New Foundations

Anthony, one of the Senior workers was featured in the last newsletter, a man of industry and a good selfie.

Anthony rejected a place at university to read accountancy, convinced that he was called to mission. In a society where education is seen as the route from poverty he was seen a man with a future.

Family and even Church members cautioned him to think twice, but he was resolute. A man of great faith Anthony has always trusted God. He believed he would meet his wife at his workplace. It was so, marrying Ebimine who left the mission to raise their two children.

Organisations in Africa are most often hierachical, and decision making very much top down. The community school we started has attracted more children and another classroom was needed. Anthony simply built the room, after completing a pit latrine and then got to work making the desks and chairs.

He is not a joiner but simply watched others and the youtube films we sent on on basic tool use and hey presto a full set of desks and no extra labour costs.

In the early days of the mission we had no clinic furniture and paid a local tradesmen and technology school lecturer to produce wooden examination couches, chairs and tables. It ended in farce, refusing to commit to a timetable despite taking the money. Eventually the community council, as frustrated as we with the wait, arrested him and imprisoned him naked in the community jailhouse. He was released by his daughter and together ( still naked) they fled into the jungle hotly pursued by the irate community members...quite extraordinary.

It's all about the heart, and Anthony's work was not thrashed out in committee. No extra pay was requested. He saw a need and fulfilled the brief. This is leadership, effective, proactive and leading from the front.

If the Mission is to stand, then this is the sort of man we seek to raise up. Its not a comfy charity of good works we're after but real Christian leaders who evidence their faith in works and evidence wisdom in all they do. Anthony, beyond his impeccable dress sense, is a wise man, fearful in the true reverential sense of the God he serves.

The Mission Station sits in 4 acres of jungle which is slowly being cleared and planted as a farm. The farm is surveyed and title deeds drawn up to avoid future wranglings.

The farm will eventually provide income to off set the charity costs and set the trajectory for sustainability with other revenue streams.

The site sits next to the school and we provide free electricity to the school and the teachers bedrooms which help retain staff (Few choose to work in these regions of the delta, and attrition is high), enabling them to have light and recharge phones. Our generators provide power for the clinic half a mile away and we sell subsidised power to families along the line to keep the fuel cost neutral. Collecting the payments monthly and checking for rogue link-ups is an important part of the work..being a Christian does not mean you have to be a mug, and the team are quick to spot a chancer.

'If it can be abused .. it will be abused' Marcus states, his eyes steely and unblinking his payment booked curled in his clenched hand. Payment is made according to use and this is decided on bulbs and phones in the house. Wo-betide anyone who, on a spot check has an extra light linked up. Severance is instant and lasts a month. In this environment the lines must be clearly drawn in the sand from the start.

Buying fuel is unreliable and we purchase in bulk from local sources. The provence of this fuel is open to question, but there are no petrol stations for many miles, so the local 'home brew' provides the power, curiously sold in large polythene bags as seen in the picture.

We are trying to avoid staple crops that may compete with local farmers and be a source of conflict. These crops are also labour intensive and the return low. We are planting orchards, pear, mango, apple, relative luxuries in this area, but the first crops are some time off. Sugar cane and plantain give up to three crops a year and are high yield for little work so these are good for now. Planting palm trees will also eventually yield coconuts and palm nuts. We have learnt patience is a great virtue in farming!

Wild bees have been found on the farm and bee keeping is very much a work in progress. Marcus is building beehives and this will greatly help with fruit production.

Praise be to God for all that is happening in the work. The emphasis will always be the Gospel, but we hope you find the behind the scenes stories interesting too. Testimony is more than words, it has feet, is sometimes discordant, and falters at time, but we rejoice that all things are possible through our Lord and Saviour who sustains the work and the witness. Thank you for being part of this !