As many of you know…we have served in Africa for a while now…and honestly it has left marks on us, many dear and precious but not all good, there are scars and wounds. So, for two months we took the time to look at these things. We delved deep into our issues, hangups and fears…and eventually got to our dreams and wishes.

The picture below is from a place we were able to visit.  

This scene struck me. In this valley carved by glaciers long ago there were these boulders. Huge, seemingly unmovable granite stone, some 15 feet or more tall. They are called ‘erratics’ by geologists… and it struck me that they were exactly what we had been looking at and dealing with. Large, seemingly unmovable obstacles in the field of our lives. Much of life we try to avoid these ‘things’, we say we are too busy, doing too many good things…or not. Or maybe they are just too scary and intimidating to approach.

But let me tell you of another view…from the hill to the right they didn’t look so large, as i lay by myself on top of that hill, soaked up the sun and prayed, they seemed, well, significant but not impassable. They didn’t look that big.

I don’t know what you face this year. I don’t know what your life looks like, i don’t know what ‘erratics’ you may have been avoiding or trying to deny were even there, but i know one thing, from His perspective they aren’t unmovable. Let’s be clear, it may be painful, it may take some time to pray, talk to a brother or sister, to forgive, to accept forgiveness…to let go of shame…to accept love.

And that is where i want to leave you. Loved. Even with all our ‘erratics’, our hangups and failures, even with our sin and shame WE ARE LOVED. God, the almighty, amazing

So much so God freely gave His own Son, literally part of Himself to set us free.

Welcome to the family of the saved….the free….Halelujah!

May this be a wonderful, free, joyful year for you.

K

Recently a colleague spoke from the story of the Paralytic in Luke 5. Most sermons I have ever heard focus on the healing but this time I heard something different. In the story we see a huge crowd, religious leaders and people from all the surrounding towns and villages have come to hear Christ. They crowded into a house until there was no room. We can imagine people gawking through windows, children in trees trying to peer in and see this Jesus. A scene of anticipation and excitement, “Jesus is here!”.

Into this scene, in the periphery we see a group of friends come down the road, carrying something between them. They are moving with purpose, single-mindedness. They come to the house and see there is no way for them to enter. Their hopes momentarily dashed. And then one says, “Wait! I have an idea!” and we see them push and mutter, “excuse me, pardon me…” until they are on the stairs to the roof. Those around them just scoff and snicker, “crazy guys, the view is no good up there”. Reaching the top, they knelt down, gently setting their friend down on the hot plaster roof, they began to scratch with their finger nails, with sticks and rocks until they all saw what the idea was and with an upsurge in excitement and expectation they all dug, carving and ripping at the roof. Dirt flying, plaster and sticks that once separated them now lay by the side and they pier down the hole–a hole just big enough to lower their hurting friend to Jesus. Anxiously waiting for the disciples to run up the stairs and chase them away they hurriedly tied ropes and lowered their dear friend down at the feet of Jesus.

We have always pictured and imaged the one on the stretcher, as he looks in to the eyes of Jesus and instead of Jesus saying ‘get up and be healed’ he says, “Man, your sins are forgiven”. We can picture the tears rolling down his face. Can we also picture the friends, exhausted, laying on their backs on the roof, hearing those words, crying in joy to know their friend is forgiven. Knowing what was most important was done. Jesus had forgiven the man they loved.

But we know the scene doesn’t end there. When the Pharisees and Sadducees heard this they cried out in dismay, “Who is this who speak blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?” And Jesus, hearing their HEARTS confronts them…openly. And i can imagine the friends on the roof heard this and smiles and joy broke over their faces. But then Jesus turns back to the man on the mat and says, “…rise, pick up your mat and rise”. And he DID! He got up and went home praising God.

I can imagine the friends on the roof racing down, embracing the man, singing, crying, leaping, knowing Jesus had done so much more than just heal the man.

But what strikes me is the faith of the friends and some of the things the friends displayed.

1. They didn’t judge their friend. Many in that time would have blamed the man’s problem on sin or being cursed. These friends didn’t. They just knew he needed to see Jesus.
2. The friends were tenacious, creative and dedicated to bringing the man to Jesus, no matter what obstacle or challenge, they HAD TO get their friend to Jesus.
3. Their faith. IN verse 20 it says, ‘when he saw their faith…’ not the faith of the sick man. Can we see Jesus bending and looking up through the broken roof and seeing the faces of the friends and knowing the faith that brought the man before him? (I can)

And all this leaves me with a few questions… am I really bringing people to Jesus without judgement? Am I using creativity and being tenacious in leading them to His feet? Do i judge those I claim to serve?

Father, forgive me for when i have given up. Forgive me for when i judged others, even as i tried to bring them to Christ. Forgive me for not being creative or open to new or different ways of ministry to the hurting lost…and paralyzed.

May I be like the friends in the story.

And may we all be found at His feet getting exactly what we need…

Amen

-Kevin

I was at the mall the other day and within the course of 15 minutes heard at least 6 different languages spoken.  After being in Mozambique where there was one dominant language and culture in our part of the country, it continually astonishes how diverse Namibia is.  There is a large white population here in the capital city, and at my weekly exercise class the white instructor switches easily from English to German to Afrikaans to accommodate her clients.  There are the Nama people of the south as well as the Basters, further north the Damara, the Ovambo, the Herero, the San Bushmen, a whole group called Colored with their own unique culture, and then across the Caprivi strip there are numerous people groups.  There are also many Angolans, both residents and visitors, and it is not uncommon for me to hear people speaking Portuguese around town.

All of that can lead to tensions between the groups, especially with the tumultuous history of a country that has only been independent for 26 years.  There are stereotypes and misconceptions among the groups, but our president frequently encourages the citizens to all make peace together in this “Namibian House”.

As newcomers and as Americans, we are thankful that people are friendly and welcoming.  It is easy to chat with people on the street, and most everyone is able to converse with us in English.  We try to remember our Afrikaans lessons from years ago but are far from fluent!   I don’t think we will ever understand a lot about each one of the cultures represented in this beautiful country, but we are trying to be open to learn – C

Here we are – we are finally beginning to realize what it all means, now that we have been here several months  and are settling into a routine.  It is wonderful in so many ways, but also comes with responsibilities that are new to us.

We appreciate your prayers as we evaluate, evaluate, evaluate.  Kevin has  had many, many meetings with folks here as we look at the work being done in this country (by locals and expats) and the work that ought to be done.

Organizing the office and going through old files is an ongoing job, updating technology and procedures, contacting our members and supporting them, and interfacing with the government are also all on the agenda.  The wall has a big map on it where Kevin has been marking the various ministry locations of folks we’ve talked to.  We hear rumors (and true stories) about the difficulties in obtaining work permits.

Anyway, I won’t bore you with a blow-by-blow of our daily lives.  Much of this is familiar, from our time living here, our time in South Africa, and some carry-over from Mozambique.  Much is surprisingly new!   We don’t know what the next months hold for us, though we can guess some of it.  But meanwhile it is a joy to unpack, settle in, pray for wisdom from our own kitchen table, and make new friends.  -C

 

Well, after many months of busy-ness it was time for a little fun together, especially since our dear Toby came back to us at the end of November, arriving into the Johannesburg airport.  We stretched a two-day drive back to Windhoek into four days, stopping at the Fish River Canyon (second largest in the world, after the Grand Canyon), the Quiver Tree forest and seeing some cheetah’s get fed.

We had some time at home to get caught up and work on projects and office work, and then took off for 3 nights on the coast, camping at a backpacker’s.  It was great to slide down the enormous dunes, go on a desert tour, and enjoy the tv at the backpackers (to watch the Amazing Race!).    We also got to see the world’s oldest plant, the Welwitschia, which can live to be 2,000 years old.  How strange to look at that plant and think it will still be there long after we are dead.

We enjoyed seeing the Atlantic Ocean from this side, after seeing it from the “American side” so many times last year.  It is a COLD side over here, and we were surprised at how chilly the coast was in the middle of summer, with the sun shining.  We definitely didn’t bring enough warm clothes.   On the way back to Windhoek, we stopped to see the seal colony where the Portuguese first landed in the 1400s, and then at the ancient Bushman paintings.  We also fit in a visit to the game park north of here, where we met dear friends who drove all the way over from Mozambique to meet up with us.  It was GREAT.

Back home, the kids were instructed to set up our tent and clean it, but found it difficult with two Great Danes who felt they ought to be lying on top of it.  Those dogs are heavy and hard to shift!

It was fun to show Toby our new city, and we managed a couple of hikes and other outings around our other responsibilities.  Toby enjoyed sleeping in most days, and was very helpful with painting and other house projects – he is headed for adulthood but still enjoys being spoiled by mom and dad.  We were pretty happy to oblige since we had missed him so terribly.  🙂 – C

 

 

This post is mostly photos.  After our meetings, as part of Kevin’s new job with Alternative Theological Education (see “about us” to read more about this, we visited a lady in the capital and then a family up in the mountains.  It is about 5 hours south to the capital, and then another 5 hours up into the mountains.  He spent a lot of time talking with each of them and Ben and I enjoyed our time with them too.  The mountain views were spectacular and a big change for us after Namibia.  The twisty roads, men on horseback (carrying big sticks) and lone shepherds were striking.  It was very funny to see the sign at left for Sani Pass, because we came through there on our motorcycles back in 1996 when we drove through South Africa and came to this same area to visit a group of AIMers living there.  We were tempted to go up and down the pass again (considered treacherous and beautiful views) but time did not permit.  Lesotho gets snow in the winter and has almost no trees.  It is a fascinating country!

After finishing up our team debrief and sending off most of the team, it was time for a big road trip to South Africa via Botswana, for meetings at our Regional Office as well as some training.  We

packed up the Hilux and arrived at the Botswana border, 3 1/2 hours away, at 9 am, only to find out that we had forgotten Ben’s birth certificate back at home.  There was nothing for it but to turn around, go back and get it, and return to the border at 5 pm.  They very pleasantly stamped us across, and we drove ahead with no idea where we would stay that night as we would never make our planned destination.  Along the way, Kevin found a place online and sent them an email before our Namibia phone coverage completely disappeared.  We drove on into the dark and a road (the Trans-Kalahari Highway) that was swarming with cows, donkeys, horses, small antelope, big antelope, ostrich, warthog and I don’t know what else.  It was like a barnyard out there and we just prayed we wouldn’t hit anything.  We arrived at the hoped-for destination, after 14 hours of driving, at 9 pm to find they were ready for us.  Thanks be to God!

The next morning, we hit the road at 8:30 am after a cooked breakfast at the nice restaurant (we were the only guests) and drove without stopping except at the border, only arriving close to 6 pm at our destination.  It took much longer than anticipated and the pouring rain for the last 2 hours didn’t help.  We were so thankful for the safe travel, and also for the renewal of our South African tourist visas so we wouldn’t have to apply for extensions from with the country.

We will never forgot the birth certificates again, that is for sure!  One must have the original copy to enter South Africa (and apparently Botswana now) whenever traveling with children.  They are trying to combat child trafficking, and we applaud their efforts.  But next time. . . that will be top of the list to pack.  🙂 – C

Yes, there are good private schools in Windhoek.  However, due to costs and to some other factors, we felt it was best to homeschool Ben this year for 5th grade.  It’s been a good decision so far because it has allowed us both to travel.  Ben only got his materials (finally tracked down used on Craiglist) at the end of October, when they were carried out by two different folks who traveled out to Windhoek.  We started beginning of November and had two full weeks of “normal” before we hit the road for our trip to South Africa for various things (see following posts).  Ben’s been enjoying the books in the curriculum, though the long division practice has been RATHER trying.  Especially when one is being thrown around in the back of a car on a twisty road. It’s also hard to concentrate while sitting in a restaurant, or at the home of people with other children with whom Ben really wants to play.   In January, things will settle down a bit more except for another 10 day trip north, but then Ben and I plan to stay STILL for awhile.  -C

Just a week after we took over leadership, we participated in the 3-day debrief of a departing AIM team, which was intense and exhausting.  From there, all of us drove 4 hours north to Grootfontein, the town we lived in 20 years ago, then 3 1/2 hours due east to “Bushmanland”.  There, we spent two days visiting the ministry site of this team and getting to know the local pastor.  This is the same people group that was in “The Gods Must Be Crazy” and the star of that movie is buried in the town we visited.  Their beautiful clicking language is like music.  Here is a photo of Ben with some of the local boys, who were friendly with him.  Many of these folks still go out to gather food in the bush, and the men go out to hunt.  There are a variety of small villages clustered around the town.  It is not an ideal existence, however, and the people struggle with issues which I can’t go into here.  Some of our personnel will return to work there and hope to come alongside in ways which will build up the quality of life both spiritual and physical.  Meanwhile, we were honored to receive names from some members of the group, and a warm welcome despite our short visit.  We plan to return in January, but it is going to be VERY hot up there in that desolate place!  It looks desolate to us, but of course not to the people who live there and know how to manage the environment.  We are looking for wisdom from above on how to move ahead there . . . it is complicated and we want to give God’s best for the people in that location. – C