August 31, 2009

It seems like every time we sit down to start a new blog entry, there is a need to apologize for not getting something posted sooner. As you can see by the date above, that this was started at the end of August. The longer we are here, the more involved we are with people and time just gets away from us. We know this entry will be lengthy, due to the weeks that have past, but we write just as much to reflect on what we are doing for our own journal as well as a way to keep connected with all of you that read this blog.

The second school term ended for Julie on August 7. There were end of the term assessments a grade to complete, along with parent teacher conferences. Also, there was also a full day inter-school sporting event that took place at the Maun Sports Stadium. The sport complex is fairly new and quite an amazing facility. Botswana is interesting in that it is a developing country with a good infrastructure for traveling, and a state of the art hospital here in Maun, among other things like the stadium. Yet in may ways there are still third world struggles with poor living conditions for many and substandard health care due to not enough qualified people to handle the modernization taking place...Anyway, the picture below are some of Julie's students in a relay at the stadium. Julie has already returned to work and the students start back on September 7th for the last term of the school year.

We enjoyed having the Kowalski family living on the property for six weeks until they could find other suitable housing. It was like having one big FMS family on the plot, and even the dogs enjoyed playing together. Red, one of our guard dogs, has been sleeping by the gate each night waiting for their return...Their first night in their new place was August 28, and the picture below was taken one night by the fire during their time living here.

Usually, there are about two Mercy flights a month from the northern village of Seronga in the Okavango panhandle, to the village of Gamare south of there. Colin is always astounded at the way critically injured and sick people are treated. Most of the time, there is minimal equipment provided and limited personal to care for the patients. While Keith was still in training with Colin, they were called out on a Mercy flight and in the next picture Keith is helping to load a young girl with a broken leg. Note the three broken boards and ace bandage that work as a splint.


Just the other day, Colin was called to transport a baby that had ingested a poisonous substance. While people were rushing to deal with the baby, there was a car accident and two people were seriously injured. The man in the plane is being transported with a broken back, legs, arm and a head injury. Colin was able to pray with the mother of the child, and pray for the others as he regularly does in these situations.

Colin continues to love flying here in Botswana. Not only is the climate and weather much easier to fly in after years of battling the cold and snows of Alaska, but there is always interesting things to see from the air. Below is LeBala airstrip. Note the few trees that are left, it should be surrounded by forest. There are just too many elephant. Rather than having some culled and the protein going to the villagers, the animal rights extremists would rather see the habitat destroyed and the elephants suffer from malnutrition and starvation.


Click on the two pictures below to enlarge them and see the habitat destruction caused by the elephants to their and the other animals detriment.

Due to the late rains in June, the Zebras migrated back to the Makgadikadi Pans as the grass is a higher quality there. They are everywhere and often have to be chased from the runway before Colin can land.

Zebra on a salt pan. A pan is a very shallow or dry pond.

Keith was checked out to fly independently in the middle of August. Colin has usually been flying the C210 and Keith has been doing most of the flying in the C207. They have had a number of larger family groups to fly into Jack's Camp, so both planes are used. The next picture is of the C207 landing, and the three after are of the Zebra that were lingering alongside the runway after Colin had cleared the way with the C210.

Also alongside the runway, is a nesting Ostrich. She does not seem to mind the airplanes coming and going from the dirt strip.

Recently, Colin had a flight to Livingston in Zambia. The Zambezi River is still high and Colin noticed there are now three ferries moving people and equipment across the huge river. If you remember when we traveled to Zambia in March, there were only two working ferries.

Day to day life here continues to be full of variety and humor. Below in the picture can be seen a brass bell that hangs on a chain attached to a metal pole. In the event that the 6,000 gallons of aviation fuel blows up and no one notices, then any fueler that may have survived the blast can ring the bell to warn others close by. Colin tripped just before reaching the bell and tried unsuccessfully to get his feet back under him. He only increased his speed and ended up face down in the dirt smacking the base of the pole with his shoulder. Unhurt he was none the less embarrassed for those close by to notice. To make matters worse the brass bell fell from its hook ringing loudly while swinging to and fro attracting attention from all over the airport! "You may not know me but my face sure rings a bell".


With Keith here now to help with the flying, we were able to get away for a few days. It had been three months since our trip to Nxai Pans and we missed the Zebra migration at that time. Now the zebra are back, and Colin had been flying over their location for weeks, so we decided to spend two nights in the Makgadkgadi Pans just a few hours drive south east of Maun.

The camp ground we chose to stay at was located closest to the major migration, but even in the heat of the day we found smaller herds of Zebra everywhere as we drove to our campsite.

Above - Zebra in the heat

Below - Njuca Hills camp sign

Njuca Hills was the name of the campsite and it was on a small hill (the three "hills" are 50 feet above the rest of Botswana) in the northwestern part of the park. Our choice of campground was based on the location of the Zebra, and it had no running water or flush toilets. To our delight, we had the whole campground to ourselves for two nights. We set up camp and watched incredible desert sunsets while the quiet stillness of night creped in, leading to a sky filled with stars, all for us alone for two nights. Our stay there was a very peaceful and relaxing blessing to us both.

Above - Camp, ready for nightfall

Above and below is a White Faced Scops Owl, note the crescent moon

One night we even had an owl fly into camp to watch the night slowly surround us. Another night, we could hear the lions calling all around the camp and in the morning we found their fresh prints on the sandy road into camp.

Lion tracks

There was an array of birds to entertain us around camp, and many new ones to identify and add to our list of birds spotted.

Above - Kalahari Scrub Robbin
Below - Swamp bou bou

Below - Pied crows in a fan palm

Burchell's Sand Grouse

Below - Southern Pale Chanting Goshawk

Below - Greater Kestrel

Below - Anteating Chat

Below - Violet- Eared Waxbill

On our last day, we drove through the middle of the park to the eastern boarder by the Boteti River, which has not had water in it for years. It was a long, dirty drive.

We stopped on a little hill and in the photos you can see where we had driven from and where we were going to continue driving.

As always, we saw lots of animals along the way. There were elephants, steinbok, impalla, jackals, ostrich, zebra, ghemsbok, and kudu. The next two photos are a nice representation of the plains game we saw. Many of the other animals mentioned have been in previous blog entries. Once we got to the Boteti River, we also saw hippo.

Above - Ghemsbok
Below - Kudu

A few days after our return, Julie was involved in a three day Bible camp that had been prayerfully planned over six weeks. It was decided to do a day camp, as the location was again at Island Safari Lodge and the campsite was booked during the peak of the tourist season here. We set up in the pool area that had plenty of room for the 35 children to sing songs and rotate from a variety of Bible based activities. Julie, Cheryl Kowalski, and our worship leader from church help with fun kids songs twice a day.

The children experienced the biblical principals of praising God's power, through hearing stories about creation, redemption, and the miracles of Jesus. The children were divided into groups that rotated daily to four different stations to hear and act out Bibles stories, and even create their own messy snacks.

Cheryl was the crazy "Professor Praise" and did fun Science experiments with each group.

Julie did games that played out the Bible theme for the day.

The children also got T-shirts with the main focus and scripture verse used. And of course, the kids made crafts to take home as s reminder of the message presented that day.

There was also and excellent group of young adults and teens to mentor and bond with the children as leaders. One day they organized a nature walk on the safari lodge grounds, complete with a blind folded trust walk to start.

Another afternoon, two boat loads of campers experienced God's creation through the beauty of the Thamalakane River.

The last day, Julie led the children through a multi-tasked teamed relay, with the finally of creating a megaman for their group with balloons and other messy materials. Then the groups helped to clean up their man with squirt guns.


During the time of the camp, the Village church was having a three day tent revival. We were only able to attend one night and were encourgaed by the huge crowds in attendance not only from Maun but many outlying villages. We could not resist taking a picture of the two toddlers below. They were wrapped up in a blanket and sleeping on gravel during the two hours of loud praise music was going on.
While on term break from teaching, Julie was able to see Innara and Gift more often. In addition, Pusetso has been attending our church so it has been easier to spend time with her too.

Gift was 7 months on the 12th of August and is crawling.

Two weeks later, he is pulling himself up and trying to walk.

Please keep Innara and Gift in your prayers. Without proper papers or passport, she has been unable to find regular work. She is now seeking an Emergency Transport Document so she can return to Zimbabwe. The living conditions are improving there and she is ready to return.

Also, Misheck is still working through the process for a work and resident permits with a potential full time employer. Please pray that his paperwork will go through the government channels without problems. Debra is now eight months pregnant, so the baby could come any time. In our last blog, we put out a request for any boxes of used baby clothes that people may feel led to send. We did not get any response, but thought we would bring it to your attention once more.

In closing, we continue to feel so blessed to be here at this time is our lives. It has been so humbling to serve the Lord through Flying Mission and also through a relational ministry to help encourage others here in Maun. It has been so refreshing for us to serve in a place that seems to have such an openness to the gospel and a real move of the spirit working. "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be the glory..." Ephesians 3:20

July 20, 2009

Flood waters from the Okavango Delta have arrived in Maun. People in Maun were astounded the second week of July when the banks of the Thamalaklane River flowed into areas that had not seen water in over 20 years. The first picture below was taken from the bridge near our house last April. The next picture is a current picture of the river from the bridge.

April 2009

July 2009

This next picture was taken from further down river last September and the picture to follow is a current picture from the same location. Note the current in the river now.

September 2008

July 2009

In some of the low lying areas, water flooded over the roads and alternative roads through the sand were used or made.

The house that we lived in last August with Travis, is in a low area and the yard flooded but not the inside of the house. Colin helped Keith and Cheryl Kowalski get their furniture and appliances out late one night as the sand was turning to mud, making travel into the yard by car difficult. The Kowalski family had just gotten comfortably settled in the house when the water forced them out. The pictures show the yard just before it was completely covered in water.



Fortunately our pilot neighbor, Kari, had moved out of the second flat on our property at the beginning of July, and FMS had decided to rent that single room flat also. The two flats have a door between them and have provided temporary housing for the Kowalskis. Please pray that they can find another suitable home or that the water will recede and dry quickly so they can resume a normal routine in their own home.

The Kowalski "6", note river in the back ground

Flying has been a bit slow during the beginning of July, but it is picking up and looks very busy for August. Colin enjoyed a full day in the San Bushman village of Xai Xai last week, while going to meetings with a client he flew there. The pictures show a few of the stops around the village that they made. The San are an incredibly friendly, welcoming and happy people. Colin looks forward to another visit.

Xai Xai housing

Some people make do with "open" housing

Home of the villages most powerful elder

The elder and his wife

Smoke break

Grandfather and grandson

Government school

Xai Xai missionaries Pieter and Susan

Xai Xai church

We continue to be fascinated with the diversity of bird life here, and even in the cooler winter months there are many varieties everywhere.

Marabou Stork beside Xaxaba runway

African Jacana

Blue Wax Bill, about 3 inches long

Red Beaked Fire Finch, also 3 inches long

The middle of winter is here with temperatures ranging from the low 40's F ( a few days at the start of the month were just above freezing) to highs in the low 80's F. Even in the coldest months, there are all kinds of plants still blooming.


Julie continues to be busy with her class at school and has only three more weeks before the term break. Then she will have 1 month off before finishing the last term of school for the 2009 school year. The classroom she has is a trailer on the edge of the school property. She enjoys having her door open during the warm afternoons, and hearing the sounds of happy children playing games just out the door. The picture below was taken while standing at the door of the trailer during lunch time. All the students pack lunches and eat under the shade of trees on the property. In the background is one of the main school buildings.


Misheck and Debra are doing well. We were able to help secure better housing for them with free rent. The owner lives elsewhere and needed a reliable person to maintain the property, care for the guard dog, and help provide security for the other house on the plot. It was an answer to prayer for the two of them, as they could no longer afford even the simplest of accommodation in town. Debra is currently 6 months pregnant and Misheck just had to leave to return to Zimbabwe. His sister has passed away and the family looks to him for leadership. He had planned to return home at the end of the month because he has a job offer here with someone willing to fight through the paperwork and pay the costs for him to get a work permit. With a letter from the Zimbabwean police stating that he has no criminal record, he may be able to finally secure residency through legal work. This will mean that he can also bring the couples other two children here and be a family again. It is a common practice for these refugees to over stay their visa and just hope that the police do not stop them and check their paperwork. Misheck had over stayed by 7 months. In doing so, to return home with out problems, a ticket had to be paid to allow him to enter Botswana again on his return. We had already promised to pay this fee, and we ended up paying his bus fair home also. With the death of his sister, he had to return earlier that originally planned and was short the additional time he planned to set money aside through working. The extra financial help sent us, made it possible to generously contribute the money needed to give practical help and hope for a better future to Misheck and his family. Please keep this gentle and humble couple in your prayers. Pray that Misheck will have safe travels and that the paperwork for a work permit will be accepted by the government here once he returns.

The quarterly news letter has been posted on the FM web page and we encourage you to check it out under "Publications" at: www.flyingmission.org Also, if any of you have church families that may want to help with the work here, we would greatly value any toiletry items such as soap, tooth brushes and toothpaste, hand towels, used baby clothing, or fairly large pieces of scrap cloth that we could distribute again in the outlaying areas. It is costly to mail things here, but people are so thankful for the simplest of things, that we can assure that your efforts will much appreciated. If you are interested in organizing something with your friends or church family, please contact us for more details. Our hearts desire is to be able to distribute these items again around Christmas time.

Please pray for the up coming Bible camp that Julie and a few other women are planning in August. They are expecting a larger group this time, as the first camp was a huge blessing to those that attended. Many children are already talking about the next camp with lots of anticipation, and encouraging their friends to participate.

As we close, it really lifts us up when you write us and we want to thank all of you for the care and kindness you have shown us in so many ways over this last year. We know it is because of so many of you keeping us in your thoughts and prayers, that we h ave been able to..."continue to live in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith, as [we] were taught, and [we are] overflowing with thankfulness." Colossians 2:6

Leaving Alaska was not easy for us, but we are confident that being here in Maun is God's will for us. As our second year here begins, we are seeking His guidence and vision for the next year and beyond. Our hope is that we may glorify the Lord in all that we do here, and that our hearts will continue to be directed to those He has sent us to encourage and share the good news of Christ's love. "Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you." 2 Thessalonians 3:16