February 28, 2010

February flew by in a flash, so here are just a few highlights to quickly catch up on the past month or so....

As for direct evangelical ministry activities, Bible club continues to be a joy to do each week for Julie. There continues to be a core group of students that have attended since she started the club in May of 2009. Each term there have been a few new additions and each week the students are enthusiastic about learning more about the love of God. Also, it has been such a pleasure for Julie to team with a good friend and teacher at the school. She is very gifted in music, and Julie has enjoyed learning new songs along with the children.

Since Julie is not teaching school this term, she has had the time to get more involved in our church Sunday school program. She is coordinating and teaming with a few ladies who are willing to be involved in teaching to a group of local village children that attend regularly. They are working through the challenges together, as there are usually over 40 kids weekly from ages 4 years to 14 years with maybe half of them understanding English fairly well.

All the children attend half of the service and are excused during the Pastors message to meet in a building next to the church. The room was in need of some attention to brighten it up a bit, so Julie went in one day and painted most of the walls. The back wall was in such rough shape that paint would not be enough. So, some inexpensive fabric was purchased and Colin covered the wall with it. See the make over in the pictures below.



On the 24th of February, Colin turned 60 years old. Julie was able to pull off a surprise party for him two days early. We were expecting friends to be staying with us starting on the 22nd, so Julie organized a dinner supposedly as a time of fellowship for them. But then they were delayed a week, so she told Colin everyone still wanted to get together and she was not canceling the gathering. He never figured out it was really a birthday celebration for him until he saw the cake.

The verse on the cake says, "To you, O LORD...I lift up my soul; In you I trust, O my LORD." Psalm 25:1
There were 14 close friends and 4 children in attendance that night. We had a lovely dinner and great fellowship out on the patio.

The next day, Colin had to fly the C210 to Gaborone and be on standby for any Mercy flights. He stayed at the chief pilot's house, and on his actual birthday he celebrated again with the Schubert family.
The day of Colin's birthday he did need to fly a woman that had premature twins to the hospital in Francistown. It made for a long flight, as he had gone to Gaborone the day before so had to fly back north to Maun then going east and dropping her at the Francistown hospital then returning back to Gaborone. Julie had been volunteering in the office off and on during the month just as she had in January, so that Patricia could take some leave time. She was on the ramp to help Colin when he arrived. The ambulance came shortly after, the woman and babies were loaded, and the plane departed quickly after.


The next day there was another Mercy flight, and Keith had a burn patient to transport to Francistown. He had just landed from a charter when, Julie met him on the ramp with the stretcher. The ambulance was delayed, and daylight was limited for a round trip so an overnight in Francistown would be necessary. The EMT could not overnight, so when the ambulance finally arrived a nurse was told by the hospital that she would have to help transport the patient. The woman was not prepared for travel and needed some items at her home. Julie was able to quickly drive her home to grab what she needed and tell her family what was happening. Finally the patient was loaded and everyone was on their way to Francistown.


Shortly after Colin's birthday, Will Bowen an Alaska pilot friend, decided he was going to return to Alaska via Mozambique. He had successfully secured a flying job in Maun and passed all his flight tests. We had also been letting him stay in one of the flats on the property, so it was a shock to us when he said he was leaving. The reasoning was that the government was making it difficult for new pilots to get the needed work permits and it could be another two months before things would get straightened out for him to actually fly and be paid. So, he was on a plane the next day and we agreed to get together in Alaska when we return. Colin had really enjoyed reflecting on the "bush" flying here as compared to bush flying in Alaska, with someone that could understand the differences. It was fun having him around, and we were sorry to see him go. Will is pictured below with his local pilot gear.


Relationship building and being available to help others, is a large part of what we feel the Lord has placed us here to do. After church on the 28th, we were privileged to be at the baptism of a young girl that lives next door to us. She has been catching a ride to church with us most of the month, and the week before she had received Jesus as her Savior in our living room while Pastor Alex was visiting. It was a beautiful day, and a few of us gathered at Island Safari Lodge to use the pool for the ceremony. We sang the song "In Christ Alone" before our Pastor gave a brief message, and then we watched as they entered the pool together.


Pictured below is pastor Alex, Nicoline and her boyfriend Devango (Daniel's older brother), after the baptism. Starting this week, Nicoline and Devango will be coming over for a foundational Bible study printed by Flying Mission. Nicoline is also helping Julie on the days she teaches Sunday school.

Daniel was in attendance with his little sister Nana, who is now coming to church with us also. With Dan, Nana, Nicoline, Devango and Dan's other sister Abigail, our car is now full with Daniel's family members when we pull into church on Sunday. Dan and Nana are pictured below after the baptism as they swam with the other children that came with family to watch the event. They are such beautiful children with a Zimbabwean and Malaysian heritage.

The day after the baptism, our young missionary friends arrived (a week later than planned) on their return from South Africa. They had been gone from Botswana for four months after the premature birth of their son at the end of October. Those of you that read this blog regularly may remember seeing a picture of baby Cordre in the incubator once he was safely settled in Gaborone. It was wonderful to see them all, and especially to see Cordre for the first time. They were able to stay through Friday morning as they had business to attend to before heading back out to the remote bush village north west of here. What a joy it was to see how strong and healthy Cordre is now after such an unexpected early arrival in the rugged and rural hospital (more like a clinic) in Gumare. We were thrilled to have the time to visit and catch up with this dear young family, but by Friday they were more than ready to get back home and to the mission field the Lord has placed them in.

Colin has been blessed to make a few more trips out to our friend's game farm on his days off to help out with chores, especially fence mending to fix the holes elephants rip in the fencing as they travel cross country. He did have a close encounter with a elephant (about a 30 foot face off), but the large bull did not charge so no shots were fired. A special blessing has been the one on one Bible discussions Colin has had with his rancher friend, who is well studied in the Bible. The pictures below were taken out at the farm and show the bush country Colin has been spending time in with his friend.

Other things that have gone on over the last month that we did not capture with the camera are the Men's breakfast Colin and his friend Graham have organized. It is held at 7am the first Saturday of each month at the church we attend. The first breakfast was on February 6th and Julie sent a large batch of fresh sweet rolls. The second one was a few days ago and Colin made "traditional American" pancakes which were a big hit.

Just for fun, there are a few pictures of everyday life from around town. The first two are of the one lane bridge we use regularly and a large truck we watched fill it one day. Everyone is very good about taking turns.

The next picture is an everyday occurrence when we go to the shopping centers. As we walk from shop to shop, mixed in among people are usually small herds of goats. The goats pictured below are resting on the sidewalk beside a local furniture store.

All along the road side are little "shade shack" businesses like this barber shop pictured below.

Cell phones are used by everyone and are a booming business all over the country.


Other things we have had to get used to here, is the variety of electrical plug types. There are three main types and so there are a number of plug adapters that are common household items to have. Then if you are American like us, you have to have an additional power converter to use or charge things with American plugs. The power converter (on the left in the photo below) was nicknamed "the complainer" when our maid, Mmatshimo, did not know what it was and it was making a loud humming sound.


We are now in the process of getting the final travel plans in place to return to the states for the month of April. There is a need for us to return to take care of some family matters and to secure our belongings for another two years. The Lord has shown us that there are still things we are to do here, so we are preparing to serve through Flying Mission Services for two more years starting in July.

Once again our hearts overflow when we think of so many of you who encourage us in various ways. It is a real testament of the Biblical principle to, "Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing." 1 Thessalonians 5:11 That is also a large part of what we continue to try to do here... To encourage others and be available to do what ever God puts before us. There seems to be a real spiritual openness here, and it has been a privilege to be a part of God's spirit moving in peoples lives. We deeply thank you for your prayers, words of encouragement, and contributions to what we are doing. We look forward to seeing as many of you as we can while on our short visit to the states.

January 29, 2010

Since our last blog, there have been lots of minor difficulties (the biggest being the crash of our computer just before the New Year) but these bumps along the road only served as small life lessons. The real story to tell this month is how loved we have felt in this New Year by other people, especially those we left back home.

With Julie giving up her teaching job to be more available for ministry needs, we knew the extra income would be missed. Yet, it was such an encouragement when the Lord touched a few generous hearts and we received holiday love offerings and care boxes just after the New Year began. The timing was perfect and it really is a testimony of how God works in people's hearts! He is the provider and always knows just what we need.

As January began, Julie was struggling some with homesickness and wanted to make a trip to Namibia to see some old friends from Alaska. Both of us needed a break, as it had been very busy for months. One of our desires was to drive to the coastal town of Swakopmund and stay a couple of days. Even when we lived in Galena, Colin occasionally needed to connect with the sea due to his roots growing up on the east coast of the US. Usually in the past, he would travel to see family on the north Atlantic coast every few years. He was feeling that need to be by the ocean, so to get to the sea from Maun we would have to head west to the south Atlantic sea coast in Namibia. The other desire we had was to see our friends living in northern Namibia and we had always hoped to drive the two days west to see them. Once we reached the coast we could travel to see our friends, Tim and Laurel Osborne, who are living northeast of Swakopmund by Etosha National Park.

When we looked at the distance and the cost, it did not look like we could manage a trip. Then a care box came from a good friend back home. Not only was there a variety of useful items inside the box, but a card with a check in it. In the card, our friend specifically said to use the money on a trip or to do something special together. Going to Namibia would fall into both categories, and the dollar amount would cover the fuel cost! With a bunch of unused holiday leave left from 2009, and no flights on the immediate schedule, we took off for Namibia at day break on January 10, 2010.

Half the fun of traveling is experiencing different things together. We are always impressed with the road signs we see along the way.

After a fairly simple boarder crossing and long day in the car, we started to look for a suitable place to spend the night just outside of the major city of Windhoek, Namibia, which is more than 6000 feet above sea level. We seemed drawn to follow the signs leading to a game farm about 7 kilometers off the main road. It was a perfect stop over with clean and comfortable bungalows that were reasonably priced. The highlight of the stop was the excellent game meat dinner we were served there.

These are pictures of the dining room and pool area.

In Swakopmund, we stayed two nights in an apartment that is owned by the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Mission. The building was built as a school in 1955, and was in operation for over 30 years before being turned into duplex as a retreat for missionaries. There were two fully equipped apartments in the building that still contained well kept vintage furniture. We stayed in one of them, at a minimal expense. The building was just a block away from the beach, which we could see from the front of the house.

The house really did not fit the existing neighborhood. Compare the picture above of the old school building with some of the neighboring beach front homes pictured below.

We really enjoyed the historical and German roots of the town. This lighthouse is in the center of the tourist area was built in 1920, and continues to shine a light into the open sea nightly.


There are many older and well kept buildings throughout the town. Below are a couple of our favorites.

Also in the center of town is a lovely beach, wading pool, indoor pool, in addition to many shops and restaurants.
Our first full day in Swakopmund, we decided to drive south down the coast to Walvis Bay. The area is well known for the large bird and seal populations. All around Swakopmund are huge sand dunes in which people do sand board surfing, quad-biking, para sailing, among other adventure seeking activities. The pictures below do not even begin to give a perspective of how big the dunes are or how much sand is everywhere around the coastal area.

When we saw this sign pictured above, our response was "No kidding!"

Along the way there were people fishing and at this particular spot you could see a ship wreck in the background.
We enjoyed a leisurely drive along the coast, stopping to watch surfers and big waves crashing to shore. As we got closer to Walvis Bay, we could see many ships anchored in the distance. Walvis Bay is a major shipping port for Namibia.

Seeking direction from our "Lonely Planet" travel guide for Namibia, we took a side trip into the desert to check out a huge sand dune known as "Dune 7". Again, the pictures below do not even capture the massiveness of the sand dunes the area is known for.

After leaving "Dune 7", we decided to follow our guide book and head to a place called Rooibank. There was supposed to be some sort of wildlife reserve and animals to see if we drove 20 kilometers to the mouth of a river drainage. The road was rough and we ended up driving about 10 kilometers down a desolate gravel road until in the distance we saw a sign.

When we got close enough to read it, we were shocked and then went into a laughing fit. Read the sign below.
At the same moment both of us thought, "What nature reserve?" Take a good look at the dry empty desert in the background. Obviously there must be something out there worth making a reserve for, but we sure could not see it. So, we decided to turn around and head back to Walvis Bay to look for shore birds. As we drove around the "lagoon" at Walvis Bay we did get to see a variety of birds and we continue to mark off our sightings in the South African bird book we were given by friends in Galena before leaving Alaska. It has been fun to see our number of identified species regularly increase.

Greater Flamingo

Great White Pelican

Grey-Backed Sparrowlark

Pied Avocet

As we drove around the area, we saw a large salt works plant and evaporated lakes of hardened salt. The trucks pictured next were scooping up the salt to transport to the near by plant for purification. It reminded us of the frozen lakes in Alaska.

Later that afternoon, we returned to Swakopmund and visited the Marine Museum there. The picture below was taken outside and in the background you can see the large dock near the center of the town.
Inside the Marine Museum was a large aquarium that allowed you to walk through a tube to see the fish. We tried to take pictures of the many southern Atlantic fish we saw there, but most of the photos were blurry. The only picture that came out was this odd looking fish floating above our heads that is pictured below.

The sea life viewing was interesting, but just down the road was the Swakopmund Museum and the history and diversity we found there was even more intriguing. There was a large room filled with cultural displays of all the tribes in Namibia.

Also, there were rooms filled with historical items and information from the settling of Namibia and Swakopmund.Of course Colin loved the rooms filled with wildlife displays and mounts. He has always loved the look and feel of ivory, and had to have his photo taken with the large tusked elephant skull pictured below.

Namibia has a tremendous diversity of geological features, and mineral deposits. The museum had a room full of rocks, gem stones and minerals found in Namibia.

The morning of January 13, we left Swakopmund and drove north up the "Skeleton Coast'.
You can see how this rugged coastline got it's name by the abandoned ship wrecks scattered along the way.
After a couple of hours along the coast, we traveled northeast into the interior on a long gravel road. Slowly we left the flat desert behind. We enjoyed seeing the varied terrain and small isolated villages along the way.

The further north we drove, the greener the landscape became and by mid afternoon we arrived at Tim and Laurel's game farm on Tandala Ridge. Driving up the ridge over a gravel road, the building with their lapa (covered dining patio) with attached kitchen and living room came into view. It sits on the ridge overlooking the vast expanse of property they own on the boarder of Etosha National Park. (Second picture below shows the view) A little further up the ridge, and behind the main structure is a large bungalow where they have a combined office, bedroom and bath.
We were warmly welcomed with cool drinks and sat overlooking their land while viewing wildlife drinking from the waterhole below.

There are two comfortable cottages for guests visiting their B&B, and we were placed in one for the few days of our stay there. The other cottage had a returning guest from Holland named Henry.
Over meals, we appreciated hearing about Henry's many adventures traveling yearly around Southern Africa. He also listened to our many stories from the years in Galena and Alaska, while we reminisced with Tim and Laurel.

With an early morning breakfast under our belt on our first full day at the game farm, we drove down the ridge to explore the property.

There were some great fossilized features scattered through out the property.

In addition to a variety of plains game on the farm, they also have four black rhino. Two had working radio collars, so we drove through the bushy property seeking them out. We got to a place where we could hear one in the bush about 50 meters in from the truck, but it did not come out from the protection of shade for us to see.

Above is Tim Osborne radio tracking a black rhino.

As we find everywhere, we were surrounded by lovely flora and bird life such as the flowering Sickle Bush above and the Short Toed Rock Thrush seen below. This Rock Thrush is only found in Namibia.
Every night after dark while we ate dinner sitting at the table in the lapa, there were large African porcupines within about ten feet of the deck that would silently appear. After seeing the size of their quills used for jewelry and decoration, Julie had really wanted to see one while living in Africa. She got her wish. The picture does not show how huge they are especially when the quills are sticking straight out from the body.

Two nights and a full day really were not enough time at Tandala Ridge with our old friends, but with a two day drive still ahead of us to get home and only one week for our total trip it was time to leave on January 15. It only made sense to drive east through Etosha National Park, and knowing we can never get enough of the wonderful wildlife that covers the landscape everywhere we go in our travels. In the blog we have quit listing all the animals that we constantly see, but we do like include new sightings such as the black-faced impala below.

We have seen a few of the large Kori Bustard before, that is in the next photo, but they were everywhere while driving through the park. Now we understand how Tim and Laurel ended up in Namibia while they did biological research on this massive bird known for being the heaviest flying bird.
Bird life was abundant in the park. Above is an Abdims Stork and below a Black Winged Stilt with to Ruffs.
Each leg of out travels both to and from Namibia usually averaged about a ten hour day. With fatigue setting in, we followed the advise of our "Lonely Planet" guide book and stopped at a rather unique place (below) called Roy's Rest Camp to spend the night after leaving Tandala Ridge.
Above is our bungalow at Roy's place. The furniture inside was all hand made from local materials.
Right outside our door we found these two beautiful and unusual moths.

The next morning we continued heading northeast until we came to the Kavango River that is the boarder between Namibia and Angola. It also becomes the Okavango River when it flows into Botswana and it's water is distributed throughout tributaries in the Okavango Delta.

Looking across the river to Angola from Namibia.

Though it made for about a twelve hour day of driving our last day on the road, we followed the Kavango into Botswana and once back across the boarder we dropped south down the delta panhandle to return home to Maun. The trip gave us a needed break from the on going flights and ministry in which we are currently involved. Even with some long days on the road, the trip was a great time of reflection and refreshment.

On returning to Maun the FMS chief pilot was here and stayed with us for a few days, while Julie was filling in as secretary as Patricia needed to use some of her leave time also. During the second week while Julie covered the office, Colin was invited to a friend's game ranch a couple of hours drive from Maun. Since Julie was volunteering as secretary, Colin headed out to help our friend harvest some game meat to sell locally. Though they hunted hard through the thick brush, they only caught quick sightings of the jumpy Kudu they were hunting.

Above is the camp and below one of the trackers.

Colin with a 60 lb. tusk from an elephant that was causing a danger to local people and had to be put down.
A Spotted Thick Knee to add to our list of bird sightings and an eye catching butterfly below found around camp.
On a regular basis, we still enjoy the help and friendship of Misheck. He and his wife continue to fellowship at our church now also. Below Misheck and Colin take a break from the yard work with a cool drink.

With summer in full swing here, the fever berry seeds from the trees in our yard are everywhere. Misheck no sooner gets them all raked up, and a big wind or rain moves in to scatter the golf ball size seeds all over the yard again as they blow off the trees.

There are always new birds around in our yard also, and we value their songs and colorful presence daily. Here is one of them pictured below after a year and a half of trying to get a photo of the Senagal Coucal!
Another weekly event that we are so thankful for is a Tuesday night fellowship and Bible study we attend. This group of people have become some of our closest friends and have helped fill the gap we felt in leaving so many loved ones back in the states.

As for current involvement with direct ministry, Julie is back to doing a Bible club once a week at the school had been teaching at last term. In addition, she has been going with a few other women from our church to encourage and pray with sick women at the Maun hospital. We still have the "Book of John" a friend from the states sent to us, and the team has been giving them out along with a FMS track to the sick women during the visits.

A new friend in our lives is another Alaskan who came here seeking a pilot position. We heard through the pilot circle that a guy named Will was from Fairbanks. When we got to meet him, we found out we have mutual mechanic friends in common in addition to our Alaska back grounds. Will is pictured below at the FMS office in Maun.

We are so thankful for the experiences and the loving friendships and family we continue to have near and far while living here in Maun. In closing, we can truly testify to the Lord's goodness and that..."The LORD longs to be gracious to you, He rises to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are those who wait on him!" Isaiah 30:18

May God bless all of you that have taken the time to stay connected to us through this blog. Your interest, prayers, emails, forwards, letters and gifts continue to be a source of encouragement to us while we serve here in Botswana.