Things are hotting up - our third trip to Kondoa is around the corner. We fly on 11th September. Last week, I go the news that I needed an operation that could not wait. "What about my flight to Africa in mid-September?" I said. "I have been asked to go and speak at a conference." So the doctor spent 30 minutes ringing various people and making it possible for the op to happen and for me to have the requisite 6 weeks' recovery time for safe flying in mid-September. Amazing! I was very touched at how kind she was and how much trouble she took.
We have three people confirmed to come with us as team members. One is an old friend from New Plymouth area, and two are fellow-members of St Stephen's.
As for the jam... my sister has been helping me the last few days and we are going to have Three Fruit Marmalade plus (I sincerely hope) some Feijoa Jam made to keep the sales table well stocked while I am away.
I have recently come to the $1,500 mark in the bank to pass on to the Clergy Children's Education fund in Kondoa. So I will send that asap. I wanted to do that before I left for Kondoa and am really pleased we made it together. I couldn't do it without my faithful customers, my friends who bring jars and those who bring fruit. Thank you SO much!
Education is very important. This photo is one of the door of a small office in the side of the cathedral in Kondoa. This office is where plans are made to teach about health in the far-flung villages of Kondoa. Just a simple thing like telling mothers that eating their meat and their fruit in the same meal can make the difference between a tired, irritable, poorly concentrating mother who can't cope with her children, and a woman who knows how to eat to maximise the uptake of iron to replenish what blood she lost in childbirth.
So simple and yet it makes such a difference. When we go, we will be teaching simple things that will make a huge difference in how the people walk in the power of the Spirit as they heal the sick, cast out demons, raise the dead and cleanse lepers by the power of God. Teaching on the kingdom of God is vitally important as we seek to empower Kondoan Christians to spread the good news in effective evangelism. Power evangelism :-) The apostle Paul wrote to the effect that he did not come just with words, but with power. So let it be for the Kondoan evangelists of today!