Heading Home (Opuwo Part 4)

We stopped for an overnight at a beautiful lodge in Outjo before saying goodbye to our beloved translator and heading back to Okahandja. We made a stop at J.G., the other Okahandja secondary school that I haven’t been working at, to teach some Life Skills classes. One of the students invited me out to their afternoon Bible Study so I’m looking forward to checking that out. We spent our final ministry days in Windhoek visiting the hospital, a children’s home, and spending a day with the students at Pneumatics, a ministry & theology school connected with Emmanuel Church. I also introduced them to Joe's Beerhouse for Drew's birthday. :) Thursday evening, we said goodbye to the team at the airport where they had to wait another 8 hours for their delayed flight. Then Japie, the national OM director, Stephanie and Caryn, two OM volunteers, and I made the quiet trip back to Okahandja and everyday life.

Having the American team here was sometimes great fun, sometimes head-shaking, but always educational. Because I was an American familiar with Namibia my niche quickly became the liaison between Japie and the team. And since I’ve led so many groups over here, one of my greatest joys was interacting with the team leaders, hopefully helping them learn to be better leaders through the whole process.

I haven’t done much college aged ministry up to this point, but I really enjoyed it these past weeks. They were eager to learn and familiar with the intellectual rhetoric that I’m sure I’ve confused many a high school student with. College students are often independent for the first time and are making decisions on how the values they’ve developed in high school will play out in real life. They’re responsible for their own actions so the learning curve is steep and costly, but that much more effective. I think I may have to pursue this area of ministry further when I get back to NH.

Now with the team gone it’s back to my familiar ministries. It’s been almost a month and a half since I’ve seen the kids in our Bible Study at Okahandja Secondary because they had their school holiday then I left with the team. It feels like forever since I’ve hung out with the kids at the Ark. And it’s hard to remember the last time I was in church. I’m looking forward to getting back involved in what’s become my daily grind. Assuming nothing comes up in the meantime (which could be a stretch), I should be here in Okahandja until the team comes in July.

Photo of the Day

5/25/08 11:35am - Some kids playing

after church with the swing we built for them.

Photo of the Day

5/23/08 11:29am - Dinner preparation, not for the squimish

Epupa Falls (Opuwo Part 3)

With the following Monday being a national holiday, all the hostel kids would be going home for the weekend. Since school visits were our main ministry focus, that left us without much to do over the weekend. Japie suggested the option of driving 2-3 hours north to Epupa Falls on the Kunene River, the northern border between Namibia and Angola. We could help clean up the area since most locals bathe and do laundry there but leave lots of rubbish around. There was also a possibility for another school visit on the way.

To figure out whether to go or stay, Japie asked us to pray and ask God to reveal what He would have us do. Thursday night, the day before we would go, we sat down as a group to chat about what we’d heard from God. Quite naturally, this decision was cause for much debate amongst the team. Some felt we’d already done too much touristy stuff already and should stay for more ministry opportunities. Others felt we’d have more opportunities if we went. But Japie reminded us that this team was not a democracy, so a majority vote wouldn’t win. Our team was under God’s authority, so if we didn’t have a unanimous peace about going then we couldn’t go. We went to bed that night with no decision, no peace, and a team that was beginning to polarize.

The next morning we arose early for our last school assembly. Back at camp we spent half an hour individually praying and reading the Bible asking God for a word. When we got back together everyone shared what they’d heard. I had read Ezekiel and his vision of the four cherubim with wheels underneath them that moved with them. He wrote that the wheels went wherever the cherubim went “because they had the spirit of the cherubim in them.” In the same way, we should go where God goes because we have the Spirit of God in us. I really wanted to go to the Falls and masked it in sound reasoning, but at the root, my motivations were selfish. Deep down I knew that it would be best for the team to stay and get involved in the community in Opuwo. After everyone shared there was still no unanimous peace about going, so we stayed.

It may seem like a small decision in hindsight, but the tension provided a great learning opportunity. As Americans we’re used to our independence. We make decisions by listing the pros and cons of each side and ultimately choosing what seems best to us. Seeking God and waiting for His peace is a strange concept to us. I mean, sure, many of us offer the token prayer to say we asked for God’s direction, but really we end up making the decision ourselves. But I was struck by how Japie never asked us to decide; he asked us to pray. Rather than making the decision, we were seeking the decision God had already made. We were asking Him to bring our hearts and wills in line with His own. That kinda made me think that Epupa was never really the point in the first place, but this whole learning process was.

Later that morning Japie sent us out in pairs into town to pray and ask God what ministry opportunities He had for us. Looking back, this time of walking around town proved to be some of the best memories for many on the team. I set out with Caryn, a photo journalist major from Texas who’s here for 2 months with OM and joined as the team’s photographer. Rather than hit the main street we walked across the road to where people lived in mud or thatched huts. We slowly made our way to an open air market where all the locals hung out. We stuck out like a Yankees fan in Fenway, but they were very friendly and welcoming. The town is quite used to seeing tourists passing through on their way to Epupa hoping for a glimpse of some traditional Himbas. What they’re not used to is whites visiting their homes, praying for the sick, and mingling at the market. We scattered lots more seed that morning. How it will grow we may never know, but had we gone to Epupa it never would’ve been scattered in the first place.

Photo of the Day

5/22/08 11:03am - More reliable than a Toyota in Kaokoland

Home of the Himbas (Opuwo Part 2)

When the colonizing Europeans were looking for land to put a military base in Kaokoland the tribal chiefs gave them a plot of land that nobody wanted. Centuries later, the undesirable valley has now become the capitol of the region, the town of Opuwo. The drive to the valley is about 400km past Outjo along the western border of Etosha, deep into Kaokoland. Previously it was a gravel road the whole way, but last year they began paving it, so there was only 60km or so that was still under construction as we made the trek north.

For an unwanted property it was quite beautiful. The town is situated in a valley surrounded by beautiful mountains and plateaus. It’s a small town, but has all the necessities, supermarket, hardware store, etc. There are about 10 churches, 4 schools, and as usual, more bars than you can count. Our accommodation was in tents at the luxurious Opuwo Country Hotel. It’s a lodge with some campsites situated on the top of one of the mountains overlooking the town. The views were pretty phenomenal. We recognized the blessing in staying at such a nice place, but unfortunately it put us about 1km out of town and created a deeper, invisible distance between us and the community.

Our ministry during the week was visiting the schools in the mornings for assemblies and time in the classrooms. In the afternoons we would go back to visit the school hostels which house students who live too far out of town to commute. We made some great connections, especially with the secondary school students. We would split up the guys and the girls for questions. In the guys group they would ask us all sorts of questions relating to the gospel, ancestor worship, and random things about America. We taught a lot of truth and scattered a lot of seed, but with questionable if any follow-up we must trust God to do the watering and growing.

While these short school visits provided some of our best relational connections, many on the team struggled with the short term nature of that ministry. They kept saying, “I wish we could go back to the hostel” or “I wish we could’ve stayed here for the whole 3 weeks”. This reinforces my position that fewer but longer ministry opportunities are far better than many short opportunities. Ministry is about relationships, and relationships take time. So building into fewer relationships over a longer period of time seems to make a lot more sense than short, shallow relationships that will probably not continue past the trip. If you want to make a case for the opposite, drop a comment.

Okaukuejo dance video

At the Primary school in Okaukuejo,
the students performed this song for us.

Photo of the Day

5/17/08 4:56 pm - Church steeple in Outjo

Surviving without (Opuwo Part 1)

It’s hard to even know where to start since the last two weeks tend to blur together. And once again, I’m sure it’ll take multiple posts to describe. When I first agreed to join the OM outreach with a team of 11 students from Palm Beach Atlantic University as an extra driver I figured it’d be a good opportunity to see more of Namibia and hang out with some fellow Americans. I should have known God would turn it into so much more than that.

Saturday we drove up to Outjo where we stayed with some full-time South African missionaries involved with Kunene for Christ (Kunene is the name of the northwest region). The next morning we taught two Sunday school classes at their church. Drew was the teams only musician and he’s a drummer, so I got drafted to play guitar, which worked out well because then I didn’t have to do all the silly motions for “Making Melodies”. :)

After church we left straight for an overnight in Etosha. I missed the part where we weren’t going back to the guesthouse before leaving, so I left behind my camera and the shorts I was going to change into. I tried going back for them but the place was locked up and the missionaries had left for a bush church. Needless to say, I was quite upset.

You all know how much I’ve enjoyed photography this trip, and now I would be heading to Etosha, the wildlife capitol of Namibia, without my camera. I spent the whole hours ride from Outjo to Etosha arguing with God about it, but like the Patriots in the Super Bowl, I knew there was nothing I could do to go back and change it now. If I really believe in the sovereignty of God in all things then I must believe that He allowed me to leave my camera behind, therefore my anger was really rebellion against God. That hour also gave me a long time to think about why I take pictures, if I’m really putting God’s glory on display or if I’m simply raping the experience for my own pleasure. I didn’t voice much during the drive, but by the time we got to the Etosha gate I had come to some peace with it.

Over the next 24 hours I saw some awesome wildlife that would’ve made for some great pics, and I was still torn inside wanting to capture that perfect shot, but I was reminded not to lose the joy of the experience in the distance of my focal length.

Jenny

After two long travel days we finally made it back to Okahandja yesterday afternoon. We had some time to visit the woodcarvers market to do some souvenir shopping at the renown Okahandja Woodcarvers Markets. So while the team shopped, I stopped in to see my friend Jenny whose shop is her primary source of income.

Jenny was one of the members of Buddy’s Bible Study at Okahandja Secondary School back when she was in school. Her eleventh grade sister Mariam is part of our Bible Study now. When their parents divorced, their father left and their mother moved back to her family in Rundu. Being the oldest responsible sibling, Jenny is left to take care of her younger brothers and sisters as well as her own baby. They still live in their parents house, but between food, school fees, and everyday expenses, the woodcarving shop and a weekly housecleaning job is what helps them scrape by.

After exchanging pleasantries at the market, Jenny told me she was leaving for Rundu today. Her brother’s family was in a car accident and he and his wife both died; she didn’t know about the children. Visibly upset, she begged me to ask my American friends to come buy from her shop. Aside from regular expenses, a trip to Rundu (almost to the border of Angola in the north) for the funeral would be quite expensive. And on top of that, this brother helped pay for Mariam’s school.

It was one of those moments that kind of sucks your breath out. Jenny’s one of those good people who has taken initiative and responsibility, someone you want to cheer on and root for. Then just at the moment where it felt like she was doing well, when things were starting to look up, something like this comes out of the blue to knock her down again. Please keep Jenny and her baby, Queen, in your prayers as they travel up to Rundu for the funeral this weekend. Pray that Jenny will be a light to her family and know the peace of God during this emotionally trying time. And pray that God would continue to prove Himself faithful in providing for her and her siblings.

~~~~~~~~

Momentarily we will be heading out with the team to do some ministry at Okahandja Secondary School. Then it’s on to Windhoek this afternoon. We’ll do a school assembly at Windhoek High School tomorrow and hopefully visit a children’s home. Then the team flies out on Thursday. It’s been a blast getting to know them all and (hopefully) being used of God to minister to them as they minister to others. Sorry for the quick drive-by posting, but I wanted to get that prayer request out there before the weekend. I’ll fill you in on the rest of the trip when I get back on Friday.

Intro to Himba culture

Itinerary for next weeks Outreach: Tomorrow we’ll drive as far as Outjo. On Sunday morning we’ll minister at a local church, then head up to Etosha where we’ll spend the night. After a game drive on Monday morning we’ll share at an assembly in the Okaukuejo school, then head back to Outjo for the night. Tuesday will be our 400km drive up the western edge of Etosha into what’s known as the Kaokoland. We’ll make our way to the small town of Opuwo where we’ll spend the rest of the week ministering in local schools and villages.

It is in the desolate environment of the Kaokoland that the ovaHimba people have lived in quiet isolationism for centuries allowing them to preserve their traditional way of life amidst a modernizing continent. The Himbas are semi-nomadic pastoralists, which means they don’t settle in one specific village, but move around dependent on good grazing lands for their goats and cattle. Traditional Himbas live in mud huts, wear only an animal skin skirt around their waist, live off the land, and worship their ancestors. However, this traditional lifestyle is being threatened by the modernizing culture around them. As children are more exposed to technology and living comforts they move away for work or school in more urban areas. Many never return.

Fortunately, most of the Kaokoland has been registered as a conservancy which allows the Himba people to monitor and regulate wildlife and tourism on their lands. With the help of environmentalist groups they’ve successfully blocked attempts to build a dam on the Kunene River which would flood much of their ancestral grazing grounds. So despite the changing culture, the Himbas are finding a way to carve out a niche for themselves to prevent the extinction of their simple way of life.

Along with modernized culture, the Himba people have been largely isolated from Christian missions. Japie, the OM team leader, estimated that there may be only 100 Christian Himbas in the whole region. Most of their religious rituals involve the worship and appeasement of their ancestors. This is why we go to Opuwo, to take the good news of Jesus Christ to people of every tribe, especially those forgotten by the rest of the world.

Chances are this will be my last post until we return the following Monday, unless some Himba village happens to have an internet café hut that I could make use of. But don’t worry, I’ll take good notes in my journal so I can fill you in when I get back. During the next week please be in prayer for safety as we travel, especially on the gravel roads. Pray for the people we will interact with, that God will prepare their hearts and give us the right words to say. And please pray, not to be funny at all, for all the guys on the team including me, that the Lord would guard our hearts and minds as we minister in a largely topless culture.

~~~~~~~~

In other news, this is 30 Hour Famine weekend at Christ’s Church in NH. Fourteen students and five youth leaders have committed to fasting for 30 hours, starting after lunch on Friday and through the day on Saturday, to learn about fasting and poverty and to raise money for World Vision. Last years Famine was one of my favorite youth activities that we’ve ever done so I’m sorry to miss it this year. But while I can’t join them for the activities, I will be joining them in the fasting. In fact, I’ve already begun. My 30 hours started after lunch today and will continue until dinner tomorrow night. And it’s probably good that I’m leaving so I won’t have to read all your comments about food! :) Please pray for the students at CCA participating in this event, that it will be a great learning experience for them all as they give up their time and meals to serve the community and raise money for the poor around the world. Also pray for the body at Christ’s Church on Sunday morning, that God will use the testimonies of these kids to bring a heart for the poor to our congregation.

She has earrings all over her face

School starts back up again today for the second term. It’s just registration and stuff the first few days so we’ll start Bible Study up again next week. Since we finished the Firm Foundations curriculum last term, we decided we would continue the story of the gospel through the book of Acts. We’ll emphasize the missional nature of being a follower of Christ and hopefully give the students some practical outreach opportunities.

But next week they’ll kick off without me because I’ll be traveling again. A team of 11 Americans from Palm Beach Atlantic arrived last Thursday with Operation Mobilization. They spent a few days on the plot for orientation before heading out to Swakop for ministry this week. They need another driver to join them next week for their trek north to Etosha National Park and ministry in the Kaokoland (pronounced Ka-OH-ka-land), so guess who got the job!

I don’t usually interact much with teams that come through here, but since I’ll be traveling with them I decided I should at least meet them to start working on names. During some free time on Friday I joined them for a walk exploring the plot. It’s been a while since I’ve been around first-timers so I kept laughing at them taking pictures of everyday things, using American terminology and commenting about everything African. I don’t laugh critically because we all start there, but it was just a reminder of how acclimated I’ve become to living here.

That night I took some of them over to Coffeebar. That’s when I got a taste of what really happens when a bunch of short-term missionaries show up. :) I’m at a place now where people are comfortable with me, so now when I show up with a kombi full of newbie Americans I’m on the other side of all the conversations behind their backs. I hear all the comments about “She didn’t think I speak English” or “She has earrings all over her face”. So when our teams show up in two months realize this: if it seems people are laughing at you, they probably are.

Photo of the Day

Zina joined me to watch the sunset from the train bridge.

Rain in May?

That’s right…just when we thought the rainy season was over. Since about 10am this morning we’ve been having scattered thunder showers all day. It was 6mm by evening. And not just here, Pearl told me it rained in Arandis this morning too. Fortunately it let up just in time for sunset opposite a few sweet rainbows.

Revival

I think I’ve caught Revival fever. Everyone who spends much time with this girl seems to fall for her. Sure, she can be a handful at times because she’s partially deaf so she can’t speak well either. She gets easily distracted and is so curious about everything, but her huge, loving smile is so contagious. When I visited their house on Thursday and she took my hand and pointed to the picture of me and her that was on their shelf…you can’t beat that.

Monday morning at day camp we went hiking up the small mountain outside Arandis. On the way back down, Revival clung to my hand with the utmost trust. If she were to slip or misstep, she had no doubt that I would hold her up. That afternoon when Karrie found a chameleon, I let her hold it a little bit. As it crawled up her arm she was thrilled, not a hint of fear. Sometimes I wonder if she doesn’t understand that she’s ‘suppose’ to be afraid of some things, or if she really does just trust that people won’t let her get hurt. For her, maybe it’s a bit of both. Sometimes I wonder if Christians are just too ignorant and foolish to know better, or if we really do trust God to know what’s best for us.

Weekend highlights

I finally met Steve and Karrie Graham. They are missionaries with African Inland Missions helping out with Hope’s Promise in Arandis. During the school holiday they’ve been running a day camp so I volunteered to help out Friday and Monday.

Friday night was Scrabble night at Nan’s house. Pardon the momentary boasting, but I beat Mike Dunne (the latest Hope’s Promise full-timer in Arandis from Missionary Ventures) and Nan, 197 to 162 to 97. Usually age is directly proportional to how good you are at Scrabble…but not this time. ;)

On Saturday afternoon, Mike and I went out to Spitzkoppe with some of the older Hope’s Promise kids, Jessica, Daniel, Charmaine, Bradley, Salome, and Elaine. I didn’t realize how cool that place is! I thought it was just a mountain to climb up and see the view, but instead I found a photographer’s heaven! I took almost 250 pictures in just one afternoon. Thank God it’s digital and not film. :) You can see some of them over on my Flickr site.

Speaking of thanking God, cool story…from high on one of the rock hills I dropped my lens cap. I cried inside as I watched it bounce down the steep rock and disappear beyond my view. As the kids climbed down to start looking, I started praying. If God cared enough to help me find my Patriots shirt, then why not my lens cap. I joined the search and was about to give up resigning it to its fate among the rocks, when I saw one last crevice to check…and sure enough, there it lay. And there was much rejoicing.

For the first time in five months I helped lead worship at Christ’s Church. On Sunday afternoon, Tresford and I called into the service via Skype to help lead the congregation in Amazing Grace. It was great to have a taste of home and help share in the incredible vision of the international Body of Christ. Monday night I stayed up until 2:15am to do it again, teaching the lesson for youth group at Christ’s Church. It was great seeing everybody and “hanging out” through the computer screen. (Thanks for staying after and chatting. I miss all you guys!)

Photo of the Day

Steve and Karrie almost drove over this chameleon

in the road. At first he didn't like the idea of being picked up,

but then he got used to it and started walking up my arm.

Photo of the Day

Spitzkoppe at sunset

(one of my new favorite pics)

Happy Ascension Day

Late yesterday afternoon Joan said to me, “Hey, if you’d like a lift to Swakop, we’re leaving in about 20 minutes.” I don’t think I’ve cleaned up and packed so quickly in my life. Being school vacation, things are pretty slow for our ministries in Okahandja. I’d been planning to come out to Arandis for the weekend, but wasn’t sure about the how and when. So what a welcome surprise Joan’s invitation was!

Since being here over Christmas and back in March with Don & Jackie, I’ve gotten to know the Hope’s Promise kids so much better. I had so much fun visiting with Cassie’s family and having the kids remember my name and welcome me with a hug. We played some cards and South African Monopoly. The best part about living vicariously through other people’s children is I can have all the fun, but don’t have to deal with all the discipline. :) The downside is at the end of the day, I leave.

In the afternoon I helped Roland (a German volunteer) with teaching the kids some gymnastics. No, I didn’t do the splits and flips. I mostly just helped hold legs up in the air for handstands and such. Afterward I walked some of the younger girls home along with Elaine and Salome. I never knew those two could be so talkative!

The more I get to know these kids, the harder it is when it comes time to leave. Literally the first question everyone asks me is ‘how long are you staying’ or ‘when are you leaving’. I’ve said it before, but it breaks my heart to be just another one of those people that comes and goes. I wish I could be stability for these kids…but that’s not where God’s called me right now. That’s why families are so important. That’s why the Hope’s Promise system of foster families rather than more children’s homes is so important. But that’s a topic for another post.