here we go again, well nearly

Chilly beach walks

Well we are a few weeks into the New Year so before we head off back out to Africa we thought we'd post and update around some slight changes we have had to make to our plans and also wish you all a very Happy and Prosperous New Year....so Happy New Year from Tim and Maz!

Firstly we wanted to say that we have enjoyed a wonderful time with our family and friends over the festive season, spending Christmas day with Maz' sister and family before heading up to see my sister and her family and my parents, as well as Josh and Haddy, for Boxing Day. New Years was spent with friends in Buckinghamshire, where we took part in a murder mystery party which was great fun.

Running with Friends

We had a chat with Arron (our youngest son) and Camille on Christmas day from their hideout in Nepal, went to see QPR play out a boring 0-0 draw, met a new friend who we hope to get to know better when she grows up and went for a couple of runs with friends.

We also spent some time being grandparents (and parents) to our son and his family in Bristol, thanks for making our time back so enjoyable, it was great to share Claire's (our daughter in law) birthday too, don't tell her I told you but she turned 40! Our caravan was a tad cold we did enjoy the warmth bought by the electric blanket that my sister and brother-in-law got us for Christmas!

Meeting new a recent arrival

Onwards into 2019.....

So tomorrow afternoon we will be heading out on a near on four month trip to Africa, however due to the current situation in Zimbabwe we have been advised by the local people whom we will be staying and working with that they cannot guarantee our journeys in and around that beautiful nation or confirm the numbers of people who would be due to attend the training up of the people who we worked with in July and August last year.

We need people to be in the right frame of mind, fully engaged and given to the training and with the current situation we can't hope that their minds won't be preoccupied with staying out of trouble or transport to and from the venue etc.

Busy boxing day preps

If you are unfamiliar of the issues that our friends in Zimbabwe are facing then to keep it simple a hike in fuel prices by the new government has tipped the citizens, who are some of the most peaceful and law abiding that we have ever met, over the edge. An internet blackout by the largest phone operator has caused many outside the nation to question some of the tactics that are being used to restore 'law and order', all this leading to mistrust of the very leaders who are elected to rule the nation.

As you can imagine it has been a somewhat hard decision to postpone the trip, we have lost money on non-refundable flights and worry for the people on the ground who have become dear friends to us since our first meeting with them.

Being Grandparents!

It is so sad as we were hearing so many stories of how people had applied the leadership principles we teach in the Leadership for Life programme into their own lives, including a story about Grace, a lady who attended our training and who's exploits have been captured on the Emerging Leaders blog, follow this link by clicking HERE.

All this change now means we will fly on our scheduled flight to Jo'burg, but instead of heading to Harare we will return to Cape Town to undertake some Emerging Leaders work down there before making our way up to Zambia which is around three weeks earlier than planned. 

With Josh and Haddy at the Superhoops!

We will be hosted by the amazing Viola family, working with those people in Kabwe who we also met last year and will be keeping an eye on the situation in Zimbabwe before making any further decision around returning there before we fly to Madagascar at the end of March.

If you feel you could help support our work over this next trip then please do follow the link to our giving page HERE, your financial and prayerful/thoughts towards us are much appreciated.