building. Then we went and enjoyed a breakfast together. We collected our repaired tyre – the guy who took care of it told me that he had “carefully healed it” and collected the final electrical cables. One slightly depressing story that both of the electrical wholesalers I visited insisted on telling me was how the world price of copper had rocketed recently and that if I had come for the cable two weeks ago it would probably have cost me at least half less than I had to pay today – ah well!

We got back to Reho about 2 p.m. and went immediately to the lake so Bex could have a rest and shower. We eventually went down to the Ark about 4. When we arrived a lot of the older girls were in one room (maybe chatting to one of the volunteers) but George saw us coming and made them all walk out with their eyes shut tight. I don’t think Bex quite realised what was happening but the next thing she saw was around ten screaming older girls bearing down on her and totally engulfing her in their excitement. Bex confessed to having actually being a little frightened at the reception. One of the major Bex words when she had been here last year was “minging” (used to describe anything from vaguely bad to totally grotesque and horrible) and so it was really funny when one of the last girls to see her screamed “It’s minging! It’s minging!” and ran to greet her.

George and Anne Marie and the aunties at the Ark who knew here were equally excited at seeing her and so after a while and much excitement we returned to the lake for an early night.

On Tuesday Sian and I went down to the garden with me prepared to do some electrical work in the garden building, but they were still busy chasing out the walls and George told me that one of the guys was an electrician so that relieved me of the installation job and freed up my afternoon to go out to Block E with the Care and Compassion team. We did a little shopping and came back to the lake for a light lunch with Bex. Then we went to the garden where Bex had a major reunion with Aunty Nellie, the faithful anchor lady of the garden who has worked from the beginning with George and Anne Marie with so much courage and effort. This was a very tearful reunion as Aunty Nellie had been very close with Bex and was so looking forward to seeing her. Aunty Nellie has an older daughter who is deaf and dumb and currently not well so after some blood tests she will see the doctor today (Thurs).

Tuesday afternoon we followed the Care and Compassion team to Block E and again visited many who we knew and also many new faces. Again, the overwhelming impression is the vastness and variety of the problems these poor people face. An older lady who is blind is living in a 2 metre square corrugated iron hut and is regularly robbed by unscrupulous neighbours; families who have lost up to three or four older members and who now are reduced to 11 children being brought up by one grandmother and a daughter, and old lady scraping the hair off the hock of a goat in order to have something to eat – these are just a couple of the situations which face the team every time they go out. But it’s also heartening to see the reception that they receive and to witness their faithfulness in this ministry. Later Bex decided to stay at the Ark for the evening to enjoy some time with the girls and so we returned home and I collected her around 10 p.m. Sian was really very tired at the end of this day.

Wednesday we three took the two Dutch volunteers, Marianne and Sigrid to Windhoek. Marianne was on here way to meet her parents at the airport later in the morning – they are staying for a short time. We took Sigrid to the hospital to collect a prosthetic foot for one of the young girls at the Ark who has Spina Biffida and who had to have an amputation last year. Without the Ark I doubt she would have survived. Then we went into Windhoek to look around.

Unfortunately Bex was not at all well – she has a tummy upset which got worse during the day and by the evening she was really feeling ill with it. It's pretty rotten feeling so bad when it is so hot and we both felt sorry for her. However, she did get a fair amount of sleep in two parts and this morning she is feeling much better although still a little weak. Sian and I went to the ark this morning and it wonderful to see that already the little girl has mastered te use of her prosthetics - she can walk amazingly well with the aid of a mini zimmer frame.

So on yet another day we have so much to be thankful for and we are so glad to see Bex a little better - she will soon be back in full email and text mode and I will try to get her to sit long enough to write some blog. Thanks again for all the support and prayers - we really feel the strengthening. Flash and Madge.

The Afrikan Drums has arrived!

Tuesday Morning 20th June
The last couple of days have really been very hot – so much so that neither of us could sit in the sun for very long. The whole earth seemed to be gently baking! George and Anne Marie visited us in the evening which was wonderful. I guess we were all anxiously waiting for news of Bex and whether she’d managed to get her airline ticket OK. In the event we finally got a text saying that all was well. Sian and I are so grateful to Dan for accompanying her to the airport and for helping her sort out her ticket. In fact the whole Abel family seem to have been involved in some way or another so a very big “thank you” to them all. Dan had to make his way home alone and in the event he arrived there much later than he thought - the train he was on being involved in a fatality – but we are so grateful to him for his help and care of Bex.

So it was an early start – up at 5.15 to take a quick shower and head for Windhoek airport. After enjoying a glorious sunrise en route we arrived there at about 7.30 about 20 minutes or so before Bex. We were so happy to see her. She had a great flight and was able to get quite a lot of sleep – just as well since we had various missions to accomplish in Windhoek before our return to Rehoboth. We dropped the tyre in to get the puncture fixed then off to get some extra plumbing for the storage tanks. Then to order some electrical equipment to begin the wiring of the storage room at the garden and then, with some relief, to the shopping centre for some breakfast and coffee and an opportunity to catch up with events at home and for Bex to catch up with our doings here. Then Bex caught up some more sleep while we collected tyres and cables and stuff before heading back to Rehoboth around lunch time.

Then some reorganisation of the sleeping arrangements took place with the emphasis mainly being on the greatest care being taken that not even the most minute primitive life form could penetrate the defences of Bex’s mosquito net let alone a mozzie. Finally, after a shower and a hair session we headed for the Ark. George spotted us arriving and he made all the older girls come out to the yard with their eyes closed. The next moment Bex disappeared into the middle of a horde of screaming girls all so excited to see her again. Lots of happy reunions followed. One of the girls opened her eyes and screamed “It’s minging, it’s minging” and rushed to meet her. “Minging” was one of Bex’s favourite expressions for anything vaguely distasteful to something horrible and the girls had been amused at Bex’s constant use of it.

So we left her with the girls and Sigrid and while Sian went off to get bread with Anne Marie I went over the garden with George to take the heavy cable. They had been busy chasing out the walls for cables and boxes during the day so we should be able to get on with the wiring tomorrow. One thing I was amazed at was the price of cable. The electrical wholesalers here tell me that the world price of copper has soared in the past could of months and the price of cable is rising almost every day. Just to cheer me up he told me that if I’d bought the cable two weeks ago it would have been less than half the cost now! Anyway, it will probably double by next week so maybe that’s some consolation.

George is hoping to contact a local drilling operator regarding the borehole which we think will now have to be cleaned out (redrilled) and a deeper casing fitted.

We came home reasonably early and headed for bed for a fairly early night. No doubt our friendly neighbourhood donkeys will bray us awake at their usual time of around 6.00 a.m. – slightly more unusual than your usual cockerel I think! Flash and Madge

Update Sunday 18th June

We have now been here almost two weeks and as I said previously the time is beginning to fly by. Yesterday was a day of mixed emotions. I went to the garden early as I knew George would be anxious to attempt to break through the clay blockage in the borehole. But I was the afternoon shift. The action was already under way. Anne Marie’s brother Kwes ( his real name is Jacobus) had brought a heavy length of steel pipe with a ring at one end and an “A” frame with a pulley block rigged so that a nylon rope could be used to lower the pipe into the hole. With the other end of the rope anchored to a truck (in case we actually broke through) we could haul the pipe up and drop it. I think the thing that has impressed me so much is the sheer inventiveness of George and co. They have very few tools - an angle grinder, a drill and a welder which looks as though it was used on the Titanic and a pile of scrap metal – pipes, axles and odds and sods accumulated over several years – nothing gets thrown away here. With this they manufacture anything and everything you can think of. So when it was decided that a larger diameter pipe was needed on the end of our “ramrod” then this was duly found, cut and welded. When it was decided that this pipe needed some “teeth” to bite into the clay, these were duly made by cutting of lengths of steel rod and welding them to the pipe. But sadly all the efforts were in vain. In spite of the fact that we managed through some of the clay it had set so hard that it was a bit like hardened cement.

George and I set off to ask the advice of a local guy who has some drilling equipment. He could not help us directly because what equipment he has is currently at Windhoek but he advised us that the problem was almost certainly the fact that since water had been standing in the borehole since it was originally drilled last November and also that the steel casing did not extend beyond the clay layer that over the intervening period the clay had gradually washed into the borehole forming a plug. The bottom line seems to be that the hole will have to be cleaned out and a longer, slightly smaller casing inserted down to the rock level. It’s not all bad news in some ways because this needs to be sorted anyway otherwise the submersible pump would be at risk if the hole sealed over after it had been installed. So it is a set back but not an insurmountable one. George will contact local drilling companies and we will hope and pray that one of them will be able to help us. If it has to wait a while it will be disappointing but we must wait and see.

We have connected and tested the submersible pump and so most of the equipment required is now in George’s hands when the time comes. There are just two or three fittings I need to collect from Windhoek next week and then maybe I will also be able to connect up some of the electrical supplies to the garden building and also for the irrigation pump.

I know that many people reading this have tried to leave comments and failed. It’s difficult for me here to explain how to do it since internet access is dial up and very slow. But somewhere in the archive of this blog – one of the early entries around September last year – I explained how to do it. For those of you who have been successful we thank you. I received a particularly encouraging comment from Hywel, Beth and Deiniol – but a huge thank you to the many people I know who are reading this and praying for us.
The main focus of our prayer each say is that we might be shown the needs that we can meet for that day. We know that the needs here are vast and we cannot possibly do all that we would like to do, but we ask simply that the Lord would show us those things that we can do and this far our prayers have been answered. We also pray for wisdom in our decision making. We are aware that many people have contributed to our efforts here and we ask to be wise in using the means that have been given us. Again, thus far our prayers have been answered. We have been truly blessed by the helpfulness and the willingness of so many people to help us while we have been here. We have been blessed by being able to meet and speak to the many workers, both Namibian and foreign volunteers who have inspired us by their faith and desire to serve the Lord in this needy place. It is very humbling to realise what God is doing through people who have such limited resources naturally but yet have faith which trusts in the unlimited resources of heaven. And so much of that consists in faithfulness in the little things. Providing care, willingness to sit and listen, being prepared to sit on the ground and pray with someone who is blind, a mother who is so crippled that she can only literally crawl on the floor, a man who is in so much pain that he has tied a strip of cloth tightly around his chest trying to get some relief, providing a loaf of bread, some maize, an old mattress to sleep on – little things that may seem insignificant in themselves but add up to a whole heap of love and compassion. Much of this goes unsung and unseen apart from in the sight of heaven and I have learned the significance of the words of Jesus “Inasmuch as you have done this for the least of these my brothers, you have done it unto me.” We may not be able to solve every problem, meet every need, but there are always situations in which we can display love and compassion and often practical help.

Coming back to yesterday, I got back to the lake after lunch and then remembered that I had not reconnected the electrical supply to the garden building after the pump testing. So we went down to Rehoboth to do that and to fill up with petrol for our journey to Windhoek to collect Bex Monday morning. While at the filling station I noticed a tyre was down. By the time I’d moved to the airline it was almost flat – we had a puncture, a nail or some wire in the tread. Thankfully it happened at the filling station so we were able to put on the spare in relative comfort – better than halfway up the Washboard Trail to the lake at any rate. Now we will probably have to wait until Monday to get it repaired – we’ll see. Last night we treated ourselves to a meal at the Lodge Restaurant at the Lake. It was good and not very expensive, but for the first time since I’ve been here I got bitten – the mozzies had a good few chucks out of my leg and I have the lumps to prove it today. Ah well, that will teach me to value Sian’s home cooking which I must say has been excellent since we’ve been here. We are both looking forward to Bex’s arrival tomorrow – the priority later today will be to get her bed repositioned and completely mosquito and bug proof or I’ll be in trouble. So – the last day of peace and quiet at the Lake before the Afrikan Drums hits Rehoboth.