March 15, 2009

Looking at Maun from the air in the picture above, it is amazing how fast each month here has gone by. Once again we are trying to reflect on what we have done over the last month....As the days pass, we seem to feel less like visitors and more comfortable and at home in this country. The down side to that is that we often forget to pull out the camera, as things seem familiar and not so new and different. So, this month's blog should be a lot shorter.

Just after our last blog posting another Flying Mission Services family came to Maun for two weeks as they considered moving here to help. To celebrate their arrival we had a group dinner with the Maun team. Pictured below is the Kowalski family, Robert, Patricia, Travis, and ourselves just before having a family sit down dinner on February 16.


It was really great to have another FM family with us in Maun and the Kowalski's seemed to easily fit into the flow of life and the ministry opportunities here. The current plan is for them to move up from Gaborone at the end of May.

While the Kowalski's were visiting, the team met to work on cleaning and fixing up the office. In no time at all we scrubbed walls, floors, and the bathroom in addition to patching holes in walls in preparation for painting. It is now painted and ready to have the office furniture and phone lines put in for business.
Also while the Kowalski's were here we had another pilot from Gaborone stay with us for four days as the mercy flights were based out of Maun using a Cessna Caravan. Colin was flying regularly with the Rescue One team to gain Caravan flight experience. Most of the flights were transporting patients from Maun to Francistown about 274 miles east from here. Pictured below is the FMS pilot, Matt Hogeboom, and the medical personal waiting in the heat for the ambulance to arrive. The last picture is the Francistown airstrip as the plane comes in for a landing.



Colin has also been flying to a variety of bush strips over the last month near the pans southeast of Maun. In the dry season the pans are just dry salt lakes, but we are still in the middle of the rainy season so they are filled with water. As Colin flies into the remote airstrips he sees large herds of Zebra, Wildebeest, Gemsbok and other wildlife enjoying the availability of water in the pans. The landing strips are in very remote places and he often has to share them with the wild animals of the area.



On the 2nd of March, Julie spent seven days substitute teaching at the international school she worked at earlier for three months last term. The current fourth grade teacher will be leaving at the end of March to return to the United States, so Julie has agreed to take the class over when the students return from break in May. It was a tough decision, but we felt the Lord can best use her gifts and abilities there. In addition, she hopes to have an afternoon Bible club for the students attending the school.

After the first week of substituting, Colin had to fly out to one of the Safari camps on Saturday and spend the night. It was suggested that Julie fly along also. The camp manager decided since it was slow that we should use one of the guest tents so we would be more comfortable for the night. Check out the pictures of the "tent". The camp is rather expensive and we enjoyed having a taste of luxury for the night. Since we had to drive to another camp early in the morning, the manager arranged for a wake up call at 5:15 am with tea and muffins for us.

On the drive to the other camp we saw an Aardwolf, which we were told is an unusual sight since they are nocturnal animals. They are a member of the hyena family and mostly eat just termites. We also saw some fleeting hartebeests and Zebra grazing in the cool of the morning. Unfortunately, we did not get any good pictures as the animals quickly bound away when we were spotted.


Currently, we are preparing for a trip to Zambia to help the Baptist missionaries we have become friends with. After ten years in Maun, they are moving to a small village in south western Zambia. We plan on leaving Maun on the 17th and returning on the 24th. It will take two days of travel each way, so we will be camping out along the way. To purchase a car metal rack was a bit too costly for us, so Colin has built us one out of wood to carry extra gear for the trip.

Please keep us in your prayers as we travel. Furthermore, continue to pray that the Lord will use us in the lives of others...We are still helping Mmatshimo, Anne and her baby, along with Misheck and his wife. There are others that we also feel the Lord has placed in our lives to encourage spiritually, and we have enjoyed being open to His daily guidance as He has places people in our lives.