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.