We were back in Dar es Salaam, relaxing, waiting to leave for South Africa and then for home. A knock on the door and Pastor John Meadth entered with the news that his passport and wallet had been stolen. Indeed it had and thus commenced a pretty hectic day and an especially stressful day for John. Australia has no embassy in Tanzania. We discovered this after a fruitless search in the embassy area of the city. I remembered that Canada can be approached for help.

A trip to the Canadian Embassy proved partially successful. John was told he would be able to get travel documents to Nairobi in Kenya but not to South Africa. We all went to the airport so I could catch my plane, while John went off to collect his travel documents so he could get to Nairobi. I felt a bit funny leaving John, but I didn’t have a visa to enter Kenya and John assured me he would be OK.

As I write this I am in Perth waiting for a plane to Melbourne and John is in Johannesburg waiting for a flight to Perth. My trip to Perth was not without incident. About an hour after leaving Jo’burg we noticed that the plane was not gaining height and speed as it usually would. The captain then announced that there was a technical problem and that we would need to return to Jo’burg. Once pointed out we could see that there was a small problem with the wing. I was sitting next to a Qantas engineer who was able to give a running explanation about what was happening. We then flew in circles as the plane off-loaded most of its fuel so we could land.

There was a little bit of tension as we flew into the airport with fire-engine lights flashing around the run-way. The landing was perfect and within an hour and a half we were back in the air! It has been a long night!

I obviously missed my 9.00am flight to Melbourne and now am waiting for for a 6.10pm flight.

In spite of all this it has been a really wonderful trip. More than ever I am convinced of the importance of what we are doing in Africa. It is all worth it.

Hope to see you on Sunday with a personal report.

Richard