Dear Friends,

We've been at Cavango now for 6 weeks without an overnight trip anywhere!  That, is a record and a welcome record after the frequent trips of the last two years.  Our two-year anniversary of being "at" Cavango was yesterday!  It seems so long ago and yet also only yesterday that we arrived!  

Thanks for being with us in prayer over these last six months of unsettledness as we waited for visas and Peter sought medical attention.  We have returned to Cavango with a real sense of beginning again, trying to start out slowly and allow Peter's health to dictate our pace.  Peter has found the return to responsibility and expectations to be more difficult than he imagined when we were in Namibia, and has been struggling with mild depression, but little by little he is adjusting and growing and improving!  The exciting thing to see is the growth he is experiencing in his Faith and Trust of the Lord as he cannot "lean on his own understanding" anymore.  The folk here are all very understanding and patient.  We have hired a few of the older men to work on some things as they are dependable and responsible without a lot of attention.  Peter then has turned his attention to working on details of the interior of the house - kitchen cabinets, wood trim around the windows, formica placement, etc.   There is still alot to be done, but the church in Windhoek that we attended while there, is sending a team in June that will help with various projects and ministry too!  We are looking forward to having them come! 

The clinic is still suffering from a lack of patients, even when MD's come for the weekend.  The leadership say that it is because the rains have caused the rivers to be too high to cross and so folk are not able to come.  Also, during the rains they say folk don't "have time" to be sick as they are working on their fields etc.  We are hoping that with a regular schedule of MD visits the area folk will make more of an effort to come.  The local Administrator has asked us to announce the MD visits on the radio in Huambo as he says many will come from there once it is known.  So there is hope of the numbers improving!

We have visited the Administrative folk on both the local and municipal levels and have found them all to be quite congenial.  Praise for this and pray for continued wisdom for the future.

The biggest blessing of our time here for me has been the opportunity to teach hand sewing to the ladies on Wed's mornings!  We start early - 6:30am and don't finish until about 9am!  We sew from 6:45 to 8:30 and then have a short prayer meeting.  It is so fun to see over 40 ladies all sewing in a big circle!!  I am definitely not a "good" missionary as I have forgotten to take the camera each time, but will make a big effort to remember this coming week so I can put a photo on the blog!  I bring the needles, thread and scizzors and they bring what needs mending, adjusting or making and we all go at it!  It is lots of fun and they love laughing at my attempts to learn Nganguela!!  This coming week is the last for sewing for awhile, as the Pastor's wife informed me that we plan to offer cooking, medical/maternity classes and literacy too!  I'm just letting the Lord give me strength and ideas one day at a time so as to not get overwhelmed.  So far it is a great joy!

Once again, we couldn't be here without you.  Thank you for your prayers and support!  (Check the blog for photos... www.duplantisdialog.blogspot.com )

Running the Race Together!

Peter and Shelley Duplantis
Advancing the Gospel in Angola,Inc

 

Field Address:
C.P. 33 Lubango, Angola via Portugal

 

Home Office Address and Donations:
25 Maple St.,  Addison, NY 14801 USA
Acct:  01002