July 20, 2009

Flood waters from the Okavango Delta have arrived in Maun. People in Maun were astounded the second week of July when the banks of the Thamalaklane River flowed into areas that had not seen water in over 20 years. The first picture below was taken from the bridge near our house last April. The next picture is a current picture of the river from the bridge.

April 2009

July 2009

This next picture was taken from further down river last September and the picture to follow is a current picture from the same location. Note the current in the river now.

September 2008

July 2009

In some of the low lying areas, water flooded over the roads and alternative roads through the sand were used or made.

The house that we lived in last August with Travis, is in a low area and the yard flooded but not the inside of the house. Colin helped Keith and Cheryl Kowalski get their furniture and appliances out late one night as the sand was turning to mud, making travel into the yard by car difficult. The Kowalski family had just gotten comfortably settled in the house when the water forced them out. The pictures show the yard just before it was completely covered in water.



Fortunately our pilot neighbor, Kari, had moved out of the second flat on our property at the beginning of July, and FMS had decided to rent that single room flat also. The two flats have a door between them and have provided temporary housing for the Kowalskis. Please pray that they can find another suitable home or that the water will recede and dry quickly so they can resume a normal routine in their own home.

The Kowalski "6", note river in the back ground

Flying has been a bit slow during the beginning of July, but it is picking up and looks very busy for August. Colin enjoyed a full day in the San Bushman village of Xai Xai last week, while going to meetings with a client he flew there. The pictures show a few of the stops around the village that they made. The San are an incredibly friendly, welcoming and happy people. Colin looks forward to another visit.

Xai Xai housing

Some people make do with "open" housing

Home of the villages most powerful elder

The elder and his wife

Smoke break

Grandfather and grandson

Government school

Xai Xai missionaries Pieter and Susan

Xai Xai church

We continue to be fascinated with the diversity of bird life here, and even in the cooler winter months there are many varieties everywhere.

Marabou Stork beside Xaxaba runway

African Jacana

Blue Wax Bill, about 3 inches long

Red Beaked Fire Finch, also 3 inches long

The middle of winter is here with temperatures ranging from the low 40's F ( a few days at the start of the month were just above freezing) to highs in the low 80's F. Even in the coldest months, there are all kinds of plants still blooming.


Julie continues to be busy with her class at school and has only three more weeks before the term break. Then she will have 1 month off before finishing the last term of school for the 2009 school year. The classroom she has is a trailer on the edge of the school property. She enjoys having her door open during the warm afternoons, and hearing the sounds of happy children playing games just out the door. The picture below was taken while standing at the door of the trailer during lunch time. All the students pack lunches and eat under the shade of trees on the property. In the background is one of the main school buildings.


Misheck and Debra are doing well. We were able to help secure better housing for them with free rent. The owner lives elsewhere and needed a reliable person to maintain the property, care for the guard dog, and help provide security for the other house on the plot. It was an answer to prayer for the two of them, as they could no longer afford even the simplest of accommodation in town. Debra is currently 6 months pregnant and Misheck just had to leave to return to Zimbabwe. His sister has passed away and the family looks to him for leadership. He had planned to return home at the end of the month because he has a job offer here with someone willing to fight through the paperwork and pay the costs for him to get a work permit. With a letter from the Zimbabwean police stating that he has no criminal record, he may be able to finally secure residency through legal work. This will mean that he can also bring the couples other two children here and be a family again. It is a common practice for these refugees to over stay their visa and just hope that the police do not stop them and check their paperwork. Misheck had over stayed by 7 months. In doing so, to return home with out problems, a ticket had to be paid to allow him to enter Botswana again on his return. We had already promised to pay this fee, and we ended up paying his bus fair home also. With the death of his sister, he had to return earlier that originally planned and was short the additional time he planned to set money aside through working. The extra financial help sent us, made it possible to generously contribute the money needed to give practical help and hope for a better future to Misheck and his family. Please keep this gentle and humble couple in your prayers. Pray that Misheck will have safe travels and that the paperwork for a work permit will be accepted by the government here once he returns.

The quarterly news letter has been posted on the FM web page and we encourage you to check it out under "Publications" at: www.flyingmission.org Also, if any of you have church families that may want to help with the work here, we would greatly value any toiletry items such as soap, tooth brushes and toothpaste, hand towels, used baby clothing, or fairly large pieces of scrap cloth that we could distribute again in the outlaying areas. It is costly to mail things here, but people are so thankful for the simplest of things, that we can assure that your efforts will much appreciated. If you are interested in organizing something with your friends or church family, please contact us for more details. Our hearts desire is to be able to distribute these items again around Christmas time.

Please pray for the up coming Bible camp that Julie and a few other women are planning in August. They are expecting a larger group this time, as the first camp was a huge blessing to those that attended. Many children are already talking about the next camp with lots of anticipation, and encouraging their friends to participate.

As we close, it really lifts us up when you write us and we want to thank all of you for the care and kindness you have shown us in so many ways over this last year. We know it is because of so many of you keeping us in your thoughts and prayers, that we h ave been able to..."continue to live in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith, as [we] were taught, and [we are] overflowing with thankfulness." Colossians 2:6

Leaving Alaska was not easy for us, but we are confident that being here in Maun is God's will for us. As our second year here begins, we are seeking His guidence and vision for the next year and beyond. Our hope is that we may glorify the Lord in all that we do here, and that our hearts will continue to be directed to those He has sent us to encourage and share the good news of Christ's love. "Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you." 2 Thessalonians 3:16

June 21, 2009

Yes...we know this update is way overdue! The last two months have been extremely busy! Julie went back to work at the beginning of May and she is pictured above with her class of nine students. She is really enjoying the group of 9 and 10 year old students with their inquisitive and active minds. Science seems to be the favorite subject of the class and the first unit of the term has been mixtures and solutions. There have been a number of messy experiments and project reports to share from each cooperative learning group over the last 6 weeks and it will be hard to move onto a new topic....


In addition to teaching academics, Julie and another teacher at the school have been doing a Bible Club on Monday afternoons. There are currently 15 students in attendance and the students have been enjoying learning how to apply God's word in their daily life. The picture below is of most of the children that are coming to the Bible club.
A highlight for Colin in early May was getting to meet Harry Selby, a famous professional hunting guide that lives in Maun.

The busy season is here for flying, and the flight schedule filled almost every day. Just before Travis left Flying Mission in the middle of May, both Colin and he were shuffling a large film crew from the USA. Possibly some of you reading this may have heard of the show Andrew Zimmere and Bazzare Worlds. The crew was flown into a remote strip to film the San Bushman people. Pictured below was the some of the action on the airstrip when the last plane load arrived on the airfield after two days of getting everyone there.
Filming a San (Bushman) mother and child.

Interviews and getting ready for filming.

Spear received from this San Bushman.

By the time Colin had brought the last load of people and gear from Maun, it was too late to return for the night. Colin took this opportunity to camp out at the airstrip in the C207 for the night.
Shade shelter and sand buckets in case of fire.

A pillow, a blanket and mat, a cooler with sandwiches and a copy of Magnum Magazine
is all one needs for a good camp out.

When the first light appeared the following day, he was able to take off for Maun.


Since Travis left on the 16th of May, Colin has been the only pilot here and has had many nights scheduled to stay at Jack's Camp to save on flight costs. He has enjoyed viewing the birds and wildlife, in addition to building stronger relationships with the staff working there.

A desert tortoise.

Red billed Wood Hoopoe

Red Billed Francolin

Lilac-Breasted Roller

Above, Pied Crows

Below, Yellow Mongoose

Male Steenbok, about 18'' at the shoulder

Above, a birthday party for a member of the staff at camp.

The pilot tent is not as up scale as the client tents, but comfortable enough to pass the time in.



At times, Colin has had to spend a full day at the camp waiting to fly a group out the following day. He has taken some short walks in the surrounding salt pans.
WATER, PLEASE!
Too much time spent in the desert----alone!

And, as always...Colin has had ample time to view the incredible African sunsets.
On May 18, Keith Kowalski arrived a day ahead of the moving truck with his families household belongings. Cheryl and the couples two children and dog drove up from Gaborone on the 21st. Also Deb Spicer, the wife of the FMS operations manager, drove up with Cheryl. Deb spent three nights with Julie while Colin was busy flying and staying at Jack's Camp. During the time Deb was here, Julie allowed a friend to download pictures of Travis water skiing to email him in the states. On the storage "stick" used to hold the pictures, was a virus and the intensive computer virus that shut down the functions of many programs. Even the virus protection program on our computer, could not stop the virus. Fortunately, there was a good IT in Maun that was able to correct the problem. It took 5 hours, but everything was back to normal afterward and before Colin returned to Maun. It was a blessing to have Deb here and to help pray and brain storm through the problem. Pictured below is Deb at Island Safari Lodge the day after the computer was fixed and after church on Sunday. Below the picture of Deb, are two pictures from the set of pictures Travis wanted of water skiing in the Thamalaklane just before he left Botswana. He had told us it was the first time he had ever water skied were they had to get out of the water because of hippos.

Water skiing in the desert, it has its dangers.

Mr. Hippo, one of the dangers.

Now that the Kowalski family has moved to Maun, Keith has been flying as much as possible with Colin. In addition, the chief pilot has been here for two different weeks of training.
June came upon us quickly with all the flying of clients and occasional mercy flights, company coming and going, along with Julie working again. The first week of June started off clear and cool as is usual for winter. As the second week of June began, the chief pilot was here to fly with Keith. Colin was planning on some time on the ground to complete office tasks, as the chief pilot and Keith were going to take the charters. Currently, there is also a C210 here along with the C207. On Monday the8th, an actor from the US was visiting Botswana and a last minute charter was suddenly given to Colin just after arriving at the office in the morning. It meant he would have to overnight at Jack's Camp and there was not enough time to drive back out to our house to pack a bag. He decided he would be fine for one night and loaded the plane with the special guest pictured below. The actors name was Luke MacFarlane and he acts in a show called "Brothers and Sisters."
That evening, clouds moved in all over Botswana and a huge storm sat over the country pouring rain for two full days. This was extremely unusual. Because of the bad weather, Colin ended up stuck out at Jack's Camp until Thursday. The strip was flooded by the first day of rain and a Caravan pilot from another air service tried to fly out. While taxiing, he got stuck in the mud, so the plane was unloaded and with the help of camp staff he was able to get unstuck. The C210 Colin flew out, sunk into the mud halfway up the wheels just sitting parked at the strip.

Stuck Caravan, above
Water logged runway and Cessna 210, below


End of the runway beginning to dry out.

It seems for weeks we have had consistent company visiting with us. So many people have come and gone in the middle of all the other things mentioned above, that we have not kept up with a photo dairy. Our most recent memories consist of three weeks ago, when one of the short term missionaries from Gaborone was here with his family that was visiting from Germany. Two week ends ago the FM IT, Graham, drove up with the flight scheduler for Maun that is based in Gaborone. We were able to get a few pictures from their weekend here. On the way up, they had a major blow out and Graham is pictured below showing the damaged tire.


The office is officially open, and the Maun team met on Saturday to work with Graham and Melly. The chief pilot was here also here and much was accomplished.

Above left to right, Colin, Julie, Patricia, Robert and Keith. The Maun crew.

The latest FMS family to visit was a mechanic and his wife. They were able to spend a few days out at Jack's Camp, and a night with us on the return trip. Colin flew them out to the camp, but the pilot tent was full so he had to fly over to another near by camp called Planet Baobab. He stayed in one of the regular customer huts with a view of the near by baobab trees in the area. Walt, Ev, and Robert


Planet Baobab guest hut.

Below, Baobab trees
We continue to enjoy meeting people from all over the world and sharing with them what the Lord is doing through FM to help people in Botswana.


Colin even got to fly Alexander McCall Smith, author of The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, to Jack's Camp. The famous author is pictured with Colin below, along with his wife and daughter.


Things that continue to catch our eye are local people packed in vehicles and in the backs of trucks. Donkeys and donkey carts for transportation, and a different night sky. Not only is the moon upside down, but also the big dipper.

Room for one more?

I wish I'd had a donkey when I was a kid.

We are still enjoying the fellowship at the local church we attend, especially the little children that come from the small houses and huts in the neighborhood.
Innara and Gift continue to be in our lives, though it has been hard to see them as often now that Julie is working and Colin is flying much more. Innara is still growing in the Lord, but her faith is being tested as she tries to find day labor jobs to provide for the two of them. Since she could no longer be under the care of WAR, she has found a small place to live on the other side of town from us. We have been able to help with the rent and some food, but she is still living very minimally. Please keep her and Gift in your prayers, that the Lord will provide a good job for her. There is still an issue of her status in the country, so it makes getting work all the more difficult.

Gift will be 6 months old on July 12. He is sitting by himself and trying to crawl now. In addition, he is cutting two lower front teeth.

Thanks once again to all of you who have taken an interest in what we are doing here in Maun. With the fullness of the last two months, we have not been very good about communicating or responding to emails. Forgive us, and please keep writing as we miss you all. We know that the Lord has placed us here to love, encourage, and help those He has places in our lives. God does nothing by accident, so we look at each person and ask what it is the Lord would have us do to bring them closer to Him. Though it was hard to leave the life we knew behind, we feel there is much we can do here to... "Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." Galatians 6:12.