Working 9 to 5

Hello everyone!!! I cannot believe that it has been almost a month that we have been back in Namibia. The time seems to go by faster everyday. They do say time flies when you are having fun. Yes we are having fun.

It is 7:17pm on Saturday evening for us and we have had another full day. We are finding out that working in fulltime ministry means that we do not have regular working hours. Yes we have office hours from 9:00am to 5:00pm but that is only our office hours.

Our morning starts out with personal devotions and time with our Lord. We treasure our time in the morning with Him. We then pray with each other and have some breakfast and then it is off to work.

No two days are the same here. For example on Wednesday we were working in the office and we had someone pull up to the entrance. We were not expecting anyone so I went to see who was visiting us. It was a friend of ours (Gerrard) who works with Smaritians Purse. He is the country coordinator for Operation Christmas Child and is responsible for recieving all the shoe boxes that get delivered to children in Namibia.

We have 40 foot shipping containers on our property that they use to store the shoe boxes until they can be delivered to the children. Whenever Gerrard shows up I know he needs to get to the shoe boxes. Getting to the boxes is no small task though. To protect the boxes we have to weld the shipping containers closed that they are stored in. So to get into the container we need to grind off the bars.

Well when Gerrard got out of his car we greeted each other and got caught up on how each of our families were doing. I shared about our visit to the States and he shared all about the events that happened while we were gone. After getting caught up he informed me that there was another container arriving at 2:00pm, It was now 11:30am, and he needed help to unload the boxes from the truck and put them into the shipping container on our property.

I then made several calls and found six young men that I have worked with in the past to help us. I then went to pick them up at noon. Then I had to get the grinder, extentions cords, and the welder so we could reweld the container closed.

By 1:00pm I had the men and equipment we needed for the job and was heading over to the contaniners. When I get there Gerrard informed me that the truck with the boxes was running late and tells me that the truck will not arrive until around 7:00pm. It is now only 2:00pm.

I then take the six young men back to their homes and tell them I will pick them up at 6:45pm. I then go back to the office and work till 5:00pm and then go home to eat dinner, peanut butter and jelly because Catherine is at our weekly Bible study.

At 6:30pm I leave to go get the young men and we head back to the containers. We get there by 7:00pm and the guys are looking for the truck. Gerrard arrives and tells us the truck is running late and tells us it will be another hour. At 9:30pm the truck finally arrives. As it pulls up we see that the boxes are on a flat bed truck and the truck is full of boxes.

Each box is about 2 feet by 2 feet square and has approximately 10 shoe boxes inside. Each box ways between 25 to 40 pounds and did I tell you that there were over 400 boxes that had to be unloaded from the truck and loaded into the empty container?

The good thing is that is was late and it had cooled off quite a bit so it was not as hot. In less that one hour we had unloaded the truck and loaded them into the container and welded it shut. I was so tired and sore. My body was reminding me that I am not 20 years old anymore but I had kept up with the young men. I think they were suprised that I was able to keep up with them.

I then took the young men to their homes and then headed back to our house. I got home at 11:30pm. I crawled into bed and was up early the next morning to see what new adventures that day would bring.

I am learning how to be flexible and to be patient and you that know me know how much I dislike when things do not happen as planned. The time we had to wait though was time to speak into the lives of the six young men and to encourage them. God's timing is always better than my timing.

Each day is different and I have learned to make my plans in pencil because God often edits my plans to coordinate with His. I do love His sense of humor. Seriously though I love how He is helping me to become more like Him. The more He is in me the more these young men get to experience Him.

Thank you for your prayers and your support. You are with us each day and are making a difference in our lives and in the lives of so many here. God Bless!!!!

Remember Sunday Dinners?

We are finding a simple routine here in Okahandja, trying to prioritize and remember that we are here to build relationships and people for the glory of God. It sounds simple, doesn't it? But we find that it requires deliberate attention and planned action on our part. Now that we have resumed our positions in the International Office, we have regular office hours, which makes it more difficult to have ministry outreach in the afternoons. That leaves evenings and weekends. Not a problem. Our Namibian boys, Clinton and Simon are with us on Saturdays working around the house, helping with various projects and hanging out. On Sundays, the boys meet us at church and afterward we have family dinner. OK, it's not like the Sunday dinners I grew up with - pot roast and potatoes (that cooked in the oven while we were at church), or delicioso meatballs and spegetti, but it has become our tradition here. We pick up some ready-roasted chickens at the local store deli, make some home fries and salad and enjoy! Who has time to spend over a hot stove these days? Oh, did I mention that I'm the new Worship director at our church? Yeah.... well, it's a long morning and I appreciate the break from kitchen duty. Since our return we have added another young man to our sunday dinner - Jeremiah, a senior in High School. The last day of our August youth camp Jeremiah shared that he has been changed on the inside, and we can see by his behavior since then that it is genuine. He walks to church every Sunday, Tuesday evenings for worship team practice, and Wednesday evenings for cell group. In the group photo he is pictured on the far left with a big smile. Brick by brick, we are building the character of God - and He is growing big in each of them.

Mom's in touch has always been a big part of my life when my own kids were growing up. There are no women's ministry in most of the churches here. A lot of the women work, if they can get work. I have no idea how many women are available or willing to come, but I feel we need to offer some mom support. I know it meant so much to me when I was there. So, this week, Susanna (neighbor and housekeeper, sister and friend) and I are beginning a MIT group in our home. This is a brand new idea here - so we are very excited. I'll let you know how it goes in a few weeks. Stay tuned.....