Little of This and That

Over the last month we have realized that are departure date for our visit to the States is coming really fast.  Mark and I have both had lots of little and big things we need and want to get done before we leave.  We are making huge progress on our "to do" list and managing to keep up with daily things as well such as school for the kids.  Brit and Luke have both committed to working extra hard these past few weeks and they have set a goal to finish all school work that is due between now and December 16th (when we were officially going to break for Christmas).  They have done extra lessons each day and it looks like they will be able to get it finished before we leave.  We have 11 school days left.  We are proud of them and we will enjoy our break.  Once we arrive on the 20th we will be Dallas for a few days with Bruce and Diana.  Then off to San Angelo for Thanksgiving with Cary and Stephanie (along with Bruce and Diana).  Then in December off to Florida with Bob and Gayle to see Ken and Nancy, read about them here. 

Last week Mark, along with the help of Doug and William put up a carport so that the bakkie (our truck) has some protection from the African sun as well as the rain and occasional hail we get.  Mark and the rest of the guys (along with Debbie) went to Mozambique for the Annal Pastor's Conference this week.  Luke also had a swimming Gala last week and he finished 2nd in 3 events, back stroke, breast stroke and free style. I have been busy sorting through pictures for presentations in the States, working on updates for the website with Nathan, and trying to cook extra food and freeze meals for Meriam, Jankie and Josh (he came to serve with the mission one year - he's from our sending church, PaulAnn BC),  to have while we are gone.

Luke is on the far right lane

 I forgot to take a picture of the finished product.  Oops, but it is really nice to be able to park both cars under it and bonus it provided much needed shade for the guest bathroom and Brit's room. 

We have this HUGE tree in our back yard that is right next to our fence and it hangs over into the neighbors drive-way.  This tree is beautiful for a few months of the year but the rest it is a real mess.  It is also right next to our sewage line and the man-hole, which we are always having trouble with.  Even the city tried to tell us it was the cause of our sewage always backing up because of the roots, only when they came to dig up my line in the back yard they found it clear of roots.  Well, the neighbor really gets the worst of the tree as this time of year it gets these little yellow flowers and for a few days it looks like snow as the pollen (I guess that is what it is) falls from the tree.  THEN THE BERRIES come.  They are pretty until they fall and most end up on her drive way which makes a huge mess.  Her driveway is even stained from them.  Last week she saw Mark and asked him if he was going to take this tree out.  We did mention to her that we wanted to last year and we even got a quote from a "tree man" to come and remove it and a few other problem trees.  Problem is he wanted R1500 to do it and we just didn't want to spend the money on it.  Monday, Jankie was here working in the yard and he was trimming a few trees and started to trim that one.  Today, he managed to continue trimming, which meant he had to become like a monkey and climb.  Made me nervous he was going to fall but he kept telling me he is fine.  Eventually both kids and Meriam were outside watching and helping.  He got all he could down today and on Tuesday when Mark and Josh are back from Mozambique he wants to get the rest down.  I am sure the neighbor was HAPPY when she came home from work and noticed the tree is coming down just before the berries come. 

I am grateful that Jankie was willing to tackle the task of this huge tree.  Next week after we take the rest of it down we will load the wood on the trailer and take it to Jankie and Meriam's house next week. 

Well, that is a quick look at a few of the things we have been doing the last few weeks.  We will update next week with pictures and reports from the Pastor's Conference in Mozambique. 

Christ Baptist Church Outreach to Dumela, Mozambique

I can't believe it has taken me so long to get caught up on our blog.  First things first, for those who haven't heard we were able to collect our Visas at the H.A. office this week on Tuesday.  After 6 months they were ready and we are good for 4 years!  Praise the Lord.  

These pictures are from our outreach to Dumela with Christ Baptist Church.  Samaria Mission is a ministry of CBC here in Polokwane and this is the church we are apart of here.  They were our last team to go on outreach this year.  They were originally going to have around 25 people but due to various circumstances only 3 were able to go.  Our family was not originally scheduled to go on this outreach but due to the low numbers from CBC we were asked to go.  We ended up with a team size of 16 (3 from CBC and 13 mission staff/families).  This was the week for the monthly leadership training.  We also had men's, women's and children's ministry, evening services and hut to hut visitation.   This was the first time in a few years that we have taken a team to Dumela.  It was great to be able to encourage Judas and Ellias, the local pastors of the church.  During the day we taught from Genesis and we were able to share the gospel on hut to hut visitations.  The evening services were well attended and we were excited to see two of the men from our hut to hut visits attend on the last day.

The first night we arrived we got camp set up and cooked dinner.  As we all sat down to enjoy our dinner a HUGE storm came through.  The wind started blowing so strong and some of us went to the kitchen tent to cover a few things and all of a sudden you heard William yell "EVERYBODY OUT!"  Everyone cleared the tables and got out from under the lapa.  Apparently there was a loud noise and they were afraid the lapa was going to collapse.  The next hour was spent holding the kitchen tent poles to keep it from blowing away while others stood in the rain holding onto tents.  Three of the tents that were loaded with beds and personal stuff were blown over and one of the leaders motorcycles was knocked over.  Once the storm passed we cleaned up what we could, showered and headed to bed.  We didn't even finish dinner as the pot with the rest of the meal that had a lid on it was full of dirt. 

Then next morning everyone pitched in and we got camp cleaned up in an hour or so and began the ministries. 

The locals were busy to as they made repairs to their homes.  We praise the Lord we were all safe and that only minor damage was done to the equipment.

We also had a a visitor in camp ... a monitor lizard.  We noticed the local kids and a few adults around Gordon's tent making a lot of noise so we went to see what was going on.  It had climbed on Gordon's tent to get away from the people.  They don't like these lizards because they eat their eggs.  After awhile they managed to chase it out of camp and off in the distance.  We are not sure if it survived the locals.

Sharyn and Debbie are busy preparing breakfast and I am making the dough for the lunch rolls.

Sharyn and I are peeling the butternut squash for dinner (one of my favorite dishes) 

William and Derrick teaching during the Leadership Training.

Luke praying before the teaching time during children's ministry. 

Brit and Luke enjoyed playing with the kids during game time. 

The wind picked up again during the ministry time.  

The kids headed to the church and women headed to the kitchen tent.

Mark teaching during men's ministry

The guys were busy talking about future projects.

Women's Ministry - We had a few women from Zimbabwe come for the leaders training and they also attended the afternoon women's ministry. 

• 

I shared my testimony during women's ministry one day.

Debbie and Masango teaching women's ministry. 

We went on hut to hut visitation one day along with Derrick and Elsabe.  Mark, Derrick and Doug shared with the men at the 3 different huts we went to.  This man below had questions about false prophets.  Mark shared with him how God's Word is the final say and he shared the gospel with them.  He and his wife along with a neighbor prayed to receive Christ.  We were excited to see them show up that afternoon for the ministries and they returned for the evening service. 

Visas, Blogs and Facebook

It has been awhile since we have been able to update our blog.  I am not sure where the time is going!  It seems like yesterday we just starting our busy outreach season and months away from our visit to the States.  Now we are getting ready for our last outreach of 2011 and we are only 7 weeks away from arriving in the States.  Crazy how fast time flies ...

Some have asked for an update on our Visas ... well there is not much to say other than we are STILL waiting and would appreciate your continued prayers.

We do have several people fromZimbabwe that attend out monthly leaders training and they have asked the mission to come and teach their people. This past month a few of our fellow missionaries headed to Zimbabwe to "check" out what is going in on in the area.  Please check out Doug and Debbie's blog for a report on the trip and lots of pictures. 

Don't forget to follow Samaria Mission on Facebook we do try to keep our page updated with the latest on the happenings in the mission.