Teddies!!!

One of our friends, a young minister here in Maun, has a storage container where donations (hand me down clothes, food rations, kids toys etc.) that come from her South African connections were kept. She invited us to come and distribute anything we felt would bless our neighbors and those we minister to in the Hospital. You can imagine Cheryl's sqeal of delight at the sight of these knitted teddies! We immediately took a closer look to see if they were the ones Mom Hauser had knit and sent to Africa through a ministry called ICROSS. Alas they were not her handiwork but I have a feeling that when we give all of these away, Mom's busy knitting fingers will have more to send. The neat thing about giving them away is the way young and old smile with delight when I pull one out of my bag.
Hanging out to dry. These guys smelled a little musty but after some bleach and soap, they are ready to be given away.

December 25th with the Kowalskis

Julie and Colin, our co-workers here in Maun are really special! Last year at Christmas they distributed care hampers they had put together mainly out of items that they found stored in the Flying Mission storage container. This year, we all prayed about doing something similar and felt a leading to go into the hospital. On Christmas Day, Keith, Julie, Colin, and Cheryl, gathered up a load of presents along with our base secretary who could translate for us, and went to the childrens ward at the Maun Hospital.
The lovely nurses took us around to each patient, and Julie and I prayed for each Mother and child. The Glorious thing about all of it is that God seemed to be healing a number of the babies right before our eyes. We watched listless babies perk up, and sit up, we watched a crying, distraught baby settle and go to sleep, and we felt God pour out Love and Healing to everyone we touched. To see God change the atmosphere and to see the smiles on their faces made this by far the best Christmas ever.
Cheryl was appointed Hospiital Ministry coordinator at church and will be taking people with her into the hospital to pray for the sick as often as she can. There is such an openness to receive from God there.

December 24th with the Kowalskis

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Last year Christmas Eve was really hard. Keith was flying and I was alone with the kids greiveing hard for Johnathan and feeling very alone. That experience built some compassion into us and we determined to invite whoever the Lord would tell us to, so that they would not be alone at Christmas. Keith felt led to go the the Airport and visit some of the guys he has been getting to know. It was then that the Lord prompted him to invite Lawrence. Lawrence came with his lovely family and we had a truly beautiful time together. It was a little unnerving at first when he told me that these strangers were coming to dinner, but the Lord connected our hearts and it felt really good to be able to encourage and pray for them, and the kids had a great time playing together too. Now, they are not strangers, but friends.
Laurence's wife, Flora, came to our church the next day as well!

Professor Praise Stikes Again

Even Keith's parents got involved helping out at a Christian Children's worship and fun night that Cheryl and some of her friends had planned.
Mom worked at the popcorn booth all evening scooping and scooping and scooping and scooping popcorn to fill 70+ bags. Dad was working at the BBQ preparing the smokies with some of the other men. Keith was just everywhere helping out with everything. Professor Praise made another appearance teaching the kids about being Christ's light in a world that is filled with darkness. God even backed up the message by causing the power to go out at just the right time accentuating the point. Professor Praise made a head lamp out of a bulb, wire, batteries, and gotch elastic. That's right gotch elastic... it was pretty silly but we all had fun and the hopefully the kids will never forget the message.

Fantastic Game Viewing

We spent the day Saturday bumping along 100 km of park roads to see some fantastic sights. Check out our pictures by clicking on the link below.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=43238&id=1179598186&l=6b1e81aea2

Fantastic Game Viewing!

We went game viewing in Moremi National Park Saturday, a one hour drive from our place to the park gate. We bumped and grinded over trecherous terrain for the next 7 hours to cover 100 km of park roads. Cheryl joked that the drive was kinda like being in labor - her body hurt and she didn't know how long it would take. However, we had fantastic game viewing - the best of our lives. Here are some pictures of what we were able to see(you can view more photos on facebook).

A Camera for Terrance

My (Keith's) parents are visiting from Canada rignt now and are staying for the month of November. You may remember that Johnathan passed away on Nov 5 last year after falling into our swimming pool. My parents came to stay with us now, to be of support as we approach the one year mark (tomorrow), and we are grateful to have them here.

As we look back over this year, we are grateful for the many relationships that God has blessed us with. One in particular, is our dear Zimbabwean friend Terrance. Terrance brought joy into our lives despite the tragedy that we had gone through. We were blessed to be able to sow some of "Johnathan's Seeds" into Terrance's life with the purchase of a passport in January, for his brand new bride.

We have kept in touch with Terrance even after moving to Maun (800km away) in May of this year. Recently, we were in Gaborone for medical appointments, and we were able to spend some time with Terrance and Patience. It was great to see them again.

In one of our phone conversations wiith Terrance, we mentioned that my parents would be coming to visit. Terrance asked if my parents would look for a camera for him...perhaps at an auction or garage sale. Terrance previously had a camera, and was able to earn money taking pictures of people and selling them the photos (pictures are very special in Botswana as few people even have pictures of their loved ones, and even fewer people have cameras). Well, God had an even better plan for Terrance. My parents were able to get an excellent camera for Terrance from the lost and found at their church. It seems that the camera had been there for over a year, and the parish workers were glad to allow them to bring the camera for Terrance. In fact, one of the workers even donated a couple of rolls of film to go with it. So after taking it to the camera repair shop for a tune-up, my parents were able to bring this blessing for Terrance. He was estatic to say the least! God does work in wonderful ways, and even more good has come from Johnathan's passing!

I've included an older picture of Terrance and Patience as well as one of Johnathan since I've mentioned him alot in this posting.

The Scorpion

We found this guy in our Living Room one night. Makes you want walk around the house in army boots.

The Sunday School Gang

Here Pastor Alex prays for the children before they head off to Sunday School. Usually over 40 children attend, most of them from the village.

You want me to do WHAT?

That was my initial reaction when I got the news: I was supposed to take 45 children for a scenic flight...5 at a time. In the beginning of September, FMS got a charter to do scenic flights for 45 students (ages 6 to 12) from a Catholic school in the small village of Tonota, run by missionary nuns. It was a big field trip, and a once in a lifetime experience for these kids. Last March, the daughter of one of the FM pilots was volunteer teaching at the school and had her dad come in and talk about Mission Flying. The kids got so excited about flying, that they worked extra hard for the next 6 months to raise the funds to see the Okavango Delta from the air. Keith got the job flying the entire group in the C207. It took ten - 15 minute flights to take all of them plus chaperones on a scenic flight and stay within their budget. The boisterous and very excited group filled the entire waiting room of the Maun airport. The teachers and students were all very happy with the experience as you can tell by the smiling faces pictured above. It was very fulfilling to be part of what was an unforgettable day for these kids.

Children's Ministry in Maun

I have always loved dressing up and acting silly. When some moms got together to plan a Vacation Bible School for the kids here, the idea popped into my head that we needed a humorous character to get the kids laughing and enjoying God's Word. One thing led to another and now I am known affectionately as "Crazy Professer Praise" I have really been enjoying helping out at VBS, designing the logo for the t-shirts, leading the kids in Praise and Worship, and doing kooky science experiments that teach Bible Lessons. I'm not sure who's having more fun, the kids or me!

On The Move Again

We have just signed the lease for the new house we will be renting. It seems almost surreal. We have done pretty well in our small Flying Mission suite (pictured above) but are more than ready to settle in to our own "home" again. It has seemed that life has been on hold for the last 6 weeks, but God is faithful and His timing is perfect. The place we will be moving to is everything we prayed for. The neighbourhood is very much village Africa, and we are believing that God wants us there for His Glory and for His Holy Purpose. So with smiles and praise songs on our lips, we pick up the packing tape, and haul the boxes, for what hopefully will be a place to settle for awhile.

Northern Medical Flights

When we first came to Botswana, the flying we did was medical evacuations / patient transfers for the Ministry of Health. We had a twin engine King Air, complete with two fully trained paramedics and all of the life saving equipment they would need. The Medics handled the patient and all of their care. Everything seemed quite calm and professional.

Today I had my first northern medical flight, with our little single engine Cessna 207. There were no paramedics,and only a stretcher in the airplane, although a nurse from the clinic accompanied the patient. We went to Seronga today, the one village that we regularly do medical flights for, from our Maun base. The patient had a broken leg, and it would seem that rudimentary care was administered in the form of basic first aid (strips of cloth tied around rough wooden splints). It made me realize that what we do here in Maun is very important to the people of Seronga. We transported the patient to Gumare, a village with a larger clinic, where she could be assessed, and receive treatment. Without the medical flight, the journey to a larger clinic would have taken much longer. The 20 minute plane ride takes the place of several hours of travel by boat and truck. (Sometimes the patient will later be transported by our King Air to the Francistown hospital, if the Gumare clinic determines that this is required).

High Water Brings Hippos

Close to our flooded yard, (not even a five minute walk) We spotted this guy wading and yawning in the water. The kids wanted Cheryl to take them down to the walking bridge to try out their new fishing poles, but were delighted to have spotted a Hippopotomus instead.

There's a river flowing...where there used to be one before

Our yard, and many others here in Maun are built along an old river bed...well actually in an old river bed. It seems that water had not been seen here for 15...30...50 years (depending who you talk to). Well, within two hours time, the water filled our dry river bed to a depth of 1 1/2 meters. (the pictures show how we watched the water fill our yard). Now the river is not wide, or wasn't, but there was enough water to spill over the retaining wall and gradually creep across the yard. Although the water is an inch or two deep, it is turning the yard into quicksand. A front end loader drove in this afternoon and got stuck for over an hour...after which he retreated to drier ground. It's not as dramatic as it sounds, but the water and sand make a bad combination. We managed to remove most of our belongings with the help of some dear friends and coworkers, and are storing them for now. We will be watching to see what happens with the water...the house may not flood at all, but we may not have access to it for some time, hence the decision to move things while we had dry ground to stand on. We are grateful that we have a place to stay for now (a small flat that Flying Mission had available), and that we can rest tonight without concern for how quickly the water is rising.

Johnathan's BEADS

God put it on my heart one morning in prayer, a few weeks ago to train some young women to make beaded necklaces that they can sell. I was praying for God to lead me to the ones He had in mind for the project. It wasn’t long before a couple of young gals came to the gate asking for work. When I shared my idea with them, their eyes lit up, and they have come back everyday since, bringing friends with them. Some extra bibles were left behind by the missions group that we teamed up with. I asked the girls if they would like to have a bible and one said she has always wanted one! They are soooo excited and eager to learn and the numbers of girls they are bringing with them is growing. In sharing with them around the table as we bead together, I am hearing their dreams and being able to share, mentor, and encourage, them as we work. They truly want to walk like Jesus and grow. I’ve decided to combine Bible Study with Beading on Saturday afternoons. Please pray for Kamogelo, Pretty, Baitshepi, Agnes, Leseho, Memory, Bianca, and Anarrah, and any others that they bring along. These sweet young women have so much potential.

Sharing with the School Kids in Maun

A Ministry team came up to Maun from South Africa this week. We have really enjoyed the time spent with these folks. The children were invited to take part in the outreach to Matswani Private School. They learned parts and rehearsed all morning for a play that was presented in the afternoon. They also helped lead a song with actions. After some fun and games for all and a well presented Bible Message, they asked the children (about 40 attended) if anyone struggled with fear. Over half raised their hands and we had an opportunity to pray with and encourage them.

Once again this was an amazing experience to see the Love of God bring hope and healing to precious hearts. :)




A few Mom's and I have gotten together and are planning Bible Day camps during the school break. Already 30+ have registered and many more are expected. We are having such fun planning wacky, fun, activities and preparing the Lessons. Please pray that God really blesses the children and sets them on The Path of Life.
I will keep you posted and let you know how it goes...

Meet Our Friend Filda

In the time we were living in Gaborone, there were special people who regularely came to our gate with crafts they desperately needed to sell. We got to know Filda, a sweet, older Zimbabwean woman, who sold beautiful tableclothes, bedspreads, and woven baskets. She carried the load of merchandise in a large sack on her head...quite a site as she is a small woman! She is the sole provider for her 10 small grandchildren, (her own children have died leaving them to her) and works very hard, walking long distances despite failing eyesight and much physical pain to put food on the table.

She was so sad to hear that we were moving, (Keith's parents also bought from her while they visited) as she could count on our home for a place to rest her feet, have a bite to eat, and sell some things.

She told me that she would come to Maun to visit us. It really isn't much farther than Gaborone from Zimbabwe and I am so thankful for this relationship. We spoke about God's Goodness and she shared through tears that He is the one that gives her the strength to get through such difficult times. I had to agree with her.

Maun - Also Known as The World's Largest Sandbox

We've been here 2 weeks now, and are loving our new surroundings. Sometimes it feels more like we are camping at the lake than living in a town. Jacob got the idea to collect twigs and build a campfire in our backyard for roasting weiners and marshmallows, and we are only a 2 minute walk from the river. Sand, Sand, Sand is everywhere...this place is one big sandbox! The kids have been digging around in it...using our shovels!

Keith has been flying almost every day which is great! Last week he saw a Giraffe at the end of the runway.

GIVING THANKS for MOTHERS and OTHERS

(posted by Cheryl)
Mom Hauser and Mom Kowalski are amazing Mothers





Ever since Mother's Day, I have been pondering what it is that makes a "great mother"
As I was doing this I was reminded of Jesus words in Matthew 12:48

"Who is my mother and my brothers?" Pointing to his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother."

When I think of all of the women in my life who have ever nurtured and brought me guidance, direction, counsel, and prayer, I become overwhelmed with the number of "Mothers" I have had. Some of these women never even had children of their own. My first piano teacher, The Mothers of my childhood friends, Mentors while I was in College, The nuns I stayed with as a young adult, My older sister, The older women at Harvest Christian Fellowship, The older women at Hope, My care group leaders, and finally, The beautiful women I have come to know in Gaborone have all had a role in Mothering me in one way or another.

I guess I would like to send a tribute to all Women everywhere who are sowing into the lives of younger gals like me. Happy Mother's Day to you too!

Saskatoon Whirlwind

It's been a wild two weeks in Saskatoon already and there is another two weeks to go. We have managed to have lots of visits with family, a few sleepovers with the cousins, and even some meals with friends. The highlight of our arrival back in Canada was - would you believe - playing in the snow! There was just a little left in Grandpa's back yard, and the kids managed to play in the snow at least 6 times in the first two days. We soon wished that the temperatures were a little warmer, as Easter weekend was frigid for Africaners like ourselves.

We have really been blessed by the outpouring of love that so many of people have showered us with. It is a little overwhelming to have so much attention from so many people in such a short time, but we are BLESSED! We are looking forward to visiting as many people as we can while we are here. Sharing in your lives and being able to pray together has been a real treat.










We are greatful for this time to grieve and rejoice with family and friends, and yet we look forward to our return to Botswana. We will be moving to Maun in the month of May and will be starting a new phase of our life in the country. We are excited for what God has in store for us there, but will miss the dear friends that we have made in Gaborone (and of course everyone here in Canada!)