Out and about

‘Please, Lord. May we have some friends!’
We live in a very quiet part of Ongwediva. Most people stay in their houses. One day I saw some children playing out on the street in front of the house and I sent our two out to join in. David, coming back from a run, joined them, too. Then the children came around here to play. We invited the others in the household and are delighted to learn so many interesting things about them and their culture. They are Ndonga, not Kwanyama, but speak good Oshikwanyama and thus understand us when we (attempt to) speak and are so ready to help and encourage us.

Their questions about Australia really fascinate us: ‘Do you have chickens and goats and dogs in Australia?’ ‘Do you sell different things in your shops?’ If and when our stuff ever arrives from Australia, it will be good to show them some home movies of where we have been. I wish now we had thought to bring a DVD of Australia. People have very little idea of what life is like outside Owamboland.

The culture here is for people just rock up at someone’s house to visit – when someone comes you don't know whether they have popped in to say hello, invited themselves for a meal (or 3!) or even to come to sleep! As our culture is to wait to be invited, we have to make a determined effort to simply go and knock at someone’s door! We might become so proficient at it that you will one day find us at YOUR door!

David went down last weekend to Bishop Kalangula’s church in Ondangwa. He is in his 80s and not a well man. When he saw David arrive, he nominated him on the spot as the preacher for that day’s sermon! (It was Pentecost. Praise God that David had been doing a lot of thinking about the Holy Spirit. Many non-mainline churches here are charismatic, and there are some strange and almost heretical teachings going around.)

This weekend a group of NETS students came up for some practical ministry training. David took them to the local prison to share the Gospel with the inmates. The prisoners are so hungry for the Word that David said they would be willing have them back EVERY DAY to teach them. The students visited hospitals, churches, schools etc.

Four students stayed with us for one night. One is from Rwanda so I got to practice my French, and he enjoyed speaking it. He was in a refugee camp for about a year before being able to go to NETS. Two are from Angola and speak Portuguese as well their home language. And the other is a Namibian.

The children and I are so much looking forward to our Australian things arriving. The latest due date for the ship to dock at Walvis Bay is 1st July. Then the stuff will have to clear customs and then get up here. (I am sure it will arrive before Christmas!) When Étienne’s Lego and Bionicles finally come, and Caris’ special toys and craft stuff, they will think it is Christmas, birthday and all the public holidays all at once. So will I, for that matter! I look forward to getting my music CDs and ugg boots! (Ps 119.37)

Looking for something to learn?
Here is your Oshiwambo word for the day (NB it does not start with an ‘o’!):
Yenwamhuulu – the early morning (lit. ‘when the gnu drinks’).
I enjoy sitting and reading through the dictionary. It is such a wonderful – often poetic - language.
We have found a word that describes Étienne. (If you have read ‘Calvin and Hobbes’ you will have an inkling of what he is like!)
Omunyangusha – one who opens his mouth and smacks his lips when eating.

Looking for something to read? I have found a copy (in English) of Guy de Maupassant’s ‘Mademoiselle Fifi’ (a collection of short stories). I first met du Maupassant as a set book for French A level (La neige en deuil – ‘snow in mourning’). I think the French and Russians write with a passion particularly their own.

Looking for something to eat? How about Elephant Stew?

Elephant Stew
Ingredients
1 Elephant
10 Warthogs
100 kilogram tomatoes
half ton potatoes
2 bags onions
100 kilogram salt
1 wheelbarrow onions (heaped)
10 litre vinegar
20 litre chutney
4 Guinea fowl
a pinch of parsley

Method
Hunt the elephant, warthog and guinea fowl. Hang guinea fowl to ripen. Cut elephant into edible chunks, (will take about a month). Boil the warthog with other ingredients (except guinea fowl) till nice and juicy. Now boil elephant chunks over high flames till tender (about 4 weeks) and add everything together. Boil for another 5 to 7 days.
Produces about 3,500 helpings.
Note: If unexpected guests arrive, throw in the guinea fowl as well!

Looking for something to do? Why not send a postcard to us and/or the children here in Namibia! Or save up your pocket money and come and see for yourself what it is like in Owamboland! Or become a member of CMS and get to see the big picture of what God is doing in the world through CMS (Luke 10.2).

Looking for something to play?
Come and play ‘Settlers’ or ‘Carcassonne’ with Étienne. As there are no parks, cinemas, or other places ‘to go’ (in the Australian sense), we get to play a lot of games together. When you have played a game 40x, you know it is time for a change. So Étienne is always making up new scenarios and rules for the games. We discovered a book on chess in the small public library in Oshakati and he enjoyed playing with his Dad all the different scenarios they suggested. Another good game with chess pieces: One person has the queen and the other has a line of pawns which he has to move to the opposite side of the board to be queened, without the opposing queen taking them.

We celebrate our 9th wedding anniversary later this June. It is funny to think that we spent our 1st wedding anniversary in different countries. I was in South Africa waiting for David to come home from a George Whitefield College student trip to … Namibia!

There should be a picture posted of David and the NETS team under ‘the missionary tree’ at Onipa; so named because the early missionaries camped under there.

On a final note today, there is an outbreak of polio here in Namibia and we had a flyer in our mailbox recommending all children to go and be vaccinated. How grateful we are to the Australian system whereby our children have already had all those vaccinations.
As of 6 June 2006, “Angola has reported a total of 43 076 cases and 1642 deaths (overall case-fatality rate (CFR) 3.8%). Although current trends show a decline in most provinces, a daily incidence of around 200-280 cases is still being reported.”