Our lowest temp this winter!

Hello! We’ve had an exciting week!

Our lowest temp this winter! We decided to have a sleep under the stars night. On Friday (10 days ago) we had our pizza, Coke, and movie and then headed over to the waterhole that’s in the middle of the farm. We set up in or on the vehicles and when we woke up there was a good frost on our sleeping bags! The car thermometer read 19º F (-7.6º C). Brrrrr! We have very good sleeping bags! We were not cold . . . .until we got out of our sleeping bags!

This week we had a scary adventure. I opened a window to let out a bee which had gotten into the house and got bitten by a different bee who was on the other side of window handle! The ring finger of my left hand! I immediately took out stinger, put on ice and took 2 benadryl to prevent my finger from swelling too badly. I managed to get my engagement ring off but not my wedding ring. THEN as I’m sitting on the sofa with my hand up in the air, holding an ice pack I begin to feel my face get red and my neck itch. My face started swelling and I began with hives! Bummer! My finger was swelling so much that we had to cut off my wedding ring – good job, Jeffrey. I took another benadryl and a cool shower. THANKFULLY the reaction stopped! But we were pretty shaken up. I’ve never reacted like that to a bee sting! I guess we need to get a bee sting kit! The kids were pretty worried but they did very well and stayed calm which helped me to stay calm! Because it’s dry season the bees are after water wherever they can find it so they are constantly buzzing around the house! It will be slightly nerve wracking until the rains come!

Stirling was away accompanying the farm truck which was taking Tchincombe’s heifers to the neighbor’s to load up them for their trip to the fair. There are several sandy hills where the truck might get stuck so Stir went along to give a pull if necessary. So he wasn’t here for our bee excitement!

The fair started yesterday and will go through Sunday – pray for Tchincombe’s workers who are there taking care of the 15 heifers. There’s lots of temptation to get drunk!

Stirling and Jeffrey will join Meghan and I in the USA at the end of October. We’ll have a month together with Stirling’s parents – we are grateful for this opportunity. We’ll return together to Angola on 23 November.

At this point we are at 96.7% support – we are SO grateful to you for your faithfulness!! THANK YOU!

In Him,

Donna

SLC 2009 is an historical fact!

WHEW! SLC 2009 is an historical fact! We hope that all that we heard and did will be a part of who we are becoming. Pastor Abias gave excellent talks – not easy ones – about The Church, The Mission, and Evangelism. There are many things to think of and pray about as we look at how we do missions and how we can get the WHOLE church (i.e. the Body of Christ) involved in Evangelism!

We’ve spent the last few days taking things down (meeting tent, eating tables, latrines etc.) and putting things away. Today is the first day that’s been a more normal day! And we are beginning to feel rested.

It’s now Saturday and we do feel rested! Stir, Jeffrey and Meghan are reloading ammunition – my family the hunters!

Tomorrow is Embondwe. There is a team from Tchincombe Church going but not us this time! Please pray for God’s word to penetrate hearts! Stirling and a smaller team will be going to the Bicuar preaching point. We heard from our workers that the Bicuar game guards gave a word of thanks over national radio to the “fazendeiros” (farmers) who have been encouraging them!

The UIEA national leadership is traveling this week to Catota to inaugurate the newly rebuilt Catota Mission hospital – the provincial government built this hospital with the desire that the medical department of the UIEA will help to staff and run it. So please pray for doctors, nurses – both Angolan and expatriate!!! Pray for Pastor Chiquete, Pastor Zebedeu, Dagmar Henchoz (SIM field leader), Dr. Henriksen and others who are traveling!

September is looming big in my mind! Meghan and I will travel to the USA on 18 September to be there for 2 months. Stirling’s Mum is still progressing well after her crises a few months back. But Stirling’s Dad has a left sided weakness that is progressing – the doctors can’t explain exactly why. He’s had loads of tests but nothing shows up to explain the weakness. He’s had several falls lately and so now they are in the process of getting a wheelchair for him. Please PRAY for Dad & Mum Foster to have peace of heart and mind in this time when their bodies will not cooperate! If the funds should come available Stirling and Jeffrey would like very much to travel to the USA for part of the time we are there!

It really feels like winter here today! Yesterday’s high was 73.5ºF! Right now it is only 60°F and there is a cool breeze blowing! Brrrrr! I know some of you in the North are laughing – for you it would be Spring but for us it’s cold! Tutyiale just came over and he’s got on his big jacket!

Pray too for the Fox family! It’s hard to have all their one time support and still need monthly support! They are planning to go for 3 months of training in September. It means they leave their current job. In these uncertain economic times they are not assured of a job to come back to! Yet how to live and leave for Portugal without full support!

Thanks so much for praying with us!

In Him,

Donna for all of us!

We have been SO BUSY this week

We have been SO BUSY this week with preparations for our annual SLC – Spiritual Life Conference - which begins tomorrow! We are so grateful that Brent Mudde, Jason and the Duplantises came early to help get things ready! Pray that we will be renewed!

Jason is part of a team of 8 that have come from St. Andrews in Thunder Bay, Ontario to help with the conference. Please pray for the team as they help out this week.

Pray for Pastor Abias who will be speaking this week. Pray too for those who are traveling tomorrow to get here.

We have found out that the ‘neighbor’ 25 km from here lost 5 horses and the close neighbor (7km) has lost at least 2 horses to African Horse Sickness. So far the rest of our horses have been healthy. We’ve had several frosts which has killed the midge that carries the disease!

Please pray for Aimee Heyer as she is desiring to come back to Angola for a year! Ask the Lord to make it clear if this is his will for her life. The process for getting a work visa is extensive and time consuming!

Please continue to pray for the people at the Imbondwe and Bicuar preaching points that the Word that has been spoken will produce fruit in their lives!! That they will come to know the Word of Life!

Thanks for your prayers on behalf of the ladies. We had a great meeting on Wednesday this week. We are studying the passage about the Samaritan woman at the well. Our study is one of learning to read Portuguese – them learning new vocabulary as well as exploring Biblical truths!

Pray for Jeffrey as he is in 9^th grade and doing an Independent Study High School – at 15 it’s hard to see what school has to do with REAL life! He does great on open book exams but the major closed book exams are a challenge since he’s not used to test taking – it is one of the short comings of the way we have done home school!

THANKS so much for your partnering with us!

In Him

Donna

We got the tent yesterday!

HI! We got the tent yesterday! Traveling north today. Will cross border tomorrow! Please pray!

Another of our horses has died...

Hi to you all from Windhoek!

Stirling and I came down to bring Aimee to catch her flight back to Canada and to do shopping for our annual missionary retreat. We are currently waiting on the large tent we’ve ordered as the meeting tent. It should be here on Friday! Please PRAY that it will come on Friday as we are anxious to get home – NO – PRAY it will come early! Like tomorrow – that would be better!

We got word from Tchincombe today that another of our horses has died. SIGH. It’s the horse that Jeffrey had chosen as his own. They found ‘Trinity’ dead in the pasture. It’s hard to be here when we know the kids are feeling sad! So we’d appreciate your prayers for them that the enemy will not be able to use this to turn their hearts away from God or make them afraid to love!

Please continue to pray for Fran Gralow who’s coming to work in Bible Translation. She hoped to be here by the end of May but actually lacks about $400 of monthly support!

Pray for the meetings at Imbondwe this weekend. We’ll not be attending but a team from Tchincombe will go and so will a team from Lubango! Continue to pray for open hearts!

Pray for our missionary conference which is July 13-18. That we would experience rest and renewal!

Thanks for partnering with us in prayer!

In Him,

Donna

We do feel loved!

Dear Friends All,

THANKS so much for all your prayers and for the many hugs that have come our way! We do feel loved! The biggest shock about Strider is that he didn’t look sick. One minute we realized he was sick and the next 5 minutes he was dead so we had to preparation time mentally. The greatest loss is for Stirling because Strider was big enough for him to ride. He was one of the few large horses around. On top of everything he was very gently even though he was a stallion. Again we do appreciate your understanding.

PRAISE! On a positive note Aimee has made wonderful progress with the other horses that we have. We received 8 horses from a farmer friend. Our idea is to choose 4 or 5 to keep and four to train and sell (in order to pay for the 4 we keep). The horses were delayed on end arriving (nothing new for Angola) but in the two weeks since they came Aimee has managed to catch and halter and lead them all. One is ready to ride and another will be ready soon.

On Saturday Stirling and I will drive Aimee to Windhoek where she will wing her way back to Canada. Please pray with her and with us as she contemplates the possibility of returning to do more horse work and to work with youth here. Our desire would be YES, YES, YES please do come back!! But we know that it must be the Lord’s YES first!

While in Windhoek Stir and I will be shopping for Spiritual Life Conference which is July 13- 17. Please pray for Pastor José Abias who is our speaker that God will prepare him to share with us what’s on His heart! SLC will be held at Tchincombe again. It’s a joint retreat for missionaries from various organizations and for our Angolan colleagues. Pray for Stir and I to be able to plan well so that we can enjoy the retreat as well. Pray too for the team coming from Canada who will be doing the cooking and leading the children’s worship. Pray that we’ll all REST and have FUN!!

Jeffrey and Meghan will be staying with our MAF colleague/friend, Brent. They will be holding down the fort and taking care of all the critters and keeping on with school!

PRAISE! Herbs got a two year multiple entry visa. This means that next year they will be able to plan their trip and come without the uncertainty of waiting for a visa.

PRAISE! At the Bicuar preaching point there were 40 people. Our church here is excited about this outreach. Since it is closer than Imbondwe it is feasible to send a team every week.

PRAY for the Angolan Embassy in D.C. Visas delays are costing lots of time and money for those wanting to come and be a help here in Angola. Dr. Nick Comminellis is supposed to be coming to relieve Dr. Steve Foster so that he can participate in SLC but Dr. Nick still doesn’t have a visa!!!

Thanks for your partnership in the Gospel!

With much love from Angola!

Donna for all of us

Sometimes the adventure isn’t fun

Dearest Friends and Prayer Partners,

Sometimes the adventure isn’t fun - one never knows what the day will bring - our horse, Strider, suddenly died this morning!

I feel a bit worn out so here is the story in Shelley’s words –

“a sad thing today - and it may seem a bit frivolous to some of you - but it is a real part of the warfare for our joy here - my brother Stirling's horse died suddenly this morning from what appears to be African Horse Sickness. What is especially sad other than losing a family friend and pet, is that the horse had just finished being trained to ride and Stirling had just ridden him twice. It is a big blow to our sense of joy when such things happen, but we know it is, as I mentioned, part of a warfare . . . Please pray for Stirling in particular during this time of grieving over this loss.”

Aimee has spent many hours training Strider and done such a wonderful job – pray for her too – she was at the beach this weekend and will only be finding out now as she returns from the beach and then here to Tchincombe tonight.

We only realized Strider was sick after Stirling left to go to town for fuel. Stir will only be back late tonight. There are long line ups for fuel. The fuel company is having a hard time keeping up with demand in terms of transporting fuel from the port.

Someone also just came and said that one of the ladies here (Cristina) has just started with a miscarriage. Please pray for her and her family. Pray that the bleeding will stop. Pray for wisdom and strength.

The Herbs were granted a visa but it was too late and so they have postponed their trip till next year. Pray for their peace of heart and mind. They lost quite a lot of money because of cancelled tickets, etc.

Pray for us too as we work through these disappointments!

I will praise him – though the mountains fall into the sea and all around me is dark – I will praise his name!

Donna for all of us