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.