Greetings Friends,

Have you been waiting for news? What happened to April? Well, it all got away hurriedly and I decided to pass on May, but instead passed on April. Right now I am on Day 3 of a trek from Victoria Falls to Zanzibar, with Steve from Sydney who has just completed a month volunteering with us at SU Namibia. Right, right now I am sitting in the truck waiting for dinner in the campground in suburban Lusaka, capital of Zambia.

Anyway, to SU Namibia – we have just held the biggest annual event, the SU National Primary Camp. Adam is the Camp Director, and did a huge job well in challenging odds. There was weeks of preparation for the 200 campers expected. Then 245 registered, but when we put them all on the train in Windhoek for the coast, there were 292 kids!! Plus team!!! And another 200 were expected from coastal schools. But things went hugely well, with TransNamib (train) and the school hostel co-operating immensely. Can’t say the same about the hostel cooks, who constantly ran late, disrupting our program 3 times daily.

We also had vehicle troubles with the SU wagon for some weeks, ending with a big repair bill just before camp. We plan to sell it soon before more troubles, and get something a bit newer, so pray for a bit more resource to upgrade.

The kids loved the camp, they heard well about Jesus and had opportunity to respond. Their SU Teachers also come, so they can support them as they return to school late May after holiday. Pray for them all. At an evaluation meeting on Friday, we agreed the numbers were just too many, and decided that next year we will have 2 camps for different ages, so it is good to see more ministry opportunities naturally evolving. For me, I just ran flat-out day & night while camp was on, helping to keep it functioning while Adam managed the programme.

Then I ran for 3 busy days back in Windhoek, then I ran for the bus, which then ran me for 22 hours to Victoria Falls. Six hours into the bus trip we collected Steve, who had just had a day in Etosha National Park with Phill. So it was good to get to our tent already setup beside the Zambezi and sleep for 10 hours.

So this week and next I am on this tour. There are 4 my vintage, and most are in their 20s. All from various western countries, plus 2 crew from South Africa. Being part of an all-white group in Africa feels odd. Found the tour director is a Christian who has done kids missions in Namibia. No evidence of faith in any of the others so far. So pray all goes well, and Steve and I can have meaningful relationships with the group that may lead to at least some looking to Jesus.

We travel on tomorrow from Lusaka, arriving Malawi in 2 days, then into Tanzania and Zanzibar for the last 4 days. So we have a week of lots of driving, often on poor roads, which we found today – ouch! Lots more to come. Ouch again. But it’s a good way to see more of Africa at ground level, and clearly so far, things in Zambia are nowhere as developed as Namibia. More about it all in June.

The destination for the journey is work – SU Africa Summit in Nairobi, Kenya. That’s 18-23 May. SU works in 44 African countries, and all National Directors and Chairmen are gathering for the first time for many years. My Chairman Mike Amia will fly in on 17th. So about 100 should be present. Please pray as we enjoy fellowship, understand the work more, and are better equipped to lead our national movements.

So all that covers the next month. SU office is rather quiet now as schools are on holiday till late May, so the team are having a quieter time, and getting ready for ministry in Term 2.

Thanks again for all your support in many ways,

God bless,
Graeme

For a full picture-rich copy of Graeme’s newsletter see below.