A sudden goodbye

One of the pastors came into our office last week. He’s one of our closest friends, speaks good English and often accompanies us when we visit churches, introducing us and translating.

“I’m here to say goodbye”, he said.
“Where are you going?” we asked.
“ To Indonesia, for 3 months” came the answer. To say that we were surprised is an understatement. We had been in his house 3 days before to celebrate his 10th wedding anniversary and he had not mentioned this.

It turns out that he was on his way Jakarta on a course in some sort of pastoral care. It is sponsored by some German mission organisation and he is representing 4 dioceses. There had been some advance warning before Christmas (I had taken his photo and given him a digital image one day), but there was no confirmation. On the Tuesday he was told that he would perhaps be going and on the Thursday he was phoned to ask why he was not at the airport! He left Kamembe the same day, leaving his wife, 5 children, 3 jobs and a church behind.
It’s one of those stories which encapsulates the African approach so well. It’s also a setback for us, losing a good friend and colleague for most of the remainder of our time here.