F L A M E

African Journals

The journey begins:

Wednesday, October 27, 2004

We were picked up by our son-in-law, Owen this afternoon to go to Sea-Tac Airport to check our baggage and stay overnight at a hotel by the airport. Our plane to Newark New Jersey was scheduled to leave at 7:45 AM Thursday - Friday October 28-29, 2004

Today was destined to be a very long day. We arose at 4:45 AM. Checking in went smoothly and our flight to Newark left on time.

Upon arrival in Newark we spent most of the 4½ hour lay-over working on the purpose, outline and narrative for our next video. Time passed quickly and soon we were on the plane bound for Lisbon, PortugalOur Continental flight parked right next to our TAP flight (what are the odds of that happening???)! The next miracle was that after deplaning a man appeared form nowhere and asked of he could help us. We quickly explained our predicament and he said "follow me". He led us back up the jet way and through a barricade to the adjacent gate to our TAP flight. He by-passed the normal customs process, checked us in at the gate, and got us on board in less than five minutes. It was stated that because the two planes were next to each other it would be no problem getting our luggage...

The flight to Bissau went quickly and we managed to catch a few more winks of sleep.

It was so good to see Tiago and our friends who met us at the airport.

It is very hot and humid in Bissau, but that is trivia compared to the joy we experienced getting back to the land God has called us to win for Christ.

Tiago has made arrangements for us to stay at the WEC mission compound in the center of Bissau. We will probably stay here until next Wednesday or Thursday and then go to Canchungo. It was so good to see Tiago that we stayed together and talked until 10:00m PM. By then our "sleep tank

Saturday October 30, 2004

Herb awoke about 5:00 AM and was unable to go back to sleep, so he spent time praising and communicating with God. He sensed god's presence and speaking to his heart not to look back on the comforts and conveniences left behind in America, but to look ahead with compassion and compliance to His will for our lives.

The Living quarters where we are staying has a kitchen, so the first order of the day was to buy some basic food items so we could have breakfast. We had fresh bread, bananas, an apple from he hotel at Sea-Tac and instant coffee for Herb and tea for Martha.

After our devotional time with the Lord we were delighted to have Pastor Chenda from Canchungo come and see us. He is here with FLAME's truck having some iron work done for the headquarters/mission house. He joined us going to the British consulate here in Bissau. The closest American consulate is in Senegal Sunday October 31, 2004.

This is our first Lord's Day back in Guinea Bissau and we are looking forward to visiting our son-in-the-Lord Bobo and the Church he pastors. We were delighted to meet his wife, Dorcus, and six month old daughter, Maisha for the first time. Martha had ben praying for Dorcus long before any of us met her, as she was praying for whomever god had planned to be Bobo's wife.

Herb was pleased to learn that the service would be translated into English. This is because there are Nigerians in the congregation. The church was celebrating it's eight anniversary. As the service progressed we learned that Maisha and other babies would be dedicated to the Lord. We were both pleased to be a part of the dedication ceremony.

Church services in Guinea Bissau are long and are filled with joy and inspiration. Including children, there were approximately 300 in attendance including some outside the building as they could not get in the door. It is a rapidly growing church.

We had dinner at Bobo and Dorcus' home. We had a wonderful time of fellowship together. Dorcus was born and raised in Kenya, so English is her native language. Bobo has learned English very well so Herb didn't miss anything in our conversations.

When we got back to our quarters at the mission we decided to take a siesta. Martha just plain needed some sleep to help fight the leftovers of a cold and Herb thought sleep would be an escape from the heat and humidity. Our bodies are making two major adjustments: 1. Seven hours time difference and 2 heat and humidity. We were awakened from our nap by our bedroom fan turning on. The mission runs a generator from dusk until 10:30 PM

Monday November 1, 2004

Our first task today was to change dollars into the local currency FCFA. We exchanged some for FLAME and some of our personal money. All commerce on the street is in FCFA. We went to the Bank of West Africa to negotiate several things. Most important is the time requires to receive money and the fees charged for bank wires from the USA. The best way to send money from...

We are trying to be good stewards of FLAME's money so we shop around for the best exchange rates. They vary from 477 FCFA per dollar (at the bank) to 555 FCFA per dollar(on the street).

We stopped to make an advance payment for the port's paperwork fee. Tiago has done an excellent job of coordinating everything for the container's arrival including transportation from Bissau to Canchungo.

One other key meeting today was with the National Office of Education, Technical/Professional Division. We spoke with the President of this government group to request application for registration as a learning institution in Guinea Bissau. We quickly sensed his excitement for what we are planning to do. He voiced his support, asked questions of us and gave us advice on how to proceed. We believe he is a man of integrity and desires to carry out his duties for the good of the county. We left this meeting with good feelings about our future opportunity to be a witness for Christ.

We traveled many miles today within the city of Bissau and constantly saw the poverty, dilapidated conditions and the sad countenance of many of the people. We know their greatest potential help is through Jesus Christ. Things progress so slowly here- it is hard to be patient, but we must.

Designed by InVenia Design               Last Modified: April 13, 2005