Donations, Disabilities and a Dog chase!

The last time we updated you we were running to raise money for a house at Beulah and recovering from the death of our dog, Oliver. Well the saga continues…

In terms of running to raise money to build a house, things have been going pretty well. The team of staff at Beulah have all joined the effort now, running round the Beulah Orchard regularly, not just for the house but also to help put down concrete foundations for 2 big army style tents that have been donated. Bits of funding have come in here and there but then just a couple of days ago we received a big  donation which has really helped (though who it’s from remains a bit of a mystery!).

If you want to watch the short video we made about or running endeavours, go here: https://youtu.be/T53CrSHL3r8?si=IjD5bGgXS-Fb5gYc

It’s great to see the land where our house will be built being cleared and all the materials arriving to get started!

A lot of our time at the moment is just preparing Beulah for its future ministries, not just accommodation needs but also things like disabled access in and around the site. This is something extremely rare in Zambia and so it’s great that again funds have come in to put new concrete pathways. We really hope this will be a place everyone can come to enjoy and grow in their relationship with God.

And now the dog-chase saga…

After Oliver died, our remaining puppy (Bobby) seemed to renew his attempts to chase after us when we left home. Despite us increasing the height of our fences, his new found loneliness just seemed to make him more determined than ever to escape.

Gemma was of course worried and so put a key fob with our name and phone number on his collar. On Sunday morning that seemed to have been just the right thing to do as just after we arrived at church my phone rang to say Bobby had been found on the road about 1km from our house. Thankfully we knew the people that found him and they went to put him back. But, of course, despite their best efforts by the time we were coming home from church there he was again - on the road - and with someone else pulled over giving him some comfort and attention.

On Monday morning we left him again but this time with someone in the garden to keep an eye on him. We’d been at Beulah about 25 minutes when the call came! But this time it was from a group of men on a beer truck! They drive long distances with big containers of beer on the back of their lorry, stopping in all the local villages to sell it. And seeing Bobby with his collar, they clearly saw a ‘business’ opportunity!

Wanting money for their kind act of phoning, they refused to leave Bobby at the side of the road and took him with them in their truck. They also turned off their phone so we couldn’t call them back! I drove back home to find the man who’d been trying to keep an eye on Bobby in the road on his bicycle. He had seen the beer truck drive off and didn’t know what to do. Putting his bike in the car, we drove together through place after place looking for Bobby and the beer truck. When we eventually found him, I was feeling pretty annoyed and didn’t really want to pay these guys for their trouble (plus I only had one bank note with me, tucked in the back of my phone). My friend approached the truck and opened the passenger door to retrieve Bobby. But as he started walking back to the car, the truckers came shouting and chasing after him. Before I knew it and obviously fearing they weren’t going to get paid, one of the men had reached in through the passenger window of the car, grabbed my phone and run off with it!! It felt like a nightmare! Now I had to try and get my phone back and of course, now I really had no money to give them! Aargh!

It seems crazy, but we had to give Bobby back to them in order to get my phone! And then, when I said all I could give them was the one bank note I now had on me again, they took him back into their truck and started driving off again - this time saying they were going to the police in a village 10km or more away!

At this point I knew I hadn’t handled things very well and was considering just turning around and going home (even without Bobby). If only I’d been more gracious and expressed thanks to these truckers from the outset, maybe things would have been easier.

So there I am following the truck and considering giving up, when the truck comes to a stop and all the men jump out and start looking underneath the vehicle. I don’t know what was wrong but I decided to turn my car around anyway and to start driving away. As I did, I saw the truckers take Bobby out and start bringing him towards me. Filled with relief I gave them the lonely banknote (though they still weren’t happy) and headed home.

Today I was reading about the Israelites leaving Egypt and being pursued by Pharaoh’s armies into the Red Sea. When the Israelites feared the worst and started to panic, Moses told them “The Lord will fight for you, you need only to be still” (Exodus 14:14). Then later, when the Egyptians chased them into the middle of the waters, we’re told “He (God) made the wheels of their chariots come off so they had difficulty driving” (14:25)!

Make of it what you will, but in all we go through, I’m convinced the best thing to do is to “be still” and trust in God and His amazing provision.

👆🏻Finally back to school after 5 months! 🙌🏻

Tim and Bobby enjoying their hammock chair 👇🏻