Tuesday
I left Windhoek at 7.30am. Bustled into the next minibus to leave to city heading north for an 8 hour trip. The speedo on the bus was disconnected, I suspect for the comfort
of the passengers who would otherwise be very nervous. We made very good time and stopped only twice for the 15 passengers to stretch their legs, and powder their noses etc.I was met in Oshikati by the Greeffs, CMS missionary family who have been living and working in northern Namibia for 2 years. David co-ordinates the distance ed. program of NETS for the top half of the country. The main purpose of my visit was to learn something of the Ovambo culture and to see the work of NETS (through David) in this part of the country.
I stayed with the Greeffs in Ongwediva. They were very generous and gracious hosts... and I slept well!
Wednesday
David and I began the day with a trip to the prison at Ondangwa. There had been plans to visit other places beginning with 'O' (almost every town in Ovamboland begins with 'O'), but the flood waters made it impossible. In the prison on this day I met three men who gave me much more encouragement than I could ever give them I am sure. They shared something of their stories with David and I.
Risto told us that before he came to prison, his best friend had been his gun. When he began in prison he was a violent, aggressive prisoner. He was invited to go to the prison church... and he laughed. Two months later he wanted to go to the church but felt too ashamed. He was befriended by one of the prisoners who told him about Jesus, read the Bible with him and brought him to church. Risto gave his life to Jesus 2 years ago now. When I met him he was preparing to preach that Sunday in the prison church! He is enrolled int he NETS distance program. During the last week a prison warden who hadn't seen him for two years asked, "How did a man like you become a good man?" Risto is now talking to this warden about what a difference Jesus would make to his life.
Stephanos told me, "I had to come to gaol to become a free man." He too was befriended by the same prisoner as Risto, and had since given his life to the Lord Jesus. Stephanos told us that he found it difficult to find time to read his Bible. He was locked in a cell with 14 other men at night. The cell was only designed to fit 9 men. I was very sympathetic to his struggle with finding time to read the Bible.
The third prisoner urged Stephanos to follow his example in Bible reading. His name was Kambahu and he was the man who had led both Risto and Stephanos to the Lord Jesus. When he spoke, he had such credibility and power. Kambahu is a bright, articulate and passionate man... but above all he is a man who has so clearly given his life over the kingship of Jesus. What was his tip about Bible reading?
"Go to sleep straight after dinner before the others come into the cell and start making noise. Then wake up at 10 or 11pm, after lights out when everyone else is asleep. Then you can lie on the floor near the toilet door or sit on the toilet and read by the toilet light."
Using this habit, Kambahu not only keeps up his personal Bible reading pattern, but also studies the NETS distance program. He is progressing through the Certificate in Theology more quickly than any other student has ever done!
Thursday
David dropped me back to prison by myself to meet with the three men I had already met, and also another three men and three women who are all studying through the NETS distance program. I led a workshop about baptism. We met for 3 hours, and the time just flew by. Kambahu translated for me and although I have no idea what he said in Oshiwambo... it somehow sounded much better when he said it than when I said it. My time in the prison with these brothers and sisters in Christ was fantastic. I can easily see why David enjoys it so much himself.
That evening David and I went to Oshikati for a Bible study group that David meets with each week. Many of the members of the group are pastors themselves. The flood waters were high in Oshikati that night. One of the pastors who came left 40 people from his church camped out in his home, with the waters lapping at the back door. We drove through water almost a metre deep to get there, and had to pull another car out on the way through. But such is the hunger for God's word, and the ministry of David, that people came!
Friday
We spent the morning in Oshikati. We were going to help the pastor with the 40 guests to move them all to higher ground, but mercifully the waters had gone down. After lunch we drove to Onangwe Anglican church. An hour or so off the beaten track, through more flooded rivers, pulling out another
car on the way. The church building seats more than two hundred people and gets more than 150 most weeks... but all you can see from there is bush. This is is the heart of subsistence farming land. The Ovambo homestead houses an extended family and each family has its own mahangu crop and perhaps a dozen animals (Cows, goats, donkeys) People walk to church, some for more than an hour.
We met there that afternoon with the leaders of the Parish. The clergyman and the lay preachers are all enrolled as NETS students. We talked about Jesus building his church (from Matthew 16), and how the confession of Jesus as Lord had to be at the heart of everything that the church did. They shared with us the frustration of a church where people would sing God's praises on a Sunday... but give Jesus no place in their lives the rest of the week.That night we stayed in a guest house at Eenhana. (The only place I visited all week that didn't start with 'O') I ordered 'mahangu porridge and meat' for tea. It was delicious and very filling.
Saturday
We set out for Odibo in the morning. This is the heartland of the Anglican church in Namibia. The original mission station is still the dominant influence in the area. A large school, hospital and church building... in an area with very few other buildings. We visited a lovely, elderly Christian man in the hospital. He asked us to visit his family in their homestead. We did this and were invited in to look around their home and have a drink of omagongo. This is a drink made from fermented marula fruit. Definitely an acquired taste... but it did leave me with a tingling warm glow! Apparently traditionally at this time of year men were not
allowed to carry knives for two months. The reason being that under the influence of omagongo - men do stupid things!
From there we travelled around the floodwaters once again, to Oshikango this time, a town right on the Angolan border. We arrived to meet with the leaders of a small Pentecostal church. Their church building (a tent) was about waste deep in water, so we met in the shade of a big tree on the edge of an 'informal settlement' (ie. shanty town). The Pastor of this church had never been to school, but had taught himself to read because he wanted to read the Bible. He and three other church members are now enrolled in the NETS distance program. As David taught an overview of the Bible, sticking visual aids on the side of his backie (ie. ute), you could see the excitement of the group growing. As 
David talked about Abraham being blessed and given promises before he did anything... and Israel only being given the law after they had been saved... the group grasped the gospel of grace. They were just as excited as I was when I first understood that God loved me despite all of the things I had done, thought and said. I imagine that the message preached on Easter Sunday this year at that church would be full in a fresh way, of the hope and joy that Jesus rose to bring.That night David and I arrived back to his home absolutely exhausted (again).
Sunday
Many years ago in the north of Namibia the Anglicans, Lutherans and Roman Catholics came to an agreement that meant that each denomination did evangelism and church planting in different places. In most remote villages then, there is only one church. We spent Friday and Saturday in 'Anglican territory', and on Sunday morning we drove west across more flooded rivers into the 'Lutheran territory'. 
After the service David conducted a workshop for about a dozen people in the congregation, many of whom signed up on the spot to begin the NETS distance course. In these remote villages there are no Bible study groups or other outlets for people who want to know more about the Lord Jesus. The NETS course fills a great need for leaders and lay people alike.
Monday
Feeling absolutely spent I got up early and David dropped me at the markets in Oshikati to catch a mini-bus / taxi home. I secured a seat in a good looking bus at 7.15am and just had to wait for the bus to fill up with passengers so that it could leave for Windhoek. At 3.45pm we finally pulled out on to the road south.
In my 8 and half hour wait, I managed to;
- Finish off a sermon that I was to preach the next morning in NETS chapel
- Read and pray through a number of Psalms (I am reading through Psalms by myself each day at the moment)
- Walk through the local markets
- Have my photo taken with a stall holder - for an advertisement for his wall (a picture of the two of us smiling under the caption 'just one of my happy customers')
- Locate, buy and eat my first fresh mopane worm (much to the amusement of the crowd that had gathered to watch the white bloke put this thing in his mouth)
We had a slow trip home and I finally kicked my shoes off at 12.45am.
I was thoroughly washed out... but this is one week I don't I'll ever forget!
