March 31, 2011

Another full and busy month has breezed by with lots of visitors and ministry activities. Early in the month we had a few days visit from Pastor David, whom we met while in Sepopa in February. He was passing through Maun on his way home to Mochudi, and we enjoyed having more time to get to know him better. The photo to follow was taken early on a Saturday morning before Colin took David to the bus rank. It is too bad that David had to get home that day, as the next stop Colin made after dropping David off was to the men's breakfast at our church. With the help of a couple other men from the church, Colin continues to help cook and provide nourishing meals once a month through that ministry.
Other pilots and missionaries came and went during the month, and we enjoy the fellowship as people stay in the flats next to our house. Colin continues to do all the maintenance and Julie does the cleaning of the FMS rentals to help keep the expenses minimal.

The highlight of the month was doing a 5 day Bible club outreach on the Kowalski plot for the children living in their neighborhood. Cheryl, Julie, and a few other ladies from the neighborhood teamed together to plan and run the program. Keith also helped out most of the days, and Colin came by with MT one day as well. The club was well attended with over one hundred different children during the week, with the largest group being 85 on the last day.

Every morning for almost an hour before the gate was opened, there were children gathering outside waiting for the activities to start. After a few days, we even heard them singing some of the songs they were learning. At nine o'clock, we would open the gate and children would sign in, get a name tag, and share the Bible verse from the day before with Cheryl and all the helpers.

Julie had lots of fun games to start the day off and children could easily join in after checking in at the attendance table.

As the crowd of children thinned out, the other helpers would come over to the games until it looked as if everyone that was coming was there. Cheryl was usually the last one checking kids in. Below is the Kowalski family, and the children were also a big help with the club.
Once everyone was signed in and had a name tag, Julie would end the large group game and we would start the day off by greeting all the children and introducing ourselves.
Then we would have an opening prayer. Of course, everything had to be translated into Setswana by some of our helpers from the neighborhood.

Otis and Ipataleng, in addition to a couple of their older children, were especially helpful with interpreting. Each day we taught the children many new songs, and also sang some Setswana songs that were familiar to them.

Just to give you a quick sample of the children singing a Setwana song, there is a short video clip attached again this month. The song is called "Retla bina Hosanna" and they are singing about dancing around the throne of King Jesus.


When the singing was finished, Julie and Cheryl alternated days of teaching the lesson. We used the Child Evangelist Fellowship Wordless Book that gave a full gospel message through the 5 day teaching. The wordless book uses 5 different colors that explain the lesson in a large picture book to follow. For example, the first day we talked about heaven and the color used was gold. Both Julie and Cheryl were given a variety of the CEF teaching material when on furlough, and it has been getting well used in our church Sunday School, the Sepopa Sunday school, Bible club, and now the 5 day outreach.
When the lesson was finished, the little ones 6 and under went off with some of the other ladies to learn a simplified bible verse, while the older ones learned the complete verse for the day.
Then Julie played games with the older ones that she created to also support the daily message that was taught. The younger ones played games in another area of the property.

When the games were finished, Cheryl had juice and snack ready for the kids and each day she found a away to give a snack that matched the color used in the wordless book.
On Friday, our final day, we did a few extra things for the children. When they left after the two hours of activities, the older children were all given a New Testament Bible in Setswana on behalf of Flying Mission and ...
.....a gift bag that had a few treats and essentials that we had been given to distribute. Notice that the girl getting her gift bag from Cheryl is curtsying in thanks.
Later that evening, the children and their families were invited back to sing more songs, watch a slide presentation from the week and see the Jesus film for children in Setswana.
By the end of the week we were all very encouraged by the response of the children to the outreach, in addition to the relationships that were formed. The Kowalski family even had a few extra people ride to church with them the following Sunday.

That Sunday happened to be our last Sunday school for the first term of this year. The children had spent a large portion of the term learning about Moses and they shared with the church members that day the new song, "Pharaoh Pharaoh", that was learned along with the unit.
Since there is going to be a one month term break and the weather is starting to get cooler as winter approaches, not only did the children get a special prize for good attendance this term but also the Kowalski's distributed warm sweaters that they had brought back from Canada while on furlough. There is so much need here, and anything people give us to share is greatly appreciated.
On the 27th of March it was our anniversary. Next year it will be our thirtieth and we hope to take one last major trip before we head back to Alaska. This year we went out to dinner at our favorite lodge and treated ourselves to a steak dinner for the first time.
The last week in March was also the end of Bible club for term one. The group has really grown spiritually and in numbers this year and Julie enjoyed integrating some sort of game when possible to connect the children to the lesson being taught. This activity pictured below was to lead into a story about putting God first in our lives. It is easy to let other things become more important...The cotton balls in the game were supposed to be equal to money and the children were given a spoon to gather as many as they wanted in just a few minutes. It was interesting to see a variety of character traits expressed in the game and the observations helped lead into a good discussion before the lesson.
For the final day of club this term, the children got to watch a children's video title,"He Has Risen" and eat Julie's special goodies of Rice Krispies bars. Rice Krispies treats are always a big deal to the kids, as none of them had ever eaten them until she introduced them to the kids.
Through each month we have many visitors, and do not always mention everyone in this blog, we did want to include the Word to Africa missionary family that we have grown to love so much over the last two year. Dries, Ilse, Jana, and Cordre were here for one night on their way home from Gaborone after attending their mission's annual team gathering. Jana is speaking up a storm in English now, and Cordre is walking everywhere and excited to explore everything. After his early and shaky birth at the remote clinic in Gumare, Cordre seems to certainly be a happy and active toddler these days. The family is pictured below, just before leaving for their home village in Mahopa in the remote north west corner of Botswana.
During the month, Colin also had to fly a critically injured patient with head injuries from a remote sight. The lack of medical personnel and services for serious conditions in Botswana is very frustrating. The poor man was bleeding from his nose and ears and had to walk to get into the plane when dropped off by the medical staff for the medical evacuation. Another man in a T shirt, who was supposed to be the nurse attending the patient, also flew along but had absolutely no supplies such as gloves, gauze, etc. Darkness was closing in and Colin was able to get the man as far as Maun, but the hospital here and in Francistown would not take such a serious case. One of the FMS King Airs had to be dispatched to meet Colin in Maun and then transport the patient to Gaborone. All we can do at in these types of situations is just pray for the people who are suffering and hope they get the proper medical help once FMS has completed the mercy flight.

When possible we like to add a few everyday photos before closing. This month here are a few from the flight line in Maun.

Not only does Colin fly customers to remote camps, but often he has camp staff to transport also. This is one of the Jack's Camp staff just before departure.

Some of Colin's pilot friends tow a Caravan with a little truck.
Sunrise at the airport just before an early departure.
Upcoming things we would appreciate your prayers for are: a ministry follow up trip to Sepopa the 16th of April; a busy flight schedule for the next few months through November; a safe arrival for the Kowalski baby due the end of May; additional staff needs for the Maun base as the operation is growing and we prepare to return to Alaska in 15 months. We are reminded that these things are all in the Lords hands and we place our faith there. The Lord has promised that, "...I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous hand." Isaiah 41:10

So we carry on and trust because "Faith is not a sense, nor sight, but simply taking God at His word." [A quote from Christmas Evans]