Beginning of the End

It’s official. I’ve started saying my goodbyes. Yesterday was my last volleyball practice. This morning was my last Bible class. We finished up talking about how God punished the Israelites by dragging them off into captivity, but He’s merciful and brought them back 70 years later. We talked about how all the stories and all the themes we’ve been talking about all along point to Jesus. When we were finished they asked when I’m coming back to teach them the New Testament. I hope they learned a bit and enjoyed it as much as I did.

My last Scripture Union meeting will be Monday. I’ve really enjoyed getting to know this group. They give up their break three days a week to come learn about the Bible. And that’s encouraging because it means they’re taking some responsibility for their own spiritual growth. In this group they’ve found acceptance, friendships, and a place to grow. I’m excited for how God will continue to use them in their school and this community.

Sunday will be my last church service at Arandis Christian Center. This local body has been a great blessing to me during our time here. They’ve embodied what it means to be the family of God. Despite all our differences I can truly call them my brothers and sisters. Their joy, dedication to prayer, and faith in the Lord has been a testimony to me and I’m sure to the community as well. I look forward to how God will grow their influence and spread His light amongst this town.


In a few hours we head off to camp. There’s nothing like a camp for good, quality time with kids. We’ll spend the next 24 hours camping on the beach, hanging at the dunes, and experiencing God together. This will be my last big hoorah with this group of students that I’ve come to love dearly. Pray with me that God will use this time to renew their passion for Him and build lasting relationships between the new and old members.

Photo of the Day

John, Riaan, Asser, Dennis, and Byron in a dry riverbed

during a school field trip to the Namib Naukluft Park.

I tagged along as a chaperone and driver.

Welcome answers to prayer

Rainy season in Namibia is supposedly October through March, though you’d never expect it, especially in Arandis. But sure enough, the abnormal dark clouds that canopied the sky all day finally let loose just as we were starting youth group this evening. We all grabbed our chairs and crammed into the living room at the Banda’s house. It only showered lightly for about 10 minutes, but it was enough to know that our prayers from church this morning were heard and answered.

Speaking of answered prayers, I haven’t been very good at keeping you all up on the latest prayer requests. Fabiola’s niece, Lawina, has been in the hospital for the last week or so. She was born prematurely 14 yrs ago and has spent more than her share of time in the hospital ever since. I don’t know exactly what was wrong this time, but it was serious enough that she had already given up all hope. But Fabiola went to visit her on Thursday and was reading her portions of the Bible. By morning her swelling had gone down and she was taken off oxygen. She was smiling and said all she wanted was to get better. Praise the Lord for a great answer to prayer, but keep praying for her because she's not out of the water yet.

About a month ago we started planning for our mini-camp next weekend. We budgeted N$3000 to take 30 youth into Swakop for an overnight campout. But recognizing none of the youth can afford to slap down N$100 for a camp we knew we’d need to do some fundraising. With 3 weeks to raise N$3000 we started washing cars, cleaning people’s yards and homes, collecting deposits on soda bottles, and anything else we could think of. We asked God to multiply our efforts and we’re currently sitting pretty at N$2600 with more coming in. You can be praying with us for each of the students who will attend the camp, that God will work in their hearts in ways that we can’t even imagine.

Back in the habit

Back in Arandis things move along with a slight sense of normalcy. This week in Bible class we covered Israel’s first two kings, Saul and David. Next week we’ll finish up with the Divided Kingdom, Captivity and Return from Exile. It’s been a joy teaching them with their young, inquisitive minds and unrelated questions. I’ve learned a lot from them.

All the youth are preparing for our mini-camp next weekend by doing different fundraisers. This afternoon we’ll wash the cars at the Town Council. Tomorrow we’re having a little braai and delivering the plates to people in their homes. I love all the extra opportunities to be involved in the kids lives, working together toward the same goal. Camp next weekend will definitely be an event to remember.

Yesterday I joined Tom and Peter, my UK friends, in Swakop for a little down time. They’ve been getting into football, watching the Patriots with me and all, so we played a little 2-on-1 round robin on the beach. Even though we had to use their rugby ball it was still great, the first football I’ve played since the Independence Day braai with the Ark kids back in March. Afterward we went for a refreshing dip in the cold Atlantic ocean, though Peter didn’t quite make it all the way under. It was a nice day, and probably my last opportunity to just relax and play tourist around the town.

Photo of the Day

Some kids enjoying the glass tunnel through

the tank at the Swakopmund Aquarium.

Seasons of Change

The weekend in Okahandja was a great time to refresh and catch up with some old friends. I joined Buddy and Julia at Bible study on Friday afternoon, but since the 10th and 12th graders are in the middle of their final exams, they had all gone home early when they finished testing. At church on Sunday I was able to catch up with Jenny a bit who is still waiting to hear from the municipality about getting her own plot. And on Saturday I went to Windhoek to hang out with Toivo and help him work on his personal essay to send out with college applications. He’s doing well, but he says this is his hardest term yet so keep him in your prayers.

I spent Friday afternoon at the Ark playing rug-ball (a combination between rugby and American football) with some of the younger kids. Donavon had been asking me to bring my football ever since our Independence Day braai back in March, so I decided to leave it with him to enjoy. Though I’m certain I’ve doomed it to a life as a makeshift rugby ball.

Much has changed at the Ark over the past two months. Lazarus and Leila, the house parents for the last 3ish years, are moving up north to work with the ministry in Oshikuku. So now the house is being led by foreign volunteers, all female. They’ve made some new rules and disciplinary changes that the kids are getting used to. It’s been tough on many of them and simply reinforces my belief in long-term consistency with kids, especially through such formative years. It’s no wonder many become so hard-hearted and closed off, but it’s something this continent has gotten far too used to.

Saturday evening I was invited back for another boy’s night. The female volunteers, not knowing me from before, asked if I would be ok with the guys by myself. It made me smile realizing that in reality, I was probably more ok than they were. It’s not gonna be fun in a few weeks saying goodbye to the kids for the last time, but God works in seasons. And my prayer is that this won’t be the last season for me to invest in their lives.

Photo of the Day

Hilton or Motel 6

Today I find myself back in Okahandja. It’s been about 2 months since I’ve been here and I could catch a ride out with Richard Beukes, Sylvia’s husband who’s been working on the Hope’s Promise school, so I decided to make a weekend of it. In a few hours I’ll visit the Bible study at the secondary school then go hang out at the Ark for the afternoon. Tomorrow I’m going to head into Windhoek to spend some time with Toivo and hopefully work on some college applications. So I hope it’ll be a relaxing, yet productive weekend.

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Buddy and Julia are house-sitting for some missionaries who are out of town so they’re letting me stay with them. This house has got me thinking about luxury’s place in missions. Not only is the house huge and immaculate, but they have a pool, unlimited wireless internet, an indoor braai and the list goes on. Now the first thought is that’s only natural since the dollar is so strong here Westerners can easily afford luxury accommodations. And why not? It makes for a good place to relax, refresh, and restore the soul after a long, hard day of ministry. And the culture shock isn’t so bad when you can still enjoy many of the comforts of home. Is it bad, or wrong? No, I don’t think so. But I’m more concerned about what is most effective and best.

Depending on your particular ministry (ie, hosting missionaries, working with the poor, etc), your living conditions can have quite an impact. I recognize this in little things as simple as when people ask me how much my camera costs or my plane ticket to get here. I realize they could eat for months on that much money. Luxuries like that create a separation between the ministers and the people we’re ministering to. But of course we must recognize there is automatically a separation because of things like my native language, my food preferences, my skin or hair color, or any number of other things. But I think the more we can narrow the separation, the more influence we can have in people’s lives.

At some level I think it effects the gospel we preach. This morning I wrote in my journal, “How can we teach them to be content with little when we have much? How can we teach them about the vice of materialism when we idolize our materials? How can we teach them to live by faith when we don’t need to trust God for anything ourselves?”

But probably most importantly, God is far more concerned with the internal attitude of our hearts which is reflected in our external actions. Perhaps I have extra money to spend on myself because I’m more concerned with my needs than with ministry needs. In my reading just this week the author used the phrase “disposable income.” What is that? Does that really exist? The reason we say that is because charitable giving has been allotted a small segment of our budget. What would it look like if ministry became our budget and we used what was left for our needs? What if we really looked “not only to our own interests, but also to the interests of others” where our finances are concerned?

Well I’m sure this’ll raise a little controversy, so leave it in the comments.

One month from today

One month from today I’ll be breathing in the cool autumn air of a New England November day. At 6am I’ll have been awake for hours slowly trying to readjust my internal body clock from the jet lag. I went back and read my blog post from January 4th, a month from my arrival here in Namibia. It’s amazing to think how far I’ve come since then. But once again my thoughts are turned toward home, only rather than missing what I left behind, I’m wondering what I’ll find when I get there.

People continue to ask me if now that I’ve been here a year, am I more inclined to stay? Will I even want to go back? With that departure date looming like a lengthening shadow in the back of my mind, I’m beginning to realize how much of my heart I will leave behind. During a two-week short term trip you learn a few people’s names and leave a photo for them to remember you by. After a year, you learn people’s stories, you experience life together, you walk with them through hurts, rejoice with them in triumphs, and leave a piece of your heart behind. I think that’s what Paul’s getting at when he writes, “We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us.”

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Since the very beginning I’ve been asking you to pray about my visa situation. I haven’t mentioned anything about it in a while because it hasn’t really moved in a while. But just this week Sylvia Beukes, the National Director for Hope’s Promise, met with Quatro on my behalf, our connection in Immigration who I’d faxed my application to. He reassured her that he would handle it, but was wondering if we might have access to a laptop for him. Gotta love it! And not only that, but if I were to get deported, he’s the guy who would come pick me up, so nothing to worry about. Please continue praying, because while his reassurance is comforting, it’s not something I can stamp in my passport.

"That's the first hot shower I've taken in two months"

Ever since I’ve heard of it I’ve wanted to go sand boarding. Sure we went lie down boarding with the dance group back in July, but I’m talking real legit stand-up boarding. So today Tom, Pete and I hitched a ride into Swakop and found some tour guides to take us out on the dunes. And it totally lived up to the hype!

It’s a little different that snowboarding, but very similar. And the only chairlifts on the slopes are stuck to the bottom of your legs. Though the walks back up weren’t as bad as one would think, perhaps because of the anticipation of going back down again. Next time I come this side I’m totally bringing my snowboarding gear.

Since we were playing tourist for the day we stopped by the Snake Park as well, though none of us opted to get our photo taken with Piggy the Python. And since we were still covered in sand when we got back, Steve graciously let us come over for some hot showers (at Mike’s house we only have cold water). Overall it was a really fun day. I highly recommend it.

Photo of the Day

A special Namibian cultural photo for my 200th blog post.

If you tire yourself trying to figure out what it means,

look at the Namibian map in the next column.

Photo of the Day

Tom and Peter have been running a soccer clinic a few

afternoons a week, so I joined them today to snap a few shots.

Photo of the Day

I volunteered to take photos of the weekend for the local newspaper Vision Arandis. It was so much fun that today you get two photos of the day! The first is kids playing on the inflatables. Below is a kid winding up for an uppercut in the boxing competition.

There's no time like the present

The Sports Weekend proved to be a great event for the community and a great lesson in African culture for me. The other volleyball teams that were suppose to come never showed so we just split up some teams and played amongst ourselves, nothing very competitive since we were coed. We were slotted to play again on Saturday at 9…which turned into 11…which turned into afternoon…which never ended up happening. That was pretty typical of the whole weekend schedule. It did me no good to ask what time events started because when I would show up no one would be there. That’s part of the love/hate relationship that many Westerners have with African culture: stuff happens when people show up.

Africans themselves are very split over the topic. I’ve heard some say it’s a fault of their culture that they need to work on. I’ve heard others speak proudly of it as a cultural distinction and heritage. As a Westerner and an outsider I realize it’s something I must take in stride. To get frustrated is useless, because there’s no one who will sympathize with me and it’s not going to change anything. The best thing to do is become a little ‘African’ myself and just enjoy the relationships right in front of me.

Arandis Sports Weekend

This weekend is the long awaited Arandis Sports Weekend. There will be tournaments all weekend including track and field events, soccer, tennis, darts, chess, netball, and of course, volleyball. I’ve been recruited for the town team and we’ll be playing against the Kolin Foundation team as well as teams from Windhoek and Walvis Bay. You can log on today at 12:00pm EST for a live streaming video of the tournament games…are you kidding? Who do you think I am!? Maybe next time.

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This week in Bible class we talked about the patriarchs in Genesis. We started with Abraham and how salvation came through his faith and not his works. Then we talked about Jacob and Esau, how God uses even our sins and bad choices to accomplish His ends. Finally, this morning we looked at Joseph’s life and learned that even when nothing seems to be going our way, God is still in control. After two weeks we finally finished the first book of the Bible. Next week we’ll hit the next two books, then spend our final 2 weeks together on the whole rest of the Old Testament. Hard to believe I only have 3 full weeks left in Arandis.

Photo of the Day

Playing with colorization:

This is my new friend Vivian, one of eleven OVCs (orphans

and vulnerable children) taken in by a kindhearted woman.

Change for the Hospital

Thanks to all those who participated in the ‘Change for the Hospital’ campaign. Now’s the time to take all that spare change to the bank to see how much you’ve saved. Even for those who haven’t been collecting their change through the month of September, you can still give. Click on the banner in the right column for more info on the project. Then send your donation to Christ’s Church of Amherst, 58 Merrimack Rd, Amherst, NH 03031 or you can donate online here. When it’s all tallied up I’ll let you know how we did. Thanks again for all your help!