A strange tune was playing from Len's side of the room. It stopped, and I slept again. Then the tune started up anew. Len had bought an MTN SIM card for his data dongle: "I couldn't get it to stop," he conceded. But 'it' wasn't his dongle, it was Gladys' mobile phone, that she'd forgetfully left in the bedroom. And because of the commitment to round-the-clock prayer times, she had alarms set for 4.30am and 5.30am. Meanwhile, Len had thought 'it' was my travel alarm. Thus we were pitched into the day, whether we'd sufficiently caught up on sleep or not.
Steven excused himself from breakfast so he could dash down to the church and keep an eye on registration and other preparations. He'd thoughtfully arranged for a sheet stretched over a wooden frame to be set up for our projector screen. I had oats and hot milk, and Len had toast and Marmite. He was missing his favourite de-caff tea.
George arrived with his van, and we took a circuitous route to pick up the other four. They'd obviously enjoyed every minute with their respective hosts. Hannah and Ali related with relish having tracked down and squashed two mosquitoes. Their approach had been less genocidal than Len's toxic spray.
Steven's church had been repainted and now boasts a perimeter wall. Three years ago half the premises were unused, but now they run the school, a sewing workshop (equipped by Work-Aid) and the newly installed Internet Cafe for which we'd been raising funds. It's all a creditable achievement, and a high standard. First to greet us with his broad smile was Emil, who attended MILC UK in 2012.
The morning sessions went well, at 11.00am. The remainder of the team shot off to see these other parts of the set-up, which they'll be immersed in for most of their stays. They were thoughtful over lunch, especially Jimmie, which was probably a good sign. We led the afternoon with a question and answer session, which responded well to what the hundred-plus delegates wanted to hear about. Church businesses came high on the agenda. Len rounded off with a hearty presentation on servant leadership, and we sent everyone home with a question to think about ready for our opening workshop tomorrow.
The band assembled for a practise, and Ali led a group of the children into the main hall for some spontaneous worship and dance. This was what she'd come for. "Is your heart broken, yet?" I asked Hannah. She nodded.
We took a leisurely trip back into town to buy a few things from an Airtel staff and the busy Shoprite, and then reached Steven's home again. He returned, looking tired, at a slightly more civilised hour than yesterday, but in a heavy rainstorm We enjoyed beef stew and rice, rounded off with fresh fruit. I explained about my partial church discipline, and Steven grunted his understanding about getting over-stressy when you let problems mount up. We planned tomorrow's sessions, including a lot of group work on leadership teams. Another heavy rain storm
Len had spent all evening unsuccessfully trying to get his dongle to - er, dong? I quickly precis'd some PowerPoints to print as handouts, and went to bed.
Steven excused himself from breakfast so he could dash down to the church and keep an eye on registration and other preparations. He'd thoughtfully arranged for a sheet stretched over a wooden frame to be set up for our projector screen. I had oats and hot milk, and Len had toast and Marmite. He was missing his favourite de-caff tea.
Steven's church had been repainted and now boasts a perimeter wall. Three years ago half the premises were unused, but now they run the school, a sewing workshop (equipped by Work-Aid) and the newly installed Internet Cafe for which we'd been raising funds. It's all a creditable achievement, and a high standard. First to greet us with his broad smile was Emil, who attended MILC UK in 2012.
The morning sessions went well, at 11.00am. The remainder of the team shot off to see these other parts of the set-up, which they'll be immersed in for most of their stays. They were thoughtful over lunch, especially Jimmie, which was probably a good sign. We led the afternoon with a question and answer session, which responded well to what the hundred-plus delegates wanted to hear about. Church businesses came high on the agenda. Len rounded off with a hearty presentation on servant leadership, and we sent everyone home with a question to think about ready for our opening workshop tomorrow.
The band assembled for a practise, and Ali led a group of the children into the main hall for some spontaneous worship and dance. This was what she'd come for. "Is your heart broken, yet?" I asked Hannah. She nodded.
We took a leisurely trip back into town to buy a few things from an Airtel staff and the busy Shoprite, and then reached Steven's home again. He returned, looking tired, at a slightly more civilised hour than yesterday, but in a heavy rainstorm We enjoyed beef stew and rice, rounded off with fresh fruit. I explained about my partial church discipline, and Steven grunted his understanding about getting over-stressy when you let problems mount up. We planned tomorrow's sessions, including a lot of group work on leadership teams. Another heavy rain storm
Len had spent all evening unsuccessfully trying to get his dongle to - er, dong? I quickly precis'd some PowerPoints to print as handouts, and went to bed.
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