Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ

First we sincerely would like to thank everyone for their faithful prayers and support and we also sincerely apologize for not sending our newsletter for the last couple of moths but this was due to unforeseen problems.

We have been heading towards Northern Africa a little bit faster than last year and had many troubles on the way but also marvelous victories.

We have been abused by border officials, we were at places with scorching heat (45 degrees Celsius and hotter), high in the mountains where it was harder to breath! We have been denied to enter into countries thrice. We drove the apparent ‘Worst Road in Africa’ (We tend to agree) and had to fix the car’s differentials that got damaged on that terrible road! We bush camped more than once in dangerous areas where lions, hippos and hyenas kept us awake all night and in areas where there was tribal warfare nearby! We passed trucks covered in bullet holes and areas where everyone carried AK47's (Even small children!) We tried to find some missionaries and got hopelessly lost in the desert! We had to get along with no water for many days a couple of times! Our Car was broken into. Len had his birthday in no-man’s-land. Our camera got stolen! We slept in places where only cockroaches and rats could be comfortable and where cockroaches actually ran over us while we slept on the hard floor! We had frustration with backward technology in Ethiopia and Djibouti (No international cellular network and no bank facilities). If this was not enough, our website host notified us that we could no longer send newsletters due to unforeseen reasons. Worst of all, we got arrested in Yemen in the Middle East! (More info near the end of this newsletter)

On the other hand, we had some wonderful times. We could share the Gospel and pray with many people: locals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Muslims, Hindus, Atheists, etc. Lead people to Christ. We preached to small groups as well as a 7000-seat church. We visited missionaries on the way and could be encouraged and could encourage. We ministered to outreach teams and visited some of the brothers and sisters that we met last year.

On the 11th of March we went to the Kenyan border post as a step in faith. We have previously been refused entry into the country due to us not having a ‘Carnet de Passage’. (It is a document that you need to enter certain countries if you have a vehicle. You need 100% - 200 % of the value of the vehicle as a deposit) On arrival we explained our predicament and we were refused entry once again. We were told that we must leave the car and trailer at the border and to take a taxi to Nairobi to sort out the documentation. We prayed, as many did, earnestly, and we walked towards the taxi with our backpacks and the car and trailer stored in a courtyard we received an sms (text). It was from a local pastor who notified us that we should go to the opposite side of the border post where we could purchase a bond security from an organization to enter the country. It worked and we realized again that the Lord is never late, but not early either.

Another story of His greatness is when we gave a British lady, Chara, who is traveling alone throughout the world, a lift in Ethiopia. She was a very outspoken atheist. Arriving one night in a small town to look for accommodation, people opened the car door and stole her bag! Inside the bag was her passport, an important book and her purse, which contained US$. We prayed with her for the return of the bag and everything inside. We then decided to stay in that town with her for 2 days as she refused to leave without her bag. There was no water in that town! A week later, on the day that we left Addis Ababa toward Djibouti, Chara got a phone call from the town’s police officers where her bag got stolen. They notified her that a mad man found her bag in a field and was returned containing the passport, the book, and even the purse with the money still inside! This was truly a miracle! Now she says in her e-mails that she has a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ! Thank you Jesus! Please pray for her.

We felt so much peace to go use the Middle East, Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Jordan to travel to Israel, but this was not to be. We prepared everything for this in Addis as we went to the South African Embassy to receive referral letters. We went to the Saudi Arabian Embassy and were told that we could get a transit visa (for 72 hours) at their border in Yemen. Then we went to the Embassy of Yemen and were told to go to their embassy in Djibouti. On arrival in Djibouti, we immediately went to the Yemeni Embassy and first they told us that a VISA will take 2 days, but when we retuned with the application forms and photos, they notified us that it will take 5 days. They kept us in the office for hours until we could speak to the only person that could really speak English, the Consulate. He told us that we could go to the Yemeni port to receive a transit visa. As we responded that we did not know that we could do that and thanked him for his advice.

We then arranged a Dhow (boat) to take us, the car and the trailer to the port at Aden, Yemen. On arrival we were interrogated and shouted upon for hours and hours! We sensed that everything was about bribery, so refused. Armed officials escorted us to the Dhow and put us under boat arrest. For days we could not do anything but be uncomfortable and we prayed. They removed the car and trailer from the Dhow and put it somewhere in a warehouse. Our biggest concern was that we could not get to the car, but they could and we had many Arabic and English tracts hidden inside! Every day we prayed and every day things intensified as we came to the departure of the Dhow.
at that stage they told us that the day when the Dhow leaves, we would be taken to prison!

We were on the Dhow for a week and we were given permission thrice to enter the town to go to the internet, bank and shipping agent under armed escort. They did not leave us for a second and even looked to see how much money we drew from the bank! The day before the Dhow left we were in panic stations and cried out to the Lord like never before! Someone in South Africa arranged a flight to South Africa as we found that all flights to Djibouti and Addis, etc were full or not available for a week. They gave us 10 minutes at the car to get what we needed and we had to agree to pay US$ 600 to a person for helping us and to bribe the customs and immigrations officials to release us!

As we wanted to leave the port, every official had their hands on our passports and release papers not wanting us to leave, as usual shouting at us and at one another. Eventually we managed to arrived at the airport and were told that there were no flights to South Africa. This took the wind out of our sails. They then realized their mistake, but suddenly the armed official with our passports just disappeared! When we finally thought everything was fine when the officer with our passports reappeared, but the next moment another officer started shouting again that the paperwork was not in order! After a lot of shouting at us and the other officials, he disappeared and eventually returned to tell us that we must leave!

To make a long story short, we finally managed to leave Yemen, could arrange with a shipping agent for the car and trailer to be shipped in a container back to Djibouti and to arrange with a stranger to put the car and trailer into the container after we left for South Africa. Presently we are on our way back to Djibouti using all means of transport to get there on time for the arrival of the container. We have been on a raggedy train for 48 hours, 29 hours on a bus and had to walk many kilometers.

Through all this god was FAITHFUL! Rom 5:3-5 says "...But we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulations produces perseverance and perseverance character and character hope." We thank the Lord that He showed us His grace and as Jesus said that we will have tribulation in this world, so we can be in good cheer for He has overcome the world and we could experience His rescue.

We desire to fulfil the call of Mark 16:15 to “Go onto the entire world and preach the Gospel” and we also desire for you to fulfil that call as well. Your donation will aid us as we preach the Gospel in remote and unreached areas, impact others who will in turn impact others who will impact all generations worldwide with the truth and power of the Gospel. All gifts, great or small, will be appreciated.

Please visit our web site, www.travelmissions.org to see some photos of our latest experiences. For those of you that might have missed a few, our old newsletters are also available for viewing on our web site.

Thank you for your prayers and support.

In His Service

Len and Jono

Our Banking Details:
New Hope Ministries International
ABSA Savings Account
Account no: 9106492455
Branch no: 523410
Branch: Sanbel
Swift Code: ABSA ZAJJ (For outside South Africa)