Battle won in Tanzania

Details: Published: Tuesday, 19 May 2015 20:02

Battle won in Tanzania

Steef writes from Africa: Dar es Salaam, May 16^th 2015. Let me share some reflections with you from a decent but not expensive hotel room, where I spend the last weekend, after half a month in Tanzania. I taught future missionaries, what I love to do most. Well, I enjoyed it, but it didn’t go from self. Humanly speaking this was ‘Murphy’s Law all over again’, but of course it was spiritual opposition. Nothing we couldn’t combat, but a bit disconcerting sometimes...

What happened in November?

Details: Published: Wednesday, 12 November 2014 00:00

Newsflash November 2014

Dear Friends,

Lots has happened during the last couple of months. Wish we could take you personally on our trips and let you experience life here. That’s why we start this update with some photo’s from the environment where we work, so you will get an idea on what life is all about in these communities. So have a close look at the pictures, then close your eyes, smell the woodfires, listen to the fast Zulu talking, with lots of laughter in between, and… there you are!! ;-)

Although the houses are small and dark, still they are build with bricks, very different from the townships you so often find in Gauteng. A kitchen is nowhere to be found, the people here cook their mieliepap on wood, outside. An average toilet is a longdrop, even if you build a toilet bowl on it… The toilet in the 3rd picture is the church’s toilet, where I give the women’s Biblestudies… not hard to imagine I usually try to wait going till I am ‘home’. ;-)

In the communities we work there is no running water. A watertruc comes once or twice a week and fills up all the vessels people have placed outside. (photo 5) A few weeks ago the truc did not arrive for over a week, maybe it broke down… the people started fighting with one another over the last bit of water that was left… so sad.

The roads in the communities are real bad, non-tarred and lots of holes. Sometimes we had to return because we could not carry on in our (borrowed) sedan. Leaving the car and walk the rest is not something you would do here… We hope to be able to buy a second hand 4x4 in the near future.

What happened in October?

Details: Published: Saturday, 25 October 2014 00:00

Newsflash October 2014

It’s great to be back in Africa! We have had many ministry opportunities already. We’ll take you on a quick tour through the last few weeks.

Steef taught at the Africa School of Missions (ASM) for a week, sharing his vision for the unreached world with the students and what their role in it may be. There were inspiring personal contacts and our bonus was that Dennis & Mariska visited for some days!

What happened in September?

Details: Published: Monday, 15 September 2014 16:46

Steef has had the opportunity to record a series on missions with Trans World Radio in Kempton Park. It will be broadcasted over the whole of English speaking Africa! We are so thrilled!

You can listen to these broadcastings yourself: DSTV band 855 OR http://www.twrafrica.org/ and click LISTEN

The programme is Reach Out. The one doing the interview is our friend Gail Dippenaar from TWR.

Sliding & Gliding on Muddy Mountain

Details: Published: Monday, 14 July 2014 16:54

It was early in the morning. Six of us were packed in a 4x4. I (Tineke) sat at the windowside and looked down. Though it was not a deep rift, 20 meters is still a lot. The road was narrow and although the sun appeared through the clouds today, it had rained hard all week and the road was very muddy. We had to drive upward, quite steeply, to almost 2,900 meters. In this very remote east side of Lesotho only shepherds live with their flocks. I felt de car slide away again into the wrong direction and kept my breath… It is a gorgeous area but I saw nothing, keeping an eye on the abyss. Not that this added to our safety, but I couldn’t help myself…

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