It is hard to believe so much time has pasted since we last posted a blog. As we get more involved with the community and in peoples lives here, the less time we have had to put everything that has been happening into words. Please be patient as we try to recap the last six weeks....
Colin flew the C210 to Gaborone on the third of November for routine maintenance and returned on Air Botswana six days later, as the plane needed more extensive prop work. That week was emotionally very difficult and being apart made it even more so. We had known that Colin's mother's health was failing, and at 93 years old, she had been ready to go be with the Lord for some time. All that week she lingered as friends and family said good by, until she quietly passed on November 6. It was hard not to be with her even though we knew when we visited in June that it may be the last time we saw her on this earth, but it was also a time for rejoicing as she went home to be with the Lord. Though not financially wealthy, she was always rich in the way it really counted, in her love for the Lord. Raised in a Christian family and in turn raised her children in Christ, she was able to see all three accept Christ and two go onto foreign mission fields. God always provided more than enough and she always reflected Christ to others. Can one be richer than that? We are so grateful to Colin's cousins for the years of watching over her at the nursing home, and for being there to the end when we could not. During that same week, a Flying Mission Services family in Gaborone also lost their 18 month old son in an accident. It was quite a shock to everyone with the mission, and our hearts went out to the family who had just joined the mission team two months earlier. We thank all of you who have prayed for the family when we cried out for prayer. They have felt those prayers through the Lord's goodness in strengthening and upholding them in their loss.
By the end of the first week of November the long awaited rains started. With the rain came relief from the heat and cooler weather. Moreover, the land turned lush and green within about ten days and the dry, dusty, sand track roads are now moist with puddles. Along with the summer rains, a variety of larger insects, lizards, and snakes have come also. Pictured below is a cicada moth. They live in the mopane trees, and during the heat of the day make a buzzing noise that is so loud it makes conversation in a mopane grove nearly impossible. Also shown is a chameleon that Colin found sunning itself on our car one day, and a snake Colin killed on our patio one night. We found out later that this snake's venom is not deadly, but 90% of the snakes here are usually very poisonous. 
In addition, we continue to see new birds and animals in our yard on a regular basis. One night a few days after returning from Gaborone, Colin was sipping Roobos tea on the patio and watching the sunset when.....Colin says, "I thought, 'If a leopard were to be in that big tree (20 yards from me) there wouldn't be enough light to shoot by.' Just as the thought crossed my mind, the silhouette of a large cat slid up the tree into the upper branches! I new it could not be a house cat, as it was too big and had a particular grace in movement that even in low light, I could see. Startled, I ran for my flashlight while calling Julie and our neighbor to come see. That way if it were a leopard, I'd only have one chance in three of being mauled! Actually, caught in the torch beam was a very large spotted genet. The genet is an African wild cat somewhat smaller than a leopard. It appeared quite calm and after watching us for 20 minutes, it came down the tree. Even with the dogs watching and waiting at the base of the tree, it easily out distances them to and then over the fence. It was a real thrill for us!" We tried to get some pictures, but only ended up with a tail shot as it moved from branch to branch. The first picture below is a download from the net, and our tail shot is proof this is a true story! Furthermore, we have had a few mongoose and kangaroo rats in the yard.
A week after getting home from Gaborone, Colin was asked to go up north to Zambia to help with wildlife counts Flying Mission Services was contracted to complete. Travis and the mission pilots in Zambia had been busy with the project for a month. The morning Colin was to fly Air Botswana to Johannesburg South Africa to catch a flight to Zambia, Mmatshimo called and asked if we could take her to an outlying village to pick up part of her groups dance costumes being made by an elder woman. These were special parts of the costumes that are skirts called a matlhaka, pronounced makaka which means sheet. Julie says," Since Colin was leaving, I told Mmatshimo I would take her. We had to wait for her friend OT (she goes by the initials for a name too long to say or write) who knew the woman, and then for the woman and her husband to get done at a village meeting taking place that day. As we drove the seven miles out to the village, I realized OT did not speak any English, as Mmatshimo translated everything said between us. OT said we had to meet the woman and her husband at the river when they crossed by Mokoros ( a traditional wooden canoe) from the village meeting. There are people who run little ferry businesses with these boats, and we had to find the ferry dock. As we drove in and out of sand track roads trying to find the right spot, Mmatshimo told me to stop and she asked a man walking from the river with fish he had caught, where the landing was. They chattered in Setswana and then the man hopped in the back seat with OT. He would tell Mmatshimo were to go and then she would tell me. We finally found the landing just as the elder couple came ashore. Everyone piled in the car, even the man with the fish, and we drove to the couples house. In the heat of the day, and even with all the windows open, body smells mixed with fish permeated through the car...Once we drove back into the couple's plot, they brought chairs out from the small hut and everyone visited under the shade of a tree while the ladies discussed the papyrus reed skirts. OT and Mmatshimo put them on to test how well they would swing when dancing and decide two were good, but the other two needed more work. The whole time the man with the fish just sat there with us, but did not join in the conversation. No one really acknowledged him, which is odd in this culture. I found out later from Mmatshimo that he was the couple's cousin and was waiting for a ride back to the road with us. I didn't understand a word being said, but everyone was friendly and I just smiled a lot." Pictured below are Mmatshimo, OT, and the elder couple who are dressed in their Sunday best for the village meeting they attended. They are holding the four matlhaka skirts. Furthermore, they make nets and the couple brought one out to show me. Notice pictured behind them is a papyrus reed fence around their little brick house. Also pictured below is the man with the fish.
Colin had to make two attempts to get up to Zambia on Air Botswana, and finally got there on Sunday the 16th. Zambia is closer to the equator with more rain, so it is greener with much more humidity than Botswana. Flying Mission has an old farm house that has been converted to a guest house where Colin was able to stay. He really enjoyed the comfort of relaxing by the pool after a long day of flying. It was somewhat of a contrast from flying in the cold of winter in Alaska. The only real difficulty while away was dealing with even more bugs. Colin thought the bugs were big and bad here, but found an even larger and more diverse population of bugs while in Zambia. In addition, he was bitten by a large spider his first night there while sleeping. He still has the fang marks to show for it. Fortunately it was not deadly, but the venom did cause swelling and pain for a few hours after. Pictured below is the guest house along with just a few bugs he encountered and the dead, smashed spider that bit him in the night.
Colin found the country to be mostly rural, with dynamic and friendly people living through out. Nearly everyone farms or works on huge commercial vegetable farms. The guest house is also in a rural area and has a dirt landing strip that the Flying Mission Zambia team flies from. The strip is about 15 miles from Lusaka, the capital city of Zambia. Every day Colin flew from the strip over to the international airport in Lusaka to pick up his four observers. Pictured below is a typical village like many others that dot the country side. Additional photos are of the plane and people Colin flew with daily.
The work was similar to the wildlife surveys Colin has done for years in Alaska, though he had a larger plane and more than one observer. They would fly at 300 feet counting all the animals they saw between two ropes that were tied to the wing struts. They saw lots of elephants, cape buffalo, and antelope. Colin says, "A few times we accidentally crossed the Zambezi River boarder into Zimbabwe. At one point we flew over a camp with lots of little brown uniformed men running toward a small shed. When I was told it was an army encampment, and the shed was an arms storage unit, I beat a hasty retreat."
The day after Colin returned from Zambia, we went to a farewell dinner for two missionary friends from the United States that had been with the Love Botswana ministry for the last four years. They are changing missions to Word for Africa and will be living in Lobatse, south of Gaborone on the South Africa boarder. The event was held at the All Nations Village Church, which is basically a large open tent meeting place. We enjoyed visiting with people we knew, making new friends, and enjoying the food, music, and warm fellowship throughout the evening of November 23.
Colin had to make two attempts to get up to Zambia on Air Botswana, and finally got there on Sunday the 16th. Zambia is closer to the equator with more rain, so it is greener with much more humidity than Botswana. Flying Mission has an old farm house that has been converted to a guest house where Colin was able to stay. He really enjoyed the comfort of relaxing by the pool after a long day of flying. It was somewhat of a contrast from flying in the cold of winter in Alaska. The only real difficulty while away was dealing with even more bugs. Colin thought the bugs were big and bad here, but found an even larger and more diverse population of bugs while in Zambia. In addition, he was bitten by a large spider his first night there while sleeping. He still has the fang marks to show for it. Fortunately it was not deadly, but the venom did cause swelling and pain for a few hours after. Pictured below is the guest house along with just a few bugs he encountered and the dead, smashed spider that bit him in the night.
Colin found the country to be mostly rural, with dynamic and friendly people living through out. Nearly everyone farms or works on huge commercial vegetable farms. The guest house is also in a rural area and has a dirt landing strip that the Flying Mission Zambia team flies from. The strip is about 15 miles from Lusaka, the capital city of Zambia. Every day Colin flew from the strip over to the international airport in Lusaka to pick up his four observers. Pictured below is a typical village like many others that dot the country side. Additional photos are of the plane and people Colin flew with daily.
The work was similar to the wildlife surveys Colin has done for years in Alaska, though he had a larger plane and more than one observer. They would fly at 300 feet counting all the animals they saw between two ropes that were tied to the wing struts. They saw lots of elephants, cape buffalo, and antelope. Colin says, "A few times we accidentally crossed the Zambezi River boarder into Zimbabwe. At one point we flew over a camp with lots of little brown uniformed men running toward a small shed. When I was told it was an army encampment, and the shed was an arms storage unit, I beat a hasty retreat."
The day after Colin returned from Zambia, we went to a farewell dinner for two missionary friends from the United States that had been with the Love Botswana ministry for the last four years. They are changing missions to Word for Africa and will be living in Lobatse, south of Gaborone on the South Africa boarder. The event was held at the All Nations Village Church, which is basically a large open tent meeting place. We enjoyed visiting with people we knew, making new friends, and enjoying the food, music, and warm fellowship throughout the evening of November 23.
One of our neighbors in the flats next door, Munya, has moved to Gaborone and Adrian will be moving in a couple of weeks also. Colin has taken over the maintenance of the property, and the first thing to fail was the water pump. Luckily, Colin had been keeping up with filling the two large "JoJo" water containers holding our water for the house. That gave him a few days to figure out the problem. Colin says," The pump is on a stand pipe beside the Thamalakane River. Because of the present high water, to get to the electric motor I had to wade out through the weeds, lily pads, and papyrus stalks. The water was almost arm pit deep and what's the saying about, "Up to your elbows in crocodiles..."? I managed to take the pump motor off and have it tested (nothing wrong there), reinstall it (another date with the crocs), then found and repaired a faulty wire connection. All this was done while standing in the water on an aluminum ladder (power at the house was shut off of coarse), without being electrocuted or chomped by crocs. Makes me think of a line in a Clint Eastwood movie,'Well, are you feeling lucky punk? Are you?'." After a few days of problem solving, the pump was functional on Thanksgiving Day. Our Thanksgiving Day was actually celebrated on Saturday with thirteen other Americans at the Village Church Pastor's home. It is not a national holiday here, so most of us were working on Thursday.
With Munya moving to Gaborone, we have now inherited the two guard dogs that live on this plot, along with the Zimbabwean gardener named Meeshak, who comes once a week. So many people here live on very little income, and are so grateful for a job. The Lord seems to be bringing certain people into our lives, and we can to provide work for a few that are in need. Meeshak is pictured below as he waits for a down pour to stop. Note the foamy puddle behind him by the lawn just a few minutes after it started to rain.
In addition to friendship and relation building with people here in Maun, as a Maun Flying Mission Services team, we have begun to meet on Monday nights to share in a time of prayer and fellowship. We are pictured below with Travis, Robert, and Robert's wife Pusetso. Also, other missionaries working in some of the remote villages have heard Flying Missions Services have perminent people here now, and they are hungry for Christian fellowship when in town to do business. Over the last few weeks, we have had a team of three stay with us from the village of Rakops in the central Kalahari (second picture below), and a young couple that live near Xai xai (pronounced Ky ky) on the Botswana-Namibia boarder. They are pictured outside with their little girl and they also are with Word for Africa ministering to the San bushman people.
The last three weeks of the school term were particularly busy. Not only were there end of the year things to take care of such as report cards and classroom closure, but also an awards ceremony (they call it "Prize Giving"), and a Christmas program for the students to practice for and perform. With Colin gone to Zambia, it was a perfect time to complete the twenty-four end of the year "Reports". With the school being a private international school, the reports were very detailed and time consuming. Then for prize giving, every student gets some sort of award for a strong or improved academic area. The ceremony started at 10:30am on November 28, and ended at 1pm. All 200 students were given an award, then there were special sports awards before a 30 minute brake for tea. All the lower aged classes did some sort of entertainment after tea. The little ones that Julie worked with for the last three months, did two dance routines with the dance teacher that had come one day a week all year. The pictures to follow are of Lucy, her team teacher, sitting with some of our students. The next is the class with Ketty, our classroom aide, and the two pictures after that are of the students doing their dances to "Jingle Bells" and "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer." The last photo is all the Standard 1 through 7 students at the end of school Christmas play. The program took place at the All Nations Village Church on December 3. The little ones opened the show with a lively song led by the music teacher.
We continue to bounce back and forth between the Maun Methodist Church and the Village Church. On Thursday we go to a mid week service at the Village Church, then on Sunday we fellowship at the Methodist Church that is a mixture of expatriates (like us who have moved here from other countries to work), people from India and Korea, Zimbabweans, and local Batswana. The first picture below is of Pastor Alex blessing the children as they go off for Sunday school. Also, Julie has started helping with worship music and meets with a few different people each week to practice at our house.
Colin dropped Travis off at the bus station at 6am on the 6th of December to travel to Gaborone, and then to the states to see family and friends. He will also go to Germany and Switzerland on his return to see other missionary friends made through Flying Missions over the last year and a half. A total time of six weeks in planned, and so we have now brought KooKoo home to be with us while he is gone. The biggest concern is to keep the door locked so she will not get out. The dogs have already gotten the previous renters cat....We are convinced she is an African Wild Cat. She has longer legs and ears than a domestic cat, and has the distinct reddish-brown on the back of her ears in addition to a longer ringed tail, and other distinguishing features. If you remember from an earlier blog, she was found alone on the side of the road in the Gaborone area.
In closing, we are ever thankful for all of your continued interest, prayers, and encouragement. We feel the Lord is truly blessing us in our time here. The house is perfect for our needs and we are grateful for His provision. In the picture below, Colin enjoyed watching and listening to all the birds in our yard during a recent tea break (10am is always tea time here). It is our hope to continue to share the blessing of this home through hospitality to others. There is much need here, and we are seeking His guidance on where to zero in on the personal mission God would have us do. At this point, we are still observing, seeking, and waiting for a definite call. We do feel we have been able to encourage and help others in a variety of ways though, and will remain focused on helping to build the Flying Mission base here.
With Munya moving to Gaborone, we have now inherited the two guard dogs that live on this plot, along with the Zimbabwean gardener named Meeshak, who comes once a week. So many people here live on very little income, and are so grateful for a job. The Lord seems to be bringing certain people into our lives, and we can to provide work for a few that are in need. Meeshak is pictured below as he waits for a down pour to stop. Note the foamy puddle behind him by the lawn just a few minutes after it started to rain.
In addition to friendship and relation building with people here in Maun, as a Maun Flying Mission Services team, we have begun to meet on Monday nights to share in a time of prayer and fellowship. We are pictured below with Travis, Robert, and Robert's wife Pusetso. Also, other missionaries working in some of the remote villages have heard Flying Missions Services have perminent people here now, and they are hungry for Christian fellowship when in town to do business. Over the last few weeks, we have had a team of three stay with us from the village of Rakops in the central Kalahari (second picture below), and a young couple that live near Xai xai (pronounced Ky ky) on the Botswana-Namibia boarder. They are pictured outside with their little girl and they also are with Word for Africa ministering to the San bushman people.
The last three weeks of the school term were particularly busy. Not only were there end of the year things to take care of such as report cards and classroom closure, but also an awards ceremony (they call it "Prize Giving"), and a Christmas program for the students to practice for and perform. With Colin gone to Zambia, it was a perfect time to complete the twenty-four end of the year "Reports". With the school being a private international school, the reports were very detailed and time consuming. Then for prize giving, every student gets some sort of award for a strong or improved academic area. The ceremony started at 10:30am on November 28, and ended at 1pm. All 200 students were given an award, then there were special sports awards before a 30 minute brake for tea. All the lower aged classes did some sort of entertainment after tea. The little ones that Julie worked with for the last three months, did two dance routines with the dance teacher that had come one day a week all year. The pictures to follow are of Lucy, her team teacher, sitting with some of our students. The next is the class with Ketty, our classroom aide, and the two pictures after that are of the students doing their dances to "Jingle Bells" and "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer." The last photo is all the Standard 1 through 7 students at the end of school Christmas play. The program took place at the All Nations Village Church on December 3. The little ones opened the show with a lively song led by the music teacher.
We continue to bounce back and forth between the Maun Methodist Church and the Village Church. On Thursday we go to a mid week service at the Village Church, then on Sunday we fellowship at the Methodist Church that is a mixture of expatriates (like us who have moved here from other countries to work), people from India and Korea, Zimbabweans, and local Batswana. The first picture below is of Pastor Alex blessing the children as they go off for Sunday school. Also, Julie has started helping with worship music and meets with a few different people each week to practice at our house.
Colin dropped Travis off at the bus station at 6am on the 6th of December to travel to Gaborone, and then to the states to see family and friends. He will also go to Germany and Switzerland on his return to see other missionary friends made through Flying Missions over the last year and a half. A total time of six weeks in planned, and so we have now brought KooKoo home to be with us while he is gone. The biggest concern is to keep the door locked so she will not get out. The dogs have already gotten the previous renters cat....We are convinced she is an African Wild Cat. She has longer legs and ears than a domestic cat, and has the distinct reddish-brown on the back of her ears in addition to a longer ringed tail, and other distinguishing features. If you remember from an earlier blog, she was found alone on the side of the road in the Gaborone area.In closing, we are ever thankful for all of your continued interest, prayers, and encouragement. We feel the Lord is truly blessing us in our time here. The house is perfect for our needs and we are grateful for His provision. In the picture below, Colin enjoyed watching and listening to all the birds in our yard during a recent tea break (10am is always tea time here). It is our hope to continue to share the blessing of this home through hospitality to others. There is much need here, and we are seeking His guidance on where to zero in on the personal mission God would have us do. At this point, we are still observing, seeking, and waiting for a definite call. We do feel we have been able to encourage and help others in a variety of ways though, and will remain focused on helping to build the Flying Mission base here.
