"Oh NO!" and the nameless puppy puppet make their grand entrance...
This week started out wonderfully. We had a great time at VBS today... and although to outsiders Im sure it would have looked like barelycontained chaos, I thought we managed to keep things going quite well. The games went really well, and the kids had a blast with our juice drinking relay and the various wet sponge games. Anything involving water is a welcome activity in this heat! “ OH NO” the puppet, and his new friend Sariah, the dog (also a puppet) were a huge hit! 
kim and Sariah waiting for their part 
grape koolaid- they loved this game!!
We left the school shortly after noon on our way to Chimoio to apply for our DIREs. Several young guys hitched a ride down the long school driveway with us in the back of the pickup. It was definitely a “God Thing” that we decided to offer them rides (we normally don’t). We had to stop about ten minutes later to drop them off, which is when we noticed the back passenger side wheel was SMOKING!!! We got it cooled down, did a quick inspection, and decided to see if we could make it to town.. whatever had caused the problem was gone though and we made it to town without further problems. We stopped several times to check... but no more wheel trouble. PHEW!
Then we go to Immigration to apply for our DIRE’s. Where after waiting for over an hour we are escorted to the boss’s office upstairs and informed we should have applied for this immediately upon arriving, we don’t have the right form and we need copies of some other paper that has mysteriously disappeared from religious affairs. Fine. So we go downstairs after being quizzed by the immigration boss, to request the correct form because its only 3:10 and they don’t close until 3:30. There I am informed that I can’t have the form until tomorrow. Why I ask, are you not still open? Yes he says.. and then.. he says (and i quote, although i am going to translate this to English) “Yes we are open but for the 20 minutes before we close we don’t do anything.” Now.. I know things work differently here, but really- do i have to say how bizarre that is? This is Africa at its best.
Then we hop in the car, and go stop for gas. I rolled down my window, and Rick did his too BC its terribly hot sitting in the car with the windows up. It’s another “God Thing” that we made that small move to roll down our windows. Because once we figured out the gas station was out of diesel and tried to start the car nothing happened. NOTHING. No click, no nada. Now here is where that really long trip back in feburary where our cavellier kept quitting comes in. We thought God was just teaching us to trust in Him, which he was! But apparently he was also teaching us how to recognise signs that your relay switch is dead and how to start a vehicle by touching the two posts of the starter together.. Which is of course what we had to do for the rest of our trip (in February and now!). The windows were stuck down because we had no power to them as well.
We stopped at the mechanics, where they had no idea if they had a relay switch, and upon inspecting our front end, were not sure they knew what one was! (Again, a small “God Thing” here. The mechanics took pity on us and let me and Kim sit in the air conditioned office while we waited!!) So off we left for home, with the hot wind blowing in our faces- which is way better than the hot air blowing at us out of the vents when the windows are closed!
Then on the way home, this clanking noise under the vehicle became very persistant. (I promise to you I am not making this stuff up!) We have a lot of clanking noises with this truck, but this was a new one. And it only happens when the clutch/ brakes are engaged. This cant be good. We got out, checked to see if anything was hanging or loose and decided to pray, and go! We praise God that we are home and in one piece.
kim and Sariah waiting for their part grape koolaid- they loved this game!!
We left the school shortly after noon on our way to Chimoio to apply for our DIREs. Several young guys hitched a ride down the long school driveway with us in the back of the pickup. It was definitely a “God Thing” that we decided to offer them rides (we normally don’t). We had to stop about ten minutes later to drop them off, which is when we noticed the back passenger side wheel was SMOKING!!! We got it cooled down, did a quick inspection, and decided to see if we could make it to town.. whatever had caused the problem was gone though and we made it to town without further problems. We stopped several times to check... but no more wheel trouble. PHEW!
Then we go to Immigration to apply for our DIRE’s. Where after waiting for over an hour we are escorted to the boss’s office upstairs and informed we should have applied for this immediately upon arriving, we don’t have the right form and we need copies of some other paper that has mysteriously disappeared from religious affairs. Fine. So we go downstairs after being quizzed by the immigration boss, to request the correct form because its only 3:10 and they don’t close until 3:30. There I am informed that I can’t have the form until tomorrow. Why I ask, are you not still open? Yes he says.. and then.. he says (and i quote, although i am going to translate this to English) “Yes we are open but for the 20 minutes before we close we don’t do anything.” Now.. I know things work differently here, but really- do i have to say how bizarre that is? This is Africa at its best.
Then we hop in the car, and go stop for gas. I rolled down my window, and Rick did his too BC its terribly hot sitting in the car with the windows up. It’s another “God Thing” that we made that small move to roll down our windows. Because once we figured out the gas station was out of diesel and tried to start the car nothing happened. NOTHING. No click, no nada. Now here is where that really long trip back in feburary where our cavellier kept quitting comes in. We thought God was just teaching us to trust in Him, which he was! But apparently he was also teaching us how to recognise signs that your relay switch is dead and how to start a vehicle by touching the two posts of the starter together.. Which is of course what we had to do for the rest of our trip (in February and now!). The windows were stuck down because we had no power to them as well.
We stopped at the mechanics, where they had no idea if they had a relay switch, and upon inspecting our front end, were not sure they knew what one was! (Again, a small “God Thing” here. The mechanics took pity on us and let me and Kim sit in the air conditioned office while we waited!!) So off we left for home, with the hot wind blowing in our faces- which is way better than the hot air blowing at us out of the vents when the windows are closed!
Then on the way home, this clanking noise under the vehicle became very persistant. (I promise to you I am not making this stuff up!) We have a lot of clanking noises with this truck, but this was a new one. And it only happens when the clutch/ brakes are engaged. This cant be good. We got out, checked to see if anything was hanging or loose and decided to pray, and go! We praise God that we are home and in one piece. 
awesome sunset we saw on the way home from town
It is amazing to us how God can bring situations into our way (ie, boys wanting a ride, opening the windows for air at the gas station, a cavellier in febuary that wont start with the same symptoms as our truck here!) that teach us to rely on His faithfulness even more! Are we still frustrated? Yes. Are we still wondering how this truck is going to make the journey to South Africa? Yes. But we know God will make a way. Its days like this that remind us who is in control. And that we need to depend on Him. Also, days like this show us just how important it is to have people praying for us. Your prayers mean so much to us. We praise God for a great start to our VBS, and are looking forward to two weeks of fun and learning with the kids! God Bless, Heather and Rick
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