Gee, it sounds like I am on the “Price is Right” when I say that. And if you are not old enough to know what the Price is Right is, then tough luck. Here is a photo of our latest vehicle:
It is a 1996 Honda CRV, imported from Japan. It is in great shape, with only 60,000 miles on it, and the motor runs beautifully. Obviously, it was gently used in Japan, and we are glad to have it here though it is going to see some hairy roads! It is next to our Landcruiser, so you can see the difference in ground clearance.
First, let me explain why we bought this vehicle: Four years ago, a little church in Ohio gave us a chunk of money, which we put into a vehicle fund since we knew that at some point we’d have to replace the Cruiser (which is a 1994) or get another vehicle. During our last term, we found that the Cruiser is incredibly expensive to run, getting only 15 miles to the gallon, and diesel is very expensive here. We couldn’t afford to use it for all the running around that Kevin does (in and out of town several times a day, visiting his students and their classes and visiting churches). So, he used our Honda motorcycle for most of the transport, which of course is very cheap to run.
However, traffic here in Nampula gets worse every year and most of the drivers are new drivers. Many of them don’t even really know how to drive since they have paid “under the table” for a license. Kevin was already hit by a minibus taxi once, and we felt pretty strongly that we needed to get him off the bike.
Therefore, we are very thankful for the addition of this car to our fleet. Its main virtue is that it is a lot cheaper to run than the Cruiser. It is all-wheel drive, so it will do well in the sand and on dirt roads, though it does not have a super-strong suspension like the truck. Therefore, we’ll have to drive it carefully if we want it to last, but we do expect it to last us a long time. Of course, the cruiser is still absolutely necessary for any bush trips (and we can’t even get out to the new AIM property in the car yet!) and to do most of the out-of-town church visits. The roads are simply too bad for anything but a 4×4. But, this little runabout should cover a lot of the territory we need to visit. Since Kevin and I are starting language school (in the local tribal language) 8 miles out of town in February and will be running back and forth, this car is really going to come in handy! We are so excited to have it and ask you to join us in praying that it will serve our Father well. – C
Kevin & Cami in Southern Africa 