Thursday, July 26, 2007

!! Stirling, Firmino and the cattle still have not reached Cavango!!!!

!! Stirling, Firmino and the cattle still have not reached Cavango!!!!
Yesterday they were stuck in sand and today they have been stuck in mud all
day! Stirling called on the radio about an hour ago and said that they are
on the road again! There is still 50 km to go!! They have been on the road
since 10:00 AM Tuesday. They of course have had very little sleep and the
last 50 km will still take several hours! The heifers seem to be coping
though they are very tired. The guys managed to give them water but bucket
- imagine 60 animals to water by bucket! Pray for stamina and safety!
THANKS!!!
Donna

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Dear Faithful Pray-ers!

Dear Faithful Pray-ers!

Whew - life never seems to slow down!

Stirling left as planned at 5 AM on Monday to load the heifers BUT the truck
didn't show up until Tuesday morning! They were loaded by 10 AM - as of 1
hour ago they are still in transit (26 hours on truck so far) to Cavango -
Stirling hopes to reach the mission by dark!

One of the sons of Twevenonga, a herdsman who is accompanying the heifers on
the truck, got himself a nasty wound just near his knee when he fell on a
stump yesterday. It seems that such things happen when our spouses travel!
We cleaned it out today and took out lots of splinters and will have to
clean it daily for a while. Pray for the boy and for Twevenonga.

Jonathan Holden was flown out to SA accompanied by his brother Paul. We
understand he has had at least two surgeries on his ankle. Pray for a good
recovery and for strength, stamina and peace for both of them!

We started tattooing calves yesterday - so far we've done 88.


Other things to remember:
*This afternoon - ladies meeting
*Sunday - preaching at Tchimbolelo (preaching point where we hoping to
establish a church)
*the logistics of getting Pastor Jacob & his family to Chiange.
*pray for me while Stirling is away for wisdom and discernment in dealing
with workers - yesterday I was informed of a difficult situation with one of
the workers and we will be meeting these next few days to decide what to do.

THANKS for praying!!!!!
Donna for all of us!

_________________________________
Stirling & Donna Foster
CP 33 Lubango, Angola, via Portugal
tchincombe@uuplus.com
stirling.foster@sim.org
tchincombe.blogspot.com

satellite phone:
870 (or 871) 76 252 5235

SIM-USA
PO Box 7900, Charlotte, NC 28241

SIM Canada
10 Huntingdale Blvd, Scarborough, ON M1W 2S5






Thursday, July 19, 2007

New Update!

Our Spiritual Life Conference went very well! The Comries have been
missionaries for 47 years and so shared with us many encouraging accounts
of God's faithfulness - a big picture perspective - sometimes the right here
and now are hard to comprehend BUT when we look back we can see what God was
doing or how He used the difficult times!! It was a great time for us to
reconnect with others after home assignment!

Thanks for your prayers for Pinto Miguel - he is scheduled for surgery in
August - it appears the tumor on his leg is not the malignant type - we are
thankful!

This has been a busy week - we have made orange marmalade, pumpkin pie and
soup from a pumpkin we were given, butter (cream from dairy cows), and for
supper tonight meat pie (recipe courtesy of Carolyn Gardner)!

There have been several very sick people these last 10 days - one of our own
families we had to take to the Catholic Hospital 3 hours south of here -
their child seem to have pneumonia and malaria. Two women from the
neighboring farm and another women from here at Tchincombe have had very
severe cases of malaria. Pray for these families! THANK YOU!

Pray too for Jonathan Holden - he's an MK of about 17 years old. He fell
while climbing and broke his ankle and has a head wound - there is talk of
sending him to South Africa via Med-Evac - haven't heard yet what the final
decision has been.

Meghan and Jeffrey are having a great time with Jackie! Her time will come
to an end all too soon!! She leaves on 19 August!

The next few weeks will be busy - please pray:

Monday, 23 July: Stirling will accompany the cattle truck to Cavango to
deliver the first 60 animals for that project. Pray for patience and that
the cattle will make the trip with no injuries - we hear that the road is
better!

Also on Monday we will start tattooing calves in preparation for weaning.

Wednesday, 25 July - ladies meeting at Tchincombe - we will be studying in
Colossians and then learning how to prevent worms.

Friday, 27 July - we head to town for our SIM monthly prayer meeting. Pray
for Peter and Areni Ritchie who are preparing for Home Assignment - they
leave in early August.

Sunday, 29 July - preaching at the Tchimbolelo preaching point.

The last part of July and first few days of August Stir will make a run to
Windhoek to get price quotes for fencing and piping as well as other
supplies that the farm needs.

August 8 - 15 is the Agricultural Fair - lots to do - we are sending 15
heifers. Stirling has been asked to help organize the auction - it's an
excellent opportunity to develop relationships in the ag community.

Check out the blog after Monday - will be sending photos to town with
Stirling!

With Love and Thanks!!
Donna

Thursday, July 5, 2007

Jackie, Meghan and Jeffrey

Hard at work!
Jackie with Meghan and Jeffrey in front of the school room.