A Picture of Unity

It is amazing how quickly time goes here.  It seems so much happens and then I realize – I have not shared any of this!  We have continued to build relationships with the volunteers and the kids at the OVC (Orphans and Vulnerable Children) project.  It has been so fun to watch the kids become more and more comfortable with us.  They are excited to greet us and call us by name.  Many have become affectionate giving numerous hugs throughout the day.  I love observing and learning their unique personalities.  They are absolutely adorable!

A couple of weeks ago, we learned that a volunteer from the project had passed away.  Her name was Sara and she was only 26 years old.  We did not have the opportunity to meet her, as she had been in the hospital for the past couple of months.  Death is a very common reality for this community.  Volunteers are constantly attending funerals of family members and friends.  It seems to have become a part of daily life here, still painful – but common.  We attended the memorial service and funeral.  I was struck by a couple of things.  At the memorial it is customary to greet and pay your respects to the mother and father separately.  Daryl communicated our condolences to the father as a friend translated.  Tricia, Sabrina and I greeted the mother and offered our deepest sympathies.  The pain in her face was heart breaking.  I looked around at the family members and was absolutely moved by their sorrow.  Sabrina asked if she could pray for her and she agreed.  I couldn’t help but touch the hand of the Aunt who was clearly hurting.  She grabbed my hand and we embraced and cried as Sabrina prayed.  In that moment all cultural differences were insignificant.  All that mattered was the pain that the family was experiencing and the love that bonded us as Christians.  It was so natural to grieve with this family, even though we did not know them.

I was very encouraged by the amount of community support that surrounded this family.  Choirs from several local churches came to the memorial and funeral to pay their respects, grieve with the family and worship the Lord.  What an amazing demonstration of the body of Christ!  It did not matter that these choirs were from different denominations or different areas of town.   Their differences did not keep them from building one another up.  They simply came to encourage and love their brothers and sisters in Christ.  I was struck by the sense of unity.  At the funeral, the pastor did a beautiful job of reminding the family and congregation of the hope we have in Jesus Christ.  That while there is pain and suffering now, there will a time when the Lord will wipe each tear from our eyes.  In the midst of intense grief, there was definitely a sense of hope.  Over those two days, pastors and loved ones spoke of Sara’s faith and how she lived out that faith through serving others.  The overwhelming number of people at the memorial and funeral was evidence that she had touched many lives.  This experience reminded me of our unity in Christ and how much we have in common as children of God.      

As some of you know, I turned 26 on March 20^th.  Needless to say, this was an absolutely unforgettable day and like no other birthday I have had :)  I will write more this week and give details on the fun celebration!!!

Holiday in Zambia

What an amazing time Nicole and I have been having! I wish you all could be here to experience this. Words can’t even describe the things we have seen and heard. We had the opportunity to travel with some of the missionaries serving with AIM in southern Namibia to Livingston, Zambia. I’m thanking God for the time we had to experience His creation and fellowship with other believers. It was such a refreshing trip. One of the first things we got to do while in Zambia was see Victoria Falls. This was the first of the seven natural wonders of the world that I have ever seen and it was breath taking. I couldn’t help but get tears in my eyes at the first glimpse of the falls. I know you all are shocked at my response, “What, Captain cries a lot had tears in her eyes? Who would have guessed?!” Seriously though, it was one of those moments when you think how could anyone deny the existence of our Creator God? The power of the roaring water was crazy and the beauty of it all…We stood in silence for a while and then began singing praise songs. I will never forget that moment.

Nicole and I had a couple other awesome experiences on our holiday, more opportunities for God to show off His creativity in nature. We traveled to Botswana for a safari and saw kudu, baboons, impala, giraffes, hippos, crocodile, over a hundred elephants, and what we are choosing to believe was a black mamba snake! At one point we were on a boat in the river surrounded by hippos, watching a huge herd of elephants bathing in the river! Another moment I will not soon forget.

As if that wasn’t enough, the next day we went walking with lions and rode an elephant. I love any opportunity to get up and close with animals and these were two fantastic animal encounters!  I’m pretty sure our elephant, Dan, was ready to come back to the states with us.

The best part of our trip was the time we had to fellowship with the other AIM missionaries. What an amazing group of girls and one sweet boy! I don’t think I was prepared to be in Africa without my support system back home.  This was a treat to get to hang-out with new friends. We were staying in a hostile and met some really fun people while there. Nicole was thrilled to meet a few British friends and get some tips on how to improve her British accent!  She’s getting quite good. We had several chances to have spiritual conversations with in our group and with our new friends. God laid out some amazing opportunities to share His love and truth! It’s so fun to see how He orchestrates these things and shows us that every moment can and should be used for His glory.

We had a great time and felt completely refreshed and ready to start back to work in Rundu when we got back. Please continue to pray for opportunities to form relationships with the children and volunteers. A few new responsibilities have been added to our plates that I think will foster this growth. Nicole will be leading story time for the older children at project and I will be leading short devotions for the volunteers. Pray that we would be listening for the Lord’s guidance and not taking things into our own hands. Also, please be in prayer for healing for our friend Daryl. He broke his foot playing soccer with some of the children last week and will be non-weight bearing for a month. This will be a huge change for him. Thank you all for your support, prayers, and letters. It is so encouraging!

Life in Rundu!

First of all I would like to apologize for the delay in posting!  So much has happened over the past two weeks, it is difficult to know where to begin.  We have settled into our new home in Rundu where will be living for the next couple of months.  Internet access is pretty limited, hence the lack of blog postings J We have been trying to keep in touch with loved ones, but it has been a bit challenging.  After our week in Windhoek (Namibia’s capitol), we met the missionaries we will be working with and drove on up to Rundu.  Daryl and Sabrina are a married couple from Canada and they instantly made Tricia and I feel welcome and comfortable.  Daryl works as pharmacist and Sabrina as a massage therapist at the hospital in town.  They are also in charge of running the OVC (Orphans and Vulnerable Children) project in the nearby village of Kaisosi.

We have come to be extra pairs of hands and feet at the project. There is a team coming in August to serve for two years.  They will be adding a tutoring program, as well as continuing to train the volunteers to run the project.  Tricia and I have been doing administrative work to prepare for the team to arrive.  We have been updating files, gathering information about the kids and analyzing data regarding attendance.  Our hope is to have everything updated, so the team is able to begin working as soon as they arrive. We also have the opportunity to serve at the project.  We are there to play with the kids and demonstrate the love of Christ to those we meet.  We have had the blessing of working alongside volunteers from the community.  I have truly enjoyed getting to know them and learning about their experiences and culture.  Tricia has been serving a lot with wound care.  Most of these children have very little access to medical care.  Injuries and illnesses often go untreated.  At the project, kids will visit “wound care” when they have an injury or have been feeling sick.  I am SO thankful that Tricia (who is a nurse) is here for that job!  I am pretty sure my Red Cross Certification expired back in 1999 (every credible babysitter had to have one) and I would not feel qualified to deal with some of the intense wounds that we see.  I love the way that God’s plans work in such a personal and unique way.

God’s plan has continued to unfold in the area of social work, as well as nursing.  There is a family here in town that has been dealing with extreme conflict and complicated family issues.  For those of you who don’t know, I have been working in the social work field for the past three years and recently completed my Masters in Dispute Resolution.  I have been serving families with children who have severe emotional disabilities.  Sabrina began describing some of the issues that the family was dealing with: physical and emotional abuse, power struggles, alcohol addiction and oppositional behavior.  I couldn’t help but think how similar this family was to the families that I have been working with back in the states.  I was invited to come to the next meeting with the social worker.  It was extremely intense and emotional.  The pain and hurt experienced by each family member was so evident as each issue was discussed.  I was so surprised how natural it felt to be in the meeting.  I truly felt as if I was back home at Seven Counties, only there was a language barrier and several cultural differences.  I have attended two meetings since then and we are working towards ensuring the safety of these children and restoring relationships within the family.  The wildest part was when we learned that the social worker was going to be out of town for an extended period of time.  She asked if Sabrina and I would continue monitoring the family and scheduling meetings.   I happily agreed and I am really excited to see how God is going to work in the lives of this family!