Whenever there is a disaster around the world it is often far removed from us that we can’t and don’t do much, if anything, to help. Now we have had a disaster on our doorstep with the recent floods in South Africa and Mozambique. The area where we minister in Mozambique has been especially affected and when we heard that the Pafuri Border Post was closed because of the flood damage we felt helpless as there was no way that we could get into that area.
We saw how God opened up a way for us to go and investigate firsthand what was needed and in what way we could help. If it were not for our past relationships with Kruger Park officials and the border officials in both South Africa and Mozambique, we may not have been given the permission to travel on closed roads and pass through a closed international border. But here we see how God prepares the way for what He wants to accomplish. On the 5th of February we were granted favour by Kruger Park to travel to Pafuri Border Post. On arrival at the border post the police Captain at first said we had to turn back but then after hearing that we had permission to travel through Kruger he said we could go through to Mozambique to speak to the authorities there.
On speaking to the Chief of the Post of Pafuri in Mozambique, who we found close by, he told us that World Food Programme (WFP) had delivered maize and beans. The villages closer to Pafuri could get their share of the food more easily but the rest of the food, 15 tons of it, needed to be taken to some of the villages further away but he did not have the means to do this. Immediately we offered to go back to Polokwane to get our 4x4 trucks to be back the next day to deliver this food. He was so grateful for this offer that he assured us that he would facilitate access in and out of Mozambique with our vehicles even though there was no Immigration or Customs control.
The next morning (6 Feb) we were back with our two trucks (SAMIL 20 and 1965 MAN truck) and two smaller vehicles (Land Rover and Colt) and loaded 8 tons of the food and headed out to the village distribution points that fall under Pafuri. The Chief of the Post and two other officials travelled with us to make sure of the smooth distribution of the food. Our vehicles were the first to go down this “road” since the floods. Needless to say we got stuck in some really bad mud holes and also patches where huge amounts of sand had been deposited. It took us the whole day to travel about 60 km to Salani where we needed to get to with this load, offloading at the different villages along the way where the food would be distributed from. After unloading the last of the food we put up our tents, had something to eat and bush-showered and got to bed close to midnight.
We were told that we would never be able to go beyond Salani to deliver the rest of the food as a “bridge” over a ravine had washed away. So first thing in the morning (7 Feb) we went to see what needed to be done to get the food to where it needed to get to. As no suitable route could be found to go around we asked if the village could fix the ravine crossing before we got back with the next load. We headed back to Pafuri to load the rest of the food (7 tons). We arrived late in the afternoon and the trucks were loaded so that we could head out first thing the following morning.
We were on the “road” just before 7 AM (8 Feb) and now that we had negotiated most of this road already it was easier, but a heavy load can still bog you down. On arriving at the precarious ravine crossing the repairs were still not completed and not quite as wide as we would have liked and so decided to try get the SAMIL 20 through the ravine next to the in-progress bridge building. Bad move, got stuck. It wasn’t long and the bridge was completed and our efforts to get the SAMIL out were not going as well as we wanted and decided it would be best to get all the other vehicles across the bridge and then pull the SAMIL out with the MAN. The bridge was sturdy enough and in no time we were on the road again. The last 15 km to the last distribution point at Matsilele went quite well except for getting stuck in the sand at one point and having to sort out fuel starvation on the MAN and having to make a plan for the accelerator pedal that broke on the SAMIL.
It was just after 1PM that we left Matsilele to return to Pafuri after we unloaded, which means it took about 6 hours to get there. The return trip took us about 3 hours. The “road” was now accessible and well trod with our vehicles. After a hot and exhausting few days we returned to Polokwane on Saturday 9th February with overwhelming hearts of gratitude to the Lord for opening the way for us to be able to help some of these villages we minister in.
So what now? This food that was delivered we were told will only last the people about a month. The Chief of the Post has contacted us to say that WFP will deliver more food to Pafuri at the end of the month and asked if we could help distribute food again. The first run will be to a village, Makondezulu (we understand that this village is yet to get any food relief), that falls under Pafuri but is about 180 km away. Another request is for seed. We are currently working on finding out the best source for seed as it could be a problem taking it in from South Africa. If we can take from SA there are regulations regarding not taking any genetically modified seed. As time goes on we will also monitor any shortfall and other needs especially once the hype of helping during the immediate relief is over and more long-term needs are overlooked.
Therefore the need right now is having the funds for fuel for our vehicles to be able to go on a second food run as well as to be able to purchase seed, either in South Africa or Mozambique. As you can imagine operating two heavy duty trucks is costly.
We want to thank all those who have helped so far and those who have indicated to help as the need arises. May our Lord be glorified in what we do “for the least of these brothers and sisters”!
--William Vaughan
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