Thursday, December 21, 2006

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas friends and family,

I would like to start by saying that we are truly thankful for the financial support as well as prayer support and the contact through emails that you have given our family over the last couple of years. We are thankful to God for those he has placed in our path.

The transition to Namibia has not been an easy one, there have been some trials and difficulties in moving and personally I am weak, weary and worn from all that has been going on in the last few months. Pete has fit into his new position and is enjoying the work that God has called him to and I am feeling in limbo and lonely. After some consideration Pete suggested that I take a trip back to Canada for a month or two, this would enable me to visit some family (especially Talitha), visit some of our supporters and perhaps share with some churches. This is something I would never have considered and I am thankful that he is willing to sacrifice to make it possible.

We did not tell many about my return visit as we wanted it to be a surprise Christmas present for Talitha, and a surprise it was! My brother had a box ready in the living room, and I climbed in and they covered it with a blanket. They called her and my nephew upstairs and told them there was an early Christmas present to open; they pulled the blanket off, and opened up the box! Talitha stepped back and with her hand over her mouth stood there in shock. There were tears of joy flowing all over the room and she just couldn’t believe it was ‘for real’! We spent half of the night catching up; I expect that we will be having a really wonderful time together.

Pete and the boys have all kinds of plans for the holidays ‘alone’ in Namibia. Meagan is enjoying her time in Angola with all of her friends; she won’t be back in Namibia until sometime in January.

I am in New Brunswick and I will spend Christmas with my parents and Talitha.
If you live in NB I will be here until January 10,
on the 11th of January I will fly to BC and spend time in the Kamloops area until January 30th.
If you are interested in having me come and share to your small group or church the ministry that God has called us to I would be happy to do so. Please phone me at 506-433-5478 or email me at knightvision6@gmail.com . I would love to have the chance to share how God has been working and continues to work in our lives over the course of the last couple of years, show you the work of Christ’s Hope Namibia, and the needs in Angola that still weigh heavy on our hearts.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Charlene Knightly

Tuesday, October 31, 2006

We continue to adjust to our new life here in Okahandja Namibia. Life is different here than Angola, in some ways good and others well, we will continue to learn to adjust! We are still waiting for our personal effects from Angola; there is a problem with the Namibian side of the border crossing (something we didn’t expect).

Pete has been very busy working into his new position as Ministry Coordinator! Here are some of the things he has been doing.
Ø Attending many meetings in the community on HIV/AIDS, and O.V.C (Orphaned and Vulnerable Children).
Ø Agreed to go out with Social Services personnel and visit street children.
Ø Spoke in the white Dutch Reformed church and accompanied a colleague to the black Dutch Reformed Church (yes they still have some invisible borders even in churches here where the affects of A Partite will take generations to work through).
Ø Spent a lot of time working with the house parents at the Ark to get things organized.
Ø Hired a cook and laundry lady at the Ark.
Ø Promoted one of the ladies to assistant house parent.
Ø Has been reviewing the work of the staff at the Ark and assisting them with becoming more productive.
Ø Working on phasing out a catering service that delivers groceries to the Ark (they were expensive and not delivering all of the things needed to complete the menu plan). He is now working with Lazarus and the cook to develop a menu so that 2 weeks from now they can begin to do their own shopping.
Ø Developing a schedule for the workers at the Ark, some of them have never had days-off scheduled! He is going to work out holidays for them and is also working on extra pay for statutory holidays!
Ø Has been doing a lot of reading and reviewing policies and procedures.
Ø Attending CHI business meetings.
Ø Developing a schedule for the new volunteer from Germany who has come to work in the Ark.
Ø Helping with Care and Compassion
Ø Attended Choose to Wait training
Ø Planned a birthday party for Charlene, very nice gift, cake, ice cream and friends to enjoy it with!

Charlene has been busy, but not as much with CHI as with family things. Here’s a bit of what she has been doing.
Ø Schooling the kids (we are looking forward to the New Year; the start of the school year is in January here in Namibia).
Ø Packing and moving into a very nice place suitable for our family.
Ø Making curtains for a thousand windows (ok not a thousand but 9 and one very long window/door in the living room).
Ø Keeping the house clean and the family fed.
Ø Fixing computers for staff at the Ark (Lazarus’ computer had a few hundred viruses’ on it, I now have to format his whole computer in order to get it working properly).
Ø This week I am working on reports for the Annual General Meeting coming up in November. I did up the report for Ark Okahandja and I guess it looked too nice, they asked me to do ALL of them!
Ø Made a trip to Rehoboth with the National Director, Walter Nel. I took photos of the kids and the Ark, as the house parents who are currently at the Ark are leaving in 3 weeks. They must find new house parents and so I am developing a Power Point presentation and newsletter for promotion in the churches.
Ø Teaching the cook and assistant house parent how to make soups and stews, for better supper meals (currently they only eat bread for supper; the big meal is at lunch).
Ø Babysitting for mom’s when they have work to do with CHI (Christ’s Hope International).
Ø Celebrated a birthday the 21st of September.

Talitha is doing well back in NB with my brother Roger. She is enjoying school (as much as you can), and loves spending time with her grandparents also. She attended a ladies retreat where she met a lady who taught her some guitar, she has apparently picked it up quickly. She spent Thanksgiving at my parents with a whole lot of family and is traveling down to Maine this week to see more! She has also had the chance to visit my oldest brother and his wife, Vince and Anne as they are on holiday back east.

Meagan has also been busy helping the people of CHI with different things. Here is what she has been up to.
Ø Beading for the Choose to Wait program as a fund raiser. She is doing a lovely job and it is keeping her quite busy.
Ø Babysitting for 2 of the missionary families quite regularly, one family from Florida, Jim and Joy Baker, frequently.
Ø Schooling in her spare time (actually she has been doing much better now that Joy has been helping out).
Ø Getting to know some of the teenagers at the Ark, having them over and inviting them to our church in Windhoek. She enjoys spending time over there and has made some good friends.
Ø Helping with Choose to Wait Clubs on Monday and Wednesday’s, either ‘at’ club or by watching Joy’s kids.
Ø Getting to know people at the church in Windhoek, she really enjoys keeping the Angolan connection.
Ø Planning a trip to Angola (if the Lord is willing) with her friends Ju and Edul Chitomba when they go home for break the end of November. She will probably stay a month. There are 2 weddings she has been asked to be a part of.
Trevor has been doing well also. Here is what he has been up to.
Ø Beading for Choose to Wait, he even made up his own ‘new’ design.
Ø Gardening in the yard, and helping his dad to keep up on the watering.
Ø Shooting with a hand gun at a farm just outside of town.
Ø Making friends with some of the kids at the Ark.
Ø Doing school work (of course)!
Ø Giving his mom fantastic back rubs.
Ø Helping his dad do some baking.
Ø Cleaning out a large water dam at a farm not far from here. He helped scrub it with wire brushes so that it could be filled with water and allow them to cool down on these ‘hot’ days!
Ø Cleaning up our new yard.
Ø Helping with the little kids.
Ø Attending Choose to Wait primary program.
Ø Celebrated a Birthday on the 4th of September.


Tavis has also been busy, as he can’t really sit still for too long… This is what he has been up to.
Ø Shooting with a hand gun at a farm outside of town.
Ø Doing school work (he is doing well).
Ø Enjoying shopping with us.
Ø Loving astronomy! He got a telescope for his birthday and he was thrilled at his first up close sight of the MOON!
Ø Cooking, he loves cooking.
Ø Helping with the little ones who come to our house, he is great with little kids.
Ø Attending Choose to Wait primary program.
Ø Celebrated a birthday on the 5th of October.

We enjoyed a visit from Pastor Zebedeu (from Namibe, Angola), he stayed with us for 5 days, and it was a good time together! We also enjoyed a visit from Dr. Steve Collins (Uncle Steve) and Paul Holden from Angola! Thankfully we have room in our new place for company. We were able to meet up with several missions from Angola in Windhoek this last month, Gary and Doreen Toews (MAF), the McBeth Family (Baptist Mission), Donna Foster (SIM) and Carolyn (their kids’ teacher, SIM), Dr. Karen Hendrickson (SIM, returning from her 6 month furlough), Peter Ritchie (SIM). We are expecting Becky (SIM) from Angola the end of this month, and Telo Siame from Zambia (she attending college in Kamloops the year before we left). Since we are so close to Windhoek we are able to meet up with many Angolan missionaries who are traveling on to Angola, this makes us happy!


As for Christ’s Hope Namibia, there are some needs and concerns that need to be addressed.
Ø First is the situation at Rehoboth, the old house parents are leaving and they are in need of new ones (there are almost 30 children in this Ark). The building is in need of some major repairs, and for that they need funds. The Ark depends on donations from the ‘mobilization’ countries, and they currently are having difficulty paying their staff; which makes it difficult to do the many repairs.
Ø The Ark in Okahandja could also use funds to help with the daily running of the Ark.
Ø The Ark in Keetmanshoop (more than 30 children) has urgent repairs that are needed; the funding again is not available.

If you are interested in helping out with donations or coming here on a short term mission trip to help out with doing repairs please send us an email.

We want to say a special thank you to those who have given financially to our family. Information on how and where to give you will find at the end of this email. We thank those of you who are praying for our family regularly also. We hope you have enjoyed this update, please send us a note and let us know how you are doing! We love hearing from our friends and family!

God Bless,
The Knightly Family

Knightly Family
c/o Christ's Hope,
P.O. Box 9979,
Eros Windhoek,
Namibia

Charlene's Cell: 264 81 301 8798
**Pete's NEW Cell: 264 81 317 4600
Meagan's Cell: 264 81 314 6890
(use YAK 10 10 925 011 for $0.29 a minute)
Skype: knightvision5

websites:
http://knightlyfamily.blogspot.com/
AND
http://spaces.msn.com/members/knightvision6/






How to donate funds to the Knightly Family!

Donations in the US can be mailed to:
Christ's Hope -US
PO Box 52038,
Longwood, FL
32752-0328
(When sending support for our family, please indicate on a separate piece of paper that it is for the "Knightly Family")

Donations in Canada only until December 2006 (for Canadian receipts) can be mailed to:
Hillcrest Baptist Church
c/o Hillcrest Mission Fund
1393-9th Ave
Kamloops BC V2C 3X6
250-372-2021
(Please make cheque out to Hillcrest Baptist and write on a separate piece of paper that is it for the Knightly Family)

Non-receiptable option:

Pete’s Parents
Pete and Charlene Knightly
c/o Ron and Marge Knightly
Box 4 Fort Steele BC
V0B 1N0
250-426-4782

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Knightly Family Budget

As it stands right now the house at the ARK will not be completed for 'months' and we have not yet received approval from CHI (international director) to go ahead with the addition. In the meantime, we have found a house that we can rent, but the expense is clearly above what we currently receive in donations ... however, we are going to step out in FAITH and move in, trusting that the Lord will supply all that we need! The following letter will explain in detail our donations vs expenses, so that you can understand what we are facing. I must share with you that this is probably a low estimate and because Pete is incredibly frugal we can generally manage to get by. We try very hard to live responsibly with our finances, and we do not have any debt. We are very thankful to those of you who have supported us financially over this last year +, we could not stay on the field without the generous gifts that you have given to us. We are not here for ourselves, and we feel privileged to have been called by God to work with orphans and those in need here in Africa!!!
Knightly Monthly Budget
(In Canadian Dollars)

Current income:
Ø Average donations per month is $1000 (this is all from individuals, we do not have any churches that support us)
Ø Child Tax Credit $640 (this may disappear in the new year due to change in employment status)
TOTAL: $1640

Current Expenses:
Ø Income Tax $100
Ø Bank Fee $12
Ø Talitha Allowance $50
Ø House rental $350
Ø Water $40
Ø Electricity $70
Ø Charitable Donations $160
Ø Auto Insurance $50
Ø Life Insurance $27.12
Ø Internet $100
Ø Telephone $100
Ø Gas for Stove $10
Ø Household cleaners/toiletries $250
Ø Groceries $500
Ø Car fuel $300
Ø Clothing $100
Ø School $30
Ø Entertainment $20
Ø Dining out $100
Ø 10% compensation for exchange rate $236

TOTAL: $2605.12

SHORTAGE (-$965.12)



We also have no idea what the expense will be for Work Permits, and Student Visas, so this is not included in the budget… the price was supposed to change in July, and we pray it doesn’t change before we get ours! Some of the things we are not sure about such as water and electricity (this is a guess based on a family of 3 living in the house we may rent; water is very high here in Namibia). Telephones are used mainly for CHI purposes, and internet is our only source of communication with ‘home’.

Some of the expenses can be cut back on such as entertainment, and dining out (which is incurred when we go into Windhoek running errands). School fees may be higher as they must purchase uniforms, and school supplies. We currently as of yet do not have insurance for our vehicle.

We are still working on figuring out exactly how much things will cost in Namibia, so this is rough estimate, based on our first month here and some projected expenses that we have not yet incurred!

We will also have other expenses once we move into a house, such as purchasing a fridge, stove, freezer and furniture. We have beds in Angola (but we only borrowed a table and chairs while there, and we never did manage to purchase living room furniture). Hopefully we will have the details worked out for having our things trucked down here in the next few weeks! Once we have an idea of what the appliances may cost we will send that information out to you.

We encourage you to pray about it, and if you feel God laying on your heart to support the Knightly Family financially please email us with your pledged amount. Currently you can receive a receipt for your gift until December 2006 (when you give through Hillcrest). However after December is up in the air, and we are in the process of and making every effort to find an organization to funnel our funds through, until CHI has a Canadian office (which they are in the process of doing). All we can offer at this point is God’s blessing as you give without obtaining a receipt! Our account details will be included in this email if you would like to direct deposit, if you prefer to mail post-dated cheques to Pete’s parents (who have been so gracious as to take care of our banking) the address will be included also.

Specific Prayer Requests
Ø A mission organization to temporarily go under, so that we may funnel our funds through them as a benefit to the givers
Ø Finances
Ø Health (my asthma was very bad shortly after arriving here in Namibia, and Praise the Lord I was given some Mannatech and in just over a week I am feeling an unbelievable amount better!)
Ø Encouragement (this has been a difficult time of transition for me and the kids, as our hearts are in Angola. It has also been difficult living in the multi purpose building with many people in and out day and night! Etc!)
Ø House to live in and appliances
Ø Our things to arrive from Angola (safely and inexpensively)
Ø Things seem to go missing and get stolen here in Namibia, frequently (we have had food go missing from our kitchen, toiletries from the bathroom, Pete’s cell phone was stolen, etc!!) please pray for safety and the ability to not become angry, frustrated and constantly suspicious.
Ø The safe and quick return of our new passports from Canada.

Praise Items
Ø Pete is very happy with his new duties here in Namibia.
Ø We as a family enjoy going to church in Windhoek each Sunday at a Portuguese/English church. Great teaching and great people!
Ø We had a wonderful visit from Pastor Zebedeu from Namibe, Angola! What a great time we had together, and what an encouragement he was to us!
Ø One of the members from the church in Namibe sent some money to us (just to help with groceries and things)… we were speechless and challenged by the generosity of our Christian brother in Angola.
Ø One of the CHI ladies was a teacher back in America and she offered to teach my children a couple of days a week, this has been a HUGE blessing.

Pete’s Parents

Pete and Charlene Knightly
c/o Ron and Marge Knightly
19-14th Ave S
Cranbrook, BC VIC 2W9
250-426-4782

Hillcrest Baptist Church

c/o Hillcrest Mission Fund
1393-9th Ave
Kamloops BC V2C 3X6
250-372-2021
(Please make cheque out to Hillcrest Baptist and write on a separate piece of paper that is it for the Knightly Family)

We thank you for taking the time to read this over, and we thank you in advance for praying concerning the needs of our family. We thank God for you!

Love in Christ,
Charlene

Friday, September 01, 2006

September 2006 Update

The ARK is in desperate need of some assistance in the area of management and already Pete has been able to assist the houseparent, Lazarus with some of the difficulties he has had to face on his own as of late. It is difficult to find trustworthy help and often those who have been hired end up having to be let go, and the common reasons are theft and inability to complete daily tasks. Living on-sight would allow us to help with the management of the Ark.

There are several reasons why living ‘on-sight’ would be ideal for our family. First of all we have had no progress in finding a house to rent and the place we are currently living in is definitely temporary. Secondly in the ministry that we have been asked to do by Christ’s Hope, living on-sight would be the best option. I will be sending a Project Proposal shortly.

As Ministry Coordinator for Okahandja Pete is over-seeing:
The ARK
Care and Compassion (which has an office at the ARK)
Choose to Wait program


In our first bi-weekly staff meeting since joining Christ’s Hope Namibia many of the issues with the ARK and Care and Compassion were discussed and it was expressed several times how grateful to God that our family had come to assist Christ’s Hope in this area… we praise God that although it was not in our plan, His plan for us is at work, and we are confident that He will use us here in Namibia.

Pete is the first Ministry Coordinator in Namibia and although it will take a while to figure out exactly what that means, he has been a big help already and is slowly figuring out what his job description will look like. He has assisted Lazarus with some interviews for a replacement cook and laundry worker. He has also spent a lot of time with him discussing some of the areas that he is struggling with, especially concerning his staff. He is also in the process of interviewing for a Care and Compassion leader. Next week he will attend training in the Choose to Wait program. He has also been assisting in some of the finishing touches in the kitchen of the MPMC and in setting up shelving in the containers here on sight.

For myself I will slot in where needed but more specifically in the area of fund-raising and promotion of Christ’s Hope Namibia IN Namibia… they are hoping that the ministries within Namibia will be supported 50% by Namibians somewhere in the near future. Currently my projects to complete are Partnership Posters (to give to Namibian donors as a thank you for partnering in the work of Christ’s Hope), and a Power Point presentation to include in presentation folders to perspective donors. I have also been able to set up 4 computers for the children at the ARK that were sent in a container, and get the secretary’s and Care and Compassion office computers working properly.

Along with trying to concentrate on school work (which is a difficult task these days) the kids have also been helping with some of the ministries in CHI. Meagan has assisted with the Choose to Wait Club, Kids Club, Coffee House, and babysitting for the CHI volunteers who have small children. The boys have been challenged to dig a big metal door out of the ground, not sure how they are doing with that… but the MEN of CHI are quite excited to have boys around… they seem to bring ‘LIFE’ to the party!!!

Currently there are 13 children in the ARK. They range in age from 8 to 18. The oldest boy is struggling in school and if he fails this year he will be responsible to finish school on his own. He is lacking in motivation at the moment, but we must find a way to help him regain momentum as it is very difficult for kids who do not finish school here in Namibia… they keep passing them until they reach grade 12 and then that is it… they must complete school as ‘adult’ students (they can’t continue to attend high school) in a separate program. The most recent child to be placed in the ARK by social services was beaten by her mother and raped by her step-father. The staff at the ARK is not qualified to deal with the emotional and physical needs of a child like this. It is so heart breaking to see the state of the children here in Africa (in general). Reminds me of a song that we have called “Who will hear the cry of the children”… well God hears and he has called our family for this specific purpose. Please pray that we will have the strength to fulfill our calling, and not become discouraged by the overwhelming need.

We would also ask that you pray for our family concerning finances. Hillcrest will only be able to receipt those who are supporting us up until December 2006. We are looking for another organization who will funnel our funds until CHI has a Canadian office set up (which they are currently in the middle of working on, but this can be a lengthy process). We are also in the process of working out the details to allow US donors to give through CHI United States, this will also take time. At present we are being faithfully supported 50% of our budgeted expenses. Praise the Lord He has been faithful in supplying all of our needs; however if you are feeling a desire to help support our family financially, know that your support of our family is allowing us to help the orphans and unwanted children of Namibia. To the best of our ability we desire to be responsible, careful and generous with the money that comes into our hands. Please note, as some have been asking, CHI does not financially support their volunteers it is up to each volunteer to raise the money for daily expenses (house, food, vehicle, etc)… we are missionaries, not employees.


I hope that this letter has given you more of an idea of what we are doing, but know that if you have any questions or concerns you are free to drop us an email or give us a call and we will do our best to answer you. We miss you all and look forward to hearing from you.

God Bless,
Charlene for the Knightly clan!


Knightly Family
c/o Christ's Hope,
P.O. Box 9979,
Eros Windhoek,
Namibia

Charlene's Cell: 264 81 301 8798
Pete's Cell: 264 81 314 6889
Meagan's Cell: 264 81 314 6890
(use YAK 10 10 925 011 for $0.29 a minute)

websites:
http://knightlyfamily.blogspot.com/
AND
http://spaces.msn.com/members/knightvision6/

Saturday, August 05, 2006

Hello from Namibia

Hello from Namibia

We have made it to our destination… Okahandja, Namibia.

Thursday, Meagan jumped on a MAF flight to Windhoek… she was thrilled at not having to travel down the highway!! She is staying with friends from Angola!

Friday we drove down the bumpy road from Rio de Huila (starting at 7:30 AM) and arriving at the border (Santa Clara) at 3:30 PM (400 km in 8 hours, not bad!). We arrived in Oshakati (where we would normally renew visas for going back to Angola) around 7:30PM. It was a long day.

Saturday afternoon we joined a short-term Christ’s Hope team from Holland on a trip to the Oshikuku Ark (about 30 km from Oshakati). The Ark (orphanage home) there is not yet complete yet, they have been working on it for 2 years (this is AFRICA). Within 10 minutes of arriving over a 100 kids came out of nowhere! They played and sang together with the team, it was a lot of fun and action. However we were so tired we just sat back and observed most of the fun.

Sunday morning we headed out for our 7 hour drive to Okahandja, on a NICE road! We arrived at the Multi-purpose ministry training center around supper-time. We were met by a few of the Christ’s Hope team from here in Okahandja, a very friendly and welcoming group of people! They had supper here for us, and had stocked the fridge with some essentials and some treats!!! The training center is a 3 story building (reminds me of living at the Bible Camp in New Brunswick just before we left Canada)… there is one very large open room that is open to the roof of the building… and on the other side of that room there are 3 levels, the floor level has the kitchen, washrooms, and other smaller rooms, the second level has offices, and the third level has two bedrooms! It will work perfect for our family while we wait for a place to rent. We will get our exercise running up and down the stairs, which will be good for us, as food is much cheaper here in Namibia and there is so much more available (and we will be excited about trying some things after a year of chicken and rice! J).

Today is Monday and we are just resting and taking it easy. One of the missionaries (or here they call them volunteers), loaned us their car and we were able to go and do some grocery shopping. Now we are about to head for lunch so I better sign off… I just wanted to give a quick update and let you know that we are all still alive, and give you our new phone number in case you would like to give us a call. If you use YAK (which just bills to your regular phone bill) you will pay 29 cents a minute, the access code is 10 10 925 011 and our phone number is 264 81 301 8798.

Tomorrow Meagan will come back to us catching a ride from the Namibian director who is in Windhoek.

Take care and God Bless,
Love,
The Knightly’s

Saying Good-bye!

Saying good-bye!

Sunday night the adults of the church surprised us. A group of about 20 crammed into our dining room, they brought food, juice, and gasosa (pop) and we enjoyed an evening of fellowship together with some of the great people we have come to know in our time here.

Monday evening a large group of the youth paraded into our house with several cases of gasosas, juice, a HUGE bowl of chicken, and bags of buns! Then they disappeared! About an hour later a huge pile of teenagers came filtering into our house for a long night of partying! And what a party it was!!! There was LOUD Angolan worship music, English worship music, pantomimes to the music, laughing and talking! Around 10:30 some of the gang said good-bye and then they began to filter out, leaving behind our closest young friends.

They all quieted and sat down, in a circle around the room and they began to share with our family what we meant to them in coming here, how they hoped that we would one day return and work in Angola, and the hope that we would be reunited in heaven, if not here on this earth! There were many tears and lots of hugs and kisses! What an amazing group of youth they have here in this church, and what a blessing they have been to us. After they finished talking Pete and I shared with them what they meant to us, how they helped us with the language barrier, and how much we enjoyed spending time with them, here at the house at their houses and at the beach!

When we were finished with that we all held hands in a big circle and they prayed and sang. Then there were more hugs and kisses and tears!!! Then they turned back into youth and one of the guys popped a gasosa shook it up and began spraying it all over the house! What a riot… of course that caught on with everyone and there was gasosa flying everywhere (thankfully most of our stuff is packedJ). Of course, as a typical youth riot must go, someone got hurt… slipped and fell flat on his face, splitting open his chin… so the night (or should I say morning 12:30 AM) ended at the hospital getting Gilberto stitched up! He will be ok! Oh and yes they will come and wash my walls this morningJ. They are good kids!

As they spoke last night I realized that although we did not get to work with orphans here in Angola (this time), we did seem to have an impact on the youth of the church. It surprised me some of the things that they said about our family (the things that were important to them). One of the boys said that he thought it was the best policy that we did not have a TV in our home, it meant that we spent time communicating and sharing with each other, and he liked that. One boy said he appreciated that we shared our time and our money with people [that we picked up people who wanted to transport goats in our truck (6 of them)]. One girl thanked us for opening our home to them, and showing them love and care. Another thanked us for the times we spent together (he reminisced about the first time we took them to the beach, I tried to teach them American Football, and I tackled one of the biggest boys and sent him flying into the sand… he remembered I called him skinnyJ). They all mentioned that our family was different and that they were thankful that we opened our home to them and welcomed them.

I hope that God will use these kids in the future to change their country. We are thankful for our time here, and look forward to what God will do with us in the future.

Yesterday we left Namibe, many of the youth came to say good-bye, and on the way out of town we drove Rosa home and said good-bye to the family. It was a very tearful good-bye. Pastor Zebedeu and his wife Sally accompanied us to Lubango with a load of stuff in their truck. It was nice to have them along. We said our good-bye’s here in Lubango and they returned home to Namibe.

This morning Meagan hopped an MAF flight to Windhoek, she will stay with friends there until we make it down. It gives us more room in the vehicle and it is kind of a late birthday present for her, she has been asking since she knew we were going (for a flight out)… as the road is SO bad, and no one in their right mind enjoys the trip. People have said they have lost their sanctification or lost their sense of humour on that trip to the border… it truly is worse than you can imagine! Tomorrow morning (if the Lord is willing) we will head out on our “head banging” trip for Namibia.

We will send out our new phone number as soon as we can access the internet. Thank you all for your love and prayers, we truly appreciate it!

Love and Prayers,
Charlene for the gang


Knightly Family
c/o Christ's Hope,
P.O. Box 9979,
Eros Windhoek,
Namibia

tel: 244 924 028 396 (until we leave Angola)
(use YAK 10 10 925 011 for $0.39 a minute)

websites:
http://knightlyfamily.blogspot.com/
AND
http://spaces.msn.com/members/knightvision6/

Moving to Namibia

Greetings from the Knightly Family,

In one week we will be on the road to Namibia, if the Lord is willing (this phrase we have learned to end our sentences with here in Angola). We have been accepted by Christ’s Hope International for work in Namibia. The town we will be moving to is called Okahandja, it is close to the capital city, Windhoek. At present we are expecting to move into a small house, and we will assist the house parents at the Ark Okahandja (the Ark is what they call the orphanage homes).

The job description for us will include administration, care for the children as well as maintenance in and around the Ark. They also have Care and Compassion teams who go into the community to assist those who have AIDS, and they have a Choose to Wait program that they teach in the community… these are both areas that Pete and I are interested in getting involved in. We are looking forward to seeing how God is going to use us in Namibia. We are excited about the road ahead, even knowing that there will be many trials and struggles to face.

We are very sad to say good-bye to Angola, we have made many friends in this past year and we are thankful that we had that opportunity. We cannot see the future, so we have no idea how God is going to use the relationships that have been formed. Angola was a great introduction to Africa! We have had a good share of struggles, and the adjustment to everyday life wasn’t always easy but God has shown himself faithful and we are grateful for his help day by day.

Answers to a few questions:
We have sold our truck (Praise the Lord), some were asking why we couldn’t take it to Namibia… it is because they drive on the left side of the road and the driver is in the right side of the vehicle, the government does not allow imports of vehicles which are the opposite (you can go to visit for a while, but you cannot import it).

The official language in Namibia is English, but many people speak Afrikaans and tribal languages.

Talitha is doing fine. She has been working at Bible Camp all summer and was baptised a couple of weeks ago. She keeps herself very busy with friends and family. I am sure she misses us a little, but we are glad that she has adjusted so well!

Meagan, Trevor and Tavis are doing fine also. All healthy, but sad to leave Angola! They all have learned a LOT of Portuguese, so we are hoping that they will find some Portuguese speaking people to connect with in Namibia!

Pete is keeping busy with trips to Lubango; with our things... we will store them in a container until we are settled into Okahandja. He is very excited at not having to learn more Portuguese! He celebrated his birthday on the 9th of July (all of the Knightly’s managed to celebrate a birthday IN Angola!).

Myself? I am tired from packing but feeling fine. I have been encouraged in my devotion time, and as I read through Hebrews 11 yesterday I realized that there are many marks of faith in our lives and there have been many great examples of faith in the great cloud of witnesses from the past.
Some of the things that struck me were:
Being Pleasing to God (living a life pleasing to God, drawing near to Him, believing Him)
Reverent Fear (obedience to God even when it looks foolish to everyone else)
Trust (GO… even when you don’t know where or for how long, and look forward to heaven, not the momentary pleasures of this earth)
Consider “who” God is (study His attributes)
Use your gifts (God has given gifts, we need to USE them for His glory)
When tested… OBEY!
Bless others (and do it for Christ’s sake and not your own)
Believe in the Promise (Life eternal in the presence of Christ)

We are here on this earth for such a short time, life is a breath and then we are gone. There are so many in our world who are suffering and in need of a Saviour. Those who have a faith and trust in Jesus Christ must show their faith by their works (James 2:18) because if someone is poorly clothed and lacking in food and you say “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? (James 2:15-16). So the challenge to me from the Bible is to Love the Lord my God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength, AND my neighbour as myself… ‘Actively’. Not easy to do, this is why I need a daily reminder to focus on Christ and not myself and my hardships!

I must get back to packing, just thought I would take the time to update you on where we are off to and to let you know that we are doing ok. If you have any questions feel free to ask! Hope you are all doing well. You are in our thoughts and prayers.

God Bless,
Charlene for the gang!

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Mini Series... summary of time here in Angola

Episode 1--“The Call”

A few years ago, through prayer and fasting, reading in the Bible, motivational preaching and books, our church, friends, family and circumstances we came to the conclusion that our family had been called to the foreign mission field. As the journey began we realized that our heart was for the orphaned children of Africa. First of all because the need is so great, and secondly because we saw a ministry that although ‘long term’ could have ‘long lasting’ effects, in that children could be raised in the Hope and the Knowledge that there is a God who loves them and desires to change their hearts and lives.

As a result of this call we began looking into organizations that work in this area. Through many hours surfing the internet, emailing, traveling to Mission Fest, and communicating our desires with friends and coming into contact with many different options, we made contact with some missionaries in Angola. During our times of communication we felt God leading us in the direction of coming with the UIEA church here in Angola.

After much prayer, fasting, and guidance we made a decision to send Pete on a scouting trip to check things out. His trip was encouraging and the decision was made to go to Angola.

Next in the mini-series “Part 2—‘Preparation’”

God Bless,
The Knightly Family

Episode 2—“Preparation”

After the decision was made to go to Angola the preparation began. In hind-sight if we had known all of the work, hassles, and headaches that would go into it, we would have given up before we started! However, God is gracious in not showing us ‘everything’ and so we began.

The first order of business was getting the paperwork prepared for our work visa. This process was cumbersome and difficult at times, but we managed to get all of the things we needed in order to start the process (this included: police checks, a medical, sending paperwork to be authorized by the Canadian Government, finding a translator, having every paper translated in Portuguese, getting immunizations, money, etc). Finally the process was sent in at the end of December 2004.

The next step was to downsize our possessions, fix up our home, put it on the market and wait for a potential buyer. During this time the fever caught, in our hearts and minds, it was becoming a reality and the excitement grew, along with many trials. The day to day struggles and joys are on our website (knightlyfamily.blogspot.com) if you wish to take the time to reminisce.

Our church bravely decided to put us on staff and funnel your donations, for which we are truly grateful. With that came the time spent speaking with lawyers, accountants, and other mission organizations concerning the legalities involved. Not everything is ironed out presently, but we trust that God is in control, even in this area!

Then came the big day, the house sold and we went into mad-dash mode to pack and arrange a day that we would have all of our belonging in Toronto to place in the container to be shipped to Angola. We purchased our truck only a week before leaving Kamloops! The 17th of May we drove out of Kamloops, No Turning Back is a song that came to mind as we drove out of the city. With great anticipation and sorrow we set out on our journey into the ‘unknown’.

Finally we drove to Toronto accompanied by Pete’s parents, a memorable time for all. Delivered everything to the warehouse, and set out the next day by Greyhound bound for NB to spend some time visiting with family.

Next in the mini-series, Part 3 “The Farm”

God Bless
The Knightly Family

Episode 3—“The Farm”

Although our journey is ‘in detail’ laid out on our website, I decided to make Part 1 and 2 a summed up history lesson! This part of the series will give information into our time here in Angola along with our hope in the future grace of God in our lives.

To begin with I would like to describe “The Farm”. Several years ago the UIEA (the church we work with in Angola) purchased Agro Sul here in the Namibe area for the purpose of building an orphanage. Two years ago, with the risk of losing their investment, they asked an SIM missionary family to move to the farm with the purpose of getting the ‘farm’ part up and running and paying off some debt.

In the last two years, Strauss and Sanette Joubert and boys, have worked hard to develop it. There have been many trials and struggles for their family, the workers, and the church in regards to Agro Sul. At present, however, things have begun to work together for good and with God’s provision, hard work and perseverance has paid off.

Presently the farm employs many people in the surrounding village/area, helping them to supply for their families. A pastor of the Bom Deus church up the hill from the farm has been employed by the farm to drive the pickup for errands to the city. This is a blessing for the farm and the pastor. For the farm because they have someone trustworthy to rely on, and for the pastor because it supplements the meager income that he receives as a pastor so that he can feed his family and continue with his ministry.

Agro Sul has also started 2 stores, one in their community and one in a community further east, Hmuambo. This has been a great service for these communities that are a long way from town by foot, or taxi which costs a day’s wage! It has also generated much needed income in order to get the farm up and running.

Another facet of the farm is that each worker of the farm receives a little plot of land to work for their family, and if desired to generate another source of income.

Strauss is well-known all over the valley (actually as Senor Branco, Mr. White), and well-respected. The ministry that the Joubert’s provide to the people of the Giraul River Valley is not only ‘Spiritual’, but ‘Physical’ and as a result people are coming to know the Love of God in a tangible way. In July the Joubert family will move back to their native South Africa, moving on in their calling to a new location. They are going to be missed.

The orphanage project was part of a vision of the church around 6 years ago when this piece of land was purchased, and I feel they still hold out hope that one day it will become a reality, but here in Angola things work very slowly. Here in Africa is it understood and accepted, but in North America we live by 6 month, 1 year, 3 year and 5 year goals/plans and we do not understand the African way of thinking. This is part of the adaptation process. This brings me to the next part of the series…

Next in the mini-series, Part 4 “Adaptation”

God Bless,
The Knightly Family

Episode 4—“Adaptation”

No one can fully prepare for this portion of ‘the journey’. Although we had lots of knowledge in regards to adaptation, the experience puts a whole new twist on things! Circumstances that are beyond your control, physical challenges, health issues, etc can cause different reactions that what you ‘thought’ you may have, and we have had our fair share of all of these since arriving here in Angola.

The first issue, which is harder for Pete than me, is the issue of TIME (what’s that? I tossed my watch after arriving here)! Very little happens when it is ‘supposed’ to happen. This has been evident in our wait time in Namibia after arriving in Africa, our wait time in Lubango before the house was ready in Namibe, our wait time for the container, our wait time for fuel, the lights to come back on, water supply to return, at the bread store, for the stores to open after their siesta, our wait time for our visas, a meeting with the pastors, etc! The list goes on and on and one cannot realize how much it can ‘drive you crazy’ until you are experiencing it (especially when it is for the thousandth time).

The second (and these are not in order of degree) issue is the visa situation. We came with the information given us, and it did not include a renewal ‘every’ month, a trip to Namibia every 3rd month, the expense, and the length of time previous people have had to wait for a visa (some up to 5 years, leaving the country every 3 months to renew). I cannot express how much frustration and anxiety this has caused the family; from the expense, the interruption, the horrible road, and now the inability to renew in Namibia! We are finding another true statement in scripture: to work out your salvation with fear and trembling!

The third issue is language learning. This has been very difficult for Pete as he has found his mind is not a sponge but a rock. I don’t mean this in an insulting way, just that he is having a hard time with retention, and because he is more tense about the issue of TIME he sets unrealistic expectations for himself, and when he cannot meet it he becomes frustrated. For me, Pete says I live life with ‘rose coloured glasses’ on. I just realize that it is going to take time, and somehow I feel I will learn by osmosis. Frankly, we know a lot more than when we arrived, but we are not fluent and have a hard time properly conjugating verbs and joining sentences with the proper word, and the list of vocabulary is LONG! All of our learning has been done on our own, as the two teachers we have had just disappeared… a common occurrence here. The teenagers from the church who drop in regularly to visit have been a great help.

Other issues include, dealing with regular power outages, no water, fuel shortages, no hot water heater, exchange rate fluctuations, HIGH prices for ‘everything’ except fuel, sickness (Talitha, and Tavis have both had malaria, and Pete has had it twice now, I have issues with my stomach and constant infections), the Angolan system, drivers (you think they are bad in North America, please come here for a few weeks!!!), people with a great lack of knowledge in the area of hygiene, health, and the outside world (including doctors, nurses, and other ‘so-called’ health professionals) and a deficiency in financial support has made it difficult to find our feet.


But! God is faithful. He has sustained us through some pretty difficult adjustments in this past year. We have ‘not arrived’ yet, but I pray one day we will at this:
Philippians 4:11-13 “Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

God is good (even when it ‘looks’ really bad) all the time!

Next in the mini-series Part 5 “The Blessings”

God Bless,
The Knightly Family
Episode 5—“The Blessings”

We have seen and experienced ‘many’ blessings in this past year, and it is now that I will take the time to name a few and what an impact it has had on us and where we are.

I will begin by saying that we were blessed by very sound doctrine and theology that stimulated us to have a desire to serve God with our ‘whole’ hearts! Motivational preaching by Pastor Zach at Hillcrest, sound doctrine from Fred Eaton while at Hillcrest, the excellent ministry of John Piper (pastor for preaching at Bethlehem Baptist, Minneapolis Minnesota www.desiringgod.org ), and the love and encouragement from many brothers and sisters in Christ, friends and family! When the going gets tough, we need to remember 1 Corinthians 15:58 “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labour is not in vain.”

Before leaving Kamloops there were many blessings flowing… friends who came to help pack and clean the house, the purchase of the truck (I will share later just how much of a blessing it has been to us and the people of Angola), a very generous donation for the payment of our container, BC vehicle tax refund for our truck, a trailer to haul our things across Canada, my mom’s speedy recovery from her heart surgery, and the support and prayers of friends and family as we set out on this journey.

Once in Africa, we experienced the blessing of great new friends in Cape Town, South Africa, safety traveling the train, safe travels flying, and missionaries to travel into Angola with.

In Angola we have received many blessings. Our family has faithfully telephoned us to encourage and uplift us. Many friends have called at just the right time! The Joubert family has become a great source of encouragement and friendship. The youth at the local church have been wonderful. Care packages from our church, friends, and family have been a source of excitement! My brother taking Talitha in so she can finish up her schooling is a great comfort. The blessing of supplies being sent in a container, donations from a church and individuals on the east coast, and packages sent from the west coast, and of course our family chipping in more than we can really thank them for! The kids have adapted quickly, learned the language well, finding friends, and loving Angola! That is more of a blessing than you can imagine. The friendships at church and other local people has been a blessing. Last week we were blessed beyond belief by a pastor (whom Pete took to Kuvango) and his wife here in town, I guess they felt the Lord was blessing them and so they decided to bless us. When we were leaving they handed us 1000 kwz (over $10 US… 800 kwz is $10) and told me to buy eggs (which costs 900 kwz for 30), at first I thought she meant for her, but she said no, no, no for our family! I was humbled and struck with emotion. They have so little by worldly standards, but their hearts are overflowing by heavenly standards!

Last but not least we have been blessed by being a blessing to others. We have had visitors, some by surprise and some planned… both a blessing! One missionaries’ vehicle broke down and so we had 2 visitors for a few days (a great distraction to some of our ‘life’ challenges), 1 visitor got ‘left behind’ by her group, and she stayed for several days (she was such an encouragement to our family), other missionaries have popped in for a few days of respite from their work (we have enjoyed their visits), we had 3 visitors (one a neighbour from Kamloops) who came for a respite from their province in the north/east. What an enjoyable time of encouragement and refreshment! There is rarely a trip made in the “TRUCK” that we are not stopping to ‘bless’ someone. It may seem small to you, but stopping and picking someone up here in Angola is met with such praise and thanksgiving… and when you can say ‘In the name of Jesus’ and they see the ‘church’ sticker on the truck and can make a connection it brings such joy. People walk for ‘many’ miles, some with extremely heavy loads on their heads. We do it so often but there are some that stick out in our minds. The Mukubali lady (they wear nothing on top, only strings to tie down their breasts) and her baby on her back and a 6 or 7 year old daughter had walked a several hour drive (2 day walk… or more) out of the desert with a sack that I could hardly lift up into the truck and another sack too heavy for a 6 year old… they were hungry and thirsty and thankfully I had some bread and water in the truck to share with her. There is a military base just out of town that we drive by to get to the farm, Pete has stopped so often to pick them up (and since the truck is EASILY noticeable) when they see us driving the opposite direction they wave and smile just to say hi! We picked up 3 Mukubali men (I call them ‘men in skirts’) when we were taking the missionary girls from the north on a ‘fun’ day… their skirts are made of a panel on the front and a panel on the back, connected by a waste cord… that was fun to watch the girls on the back of the truck with these 3 men… they were sharing with the girls how many wives (one had 25 or more) they had, and livestock!!! I think he was looking for one more wife! One couple we picked up late at night and drove them out to a lighthouse way out of town, when they got out they were clapping and thanking us over and over. We have taken the women, children and youth on different trips. The women’s choir has gone twice with me to Tombua, the day I took the children out for their outing there were over 40 kids in our truck (10 in the cab), and last weekend we brought about 30 youth home in the truck (after making 2 trips IN to the farm). Pete’s trip to Kuvango, was a blessing to the pastors and people of the villages they visited, and a blessing for Pete too! We get reminded every time just how much a blessing this truck has been. However the wear and tear has been a lot more than we budgeted for!

Rosa and her 5 children, blessing her has been a blessing to us. She is a trustworthy, hard worker and friend. She is content living in a house without a roof (although she has our tarp on it now), and dirt floors. We picked her up in the middle of the night a few nights when it was raining here in the desert. What a mess her house was, broke our heart and we wished we had more that we could give her. We not only pay her a wage but we send her home with coal to cook her food, and food for her and her kids to eat. Only now has she felt she can tell us when her kids are going hungry, we have insisted that she let us know! We are looking for a new house for her to rent, but we are not sure how she will survive if we have to leave Angola, we are her only real source of income, and we have grown very attached.

We are thankful that there have been ways of blessing others during this time, as some days we can feel as though we are not accomplishing anything for the purpose that we intended. However, God knows what our purpose is here, Isaiah 55:8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways, my ways, declares the LORD.” We may not see until eternity what His purpose was in bringing us here to Angola.

Next Episode 6—“Present work in Angola”

God Bless,
The Knightly Family

Episode 6—“Present Work in Angola’

Although our first year was primarily set aside for language learning and adaptation, there have been opportunities for work, as small as it may seem to us.

Relationship building is one area of ministry.

There is a man named Dada who comes over to visit Pete regularly. They work hard at trying to communicate with each other (Dada stutters which makes it even more difficult). Pete has invited him to church many times, although he hasn’t come yet. Pete’s parents sent some great tracts in Portuguese and we were able to share them with Dada and one of his friends. Dada has decided to make us his daughter’s godparents (we aren’t too sure what that means as we are not Catholic).

Our x-language teacher, Augusto, still comes over to check on us, and help with translation once in a while. He has become a very busy man in the last while, taking correspondence course and running an English school and pursuing the ‘almighty’ dollar. We have had an opportunity to share with him what is really important in life, and that having money is not going to be what fills his desires for ‘more’. He has read a couple of our John Piper books. His father was a pastor in the north but was taken hostage during the war and never seen again.

We always have a group of children in our yard or house (just like in Kamloops). Although I cannot communicate with them well, I hope that they feel loved and wanted, and they all know that we are here with the church.

Again the truck is God’s and we will use it for His service as long as He keeps it on the road.

Again Rosa and her family is part of our work. Through financially supporting her, physical support and also by bringing her kids here for sleepovers (which they LOVE, as soon as their heads hit the pillow they are sound asleep… they sleep together on a skinny mattress on the floor, under a mosquito net that we gave them… Rosa sleeps in a bed, if you can call it that, full of lumps and springs with her mosquito net and Minda, the youngest, and for a while she shared her home with her sister), we hope we are showing her the Love of Christ… we really would love to do more for her financially but honestly our budget does not allow it.

The youth of the church… this has been a great opportunity. Most of the ‘boys’ can speak a little English, and they ‘all’ want to learn more, so we have enjoyed our time with them. They generally drop over in the evenings, most times after a church function when they are walking Meagan (and Talitha when she was here) home. One young man, Gilberto has improved incredibly in his English and has helped me with my Portuguese. He brings a lot of laughter to our family; he has a great sense of humour and can joke around with us in English! We have spent time discussing the Bible with them and they want to know more… preaching is constant, but teaching is missing in the church here. Some of the young men wanted to start a Bible study but time has not worked in their favour as of yet… almost every night there is an event at the church, and everyone is expected to be there. There are generally 2 choir practices a week, this month there are 3, and before the youth festival there were practices every single day, for a month! The church is almost programmed to death. The country has come out of a communistic state and the middle generation is ingrained in it, one of the symptoms is the passivity toward authority, and so people don’t ask questions, or question things! The younger generation though is asking questions (although they have come to realize that they cannot ask them of the leaders in the church), and so having us here they have shot the questions left, right and center. We have enjoyed sharing with them that there are different points of view, even from church to church, Christian to Christian, not everyone thinks the same, interprets scripture the same, and it is good to ask questions and ‘think’ about what you believe and why you believe it. I feel the next generation coming up could bring the church ‘to life’, and what a blessing it would be to see the results. There are many in the ‘older generation’ that I am sure love the Lord, but they are all stifled by such legalism and its effects on ‘joy’ and ‘grace’!

The farm is Pete’s area of work. He has done a lot to assist the farm with the truck. Hauling produce to Lubango (a 2 hour drive), also into town to the market, going on fuel runs into Namibe, hauling barrels of water up to Mhuambo (when they were building the store), bringing sick children into the hospital, and many other errands. Strauss was gone for 6 weeks in December/January and between Pete and the Pastor of the Bom Deus they did all the trips. Two of the three foremen had to be ‘let go’ when Strauss got home as they were not performing their tasks honestly and/or effectively and had taken advantage of Pete and his lack of Portuguese. However, now they have a new foreman who is an honest hard-worker, which is a huge asset.

There are many things that we would like to do, as we can see a need for them… which brings me to the next episode.

Next episode “Challenges Ahead”

God Bless,
The Knightly Family

Episode 7—“Challenges Ahead”

The first and most notable challenge we face is the VISA situation. When we were in Oshakati renewing our visa the last time, we were told that it would BE the last time! Which leaves us with a feeling of discouragement and we wonder where we will be at the end of July! We have not been given any clear direction from the Lord in this area, but I will lay out one option that we have and then share some of the ideas IF the work visa was to come through.

First of all, while we were out in Namibia we met with the country director of Christ’s Hope International ( www.christshope.org ). They work with orphans in several countries in Africa. There are presently 3 orphanages up and running in Namibia, and one more on the way. The orphanages were meant to be for children who have been orphaned by AIDS parents, but the government has been placing a much different mix into their orphanage. This raises some concerns for us (in regards to bringing our own children into some situations that could very well be potentially dangerous). However, we have sent them a letter and our church has sent a letter introducing us to the organization. We will see how God leads, if our visas should not come through. This however will require an extreme move… to a whole new country… Pete likes the fact that they are ENGLISH there! It will involve selling our truck and vehicles are VERY expensive on this continent! There is much to look into, although we are down to only 2 months now!!!

If we do get our visas, the plan was to move out to the farm, replacing the Joubert’s who leave in July. The thought was that we would move Rosa and her kids out with us, repairing a half-existing house and putting a roof on it. Pete would take up overseeing the workings of the farm, and help develop it more. I could see many areas of ministry with the families who live on the farm and in the surrounding areas… just a few are education on health and hygiene, educating the younger children who do not have an opportunity to go to school, continuing with Sanette’s literacy program with the ladies (who can’t read or write), and perhaps teaching English (a treasured gift, here in Angola). None of these things would happen overnight… they would take years to develop, but would also be worked into an orphanage program. The other thing we would like to see is the local churches taking more of an interest in the UIEA leadership’s projects… so it would be nice to get the youth involved in helping out.

Presently in Angola there is not a massive HIV/AIDS positive rate, like there are in the surrounding countries. Mostly due to the closed borders and war, people just didn’t move in and out of country… but now they are! Many of the refugees are moving back, and where are they coming from? Zambia, Namibia, Botswana, South Africa… where the HIV/AIDS rates are extremely high. It is said that at the border of Angola and Namibia there is an HIV positive rate of 80% (this is from a doctor here in Angola). It will spread and it will spread quickly with the tribal practices of sharing wives, having several wives, and general promiscuity. The need to protect and care for AIDS orphans ‘now’ may not be great but in 5 years the need will be there. Which is why continuing to establish the farm, pay off the debt, and working toward having a self-sustainable orphanage in the future looks exciting.

Next Episode 8 “Current Needs”

God Bless,
The Knightly Family

Episode 8—“Current Needs”

I will share with you some of our current needs, both spiritual and physical. I can say that with all that has been happening over the last month we have felt as though the wind was knocked out of us. We are seeking God’s direction in our lives and we need your help.

Spiritually:

We know that God called us. We do not know if his purpose is for us to stay here forever, or move around. We do not know if it is even to always work with orphans, or if he has something else in mind. We KNOW we were called… how, where, etc that plays out ONLY God knows. Some days however when we are feeling tired and weak we even question the call. Some days everything looks hopeless. So we would ask for your prayers in that area.

We can always use some encouragement, either by an email or a phone call, we appreciate those who have taken the time, and it does make a big difference in our outlook for that day.

We are lacking in the area of fellowship. Fellowship with like-minded believers who speak English and that can make one worn out spiritually. So please pray in regards to that.

We need strength to endure and we appreciate your prayers for that.

Physically:

Our health has been up and down here in Angola (which was to be expected). Pete has had malaria twice, and it can take a big toll on your body. I have suffered from diarrhea frequently, Guardia, and infections (both bladder and skin) that hang on and won’t go away without a long dose of antibiotics. On the plus side my asthma is almost totally cured here at sea level and the strength in my lungs has increased immensely in the last 8 months. The boys have also had the skin infections that won’t go away! Meagan has been very healthy. Please be in prayer for our health.

The obvious one is for our visas, and for direction should God wish to lead us somewhere else. Also, should Oshakati reconsider and say they will renew our visas; we would like wisdom to know if this is a process that we should continue with. Which brings me to the next point!

Finances. Always a topic we would rather leave alone, and never discuss. However, it is fact of life, we need money to eat, have a roof over our heads, clothe ourselves, and to meet the basic needs of others that God places in our lives. At present our support is at 50% of the budget that Pete worked out when he came to visit, and of course not worked into that budget was the trip to Oshakati every three months, and the almost $400 US for visa renewals… MONTHLY. Thankfully the UIEA has been gracious in dropping our rent from $300 US per month to $100 US per month, which is an incredible blessing. We are also shocked by how expensive it is to live in this ‘poor’ country. We are not entirely sure how everyone survives with the prices as they are, we can barely squeak by, we just don’t know how they do it (except to say there is a lot of corruption and people in the city have many different business ventures). Tourists who come through are in shock especially with the price of food, and you can check out the knightlyfamily.blogspot.com site for Grocery Shopping in Angola for more information. This is the primary reason we do a great deal of our ‘food’ shopping in Namibia when we go out to renew visas.

We will leave this area in God’s hands, and if he is impressing on your heart to give you can do it one of two ways… if you live in Canada and wish to have a tax receipt you can do it through our church (you are welcome to send post-dated cheques) or if you don’t desire a receipt you can mail a cheque (or series of post-dated cheques) to Pete’s parents who have access to our accounts (which I will give the details in a bit).

We do thank you for your prayer support, and we also thank those that are supporting us financially, we are blessed by your giving. Please feel free to drop us a line anytime and ask questions, we would rather you ask than wonder!

This is the end of the Mini-Series on the KNIGHTLY FAMILY. There was a lot more that I could add to fill in the pockets of time, but I will spare you the ‘details’… just keep in mind that if you have questions as to ‘what’ we are doing here, we would be happy to answer if you just ask. Don’t sit at home wondering why there is no orphanage yet without being able to see ‘what’ is happening and ‘how’ differently things work in a foreign land… ask questions. We hope this has been informative and helpful and that you will hold us up in your prayers more fervently!

Thank you for your friendship,
With God’s Blessing,
The Knightly Family

In reference to giving here are the addresses that you can send to:

If no receipt is required:

Pete and Charlene Knightly
c/o Ron and Marge Knightly
19-14th Ave S
Cranbrook, BC
V1C 2W9

If you would like a receipt:
Please fill out the form below and mail to Hillcrest Baptist Church if you feel called to support our ministry:

Name:
Address:

Phone:
Make checks payable to: Hillcrest Baptist Church
MISSIONARY YOU’RE SUPPORTING: Name: Pete and Charlene Knightly/ Hillcrest Mission Fund
(Please be sure to include this on the memo section on your cheque)
Monthly Support $
Yearly Gift $
One Time Gift $
PLEASE NOTE: This form is to be sent to Hillcrest Baptist Church with your first contribution for the missionary.
SEND T0 HILLCREST BAPTIST CHURCH
1393-9TH Ave.
Kamloops, BC V2C-3X6
(250) 372-2021
hillcrestbaptist@shaw.ca

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Pete's Trip to the Wilderness

May 12, 2006

Dear Friends,

Last week I drove a group of 3 pastors and 2 ladies in charge of women’s ministries to a number of villages into the northeastern interior of Angola. The group went to visit numerous small churches. On the way we also picked up Pastor Aurelio Samba who lives in Kuvango, a community 250 km from the major center of Lubango. He has been a pastor of the local church for the past 15 years. Due to the fact that there are no other pastors in this area it is his responsibility to oversee numerous church plants further into the campo (wilderness).

We traveled for 2 days, stopping along the way to visit numerous church groups, where a short message was shared with each fellowship. In Vikungo they held meetings with the local leaders of the smaller churches in the outlying areas. The communication was mainly in tribal languages as well as Portuguese, so I was able to grasp very little of what was communicated. However, it was apparent that all these communities are crying out for pastors to come and serve in their villages. There are no pastors willing to go to these places, as they have no way of supporting themselves and their families. These people are all subsistence farmers, who have little or no monetary income. They do not pass around an offering plate, they pass around an offering BOWL where people place a few handfuls of corn, and beans.

The “houses” consisted of sticks chinked with mud, grass roof and dirt floors. The entire house is about the size of an average North American bedroom. The children are filthy, dirty, sickly and there is very little or no opportunity for education in most of the communities. There are pigs and chickens wandering around everywhere. Not the kind of place that someone who has tasted of city life would want to go and raise a family. However, there seemed to be a real hunger for the Word of God. Many children flocked to these church services. Singing gospel songs seems to be what binds them together. Unfortunately I didn’t take the camera to take pictures. The churches were constructed in the same way, with poles and thatched roofs. The benches were constructed of 2 forked sticks sticking out of the ground with a pole running across about six inches off of the ground. Not exactly build for comfort. Some places had a pole sitting on the bare ground.

I was told it would take Pastor Samba 7 days by foot to visit these churches, or it could be done in 2 days if he had a bicycle. I do not know how often he currently visits them, but it can’t be too often when he has his own congregation to attend to. I at one point asked the leaders if Pastor Samba had the means of transport would he visit these communities more frequently, and the answer was yes. However, from what I understand Pastor Samba’s salary is 2000 Kwanzaa’s a month, the equivalent of $25 US a month. Their salaries are based on a percentage of the offerings that come in. So he is unable to even afford a bicycle. He also has to grow his own food to support his family.

I came away with a burden for Pastor Samba and these small churches, feeling that a short term solution to their needs would be to provide Pastor Samba with a motorcycle, to enable him to visit these small communities. The price of a Chinese built motorcycle here is about $1700 to $1800 U$, which I felt should be easy enough to raise. I thought I would put out the call to all our friends and supporting churches. If after prayerful consideration you feel you would like to contribute any amount to the purchase of a motorcycle, please indicate to us by email how much you are able to give. If when all the pledges come in there is enough money, I would then ask that money be mailed in. Anything pledged over and above the purchased price would be used to register, help maintain, and buy fuel. So the goal we would like to set is $2300 U$. Due to our visa situation we would have to know within the next couple of weeks, in order to ensure that we had enough time to purchase this, if our work visa does not come through. Please respond by May 31, 2006. We will keep you up-to-date with pledges coming in.

God Bless,
Pete

Grocery Shopping In Angola

Just a bit of info for you all! Everyone seems to assume that it is cheaper to live in an African country, at least I get emails and comments on the phone that seem to say that... so just for your info, this just gives a little idea as to one area of expense here in Angola!

Grocery Shopping in Angola:

80 kwz to the US dollar
These prices are average and fluctuate greatly with supply and demand. There is only market gardening and so there is no great supply of anything fresh. The quality leaves much to be desired. Always worms in the tomatoes… that type of thing!

Milk Powder (25kg)… 8000 kwz ($100 US)
Flour (50 kg)… 3000 kwz ($37.50 US)
Rice (50 kg)… 1700 kwz ($21.25 US)
Beans (per kilo)… 100 kwz ($1.25 US)
Cheese (out of the question TOO expensive to even look at!!!)
Pasta (500g)… 80 kwz ($1.00 US)
Oil (500 ml)… 150 kwz ($1.88 US)
Margarine (500 ml)… 380 kwz ($4.75 US)
Sliced Meat (100g)… 125 kwz ($1.57 US)
Beef (per kilo)… 500 kwz ($6.25 US) and it is tougher than a chuck steak and flavorless
Pork (per kilo)… 500 kwz ($6.25 US)
Chicken (1200g)… 330 kwz ($4.13 US)
Buns… 7.5 kwz per bun (10 cents US)
Bread… 100 kwz ($1.25 US)
Carrots (3 carrots)… 50 kwz (63 cents US)
Potatoes (10 kilo)… 1200 kwz ($15.00 US)
Onions (3 med size)… 50 kwz (63 cents US)
Bananas (5)... 200 kwz ($2.50 US)
Mangos (4)… 100 kwz ($1.25 US)
Oranges (4)... 200 kwz ($2.50 US)
Watermelon... 150 kwz per kg ($1.88 US per kg) (that’s $4.15 US a pound, roughly) (we grow our own… and sell for only 50 kwz per kg)
Juice (2litre)... 200 kwz ($2.50 US)
Eggs... 30 kwz per egg (38 cents US)
Soft serve ice cream cone… 150 kwz ($1.88 US), one flavour to choose from, but lucky to have even that… not that we indulge more than once every 3 months!


Laundry Soap (box that does 90 loads)... 7500 kwz ($93.75 US)
Gas (for the stove)… 480 kwz tank lasts almost 3 weeks ($6.00 US)
Diesel (per litre)… 30 kwz (38 cents US)

This is why we do a great deal of our shopping in Namibia… it makes it semi-reasonable. Although you still have to watch while purchasing there, as many times buying BULK is more expensive than buying things individually! Still more expensive than Canada but much better prices than here! Things like eggs are something you have to get used to… we have chickens but they are Angolan chickens, they lay eggs for a few weeks and then they roost for a month. So we buy them at the praca for 38 cents US an egg… these eggs have been shipped up from South Africa and they sit at the border in the hot hot sun for a day or two sometimes. Then they get to the praca and they probably do not rotate the new with the old, and well you crack them open into a separate dish (each egg) just to make sure there are no rotten half chicks or completely rotten yolk… things like that! Rice always has bugs, and you have to sift your flour. There are no ‘return policies’ or ‘satisfaction guaranteed’ here in this country.

This just gives you an idea of what we are faced with when shopping in Angola! We have been told that Angola is the most expensive country to live in, in Africa. Also that Luanda is the second most expensive city in the world (just behind Tokyo) to live in! People are paying outrageous sums for rent (e.g.: a two room apartment for $3000 US a month, and I don’t think they are nice places!). The biggest blessing is that fuel for the truck is inexpensive… if they have it… they regularly go through fuel shortages! There is only one fuel company and it is owned by the government!

Hope you enjoyed learning a little more about our country!
Charlene

Friday, April 21, 2006

In Namibia

We are in Oshakati... I am including the email that I would have sent out yesterday, but I didn't get to the internet. Today however there is a little more news to share. The lady at the Angolan consulate told me that there would be NO MORE VISITOR VISA renewals! So we have 3 months to decide what to do with our lives here in Africa. Apart from an absolute miracle... our work visa coming through we will not be going back into Angola until we have it! So we have many decisions to make... anyway, I will include the email I would have sent out (I can't connect to my microsoft outlook)! We truly are thankful for ALL of your prayers and we are very thankful to have received our present visa!
God Bless,
Charlene
Thursday, April 20, 2006

Praise the Lord!
We put in our visa application today and it was ready before the end of the day, we will pick them up in the morning! So we would like to thank all of your for your prayers! This is an amazing answer to prayer, considering that as of late everyone has had their visa renewals rejected! So we are very thankful to God for His provision to us.

Tonight we went for supper with the owner (and her family) of the lodge we are staying at. They are wonderful Christians and have blessed our family immensely, we are so thankful for God's family and how encouraging they have been!

Saturday morning we will head to Windhoek (an 8 hour drive on a GOOD road) to get Talitha to the plane. We have put our truck in the shop here in Oshakati and the fine Christian business man who owns the place gave us another vehicle to drive to Windhoek. What a blessing! We will stay with some friends from Namibe, who are going to university in Windhoek! The kids are all excited about seeing each other. Talitha flies out on the 25th and then we head back to Oshakati to do our 3 month grocery shopping, then pack up and head HOME! Thankfully this time we will have had a chance to recover from our bumpy bone crushing trip before we head back!

We will keep you posted on any other news. For now, if you are interested in calling us to see how things are going we have a Namibian cell number now 264 0813017320, you can use YAK to call here also, and I believe it is $0.29 a minute to Namibia!

Take care, and God bless!
Love,
The Knightly's

Sunday, April 02, 2006

God's Love Never Quits!

Pete took the boys fishing this evening and I tagged along. On the way out the door I grabbed “The Message” Bible, so I would have something to do while they fished. Here is some of what I read, and it really encouraged me, so I share it with you….
Charlene

Isaiah 43:1-5

But now, God’s Message, the God who made you in the first place, Jacob, the One who got you started, Israel: “Don’t be afraid, I’ve redeemed you. I’ve called your name. You’re mine. When you’re in over your head, I’ll be there with you. When you’re in rough waters, you will not go down. When you’re between a rock and a hard place, it won’t be a dead end--- Because I am God, your personal God, The Holy of Israel, your Savior. I paid a huge price for you: all of Egypt, with rich Cush and Seba thrown in! That’s how much you mean to me! That’s how much I love you! I’d sell off the whole world to get you back, trade the creation just for you. So don’t be afraid: I’m with you.

Psalm 118

Thank God because he’s good, because his love never quits. Tell the world, Israel, “His love never quits.” And you, clan of Aaron, tell the world, “His love never quits.” And you who fear God, join in, “His love never quits.” Pushed to the wall, I called to God; from the wide open spaces, he answered. God’s now at my side and I’m not afraid, who would dare lay a hand on me? God’s my strong champion, I flick off my enemies like flies. Far better to take refuge in God than trust in people; Far better to take refuge in God than trust in celebrities. Hemmed in by barbarians, in God’s name I rubbed their faces in the dirt; Hemmed in and with no way out, in God’s name I rubbed their faces in the dirt; Like swarming bees, like wild prairie fire, they hemmed me in, in God’s name I rubbed their faces in the dirt. I was right on the cliff-edge, ready to fall, when God grabbed and held me. God’s my strength, he’s also my song, and now he’s my salvation. Hear the shouts; hear the triumph songs in the camp of the saved? “The hand of God has turned the tide! The hand of God is raised in victory! The hand of God has turned the tide!”

I didn’t die. I lived: And now I’m telling the world what God did. God tested me, he pushed me hard, but he didn’t hand me over to Death. Swing wide the city gates---the righteous gates! I’ll walk right through and thank God! This Temple Gate belongs to God, so the victors can enter and praise.

Thank you for responding to me; you’ve truly become my salvation! The stone the masons discarded as flawed is now the capstone! This is God’s work. We rub our eyes---we can hardly believe it! This is the very day God acted---let’s celebrate and be festive! Salvation now, God. Salvation now! Oh yes, God---a free and full life!

Blessed are you who enter in God’s name---from God’s house we bless you! God is God, he has bathed us in light. Festoon the shrine with garlands, hand colored banners above the altar! You’re my God, and I thank you. O my God, I lift high your praise. Thank God---he’s so good. His love never quits!

I wrote this a few days ago... today was another one of those days where I needed to realize that God's love never quits! We were awakened by a family whose little one was in hospital. She needed blood and they figured they would have to pay someone around $100 US for some blood... however Pete has universal blood O- so he went to the lab... the hospital said NO because it was not B+. So we went on a hunt for people with B+ (even though Pete's blood would work... all they needed to do was a test for compatibility). We went to the church, made an announcement, no one... we went to the military, they found 2 names, we went and they were not around... finally after searching for 4 or 5 hours we found a guy at another church. We were on our way to the lab when we met up with one of the family members... the child had died just a few minutes before. We were heart broken. After the long week we just had I thought I would fall to peices... but God's love never quits, and sometimes we will never know his purpose for things... we just need to rest in his hands as he carries us along. Rest that is what I need.

Take care and God Bless.
Charlene
Pete took the boys fishing this evening and I tagged along. On the way out the door I grabbed “The Message” Bible, so I would have something to do while they fished. Here is some of what I read, and it really encouraged me, so I share it with you….
Charlene

Isaiah 43:1-5

But now, God’s Message, the God who made you in the first place, Jacob, the One who got you started, Israel: “Don’t be afraid, I’ve redeemed you. I’ve called your name. You’re mine. When you’re in over your head, I’ll be there with you. When you’re in rough waters, you will not go down. When you’re between a rock and a hard place, it won’t be a dead end--- Because I am God, your personal God, The Holy of Israel, your Savior. I paid a huge price for you: all of Egypt, with rich Cush and Seba thrown in! That’s how much you mean to me! That’s how much I love you! I’d sell off the whole world to get you back, trade the creation just for you. So don’t be afraid: I’m with you.

Psalm 118

Thank God because he’s good, because his love never quits. Tell the world, Israel, “His love never quits.” And you, clan of Aaron, tell the world, “His love never quits.” And you who fear God, join in, “His love never quits.” Pushed to the wall, I called to God; from the wide open spaces, he answered. God’s now at my side and I’m not afraid, who would dare lay a hand on me? God’s my strong champion, I flick off my enemies like flies. Far better to take refuge in God than trust in people; Far better to take refuge in God than trust in celebrities. Hemmed in by barbarians, in God’s name I rubbed their faces in the dirt; Hemmed in and with no way out, in God’s name I rubbed their faces in the dirt; Like swarming bees, like wild prairie fire, they hemmed me in, in God’s name I rubbed their faces in the dirt. I was right on the cliff-edge, ready to fall, when God grabbed and held me. God’s my strength, he’s also my song, and now he’s my salvation. Hear the shouts; hear the triumph songs in the camp of the saved? “The hand of God has turned the tide! The hand of God is raised in victory! The hand of God has turned the tide!”

I didn’t die. I lived: And now I’m telling the world what God did. God tested me, he pushed me hard, but he didn’t hand me over to Death. Swing wide the city gates---the righteous gates! I’ll walk right through and thank God! This Temple Gate belongs to God, so the victors can enter and praise.

Thank you for responding to me; you’ve truly become my salvation! The stone the masons discarded as flawed is now the capstone! This is God’s work. We rub our eyes---we can hardly believe it! This is the very day God acted---let’s celebrate and be festive! Salvation now, God. Salvation now! Oh yes, God---a free and full life!

Blessed are you who enter in God’s name---from God’s house we bless you! God is God, he has bathed us in light. Festoon the shrine with garlands, hand colored banners above the altar! You’re my God, and I thank you. O my God, I lift high your praise. Thank God---he’s so good. His love never quits!

I wrote this a few days ago... today was another one of those days where I needed to realize that God's love never quits! We were awakened by a family whose little one was in hospital. She needed blood and they figured they would have to pay someone around $100 US for some blood... however Pete has universal blood O- so he went to the lab... the hospital said NO because it was not B+. So we went on a hunt for people with B+ (even though Pete's blood would work... all they needed to do was a test for compatibility). We went to the church, made an announcement, no one... we went to the military, they found 2 names, we went and they were not around... finally after searching for 4 or 5 hours we found a guy at another church. We were on our way to the lab when we met up with one of the family members... the child had died just a few minutes before. We were heart broken. After the long week we just had I thought I would fall to peices... but God's love never quits, and sometimes we will never know his purpose for things... we just need to rest in his hands as he carries us along. Rest that is what I need.

Take care and God Bless.
Charlene

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Quick update

It is guilty until proven innocent here in Angola, along with, even if you are not-guilty you have to pay for something!!! Strauss was released today at 2pm, after much paper-pushing! It was a long night for him, it was very hot and humid last night, and he was shut up in a room with no window...! He looked very tired when he dropped into our house. The family will take it easy this week, although Strauss must come in tomorrow and do some more paper pushing to get his truck back from the police. This has been a very stressful week, so please continue to pray for all of us as we recover! We will probably head out to the beach on Saturday and meet up with some other missionaries who are coming from inland. I cannot express how much we have appreciated all of your prayers! Please continue!
God Bless,
Charlene

Monday, March 27, 2006

This has been a VERY busy week!

This has been a very busy week.

Monday I went to DEFA, because we had some hope that they could deal with our visa process! Well, they could not!

Tuesday, Pete went to Lubango for the farm, and I called on a couple of guys from the church to help with our visa renewal (another $300 US down the drain).

Wednesday, Strauss and Sanette came into town and Sanette took me out to a restaurant for a pop and a talk… she wanted to encourage me… what an encouragement she was. On the way out of the restaurant we happened upon a man from E. Germany, he was setting up tent next to the restaurant in a campground. We introduced ourselves as did he, and we told him a bit about the farm and told him that Pete would be going out on Thursday if he would like to go, he was interested!

Thursday, Pete picked up Andreas and took him out to work on a fence that they are building around the lake at the farm (to keep the local cattle from tramping all over the place, and hopefully to keep them out of the gardens). On the way home, Strauss followed them into to town to do some errands of his own, and before he could head home he had to go to Mwambo. While there; a girl ran out at the truck and hit the side, flew back and broke her neck and died instantly. She was an 11 year old girl who lived way out in the desert and apparently was not familiar with cars. Strauss then came into town and sat at the police station wanting to get in touch with us, but they would not bring him to our house, or allow him to drive up and let us know what was going on. Finally they went and contacted the pastor’s wife who lives just a few houses away from the station. We were then notified and Pete ran down right away. Pete came back home and we got ready and picked up a letter from Strauss for Sanette and we ran out to the farm. When we arrived Sanette was standing in front of the vehicle with it running and the headlights were not working! All the workers were standing there with her, and the boys! We let her read the letter and then we went in while she got some stuff ready for Strauss to stay at the police station for the night. Then we headed back into to town with 2 of the boys, so they could see their dad and spend the night at our house.

Friday, they moved him from the police station to a jail and the process began. What a process it is. Nothing moves quickly. The girls family had already buried her and so they were given some money to help with expenses and whatever else. Then they went back to Virei. Strauss waited all day for his process to get on with… finally at 3:30 (after the bank closed) they said he was not guilty but would have to pay a $1000 fine (which they call bail…). So he had to stay in the jail over the weekend!!! If you don’t bring the prisoners food they only get one meal a day and it is made by other prisoners! Mmmm! So we took meals to him, and Sanette came into town with meals for him. OH, during the day I took the boys to the beach to get their minds off of things, and I was hoping to catch Andreas (as they were supposed to go on a camping trip on Friday afternoon). He already had his stuff packed up when I arrived so I explained the situation and told him he could feel free to camp in our yard, which he did.

Saturday, first we went out to the farm and took out our generator because on Friday the farm generator had burst into flames and burned one of the workers. Then between visits to Strauss, we took Andreas to the beach, got stuck (oh I mean “delayed”) and just as we got out a fellow from a lodge down the beach that Andreas had met on the plane into Angola, came roaring around the corner. We talked for a bit and perhaps Andreas can get a ride from Benguela to Luanda with him on Friday.


Sunday, we took breakfast to Strauss and then went to the early service, both of the girls sang in the choir. After church Sanette informed us that our generator toasted also! Theirs is working now, but ours is fried! Afterward we took a group of young men to the jail to sing to Strauss but they would not let them sing, but they could go and visit. Sanette and the boys had a picnic lunch with him, and then we took supper to him. Andreas made us two wonderful meals while at our house (so we took Strauss leftovers on Sunday night). Took Andreas out to the airport and he flew to Benguela.

Monday, the process started for Strauss’ release, and what a process. WAITING… more WAITING… and more WAITING… and guess what they didn’t get the papers finished until just before the bank closed. So now he has been moved to a prison, and there he waits until the process is finished. We are praying that it will be tomorrow. We’ll try to keep you posted! We have been without power for 4 or 5 days now, so we had to take our meat out to the farm.

Needless to say some days and some weeks are more frustrating then others… this has been a very difficult week… not only for us, but for the Joubert family!!! We are still very unsure as to what will happen when we go out to renew our visas in Oshikati. If they say no we could be there for a month trying to work things out!

WE appreciate your prayers… both us and the Jouberts!
I must run, my battery is almost dead and I must get to the café!
God Bless,
Charlene for the gang!!!

Friday, March 17, 2006

Container coming our way...

SHIPPING CONTAINER

There is a container being shipped over here to Angola shortly (for another missionary) and my brother is going to pick some things up for us to have included. Just a couple of the things we are in need of over here are tires and batteries for the truck. If you would like to help out financially you can mail a check to:

Ron and Marge Knightly
19-14th Ave S
Cranbrook, BC
V1C 2W9

Also Talitha is flying home on April 25, she will be flying on her own but her connections are decent with little time spent in airports. So we are very thankful for that! Please pray for her (and us as we will be experiencing the first of our empty nest syndrome!) as she travels. If you are interested in helping financially with her ticket home you can send to the same address above.

We have not figured out what is happening yet in regards to our visas, but we are looking into some alternatives… however if things do not work out and we cannot get our visas renewed in Namibia in April we may end up staying there for a longer period of time and make an application through Canada using DHL! Much more of a hassle and much more expensive… but God knows what is going on and we are trusting him for what is about to happen in our lives! However, in saying that, we do appreciate your prayers on the matter, and the encouragement through emails and phone calls! We’ll keep you posted on the process as soon as we know anything!!!

Thank you all for your prayers!
Blessings!
Charlene

Monday, March 06, 2006

We've hit a pothole

Thursday, March 02, 2006
Well, we will have to see how God is going to work all of this out for good... as you know we must have our visas renewed each month, in the process of renewing visas 'many' pages are used up in our passports (especially when they are carelessly stamped right in the middle of the page and leave no room for another visa renewal or two to be put on the same page!!!).
So we need to get new passports and we need them to be back to us within 30 days maximum... in order that we can make our next renewal! Now that is just part of the problem... ordinarily it wouldn't take too long as it is sent to Zimbabwe and printed right there at the embassy BUT as of the middle of THIS month they will no longer print them there, they will send the process to Canada where it will be printed and then sent back, as they are beginning to issue machine readable passports!
Oh that's not all... the last group of people to get their visas renewed in Oshikati were told that they would no longer be able to renew visas in Namibia. What does this mean? Well it means that God will have to do a miracle for us... either in getting us the work visa (the application has been in Luanda since December 2004) before our April renewal, or work some other process out that we can renew from IN country. Otherwise, the renewals will need to be done in the country of origin (for us CANADA, for others Germany, others the US, etc!).
I must say that I have spent a good deal of the day shedding tears and thinking about packing our bags... it has been a very discouraging day! However, we KNOW that God is faithful; we KNOW he has called us here, and we KNOW that he loves us and cares for us, and we KNOW that he will work all things together for good for those who love him and are called according to his purpose... so we MUST trust him that he will sustain us through yet another trial and difficulty!
We are thankful to those of you have been diligently praying for us, supporting us financially, phoning us, emailing, and sending out care packages! It is truly uplifting and encouraging knowing that there is someone thinking of us! For those of you who would like to phone us our number is 244 924 028 396 if you do not have an overseas plan: dial 10 10 925 011 before our number and you will pay only "39 CENTS a minute" for the call! That's less than a cup of coffee at Starbuck for a 5 minute call! :0) However do not become discouraged if your call doesn't get through the first time, we have had terrible cell service in the last couple of weeks, but it was much better yesterday and today! If at first you don't succeed try... try... again!
I must get to bed as I have a lot to accomplish tomorrow. Although it is difficult to get through we will trust that there will be sunshine on the other side of this dark cloud. Speaking of dark clouds, there has been some rain in Angola... thank to those of you who have been praying!
God Bless,
Charlene