Photo of the Day

Boniface took us out to the field where the ladies
were cutting the grass for a new thatched roof.

Photo of the Day

Then there were three

After waiting seven months for the team to be here it’s hard to believe they’ve already come and gone. It was harder than I expected to say goodbye to them at the airport yesterday. Being on the other side has been an awesome learning experience and has given me plenty of ideas and reforms for the future, but that’s a whole nother conversation.

To catch you up, last Wednesday I traveled out to Arandis to join that half of the team. I visited the high school and the Hope’s Promise families, helped as a bouncer for the dance program, served brunch to some seniors citizens, hung out with some of Pearl’s dance team in Swakop and at the dunes, played guitar with Pearl at the Saturday night performance, and had some awesome conversations and many laughs with the team. And that’s just the Reader’s Digest version.

Monday we reconnected with the Okahandja team in Etosha for debrief. It was my first time there with a camera which adds a whole new dimension to it that I never realized before. The very first morning we were incredibly blessed to see this leopard not 30 yards away, my favorite of the big cats. You’ll have to check out the other pics when I get a chance to put them up on Flickr.

After dropping the team off at the airport yesterday things suddenly got very quiet - a long ride home with an empty kombi, my first meal alone. I spent a large part of today catching up on my journaling and wrapping up loose ends from the trip. Tonight we dropped Toivo off at the Ark after coffeebar, so now it’s just Nate and Germaine who are staying through next Saturday. Since I’ve been running on adrenaline and activity for the past two weeks, one day still hasn’t been enough to catch up. Tomorrow we’ll head out again, back to Arandis for the weekend, then up to Ondangwa to visit with Boniface and Saara, a couple running a Bible school who we’ve sent teams to in the past. So it seems like sleep is in sight…but not this week.

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I got my first package today! (Thanks Meegan) It was a 2008 Patriots Day-by-Day calendar, a little late, but I can still get 7 months of good use out of it. Out of curiosity I checked the postmark date…Feb 22. So basically, if anybody’s sent anything after June 19th, I probably won’t get it, but thanks for thinking of me!

Photo of the Day

Saw this little fellow on the dunes today.
Richard would've caught him if he had a bottle.

Photo of the Day

Precious

Photo of the Day

Ok, so I had to get a pic of me up here while I had the chance.

Matt snapped this shot of me and Grace while we were hanging

out at the Ark this afternoon. Grace is Toivo's youngest sister.

Sleep when you get home

We picked the team up at the airport last Thursday and they hit the ground running. Friday morning we were up before the sun to take them over to the secondary schools. Six members of the team are dancers who’ll be teaching a dance camp in Arandis, but since we had them for the day I set up some assemblies for them at both J.G. and Okahandja Secondary. For our part they went well, but the teachers weren’t around so the kids were somewhat unfocused.

In the afternoon I took them over to the Ark. Some of the team has been there before and we always wonder if the kids recognize them when they come back. So it was really special for Darin when Jannis first saw him and exclaimed, “I know you!” Then Saturday morning we sent that half of the team off to Arandis while the rest of us got settled in and finished prepping for the Canadian team to arrive on the plot.

It’s been easy enough for me to meld into the group since I know so many of them already. I’ve already had some great encouraging talks helping people work through some of their experiences. But I’ve been most impressed by how the team’s been so awesome to Buddy & Julia. We invited them over for dinner and a little ‘Namibian’ Apples to Apples last night. They shared a bit of their stories of how they met and about their 4 different weddings. I’m more convinced than ever that one of the primary purposes of any short-term team needs to be encouraging and loving on the long-termers.

My plans for the week are to hang here with the Okahandja team helping them get acquainted with ministry leaders. Then on Wednesday afternoon I’ll head with the group of teachers out to Arandis for the weekend. Next Monday we head to Etosha for debrief and the trip’s all but over. Too short a time to have such great company, so I guess I’d better get off the computer and go see if anybody’s awake yet. The weekend and late night campfires must’ve worn them all out!