September, 2003

Work Permit Status
After being told our work permit was approved, they lost the file and we had to resubmit everything, which required another approval which was denied again.
The bottom line is that we still don’t know what our official status is. African bureaucracy is much more frustrating than American bureaucracy. It seems you could just contact the person handling your file and get answers. It doesn’t work that way. It is almost impossible to get in contact with that person (they are locked away behind tight security and they do not answer their phone). If you are successful in contacting them, they cannot find your file. They are not computerized and seemingly have no central filing system. Over a month ago, we hired an immigration attorney to try and find out our status and he cannot find out anything either.
In spite of the uncertainty, we are at peace with the whole situation. God keeps confirming that he wants us here, He is using this situation to deepen our faith, and we are meeting many people we with which we would otherwise not come into contact. We know that God will clarify our situation in His own time and so we continue with our ministry.
Please continue to pray that God will move the hearts of those within the government to look favorably upon us.

Khomas Elder Training
Lon and Richard Hanna are nearing the end of the 12-week elder training process at Khomas Community Church. Upon its completion, several of the 15 trainees will be given the opportunity to join the existing 2 elders in providing spiritual leadership for this young congregation. Several wives have commented that they have never seen their husbands so willing and so excited about their leadership involvement in the church. Please pray that God will give the existing pastors and elders much wisdom in the selection of new elders.
This is a big step in the development of this distributed church congregation. Northland helped launch this church over three years ago and continues to provide connection and spiritual direction to this congregation. Khomas is a wonderful example of the distributed church model. Northland is helping them behind the scenes in many practical ways while still allowing this local church to develop its own character and sense of mission within its local community.
Under the leadership of Pastor Stephan Nell and, Hank and Joyce Schauer, the church recently completed a community outreach for over 1,000 children within Khomasdal, a suburb of Windhoek.

Vyf Rand Squatters Camp
Val is continuing her work with ladies in the Vyf Rand (Five Dollar) settlement. She has been busy building a relationship with these ladies. Building trust is the biggest thing, because almost every white person in their past has exploited them. So little by little, through consistency of showing up, and just being interested in them, and helping them, she is gaining their trust. A few weeks ago when she arrived in the camp, Emka (the pastor's mother-in-law, and Val’s main contact) jumped out from behind the tent door and said “Boo!” She loved it that Val jumped and screamed bloody murder! It was a relational break-through. Her playfulness was a sign of friendship and trust.
It has been a challenge to find a suitable project for the ladies. It must use raw materials that are inexpensive and readily available. Since the ladies are not used to handwork, the skill requirements must be very basic. Val has decided that papier-mache provides the best combination of suitable factors. It uses old newspapers and requires little skill in its basic construction. The ladies are doing pretty well. The decoration requires more skill and it has been a challenge as Val keeps altering designs to better fit the ladies’ skill levels. She has moved away from decorative painting to using polymer clay embellishments that can be constructed from molds.
The working conditions are another major challenge. The wind blows continually across a dusty landscape. Working inside the church tent helps a little but not completely, and it is very hot. It will get worse as our Spring moves into Summer.
Please pray for a more suitable indoor facility with electricity and for a source for polymer clay and for clear communication with the women that transcends language and culture.

Where the River Flows
Swakop River Community Church was formed about a year ago as a non-denominational church. It’s slogan is “Where the river flows, there is Life.”It is named after the Swakop River, which passes by the church. Ironically, the Swakop River is a dry riverbed. They assure us a river does flow underneath. The church has grown to the point of being ready to appoint its first elders. Lon has been preaching there about once a month since January. He also consults with the church leadership as they transition from their initial “organizing” leadership team to their first board of Elders.
From inception, this church has patterned itself after Northland. A few months ago one of the leaders showed Lon a document on baptism. “We’ve been working on this statement of how we intend to handle baptisms and would like to know what you think.” Lon read the statement and smiled. It was Northland’s statement on baptism that Lon had written several years ago. He, of course, thought the statement was brilliant.
The church also wants to formalize the relationship with Northland, which has always been there informally. They desire to become another Namibian expression of the distributed church model, with Northland officially serving as their oversight organization for training, counsel and accountability connection.
Please pray for this church as they are in the process of selecting their first set of elders and wrestling with theological and practical issues of church policy, such as the proper role of women in the life of the church.

Panoramic Tour of the Bible
Richard Hanna and Lon have taught the Panoramic Tour of the Bible seminar twice in Windhoek in the past two weeks. The first workshop was for the youth groups from several churches. The second workshop was for the adults of Khomas Community Church. Both workshops were well received by participants and Richard and Lon had a great time teaching together again.
The primary message of this teaching is that God loves us deeply and is calling us into an intimate love relationship with Him whereby we depend upon Him to meet all of our physical, emotional and spiritual needs. This is a message that is so needed in this country where poverty, disease and abuse are so prevalent. Lon is planning to repeat the seminar several times in other locations between now and the end of the year. He will also begin training pastors and other church leaders to conduct the seminar.

By the Rivers of Babilon
Okay, there are no flowing rivers in the interior of Namibia and no we didn’t misspell Babylon. Babilon is a very, very poor and crime-ridden section of northern Windhoek. Val and Lon have begun to form relationships with a pastor and evangelist of a small tin church in this neighborhood. Eventually this will lead to training opportunities, but first we must establish a healthy relationship with Petrus, Mateas and their wives. Healthy means that they must see us as a training resource rather than a conduit for receiving funds from America.
Please pray that these poor, black churches come to see us as a spiritual resource instead of a source of financial backing. That mindset is a real problem and roadblock to our effective ministry in Namibia.

Bank of America
Soon after we arrived in the country, Lon attended a pastor’s conference at Rock Lodge in Okahandja. During a mealtime, one of the ministry leaders communicated that he had been praying for access to a small airplane and pilot since his ministry occurs all over the country. He ended by saying, “but God has not answered my prayer yet.”
One of the pastors responded, “I know why God has not answered your prayer. You must do more than pray. Prayer is important, of course, but so is praying in the presence of an American.” It seemed funny at the time, but I soon discovered that it is not funny to Namibians. They are serious. They see America rather than God as their provider.
Wherever we go, when Christians hear that we are from America, they think, “Ah ha, Bank of America.” The first thing they see is a way to get money from us for their favorite ministry project. We are constantly being asked for money.
We constantly battle this mindset that just creates a higher degree of dependency on foreign influence rather than God. God is not rich in America and poor in Namibia. He is rich everywhere.
Please pray for us that we would meet this mindset with grace, but would also use it as an opportunity to teach about God’s provision.

Val Speaks Oshivambo
Well, that may be a little of an overstatement. She is taking Oshindonga (one of 11 Oshivambo dialects) at the University of Namibia. Most of the ladies at the squatters camp speak some Oshivambo. So Val is learning the basics of their language to further her ministry and relational connection to them. Very few white women in this country speak any Oshivambo, so Val gets a lot of attention when she speaks to Oshivambo people in Windhoek in their own language.
She is also building a solid relationship with her Oshivambo instructor, whose name is Ottilia. She wants to learn to how to sew and Val is going to teach her. Please pray for Ottilia’s salvation as Val builds a relationship with her.

God’s Love Spread on Bread
Pastor Thomas' wife Crystalline is running a great preschool in the Five Rand Squatter's camp for about 60 kids. It's great fun to hear them chanting "One two Buckle my shoe....." with their little African accents! I had mentioned to someone, that at lunch time, the kids all bring out their plain white bread to eat, and that's lunch. The person I had mentioned this to, has offered to pay for peanut butter to go on the bread! Cool huh!