January 3, 2009

A new year has quickly swept in, and it is hard to believe we have been in Botswana for six months now. 2008 certainly was a year of change and transitions for us. A favorite gospel song of ours says, "Time is filled with swift transition, naught of earth unmoved can stand. Build you hopes on things eternal. Hold to God's unchanging hand. Trust in Him who will not leave you, whatsoever years may bring..." We certainly have been "building our hopes on things eternal", and "holding to God's unchanging hand". Even though we have made our share of mistakes in the process, we can still keep our sense of humor and continue to trust in Him through all the new experiences we have been encountering.


Shortly after the posting of our last blog, Mmatshimo asked us to come watch her traditional dance group perform again. At the time, we did not realize that the group was asked to be the entertainment at a graduation ceremony for the Wildlife Management Institute. It turned out to be a four hour formal affair, and we politely sat through the whole thing. Mmatshimo and her group performed a few times during the event along with a few other groups. But mostly there were many government officials there, with lots of military pomp and ceremony involved as 200 game rangers and conservation agents received their degrees. Pictured below are some of the rangers during the singing of the national anthem, and Mmatshimo's group singing and dancing in their new costumes.
A few days after the graduation we enjoyed the company of old friend's who used to live in Galena, and some friends of theirs, as they stayed with us a night while passing through Maun. Tim and Laurel Osborne have been living in Namibia for the last ten years, but had been helping with a project putting radio transmitters on Kori Bustards (big birds) in the Central Kalahari Reserve. They stopped for a visit on their way to Zambia where they spent Christmas with friends. The friends they were traveling with were on their way to Victoria Falls on the Zimbabwean boarder, and then were to fly back to the states from Namibia on Christmas day. Just about a quarter mile from our house there is a woman that makes some of the nicest baskets around here, so everyone was thrilled to get some lovely souvenirs to return home with from Botswana.
Only three days past after our Namibia guests departed, we had the pleasure of another visit from our missionary friend from Rakops for two days. After twenty years ministering in the country, John had some good insights to impart to us and many interesting stories share. His company was a pleasure. We continue to feel blessed with this home, and thankful to be able to extend hospitality with others the Lord brings into our lives.

One day, after five months of living in Maun and driving by the sign pointing the direction to the Game Studio Taxidermy, we finally got to drive out into the "Boro" ward area and view the factory. Julie had established a friendship with the owner's daughter-in-law, so she had been out to visit the property previously for a "coffee with cream" invitation one day after church when Colin was flying. It is a long way back on a sand track road, but well worth the drive. The property is beautiful and located by the river, with a bird aviary that Katie and her husband own. The factory had burned down a few years ago, so the elephant pictured below was just getting replaced from the original loss. Most of the recently completed trophies had just been shipped out, and the staff was on break when we visited, but there still were plenty of interesting animals to view and of course a good visit to have with Katie over tea.

A real highlight for us during the Christmas season was the discovery of boxes filled with baby clothes and toiletry supplies in a Flying Mission Services storage container. After filling our Pajero with all the items, we took them to the Flying Mission house to sort. Most of the baby clothes were already in 1 gallon zip-lock bags, which had salvation tracts in Setswana from a publisher in South Africa. There were also boxes of empty zip-lock bags and boxes with hand towels and face clothes, soap, shampoo, tooth paste and tooth brushes. Furthermore, there was a box of tin cups with a Bible verse painted on each one. So we put those things together and mad additional toiletry bags. There were also some canvas bags with the Flying Mission Services decal and some T-shirts for adults, so we made care bags using those also. In addition, each bag had a Flying Mission Services brochure in it. As the Flying Mission Services team in Maun (minus Travis who was still in the states visiting family), we organized piles of gift bags to be distributed to local people in need. We had baby bags sorted for new or expecting mothers, toiletry bags for children, along with a few adult items in the canvas tote bags. Robert and Pusteso knew of a number of new mothers not only around Maun, but also in their home village of Sepopa north of here. Some additional bags went to the church we attend to be given to people a few days before Christmas in more rural areas. Mmatshimo helped out by going with us to the out lying village of Sexaxa (pronounced Sicaca), and taking bags to her village of Disaneng. Pictured below are just a few of the people we visited when giving out the gift bags. People here live very simplistically in small huts. The children have very little and were thrilled by the simple gifts bags we distributed. It felt a bit like being a pied piper of children as we visited from home to home. They loved having their picture taken, and all Colin had to do was point the camera in a direction and they would run that way, gather together, and pose. Below is just a sample of the fifty or so shots we took during our village visits. Notice the car toys made from wire they were so proud to show us. We have been printing out the pictures we take and returning for further visits as we continue to build relationships with the people the Lord draws us to.
Not only were we able to give needed items to people who greatly appreciated the material help, but we were able to plant some spiritual seeds in addition to reflecting Christ like love as we distributed the gift bags. In a small and simple way it felt like we were able to truly share Christ, the real gift of Christmas this season.

Christmas in Maun was very low key, with little or no commercial hype as we usually experience in the states. Moreover, the lack of snow and the hot weather further hindered any sense that it was time for Christmas. We did enjoy a very nice candle light service at the church we have been attending that was on the 20th, and by the 23rd of December we had planned to attend another service on Christmas day and join our friends that own Island Safari Lodge near our home for a holiday meal. But with a charter cancellation on the 26th, and Robert's family trying to get to their home village about five hours drive from here, we decided to take a brief trip up the delta "panhandle" for Christmas instead. Early the morning of the 24th, we picked up Robert's family and loaded more of the gift bags in the car to take to Sepopa. Pictured below was what much of the village looks like, and the little yard entry to Pusetso's mother's home once we arrived there. Robert grew up right next door, so both were excited to have time with family. Note the bundles of papyrus reed drying for later sale or use as fencing as seen in the pictures.


Due to an early departure, we arrived in Sepopa by noon with plans to stay at the Sepopa Swamp Stop Lodge near by to the village. After checking in, and enjoying a light meal, we rented a boat and driver to try some fishing on the Okavango River. It was not the peak season and Colin did not have any success, but we just enjoyed being on the water for a brief time. Our boat driver even made Julie a water lily necklace, and explained aspects of traditional living by the local people while Colin fished. We were only able to be out on the river for about an hour when a huge storm blew in; after all it is currently the rainy season...The storm was very dramatic with thick sheets of rain and spectacular lightening. We made it back just in time and watched the storm from the shelter of the lodge along with a few other guests staying there.


Another couple from Durban, South Africa was on holiday in Botswana and we enjoyed visiting with them at the lodge. We had decided to explore the Tsodilo Hills the next day where there are approximately 2,700 rock paintings created up to 3,000 years ago by the San/bushman people. Botswana is almost totally flat except for this small group of hills in the northwest part of the country. Our new friends, Jackie and Clynton, asked to join us on our Christmas day trip to the hills. The guide book said that the road in was rugged, so we all felt it would be better to travel together. After almost 3 hours of beating our way into the hills through soft sand tracks needing 4 wheel drive, the hills finally were in view. We found our way to the main gate and were immediately noticed by some village children selling necklaces made from local seeds and reeds. They seemed quite good at negotiating a sale, and of course we all could not refuse a few mementos.

Driving further into the hill area we discovered that there was a newly built museum and camping area inside. Continuing to drive around some of the roads close to the museum area, we explored caves and found numerous animal paintings on the rock walls as we hiked in some of the trails of the roads.

The funniest part of our adventure was when we realized there was a well maintained road to travel in on from further north of Sepopa and it only took us half an hour to drive back out. We all felt that going in through the bush had been a fun adventure, though if we return some day we would definitely use the new road. Back at the Swamp Stop Lodge, a nice dip in the pool was a great way to get relief from the heat and finish our Christmas holiday.

Two days after Christmas, the chief pilot for Flying Mission Services was here for a few days, and it was nice to see someone from our Gaborone Flying Mission family. He left on the 31st and New Years eve was spent visiting with our Baptist missionary friends and praising the Lord for His continued provision and care.

Most recently, Colin has been flying fairly regularly with the holiday travelers going on photo safaris to the bush camps near Maun. Julie finally got to go with Colin to pick up two passengers the other day, and seeing the area from the air for the first time was impressive. We saw giraffe and gemsbok on the flight out, in addition to hitting a small bird at 5,000 feet above sea level (a large bird could have been a problem). Robert is pictured below after taking it out of the plane cowling. Colin started joking about it being a small chicken for Robert's lunch, and other porters around continued in the fun. Because of the heat in the engine, it was pretty well cooked and jokes were made about a small chicken braai (BBQ) for Robert. People here are plesantly easy going, and Colin really enjoys his daily interactions with those he works with. This morning we had a chameleon clinging to the wire fence around our patio, hissing at one of the dogs as Red tried to attack it. The fencing was gray and the post near by was brown. In the photo below you can see how closely it had changed its coloring as it tried to blend in to its surrounding, but that still was not enough to protect itself from our barking dog. Colin held out a large stick and the chameleon carefully climbed on and allowed itself to be transported to the safety of a nearby tree. It then changed to the color of the tree bark. How amazingly simple for this small creature to just change to blend in to a new place. How quietly trusting and content it was to just be safely transported to a new location. How remarkably adaptable and flexible.We can not say that the changes this year were easy or always simple, but the transitions in our lives have been positive and we certainly can see the hand of God in it all. Each day we continue to try to be a small blessing in someway to someone here as we seek guidance and direction from the Lord. In a recent Bible devotional a scripture was quoted that said, "Who despises the day of small things?" Zechariah 4:10 NIV. The overall point of the devotional was that often as Christians we can get caught up in the adage of "the bigger the better" when it comes to ministering. People sometime want to measure success in numbers or spectacular displays of God's power. But in reality, all God is interested in is our heart and our willingness to be obedient. It is good to remember that even in small things, His spirit is enabled His purposes will be fulfilled. We are just a small part of the Lord's work here in Botswana, but in this new year and season of our life please pray we continue to be obedient in the small things (and maybe a bit more like the chameleon.)

December 8, 2008

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.

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.