New Years Eve on the farm

31DEC2004 :: xx:xxpm :: Okahandja, Namibia :: Bedroom
Got up and went for a run this morning by myself; Chuck had a breakfast meeting, and the girls went for a walk. We had our morning Bible study, then got to work. I made a Win98 boot disk, booted Chuck's computer from that, then tried to format the C: drive and install XP. It wouldn't let me format the system drive, so i repartitioned it, and could then boot from the XP cd and install from there. Got the other hard drive in and formatted, and then installed Office 2000 on it. Helped Kate with some filing, then we stopped for lunch. Picked up some stuff from Pick 'n Pay. Got back to work, and we were invited to a "bring and braai" at Jimmy's for New Year's Eve. We got a phone call from Kate's mom, who had called about a house we are looking into for when we will return to Dayton. She had talked to the owners about the status of the house and some more details of the house. Then I ran to the grocery to pick up some different items for our new dinner plans. Spent the afternoon fooling around with web stuff. Trying to master page layout using CSS. Made a salad and put together a couple of burgers to take to the braai. We left at 7pm with everyone to go to Jimmy's. Spent the evening eating a whole lot of really good food and hearing/telling stories of times past. Jimmy is a pretty intruiging guy, having a myriad of experiences in his life. A few of his former jobs include: farm foreman, personnel manager at a uranium mine, military intelligence officer, Namara interpretter (he speaks this language flawlessly - which is an interesting story in itself), and construction manager at an exclusive desert game park resort. Now he is farming again. He's the youngest of 16 siblings! Anyway, I could go on, but he's a fascinating guy. He grilled a smoked side of pork ribs, which were excellent, as well. We had a good evening, returning home around 11:30pm. We checked our email, and watched part of 'Elf' which we had rented. It was a good, fun, clean Christmas film that I'd recommend to anyone. It's good to see that Will Farrel can make a clean movie.

Ant extravaganza

30DEC2004 :: 9:29pm :: Okahandja, Namibia :: Bedroom
Normal start to the morning; after our morning meeting, we took care of some errands in the office, then Marcos, Jenny and I went out to fetch some stuff from the containers. We picked up some office equipment from the USA container at Jimmys, and a table at the Hodygos container. Unfortunately, we were only able to find two of the four legs of this table; it's pretty frustrating trying to find things in that container. This is the third thing that we have been missing parts to. We need to go give it a major clean up. We took Jimmy's bakkie to ferry the table and desk, then returned and got the Kombi, which was full of the smaller stuff. Got back to the center and got to work on rebuilding Chuck's computer; his hard drive died, and so we cannablized a couple of other hard disks to put into his fast chipped machine. Had some trouble initially, but finally got it to boot properly. We stopped for lunch then (ham sandwiches, with some very tasty imported honey mustard). After lunch, we ran some errands around town; fetched the welding equipment from the Ark, paid a couple of bills, mailed some bills, and stopped at the grocery. When we returned, I put out the ant traps we had bought, hoping to halt the invasion of our flat by these ants. Then got to work wiping the master hard drive and installing Win2k. Chuck has a Win2k key, but no disk, and an XP upgrade. His key won't work with my disk; I installed it with my key to then try and upgrade to XP. But XP won't upgrade from Win2k, so I'm stuck. Hope I can boot from a floppy, format the hard drive, then install XP on a blank hard disk; we'll see how that goes. Suggestions welcome. Kate has taken on the daunting task of back-filling our new filing system with old receipts and invoices. After work, we read the first few chapters of Leviticus. Some interesting commandments on the way sacrafices work. I'm so thankful that Jesus did away with all of that. I don't really understand why the acts of sacrificing were so complex. The priest ends up being an excellent butcher, I think. We then had pizza and salad for dinner. After dinner I checked on the two ant traps I had set. Darn ants were walking right around the traps i had placed in their established path. These guys are pretty incredible in the way they communicate the location of food and gather more buddies to fetch it. I think that they leave something along their trail when the find food. Additionally, sometimes when they run into each other, they pass on info about the trail and booty. I was fascinated by these guys, and want to learn more about them. Kate has been calling them my pets, as i've been following the progress of our removal effort throughout the evening. Anyway, they were avoiding my traps. So i put a few crumbs near the traps and got started washing the dishes. Once they had caught onto the food, I engineered the crumbs into the traps. From there, they were hooked. It's pretty amazing the way they cooperate to carry these (relatively) huge pizza crust crumbs. They got a few big ones out and were moving them back toward the crack in the wall them eminate from. So i removed the chunks from the trap, and they started eating the poison. I washed the dishes and read a few emails, and checked on them again; they were thick in the trap. The poison is supposed to have a delayed effect, so that they make it back and infect the hive before they croak. So not much instant gratification, but hopefully the desired long term effect. I'll keep ya posted. Checked emails and read some on the web, then hit the hay.

Back to work

29DEC2004 :: 10:11pm :: Okahandja, Namibia :: Bedroom
Started this morning off with a run; Chuck and I ran for about 20 minutes at 7am, while Kate and Carol walked. Then showered up, had some good muesli for breakfast, then we met for our morning Word and prayer time; switched over to 1 Peter for some reason while we've been gone. Then did some more revisions on the CHI webpage for about an hour, while Kate entered some accounting business into the computer. Next, checked over the Open Office export of a fairly complex document with graphics that Kate has been working on into Windows/Office .doc format. It worked perfectly; mad props to the guys at Open Office - I'm a believer. Then took some time perfecting the layout of one of the forms to be used as part of the vehicle procedures. Printed several revisions out, and then copied them onto two sides for insertion into a binder; was thwarted in completing the task because i couldn't find a hole punch. Vacated the office at around 12:30 due to the increasing temperature, and retreatd to our dark, cooler flat for lunch. Had leftover soup and a cheese quesadilla for lunch. Got back to work and completed the easy renovations of a few CHI webpages; i'll have to show them to Chuck for his approval, then figure out how to get them up on the web. That took a few hours to do; then messed around with HTML and CSS trying to come up with a quick loading layout for use on a site redesign. Grilled hamburgers for dinner, then we talked on the phone for an hour and a half with Kate's mom. After our news update from home, I washed the dishes. Then we had our (lately) nightly ant killing session; we really need to get some chemicals to use against these guys. Spent some time on the internet, then wrote in my journal. It is time for bed.

Home again, recovering

28DEC2004 :: 9:34pm :: Okahandja, Namibia :: Bedroom
Today was a day to see my dad and sis off, take care of a few things in town, and recuperate from all of our recent travelling; why does sitting in the car all day make you tired? Got up at 6:15 this morning and borrowed Jos's car; we drove out to the airport to see my dad and sister off. Turns out we put 2850 km on our rented Benz, which is almost 1800 miles. That's a good bit of driving in a week. After we left the airport, we stopped in Windhoek to get some breakfast at Mugg & Bean. Had some good flapjacks and a frozen mocha drink. We then picked up a few more gifts for friends and family from the local merchants. Stopped in at the South African Airways office in Windhoek to see about getting tickets for a trip to Cape Town on our way home. We were instructed on the proper way to get web fares (we've had some trouble). We ran down to an internet cafe to try out this ticket agent's suggestions, and ended up getting the deal we were looking for. It is a complicated affair; first one must enter through the proper portal on the site, and in Namibia's case, reserve a ticket. Then you have to go to the ticket office and physically pay for the tickets. We were just happy to have got a decent deal on tickets. We then headed home, stopped at Spar, and made it back to the center around 2pm. Very hot today; at least 100 degrees F. I showered up, because i had neglected to this morning. We relaxed for a while, did some picking up of the place, and had some lunch. Then took a nap for an hour or so. We ran to Pick 'n Pay to restock some essentials, and see if they had a better selection on some items we weren't happy with at Spar; turns out they had even less of a selection. Came home and tried to cool off a bit; we can't handle this scorching heat. Had dinner of taco soup and quesadillas (we were quite happy with the load of tortillas my dad brought with him; we have been sorely missing them). After dinner, we washed up the dishes and read some on the internet. This earthquake and tsunami is a terrible tragedy. Next, had an ant killing session; they've begun to infest our place. Tired out, so went to bed. Read some in Ephesians about how we are to live as children of the light; the key step, i believe, is to "be made new in the attitude of your minds." It's critical that we control our thinking and our attitude. Been struggling with that lately, and especially today. Going to the airport and sending off my dad and sister has made me very homesick today. When I get homesick, i get focused on myself and where i am not, instead of where i am, and get negative in general. Must be aware of my attitude, and strive to have the correct attitude.

Long day in the car

27DEC2004 :: 11:02pm :: Okahandja, Namibia :: Bedroom
Started today off early, getting up at around 6:45am. Got a shower, then ate and we packed the place up and left. Got on the road by 8, and headed southeasterly out of Okaukuejo. Spent the morning driving east through the park, stopping at various water holes and whenever we saw something of interest. During the morning, we saw a few elephants, a few dozen giraffes, several different species and sizes of birds, and all sorts of hooved animals (springbok and zebra by the thousands, wildebeest, kudu, oryx, red hardebeest, and impala). There were a lot of young animals out and about; got to see some baby springbok, zebra, wildebeest, ostrich, and mongoose. All those little guys were really cute. We stopped and had lunch at Numatoni; PBJs and chips, with apples and GORP. Set off again, and headed northeast around Fisher's pan, then north up toward the northern gate, then looped around and came back again. Not a whole lot of big game; saw a couple of more elephants and a few more giraffes, as well as the usual hooved animals. Had a good day in the park, but by 4pm had had enough sightseeing. We stopped at Numatoni to make a phone call and to use the toilet. Got out of there a half hour later after a hassle with the phone card and call. Stopped an hour later in Tsumeb to grab some dinner at Spar; we got a couple of meat pies (Thai chicken; sausage) that were actually quite good. Stopped soon thereafter to pick up Marcos, who we had arranged in advance to bring home from where he spent Christmas. Finally got home at around 9:15pm after a long day in the car.

Giraffes and elephants and rhinos, oh my!

26DEC2004 :: 10:08pm :: Okaukuejo, Namibia :: Stnd. Chalet Bedroom
Today started early in Okahandja; we got up at quarter to 7, showered up and loaded the car. We took off heading north for Etosha. Stopped at Otjiwarango to pick up some groceries, and tried have breakfast at a cafe we know of; it was closed on Sundays and holidays, and today is both. So we grabbed some grub at Spar there and made due. On the way through Outjo, we stopped and checked out the childrens' home site. They have done some work clearing out big, thorny brushes on the property. We headed north for Etosha. On arriving in Okaukuejo, we checked in, but our room was still being cleaned. We headed out to the watering hole, which is about 100 yards from our place, and there were some zebra, oryx, and springbok drinking. We returned and had some PBJs for lunch, then headed out to see what we could see. We took the southeasterly route from Okaukuejo and stopped by a couple of watering holes. The first was pretty much a dud; we headed this way first because we had read of recent lion sightings on this route. However, at Olifantsbad, we saw 10 giraffes, some cool birds, and some red hardebeests (with a few younger ones). We sat there for around 20 minutes taking it all in. When we left there we saw 3 elephants in the distance rubbing against a tree. Then we saw some female kudu. This was a pretty good showing for the middle of a hot afternoon. We headed back toward our place, and did another short loop; we saw 7 or so more giraffes grazing. We relaxed for a bit, then had the buffet dinner, which was decent. We returned to our place, put on some bug spray, and went our to the watering hole to see what was happening after sunset. Much to our suprise, two rhinos were working there way up to the watering hole! We watched as the warily approached and drank, then walked around the hole. They hung out for a while after drinking, and a third one sauntered up! The former two left and the third proceeded to drink, walk around, and lay down close (20 yards) to us. These creatures are pretty amazing to watch. We tried to take some pictures, but they didn't turn out great. Around 10pm we returned to our place and retired for the evening.

Christmas in Namibia

25DEC2004 :: XX:XXpm :: Okahandja, Namibia :: Bedroom
We got up on Christmas day and had breakfast with the Smiths. Carol made some really good french toast casserole with apples and raisans. We then hung out for a while, talking with them. I cleaned out our rental car, because they scared me with talk of extra fees if we didn't return the car with a clean interior; they didn't seem to care about the exterior, though. So i vacuumed it and wiped it down. Relaxed most of the rest of day. We opened a couple of "presents" that my dad brought. For dinner we had a braai. Chuck grilled some chicken, and boiled some sweet corn, while we contributed some roasted potatoes. It was all very good. Then we spent some time cleaning up and packing for our Etosha trip. We also picked out some stuff to send home with my dad. Afterwards, we all watched "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer" (the animated movie). It was fun. Then we got to bed, planning an early departure for the next morning.

Hot Christmas

24DEC2004 :: XX:XXpm :: Okahandja, Namibia :: Bedroom
We got up at around 7:15, showered, and packed up. We had a good breakfast at the guest farm we were staying at. We headed off around 9am, headed for Windhoek. We stopped enroute at the Ark in Rehoboth; we had planned just to drive by and show dad and Meagan the place, but they talked us into stopping. Kate ended up helping Selma with some Quickbooks questions she had, while Ann-marie gave us a tour, and we played with the kids for a half an hour. After that nice visit, we headed north to Windhoek. We wanted to eat at our new favorite Namibian pizza place, but it was closed. We went to a coffee shop instead, and had a pretty good lunch. After lunch, we drove downtown to go to the wood carvers' market. We were there for about an hour, and got some really good stuff for cheap. Then we headed north to Okahandja, arriving home around 3:30. We learned that Pick 'n Pay was about to close, so we ran over and got some required items. We chilled for a little while, and recieved a call from Kate's family, whom we talked to for a while. Carol and Nadine cooked a good dinner for all of us, on a table we decorated with some stuff Kate's mom sent. Then we relaxed; kate listened to music, meagan emailed, and my dad and i talked. We closed out the evening by reading the Christmas story from Luke and Matthew, and sang a few Christmas carols with the guitar.

Red sand dune lovin'

23DEC2004 :: 6:19pm :: Nauchas, Namibia :: Namibgrens Guest Farm
Got up at around 6:30 this morning, got a shower, and got packed up. We had breakfast at around 7am at the Solitaire Country Lodge; they put out a buffet that was pretty tasty. We checked out and hit the road at around 8am and headed south. It was a pretty drive, with the road winding around mountians and through the plains. Saw several springboks and a few zebra on the way. We stopped at Sesriem to pay our park fees and use the restroom. We set off back the road to Sossusvlei, which is a large pan (flat area) amidst a bunch of sand dunes. The road was actually paved, but was pretty beat (undrivable in places). The gravel/unpaved public roads are much smoother to drive on. They just paved over the sand/dirt and it's deteriorated badly. Anyway, after driving for about 45 minutes, we made it to dune 45, which is a dune (45 km fromt the entrance) that runs down pretty close to the road. We climbed about 2/3 of the way up it along the ridge. It was pretty incredible: the long-distance views, the sand in your toes, the brilliant sunshine, the strong breeze across the ridge. Wow. Pretty breathtaking, all in all. You'll have to see the pictures to get a taste (which won't do it justice). There was a black and white eagle (i think) hanging out around the area, soaring up and down the dunes effortlessly and entertaining us. Saw a few big beetles, and a salamader, up on the dune face, scurrying about. We drove the rest of the way to the end of the pan, which is as far as non 4x4 vehicle can go. There is a 4x4 "taxi" which will take you the rest of the way in for N$80 (US$15) per person! We had no idea it would be so expensive; our 2002 guidebook said it was like US$3, but the exchange rates haven't changed that much. Our other option was to hike a little over a mile out to Hidden Vlei, which we opted for. We had a snack, suited/lathered up and headed out. We got about 3/4 of the way there, but weren't exactly sure what we were looking for, so stopped and reassessed. Dad went on a bit farther, but could see nothing new. I took a jaunt over and up a set of small dunes. Meanwhile, dad returned and set off again to hike the rest of the trail. I returned and the girls had had enough of the hot sun, and set off back down the trail in search of shade. I decided to go up with dad to see what could be seen. Another 1/3 of a mile up a slight, sandy rise and we were overlooking the Hidden Vlei; i caught up to him after he had been there a few minutes. A pretty cool sight to be seen. A completely flat sandy plain, surrounded by huge red sand dunes; there were a few trees growing in the vlei, which would really be a sight to behold if it rained enough to get some water in it. Hopefully the pictures my dad took will turn out (he had his camera on the 'night-time' setting). We walked back another way, along a small dune/ridge. It wasn't a long walk, but the sand was scorching and you slid around at most every step, adding to the effort required. We saw some interesting plants growing; small flowers growing erratically in the stark dunes. It is amazing what eeks out an existence in the desert. We met back up with the girls and walked back to the car. We had some lunch and hit the road back. Stopped agian at dune 45 to get a few more pictures, but the light wasn't the best for the shot I was looking for. The wind was strong enough to fill in our footprints along the ridge we had left two hours earlier. Headed out of the park and back the way we came. Heading to our next accomodations, we drove along a plain with several farms along it, right up to the base of a mountain range/ridge. Amazingly, the road headed up it, at an incredible angle (some spots were around 1:5, while the average was not too much less of a pitch). We stopped near the top to take some photos; the view was breathtaking. You could see forever to the west. We continued on the short distance to the Namibgrens Guest Farm, where we stayed the night. Took a shower and read our Advent devotional; this entry was an interesting commentary on a trip to the supposed birth spot of Christ in the Church of the Nativity. One comment that struck me: "Any patch of ground anywhere smacks more of God's presence on earth, to me, that did this marble grotto." (Annie Dillard) I think I would probably agree with her, from her description of the place. We had dinner, which was exceptional. Too much good food to describe, except that the kudu and orxy was very fantastic. After dinner, we took at walk in the cool air, then retired to our 'family room.' We hung out for while, then retired to bed.

Welwitchia and the Namib-Naukluft Park

22DEC2004 :: 10:23pm :: Solitaire, Namibia :: Solitaire Country Lodge
We had a good day of travelling and desert sight-seeing today. We got up at 7:15am and got showered; dad took a jaunt along the beach before cleaning up. We checked out and went to the Out of Africa coffee shop for breakfast. My dad had a scone, while the rest of us had quiche, which was very good. After breakfast, we went to a Art Africa, a shop featuring all sorts of African art. We got some gifts for friends and family (and some for ourselves!). My dad skipped out a little early to go to the internet cafe; he's trying to get his pilot's license replaced and some other stuff he lost with his wallet. We went and acquired a cool map of the Namib-Naukluft park, which we'll be driving through, then went back to pick him up. I incquired about the map at a gas station convenience store where i had seen it in previous trips to Swakopmund. At Engen, they had a laminated copy on the wall, but no other copies. The manager sold me the map right off of the wall for the same price, so we've got a nice laminated one. It won't fold, but has to be rolled, so it takes up more space, but should last for a long time. We then went on a scenic drive through the desert near Swakopmund, where a unique plant grows; called the Welwitchia, this plant lives for up to 2,000 years. It only has two true "leaves" but they grow and are tattered by the wind into lots of shredded parts. They only live in this one part of the world, where they are watered solely by an occasional fog. The often look dead, but some have interesting blossoms. Pretty cool plant. This drive was our first excursion off of the paved road, and the Benz handled quite nicely. These gravel/dirt/sand roads are in pretty good shape, so you car drive at almost full speed (120 km/hr) on the straight parts. We then stopped to fill up with gas and had lunch at the Lighthouse restaraunt; it was an ok place. Then we ran into the supermarket to grab another big thing of water and some bread for tomorrow's lunch. Stopped by the Namibia Wildlife Resorts office quickly to check on getting into the park, then headed out of town. We drove down by the lagoon in Walvis Bay, but the tide was out, so we couldn't get a very good look at all of the flamingos gathered there. We stopped to use the toilet, then headed back east across the desert to the night's lodging place. The first 100 km was on unpaved road through a sparse dirt/rock desert (we quickly left behind the small dunes by the sea). Then we came to a rolling hills and canyonlands region that was really cool to drive through. We got a pretty late start through the desert, or else we would have had more time to stop and appreciate it. We saw a few ostriches strolling through the desert, and several herds of zebras in the areas with more vegitation. We even saw several heards of oryx, which are cool looking guys. After the canyonlands region, we came into a landscape that was mostly rolling meadows, with tall hills interspersed; it was really pretty. As the sun was almost gone at 8pm, we rolled into Solitaire. We checked in and had a buffet dinner that was pretty tasty. We tried kudu, which I though was pretty good (and Kate didn't like). It's somewhat gamey, but has a different aftertaste than oryx. We sat around the table after dinner and talked, and had hot chocolate. Dad talked some with the proprietor of the place. At around 10pm we went out to look at the stars, but didn't have a great view with the nearly full moon. Read some, journalled, and went to bed at around 11pm.

Safe arrival and transport

21DEC2004 :: 10:27pm :: SWakopmund, Namibia :: Sea Breeze Guest House
Started today off early (6am to be exact). We left CHI at about 10 minutes to 7am, with Chuck, Carol, and Jenny, and headed to the airport in the Kombi to pick up my dad and sister. We got there and waited for about 30 minutes for them to clear customs. When they came out we were super glad to see them, but they looked pretty tired. My dad had had a tough time in Europe, losing his wallet, and carrying heavy luggage around on and off of several trains. We waited forever (like 30 minutes) in line at Avis to get the car they had reserved; it was well worth it, as we got a free upgrade from a Jetta to a Mercedes-Benz Kompressor. This car is money! We loaded all of our stuff into it and headed off to the center in Okahandja. We unloaded the car and Meagan called back to Germany to try and find out about my dad's wallet. We opened our "goodie bag," which was a large suitcase my dad brought full of stuff from our families. We got books, honey mustard, pictures, salad dressing, tortillas, lotions, decorations, parmesan cheese, and much more. It was quite exciting; we managed to save a few for Christmas day. My dad then took a nap, while my sister showered and rearranged her bags. Then he showered and we ate. Sent a few emails and got loaded up in the Benz. We drove over to Swakopmund and had a hard time finding our place; they had the street names on our supplied map all wrong. We finally found it, changed into our jeans (it was 65 deg out!), and headed back into town to find some dinner. We tried two places (they were fully reserved) and ended up eating at the third, the Western Saloon. The food was good; I had an oryx/gemsbock steak, Kate had some curry chicken, dad the schnitzel, and Meagan a fish kabob. We came back to our place and talked for a while, then collapsed into bed at 11pm.

Plane tickets and Open Office action

20DEC2004 :: 10:02pm :: Okahandja, Namibia :: Bedroom
Started off today with our morning prayer and devotions meeting. After that I got to work on some volunteer worksheets that someone requested we make; trying to get a handle on what volunteers are desired/required at each CHI site, and who is currently there serving. This way we can get a better handle of what is needed and can advertise those positions more effectively in the mobilization nations. After that, I built a training brief out of the vehicle policy and procedures to be given when we do training early next year. Did all of this with Open Office, which I'm pretty happy with. After that, I helped Marcos, our property/site manager, move into the center here. He lived over in the part of town where the non-whites were required to live before apartheid; needless to say, it's still pretty run down over there. When we returned to the center, Chuck found a converter that would work for out network hub, and i hooked it all up and tried to get a little LAN operating. Met with mixed success; not as smoothly as i would have liked to make it work, but was able to print and share files through the network, which is the main point. We had some good leftovers for dinner, then ran the Kombi (i've been spelling it wrong all of this time) down to fill it up with gas and stopped at Spar to cash a check. When we returned, I printed off a few confirmation documents for our trip. Did some collecting of items for our trip. We booked our return flights today with fellowship travel; it was a bit of an ordeal. Also tried to book tickets for a side trip to Cape Town on our way home, which turned into a headache. They offer fares for South African flights which one cannot book with an American credit card; the page that Americans can book from costs about 3 times more for the exact same flights. We kind of built this trip into our return home, so can hopefully get the tickets at a South African rate. I'm sure it will all work out. Read in our Advent devotional about the concept of being "shipwrecked." The idea is that we are really afloat in this ocean of a world, and desperately need to cling to Christ, who offers us salvation. Pretty good stuff; if only i can apply it now. Leaving tomorrow for a few days of travelling with my dad and sister, who arrive tomorrow. Probably won't be able to post anything til Friday.

Ledger and letter

19DEC2004 :: 9:52pm :: Okahandja, Namibia :: Bedroom

Slept in til 9am today, and loved it. Started the day off with some time in the Word, rereading some of Ephesians 4. My lovely wife made some scrambled eggs for breakfast, along with some cantalope and muffins. Washed all of our dirty dishes. Spent the morning reading some stuff online and trying to get educated on mortages and current rates. Got showered and shaved, then we spent too long trying to get a picture of us by our little Christmas tree. We had sandwiches for lunch. In the afternoon I spent some time reviewing the past years' expenses and trying to make a budget for 2005; trying to get a handle on what kind of mortage payment we could comfortably make. Kate read and watched some taped episodes on our borrowed A/V equipment. We wrote up an email to all of our supporters and sent it out; i'm a little frustrated at gmail that it won't let me put in any HTML (if you get the email you'll immediately see what i tried to do). We also sent out a couple of other emails. Kate made some homemade macs and cheese for dinner, and cooked some squash; all were very good. After dinner we chilled and talked about Christmas memories from our past; took a stroll down memory lane, and talked some about the future, too. Spent some time on the internet reading; we're looking into trying to spend a few days in Cape Town, South Africa on our way home. One more day of work before my dad and sis fly in and we go for a bit of a trip.

That's a humdinger

18DEC2004 :: 10:15pm :: Okahandja, Namibia :: Bedroom
Slept in this morning and Kate made some pancakes for breakfast. Ran over to Pick 'n Pay to get some victuals for the day. We did laundry, cleaned, swept, and mopped the place this morning. Wasn't feeling well this morning (we suspect the pork chops from last night). After a peanut butter and jelly sandwith for lunch, we made humdingers (date ball cookies). I've never participated in the process and learned all about it. Note to self: next time, buy chopped dates. Kate's mom called us in the afternoon, and we talked for an hour or so. Read in our Advent devotional and in Ephesians 4. Impressed by another mention of being filled to "the full measure of the fullness of God" this time being brought about (indirectly) by "works of service" and "unity in the faith." I think these are some profound and often overlooked building blocks to maturity within the body. Also spent some time on The Motley Fool website reading about the basics of financing the purchase of a house; we are considering buying a house when we get home, and are trying to get read up on the process. We made pesto/sundried tomato pizza for dinner that was splendid, then watched "Paycheck" on borrowed A/V equipment. Wasn't too impressed with the film. After that we checked email, I wrote in my journal, read some, and then went to bed.

Equipping the office

18DEC2004 :: 5:41pm :: Okahandja, Namibia :: Bedroom
Went for a run yesterday morning with Chuck; we cut it a little bit short, as he had to get back to leave for Windhoek a little early. Kate and Carol went walking, as well. Had our morning devotion and prayer meeting; today is the last day for a lot of people, as they leave in the morning for "holiday." The Holzhausens are going to South Africa to be with family, and two of two of the other girls who live here (Leah and Gwanire) will be spending Christmas in Windhoek, as they went to college there. Chuck and Carol are going to Swakopmund for the weekend, which will be nice for them. Anyway, after the meeting, we moved Kate's computer over to her cube in the office, and I spent the morning stringing ethernet cables and phone lines throughout the office cubes. I did a good job of it, i must admit, equipping all but one of the cubes to form a LAN (we're missing a medium length cable). Unfortunately, we've misplaced the power cord for the hub we use, so I couldn't bring it online, and spent an hour digging through misc electronic cables and equipment that we have in a couple of boxes. I found one that I thought might work; it was of the right voltage and had the right plug on it, but it only supplied a fifth of the specified power. Spent a while rearranging the phone line connection that we have precariously rigged from Hein's house, down through a vent in the office, and over to the fax machine. After lunch, we ran out to Jimmy's farm and dropped off a bill we had for him. Fooled around in the office, trying to pick up, clean up, and arrange things. Kate worked on rectifying some accounts we have. After work we relaxed for a while, then Chuck and Carol treated us to dinner at the Okahandja Lodge, one of the nicer hotels and restaraunts around. We had a good evening with them. After dinner we fooled around playing cards and reading.

To Windhoek and beyond

16DEC2004 :: 9:06pm :: Okahandja, Namibia :: Bedroom
Got up early today and loaded up in the Combi and headed down to the Ark in Rehoboth so Kate could give them a lesson in Quickbooks. We took Jos's daughter with us and dropped her off at a friend's in Windhoek. Also, we took two guys back to Rehoboth (that live there) who were up here for a Choose to Wait training. We've never been down there before, and enjoyed the drive through new scenery in the cool of the morning. We got there and Kate got to work. We were interupted once when the power went out, but otherwise had a good session with them. We were there until about 12:30, then headed north again. We stopped at Game in Windhoek and bought a little water cooler/air conditioner. It's about the size of a carry-on suitcase, electic powered, and holds 13 liters of water. It pumps the water over a heat exchanger, and evaporates the water while cooling the air, which it then blows out. It works pretty good. Anyway, then we went to see a movie at the movie theater of a nearby mall. We saw "National Treasure," which I would recommend to anyone who wants to see a good clean action film. We quite enjoyed it. We grabbed some pizza and salad at an Italian place there in the mall. It was good; they actually had a thicker crust pizza, which we haven't seen anywhere else here (in case anyone is tracking world trends in pizza, like we are). We went back out to the combi to head home, and were approached by an older black man walking with arm braces/crutches. I'm not quite sure of his story, although did speak very proper English and seemes really intelligent. He was 71 years old man from Zambia, and had a college degree in microbiology and had come to Namibia to interview for a position at the University of Namibia. He was somehow in an accident and had to be hospitalized for a long time in one of the poorer hospitals in town. He was trying to get up to a town in the north of Namibia, from where he was promised a way home to Zambia. He was in need of bus or taxi fare to get there from Windhoek. He seemed in his right mind, and was telling us of all his woes, and some of his history. We thought about giving him a ride part of the way, up to where we live in Okahandja, but we really had nothing to offer to him once we got here; we ended up giving him some money and our leftover pizza, and he was very appreciative. Kate is worried about him and hopes he makes it home. We made it home after a quick stop at the grocery. I wrote in my journal, and Kate took a quick shower. We relaxed, read, emailed and went to bed.

Morning off and painting done

16DEC2004 :: 7:41pm :: Okahandja, Namibia :: Patio
We got up like normal yesterday morning and went to our morning devotions and prayer meeting. Afterward, we took the morning off to relax and meet with the Lord a bit. CHI has a policy that ministry and staff people are to be relieved from their duties one morning a week for an extended quiet time. So we caught up on the dirty dishes and ran to the store, then spent the rest of the morning talking about our work permit situation and having quiet time. I read some more in ephesians and my mcmanus book, and prayed for a while. Kate listened to a worship cd and wrote in her journal. We had a good time with the Lord. After lunch, I was off to paint again. I put two coats of wood eggshell paint on all of the trim along the ceiling, so THE OFFICE IS DONE BEING PAINTED. Praise the Lord that it is done, because I've had enough painting. We grilled some chicken kabobs for dinner, and had some good sweet corn that the Smith's acquired at a produce store in Windhoek. After dinner we fought with our computer, trying to download email. Sometimes Gmail and Outlook Expressd don't get along and I have to mediate. Not much else to report, I don't think. Read in Ephesians 4 about Paul's call for us to be unified. He urges us to "be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love." It's tough to always be humble, gentle, patient, and loving. Also read about the stupid Isrealites, who get wigged out when Moses goes up on the mountain with God for a while, and demand that a golden idol be made to worship; and Aaron, who is even dumber, who actually makes them one, then tries to talk around it to Moses when he comes back down. God is about fed up with the Isrealites and decides to destroy them all right then and there, and Moses (with a lot more grace than I would have) talks God out of it. Quite interesting these people and happenings of the OT.

Should we stay or should we go

14DEC2004 :: 11:12pm :: Okahandja, Namibia :: Bedroom
Should we stay or should we go
Got up this morning and read some of the Word; reading in Ephesians 3, where Paul again prays for us. He prays that we would be strengthen by the Spirit in our inner beings so that Christ will dwell in us. I was challenged by the fact that he infers that we must be strong in order that Jesus truly dwells in us; not just visit us, or frequent us, but that Jesus would fully, completely, non-stop, dewell in us. He also prays that we would be rooted and established in love, so that we could grasp the fullness/hugeness of His love for us. This would enable us to "be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." So once we are grounded in the love of Christ, we can understand it more fully, and be filled to fullness in God. Good stuff. After that, we had our prayer meeting at 8:30am. Chuck and Carol were absent, having gotten up early and headed into Windhoek to takl to our immigration agent. Kate and I ran a few CHI errands in Okahandja. Then I painted the morning and afternoon away. We (Michael and I) put the second and last coat on the walls, so the bulk of the painting if finished (might have to trim some tomorrow). When Chuck returned, he brought with him some bad news for us. As you know, our work permit applications are awaiting approval from the Namibian Ministry of Home Affairs. The board that meets to decide on permit applications met for the last time this year today. There is no scheduled time after the holidays when the reconvene; the wait until they have a quorum to start up again. The agent told Chuck that one year they didn't reconvene until March. Our agent's office closes down this friday until the 10th of January. Our 90 day visitor's visas expire on the 18th of January. That means that there is a very small chance that our work permits will get approved by the time we must legally leave the country. The agent recommended a few options, all of which we are not comfortable with. To ask for a visa extension while our permit paperwork is being processed is not an option, as Home Affairs would almost certainly deny the extension and the work permit (since we are not technically supposed to be here working yet without a permit). Another option is to leave the country, and try to get another visitor's visa when returning to Namibia; this would require the airport immigration official not looking back in our passport and seeing that we have already been here for 3 months. We're opposed to this approach on principle of being decieving, and aren't really willing to take the chance in a rejection messing up plans to travel home. The final option is to go to some other country, and return when our permits are approved, whenever that is. This option is prohibitively expensive, very uncertian, and somewhat pointless. So at this point we are praying for a miracle that our work permits somehow go through, and we are allowed to stay. After hearing this news, we discussed it for a while, weighing our options. This news was discouraging to us, in light of the previous day's decision we made. We're not sure how the Lord is going to work all of this out, but we trust that He will work out what is best. We read our Advent devotional today by William Willimon; it was a really good one about giving and receiving and how we don't like to recieve gifts because it makes us feel indebted to the giver. He talked about this on a grand scale, discussing how some find it difficult to receive grace from the Lord, as we see ourselves as we truly are: helpless, no-good people. Instead we prefer to be the givers - powerful, competent, self-sufficient, and capable. He quoted a stinging quote from John Wesley:

"Nothing is more repugnant to capable, reasonable people than grace."

There was a big barbeque for Joe, as he is going home tomorrow. Hein grilled up some steaks and a lamb ribs that were good. We baked stick-bread over the coals on sticks; that was interesting, but tasty. We looked at the stars. I finally found the true southern cross, and i'm disappointed by it; i prefer what i thought was the southern cross. Kate wasn't feeling well from some medicine she took on an empty stomach, so she retired early. We ate pretty late, as there was a lot to cook.

Fume filled lungs

13DEC2004 :: 9:45pm :: Okahandja, Namibia :: Bedroom
Started off this moring with a jog with Chuck. Kate and Carol walked the route that we ran. A lot going on a the center, as a bunch of kids from Keetmanshoop stayed the night last night after summercamp, and Sylvia had some people staying here for a Choose to Wait training. Had our prayer meeting this morning, then I got to work painting, while Kate sat in on the CtW training. Not much exciting during the day; just the joy of painting rough concrete brick for 6 hours. We'll put a second coat on tomorrow and hopefully be done with it. Chuck talked to our immigration agent and got some of our questions answered. Apparently the paper they sent us the other day is really meant for our organiztion (CHI) telling them that they don't have the proper documents on file. Our friend Joe also managed to get a supplemental visa which will allow him to leave the country in good standing. Chuck is going down town to meet with our agent tomorrow and try to press our case (and his, as he needs his paperwork to go through so that he can get back into the country early next year after his trip to Kenya). Most of the government offices shut down on the 20th of December for about 3 weeks for the 'festive season.' We have been a bit concerned, as there are only about 9 non-holiday business days left before our work permits must be approved, or we'll have to leave the country. However, we talked to Chuck about this, and he is pretty sure that we'll be able to work out some arrangement so that we can stay. We have been in indecision about what to do about the uncertianty we have been facing in these matters. We were thinking about booking plane tickets in case we need to leave on the 18th of January; we didn't know what to do, or what we even could do to be able to stay longer. We didn't know if we should make ourselves a nuisance down at the Namibian Home Affairs office in trying to get our permits approved, or sit tight and watch the mail and be ready to jump on an airplane if they don't come through (figuring that the Lord's will is for us to go home if our permits don't go through). We decided that we would do all that we can do to find some way to legally stay in this country. If after all of these efforts we can't get a permit, or our visas extended, or something, then we will go home after 3 months and be glad about the time we did get to serve here. Just making that decision brought us a sense of peace. We had meatball subs for dinner, and wrote a couple of emails. One in particular that was interesting was to a 5th grade class in NY that is taught by a woman that Kate knows. For your information, I've posted them here for your reading pleasure:

1. Have you ever seen a lion?
   No we have not seen any lions, but we have seen a lot of other animals like giraffes, elephants, springboks, wildebeests and even a cheetah. To see pictures of some of these animals that we saw on a recent visit to a game park go to our website.
   
2. Have you been in the desert?
   Technically where we live is a desert. It is very hot and dry. It isn't a desert like you might think of with sand dunes, but there is no grass and no tall trees. We have scrubby little shrubs and lots of rocky, sandy dirt. We are going to visit another part of the country next week that is home of the world's largest sand dunes. We will take lots of pictures that you can look at in a few weeks.
   
3. What kind of clothes do you wear/do the people wear?
   We wear normal "American" clothes- shorts and t-shirts for Cale and Kate wears skirts, jeans and t-shirts. The people in this area wear Western (American styles) clothing for the most part. Some people wear native tribal clothing, but here in Okahandja there aren't too many people like that. There is one group of people called the Herero and you frequently see these women in their Victorian-like dress, which they adopted from German missionaries in the early 19th century. We found this picture online.
   
4. What kind of food do you eat?
   We are blessed to live right next to a grocery store that carries a lot of foods that we are familiar with. We cook for ourselves so we fix a lot of things that we would have eaten at home. We have eaten some South African foods and that involves lots of meat and rice. The people who are poorer often eat a cornmeal like porridge called millepop. They also like to eat what we called beef jerky, but they call it biltong. We have heard of a strange "delicacy" in the northern part of the country called mopane worms (which are exactly what the name implies!), but have yet to see or try them! And I am not so sure we would try them if given the chance!
   
5. Do the people have any pets?
   Some people have dogs here and others have birds that they keep outside on their patios. We haven't heard of anyone having cats though.
   
6. Is it pretty there?
   We think that Namibia is a beautiful country, but it is very different from the US. It is brown for the most part where we live, but there are small mountains near us. It is a very rugged beauty with mountains and scrubland. The northern part of the country is very different from where we live because it gets a lot more rain. It is kind of like Florida with a lot of palm trees and swampy land. The coast is very pretty because it is right against the desert and sand dunes.
7. Do you live in a village or city?
   Okahandja is more like a town. There are shops and a post office and grocery stores. It isn't very big, but is big for around here. It is very spread out and has different neighborhoods. We live about an hour north of the capital city, Windhoek which is about the size of Erie, PA. Since we live in the desert people live very near a town. Up north, where there is more water, people are more spread out and live in homesteads (usually an extended family living in a group of huts surrounded by a fence made of sharp sticks).
   
8. Are the people rich or poor?
   People here are either rich or poor. There really isn't what we would call in the US a middle class. The unemployment rate is very high in Namibia and people have a hard time finding jobs. The poor people live in shanty/shacks made from metal sheets and what ever else they can find. Some people live in cement block houses, too.
   
9. Have you run into any "Bad tribes?"
   Where we live there aren't any tribes, so no, we have not met any bad ones.
   
10. Compare USA to Namibia.
    This is a hard one to answer. Namibia is not like a lot of other countries in Africa because it was a territory of South Africa for many years. For the most part, Namibia has good roads, electricity, water and telephone service. It is a very young country (it became independent in 1991). In the capital city there are malls and restaraunts and movie theaters like you would see in the US. If you have the money, many modern conveniences are available like internet, sattelite tv and cell phones. Parents have to pay for the kids to go to school here and the kids wear uniforms. They also have a different schedule than we do in the States. Summer break just began for the students here. They will return for a new school year at the end of January. Summer is December, January, and February. Fall is March, April and May. Winter is June, July, and August. Spring is September, October, and November. February is the hottest month here (or so we have been told). The kids really like to play soccer and go swimming when they have a chance. They drive on the left side of the road and the steering wheel is on the right side of the car. That has taken some getting used to. Most cars are also manual shift, not automatic. There are lots of Volkswagens and Toyotas on the roads.
    One of the biggest issues facing Namibia is the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Some people estimate that over half the population (estimated total population: 1.6 million) have the disease. This affects every area of life here as people are dying, children are orphaned and many people are sick.
    
11. Do you have a mailing address??
    Cale and Kate Zeune
    c/o Christ's Hope International
    PO Box 1203
    Okahandja, Namibia
    Africa

I particularly liked question nine. After writing a few emails and in our journals, we headed off to bed.

Hot stuff

12DEC2004 :: 9:56pm :: Okahandja, Namibia :: Bedroom
Today was a warm one; we knew today would be rough when we woke up at 8 or so and the temp was already in the 80s. Slept in today, the got up a went to Pick 'n Pay while it was still *relatively* cool. Picked up a few items we needed for the days meals. We ran a load of laundry, washed the dishes, and made some more shortbread (i'm addicted) before lunch. Kate made some tuna salad for lunch that was quite tasty. After lunch we relaxed and read some. Then we wrote a Christmas letter to update all of those who don't have access to email and the web. I fooled around a bit with some HTML and CSS. Read some of the new McManus book i'm starting, called 'Seizing Your Divine Moment.' He expounds on the fact that each moment has the potential to be used by God for something huge. We need to be sensitive to what He is doing around us and take the iniative when He gives us an opportunity. Kate cooked up some excellent meatballs for a spaghetti supper with a salad. We ate too much, washed the dishes, and listened to a sermon from our church about what heaven is going to be like; specifically, Rob taught from 1 Corinthians about our 'heavenly bodies.' My parents called us, and we chatted for a while, before being disconnected for some reason; they tried again, but we were disconnected after a few more minutes. Wrote in journal, checked email, and went to bed. Going to try and run tomorrow, so we'll see how that goes.

Application tabled

11DEC2004 :: 10:15pm :: Okahandja, Namibia :: Bedroom
Got up early today (~6:40am) to go running with Chuck; we have talked for a while now about starting a little CHI jogging club, and Chuck finally challenged us to initiate it. We had a pretty sad performance, running very slowly for about 20 mins (with short periodic walks). We were hoping to do around 5k in a half an hour, but... yeah. Anyways, got back to find my wife online looking at cars on Ebay. We're trying to get an idea of what kind of price we're looking at for several different automotive solutions. Hopped in the shower to clean my sweaty self up. We then laid down a bit longer and talked; feeling very overwhelmed by the uncertainty of our future here. For those who aren't aware, if the work permit applications we submitted to the Namibian government in August aren't approved by the time our visitor's visas expire (Jan 18), then we'll be forced to leave the country. So there is a distinct possibility that we could be coming home in late January. We discussed our feelings and attitudes on this for a bit, then prayed a bit. Then we put some laundry in and started our weekly routine of cleaning the place. I washed the dishes and Kate swept some, cleaned the bathroom and our bedroom. Carol came up to see us and invited us to go into Windhoek with them, as they had some CHI errands to run. We decided to accomany them; Kate jumped in the shower and i put the clothes up on the line and returned our rented movie. We drove down to Windhoek, discussing our various experiences in Washington DC and the motives of FDR. We tried to pay our account bill at Nashua, then went to the bank; Chuck deposited some money, and we cashed a couple of checks. Then we went out to Game to return an item and pick up a couple of small things. Next, they showed us a real, indoor mall that they had discovered, and we had some lunch at the 'Cattle Baron' restaraunt. We headed back to Okahandja, stopping to check the mail at CHI's Windhoek post office box. Much to our surprise there was a letter for me (Mr. Zeune Cale Happer) from the Namibian government. It read:

Kindly be informed that your application for employment permit has been tabled before the Immigration Selection Board and was deferred for the submission of a letter for the registration of the organization to support your application.

Huh??? We're not sure what it means, but it doesn't look good for us. Kate didn't get a letter, so we're not even sure what is going on with hers. So that put us into an introspective mood for the ride home; we're not sure what the Lord is up to, but we know that He's got it all figured out. We got home and I finished my cleaning duties; we got our clothes off of the line as it was beginning to sprinkle (we've figured out how to get it to rain here). Kate's mom and brother called us, and we talked for over an hour. It was good to catch up with them and here the account of the car incident. After talking to them we fooled around on the internet some. Then we made up some snacks for dinner, and watched another movie (50 First Dates) up in Hein and Nadine's flat. After that we came home, read our Advent devotional, and checked our email and read a few of our favorite blogs. Then wrote in our journal and went to bed.

Int'l Human Rights Day

11DEC2004 :: 9:57pm :: Okahandja, Namibia :: Bedroom
It turns out that yesterday was a human rights holiday that we didn't even know about until none of our workers showed up for work. I was planning to paint, but without any help, i worked in the office most of the day. We had our prayer meeting in the morning; we did some work in our roles as volunteer coordinators; we're trying to get an idea of long term volunteers who are coming in in the near future. After that I spent a while working on reformatting some CHI webpages. We took a break for lunch, then Kate was released from her duties by Chuck, since we thought it was a womens' rights holiday (we were mistaken - and she was pretty much caught up on all of the accounting work). I continued to work, trying to hammer out a few more pages. We ran over to 'Funky Chicken Pizza and Video' shop to rent a movie; Hein and Nadine offered us the use of their flat while they are gone, so we took advantage of their TV and VCR. We rented Gladiator, as we were inspired by some mentionings of it in 'Wild at Heart.' We made pizza, then watched the movie with Chuck and Carol, who had never seen it. What a classic film. Afterward, we came back to our place, checked our email, and received some unfortunate news. Our Oldsmobile, which we had loaned to Kate's brother while we are gone, had had a major mechanical failure; while Mike was accelerating on the freeway, the left front ball joint broke, and the left wheel came careening off of the car! Luckily, no one was hurt and no other cars involved, but some costly repairs are ahead of it. We were troubled by the news, and stayed up for a while (in disbelief) discussing our options. We pretty much decided that the car wasn't worth fixing and tried to go to sleep. We tossed and turned for a while, talking about buying another car and the financial dealings involved. We couldn't sleep, so we got up and looked on the internet at Kelley blue book at some cars we might pursue. We finally went to bed around 1:15am.

Office space

09DEC2004 :: 9:55pm :: Okahandja, Namibia :: Bedroom
Couldn't get ahold of our paint man this morning, so we'll put off the painting one more day. Worked in the office most of the day doing some webpage renovations. After our prayer meeting, i did some paint prep work on the the office; dusted and removed cobwebs, sticky-tack, and nails from the wall. Took down the curtain rod and other obstructions. Spent the late morning and afternoon re-formatting some CHI webpages. Kate spent most of the day trying to sort out some outstanding bills on our account with the Okahandja Municipality. CHI's previous filing and accounting systems (or lack thereof) have been hard to follow. She was successful in her efforts, which were much appreciated by Chuck. Finally got ahold of our paint guy at around noon, and went and picked up the paint and ran some errands in Okahandja around 3pm. Was using Jos's car, which has issues with its battery; we had to push start it and i left it running at all of my stops. I got the paint, payed the bill on a couple of our accounts, and attempted to cash a check. We made some sweet and sour chicken for dinner, then read during our evening. My wife made some super good shortbread cookies; they are incredible. Reading in Ephesians 2 about how awesome God's mercy and grace is that he saved us from His wrath even while we were living by our natural desires and loving it. But now He is building together His church believer by believer into a house, with Christ as the cornerstone. We also read in Exodus about what God wanted to have built for His traveling worship equipment; well, we *tried* to read it. I couldn't labor through all of the detailed instructions, i will admit. Then it was journal time, email checking, and off to bed.

Instruction by Kate

08DEC2004 :: 10:01pm :: Okahandja, Namibia :: Bedroom
It was nice to not paint today; i may be painting tomorrow again though. We had a normal start of the morning. After our prayer meeting, we got ready to go over to the Ark so Kate could teach a couple of the staff about some accounting procedures she has put together. We went over there and Kate taught three people how to use Quickbooks for about 2.5 hours. They picked it up well (we think) and seemed enthusiastic about it; we were afraid they might see us as "pushy Americans," but they commented on how simple and useful it would be, which was encouraging to us. We got back here to the center, ran over to Pick 'n Pay, then had some lunch. After lunch, we worked in the office some; i've been given permission to make some changes to the CHI/USA website, and started work on those. I did some misc things for Jos. After we were done working, I ran down to Spar to pick up a few things that Pick 'n Pay didn't have and we needed. Then we went down and had brownies that Carol had made with everyone; they were soooo good. We talked with Chuck, Carol, and Jos for about an hour. Jos told us some stories from his month long trip to Europe, and we talked about long distance airline travel, among other things. Then Chuck and Carol left to make dinner,and we talked personally with Jos. He asked us how we were doing, and our impressions of Oshikuku; we answered him truthfully, then discussed our roles in the near future here in Okahandja. We made burgers for dinner, and Kate made some sweet potato salad that was tasty; the sweet potatoes here taste the same, but are not orange like back home (the color is that of a normal potato). After dinner, we relaxed and talked some. Kate did the dishes, and we read through our Advent devotional and a few chapters of Exodus. God was laying down some governing principles. Pretty cool account of Moses and some of the guys going up the mountain, and seeing God (and having some dinner). Then Moses hangs out up there with God for around 50 days, while from the ground it looks like the whole top of the mountain is a raging fire. Can you imagine being *with* God for almost two months? Wow.... Checked email and went to bed.

It is finished

07DEC2004 :: 10:51pm :: Okahandja, Namibia :: Bedroom
It was nice and quiet around the center today, with only chuck, carol, kate, and i (and two workers) around. We started the morning off with a read through of Mark 5 and some prayer time. After that, i ran to Outspan, the local builder's supply, to buy a paint roller (i learned the hard way that there is a difference in rollers for use on water based as opposed to acrylic paint). After that, Micheal and I got started painting in the office; we stopped for lunch for an hour, and finally got it all done at 5pm. Jos and Slyvia returned today, after being gone for nearly a month in Europe. Jos leaves tomorrow for South Africa for a week, then is going to Dayton for a week to meet with some people from Apex Church. He returns and goes on 'holiday' for a couple of weeks in South Africa, then is heading for the UK for a couple of months; so we won't be seeing much of him around here. Not much else of note topay. We fixed dinner up at Hein and Nadine's again tonight (chicken stuffed with mozz cheese and pesto potatoes), then relaxed here. I wrote a couple of emails, trying to sort out some funny business involving my health insurance payments. We looked some stuff up online, read from Exodus about God coming down onto the mountain to show Himself to the Isrealites and give them the 10 commandments. Interesting business going on there between God, Moses, and the Isrealites. Went to bed.

Praying and painting

06DEC2004 :: 9:39pm :: Okahandja, Namibia :: Bedroom
Today was a day for prayer and fasting for CHI around the world. We did a 24 hour fast from around 6pm last night, to 6pm tonight. I awoke early and got some time in the Word; reading in Ephesians 1, where Pauls prays for us that we might more fully understand the hope, riches, and power of Christ. Did some thinking about that. How amazing is the assured hope of eternal life that we believers have? If you want to talk about hope for the future in something, is there anything like that. Here in Namibia there is a whole lot of hopelessness; with at least 50% unemployment and a similiar HIV/AIDS prevalance, who can hope for a better future? Only those who have the eternal hope given by Christ. That's what CHRIST'S HOPE International is trying to do by teaching people the truth about sex, caring for the vulnerable and dying, and discipling all those that they can. And how about the other things that go along with being a believer: peace, joy, contentment, and forgiveness, to name a few; talk about riches! And Jesus gives us His authority and power, if we use it for His purpose and glory. I do need to understand more about these things. We had our morning meeting, and read Mark 4 and prayed for various needs. After the meeting, we came back up to our room and prayed for a while for specific requests on the CHI list of prayer requests. Then made a few phone calls and booked our rooms for a trip we are taking with my dad and sister when they come over. We got a really good deal on our rooms in Okaukuejo, Praise the Lord. Next I went out and did some work on the office, in preparing it to be primed/painted. At lunch time, we did some more praying for different things, and read in a passage from Exodus. Reminded of how grumbly the Isrealites were about being led around a desert, and was challenged to not be a whiner/complainer. Around 2pm everyone else headed off to Swakopmund for summer camp, so the place was pretty quite. I wrote in my journal for yesterday, and booked a couple of other places via email. Then went out to do some painting. Was interrupted at 4:45pm to take Ann-Maria and Lena home; they are maids that work here at the center keeping it tidy. Got back and finished the two remaining rooms that neede priming. We made dinner up (salad and pasta with alfredo sauce and peppers) at Hein and Nadine's flat, since they have a stove/range there and our hotplate is gone. After dinner spent some time reading our Namibia tourist's book to get the lowdown on the Namib desert. Read in our Advent devotional about what it means to be 'virgin' in the sense of heading out into new territory this Christams. Checked email and went to bed.

Sabbath

06DEC2004 :: 3:17pm :: Okahandja, Namibia :: Bedroom
Nice and relaxing and really restful day yesterday. We slept in, got up and read some; i made us some scrambled eggs that we partook of while reclining in our bed. We relaxed in the morning, reading our books and Bible some. Had some left over rice and chicken for dinner. We spent the afternoon browsing the internet, reading, and talking. I finished my 'wild at heart' book and really enjoyed it. We had a long discussion about some of the ideas he lays out in it. I was challenged by his portrayal of strength, and the concept of a 'false self' we all build to cover the hurts we have received. Also his admonition to do something with your life that 'makes you come alive.' We discussed our time here and our lives back home, and what we would return to when we come back home. It was a good time to connect with each other and with the Lord. We emptied our refrigerator and gave up our hot plate for them to take to summercamp; don't know if i mentioned this or not, but the Namibian CHI office is putting on a summer camp out in Swakopmund for a lot of Ark children. They were packing up the vans. We then moved the volunteer fridge up here, as we'll be the only ones here this week, besides chuck and carol. We had our dinner of chicken salad and celery, then listened to an old sermon from our church on our computer. Wrote a few emails, and hit the hay.

Max Relax

04DEC2004 :: 11:00pm :: Okahandja, Namibia :: Bedroom
Was lazy today and slept in until almost 9:30am today. Then we got up and cleaned the place; i swept and mopped, while kate wiped the place down. We did a couple of loads of laundry over the course of the morning; it only sprinkled unexpectedly on them once. Then we set up our little Christmas tree we bought the other day; it's a cute little guy. After lunch we ran out to Pick 'n Pay to grab a few items. We spent a while trying to book places to stay on our upcoming trip with my family. Had no luck, as most places don't do their own booking, especially not on the weekends. Trimmed and boiled some chicken for dinner. Relaxed and read most of the afternoon. We made cheesy chicken and rice for dinner. After dinner, Chuck and Carol came up and played Baptistenscott (card game) with us; Kate killed everyone. Kate's mom called and kate talked to her for a while, then we went to bed.

Paint and pancakes

03DEC2004 :: 10:42pm :: Okahandja, Namibia :: Bedroom
Today was spent painting, the most part. Got stared on the undercoat after prayer meeting this morning. Would be periodically called into the office to help Kate with something on the computer. We first had to put some adhesive tape up on several of the seams in the wall; the 'self-adhesive' tape didn't do to well on the wood, and we had to get out the contact adhesive on each one, which is a pretty messy, goobery job. Then trim in around the edges. Marcus and Michael were working with me. After lunch, i ran Jennifer out to Hodygos to fetch something that we weren't able to get. Rained pretty hard today intermittently, which cooled things off nicely. We ran out of seam tape, and painted all but the two offices that needed the remaining seams taped. Tried to get some at the local builder's supply store, but they didn't have it. Called Joe, who was in Windhoek, and he picked some up on his way home. After Kate ran out to grocery and i took a shower, we went down to the common dining room to hang out with Hein and Nadine, who were having coffee and cookies. We ended up talking to them for almost 3 and a half hours. Nadine made us some good pancakes/crepes that are a south african dish; you sprinkle cinnimon on top, as well as some lemon juice, and roll them up. They were quite good. Carol made some brownies, and brought them over as well. So we pretty much sat there and talked and ate; it was great. We talked about all sorts of stuff, from food to missions to the differences in nations. At 10pm we came back up to our room. Wrote my journal entries from the 2 days and retired to bed. Oh, we got a package from Kate's mom that she had sent to us on November 2nd. It took a full month, exactly as long as the letter she had sent us. The post system here needs some work.

Trip to town

03DEC2004 :: 6:24pm :: Okahandja, Namibia :: Bedroom
Yesterday we made a frustrating trip to Windhoek. The morning started out with our prayer meeting. Then we had a meeting with Joe, who has been the CHI/Namibia volunteer coordinator; we are taking over his role, since he is soon leaving the country. Next, i ran Ann-Marie around town paying a few of the bill we had due. Then we (Kate, Jennifer, and I) loaded up in the combi, and took off at about 11:00am for Windhoek. Our main purpose was to run a few errands; we had to pick up some building supplies for the office, some office supplies at the stationares, check the mail at our Windhoek post office box, as well as drop Jennifer off at a doctor's appointment she had. We first went to the builder's supply place and they were out of some wood trim that we wanted, but at least had the other supplies we needed. Next was a stop at Windhoek Stationares, which was pretty much futile and annoying to us. We wanted to find an ink pad for our CHI stamp, but they didn't have any of the right size. Also, we were looking for folders to store some office files in. Here in Namibia they apparently take a binder centered approach to filing. They had no hanging files, and some silly paper folders. Also, they use the A4 size paper here, which is slightly longer and narrower than our 8.5"x11" paper, so US folders wouldn't even hold the paper. We bought a few plastic sleeve type folders to serve the near term need. By then it was 1pm and things were closing for lunch. We drove into downtown Windhoek and went to Game, which is like K-mart, to pick up a few things. We bought a few real glasses to drink out of (we only have 3 little cups), as well as a little christmas tree and some decorations (will post picture later). By then it was time to drop off Jennifer for her 2pm appointment. We drove about 15 minutes out to the suburb to drop her off, then returned to town and had lunch at a nice little Italian place. Kate had a good pizza and i had an ok lasagna; it was nice to eat at a real restaraunt. Then we swung by the tourist's information kiosk, hoping to pick up a Namibia map, but they were out of them; they had also run out of one other pamphlet i wanted, and wouldn't give me their copy. We made our way back out of town to pick up Jennifer. We had to make an unexpected stop to pick up one of her friends who was coming to Okahandja. The person who gave us directions to the house was somewhat incompetent, and we ended up making many wrong turns, and eventually found the place. Then we had to drive back through downtown to go to the post office. Of course there was construction on a main road, and we had to take a complex, unmarked detour. Then we had trouble finding the post office, and had to make several passes of where it was supposed to be before actually finding it. We had one last stop to make on the way out of town to pick up some copier paper; this was fairly straightforward, but took a while, as they had to bring it out from the warehouse. Meanwhile, I had to wait with the receptionist, a 20 year old girl who was hitting on me (til she found out i was married); she thought i was only 18. It was bout 4:30 pm by that time, and then Jenny was very hungry, having not eaten. Thus began the escapade of trying to find her some food in the Northern Industrial Area. We drove around for another half hour, and stopped several places, before finding a grocery store. We got home around 5:45pm. We had Kate's left over pizza and a salad for dinner. We were tired from driving in the sun all day, and did pretty much nothing the rest of the night. Got a phone call from my parents, which was good. Read the accounts of the last few of Egypt's plagues.

Procedures and paint

01DEC2004 :: 9:44pm :: Okahandja, Namibia :: Bedroom
Got to do some manual labor today, which was good. After our prayer meeting, i called over to our paint supplier to discuss what we would need for our office, then ran over and picked it up. We got a primer coat, undercoat, and eggshell paint for the wood; the perimeter walls are second priority. Then i helped kate some more in finalizing the accounting procedure she has been working on. we ran over to pick 'n pay before lunch to get a few items, then had lunch. After lunch, we started getting things together to paint. They have different rollers over here, and you have to take a nut off the threaded roller shaft to replace to roller. We found a new roller, cut up some cardboard to cover the floor, and cleaned out a brush to use. We were asked to drive someone somewhere, and complied. Upon returning, we got to painting; i was trimming, and kate was rolling. This primer coat we were putting on had an super strong smell to it, and the little cubicles we were painting were not well ventilated. We got most of it done, except some rolling, and stopped because the heat and fumes were not healthy. made pizza for dinner, and relaxed in the evening. Read about how God plagued the Egyptians for Pharoah's hard-heartedness. Pretty incredible stuff the Lord tossed at 'em. Also read some in "Wild at Heart" which is turning out to be very interesting to me. A different view on 'biblical manhood' that i have ever heard. he makes some interesting observations about the nature of God as portrayed by man and woman, who are made in His image.