Greetings Friends,
A blessed and joyous Christmas to you. May you celebrate Jesus’ coming with awe and thanksgiving.
Many of you receive my news monthly, so you can jump to page 2 if you wish, as this part is for those who just get annual news and recaps the year (if you wish to change from annual to monthly, or the other way, please let me know).
2009
This time last year I was enjoying a chilly December in Belgium and England. I had a wonderful time, staying with various friends, and Christmas Day was in the village of Clitheroe in Lancashire with friends and their friends and church family. We hardly stopped eating for 3 days, and doing it in frosty England was quite a treat. Only twice did the cold get to me too much, which is not bad for one who prefers warmer climes. And the big snow of January?? It started as we lifted of from Gatwick to come home!!
The year with Scripture Union Namibia went well for the first 4 months of the year. We visited more schools and regions of the country than SU staff had done for years. Every school principal welcomed an SU Group to start in their schools. We left them the task of finding a Christian staff member who would be seriously committed to the task, and then we can get going. They appreciate that, but it means only some get going. Our small team travelled thousands of kms, many in my car, and we had numerous adventures, such as pushing the car out of sandy river beds, and stopping at Etosha Game Park on the way home to see giraffes and zebras and elephants and springbok etc etc. And so good to do it with local friends.
Then 30th April the bombshell hit – my Work Permit application had been rejected and I was given one week to leave Namibia. It wasn’t the best day of my life!!! We scrambled to put in an appeal, and on the 7th day found I could just cross the border and come back 2 days later on a visitor visa. So 6th May I waved 200 kids off for camp on the coast in the West, and next morning I drove 4 hours East to Botswana. 2 days later I drove back, and till mid-July I stayed in Windhoek, never went to the office, couldn’t represent SU anywhere, and had lots of visits of SU staff and leaders at home. We did a visit to southern parts of the country, in my car, but I didn’t actually enter schools. All very strange.
Mid-July was time for annual leave. I had a ticket home via London and Hong Kong, so enjoyed the amazing contrasts of those places to here. I hoped to be back at the start of September, but the Work Permit matter dragged on, and it wasn’t till late October I finally arrived with a one year Work Permit. Just when schools are thinking exams then holidays! Those months were frustrating at times, but life isn’t always predictable. Quite a challenge trying to sort out things from afar, but by God’s grace, with email too, it happened. We have a small but good crew here at SU.
So it’s great to be back and into it all, and know I have at least till next October to work here. The Chairman is planning to start asking for extension very early next year.
Meanwhile, Christmas postcards are welcome…
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