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Let me take a few minutes, whilst a group of children play Lego with Étienne and Caris, to touch base…
I have posted some more pictures. A couple are further shots of our house. Where the water tower is, there is the main (tarred) road running the length of Ongwediva. As you can imagine, seeing all the sand, we do miss grass and flowers.
Ongwediva was but a collection of single-roomed huts and a few houses 10 years ago but it then got a far-sighted mayor who worked hard to encourage development and establish an effective infra-structure. She sadly died a few years ago of a heart attack but her vision continues.
The two main towns either side of our small one are Oshakati (10 mins away and the meeting point of a few tribal boundaries and is consequently a real melting pot, with people even from Angola and a lot of it is informal settlements) and Ondangwa (30 mins away). Ondangwa is the capital of the Ndonga people and is much smaller but with decent shops, too.
When we arrived in Ongwediva, there was just a Spar (for which we were very grateful) and post office (though no post box!). In the subsequent 18 months we have seen the construction of another supermarket (Shoprite, rather like BiLo), a swimming pool & entertainment centre (the nearest other pool [other than tiny ones at lodges and motels] is in Windhoek – 8 hrs away) and a private hospital (if people were sick or needed a specialist treatment, they would have had to use the understaffed public hospital in Oshakati or drive to Windhoek). And now they are building a shopping centre! I do so hope they will put a bookshop, or at least a newsagents, there as I miss fresh reading matter. So it is all very exciting!
Another shot is Caris on a horse. She loved her (3) riding lessons before Christmas. Sadly, the horse subsequently died and it has taken till now for a new one to be purchased by the owner of the other one. Horses are a rare sight in Owamboland. He now has one and is looking for an instructor. May he speedily find one as Caris has really missed riding.
You can see what Étienne looks like in his new glasses. They are really helping him, and even in karate he has worn them and is delighted to see clearly the hand and foot moves of the instructor. We thank God that we have discovered his short-sightedness at this relatively early age.
There are two ministry photos. One is David at the NETS stand during the current 10 day local trade fair. He is there all day and evening … and lots of people come and talk to him about NETS. May they also enquire about the Way, the Truth and the Life, if they don't already know Him.
Another one is at a Bible college in Ondangwa David was recently invited to speak at. The chap running it once did a little Bible course. Although unemployed, he then put up a building and now offers that same Bible course, teaching from his own manual he got (that being the only theological resource available to them apart from a Bible). He charges people a mere NA$200 a year (AUS$40). He is very committed to spreading the Gospel. When David was there, the students had just returned from a term break. They were invited to share how they had spent the vacation. Most told how they had gone door-to-door or had led Bible studies or preached at church or done general evangelism. May we have plenty of opportunities to feed these hungry workers in the harvest fields of Owamboland.
You can also see some photos of exploits and artwork of these home-schooled children of ours!