Land Rover

In our last newsletter, which was in October (that is embarrassing to say it has been that LONG!), we talked about the annual Cycle Tour the mission helps with.  This was the first time Mark and Brad were able to help drive and transport equipment and they both had a great time.  When Mark returned he told me he had driven Sean's Land Rover and was really able to see the benefits of owning one for the work we do and the roads we travel in Mozambique.   We wrote this in our October newsletter ...

Mark was excited to be apart of this.  He drove Sean's Land Rover and got a whole new appreciation for benefits of a Land Rover in the terrain where we do ministry.  Since then, Mark has looked in to the possibility of purchasing a Land Rover to use as our ministry vehicle.  Our Isuzu has done a great job getting us where we need to go but there are many added benefits of a Land Rover.   First and foremost, they have proven themselves durable in the terrain where we do ministry.  They also have the large capacity tanks for fuel and they come equipped with a water compartment so that you can carry drinkable water with you.  With the Rand/Dollar value right now the time is right to buy.   

We flew to the States after that newsletter was sent out for Mark's moms funeral.  We didn't think about the Land Rover again.  When we returned we headed to Mozambique for the conference.   In November, Mark had a RANDOM opportunity to see a Land Rover 130 that was for sale.  One of the guys the mission uses often for mechanic work on the Land Rovers knew the owner and the vehicle.  It was a great meeting and a deal was made.  I got a phone call from Mark telling me the Lord had just provided a Land Rover.  I was shocked and couldn't even believe it.   It took a few weeks to get the money sorted out and the vehicle needed to go through Road Worthy testing etc.  Mark was told by the mechanic that things were in order and there was one thing that needed to be fixed here in Polokwane.  It takes time to get a vehicle put in your name here and we also had a staff trip planned right after Thanksgiving so we were not able to actually use the vehicle until mid-December.   

We ended up getting the paperwork and insurance all sorted before Brit arrived for Christmas so we picked her up from the airport in it.  We also took a day trip up the mountain during our Christmas break for some fishing.   In January, businesses opened back up after the holidays (most business close for most of December here) and he was able to take it to the other mechanic here in town to get the leak fixed in the air locker system - which we knew needed to be fixed when we bought the vehicle.   Well, we were ALL surprised (including the other mechanic) that there was actually a MAJOR problem.  

Apparently, when they went to check things they found that there was NO oil in the rear diff.  We found out that this caused MAJOR problems we were not even aware of.  The air locker in the rear diff had to be completely replaced and the rear diff had to be overhauled.   The mechanic was shocked that the diff did not locked up on us over the month we had driven it causing more problems.   We praise the Lord for that.   

To this day it is still a mystery why or how there was NO oil in that rear diff.   We sat with a problem that HAD to be fixed right away.  All of a sudden we were having to come up with over $2000 to have all of this fixed. We are so THANKFUL that no further damage was done.  We praise the Lord for providing this vehicle for our family.  On top of the surprise Land Rover repairs the Isuzu had to go in the shop in January for repairs as well.  So in a matter of 6 weeks we had $3000 worth of vehicle maintenance that had to be done!  We are trusting Him to help us pay for these repairs. 

We are in the process of fixing up our Golf and we are going to give that to Derrick and his family.   We decided that keeping our other bakkie (Isuzu) will be a benefit to us.  When Mark is in Mozambique, I need a reliable vehicle to drive and one that I can haul MANY kids as well as use to go and buy groceries for training and teams.   I often refer to the the Isuzu as "my bakkie"  :) 

 

 In March, the Land Rover made its first trip into Mozambique.  Mark was very happy with the way it handled the terrain and how much equipment he can haul in the back.   In the video below, the guys went to help Pastor Robert in Matsilele get sand from the river. 

it was a little muddy in Moz.

of course Mark added a little Texas to the Land Rover