Sunday, August 26, 2007

Greetings from Tchincombe!

Greetings from Tchincombe!

The fair went well. Stirling worked hard and long hours getting helping
with the auction. Pray for fruit from this labor - that opportunities would
arise to share with our farmer friends the good news of the Gospel!!
Tchincombe's heifers sold before the auction. It's an honor that our
neighbor's want to buy our heifers. A lot of heifers bought two years ago
were brought back to the fair this year as cows and won first place in their
class!

We arrived at Tchincombe on Monday and Stirling headed to Namibia early on
Wednesday morning to get price quotes for fencing and piping. And to buy
needed farm parts and spares. He and Peter Duplantis went. Peter will
drive back the Ritchies vehicle - SIM colleagues who flew out of Windhoek to
go on home assignment.

Doesn't something ALWAYS breakdown when a husband goes away?!? The fan belt
on the main generator for water pump broke yesterday and we unfortunately
don't have a spare on hand - this is one of Stirling's purchases in
Windhoek. Colleagues in town are looking for the right fan belt - the plan
is for Shelley to meet me half way so that I don't have to go all the way
into town for the part! The running of the generator is critical as it's
the height of the dry season and most of the cattle are drinking here - the
other borehole is still not working properly!

Please pray for Sunday's preaching at Tchimbolelo.

Jackie left on Sunday for the USA. Pray for her - she only has a week
before her classes begin! She was a great blessing!

Meghan had a stomach ache with vomiting and diarrhea yesterday but seems her
happy self today.

Pray for the children and I as we hold down the fort during Stirling's
absence and get school done!

We do appreciate your partnership with us!!!

In Him,
Donna for all of us!

Sunday, August 19, 2007

New Pictures!

Loading up supplies in Lubango

Tchincombe ranch hands at Agricultural fair.

Jeffrey gets his puppy! No labs available- just a local pup. Jeffrey named him "Ruger"- he has adjusted well to his new life- a rags to riches story!

Meghan observing a cataract surgery at CEML- she loved it!

Municipal market.

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

We had very good prayer meeting and 50th B-day celebration

Hi! We had very good prayer meeting and 50th B-day celebration last
weekend! This weekend we are Tchincombe and having a visit with Dr. Karen
Henriksen, SIM colleague. She's come to get a rest and have her Land-Rover
checked out! We do enjoy her company!

Stirling is still recovering from the Cavango trip! In spite of his fatigue
he preached a good message today (only found out on Friday that he was
preaching) - pray that hearts would ponder what they heard and respond to
the Lord!!

Pray for renewal here! It seems that folk are tired and in a rut! It is
hard to grow spiritually with no Bible in one's language! Pray for the
translation team at Ngunga! They are working on TEE (theological education
by extension).
With the experience gained in translation we hope and pray the time will
soon come for the Bible to be translated in this language group!

We are in the middle of the dry season - everything here is gray or brown!
I am already looking forward to our first rain and it won't be till October
- Lord willing! We still have a long wait! We do have a little patch of
green in the backyard and a few rose bushes - that helps!

We go to Lubango a week from tomorrow for the Ag fair. We will stay in
town for about 5 days. Jackie our teacher will leave 2 weeks from today -
at the end of the time we are in town for the fair. Her time here has
flown by! It has been great to have her! She was just what we needed at
this time of getting settled after home assignment! Pray for her to have
energy and stamina as she is a second grade teacher and the school year
starts for her at the end of August!

Thanks for standing in the gap!!!

Love,
Donna for all of us!

Monday, August 6, 2007

Pictures!

A good day's work done.
Threshing!

Threshing!
Resting from threshing.
Bolunga (refreshing drink made from boiling millet in water and then adding sugar - it is made the day before needed).
Kids waiting expectantly for bolunga.
Newly threshed millet-will still need winnowing on the next windy day.
Moving millet from pile to take to threshing floor.

Janesia helping with Teresa's baby.

Working on the water pump.
Cattle coming to drink.
Jackie with Comries (Roy & Gwen) speakers at Spiritual Life Conference.
Dry season...
Cattle coming to drink.
View from retreat center where we had Spiritual Life Conference.
Tchincombe in dry season...
Tchincombe in dry season...
Tchincombe in dry season-we're beginning to thirst for rain!

Greetings from Lubango!

Greetings from Lubango! The children, Jackie and I drove in on Friday to be
here for SIM's monthly team prayer meeting as well as to celebrate Peter
Ritchie's 50th birthday (Peter and his wife, Areni, work with SIM in
literacy.

Stirling and Firmino and the herdmens arrived on in Lubango on Saturday at
4PM. He said that on Thursday at 3 PM when he talked with me on the radio
they had hit a real low in morale and despaired of getting the truck out of
the mud - just after that I sent you the update. The truck was a double
articulated semi and with the load of animals everything weighed about 45
tons - all stuck in the mud since 1 AM - 16 men worked all day to get the
truck unstuck! The truck -i.e. the tractor without the trailers came
unstuck at around 5 PM, then the first trailer out at 6 PM and the second
trailer at 7 PM - they were trucking toward Cavango by 8 PM. THANKS for
your prayers! We believe it gave them the stamina to go on - you must
understand that they had been on the road since Tuesday at 10 AM and had
spent a good bit of Wednesday stuck in sand. They arrived at 11:40 PM at
Cavango, had a quick supper and by 2 AM had the cattle unloaded - though
stiff and sore from the trip they all arrived alive!

On Friday at 7 AM Stirling was awoken by the church leaders to preach!
People in that area are keen for teaching and preaching since they were so
isolated during the war. The rest of Friday was spend looking to the cattle
and getting rested for Saturday's return trip.

We are in Lubango today and will head back to Tchincombe tomorrow - that is
the current plan!

Thanks so much for your prayers!!
Donna for all of us!