Matema Beach - by Lake NyasaMatema seems to be a magical place. One day there and I feel I have been there a whole week soaking up its beauty, letting the early morning mistyness over the mountains refresh my soul as I sit there having my quiet time and watching the sun rising over the peaks, swimming in the fresh waters of the lake or feeling the sun warm me through as I lie on the beach with a book. That all sounds very romanticised – I’ll put it down to reading Anne of Green Gables! However, it truly is a beautiful spot. The ride there wasn’t quite so enjoyable, but so long as you could ignore the discomfort of sitting on the narrow uncomfy seats of a rattly daladala, it was a pleasant, if rather long journey, made all the more pleasurable by good company – the Wisbeys together with Matt’s family who are visiting (see picture). On the way back from our trip we visited the Bridge of God – a remarkable natural structure (see picture).
This all came after holding a follow-up workshop for Sunday School teachers in a town down towards the lake. The feedback was really encouraging from the few teachers that came – it seems that they have really tried to use some of the things that they learned in the earlier training they received, and that it’s producing results – such as the children understanding better and more children coming.
On arrival back in Mbeya we were confronted with the kind of issue that you might think we face regularly living in Africa, but which we actually face very rarely in our daily lives – the guard at the Wisbey’s compound had sent his baby to a witch doctor because it was ill. I won’t go into detail as it would make a whole blog on its own, suffice to say, this episode, coupled with hearing about the reality of withcraft from a Christian lady working with street children, all in the same week, has aroused fresh awareness of the spiritual battle that we face.
On a happier note – the rest of the day finished off in a fun way as I joined Karin briefly for her birthday ‘party’ and then went out for a Chinese (can you believe we have a Chinese restaurant here?!!)
This all came after holding a follow-up workshop for Sunday School teachers in a town down towards the lake. The feedback was really encouraging from the few teachers that came – it seems that they have really tried to use some of the things that they learned in the earlier training they received, and that it’s producing results – such as the children understanding better and more children coming.
On arrival back in Mbeya we were confronted with the kind of issue that you might think we face regularly living in Africa, but which we actually face very rarely in our daily lives – the guard at the Wisbey’s compound had sent his baby to a witch doctor because it was ill. I won’t go into detail as it would make a whole blog on its own, suffice to say, this episode, coupled with hearing about the reality of withcraft from a Christian lady working with street children, all in the same week, has aroused fresh awareness of the spiritual battle that we face.
On a happier note – the rest of the day finished off in a fun way as I joined Karin briefly for her birthday ‘party’ and then went out for a Chinese (can you believe we have a Chinese restaurant here?!!)
No comments:
Post a Comment