News from Namibia

Hello all you wonderful people who care enough to visit our non-existent blog :P

I've just come back from a wonderful outreach time in Namibia and wanted to share some of it with you. You can see all the pics at http://picasaweb.google.com/craig.and.heather/NamibiaGTT.

We left last Monday (9th July) and about 3am! 1500km! You need an early start. There were 5 of us that went: Bruce and Natasha (Nash) (Their son Seth travelled to Windhoek with us, but was dropped off with his granny), Angela and Mandy (mother and daughter who's car I shared), and yours truly. Unfortunately, Heathy couldn't make this trip :( , but we are trusting that next time she will be coming along.

So our early start managed to get us to Springbok for a 8am cuppa, and then we hit the border just after 9am. Sounds great doesn't it? Except you still have about 700km to go! But Keetmanshoop, Mariental and Windhoek all past, and at about 7pm (local time, +1 GMT) we arrived in Okahandja. Derek, the elder at the local church we were visiting, met us at our accommodation spot, King's Highway Guest Lodge. After checking in, we found that Angela and Mandy were sharing a rondavel, and I had one all to myself. (Bruce and Nash were in a chalet, but were having supper in Windhoek with Nash's mom and would arrive a little later). The rondavel's might sound quaint, but thin high ceiling, cement floor and little bedding, and you don't have much warmth against the cold Namibian nights. Also, communal bathrooms weren't everyone's idea of ideal ablushens(sic). Fortunately, Bruce was able to get Angela and Mandy into their own chalet (single room with en-suite) from the 2nd night, and then I moved into a three sleeper chalet with Bruce and Nash from the 3rd night. I don't know how they slept through my snoring, but we all seemed to survive :P We also had a fridge in our chalet, so we had all the food and drink (coffee & tea not beer & wine ;) )

On the Tuesday (10th July) Bruce and I started the day with a walk around Okahandja. Around is probably misleading, it's more like, through, as Okahandja has a main road which everything runs off. But is was a pleasant walk and we were able to find Closwa Biltong :), although we found it for cheaper at Butchery on Wheels, a little place next to the church. After stretching our legs, Derek came around and met with Bruce and Nash to discuss the plans for the week. Angela, Mandy and I went shopping for food (thanks, Brigit, for a wonderful menu). Pick 'n Pay, Shoprite, Spar... if it wasn't for the dust and slight German accents, you would be forgiven for thinking you were back home. By the time we'd finished, we met with the others and Bruce and I went to get the meat for the week. After shopping around, we managed to find lamb chops for R35/kg, boerewors for R30/kg and biltong for R75/kg!!!!!! We made sure we were well stocked :P

Our first engagement was the prayer meeting that night at Manna New Covenant Church, and it was wonderful to meet some of the people in the church. and Mandy did an excellent job of leading us in a few worship songs.

Wednesday saw us arriving at Derek and Ann's place for some painting. NOTE: water stains on a roof are VERY stubborn. Bruce, Mandy and I had the privilege of standing on ladders, trying to aviod getting paint all over ourselves (some more successful that others), while fixing up the brown water stains around the house. It was wonderful to serve in this way, and a really blessing to Derek and Ann. It gave them an opportunity to get out the house and have some QT.

Thursday was a rest day, and while the ladies went into Windhoek (I think Nash wanted to sneak a visit to Seth more than anything else), Bruce and I stayed behind. Bruce wanted to do some prep for the marriage training we were gonna give over the weekend.I was feeling a bit under the weather, and it was good to have some down time and catch up on some sleep. Thursday also saw us have our 3rd braai in as many nights :D Turns out we'd actually braai every night, and darn, it was good!!!!

Friday was again a painting day and we were able to put the final coats on the children's church room in the morning. An afternoon nap and an early braai brought us to the time for the first marriage training session. Bruce did an excellent job of teaching on the purpose of marriage.

Saturday took Bruce, Mandy and I into the townships, were we had a wonderful time with the leaders from 5 of the local township churches. Bruce gave some training on bringing through leaders. These guys were so receptive, and just wanted us to come preach in their churches the next day! Unfortunately, we were all already involved in the Sunday service at Manna, but we look forward to bringing a bigger team up next time and spreading ourselves over the different churches.

Saturday evening was part two of the marriage training, and it was good to hear Nash give some input. We also had the pastor of the township NG church, the first black NG pastor in Namibia, attending. What a wonderful man. And it was so great to see Derek reaching out to work with the local churches.

After saying good bye to our homes for the week, and packing the cars to capacity, it was time for the Sunday morning service. Mandy and I spent time with the kids in the newly painted classroom, giving their teachers a break. The morning was a wonderful time of connecting with the guys in Okahandja, and we are so looking forward to getting back sometime.

And then the long drive home... Angela, Mandy and I (Bruce and Nash were gonna spend extra time in Windhoek) decided to break the trip at Keetmanshoop on Sunday night, about 500KM from Windhoek and about 250KM from the border. Monday saw us continuing the trip and after many km's, many CD changes and some beautiful namaqualand daisies on the side of the road, we drove through Malmesbury and saw the first signs for Durbanville :D It was about 7:30 that night that we finally pulled into our complex and I could give my wife a hug for the first time in a week!!!!!

For all the dust and dry nose and sore throats, it was a fantastic time. I can't wait to get back.