Thursday evening we received the message at 20:30 that the Mpumalanga diocese invited the Church Council to meet at FELS-Retreat. That's behind the Dumbe mountain and about half-way between Paulpietersburg and Pivaan. Well, that meant another half-hour extra travelling and all our plans to have accommodation in Piet Retief were again worth nothing. Angelika was coming along and for her it was a good solution. Thus she could do her homework, while we in the Church Council were gathered in conference. I was quite happy too, because here at least we had tables and chairs enough for the 3 delegates per diocese and the few extras like Bishop, Treasurer, Secretary and minute-taker. Meals would be on time and coffee- and tea-breaks would also be catered for. The only question remaining was, who would pay for this. Dean Vilakazi, who had organized this with Rev. Dieter Schnackenberg from Luenburg had issued the invitation, so we presume that he's paying too.
Friday morning we got going right on time at 4:30. That was quite an early start, considering that Angelika had just finished preparing the pudding for the bazaar at St. Pauls plus some food for our trip at just before midnight. Pastor John Nkambule had been our guest overnight and I heard him getting ready at 3:20. It was just a short night. Salome had picked up Tebogo Ntshoe at the Seminary and after their stuff was stowed, we were off on our way. Surprising how many other cars met us on the highway already. Probably people eager to get to work on time. We wanted to be at FELS at 8:00 to be ready at 8:30 with the meeting. We drove via Middleburg, Hendrina, Ermelo, Amsterdam, Piet Retief and Paulpietersburg to our final destination. Thankfully the weather report of "isolated fog patches" was not exaggerated. We had mist only on two stretches and those where never too long for comfort. When we got to the bad pot-holes near Amsterdam it was light and I could negotiate them ok.
At 8:01 we arrived at FELS. Heidrun Beneke had prepared breakfast and the rooms were in good order although she too had only received the message of our coming the previous evening. Angelika and myself got a room to ourselves. That was pleasant. Salome was planning to go visit her mother in Vryheid and so she was well taken care of too. Tebogo Ntshoe got a room to herself. So she was happy too.
At 9:00 most had arrived, enjoyed breakfast and taken part in the devotions led by Rev. Vilakazi. Then it was time to tackle the loads of work ahead. Salome took the minutes. Breaks were taken at the agreed time and at 17:00 we were well on schedule. However contrary to the original agenda, which had taken into account 2 working days - one day at FELS and one day visiting congregations/projects/people in Mpumalanga as chosen by the dean and deemed important for us to visit, the pastors on the council were eager to get back into their dioceses and parishes to conduct the Sunday worship services. Therefore the Saturday was rescheduled to become a day of travelling home again. That is why we then continued with the deliberations, reports, financial statements and resolutions until we finally adjourned the meeting at around 21:00. That really was a long day and a lot of hard work. I don't think it was wise to give in and stretch the day this way. I should have stayed with the original plan of two days allocated for the working session. That way our discussions would probably have been even more fruitful and worthwhile.
Participants from KwaZulu and Mpumalanga left straight after the meeting, whereas the delegates from Botswana, Gauteng and North-West only departed after breakfast and a devotion the next morning. Angelika and myself now had an entire day to ourselves. That was great too. Although Itala game park was an idea we played with for a while, we eventually visited my parents in Welbedacht. That was a good idea!
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