Last Sunday, Pastor Dion Philips was back at the Evangelical Bible Church and we finally got to hear him for the first time. He studied under Pastor Matham at the Evangelical Bible College in Capetown and it shows in his preaching. Ruth Crowie invited us to dinner after church. Pastor Dion and his wife were there also, and we had good fellowship and a delicious meal.
Measuring the burned off antenna feedline ends to make a precise splice for the repair
Each morning on Monday and Tuesday I led a four hour training session on the 100,000-watt shortwave transmitters (HC100s). On Monday it was on the modulator section and Tuesday on the RF (radio frequency) section. Additional training sessions were put off to next week because of some staff taking holiday time off.
Larry and Sibonginkosi tension the feedline wire to the mark for Steve to crimp the final connector
Wednesday morning is usually staff meeting time, but was cancelled. Two Wednesdays of each month we go to work after staff meeting, but this week was one of the Wednesdays we had off. I took Virginia into town to do some shopping, then tried to catch up on some of our email.
Sibonginkosi and Larry reattach the antenna radiating element to the feedline
Thursday was Ascension Day, which is a national holiday in Swaziland. We had the day off, but I received a call from Steve that an antenna feedline had burned. He asked me to go to the site to assist with the repair.
Steve pulls the antenna up with the tractor while Larry gets ready to make the final attachment
Friday was spent at the transmitter site refurbishing the burned parts that were removed from the antenna. I also tried, without too much success, to adjust the Optimod for one of the transmitter to reduce some low level noise that seems to be originating from the within the Optimod. I also did some review for the upcoming training sessions next week.
The final test is applying full power to the antenna — it passed the test!
Friday evening we had quite a wind and rain storm around 10pm. We moved ourselves to the bedroom end of our house away from the tall pines near the kitchen. When there is a light breeze, these pines live up to the name of this ‘farm’ — Singing Pines. They ‘roared’ during the storm, but only a few small branches came down, plus lots of pine cones.
Saturday morning we thought our internet connection had been knocked out by the storm. Later, after checking everything else and to my chagrin, I discovered that the wireless switch on the side of our laptop had somehow gotten switched off! Virginia spent much of the day preparing the evening meal for the new TWR missionaries and their two girls aged about 5 and 7. We waited as long as possible to let the muddy roads dry up, before making a quick trip to pick up a couple of items for dinner at the Spar store on this side of town. We did not get stuck, but the car’s tyres (note the British spelling) are now mud red.
What a potluck in a huge dining room. Ohh — the yummy curry dishes!!
Saturday night, we had another wind and rain storm. I heard that we had a total of over 3 inches of rain and this is supposed to be the dry season.
Today we had a good morning service with a Mother’s Day message on how to respond when difficulties inevitably come. After church we were invited to a Mother’s Day dinner (potluck style) with the Young/Pierce family (over 40 present) at Bradley Young’s spacious house in Coates Valley. We lived in Coates Valley for 13 of the 16 years we previously spent in Swaziland. Had a great time of fellowship and reminiscing and it was almost dark before we got home. Of course, the sun is now setting at just a few minutes after 5:00 in the evenings.
This is part of the Young/Pierce family. More than this were at the meal.
An update on my tick bites — the itching is almost gone. Still take Benadryl in the evening and morning. The bite marks are still obvious. It has been two weeks since I was bitten, so it looks like I have avoided the fever. We are grateful for so many that have been concerned and praying. Thanks!
For those who are interested in what the weather is like here. Most days are sunny with cool evenings. The highs are usually in the mid 70sF and the lows around 50. There is no heating in the house so the inside temp varies around 65. It feels quite cold inside at about 60 and we are still about 2 months away from the coolest time of the year. We do have a fireplace if it gets unbearable and might be able to locate an electric heater.
My apologies to some that may have been receiving multiple update emails regarding this entity. While I was typing it up, there were multiple inquiries asking about our blog, so it was published quickly then updated as I got around to adding more photos.