Raindrops keeping falling . . . . !

Raindrops keeping falling . . . . J ! While we were in Namibia Tchincombe had 109 mm of rain (> 4 inches). Since our return we’ve had 80mm (>1.5 inch) and it’s raining as I write – WOW! What a relief!

We are glad to have Jeffrey back with us! He had a great time at our friend’s farm and learned a lot.

While we were away Perpetua’s nephew stole some things from our pantry. This young boy, Njonjombua is an orphan. He and his two brothers have been living with Perpetua’s family for a few years now. There have been other incidents of petty robbery over the years (within the family as well as in the community). Perpetua and her husband have decided to take the boys back to another uncle. Pray for the boys that they will turn away from this way of life. Pray for Perpetua and Nobrega who feel betrayed by their nephews.

Pray for the ladies at Tchincombe to hunger and thirst to know God better!

Pray for the people in the Imbondwe area to see the futility of a life without Christ. Our next meeting there is the 27^th of December.

For your prayers and gifts of support we are grateful!

YOUR PARTNERSHIP IS ESSENTIAL!

Donna for all of us!

Meghan and I finished 3rd grade!!!

Hi Again!

How could I forget to tell you that Meghan and I finished 3^rd grade!!!

We are free from school for 6 weeks! Thanks for all your prayers on our behalf.

Love,

Donna

100° F today!

100° F today! No rain since 3 weeks ago! Grass is beginning to wilt. There were NO clouds yesterday and day before BUT today lots of clouds! PRAY for rain! AND PRAY for us to not be anxious!!

There were 72 people at Imbondwe today – PRAISE God that there many new people. PRAY for desire to know GOD!

The professors from ISTEL (the Evangelical Seminary of Lubango) came this weekend to Tchincombe for a work retreat. Seems like a contradiction in terms BUT here at least they were away from cell phones and people knocking at the door! PRAY for the staff of ISTEL as they seek to train leaders.

Tomorrow we head out to Namibia to pick up Jeffrey. We hope to be back at Tchincombe by next Sunday – i.e. it will be a whirlwind trip! As always we’ll be doing shopping for the farm and for ourselves!

PRAY for Firmino, Tutyiale and Paulo as they direct the work of the farm and the community here!

THANKS so much for standing with us in prayer!

Donna for all of us!

We did FINALLY have more than an inch of rain!!

Hi!

PRAISE - We did FINALLY have more than an inch of rain!! On Sunday, 9 days ago, 30mm of rain fell and quenched the earth’s thirst! It was wonderful! We have had sprinkles now and then. More rain is always welcome and needed.

Each year we watch the sky with anxiety. Will there be enough rain? Will it come at the right time? What if it doesn’t? What will we do? We ask you to pray for rain. We really should ask you to pray for us not to be anxious! To pray that we would remember that the people, land, cattle and we ourselves belong to God! Whatever falls or doesn’t fall from the sky - God will sustain us! To pray for wisdom to make good decisions!

PRAISE – We have received the money from cattle sales and then transferred enough money to buy 30 km of fencing (includes poles, gates, wire, droppers) – ½ of what we need to fence the entire perimeter of Tchincombe and 5 km o f water piping! God’s timing is really perfect as the exchange rate in Namibia is 10 to 1 – hasn’t been that good since we started thinking about fencing!

PRAY for Jeffrey. He’s two weeks into his 4 week work experience. We talked with him on Sunday. He’s happy, enjoying himself, working hard and a little tired. We leave 1 Dec to pick him up. PRAY

for him that he’ll learn to rely on the Lord. Give thanks for the farm family where he’s living – for their generosity in having him. We’ll then go to Windhoek for a day or two to do some Christmas shopping and to arrange for the transport of the fencing.

PRAY for us to understand how great a salvation we have been given. And what it means that Jesus is our High Priest. (Can you tell we’re reading in Hebrews!)

PRAY for meetings at Imbondwe on 29/30 November – openness to God’s Word.

The granting of visas for missionaries continues to be an issue – please PRAY the two couples in Portugal who will be needing visas.

Don’t forget to lift up the Fox family daily! They have all their outgoing expenses – are in need of monthly support so they can join us here at Tchincombe!

ONE LAST THOUGHT: Are you looking for year-end tax deductible giving options? Consider the work here at Tchincombe J ! All gifts to our ministry account would be appreciated greatly!

In Him,

Donna

4 mm DOES not = 1 inch of rain!

Dear Praying Friends,

4 mm DOES not = 1 inch of rain! A dear friend in Namibia pointed out my mistake – and I must admit when I wrote it didn’t seem quite right because it sure didn’t feel like a one inch rain! More like 1/8 of an inch! We are still waiting for a GOOD thoroughly soaking rain here at Tchincombe.

At Imbondwe – we did have a good rain – a ground soaking, stop the show rain! So on Saturday evening we went to bed at 8 PM since there’s not much else to do when you are camping and it’s raining! Sunday morning there was a good turn out for church – even 6 older, traditionally dressed people – keep praying that the older generations will not consider this ‘new religion’ just for the young people – but will see that God desires a day to day relationship with THEM!

The man in who’s village area where we meet asked for a Bible which we gave him this week. In return he gave us a chicken!

Stirling and Jeffrey head off to Namibia tomorrow. Jeffrey is going to work again at the farm of good friends. His school is mostly complete – computer issues delayed his typing course but he should be able to finish it after he returns from this work experience.

PRAISE!! Stirling will be doing shopping in Windhoek including setting up the purchase and transport of fencing and water piping!

Pray for safety in travel – especially no run ins with game (kudu, warthog, etc)

In Him,

Donna

Greetings from Tchincombe in the Spring!

Greetings from Tchincombe in the Spring! This has been the most beautiful spring we can remember. Perhaps with the late but plentiful rains there is still water close enough in the ground for the shrubs and trees to really burst forth! Monday, 10 days ago, we had the first rain of the season - 4 mm of rain (about 1 inch) – what a relief – we want more! J !
PRAISE! A buyer came to look at cattle today! He will buy two lots of animals – we should have a good sum to buy fencing and water piping! There won’t be enough to buy all that we need to fence the entire perimeter but enough to get a good start – even if we landed all of the needed 60 km of fencing tomorrow it would take months to get the posts in and wire up.
We were in touch with the fencing company and the price of wire has come down!! Yippee!
Stirling is on his way to town for the second time this week! Pray for endurance and alertness – he will travel back tomorrow. The trip to town is 200 km (125 mi) – but it takes 4 hours! We hope that will soon be down to 3 as work on the main road progresses – paving has arrived almost to the place where we turn off the main road. When all the construction is done (not just paving but bridge rebuilding) is will be wonderful! The main road to Tchincombe will be a bush track for many years to come – usually takes 2 hours – as long as it doesn’t rain!
Pray for our ladies’ meeting tomorrow (had to postpone from today to tomorrow) – we will be discussing why Believers shouldn’t take their sick loved ones to the witch doctor!
PRAY for the services at Imbondwe this weekend. Last month we had a good group of young people learning to play Frisbee. There weren’t too adults to see the film because of a coming of age party in the neighborhood. Pray for open hearts, for fun and relationship building.
Please continue to pray for the FOX FAMILY who have received all of their outgoing support but who still need monthly support!
Pray for the Verhoefs and Schemps who are presently in Portugal doing language study in preparation for ministry here in Angola.
Thanks so much for your faithfulness in prayer, financial support and for all your encouraging e-mails, etc!
Love,
Donna for all of us!

The General Assembly meetings went very well

Greetings FROM Tchincombe – the kids and I have been away for 10 days and Stirling for 15 days! Stirling had an uneventful trip from Menongue – other than when he got home he ran straight to the loo (WC, bathroom) and thus commenced 3 days of staying close to the loo! Poor guy!

The General Assembly meetings went very well – the new president of the UIEA, Eduardo Chiquete was elected by more than a 2/3 majority – that was encouraging. THANKS for praying!

Our time at Imbondwe was . . . interesting! There was a big party – a coming of age ceremony – in a nearby village and so we had only about 15 kids on Saturday night. Sunday morning there were only about 10 adults and 15 children! BUT one of the adults there was the man who had given his heart to the Lord month before last and the older gentlemen who’s home we are near came and asked for a Bible! KEEP PRAYING!

We did business in town and then went to the beach for the weekend. It was very nice – the beach was nice the only not so nice part was that a friend who came along came down with malaria. He did bring treatment along (never leave home without it!) and so started treatment – he’s well on the mend now.

Chickens – today I managed to buy 20 laying hens! The producer in Lubango is having a hard time getting feed and so is having to sell his chickens – not good for him but good for us!

Thanks so much for being part of the team!

Donna for all of us!