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!