!! 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
Thursday, July 26, 2007
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
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
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Greetings from Lubango!
Greetings from Lubango! Meghan and I drove to Lubango yesterday because
Jackie received her visa and she arrived yesterday - yoohoo!!! Jackie
received her visa just in the nick of time - on Wednesday and flew out
from USA on Thursday! It will be a fun two months!
Today we travel back to Tchincombe and also traveling with us are Roy
and Gwen Comrie who are speaking at our SIM's Spiritual Life Conference.
They arrived on the same plane as Jackie. We then return to Lubango on
Thursday - a little grueling to travel these roads twice in one week -
but you do what ya gotta do!
SP (Samaritan's Purse) is going to purchase 129 animals from Tchincombe
to send to the area of Cavango. They will be a great blessing to help
families in that area rise above subsistence standards!! Stirling and
Tuciale will be involved with arranging transport for these animals and
helping to get them established. It is exciting to be at a stage in the
life of Tchincombe to begin to reach out to meet the wider needs in
Angola!
Stirling and the guys will be starting to install the new pump - it's a
massive job to put the pipe in one section at a time to go down +300ft -
it will take about 4 days.
Thinking of the future please continue to pray for the Foxes and for the
Verhoefs as they prepare for service in Angola!
Paulo's mother had surgery last week at the CEML for cancer in her
mouth. She lost a lot of blood (not unusual for mouth surgery) but is
doing well. It has been a hard 1 1/2 years for Paulo and his family -
remember his sister died, his stepfather killed a man in a drunken brawl
and then committed suicide some days later. Pray for Paulo's Mom that
she would come to know God's peace in his heart.
We brought another herdsman from Tchincombe to CEML with what appears to
be a bony tumor on his leg. His name is Pinto Miguel. It is the first
time he or his family have ever been to town! Pray that he would
experience the love of Christ at the CEML.
Until the next time - THANK YOU for praying!!
Donna for all of us!
Jackie received her visa and she arrived yesterday - yoohoo!!! Jackie
received her visa just in the nick of time - on Wednesday and flew out
from USA on Thursday! It will be a fun two months!
Today we travel back to Tchincombe and also traveling with us are Roy
and Gwen Comrie who are speaking at our SIM's Spiritual Life Conference.
They arrived on the same plane as Jackie. We then return to Lubango on
Thursday - a little grueling to travel these roads twice in one week -
but you do what ya gotta do!
SP (Samaritan's Purse) is going to purchase 129 animals from Tchincombe
to send to the area of Cavango. They will be a great blessing to help
families in that area rise above subsistence standards!! Stirling and
Tuciale will be involved with arranging transport for these animals and
helping to get them established. It is exciting to be at a stage in the
life of Tchincombe to begin to reach out to meet the wider needs in
Angola!
Stirling and the guys will be starting to install the new pump - it's a
massive job to put the pipe in one section at a time to go down +300ft -
it will take about 4 days.
Thinking of the future please continue to pray for the Foxes and for the
Verhoefs as they prepare for service in Angola!
Paulo's mother had surgery last week at the CEML for cancer in her
mouth. She lost a lot of blood (not unusual for mouth surgery) but is
doing well. It has been a hard 1 1/2 years for Paulo and his family -
remember his sister died, his stepfather killed a man in a drunken brawl
and then committed suicide some days later. Pray for Paulo's Mom that
she would come to know God's peace in his heart.
We brought another herdsman from Tchincombe to CEML with what appears to
be a bony tumor on his leg. His name is Pinto Miguel. It is the first
time he or his family have ever been to town! Pray that he would
experience the love of Christ at the CEML.
Until the next time - THANK YOU for praying!!
Donna for all of us!
Friday, June 15, 2007
The laptop is talking to the sat phone so we're in business again!!
Hi! The laptop is talking to the sat phone so we're in business again!!
A big thanks to Gary, Doreen and Rob (MAF colleagues) who searched the
net for the driver for the serial to USB cable while Stirling was
shopping and doing other business in town!!
Stirling arrived home at 11:30PM last night vividly reminded that he was
in Angola! He couldn't get fuel at any of the 3 places he stopped!
Thankfully a farmer friend gave him 20L of fuel to get home! Stirling
says he has to get used to the roads again . . . slow. . . and jarring;
and on the way a bolt on the axle of the trailer broke so he had to come
even more slowly - a testimony to the harshness of the roads!
Thanks for your prayers! Feel free to write - we will receive all
messages under 100K here at Tchincombe - all messages over 100K will
just wait at the server till we go to town.
Pray that Jackie (teacher) and Heather (vet assistant) will be issued
their visitor visas!! There has been no movement on visas at the
embassy! Jackie plans to arrive on 24 June. Heather should have been
here already.
In Him,
Donna & Stirling
A big thanks to Gary, Doreen and Rob (MAF colleagues) who searched the
net for the driver for the serial to USB cable while Stirling was
shopping and doing other business in town!!
Stirling arrived home at 11:30PM last night vividly reminded that he was
in Angola! He couldn't get fuel at any of the 3 places he stopped!
Thankfully a farmer friend gave him 20L of fuel to get home! Stirling
says he has to get used to the roads again . . . slow. . . and jarring;
and on the way a bolt on the axle of the trailer broke so he had to come
even more slowly - a testimony to the harshness of the roads!
Thanks for your prayers! Feel free to write - we will receive all
messages under 100K here at Tchincombe - all messages over 100K will
just wait at the server till we go to town.
Pray that Jackie (teacher) and Heather (vet assistant) will be issued
their visitor visas!! There has been no movement on visas at the
embassy! Jackie plans to arrive on 24 June. Heather should have been
here already.
In Him,
Donna & Stirling
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Monday, June 11, 2007
We had a good weekend and feel much more rested! School with J&M went well this morning – our first day back since starting our return journey to Africa so we have some catch up to do!! Stirling is going to town tomorrow and he’ll send these e-mails via the internet! We are still working on a solution to do e-mails from Tchincombe – we think that we can put our server software on our desktop (Shelley has downloaded it to CD for us – we did not have a hard copy only what’s on the laptop and we couldn’t copy that on to disk) until we can get the cable to connect our laptop to the satellite phone. We would prefer to do the e-mails on one computer and since it’s hard to take the desktop to town we’ll try and find the appropriate cable – we are told that serial to USB cables don’t always work!!
PRAISE - The well drilling company DID come and clean out the well while we were away!!! Wonders never cease!! We bought the new motor in Windhoek and so we’ll be installing it soon. Then we’ll need to lay 10 km of water pipe so that the animals can get to the edges of the farm to eat the grass there!
THANKS for standing with us in these months!
Love,
Donna for all of us!
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