Two light services

Another (hopefully) short update and some good news.

Firstly though, thanks again to all those who wrote in response to our last mailing and asking about fuel and visas etc. It's encouraging for us to know that so many of you are concerned.

Last week Paul was away in Moz again, this time with a group of US pastors. They were part of a team who were running training and teaching sessions for local Mozambican pastors. They did three sessions a day and covered a multitude of topics from spiritual warfare to sex. Each service was typically African with plenty of exuberant singing and dancing to start and finish.
In the evening the whole church was just lit by two electric light bulbs.


The local and US pastors were hosted nearby in the compound of a missionary where Paul spent most of the time helping out with practical jobs such as shelving, plumbing, security, hanging curtains etc. The compound had only been occupied for two weeks and one of the main issues was a total lack of any running water. Even drinking water had to be collected from 5 km away. Paul managed to get two bucket baths during the week which basically involved kneeling beside a half full bucket of water armed with a bar of soap and a plastic cup (no pics - sorry!).

Cooking for the week was also typically African.


On flying the team back to Durban we loaded the plane up with 1000 lbs of medicines that the team had bought over with them. These will be stored at Mercy Air and transported up to Moz when and as space allows.


And now for the rest of the news.

It is with great pleasure that we announce the granting of a further three year visa for Paul. Measuring a petite 3" high and weighing in at a fraction of an ounce, we are none the less pleased to say that Paul and passport are doing well. The, 'it'll only take seven working days' visa was finally secured after a semi tense three week wait. Fortunately no pain killers were required. Thanks particularly for praying for this.

While Paul was gone Cathy kept the kettle on, which came in dead handy for yet another home delivery of a little boy now belonging to a Swiss couple working in Moz.

This next week sees us fixing some small niggly things with the computer, a large niggly thing on the car (gearbox) and generally catching up on having been away for a week.

Speak soon.

p n' c

Chimoio Moz medical

A quick update on our trip last week.

Cathy and I flew an American medical mission team into central Moz for 8 days.
Amazingly there was fuel available at the one stop in Moz for us to fill up on the way there, but that had already ran out by the time we came back. Fortunately we had one drum of fuel stored at the destination and that was just enough for us to make it back home.

The accommodation was ‘sparse’ and we stayed in tents on the porch outside a missionary, Tracy’s house, and shared one toilet and a dribbly shower between 15 of us. The house is part of an orphanage for 25 children that she is involved with, and another task the team completed was to paint a mural on an outside wall.

The team was a seven strong group of Doctors and Nurses who were supporting Tracy in her work in the area. Most days we travelled for about an hour and a half by 4x4 to well out of the way places, where we ran clinics in churches that Tracy has helped plant over the last few years. She initially planted four churches, but six others sprung from those original ones within a year.

A young girl peers through a window.

Consulting inside a church.

While we used the church as a clinic, the villagers held a pastors conference and meetings outside.

We also visited the local prison where Tracy has been working for a while now. Conditions here were rough also and there were about 130 men sharing a room of about 5 x 5 metres. They are often in there 24 hours a day and only get one cup of corn meal and a cup of water per day. The inmates are in there for anything from murder to stealing bread, and some can be in there for up to two years before their trial is even heard. She usually visits twice a week and we were able to offer medical consultations, present the gospel and then hand out oranges and pray for the guys afterwards.

Cathy also helped at another orphanage as well as doing house calls in the local villages.

Paul was also able to help with some running repairs to the missions Land rover.

Tomorrow Paul has his instrument renewal flight test (please pray for that), and then Friday we are off down to Grahamstown to visit Matthew and attend the arts festival which is held there each year.

Thanks

Paul and Cathy

Midnight medivac

Paul has spent most of Easter Monday asleep.

We had a very pleasant Easter Friday getting out for a walk with a British couple who have come to help with aircraft maintenance for four months, and also with Matthew who had to take some pictures for a photo journ assignment.

Sat and Sun were fairly typical until 6:55 Sunday evening when we got a call from Ricky at Vida Life with reports of an attack that had happened in Moz that required medical evacuation from the Mozambican coastal town of Inhambane to Johannesburg - now now. The frantic activity didn't really end until 09:00 the following morning when Paul landed back on the Mercy Air Farm again after a whole night of flying. To cut a long story short we had to arrange for flight permits, airports to open, customs, immigration and air traffic control guys to pitch in the middle of the night, for fuel - which is becoming rare during the day and a whole bunch of other incidental things that you usually need a week to sort out for a 'normal' flight. Cathy didn't escape unscathed as she was also up most of the night flight following as Paul called every half hour to give a position report (co-ordinates that is, not whether he was vertical or horizontal)!.

Fortunately, the still moonlit night was about as good as it could be for this kind of flying which made taking off from our Farm a bit easier, although we still had to get all the staff to position their cars at intervals down the strip so their headlights could provide illumination. Also landing on the runway in Inhambane took two attempts as the runway was only lit by a few burning paraffin lamps, some of which had blown out by the time we got there.

Obviously due to the nature of the incident and the fact that it all happened in the wee small hours we don't have any pictures, except for one of the paramedic sleeping on the stretcher on the return leg back to Nelspruit the following morning.


But what we really want to convey is thanks to those of you who pray for us regularly. Flying into Moz at night presents its own hazards and we don't always get chance to mail prayer requests round beforehand. We are however so appreciative for the prayer cover we do get that goes to ensure that we can serve safely in cases such as these.

Thanks also to those who have written to us recently. You'll understand why we haven't had chance to get back to you yet, but we will take a day off soon and get typing.

P n' C

Where to plant a church

Hi there. This is just to say thanks to those of you who prayed for us last week, and to tell you a little about our trip.

Pretty much everything went really well. We took three American AOG (Assemblies of God) guys to a number of different places in Moz. They were looking for somewhere to start a new outreach so in each place we went, they/we met with the local people to find out what was already being done and what need there was.

The first place was Inhambane on the coast where we had to cross the estuary in a rather shaky ferry.

We flew up in near perfect weather but that night had 12 hrs of heavy thunder and rain so good timing there!

We travelled by local taxi and then on foot to one village were we were greeted in a very traditional manner by everyone singing us into the main meeting place.

The second place, Cuamba, was inland and almost 5 hrs flying further north (it would probably of taken almost 3 days to drive). While our passengers were having meetings there C and I got out with our Brit missionary hosts to visit some mothers in the bush who had malnourished children. The twins shown below were 2 years old and weighed only 6kgs. Another 18 month old child was severely malnourished and needed to be taken to the clinic.

We also visited the local market which was certainly an experience.

Last place was Mocuba, 1 hr south east. The airstrip also seems to be the main thoroughfare in that part of town and we always generate a lot of attention when we go.

Again a good flight followed by a horrendous storm about 2 hrs after landing. We got to see some missionaries here that Paul had flown for about 2 years ago so it was great to catch up again.

We asked you to pray about the fuel and the good news was that those places that said they had it, actually did, so we were able to fill up without problem.
The one military place we landed at only kept us waiting for an hour whilst they 'confirmed' our landing clearance.
The weather played ball and even though there were storms around, there was enough clear for us to pick a way through.

We met many people and listened to some amazing testimonies of what God is doing in Moz. We heard of a Muslim child that was having fits and the hospital were unable to stop them, the father then took the boy to Christians who prayed for him and the fits stopped. The father and mother said that they would remain Muslims but said that the child could be taught about Christianity and attend church as they had saved his life, they later sent their other kids too!

Thanks again for your prayers and support.

P n' C

2005 Summary

Firstly, thanks to all of you who have written and supported us over the last year, we really appreciate it even though communication from our side has been somewhat lacking, we do think of you often, honest!

An exceptionally busy African winter has now given way to a more normally paced summer. Office work, however, remains as busy as ever. We won’t repeat all the Mercy Air news letter stuff but we’ll try and fill you in on family news.

Matthew finally reached adulthood on the 25th of November. He turned 21 which makes us feel a little wrinkly but we’re very proud of the guy he’s turned out to be. In February he will begin his 3rd year at uni and will specialise in photo-journalism. Recently he had a hair cut to help raise money for cancer awareness, see below.


Cathy has had a varied few months working with Africa School of Missions (ASM). She has been on a number of flights with Paul since we last wrote, the highlight of which was a trip to Nampula in northern Mozambique for 10 days. The Mozambique Hub (see MA newsletter) held a networking conference there for missionaries so Cathy got to see some of the mums again whom she had cared for during their pregnancies. She was also involved with a first aid training course.

The ASM mobile clinic remains very challenging not only because of the large number of patients but also because many of those seen are affected/infected with HIV/AIDS. Cathy’s involved with preparing patients for testing as well as post test counselling. As all the staff at the clinic are Christians, and known to be from a Bible college, they can openly share their faith and the hope that there is in Jesus. If it wasn’t for this, the work at the clinic would be totally depressing!

Many of the flights that Paul has done are mentioned in the Mercy Air news letter. A milestone was reached on one flight when he passed his 1000 hour mark.
Generally he’s doing fine, and getting out and about on his mountain bike when time and energy allow.

All that remains is for us to wish you a very merry Christmas and happy New Year, and to thank you all once again for your letters, support and prayer.

Paul & Cathy

Moz, Lesotho, Zambia

I've been trying to find a spare half hour to write a quick update for ages and if I don't manage it now I can see it being at least another couple of weeks, otherwise you might all think we have fell off our side of the world.

What's been happening? Good question, and as it happens almost too much to write down in a few lines.

The flying has been hectic of late. Mercy Air has often had all it's planes out at the same time and we haven't had a staff meeting with all present for ages. I myself have visited 14 international airports in four countries in the last few weeks. Some of the highlights include:

Last week I did a flight for Dorcas Aid. They are a Dutch Christian Aid organisation who have many projects around the world. We spent a week flying a group of business people, who were either sponsors or potential sponsors and visited various projects in Mozambique, SA and Lesotho. We went to many places and saw much poverty but also the hope that is provided by an organisation who base their ethos on biblical principals. To be honest what I saw revived my faith in Aid Organisations and I was pleased to be a small part of bringing more hope to people who seemingly had none.

It felt strange going back to Lesotho but I managed to see some old frinnds for the one night I was there.

Yesterday we were about to leave for church when we got a call from a missionary in Mozambique saying that their local pastor had been taken seriously ill with a burst appendix. He was at least 12 hours drive from a hospital where they could operate and it was critical that he got there the same day. Using one of our fast twin engine planes Cathy and I were able to reach him in less that two hours and transport him to Maputo an hour and a half later. He would almost certainly of died had we not been able to provide a prompt response, although his condition is still serious and we would ask you to pray for him.

On another occasion I was fortunate enough to get a flight down the coast all the way to Cape Town with a small team.

Last week I took a mission team up to Northern Zambia and helped with the construction of an orphanage. A bonus here was flying over Victoria Falls on the way up and again on the way down.


Right now I am stuck at home. Today I was supposed to fly a team up to eastern Zimbabwe but the weather played it's joker and fogged us in the whole day. As I type, we are swapping stories with the passengers in our lounge who are now staying the night and planning a death 'o' clock start tomorrow morning.

For most of the last month we have had all four Mercy Air planes out in Moz at the same time. Our 'big' plane spent two weeks with a group from Medical Ministry International doing eye and dental work in a Muslim village in the very north of Moz. During their time they saw over 900 patients. At the same time out smallest aircraft was shuttling missionaries in and out of a town in mid Moz and also flew a mission trip to Zimbabwe.

We had a camera crew with us recently doing a small article for national TV, they were so impressed that they suggested a full on documentary sometime in the future.

We have also been very busy with guests and have had an almost constant stream of people visiting 'Chez Middleton' for periods ranging from just a night to a month. We even had to carefully book Matthew in when he came home from Uni. At the mo we have Rob and Issy Ford with us and if things work out right we plan to get away next week and tour Swaziland and N Natal together. This will be our first proper holiday since we arrived at Mercy Air over two years ago. Two weeks after they leave we will host another friend for three months who is visiting to help out with various projects on the farm

Matthew's back down in Grahamstown after a 17 hour drive and is not due back for another month.

Thanks for reading this. Hopefully chat again soon.

pcm

Moz Hub Conference

We just got back late last night at the end of ten days in N. Moz.

Cathy and I took a plane load of people up to N. Moz for a missions conference. Just getting there involved 1400 miles and over seven hours of flying. Cathy was part of a medical team we provided to help the missionaries up there.

The conference went very well with up to 60 missionaries attending at times. We saw some old friends and met plenty of new people who we might be able to work with in the future. It took us 7 1/2 hours by plane and can take up to five days for the missionaries to drive. Because of this, the Hub arranged for us to take a number of specialists up with us including a Dentist, Vet, Agricultural bloke, Doctor, Nurses (including Cathy), Hairdresser/beautician (for the ladies!), and a home Schooling advisor. The week also included a Language Accusition Course to help new missionaries learn the various languages of the numerous 'un-reached people groups'.

Cathy taking someone's blood pressure.

The dentist doing a check up on a mission kid.


One of these landed on my head the same night as I was walking through the compound where we stayed.


Not all fun and games. A Puff AdderI trod on one night. He was alive at the time but the application of a big stick soon sorted that out.

Thanks.

P n' C

In brief

Sorry, I think we've slipped a bit by not being in touch for a while.

Again its cos we've been up to our necks in all sorts of ... stuff (office work, planning for flights, installing a wood burning stove, house maintenance etc) and the flight bookings board has just sprouted a plethora of entries so we figured we'd best write now before we're completely immersed. We are just about to post our next newsletter out so we won't duplicate many of the juicy bits here, but this should give you a rough idea of what's up down here.

Cathy has been particularly involved in a number of home births. Some of these have been for friends of ours at the church we attend – that is, the friends go to our church but the deliveries were at their homes – you knew that! The one was quite a drawn out affair as Cathy left our house at 04:00 in the morning and returned at 03:30 the following day.

Paul has been out flying a few times with his latest trip being a one day outing taking some British visitors to a Christian couple’s citrus farm on the Zimbabwe border. Looming large on the horizon are a number of possible mission flights to Moz. Two of them involve medical teams (dentistry, dispensing glasses and primary health care etc), another is a work team for another flying mission and there is one flight to a week long missions conference that both of us will go on. There are also a number of flights where we will just pick up members of teams from Moz at the end of their mission and bring them back to SA.

Matthew is coping well at uni. He is finding second year a step up from his initial uni experience as evidenced by the reduction in communication from him.

Lastly, to prove that a little fun is still possible, we went to visit friends in Swaziland this last week end and took part in a mountain bike race - held in a game park. I must say I felt a little like those bowls of sushi you see on conveyor belts as we cycled through the grass lands. We saw quite a few things during the race but fortunately none of them had big teeth and felt hungry.


Paul & Cathy