Road Trip!

Having heard that we were moving back to Zambia, a missionary friend recently got in touch to offer us a whole variety of stuff to help us get started - camping equipment, kitchen appliances, even furniture - all stored in Ndola, for us to look through and borrow if we wanted to - all we'd need to do is collect it.  Now, of course we didn't want to pass up such an incredibly kind and loving offer, so we began to consider how we might do it.  As we may have mentioned before, Ndola is about a 4-4.5 hour drive from Mkushi where we're now based, and we were probably going to need a truck!

Well, we started to ask around and soon discovered that Beulah, the discipleship centre we’re moving to this weekend, actually was expecting its own, newly modified truck to be delivered today… and it was coming through Ndola! This bright yellow truck (formerly an Army vehicle) has been entirely redesigned for use on the outreach phase of our 5 month DTS - it’s pretty cool, but more on that another time! Anyway, the driver (who both designed the truck AND who reckons he can find us seatbelts for our Landcruiser!!) agreed to meet us in Ndola and collect whatever we needed - Amazing!

So this morning, at 5am, we set off - praying that all would go well and particularly for safety.  To get to Ndola we use both dirt roads and tarmac but in many ways I prefer the dirt. If you look closely at the photo above, you can see how the tar on the main road has sunk under the weight of heavy trucks, leaving  some fairly deep ridges to try and stay in as you drive. With big trucks coming in both directions, it’s can be a bit daunting - especially when it comes to overtaking!!

Sorry the windscreen is a bit dirty in that photo by the way - we had another comical moment yesterday with our landcruiser when we went to fill it up with fuel. Not only would the diesel flap not click shut until I helped it along with my penknife but then when the fuel attendant went to ‘squidgy’ our windscreen for us (as our windscreen washer doesn’t work) one of the wipers just came off completely in his hand!! He seemed very relieved when we told him not to worry about it and saw the funny side, but I’m not sure simply  keep reattaching it with cable ties is the best solution…

Anyway, considering the long journey to Ndola and back again, the various people we had to meet at set times to give us access to stored items and then get it all loaded up and on it’s way back to Mkushi, we’re really rather pleased with how well it’s all gone.  People have been incredibly generous, old friends offering us all sorts of things along the way, and our vehicle lives to see another day!

We really can’t help but smile at God’s faithfulness and provision!