April, 2006

The highlight of Lon’s ministry month was a Pastors’ and Church Leaders’ Training workshop just completed this past weekend. It was attended by 25 pastors and church leaders from 10 different churches in Windhoek, Okahandja and Rundu, from widely divergent theological perspectives. The gathering included Baptist, Pentecostal and Anglican churches. It was very encouraging for several reasons: 1) it furthered our mission of uniting Namibian churches; 2) it was an effective relationship-building time since it was the first time Lon had ministered to 5 of the participating churches; 3) the teaching topic was relevant and well-received; and 4) it launched a ministry idea that Lon has had on his heart since he first came to Namibia.

The training theme was “Satan’s Secret Weapon.” Satan uses this weapon quite effectively to damage the growth of the church and the church isn’t even aware that it has been attacked and injured. That is the secret part. The weapon is the spirit of unforgiveness. We covered 5 reasons Satan loves unforgiveness and what the church can do to combat those strategies. We then explored the process of forgiveness and why it is essential that the church practice it on a regular basis, starting with the hearts of the leaders, then within the hearts of their members and continuing with their attitudes toward other churches. The leaders continued discussing it among themselves long after the workshop officially ended.

During a break in the workshop, several of the churches approached me (Lon) concerning the possibility of starting a Pastor’s Training School here on the Red Plot. A very productive conversation ensued and the result is that we will probably be launching the school in about six months. We are still in the very early stages of planning, but we have selected a name, basic strategies for growth and funding and a philosophy of education that focuses on practical application in the teaching-learning process. I will share more on the philosophy and strategy in future newsletters, but the name of the school will be:

Leadership Institute Of Namibia.

That’s a long name so it will be quickly shortened to its appropriate acronym: the L.I.O.N. school we will use the byline: “Biblical Training for Pastors and Church Leaders” to further describe our mission. Now that the hard part is over, I must get busy designing a curriculum, recruiting an all-volunteer faculty and other minor details like selecting the right students.

Pastor Thomas and I have been having many discussions lately concerning the development of our Hope for a Better Future Trust and more specifically how to most effectively use the resource (The Red Plot) that God has miraculously placed at out disposal. Our discussions have focused on the question: “What should we do with the plot and in what priority?” A few weeks ago Thomas reported a dream he had and how God spoke to him in the midst of his dream. In the dream, Pastor Thomas was wrestling with the BIG question of “What should we do with the plot?” and God responded: “A bigger question is, ‘What will I do with you?’” Isn’t it just like God to be more concerned with developing people than He is in developing property? The work we do for Him is very important, but even more important is the work He does in us along the way. Please pray for Pastor Thomas and myself as God does his work in us. The depth of his dream gives you an insight into the depth of his spirit and His ability to hear and respond to God.

Recently both Lon and Val were interviewed by TBN Namibia for the TV show “Behind the Scenes.” It is a 22-minute show that highlights what God is busy doing in ministries throughout the country. People keep telling us that they saw us on TV, but we have yet to see the show ourselves. We only receive TBN–South Africa with satellite feeds from TBN-America on our home TV. We will bring a copy of both interviews with us when we return to the States in August so our stateside friends and supporters can see it as well.

For months now we have been asking you to pray for some affordable retail space in which to sell Work of Our Hands merchandise and to expose the ladies to retail merchandising. God has provided such a space in Windhoek. It is a stall in the Namibian Craft Center, a craft outlet featuring handcrafts by Namibian artists and craftspeople. It opens on the 1st of May. We are sharing space with another artist to keep our rental costs down as we experiment with retail sales.

in the namibian NEWS

Zimbabwe currently holds two dubious distinctions. 1) According to the International Monetary Fund, it has the highest inflation rate in the world. In February, its consumer price index for basic goods and services was 782% higher than the same time last year. While industry is busy shutting down (40% drop in the past 7 years), the government is busy printing more money to repay IMF loans. In March, it rose to over 900%. 2) According to the World Health Organization, the expected life span of Zimbabweans is the shortest in the world. For women, it is only 34 years and for men, it is 37. Women’s life expectancy has fallen by 2 years in the past 12 months. This sharp decline is reportedly due to the poverty caused by the weak economy and by deaths due to AIDS. We report this as a reminder to pray for our neighboring country to the east.

PERSONAL NOTES

Thank you so much for praying for Val’s recovery from African Tick Bite Fever. She is completely well again. She has all of her strength back and the latest lab work says that her liver is also a happy camper again. It was quite an adjustment for all of us to have someone as active as Val unable to function at her normal level. It was frustrating, tiring and a little scary. But she is fine now.

Lon is celebrating the start of baseball season and the unexpected success of his favorite team, the Cincinnati Reds. It is a southern African wedding tradition for the groom to pay a lebola price to the bride’s parents. It is normally paid in cows. I have notified Bobby (Jamie’s fiancé) that in lieu of cows, I will accept baseball tickets in August since he works for the Colorado Rockies.

Bugsy is assimilating into the family quite nicely. Bo loves him and they bring a lot of joy into the home as they play together so well. Bo can still fit Bugsy’s entire head inside his mouth and Bugsy seems to enjoy shoving his whole front leg down Bo’s throat to tickle his tonsils, I guess. Bugsy is living up to his name. He is fearless and seemingly unaware that Bo is so much bigger than he is. I have nicknamed Bugsy, the “Little Rascal” because he is so mischievous and then he cocks his head and smiles at you. Then all you can do is laugh. He loves to bite Panda’s tail, which does not amuse Panda. Panda then boxes Bugsy’s ears a few times, but doesn’t put his claws out. He overcomes his feline instincts because Bugsy is so cute and because, he is after all, Panda’s adopted baby brother.

CHURCH DISTRIBUTED UPDATE

We continue our campaign to unite the African and American church. Hank and Joyce Schauer are returning to Africa next week. They have returned every year since 2002 for extended ministry projects. This year they will be conducting Holiday Kids Clubs at many concurrent sites all over Okahandja. (NORTHLAND NOTE: There will not be any video connections linking the sites J.) They hope to reach several thousand children with the hope of the Gospel and show the reality of God’s love in ways children seem to appreciate better than adults. They arrive next week and will be staying with us in our newly renovated flat. We hope to make the flat available to many of you who come to help connect God’s church in joint ministry and relationship building.

Two weeks later, Anita Lee will join us from Seattle to provide long-term administrative assistance to our ministry efforts here. She hopes to stay and help for two years. We are still looking for a small, affordable flat for her to stay in that is close to us and nice. We praise God for her answering our request for assistance. As God continues to challenge us with new ministry opportunities, the administrative requirements are usually the largest limiting factor. Please join us in praying for Anita’s accommodation. Housing is extremely hard to find in Okahandja.

This year’s Zebra Team (short-term missions team that has been coming to Namibia from the States every year since 2002) is quite large. There are 37 team members from the Orlando and Seattle areas. They will be lending valuable assistance to a number of Namibian ministry projects in which we are involved, including Hope for a Better Future and the Holiday Kids Clubs that Hank and Joyce are leading. Please join us in praying for their preparations and safety. They arrive at the end of June and will stay for over two weeks.

The Pastor’s Training Conference just completed was a big step forward in our mission to unite churches within Namibia, especially since it bridged many cultural, ethnic and religious boundaries. Please pray for a continuation of these Church “uniting” events as we encourage the Namibian churches to join hands in partnership in Kingdom-building activities. Please also pray for the organizing of a joint worship time for the Okahandja churches.

ON THE HOMEFRONT

We want to give a special thanks to those of you who write to us personally and give us family news from back home. It really means a lot to us to stay connected to your lives. Thanks so much. We’d love to hear from more of you.

UPDATE ON BEACH WEEKEND: We are delighted that so many of you have decided to join us at Cocoa Beach on the weekend of 18-20 Aug. We have friends coming all the way from Alabama and New Jersey to see us. It will be a wonderful time of fun, story-telling and catching up on family news. Don’t forget to make your reservations directly with the hotel (details below) and make them now since we have invited 700 families but only reserved 30 rooms. The rooms can accommodate from 1-4 people and the room rate is $79.99 per night plus tax. The normal Kids Eat Free special does NOT apply to our weekend stay. If you stay over Saturday night there is a two-night minimum stay. When you make your reservation, please also phone (407-830-9035) or drop an email note (dknapp4@earthlink.net) to Carol Knapp and also to me (lon.garber@northlandchurch.net).

Reservation Phone: 1-800-206-2747

Address: Holiday Inn Cocoa Beach
1300 N. Atlantic Avenue
Cocoa Beach, FL 32931

slice of african life

Ever wonder how you can know that you are flying over Africa? Just look out the window of the airplane. It’s the African Welcome Wagon.

Recently, the New Era newspaper reported some rather disturbing news about the condition of the Namibian educational system. A recent survey of over 600 schools in the north uncovered a 24% absenteeism rate. This is alarming, but what makes it even more so is the fact that this is the absentee rate for TEACHERS. How do you get the students to come to school when the teachers don’t? Isabella and several other friends report that one cause of high absenteeism among teachers is chronic alcoholism.

How do you keep elephants out of your fields? ANSWER: chili peppers. Elephants get habituated to traditional methods such as beating drums and setting fires and therefore are no longer deterred by them. Progressive farmers are now making briquettes from crushed, dried peppers, dried elephant dung and a little water. They spread the briquettes around the perimeter of their fields and light them. The resulting smoke burns the elephant’s eyes and the mucous membranes of its trunk. The elephant does not get used to the burning sensation so it is a simple, long-term, environmentally friendly solution to elephant induced crop damage.

ANIMAL TALES – This month’s story is an Ndebele fable (a South African tribe that later migrated to Zimbabwe) about why the hippo stays in the water all day and only comes out of it at night. Long ago, the hippopotamus had a beautiful coat of hair with a matching bushy tail. He was so beautiful, he loved to wile away the hours admiring his own reflection in the water. He made fun of the hares behind their backs and one day Hare heard him doing it. Hare decided it was time Hippo learned a lesson in humility. So he made Hippo a nice bed of soft, dry savannah grass and showed it to him. Hippo was so arrogant that he thought it proper and right that the lowly hare would build him a nice bed. He was therefore not suspicious. After Hippo fell asleep on his new bed, Hare ran to the village and gathered an ember from a fire and carefully returned to the snoring Hippo. He set fire to Hippo’s bed and by the time Hippo realized the danger, he was already on fire. He ran to the river, which only served to fan the flames. When he emerged from the water and looked at his reflection in the pool, he was aghast. His beautiful fur coat was gone. His bushy tail had disappeared. His body was bald and his skin an unattractive pinkish gray. He remains that way until today. He is so embarrassed by his body that he spends all day under water and only comes out at night when no one can see him. No one can even remember when Hippo was hairy. EDITOR’S NOTE: Don’t get between a hippo and his water source. If you do, he won’t stop until he kills you. Hippo’s are the deadliest animals for humans in all of Africa. They kill more people than all other animals combined.

This story is summarized from When Hippo Was Hairy: And Other Tales from Africa.” If you would like to read the full version and lots of other African folk tales, we highly recommend this book. ISBN: 1-86872-456-5

FINANCIAL SUMMARY

Here is our financial summary of our funding for 2006 as of the end of March:

$ 9,749 2006 YTD Giving
10,968 2006 YTD Budgeted Need
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$ -1219 2006 Ministry Account 2006 Deficit

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Thank you all very much for helping us pursue and sustain God’s calling for us in Africa.

IMPORTANT NOTE: When giving through Northland, make sure you designate “Lon and Val Garber” on your envelope or attached note. Otherwise, your donation may not be credited properly to our account.