NEWSFLASH


20th July 2005




We have received the following update Gordon Hannah (CMML) regarding the
situation at Nangweshi Refugee Camp, Zambia.



I am writing this email to you from the Nangweshi refugee camp as I sit
here in this grass shelter and rest a bit after a long and tiring day.
We arrived last week and have been here distributing a lot of the items
that we have received for the refugees. We had ordered a shipment of
blankets, basins, soap and tents from South Africa but the truck has
been over 6 weeks en route and still not arrived. The stories about the
delay have changed frequently and the latest is that the driver of the
truck that was hired by the shipper, from whom we purchased the goods,
was caught smuggling and so the truck has been confiscated in Zimbabwe.
We have been assured our goods would be released but they have not shown
up yet. We had delayed this trip a number of times waiting for these
goods but in the end decided that we should come anyway.



We also had 3 days delay in the truck that was loaded at Musenga due to
a breakdown, but in the end all arrived safe and we were able to cross
all of the goods in 24 hours from the time we began the process from
Senanga. The road from Senanga, the famous one where we tipped the tuck
last time, was not too bad but the access to the pontoon was the worst
it has been with very thick sand. When we arrived there were 5 trucks
stuck so it took quite a number of hours to get across the Zambezi
River. We had hired 2 trucks and I drove behind the last one thinking
that the other was safe in camp as it left a few hours before us but to
my surprise when we arrived close to the camp it was parked waiting for
us. The driver thought he needed to be escorted into the camp and so we
again ended up unloading in the dark and finished at about 9:30pm.



The situation in the camp is a bit tense. It has been announced that
the camp will be completely closed before the end of the year and all
must have moved by then. There are still 18,000 here so it will be
quite an undertaking to move that number in 5 months. All the agencies
are to be closed by the end of October and so there is a sense of
finality everywhere, and a lot of the refugees are worried of what they
will find when they return. Many it seems will be leaving in the months
of September and October and the process is very cumbersome.



We have prepared over 700 sacks of clothes and items to give out
beginning tomorrow and so we will once again follow the same pattern
that we have on other occasions which works well and seems to be well
appreciated and understood. Lord willing we plan on returning one more
time before the closure of the camp. A number of the folks here are
saying goodbye as they are not sure as to when they will leave. Next
month it will be 5 years since I first came to Nangweshi and it has been
quite an experience. Yesterday we helped in the funeral of one of the
leaders in the camp who was also a Christian and well respected and
liked. There were well over 2,500 at the funeral and it was quite an
experience.



This email is being sent to you for a few reasons, first to give you an
update, but also to express our most sincere thanks to you and folks at
home for their tremendous help over the past 5 years. Without the help
of you and others, and your great input and help, we could not have done
the little that we have done. Tonight a delegation came to see us on
behalf of the whole camp and I really wish you could have been there to
hear what was said of how much they have appreciated all your help - so
on their behalf many thanks again in the Lord's Name.



Another reason for this note is to advise that due to the closing of the
camp and the return to Angola of the refugees we will not be visiting
here any more and so will not be requiring any further items for this
refugee work at this time. I know that many have taken a real interest
in this work, prayed for us and sent supplies, therefore we would be
very pleased if you could convey to all our most sincere thanks in His
Name for all their very valued help. It might also be necessary to
advise them that for the present the need of supplies for Nangweshi will
be coming to an end.



In some ways it is kind of sad to see the camp close as we have met some
wonderful folks, enjoyed good Christian fellowship with many, made
lasting friends and been a part of a unique experience, but in a more
real way we are extremely pleased that they will be going home. It is
time, and they need to get on with their lives. Please pray for them
that as they return to a new situation they will be able to adjust and
set up a home in a land that many have only known in turmoil. They will
encounter many problems but we are confident that the Lord who has been
with them and protected them this far will guide and sustain them in the
months ahead.



To the many who have taken an interest in this work we can only once
again say many thanks in the Lord's Name.



Please continue to remember this situation in your prayers.