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!
Saturday, August 05, 2006
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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!!!
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
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
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
Thursday, February 09, 2006
How to send a care package...
Some people have been asking about how to send packages, where, and whatnot… so I am going to do a blog on it, so that it reaches everyone who surfs our sight.
First of all, here is the address:
Knightly Family
Igreja Evangelica de Cristo
CP 307
Namibe
Angola
Via Portugal
Now it is important when sending a letter or package to include “via Portugal” as any letters that were sent not including that have not arrived. So that is the first suggestion.
Secondly:
How do you pack it up? Well, so far we have received everything from letters and bubble envelopes to a McDonald fry box. My suggestion is that if you are sending a ‘large’ box that you send it ground, it does take 2 months, but it costs a lot less. The church sent a box that was 38kg’s (if I remember rightly) and it cost $100 to send it ground and would have cost over $200 to send it air. We don’t mind waiting (as we are getting used to waiting!! J). I would suggest that you take every bit of weight into consideration, even how much tape you package it up with. Some suggestions for packing the package tight without wasting space are… marshmallows (keep them in the package though, it could get messy!!! OR put them into smaller Ziploc bags to fit in around things), zip loc bags, cheese packets from Kraft Dinner (we don’t need the noodles and it saves weight to not include it), sunflower seeds in Ziplocs, toilet paper, Kleenex… you get the idea! Don’t worry about taking things out of their original packing, and slipping them into Ziploc bags, packaging is not only bulky but weighs something. Remember paper weighs a lot. We love pictures, but you can send a disc and we can print them out here (when we have power!!!). It is a good idea to insure the package. Perhaps send an email to let us know you are sending it, so if it ‘doesn’t’ come we can let you know so you can collect on your insurance J.
Lastly:
Here are the suggestions of what we need or would enjoy having sent.
1. Kool-aid, the kind without sugar (you can add your own sugar, as all powdered juices here contain aspartame).
2. Seeds (just a variety, including herbs)
3. Sugarless gum
4. Patterns (Easy, Simple patterns that don’t require a lot of notions, for Women and children)
5. Rayon material
6. Sewing notions (zippers, hook and eyes, snaps, buttons, thread, elastic, sewing machine needles for ‘old’ Singers and a White machine, good scissors for cutting material, etc!).
7. Fishing line (15lb to 30lb test)
8. Fish hooks
9. Floss
10. DVD’s (please only G or PG rated movies, especially cartoons, as our Portuguese speaking friends just LOVE watching them… and if you can find anything in Portuguese that would be awesome… and the boys love Sponge Bob)
11. Tim Horton or Starbucks coffee (for a treat!)
12. Yogurt Starter (Yogourmet… freeze dried and does not need to be refrigerated, it is our main source of calcium as we are not yet used to powdered milk, but home made yogurt is GREAT).
13. Batteries (AA Energizer Rechargeable for the one hour charger 1850 mAh, at least this is the kind of charger that we have, unless someone wants to send a faster charger, as the faster the better here with the lack of electricity on such a regular basis… also batteries and a charger for C and D cell batteries [along with the batteries] would be awesome as the batteries from the praca are expensive and ‘do not last’. We cannot even find C cells here.
14. Books on Astronomy (Tavis is really keen on space, and stuff), books on Botany or Palaeontology or Animals and stuff (Trevor loves to explore nature, here on ‘earth’), Meagan also really enjoys reading but she has lots of books to get through, she would probably like a movie (like Lord of the Rings Trilogy or the soundtrack to it), she also enjoys worship music CD’s (and so do her friends, they can’t seem to get enough).
15. CD writables
16. Puzzles for Pete (don’t send the box just the puzzle in a bag, and maybe a picture if you want to be gracious to him!!!).
17. Iced Tea crystals (YUM… oh I miss that!).
18. Denture cleaner (no we don’t have false teeth, but a couple of us have mouth guards that need a good cleaning).
19. Vitamins
20.Tea Tree facial cleaner from Body Shop (foaming wash, mask, moisturizer).
These are some of things that we could use, we also enjoy chocolate chips (or chocolate of any kind J), sunflower seeds, spices (especially East Indian spices, that are not available here) and things like that! We’ll leave the rest to your imagination, or if you would like to send an email and find out ‘what do you need today’, as those days come and go.
We are very thankful for the generosity and love that has been shown to our family. Those who are interested in helping out with Talitha’s flight home for her final year of school, please send me an email and I will give you the mailing address for either Pete’s or my parents who can directly deposit funds into our account. The flight will cost around $2000 CND and we are trying to coordinate it with another missionary heading to Canada on furlough in April so that she has someone to hang out with her during those ‘long’ waits in airports. Our travel agent in Vancouver is doing a fantastic job in that area (they may not fly on the same plane but they will be able to wait together for the bulk of it). That is a relief to me (the mommy who is losing her first little chick from the nest!!! L)
Well, keep in touch knightvision6@gmail.com is our email address and we love to hear from you!
God Bless,
Charlene for the gang!
First of all, here is the address:
Knightly Family
Igreja Evangelica de Cristo
CP 307
Namibe
Angola
Via Portugal
Now it is important when sending a letter or package to include “via Portugal” as any letters that were sent not including that have not arrived. So that is the first suggestion.
Secondly:
How do you pack it up? Well, so far we have received everything from letters and bubble envelopes to a McDonald fry box. My suggestion is that if you are sending a ‘large’ box that you send it ground, it does take 2 months, but it costs a lot less. The church sent a box that was 38kg’s (if I remember rightly) and it cost $100 to send it ground and would have cost over $200 to send it air. We don’t mind waiting (as we are getting used to waiting!! J). I would suggest that you take every bit of weight into consideration, even how much tape you package it up with. Some suggestions for packing the package tight without wasting space are… marshmallows (keep them in the package though, it could get messy!!! OR put them into smaller Ziploc bags to fit in around things), zip loc bags, cheese packets from Kraft Dinner (we don’t need the noodles and it saves weight to not include it), sunflower seeds in Ziplocs, toilet paper, Kleenex… you get the idea! Don’t worry about taking things out of their original packing, and slipping them into Ziploc bags, packaging is not only bulky but weighs something. Remember paper weighs a lot. We love pictures, but you can send a disc and we can print them out here (when we have power!!!). It is a good idea to insure the package. Perhaps send an email to let us know you are sending it, so if it ‘doesn’t’ come we can let you know so you can collect on your insurance J.
Lastly:
Here are the suggestions of what we need or would enjoy having sent.
1. Kool-aid, the kind without sugar (you can add your own sugar, as all powdered juices here contain aspartame).
2. Seeds (just a variety, including herbs)
3. Sugarless gum
4. Patterns (Easy, Simple patterns that don’t require a lot of notions, for Women and children)
5. Rayon material
6. Sewing notions (zippers, hook and eyes, snaps, buttons, thread, elastic, sewing machine needles for ‘old’ Singers and a White machine, good scissors for cutting material, etc!).
7. Fishing line (15lb to 30lb test)
8. Fish hooks
9. Floss
10. DVD’s (please only G or PG rated movies, especially cartoons, as our Portuguese speaking friends just LOVE watching them… and if you can find anything in Portuguese that would be awesome… and the boys love Sponge Bob)
11. Tim Horton or Starbucks coffee (for a treat!)
12. Yogurt Starter (Yogourmet… freeze dried and does not need to be refrigerated, it is our main source of calcium as we are not yet used to powdered milk, but home made yogurt is GREAT).
13. Batteries (AA Energizer Rechargeable for the one hour charger 1850 mAh, at least this is the kind of charger that we have, unless someone wants to send a faster charger, as the faster the better here with the lack of electricity on such a regular basis… also batteries and a charger for C and D cell batteries [along with the batteries] would be awesome as the batteries from the praca are expensive and ‘do not last’. We cannot even find C cells here.
14. Books on Astronomy (Tavis is really keen on space, and stuff), books on Botany or Palaeontology or Animals and stuff (Trevor loves to explore nature, here on ‘earth’), Meagan also really enjoys reading but she has lots of books to get through, she would probably like a movie (like Lord of the Rings Trilogy or the soundtrack to it), she also enjoys worship music CD’s (and so do her friends, they can’t seem to get enough).
15. CD writables
16. Puzzles for Pete (don’t send the box just the puzzle in a bag, and maybe a picture if you want to be gracious to him!!!).
17. Iced Tea crystals (YUM… oh I miss that!).
18. Denture cleaner (no we don’t have false teeth, but a couple of us have mouth guards that need a good cleaning).
19. Vitamins
20.Tea Tree facial cleaner from Body Shop (foaming wash, mask, moisturizer).
These are some of things that we could use, we also enjoy chocolate chips (or chocolate of any kind J), sunflower seeds, spices (especially East Indian spices, that are not available here) and things like that! We’ll leave the rest to your imagination, or if you would like to send an email and find out ‘what do you need today’, as those days come and go.
We are very thankful for the generosity and love that has been shown to our family. Those who are interested in helping out with Talitha’s flight home for her final year of school, please send me an email and I will give you the mailing address for either Pete’s or my parents who can directly deposit funds into our account. The flight will cost around $2000 CND and we are trying to coordinate it with another missionary heading to Canada on furlough in April so that she has someone to hang out with her during those ‘long’ waits in airports. Our travel agent in Vancouver is doing a fantastic job in that area (they may not fly on the same plane but they will be able to wait together for the bulk of it). That is a relief to me (the mommy who is losing her first little chick from the nest!!! L)
Well, keep in touch knightvision6@gmail.com is our email address and we love to hear from you!
God Bless,
Charlene for the gang!
Saturday, February 04, 2006
A day to day glimpse
Day to Day in Angola:
Every day is different here in Angola, but I have had some people asking me for a run down on what our life is like here on any given day! So I will start with giving a few days from my journal.
January 22, 2006
8AM… Andre (Rosa’s (our house help) son) knocks on the door, he has driven his friends bike to our house from his (about 3KM+). Pete gives him the parts for his bike that he bought for him in Namibia, he is very happy! Meagan has already unloaded most of the truck. Pete gets the rest out while I unpack and put away!
9AM… we get ourselves ready to go to church.
11AM… church at Igreja Evangelica de Christo, this is the name of the UIEA church that we attend. We go to the youth service, in which the youth choir sings. There is no power, so we have a hard time hearing the speaker. The choir sings beautifully as always. At the end of service the usher, starting with the front row, gives the signal for each row to get up and leave the church. One row at time people are ushered out of the church, while the choir sings.
12:30… girls go to friends house (they all missed each other as we were in Namibia all week), after they visit they go back to the church for choir practice, which lasts until late!
12:30 AM… church is over, so we take Andre to his house and pick up him mom and his bike. Pete and Andre work on fixing his bike; while I give each of the family the gifts we bought for them in Namibia… they are all very excited. They each have a bath, and put on their hair conditioner, body lotion, and new clothes!
6PM… we take Rosa and family back home.
9PM… missionary midnight, so we GO to bed!
January 23, 2006
Morning… More unpacking, start the laundry, Rosa comes to work with Minda. I go out to run some errands, I buy flour and rice at a warehouse called Angolisar! Then I go to the internet café (thankfully there is a connection). I catch up on emails from the previous week while we were in Namibia.
Afternoon… Girls go to choir practice, for the festival that starts on Thursday. Pete heads out to the farm and loads up the truck with tomatoes to take to Lubango (2 hour drive) to sell for the farm.
Evening… we have a family from the church over for PIZZA! Some of them like it and some don’t! New taste for all of them! There are 9 extras, so including our family there are 15 for supper. We showed them video of the road to Namibia, they couldn’t believe it! The girl’s friend, Maezinha slept over for the second night! Went to bed around 9:30 (way past missionary midnight)!
January 24, 2006
Early Morning… 3 AM!!!! Augusto calls to see if his wife can get a ride into Lubango with Pete!!!! Not happy about that!
Morning… Pete gets up at 5:30 to get ready for his trip to Lubango, he goes and picks up Augusto’s wife, Kem (a fellow who arranged a ride the day before in the AFTERNOON), and Joao (one of the managers from the farm). I start laundry, but the power goes out half way through! Kids do school work.
Afternoon… Augusto pops in for Portuguese lesson, we work on verbs!! The girls go to choir practice after going to Edul’s house for math tutoring.
Evening… made spaghetti for supper; Pete came home just in time. Girls sleep over at Maezinha’s, Meagan will get her hair braided tomorrow.
January 25, 2006
Early Morning… power came back on at 3 AM… how did I know that, well because at 3 PM I didn’t go around turning all the lights off, plus some of the lights in the house up mean on, and some up means off, and since I am not sure… I take the chance!
Morning… power is off already! Must do laundry, so I turn on the generator! Finish up laundry from our trip. Rosa is working for Jacinto today. School with boys almost drives me crazy; they have a hard time concentrating after a week off, with traveling.
Afternoon…Once they finish, Pete takes them to the beach to go fishing, I go for a nap!!!
Evening… girls come home, LATE! I have a hard time sleeping, as I am coming down with a bladder infection!
January 26, 2006
Morning… up at 5:30, been up most of the night, with infection! Girls start getting ready to go to the festival at 6:30 AM… they must be at Impala (the theatre… or what used to be!!!) at 8 AM. Pete leaves for the farm at 7 AM, he does the fuel run today. NO water and NO power today! I suffer with the infection, take painkillers and muscle relaxants to ease the pain, and SMS (text message) the doctor in Lubango with what kind of drug I will need! Lucas, a nurse from our church, pops by to see how I am, he sends Augusto for the drug I need.
Afternoon… Augusto comes with the antibiotic. I slept most of the morning and all of the afternoon. Boys had a fun day off… because I was too sick to keep them focused!
Evening… girls came home to get their bedding and clothing for the weekend, Pete gave them a ride to the campground where over a 150 youth choir members from 13 provinces in Angola (all from UIEA churches) will be spending the weekend together! Pete made roast beef for supper, I ate and went back to bed!
January 27, 2006
Morning… still NO water! However we do have power, YAH, it came on this morning! I am still weak but the pills are now kicking in. The boys work hard today at their school work. Pete goes and picks up refills of gasosa (POP) for the fazenda lojas (farm stores). The boys and Rosa haul water from a neighbour who has a large holding tank! Bom Dia!!!
Afternoon… Pete bakes cookies. Boys took a break from school work and went out in the backyard and killed 2 mice (ratos), stoned them to death! Jacinto will be happy, as they get into his room and eat his food. Pete took Minda for a ride to the bread store, where depending on the line-up he could wait for almost an hour, however if it is a good day it will only take 5 or 10 minutes. Well it only took ½ an hour! Not bad. We were just about to sit down and eat but Pete had to go to check on the farm truck, as they were in some kind of accident. I think we may have a trickle of water now! That’s nice after 2 days without. I was hoping to get to the internet café this afternoon, but I guess it will have to be tonight. Sure hope they have a connection. Boa Tarde!!!
Evening…Well I didn’t make it to the internet café. We needed to pick up 3 of the guys that were in the accident and also things for the stores and drive them out to the farm. We left at 5:30 PM and now it is 8 PM and we are home… still NO water and now NO electricity! Good thing we brought some water back from the farm! Must get to bed early, we are going to get up early and go north to Bantiaba, which is close to Lucira. There are big tortoises up there that I am looking forward to seeing! Guess I will write more about that tomorrow! I must take my medication and get to bed! Boa Noite!!! Ate amanha!! (see you tomorrow)
January 28, 2006-01-28
Morning…We have water this morning, but no power. We wake early and head out to Bentiaba. After an hour and a half drive on a nice road (except for the last few miles), we arrive in a beautiful little river valley. The village is tucked between cliffs on either side. The boys are in seventh heaven, they have their new fishing rods that they purchased in Namibia with money from Gramma and Grampa Knightly. Pete likes to explore, so we get settled in one place and he decides it is time to move on… oh well, we wouldn’t experience half of what we do if it wasn’t for his HUGE sense of adventure. The only time I don’t like it is when he is heading into a sandy spot where we may get stuck! We are now parked at on the side of the village where there is a sandy beach, Pete has gone into the water with his mask, snorkel and fins to see if he can catch a BIG lobster (when I say BIG I mean BIG… that is the only size they come in). They are nothing like our lobster back in Canada, they do not have the big pincher claws, but they have a massive tail. A man just ‘ran’ up the beach to tell us he has 2 to sell. They don’t see foreigners often here, and naturally they figured we were from South Africa. Now he has gone out to the edge of the water calling Pete in, so he can tell him to “come now” and buy his lobster!!! We’ll see! We cut open one of our watermelon that we picked at the farm yesterday, mmm mmm good. I just shared some with 3 of the locals, they ate it right to the rind.
Afternoon…went looking for lobster, managed to find some. Drove around looking at some more sights, and then it was back home. Stopped to take some pictures of some interesting sights, Trevor found a black scorpion at the one place.
Evening… back home, ate our lobster and now it is time for bed, it is an hour past missionary midnight and I am EXHAUSTED. My infection is not getting any better and I have been on antibiotics for 2 full days how. We’ll have to see how that pans out.
Well, this gives a small idea of what each day is like… everyday comes with its different trials, and joys and we are thankful that God is in control!
God Bless,
Charlene
PS... I had to go on another round of Antibiotics. The Joubert family is back from South Africa and we are glad to have them back. No power for 5 days now, but we have water. We'll keep you posted, but this is just a small glimpse into everyday life, some weeks are more FUN than others!!!
Every day is different here in Angola, but I have had some people asking me for a run down on what our life is like here on any given day! So I will start with giving a few days from my journal.
January 22, 2006
8AM… Andre (Rosa’s (our house help) son) knocks on the door, he has driven his friends bike to our house from his (about 3KM+). Pete gives him the parts for his bike that he bought for him in Namibia, he is very happy! Meagan has already unloaded most of the truck. Pete gets the rest out while I unpack and put away!
9AM… we get ourselves ready to go to church.
11AM… church at Igreja Evangelica de Christo, this is the name of the UIEA church that we attend. We go to the youth service, in which the youth choir sings. There is no power, so we have a hard time hearing the speaker. The choir sings beautifully as always. At the end of service the usher, starting with the front row, gives the signal for each row to get up and leave the church. One row at time people are ushered out of the church, while the choir sings.
12:30… girls go to friends house (they all missed each other as we were in Namibia all week), after they visit they go back to the church for choir practice, which lasts until late!
12:30 AM… church is over, so we take Andre to his house and pick up him mom and his bike. Pete and Andre work on fixing his bike; while I give each of the family the gifts we bought for them in Namibia… they are all very excited. They each have a bath, and put on their hair conditioner, body lotion, and new clothes!
6PM… we take Rosa and family back home.
9PM… missionary midnight, so we GO to bed!
January 23, 2006
Morning… More unpacking, start the laundry, Rosa comes to work with Minda. I go out to run some errands, I buy flour and rice at a warehouse called Angolisar! Then I go to the internet café (thankfully there is a connection). I catch up on emails from the previous week while we were in Namibia.
Afternoon… Girls go to choir practice, for the festival that starts on Thursday. Pete heads out to the farm and loads up the truck with tomatoes to take to Lubango (2 hour drive) to sell for the farm.
Evening… we have a family from the church over for PIZZA! Some of them like it and some don’t! New taste for all of them! There are 9 extras, so including our family there are 15 for supper. We showed them video of the road to Namibia, they couldn’t believe it! The girl’s friend, Maezinha slept over for the second night! Went to bed around 9:30 (way past missionary midnight)!
January 24, 2006
Early Morning… 3 AM!!!! Augusto calls to see if his wife can get a ride into Lubango with Pete!!!! Not happy about that!
Morning… Pete gets up at 5:30 to get ready for his trip to Lubango, he goes and picks up Augusto’s wife, Kem (a fellow who arranged a ride the day before in the AFTERNOON), and Joao (one of the managers from the farm). I start laundry, but the power goes out half way through! Kids do school work.
Afternoon… Augusto pops in for Portuguese lesson, we work on verbs!! The girls go to choir practice after going to Edul’s house for math tutoring.
Evening… made spaghetti for supper; Pete came home just in time. Girls sleep over at Maezinha’s, Meagan will get her hair braided tomorrow.
January 25, 2006
Early Morning… power came back on at 3 AM… how did I know that, well because at 3 PM I didn’t go around turning all the lights off, plus some of the lights in the house up mean on, and some up means off, and since I am not sure… I take the chance!
Morning… power is off already! Must do laundry, so I turn on the generator! Finish up laundry from our trip. Rosa is working for Jacinto today. School with boys almost drives me crazy; they have a hard time concentrating after a week off, with traveling.
Afternoon…Once they finish, Pete takes them to the beach to go fishing, I go for a nap!!!
Evening… girls come home, LATE! I have a hard time sleeping, as I am coming down with a bladder infection!
January 26, 2006
Morning… up at 5:30, been up most of the night, with infection! Girls start getting ready to go to the festival at 6:30 AM… they must be at Impala (the theatre… or what used to be!!!) at 8 AM. Pete leaves for the farm at 7 AM, he does the fuel run today. NO water and NO power today! I suffer with the infection, take painkillers and muscle relaxants to ease the pain, and SMS (text message) the doctor in Lubango with what kind of drug I will need! Lucas, a nurse from our church, pops by to see how I am, he sends Augusto for the drug I need.
Afternoon… Augusto comes with the antibiotic. I slept most of the morning and all of the afternoon. Boys had a fun day off… because I was too sick to keep them focused!
Evening… girls came home to get their bedding and clothing for the weekend, Pete gave them a ride to the campground where over a 150 youth choir members from 13 provinces in Angola (all from UIEA churches) will be spending the weekend together! Pete made roast beef for supper, I ate and went back to bed!
January 27, 2006
Morning… still NO water! However we do have power, YAH, it came on this morning! I am still weak but the pills are now kicking in. The boys work hard today at their school work. Pete goes and picks up refills of gasosa (POP) for the fazenda lojas (farm stores). The boys and Rosa haul water from a neighbour who has a large holding tank! Bom Dia!!!
Afternoon… Pete bakes cookies. Boys took a break from school work and went out in the backyard and killed 2 mice (ratos), stoned them to death! Jacinto will be happy, as they get into his room and eat his food. Pete took Minda for a ride to the bread store, where depending on the line-up he could wait for almost an hour, however if it is a good day it will only take 5 or 10 minutes. Well it only took ½ an hour! Not bad. We were just about to sit down and eat but Pete had to go to check on the farm truck, as they were in some kind of accident. I think we may have a trickle of water now! That’s nice after 2 days without. I was hoping to get to the internet café this afternoon, but I guess it will have to be tonight. Sure hope they have a connection. Boa Tarde!!!
Evening…Well I didn’t make it to the internet café. We needed to pick up 3 of the guys that were in the accident and also things for the stores and drive them out to the farm. We left at 5:30 PM and now it is 8 PM and we are home… still NO water and now NO electricity! Good thing we brought some water back from the farm! Must get to bed early, we are going to get up early and go north to Bantiaba, which is close to Lucira. There are big tortoises up there that I am looking forward to seeing! Guess I will write more about that tomorrow! I must take my medication and get to bed! Boa Noite!!! Ate amanha!! (see you tomorrow)
January 28, 2006-01-28
Morning…We have water this morning, but no power. We wake early and head out to Bentiaba. After an hour and a half drive on a nice road (except for the last few miles), we arrive in a beautiful little river valley. The village is tucked between cliffs on either side. The boys are in seventh heaven, they have their new fishing rods that they purchased in Namibia with money from Gramma and Grampa Knightly. Pete likes to explore, so we get settled in one place and he decides it is time to move on… oh well, we wouldn’t experience half of what we do if it wasn’t for his HUGE sense of adventure. The only time I don’t like it is when he is heading into a sandy spot where we may get stuck! We are now parked at on the side of the village where there is a sandy beach, Pete has gone into the water with his mask, snorkel and fins to see if he can catch a BIG lobster (when I say BIG I mean BIG… that is the only size they come in). They are nothing like our lobster back in Canada, they do not have the big pincher claws, but they have a massive tail. A man just ‘ran’ up the beach to tell us he has 2 to sell. They don’t see foreigners often here, and naturally they figured we were from South Africa. Now he has gone out to the edge of the water calling Pete in, so he can tell him to “come now” and buy his lobster!!! We’ll see! We cut open one of our watermelon that we picked at the farm yesterday, mmm mmm good. I just shared some with 3 of the locals, they ate it right to the rind.
Afternoon…went looking for lobster, managed to find some. Drove around looking at some more sights, and then it was back home. Stopped to take some pictures of some interesting sights, Trevor found a black scorpion at the one place.
Evening… back home, ate our lobster and now it is time for bed, it is an hour past missionary midnight and I am EXHAUSTED. My infection is not getting any better and I have been on antibiotics for 2 full days how. We’ll have to see how that pans out.
Well, this gives a small idea of what each day is like… everyday comes with its different trials, and joys and we are thankful that God is in control!
God Bless,
Charlene
PS... I had to go on another round of Antibiotics. The Joubert family is back from South Africa and we are glad to have them back. No power for 5 days now, but we have water. We'll keep you posted, but this is just a small glimpse into everyday life, some weeks are more FUN than others!!!
Thursday, December 15, 2005
December Update
Greetings!
We are in the dark here in Angola! Just meaning that we have been without electricity for 12 days and counting! It is actually just our neighbourhood that has the problem, but apparently it is a major one! The first 2 days of our power outage was also a city wide water problem, unfortunately we are not in the loop language-wise so we missed out on the warning, no water for 2 days! The generators that we brought from Canada had a faulty part so we were waiting for them to come, and as I mentioned in my last email we had just purchased a side of beef that we were hoping to keep cool!!! We drove to Lubango for a prayer meeting with the SIM missionaries (thanks for the invite, very encouraging!) and to pick up our parts for the generators. Praise the Lord they were in! On Wednesday we came home and Pete installed the part and the generator fired up... it then proceeded to run for about 4 hours that day, and 2 the next and it went dead! Pete checked it over, couldn't figure out the problem. The man living in our annex offered to take it to a mechanic friend and today it is back, working like a charm! It is amazing how much you count on electricity, you only "REALLY" realize it when it is absent from your life! So I am sure you are asking what happened to our meat... well thankfully (yet sadly) the Joubert's are going home to South Africa for Christmas and their deep freeze was almost empty... it is TOTALLY full now! THANK YOU!
Is that all, you say? Well actually there is a fuel shortage now... we do have fuel in Namibe, but when we were in Lubango we drove around from one end of the city to the other looking for diesel and there was NONE to be had! In fact the line ups for gas were incredible! So we bought some off one of the missionaries at Mitcha and headed out on our way, praying there would be fuel in Namibe. I only had to wait behind 5 vehicles for my fuel this time! There is fuel today but that is no guarantee for tomorrow! This is Angola!
Other than that, well one of our batteries on the truck is no longer any good, Pete let them use it on the water pump when they were trying to figure out the problem and it sucked the life out of it. So hopefully we will be able to make due until we reach Namibia as everything is twice as expensive here as it is there. Which brings me to another point, we will have to travel to Namibia to renew our visas again in the middle of January... no one is looking forward to the trip... although in a way I find it bitter-sweet. Groceries are a lot less expensive and you can find things that you cannot find here! Other than that the bone wrenching roads leave your back a mess for weeks, so it is give and take!
On a much more positive and upbeat note... (not that we are down and depressed over the events of the last couple of weeks... it is just life here and the sooner you get used to that idea the easier it is to handle...) the girls have been going to choir practice several times a week, I am hoping they get brave enough soon to join them on a Sunday morning, but so far they are too shy and unsure of themselves to do it. The sun is shining every day, not easy to get into the Christmas spirit, but we'll survive. The kids were able to get some used books last week, enough to keep them busy for quite some time... even Trevor and Tavis are getting into the swing of reading! It is very exciting! Pete and I are plodding along with our language training, with our new teacher Augusto. He is hard on us, but it is good!
Just a couple of prayer requests:
1. For continued perseverance in every area of our lives (life, language, school, etc) 2. For Rosa's daughter Minda (our house-help, she comes 4 days a week and brings her smallest child with her) she has malaria... she was very weak on Monday and her mom took her to the hospital while we were away, she got medicine and Thursday when she came Minda looked much better, but today again she is not looking great so Rosa was going to take her back to the hospital. Rosa has 4 other children and her husband left her 9 months ago and hasn't returned, she says he is in Lubango.
Thank you all for your continued prayers and encouraging letters you've sent. Thanks for keeping in touch.
Hope you have a Joyous Christmas Season!
Love,
Charlene for the Knightly Family in Angola!
We are in the dark here in Angola! Just meaning that we have been without electricity for 12 days and counting! It is actually just our neighbourhood that has the problem, but apparently it is a major one! The first 2 days of our power outage was also a city wide water problem, unfortunately we are not in the loop language-wise so we missed out on the warning, no water for 2 days! The generators that we brought from Canada had a faulty part so we were waiting for them to come, and as I mentioned in my last email we had just purchased a side of beef that we were hoping to keep cool!!! We drove to Lubango for a prayer meeting with the SIM missionaries (thanks for the invite, very encouraging!) and to pick up our parts for the generators. Praise the Lord they were in! On Wednesday we came home and Pete installed the part and the generator fired up... it then proceeded to run for about 4 hours that day, and 2 the next and it went dead! Pete checked it over, couldn't figure out the problem. The man living in our annex offered to take it to a mechanic friend and today it is back, working like a charm! It is amazing how much you count on electricity, you only "REALLY" realize it when it is absent from your life! So I am sure you are asking what happened to our meat... well thankfully (yet sadly) the Joubert's are going home to South Africa for Christmas and their deep freeze was almost empty... it is TOTALLY full now! THANK YOU!
Is that all, you say? Well actually there is a fuel shortage now... we do have fuel in Namibe, but when we were in Lubango we drove around from one end of the city to the other looking for diesel and there was NONE to be had! In fact the line ups for gas were incredible! So we bought some off one of the missionaries at Mitcha and headed out on our way, praying there would be fuel in Namibe. I only had to wait behind 5 vehicles for my fuel this time! There is fuel today but that is no guarantee for tomorrow! This is Angola!
Other than that, well one of our batteries on the truck is no longer any good, Pete let them use it on the water pump when they were trying to figure out the problem and it sucked the life out of it. So hopefully we will be able to make due until we reach Namibia as everything is twice as expensive here as it is there. Which brings me to another point, we will have to travel to Namibia to renew our visas again in the middle of January... no one is looking forward to the trip... although in a way I find it bitter-sweet. Groceries are a lot less expensive and you can find things that you cannot find here! Other than that the bone wrenching roads leave your back a mess for weeks, so it is give and take!
On a much more positive and upbeat note... (not that we are down and depressed over the events of the last couple of weeks... it is just life here and the sooner you get used to that idea the easier it is to handle...) the girls have been going to choir practice several times a week, I am hoping they get brave enough soon to join them on a Sunday morning, but so far they are too shy and unsure of themselves to do it. The sun is shining every day, not easy to get into the Christmas spirit, but we'll survive. The kids were able to get some used books last week, enough to keep them busy for quite some time... even Trevor and Tavis are getting into the swing of reading! It is very exciting! Pete and I are plodding along with our language training, with our new teacher Augusto. He is hard on us, but it is good!
Just a couple of prayer requests:
1. For continued perseverance in every area of our lives (life, language, school, etc) 2. For Rosa's daughter Minda (our house-help, she comes 4 days a week and brings her smallest child with her) she has malaria... she was very weak on Monday and her mom took her to the hospital while we were away, she got medicine and Thursday when she came Minda looked much better, but today again she is not looking great so Rosa was going to take her back to the hospital. Rosa has 4 other children and her husband left her 9 months ago and hasn't returned, she says he is in Lubango.
Thank you all for your continued prayers and encouraging letters you've sent. Thanks for keeping in touch.
Hope you have a Joyous Christmas Season!
Love,
Charlene for the Knightly Family in Angola!
November 27 Update
Knightly News Update
November 27, 2005
Hi all,
I figured it was time to send out another update, since the last one sounded as though we were not going to make it out alive! We are still alive; a little beat up but still breathing! :0) God is good... All the time!
Some of the highlights:
1. Thankfully we have had more regular power.
2. Our rusty water lines were replaced with PVC (the backyard is still all in an upheaval, but we have water!!!) 3. We have managed to have a meeting with our leadership here in Angola, we were able to discuss our concerns and they responded very well. We are looking forward to more regular meetings (possibly monthly) just to keep the lines of communication open! Praise the Lord.
4. We had some unexpected visitors for a few days which was nice, a fellow missionary's Landy broke down and we ended up towing it to Lubango last week. I took some great pic's for all you Landy fan's out there :0) We also had a very nice visit while they were stranded, we got to know a short term missionary who is from Manitoba she just finished a 3 month term in Menongue.
5. We had another visitor from Lubango, an MK (Missionary Kid), it was nice to have the visit, PLUS it was also nice to have a translator to help out for a few days!
6. Pete has planted his garden at the farm, it is amazing how fast things grow here, the corn had sprouted and was up about 1 inch in 4 days.
7. Pete has been doing some work at the farm (gas and produce runs), a good warm up for when the Joubert's go for Christmas for 6 weeks (Ahhh). Strauss had been away to South Africa for 2 weeks and we are glad he is back!
8. Pete helped work on the water pump at the farm (which is very old and in NEED of replacement), it is up and running now... we must pray that it stays that way!
9. We have been able to go and minister to a group of people in Namibe that live in patched-up tents (they were evicted from the caves they lived in), we look forward to getting to know them better... we'll keep you posted!
10. We are very thankful for the truck that God has provided us with (it stands out like a sore thumb here in Angola, although there is a man with a white crew cab Dodge Ram here in Namibe). People here in Angola walk many miles in their lifetime, and our feeling is that if we can lift that burden for even a few miles "em nome de Jesus" "in the name of Jesus" then we will do it. Please pray for the safety of our passengers and that the truck will continue to run efficiently!
11. The kids still struggle away at their school work; sadly all the Angolan kids have holidays now until February... it IS summer here!
12. Talitha is thinking she would like to go back to Canada for grade 12, so we are working on where she will stay and go to school. She really enjoys it here, but she has some specific courses she would like to take and it will benefit her to return home.
13. We were able to purchase a side of beef from the Tchincombe Farm (another UIEA project) for the 'summer'... pray that the parts for our generator come soon as we need a back-up when the power goes out.
14. We renewed our visas in Lubango for our first renewal back in-country, as here in Namibe they translate the rules a bit differently (instead of the first renewal after exiting the country, they say the first renewal for your lifetime), the difference is about $25 US dollars per person!!! So we drive 2 hours for our first renewal! Please pray about our work visa process, it is difficult to know where it is at (or if it is LOST). The next OUT OF COUNTRY trip will be mid-January (if we have to!!!).
15. I must say that we are very thankful for the Joubert family; we are really going to miss them over the Christmas holidays. They have been a great encouragement to us and we say "thank you"!
16. On another note... I can't believe it is less than a month until Christmas!!!! It is SO warm here!!! What a transition! We'll keep you posted on how we handle that!
17. Almost forgot, Tavis had malaria a few weeks ago. He is up and running again but he sure was lethargic and worn out for a good week. Thankfully we were able to buy some good malaria med's in Namibia before we came up (we are also taking an anti-malaria medication... but it doesn't STOP you from getting it, it supposedly just weakens the effect?) 18. It looks as though we have found a language teacher. We will keep you posted on how it goes!
Well, that is probably enough for now... everyone is feeling ok now (it is off and on... kinda like the electricity... ha!). We sure appreciate all of your prayers and communication. It is so nice to hear from you. Have any questions??? Just drop us a note, we'll try to answer! Internet is one of the highlights of our week (if it is working... :0).
Just in case you wanted to send out some snail mail our mailing address is:
Knightly Family
Igreja Evangelica de Cristo
CP 307
Namibe
Angola
Via Portugal
(If you live in Africa you can leave off the via Portugal, but otherwise it gets to us quicker if you send it that way)
We look forward to hearing from you, and those of you in the north "enjoy the cold and snow"!!! If we start to miss it we will just hop in the freezer for a while!
Love and prayers,
Charlene for the Knightly Gang!
November 27, 2005
Hi all,
I figured it was time to send out another update, since the last one sounded as though we were not going to make it out alive! We are still alive; a little beat up but still breathing! :0) God is good... All the time!
Some of the highlights:
1. Thankfully we have had more regular power.
2. Our rusty water lines were replaced with PVC (the backyard is still all in an upheaval, but we have water!!!) 3. We have managed to have a meeting with our leadership here in Angola, we were able to discuss our concerns and they responded very well. We are looking forward to more regular meetings (possibly monthly) just to keep the lines of communication open! Praise the Lord.
4. We had some unexpected visitors for a few days which was nice, a fellow missionary's Landy broke down and we ended up towing it to Lubango last week. I took some great pic's for all you Landy fan's out there :0) We also had a very nice visit while they were stranded, we got to know a short term missionary who is from Manitoba she just finished a 3 month term in Menongue.
5. We had another visitor from Lubango, an MK (Missionary Kid), it was nice to have the visit, PLUS it was also nice to have a translator to help out for a few days!
6. Pete has planted his garden at the farm, it is amazing how fast things grow here, the corn had sprouted and was up about 1 inch in 4 days.
7. Pete has been doing some work at the farm (gas and produce runs), a good warm up for when the Joubert's go for Christmas for 6 weeks (Ahhh). Strauss had been away to South Africa for 2 weeks and we are glad he is back!
8. Pete helped work on the water pump at the farm (which is very old and in NEED of replacement), it is up and running now... we must pray that it stays that way!
9. We have been able to go and minister to a group of people in Namibe that live in patched-up tents (they were evicted from the caves they lived in), we look forward to getting to know them better... we'll keep you posted!
10. We are very thankful for the truck that God has provided us with (it stands out like a sore thumb here in Angola, although there is a man with a white crew cab Dodge Ram here in Namibe). People here in Angola walk many miles in their lifetime, and our feeling is that if we can lift that burden for even a few miles "em nome de Jesus" "in the name of Jesus" then we will do it. Please pray for the safety of our passengers and that the truck will continue to run efficiently!
11. The kids still struggle away at their school work; sadly all the Angolan kids have holidays now until February... it IS summer here!
12. Talitha is thinking she would like to go back to Canada for grade 12, so we are working on where she will stay and go to school. She really enjoys it here, but she has some specific courses she would like to take and it will benefit her to return home.
13. We were able to purchase a side of beef from the Tchincombe Farm (another UIEA project) for the 'summer'... pray that the parts for our generator come soon as we need a back-up when the power goes out.
14. We renewed our visas in Lubango for our first renewal back in-country, as here in Namibe they translate the rules a bit differently (instead of the first renewal after exiting the country, they say the first renewal for your lifetime), the difference is about $25 US dollars per person!!! So we drive 2 hours for our first renewal! Please pray about our work visa process, it is difficult to know where it is at (or if it is LOST). The next OUT OF COUNTRY trip will be mid-January (if we have to!!!).
15. I must say that we are very thankful for the Joubert family; we are really going to miss them over the Christmas holidays. They have been a great encouragement to us and we say "thank you"!
16. On another note... I can't believe it is less than a month until Christmas!!!! It is SO warm here!!! What a transition! We'll keep you posted on how we handle that!
17. Almost forgot, Tavis had malaria a few weeks ago. He is up and running again but he sure was lethargic and worn out for a good week. Thankfully we were able to buy some good malaria med's in Namibia before we came up (we are also taking an anti-malaria medication... but it doesn't STOP you from getting it, it supposedly just weakens the effect?) 18. It looks as though we have found a language teacher. We will keep you posted on how it goes!
Well, that is probably enough for now... everyone is feeling ok now (it is off and on... kinda like the electricity... ha!). We sure appreciate all of your prayers and communication. It is so nice to hear from you. Have any questions??? Just drop us a note, we'll try to answer! Internet is one of the highlights of our week (if it is working... :0).
Just in case you wanted to send out some snail mail our mailing address is:
Knightly Family
Igreja Evangelica de Cristo
CP 307
Namibe
Angola
Via Portugal
(If you live in Africa you can leave off the via Portugal, but otherwise it gets to us quicker if you send it that way)
We look forward to hearing from you, and those of you in the north "enjoy the cold and snow"!!! If we start to miss it we will just hop in the freezer for a while!
Love and prayers,
Charlene for the Knightly Gang!
Monday, November 07, 2005
October 24
This has been quite an experience the last couple of weeks. This is the first chance I have had to sit down and write about it all! Among some of the things going on are the regular every day things such as home schooling, language learning, cleaning the house, repairing things, running out to the farm, different forms of sickness attacking each of us, and continuing to fix the house up… these things in themselves have worn us out. Sunday last week we were feeling very discouraged, tired, stressed and overwhelmed.
Monday we had to make our trip out of country to Namibia to renew our visas. Even photos cannot show the full effect of the road, most of the driving was in the ditch just to give you an idea of how bad the “paved” roads are! It took us from 4:30 AM until 8 PM to drive around 700 km and 300 km of that was nice road! The border crossing went quick as we had a local friend come with us (unfortunately he could not come back with us)! By the time we reached our destination, Oshindera Lodge in Oshikati Namibia, we were completely exhausted! We are very thankful for the family who owns the lodge, as they were very kind and generous toward our family. We enjoyed our time spent there and in their home.
Tuesday was spent shopping until we dropped, thankfully the first day Meagan stayed with the boys back at the lodge while Pete, Talitha and I went out to get groceries. The groceries in Namibia (although more pricey than home) are MUCH cheaper than here in Angola, so we stocked up on some things that we cannot get here, and things that are much less expensive. We also purchased our washing machine (that will save about 1 ½ hours a load). Our other more important order of business was renewing our visas; thankfully we were put in contact with a gal from Angola who works in Namibia. She was able to help us with filling out the paperwork and taking it in.
Wednesday, more shopping, and in the afternoon we were able to retrieve our visas and pay out the whopping $650 Namibian dollars (to give you an idea it is 5 Namibian dollars to a Canadian dollar)!!! This is per person and for a 30 day visa! We are praying that the work visa comes through ASAP! So at present we are paying $316 American per month for our visa renewals. Anyway, after shopping we went to the lodge owner’s home (Audrey and Adrianne) for supper and care group. Then it was off to bed to get well rested for the LONG trip home.
Thursday morning we got up, finished packing the truck and headed on the road, we arrived at the Namibian border at 9:30 AM and spent the next 4 hours waiting for paperwork to be filled out by a clearing agent, for which they wanted to charge us $1350 Namibian (remember 5 to 1) for 5 pieces of paper!!! When we said that was outrageous they said it would then cost $1000 Namibian to cancel it! We asked for a price list which they could not produce (as we knew others had never paid that kind of sum) and finally negotiated a $700 Namibian charge for the paper work (which took them 3 hours to fill out… it took me about half an hour the last time we went through the border to fill the same paper work out myself… at a different border)! Then it was time to cross over to the Angolan side and we began to wonder if we would ever get through. It is difficult coming through the border at the best of times, but on your own not knowing the language is a bit daunting. There were several people who came along to give us a hand, as each official would like to give some kind of grieve or look for a hand-out, this is probably the hardest thing to handle when dealing with officials, they almost all seem to be looking for a bribe. The one who took our passports to stamp them with an entrance stamp wanted to refuse us entry saying that we needed to have a letter from the church in Angola (we did have letters that we gave at the Angolan consulate in Namibia so that we could get our visa… just another game), after waiting on the Namibian side in the scorching heat and then waiting for an hour or more on the Angolan side Talitha and I just burst into tears (apparently this is a good thing as the Angolans don’t know what to do with a woman crying)… they stamped our visas and gave them to us and we were on our way to the next stop at the border (customs), of course we had plenty of groceries and a washing machine so were wondering if we would ever get through customs without being charged an outrageous sum if we wouldn’t give a bribe… one guy who had been helping us since 9:30 in the morning said that if we were taken into the gated area we could expect to have the truck impounded and we would be there for at least 7 days! So when they pointed to the gate and had us drive in we were almost ready to drive over to the Namibian side buy our tickets home and say enough! BUT God was gracious, they had a quick look, asked us what was in the big box, we told them a washer and gave them the receipt and they said have a nice day and sent us on our way. So in total at the two borders we spent just over 6 hours (don’t want to hear any complaints about that Canadian to American border!!!). As it was beginning to get dark we made a wise decision to travel as far as a Finish mission station near Chebia that Stirling had taken Pete and his dad to on the way out of Angola last year. Thankfully we were able to find it (as it is kind of in the middle of no where… like most things in Angola) and they very graciously took us in and even fed us… what a huge blessing!
Friday morning we were on our way again over the worst part of the road, stopping just long enough to let the Ritchie’s in Rio de Huila know that we were still alive (as I could not contact anyone to let them know where we were as our cell phone battery was dead)! We stopped for a moment in Lubango to speak with the leadership of the UIEA to request a meeting with them soon concerning the vision and purpose of our call here. Then it was on to Namibe. When we arrived home after our LONG trip we discovered that our power had been out for 4 days, and everything in our fridge and freezer was rotten! What a smell! Generally the power goes off for about 10 to 15 minutes at a time here in Namibe, so we were not prepared for this! However after cleaning everything up we were quite happy to climb into bed and get a good rest after another long day!
Saturday morning we went out to the farm to put all of the things that needed to be frozen or refrigerated into Strauss and Sanette’s fridge and freezer, Strauss was away in Menongue and Sanette had gone into to town to check on us (we had left the girls home so they told her we had gone to the farm), thankfully she had left the boys with their friends at the farm so we were able to get into the house and begin putting things into her appliances.
Sunday morning we went to the early service and then packed up our stuff and went to the beach with Sanette and the boys, a much needed rest after a long week!
Monday about 10 minutes before the power came back on (7 days after it went out) the water pipes broke (they were totally rusted) and now we have no water, but we have light. We feel as though we are being stretched to our full capacity but there always seems to be a little more ability to stretch a little further! Please keep us in your prayers as the adjustments are now becoming more apparent and constant. Well, the power just went back out… so I must save my battery power for who knows how long before it will come back on! Our phone is working again so for those of you who were trying to get in touch you can try again!
Take care and God Bless,
Love,
The Knightly family
Monday we had to make our trip out of country to Namibia to renew our visas. Even photos cannot show the full effect of the road, most of the driving was in the ditch just to give you an idea of how bad the “paved” roads are! It took us from 4:30 AM until 8 PM to drive around 700 km and 300 km of that was nice road! The border crossing went quick as we had a local friend come with us (unfortunately he could not come back with us)! By the time we reached our destination, Oshindera Lodge in Oshikati Namibia, we were completely exhausted! We are very thankful for the family who owns the lodge, as they were very kind and generous toward our family. We enjoyed our time spent there and in their home.
Tuesday was spent shopping until we dropped, thankfully the first day Meagan stayed with the boys back at the lodge while Pete, Talitha and I went out to get groceries. The groceries in Namibia (although more pricey than home) are MUCH cheaper than here in Angola, so we stocked up on some things that we cannot get here, and things that are much less expensive. We also purchased our washing machine (that will save about 1 ½ hours a load). Our other more important order of business was renewing our visas; thankfully we were put in contact with a gal from Angola who works in Namibia. She was able to help us with filling out the paperwork and taking it in.
Wednesday, more shopping, and in the afternoon we were able to retrieve our visas and pay out the whopping $650 Namibian dollars (to give you an idea it is 5 Namibian dollars to a Canadian dollar)!!! This is per person and for a 30 day visa! We are praying that the work visa comes through ASAP! So at present we are paying $316 American per month for our visa renewals. Anyway, after shopping we went to the lodge owner’s home (Audrey and Adrianne) for supper and care group. Then it was off to bed to get well rested for the LONG trip home.
Thursday morning we got up, finished packing the truck and headed on the road, we arrived at the Namibian border at 9:30 AM and spent the next 4 hours waiting for paperwork to be filled out by a clearing agent, for which they wanted to charge us $1350 Namibian (remember 5 to 1) for 5 pieces of paper!!! When we said that was outrageous they said it would then cost $1000 Namibian to cancel it! We asked for a price list which they could not produce (as we knew others had never paid that kind of sum) and finally negotiated a $700 Namibian charge for the paper work (which took them 3 hours to fill out… it took me about half an hour the last time we went through the border to fill the same paper work out myself… at a different border)! Then it was time to cross over to the Angolan side and we began to wonder if we would ever get through. It is difficult coming through the border at the best of times, but on your own not knowing the language is a bit daunting. There were several people who came along to give us a hand, as each official would like to give some kind of grieve or look for a hand-out, this is probably the hardest thing to handle when dealing with officials, they almost all seem to be looking for a bribe. The one who took our passports to stamp them with an entrance stamp wanted to refuse us entry saying that we needed to have a letter from the church in Angola (we did have letters that we gave at the Angolan consulate in Namibia so that we could get our visa… just another game), after waiting on the Namibian side in the scorching heat and then waiting for an hour or more on the Angolan side Talitha and I just burst into tears (apparently this is a good thing as the Angolans don’t know what to do with a woman crying)… they stamped our visas and gave them to us and we were on our way to the next stop at the border (customs), of course we had plenty of groceries and a washing machine so were wondering if we would ever get through customs without being charged an outrageous sum if we wouldn’t give a bribe… one guy who had been helping us since 9:30 in the morning said that if we were taken into the gated area we could expect to have the truck impounded and we would be there for at least 7 days! So when they pointed to the gate and had us drive in we were almost ready to drive over to the Namibian side buy our tickets home and say enough! BUT God was gracious, they had a quick look, asked us what was in the big box, we told them a washer and gave them the receipt and they said have a nice day and sent us on our way. So in total at the two borders we spent just over 6 hours (don’t want to hear any complaints about that Canadian to American border!!!). As it was beginning to get dark we made a wise decision to travel as far as a Finish mission station near Chebia that Stirling had taken Pete and his dad to on the way out of Angola last year. Thankfully we were able to find it (as it is kind of in the middle of no where… like most things in Angola) and they very graciously took us in and even fed us… what a huge blessing!
Friday morning we were on our way again over the worst part of the road, stopping just long enough to let the Ritchie’s in Rio de Huila know that we were still alive (as I could not contact anyone to let them know where we were as our cell phone battery was dead)! We stopped for a moment in Lubango to speak with the leadership of the UIEA to request a meeting with them soon concerning the vision and purpose of our call here. Then it was on to Namibe. When we arrived home after our LONG trip we discovered that our power had been out for 4 days, and everything in our fridge and freezer was rotten! What a smell! Generally the power goes off for about 10 to 15 minutes at a time here in Namibe, so we were not prepared for this! However after cleaning everything up we were quite happy to climb into bed and get a good rest after another long day!
Saturday morning we went out to the farm to put all of the things that needed to be frozen or refrigerated into Strauss and Sanette’s fridge and freezer, Strauss was away in Menongue and Sanette had gone into to town to check on us (we had left the girls home so they told her we had gone to the farm), thankfully she had left the boys with their friends at the farm so we were able to get into the house and begin putting things into her appliances.
Sunday morning we went to the early service and then packed up our stuff and went to the beach with Sanette and the boys, a much needed rest after a long week!
Monday about 10 minutes before the power came back on (7 days after it went out) the water pipes broke (they were totally rusted) and now we have no water, but we have light. We feel as though we are being stretched to our full capacity but there always seems to be a little more ability to stretch a little further! Please keep us in your prayers as the adjustments are now becoming more apparent and constant. Well, the power just went back out… so I must save my battery power for who knows how long before it will come back on! Our phone is working again so for those of you who were trying to get in touch you can try again!
Take care and God Bless,
Love,
The Knightly family
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