Eleven more millimeters of rain and one more day closer to my flight home

This morning I went to my last Bible Study at the Woodcarvers Market. Sylvia, Innocentia, Sarafina, and Tiago sent me off with much love and many gifts that I don’t know how to fit into my bags. Since the twelfth graders are finished with school for the year, I went with Buddy and Julia on some house visits to see the kids from the high school Bible Study one last time. We found Rosa at home with her one month old baby, Giovani. Then we hung out with El Marie, Carina, and Victoria for most of the afternoon talking about their exams, future plans, and old stories of getting into trouble as kids. The contrast amongst these girls was startling. Because of choices she's made, Rosa's future lay in her arms. Meanwhile her friends have dreams of going to school or traveling the world. I pray for God's blessing on each of these girls as they continue on their own unique adventures following after Him.

Spending this time here saying all these goodbyes has been therapeutic in a way, helping me set my mind on going home. Tomorrow I’ll head into Windhoek to hang out with Toivo one last time and visit the church youth group that came for a camp at Dieter’s plot back in April. I will also try to sort things out with my visa. The latest is Quatro (my high up contact in Immigration) has faxed my application and a personal letter to the lady in charge at Home Affairs. I haven’t been able to get an appointment with her so my plan is to show up at the office and pray that she’ll see me and stamp something in my passport. You’ll probably be in bed on the East Coast, but before you drift off into dream land please pray for me that God will grant me favor and I’ll leave with a visa. Nothing like last minute!

Photo of the Day

A tortoise munching on a salad, making
our favorite coffeehouse that much cooler.

Full Circle

Sitting back at my old desk at Dieter and Joan’s it’s finally hitting home that I’m leaving in less than a week. Yesterday I said all my last goodbyes to my Arandis family and handed out all my picture CDs and parting gifts. Then this morning the rest of the commune (Tom, Peter, and Mike) woke up early to see me off. We squeezed all my stuff into Brenda’s little car and set off for Okahandja.

This is where it all started for me. I vividly remember walking up to this little house for the first time excited that this would be my new home for the next year. I remember unpacking and making myself at home, taking long walks around the plot with my camera.

This time around the flood of emotion is far different. I don’t even know how to put it into words to describe for you. It’s like I’ve come to the end of my adventure, and now I’m on the long journey home. The climax has come and gone, and this week is the resolution. I know life comes in seasons, and this one’s coming to a close. But right now it feels more like it’s turning into winter than spring. I pray this last week will help me to debrief my time here and start to set my mind on going home.

Camp

For only 24 hours, we packed quite a bit of action into our camp this weekend. Friday afternoon we departed with an outstanding 29 youth and 7 leaders for the campground in Swakop. After setting up camp, getting some dinner, and goofing around a bit, we settled down around the campfire for a talk from Steve about God’s forgiveness. The students were given time to write down those things that held them in guilt. They threw the papers in the fire, symbolizing how our sins are completely gone when God forgives us. Then we walked down to the beach for some late night Capture the Flag before bed.

We were up before the sun on Saturday morning. They mistakenly thought they could take their time preparing for the day so we had to go into drill sergeant mode to get them ready and lined up for morning exercises. After breakfast Boni continued with our theme of forgiveness speaking to us about resolving conflict with each other. We had some time to consider the conflicts in our own lives, and if the person was there, to go reconcile with them.

After packing up camp, we drove out to the dunes, then on to the pool at Dolphin Park. It was a great weekend for me, a chance to dig a little deeper with some of the students. I’ve gotten a lot better at prying, or rather not shying away from the tough questions that reach a little deeper. And at the end of two and half months, I’ve developed a good amount of relational authority to ask some of those questions. Teenagers have the same issues no matter where you go, the same insecurities, the same longings, and best of all, the same God who heals all the same hurts.

Photo of the Day

Romeo doing a flip off the dunes.