Wednesday, September 27, 2006
comfortable
Life is good. Very good. I like it here. I feel like its home now. I feel comfortable and accustomed. I like walking down the road and having people call out my name to say hello. I like walking the 30 min walk home at dusk feeling the warm air and looking at the huge fireball of a red sun drooping down on the horizon with a few wispy clouds floating around in the sky. I like looking at pictures from rainy season and getting excited for that time again – crazy thunderstorms and dark black skies. And I like being familiar with that. I like being familiar with two languages that aren’t my mother tongue and looking forward to the day when I’m fluent. Things are good. Come visit.
Monday, September 11, 2006
a much belated post about the Herero festival
A few weeks ago Okahandja was invaded by Hereros from all over Namibia. They all converged on Otjiserandu (which is the area around the Multi Purpose Center) camping, braaing, drinking, marching, dancing, celebrating the "holy fire", and consulting their ancestors. It began on friday with everyone coming into town and setting up camp ,then continued through Sunday afternoon. I went to watch the festivities on saturday with Maveja and Walter. Here are some of the shots I like from the weekend:
Herero ladies in tradional dress:
the Generals on horseback
marching
the "holy fire" ceremony
a little explaination: the Cheif takes a gulp of water, swishes it around inside his mouth, then spits it out in the face of the person kneeling in front of him for a blessing from the ancestors. the water is supposed to dry on its own, not be wiped off. The ancestors are consulted through "holy fire" anytime there is a big decision being made, or a large purchase (like a car) to seek the ancestors approval.
Maveja and I in traditional dress
(the little girl in the picture with us is Hitjiverwe, Maveja's little sister. what she is wearing is traditional dress for young Herero girls. It is made out of leather and has a flap in the front, but is open in the back. Girls may wear this outfit until they are 12 years old. Oh, and that is Maveja's house in the background.)
Herero ladies in tradional dress:
the Generals on horseback
marching
the "holy fire" ceremony
a little explaination: the Cheif takes a gulp of water, swishes it around inside his mouth, then spits it out in the face of the person kneeling in front of him for a blessing from the ancestors. the water is supposed to dry on its own, not be wiped off. The ancestors are consulted through "holy fire" anytime there is a big decision being made, or a large purchase (like a car) to seek the ancestors approval.
Maveja and I in traditional dress
(the little girl in the picture with us is Hitjiverwe, Maveja's little sister. what she is wearing is traditional dress for young Herero girls. It is made out of leather and has a flap in the front, but is open in the back. Girls may wear this outfit until they are 12 years old. Oh, and that is Maveja's house in the background.)
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
well, well, well
Sorry for not updating on this sooner, but last week was a BUSY week! where to begin? Well, for starters, I have moved. I don’t live in Nau-Aib anymore. I have known for some time now that I was going to have to move from the Christ’s Hope staffhouse, but there was never a specific date given, and with finding no other options in Location, I was remaining there. Well, on Wednesday the call came. Moving day would be Saturday. Add that to the fact that Sammy was leaving for Russia on Thursday, Friday consisted of Team Meeting, time with Maveja, and attempting to bake cookies for coffeebar…and packing up my house came as a footnote to all that. But surprisingly, by 8:30am Saturday after a late night of boxing things, I was on the stoop and ready to go. Praise God. Who knew that I would ever be able to pack up my entire house in just a few hours? It is a definite plus to have a simple lifestyle and comparatively few material possessions to a typical American house. By 5pm Saturday evening, I was moved, unpacked and organized, and was being invited by my new neighbor to a braai next door. Unfortunately for this time I had to decline, because I was headed off to the MPMC for the PTG. The new place is in town, (past Spar, for those of you who know Okahandja) which takes me far away from my ministry area, my beloved “Is-it-come kids”, and my little buddy Shaddy, but I am being challenged to see what God has in store for me here. I will be doing a lot of bike riding to Location to continue on in ministry there. I will have to actually schedule things much more now because of the distance, whereas before it was easy for things to just happen. It will take some adjustment, but I am more up for the challenge now, then I was a few days ago. It was a hard couple of days – saying goodbye to Sam and my home and neighborhood all in the span of 2 days, but God has never let me down and has taught me all the way through it.
The pluses of the new flat are:
the fact that Spar is only a 3 minute bike ride away
the plot is on a lot near the riverbed and is surrounded by tall grass and trees on two sides
its so quiet and is much less likely to have things stolen if left outside
new little friends who live next door – 4 and 5 yrs old, who only speak Afrikaans (a good chance to practice my language skills)
bigger house = more space
opportunity to build new relationships
the minuses (and therefore things you can pray about) are:
separated from the team and ministry area, previously built relationships
SNAKES!
Beginning all over again, now learning “town culture”
Getting all the taxi drivers used to the fact that I don’t live at my old house anymore!
My new place (picture to come later)
The other side (picture to come later)
Sitting room
The view from the sitting room
Kitchen
The view from the kitchen
Bathroom
Sleeping room
The Office picture didn't come out. not sure why.
Porch
Yard
I can post pics of the outside later. enjoy!
The pluses of the new flat are:
the fact that Spar is only a 3 minute bike ride away
the plot is on a lot near the riverbed and is surrounded by tall grass and trees on two sides
its so quiet and is much less likely to have things stolen if left outside
new little friends who live next door – 4 and 5 yrs old, who only speak Afrikaans (a good chance to practice my language skills)
bigger house = more space
opportunity to build new relationships
the minuses (and therefore things you can pray about) are:
separated from the team and ministry area, previously built relationships
SNAKES!
Beginning all over again, now learning “town culture”
Getting all the taxi drivers used to the fact that I don’t live at my old house anymore!
My new place (picture to come later)
The other side (picture to come later)
Sitting room
The view from the sitting room
Kitchen
The view from the kitchen
Bathroom
Sleeping room
The Office picture didn't come out. not sure why.
Porch
Yard
I can post pics of the outside later. enjoy!
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Me bokkie
thank you for praying for Maveja! since my last post, she is now sure of her salvation and is confident that Jesus has chosen her to be a Christian. Maveja is growing daily in the Lord. It is such a joy to see her desire to know God and her hunger to learn everything there is to know about being a Christian, and living this new life that she has been given. Once a week on Thursday mornings we study the Bible together – we are currently going through Firm Foundations and are in Genesis. I love arriving in the morning to find her sitting outside reading her Bible. Last Sunday a few of us went to Grossbarmen (the hot springs) for the day. Maveja brought along her Bible. She read in the car, she read by the pool…she is so hungry to read His Word! One of the most awesome things was hearing her ask this last week during our Firm Foundations study: “I was wondering, if maybe you want to and have time…its just that this is getting so interesting, and its so long from one time to the next week, and I thought maybe we could meet more often?” YES! I’ll tell you what, my heart was so happy when I heard that. So now we still meet on Thursdays and we have decided that at any other time during the week, one of us will just sms the other and if she isn’t busy at that time, then we will meet and keep going on with the lessons. This week we met additionally on Wednesday afternoon. We not only went through two lessons that day, but also had a great talk about the term “born again”, and what it means. After I explained, Maveja asked, “So being a Christian and being born again are the same thing, right?” It should be! Then we talked about how here, often times people will identify themselves as Christians, but do not identify themselves as being born again. They take the name of “Christian” but are not living a new life. I love watching Maveja learning all about this new life she has!
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Common Questions...an update.
How is the PTG going?
Todd felt he had a clear call to begin preaching and we all felt God was saying that what people here lack is Biblical teaching, so we decided to go in that direction – the way we felt HIM leading. it is still mainly Christaan and Nelda and the team, and a few others sporadically, but at least we are all being taught Biblicaly, and Todd is really strengthening his gifts and becoming a good preacher. I think we are looking at changing the time, because I really think that if the PTG were at a different time, we might have more people come to it. Culturally, 6pm is just too late, especially in the winter when its already dark at that time.
Do you still go to Victory Camp?
We don’t go to victory camp anymore. It just didn’t seem to really fit into the mission God has called us to and no one was very passionate about it. It just seemed like “something to do”. so we’re not going there anymore. But I am beginning a girls small group discipleship next week and one of the things I want to be a big part of it is servanthood. So I think we will throw around some ideas about places we can serve. However, Victory Camp is just not safe for a bunch of girls to go, so we’ll probably look at other options.
How is the Coffeebar going?
Coffeebar is going great. There are about 50 people in attendance most weeks now. we are working to get more volunteers to help out because right now, the 4 of us are the only ones who work it every week. (and Sam of course right now) there are some others like Violet (who replaced Jennie) and also Christaan who helps from time to time. But we’re hoping to set up a rotation. We are building relationships and word is getting out, young people come, young adults come, and familes come together, which is cool. We are just hoping that eventually we can see some crossover and that through our relationships, Coffeebar attenders will start coming to the PTG as well.
What about the men’s and women’s Bible study?
The men’s and women’s Bible study are still going on, but look a bit different. The men’s study is pretty much Todd, Buddy and Christaan and it is a Men’s Leadership Development group. Its focus is building up leaders (or right now at least Christaan) and they talk a lot of church planting strategy. It is just Nelda and I that meet together now, so she and I have begun a one-on-one Firm Foundations study. It is going well I think. She seems to like it. She actually came to the PTG by herself the other night because Christaan couldn’t make it. It was really cool that she came on her own.
What’s going on with Kid’s Clubs these days?
There isn’t a kids club in Oshetu anymore, because all the kids clubs except Hoydegos are supposed to be held at the MPMC. There is one on Thursdays, but there aren’t any Oshetu kids that come. Probably b/c they either don’t know its still happening or because its too far to walk. But the Thursday Kid’s Club at the MPMC is HUGE. The Club is mainly “Budget Homes” children (which is where we live). So I have all the “is it come” kids meet at my house on Thursdays at 2:30 and we all walk to the MPMC together for Club.
How is the OSS Bible Study going? How many students attend?
OSS Bible study is great. We are still in Firm Foundations. We just did the lesson on God preparing the Israelites to receive the 10 Commandments. They kids remember a lot of what we teach and seem to be able to relate the new things they learn to what they have already learned. Its really cool. The kids who attend regularly are Elmarie, Victoria, Rosa, Carina, Skelle, and Absalom. Caroline comes as well, just not as regularly. Sometimes she has other things she has to do after school.
Things you can pray for are:
* The PTG. Pray that we will have clear direction as to if we should change the day and/or time.
* I am beginning the girls small group discipleship next Tuesday afternoon.
* Maveja’s spiritual growth. Its awesome to see how God is changing her, but I don’t think she is convinced of her salvation. I think she’s expecting to know everything and she feels like until she knows everything, then maybe she’s not a Christian. Pray for assurance for her and me, that she is truly chosen by God and saved by Him.
Todd felt he had a clear call to begin preaching and we all felt God was saying that what people here lack is Biblical teaching, so we decided to go in that direction – the way we felt HIM leading. it is still mainly Christaan and Nelda and the team, and a few others sporadically, but at least we are all being taught Biblicaly, and Todd is really strengthening his gifts and becoming a good preacher. I think we are looking at changing the time, because I really think that if the PTG were at a different time, we might have more people come to it. Culturally, 6pm is just too late, especially in the winter when its already dark at that time.
Do you still go to Victory Camp?
We don’t go to victory camp anymore. It just didn’t seem to really fit into the mission God has called us to and no one was very passionate about it. It just seemed like “something to do”. so we’re not going there anymore. But I am beginning a girls small group discipleship next week and one of the things I want to be a big part of it is servanthood. So I think we will throw around some ideas about places we can serve. However, Victory Camp is just not safe for a bunch of girls to go, so we’ll probably look at other options.
How is the Coffeebar going?
Coffeebar is going great. There are about 50 people in attendance most weeks now. we are working to get more volunteers to help out because right now, the 4 of us are the only ones who work it every week. (and Sam of course right now) there are some others like Violet (who replaced Jennie) and also Christaan who helps from time to time. But we’re hoping to set up a rotation. We are building relationships and word is getting out, young people come, young adults come, and familes come together, which is cool. We are just hoping that eventually we can see some crossover and that through our relationships, Coffeebar attenders will start coming to the PTG as well.
What about the men’s and women’s Bible study?
The men’s and women’s Bible study are still going on, but look a bit different. The men’s study is pretty much Todd, Buddy and Christaan and it is a Men’s Leadership Development group. Its focus is building up leaders (or right now at least Christaan) and they talk a lot of church planting strategy. It is just Nelda and I that meet together now, so she and I have begun a one-on-one Firm Foundations study. It is going well I think. She seems to like it. She actually came to the PTG by herself the other night because Christaan couldn’t make it. It was really cool that she came on her own.
What’s going on with Kid’s Clubs these days?
There isn’t a kids club in Oshetu anymore, because all the kids clubs except Hoydegos are supposed to be held at the MPMC. There is one on Thursdays, but there aren’t any Oshetu kids that come. Probably b/c they either don’t know its still happening or because its too far to walk. But the Thursday Kid’s Club at the MPMC is HUGE. The Club is mainly “Budget Homes” children (which is where we live). So I have all the “is it come” kids meet at my house on Thursdays at 2:30 and we all walk to the MPMC together for Club.
How is the OSS Bible Study going? How many students attend?
OSS Bible study is great. We are still in Firm Foundations. We just did the lesson on God preparing the Israelites to receive the 10 Commandments. They kids remember a lot of what we teach and seem to be able to relate the new things they learn to what they have already learned. Its really cool. The kids who attend regularly are Elmarie, Victoria, Rosa, Carina, Skelle, and Absalom. Caroline comes as well, just not as regularly. Sometimes she has other things she has to do after school.
Things you can pray for are:
* The PTG. Pray that we will have clear direction as to if we should change the day and/or time.
* I am beginning the girls small group discipleship next Tuesday afternoon.
* Maveja’s spiritual growth. Its awesome to see how God is changing her, but I don’t think she is convinced of her salvation. I think she’s expecting to know everything and she feels like until she knows everything, then maybe she’s not a Christian. Pray for assurance for her and me, that she is truly chosen by God and saved by Him.
Friday, July 28, 2006
Manicure Namibian style?
Saw this the other day while Buddy and I were having Bible study at the Woodcarver's market and I just could help but take this picture.
Shaddy
Shaddy just might be my favorite little kid in Nau-Aib. Even though he sometimes shows up on my front step at 7:00 am if I have inadvertantly left my front gate unlocked. It's hard to so no to him though, with his quiet personality and his inquisitive looks. And who could resist a kid who so cheerfully says, "Amanda, good morning!" even if it's 5:00 at night. (I just don't have the heart to tell him 5:00pm isn't morning!)
Shaddy and I having tea on my front step one morning:
Playing his new favorite game, Memory:
Every time he gets a pair that matches he runs to me with them in his hand and says, "Amanda, I win!" I always smile and say, "Good job!" So now when he plays Memory with a friend they each run eagerly to me to show me their pairs and smile delightedly when I say "Good job!" I even hear them say "Good job!" to each other. Shaddy also loves come to me with two cards turned over and have me guess what is on the card. If I get it right, he always exclaims, "Good job!" to me and runs back to get more. The best part is when he has two cards overturned wanting me to guess what's on the card, but before I can guess he whispers to me what it is, and when i guess right...you guessed it - "Good job!" he says. The game never gets old.
With some friends:
Shaddy and I having tea on my front step one morning:
Playing his new favorite game, Memory:
Every time he gets a pair that matches he runs to me with them in his hand and says, "Amanda, I win!" I always smile and say, "Good job!" So now when he plays Memory with a friend they each run eagerly to me to show me their pairs and smile delightedly when I say "Good job!" I even hear them say "Good job!" to each other. Shaddy also loves come to me with two cards turned over and have me guess what is on the card. If I get it right, he always exclaims, "Good job!" to me and runs back to get more. The best part is when he has two cards overturned wanting me to guess what's on the card, but before I can guess he whispers to me what it is, and when i guess right...you guessed it - "Good job!" he says. The game never gets old.
With some friends:
Is it Come???
The kids from Location continue to come to my house everyday to ask, “Is it come today?” Which translates into, “Can we come and play?” I have to set boundaries because otherwise all I would do is be the play house everyday. I have narrowed it down to Thursday at 3pm when they meet here and we walk to Kids Club, and Friday afternoons when they can come play while I bake cookies for Friday night’s coffeebar. Last Friday two of the older girls helped with the baking and thoroughly enjoyed rolling the dough into little balls, and putting them on the cookie sheet. They were surprised to see how big the cookies were when they came out of the oven.
Here are the girls in the kitchen playing with the magnetic poetry while we wait for the cookies to bake.
While the girls helped me bake, some of the boys were putting puzzles together in the living room.
What a grace from God it is to have a house to open up to people!
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
lately
been sick. =(
time with Sam.
teaching Caroline to climb.
Kathy and Paige coming on Thurdsay.
studying Otjiherero.
Coffeebar.
Lots of soccer.
missing friends from home and the emporium talks.
very windy and dusty.
approaching the 7 month mark.
newest pics....here you go:
Sam and I in Swakopmund
Understatement
Caroline's Ascent
Caroline after her fist day of climbing (I think she's hooked)
time with Sam.
teaching Caroline to climb.
Kathy and Paige coming on Thurdsay.
studying Otjiherero.
Coffeebar.
Lots of soccer.
missing friends from home and the emporium talks.
very windy and dusty.
approaching the 7 month mark.
newest pics....here you go:
Sam and I in Swakopmund
Understatement
Caroline's Ascent
Caroline after her fist day of climbing (I think she's hooked)
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
June Java
Hello! Its good to be back from the land of dead power-cords and no blogging! Todd’s parents have arrived and brought with them lots of goodies from America. One of those goodies was a new power cord (and a back-up, actually) and so I am back online once again and have a connection to the outside world. So, lets see what can I offer from the last few weeks to update you on what has been going on in this dry, dusty land called Okahandja.
Friday, June 3rd marked the start of our coffeebar ministry - an open place we want to offer as an alternative to the people, rather than going to the clubs, bars and shebeens to hang out, have fun, listen to loud music, and dance on Friday nights. Our first night open we had a turn out of about 15 people, which was pretty good I’d say, considering we didn’t advertise – just did things by word of mouth – because we wanted to start small. We served coffee, tea, and cooldrink. Drinks were free the first night, and we told everyone we would begin charging a meager fee the second night of the coffeebar –
N .50c for coffee and tea, and N .20c for cooldrink. To give you some perspective, that’s about USD 8cents for coffee/tea, and about USD 3cents for cooldrink. The second Friday went very well also. Saw some new faces, had some good conversations, sold a lot of coffee, and cookies! Erin baked peanut butter cookies and sugar cookies and sold them for N .50c a piece. They were a big hit. One great way of getting to know the people who come, and beginning to build relationships with them is simply by gathering at a table in the coffeebar and playing a game together. I saw a few people sitting quietly, not interacting much and I decided to see if they wanted to learn how to play Phase 10. An hour later we were all joking and laughing and having a great time playing and getting to know one another. Here are some pictures from the coffeebar:
Clinton dancing to the music:
People playing games:
Hanging out at the coffeebar:
Friday, June 3rd marked the start of our coffeebar ministry - an open place we want to offer as an alternative to the people, rather than going to the clubs, bars and shebeens to hang out, have fun, listen to loud music, and dance on Friday nights. Our first night open we had a turn out of about 15 people, which was pretty good I’d say, considering we didn’t advertise – just did things by word of mouth – because we wanted to start small. We served coffee, tea, and cooldrink. Drinks were free the first night, and we told everyone we would begin charging a meager fee the second night of the coffeebar –
N .50c for coffee and tea, and N .20c for cooldrink. To give you some perspective, that’s about USD 8cents for coffee/tea, and about USD 3cents for cooldrink. The second Friday went very well also. Saw some new faces, had some good conversations, sold a lot of coffee, and cookies! Erin baked peanut butter cookies and sugar cookies and sold them for N .50c a piece. They were a big hit. One great way of getting to know the people who come, and beginning to build relationships with them is simply by gathering at a table in the coffeebar and playing a game together. I saw a few people sitting quietly, not interacting much and I decided to see if they wanted to learn how to play Phase 10. An hour later we were all joking and laughing and having a great time playing and getting to know one another. Here are some pictures from the coffeebar:
Clinton dancing to the music:
People playing games:
Hanging out at the coffeebar:
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
The new Preaching/Teaching Gathering...aka PTG
We have had two Preaching/Teaching gatherings so far. The PTG happens every Saturday night (the night after coffeebar). It’s great having it the following night, so we can simply invite people to whom we’ve been talking, back the next night. Many people we talk to are interested in what we are dong here in Okahandja and we’re able to say stuff along the lines of, “We are here to teach people about Jesus and the Bible. If you want to know more of what we do, come tomorrow night.” The first night there were about 15-20 people in attendance. The following week the numbers were about the same, but with some new faces again. The second Saturday there were several Hererros who came to check it out. In the second picture you can see two of the ladies in their traditional dresses.
Here is Todd teaching from the book of Jude:
Here is Todd teaching from the book of Jude:
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