Chegei (Arrived)

Hey y'all,

Happy New Year! I have arrived safely in Lubango, Angola. A summary of the first few days:

I arrived into Heathrow Airport quite refreshed after being upgraded to first class, which I was very thankful for, especially since it also comes with access to an express customs line and a shower at the arrival lounge. With a six-hour layover before the flight to Johannesburg, I took the Underground (of “Mind the Gap” fame) into central London and had a bowl of congee with a good friend from Vancouver, S. Pong. It was possibly my last taste of Chinese food for at least a month, though Chinese restaurants seem to be as ubiquitous as Coca-Cola these days.

The flight to Jo’Burg was not as luxurious, though I got a decent amount of sleep, and was not hampered by as big a time change. I was also very glad that I had my luggage checked all the way from Vancouver to Namibia, thus avoiding lengthy customs lines. After a 4 hour wait, I was on my way to Namibia, a short flight where I was able to sample some South Africa-brewed Czech pilsen (yes, quite a strange combination).

Namibia is an English-speaking country that is relatively wealthy by African standards, despite the fact that more than one out of four inhabitants is infected with HIV. I landed in the capital Windhoek, and had a good night of rest at a Guest House in town. At the supermarket, the prices were comparable to that of Canada, and one would have mistaken the core of the city for that of a first world country. I happened to stay next door to a German missionary family who is stationed in Malawi and had worked with Ben T there. What a small world! The next day, I visited the national museum, and learned about the interesting history of this nation (independence was less than 15 years ago). By the way, many of the founding fathers of this nation had gone to university in North America, so for those of you in university – you could be sitting next to a future African president the next time you have class!

The flight to Lubango was nearly empty, and I arrived at a tiny airport, which probably only receives a couple of commercial flights a week. Passing through the small customs outpost was not a problem, since Dr. Stephen met me there. We then drove directly from the airport to Dr. Stephen’s brother’s farm (2 hours away), where several other missionary families were gathering over the weekend to celebrate New Years. Stirling, who has an agriculture degree from NC State University, is establishing a farm there, with over 20,000 hectares and 2000 heads of cattle, employing almost 300 Angolans in the process. They have now established a school (which otherwise would have been inaccessible to these people) and a church has also been planted. Certainly, this country can use more people like him who has a vision for serving through agriculture and education. Most of the Angolans who work at his farm are from an unreached people group, and we hope that those who come to know about Jesus will take this important message back to their villages.

At the farm, I was able to rest and relax, get rid of the jet-lag, and get to know the families. The stars were awesome, and so was the hunting. Yes – me, a city dweller, went hunting my second day in Africa (fortunately, the shooting was performed by the more experienced). We shot a couple of doves and a few small animals, but unfortunately came away with not more than a snack. I am very thankful for the weekend of rest, and was very ready for my first day of Surgery yesterday (Monday), which I will write more about in the next “installment”.