“Pastor …. pastor …. mira …spera um pouco!”  (Bush Portuguese for:  My friend …. stop …. wait a little!)  Well … I get that a lot when I drive on Mozambican roads.  Sometimes I stop … sometimes I don’t.  They stop me mostly for ‘small talk’.   And the conversation starts off by complimenting my very old vehicle – a 3.0L V6 Ford Courier.  It is as old as the mountains.  23 Years to be exact and I have used it for the last 18 years in the bush.  YES …. 23 years.  They just don’t make them like that anymore.  “Your FORD is as strong as a buffalo”, my friend Mr. Thetcha replies.  His eyes sparkles, and I know what the next question would be.  He asks me the question weekly.  “Are you ready to sell the ‘buffalo’ to me?”   My reply is of course always the same:  ‘NOPE’ – you don’t sell a legend.

But when it breaks down – which it hardly does – I am in big trouble.  I do have a very rare disease (incurable according to specialists) – which is classified by Google as:  Techo fobia.  Engines and parts of any vehicle do not make sense to me at all!
Mmmmmm not sure what Cathy Middleton from Mercy Air is trying …. but she IS TRYING!  And for me … that is enough!
But when friends arrive from as far as Canada to help … that makes you feel very very special.  Rick Cogbill is a phenomenal man.  He is a mechanic by trade but what really makes him special is the fact that he has started a great ministry called MERCY TECH (www.mydustyshoes.blogspot.com).  His vision is:  Changing Lives, One skill at a time.  He trains mechanics all over Africa in a missional context.  It has not just changed our lives but many Mozambicans in the process.  He as trained many mechanics on our base in Mozambique and one of them, Prosper Fernando is now the Chief mechanic and Maintenance Workshop manager.

Prosper Fernando – Chief Mechanic and Manager of the maintenance workshop!

Anyway my FORD was tackled by many as you will see …. and I currently have a brand new clutch, brake – and other strange parts fitted that I didn’t know existed.  Thanks to all for the help!!!

I’m not sure what they are looking at … but it must be important!
Even our mission driver got involved in his sparetime to fix the lights on the Ford!  What a team! 
Rick Cogbill (kneeling for various reasons) teaching and training other mechanics in Mozambique as they assess the age of the FORD.

 Special thanks to Rick Cogbill and Mercy Tech changing our lives … yes by fixing a very important ministry tool.  Sooooo thankful!

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