March, 2006

Shortly after distributing the February Chronicles, God answered our prayers and delivered an assistant for Val. She is a close friend of ours who only lives two doors down from us. She and Val are in a small, early morning prayer group and one day while Val was asking AGAIN for prayer for an assistant, Cecilia (Van Zyl) announced that God was calling her to be the answer to our prayers. Cecilia and her family (husband and four children) attend the house church we are part of in Okahandja when I (Lon) am not off preaching somewhere else. A few months ago they became our neighbours. Since then Cecilia has become the answer to two of our prayers (assistant and close friend). Praise God for his love and care for Val’s well-being and sanity. Her responsibilities and schedule had reached the danger point before Cecilia showed up. And, as is God’s habit, she arrived just in time. She was a godsend for ministry continuity when Val got sick and was bedridden for almost two weeks (see Personal Notes below). She is organized, has an accounting background, is artistic, and is a wonderful complement to Val’s skills and strengths. 

And yet God doesn’t just meet needs, He does it abundantly. Anita Lee (mother of Derek Sanders, a member of the Namibia 2002 team), from the Seattle area, is re-locating to Okahandja to further help us with the administrative and ministry needs of Hope for a Better Future and Work of Our Hands. Anita has a heart for helping Namibians and will be a great addition to our ministry. It also helps that Derek and his wife Esther live nearby at Hodygos Training Center. She arrives in mid-May. Please pray with us that we can help her find an affordable, flat nearby.

One asset that came with the Hope for a Better Future Trust property is a large billboard at the entrance that advertised the property’s previous use as a tavern. The old billboard promised a false hope for good times.

Sam’s Tavern
POOL BAR
SHOP
BAR
TV ROOM
BEER GARTEN
TASTE THE GOOD TIMES

We are in the midst of having the sign repainted. Our new billboard promises real hope for all time.

HOPE FOR A BETTER FUTURE
BASIC NEEDS - HOMES, FOOD, JOBS
EDUCATION - CHILDREN, YOUTH, ADULTS
COMMUNITY - FAMILY, VILLAGE, CHURCH
Lukula Helo Luakulutue
Elineekelo Longlalamueno Iwa

This new sign advertises the mission of our ministry in abbreviated form, which will keep us busy with development projects for years to come. The slanted expressions at the bottom of the sign say “Hope for a Better Future” in OshiKwanyama (right) and Luchazi (left).

Our first community event was an evangelistic outreach. We partnered with Campus Crusade for Christ in the showing of the Jesus Film at 3 sites: on our plot, in the camp and in another informal settlement close by (called “Tin Town”). The events drew over 1000 viewers and many people put their faith in Christ. We are so thankful to CCCI for their ongoing commitment to world evangelism.

One of our priority projects for 2006 is the development of a commercial vegetable garden. We will use the produce to feed the sick and elderly and to teach camp residents how to grow their own vegetables. To that end, we are currently having the bore hole (well) and its water evaluated. We will need it for irrigation purposes.

PERSONAL NOTES

Our biggest personal news of this month is that Val contracted African Tick Bite Fever. It is the African “cousin” of Lyme’s Disease (but supposedly without the chronic conditions associated with it) and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. It is nasty stuff. She was bed-ridden for 10 miserable days. The antibiotics finally did their work on the bacterial infection but she is still very weak since the disease affected her liver functions. She is coming back very slowly and we are awaiting the results of the latest blood tests to see if her liver is returning to its “normal operating condition.”

Our other big news is that we have expanded our family with another four-legged member. Meet Bugsy, the cutest ball of fur in Okahandja. He doesn’t much look like the gangster (Bugsy Malone), and he is cuter than a bug’s ear.

He is a mixture of Shih-tzu and Maltese, very bouncy and with a happy disposition. We decided that Bo needed a playmate with more energy and time than we could devote to him and Bugsy has agreed to fill that role. Bugsy and Bo are quickly becoming best buddies. They love to wrestle with each other and Bo is learning how to be gentle with Bugsy. Bugsy is small (I can hold him in the palm of one hand) but fearless. Bo’s size, speed and strength do not intimidate Bugsy at all. Panda is tolerant but not sure why he now has to train another canine family member that cats DON’T play like dogs. Bugsy is learning that a hissing cat is not an invitation to play.

CHURCH DISTRIBUTED UPDATE

In April I will be conducting a joint training workshop for the pastors and leaders of 6-8 churches in the Okahandja area. Six of them are black congregations whose leaders have been networked for quite some time. We will be attempting to integrate the network with the addition of two newly formed churches with primarily white congregants. Our goal is to continue to build a strong, inter-racial alliance of churches and ministries working side-by-side to demonstrate Christ’s love in our community. Further, we are planning to conduct a joint worship service for all the churches in May. Both of these events are strategic steps in our campaign to build a network of Namibian churches that minister together.

ON THE american HOMEFRONT

Nancy Campbell, Sheryl Chernault and Carol Knapp have offered to help us organize our August beach weekend. They have located a site (Holiday Inn Cocoa Beach) and have reserved a block of rooms for August 18-19. We hope that many of you can join us for the weekend so we can tell stories from our ministry here, do a little teaching and preaching and spend informal time together in a relaxing setting.

Please 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. If you stay over Saturday night there is a two-night minimum stay. When you make your reservation, please also phone (407-695-9758) 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

We are very excited about spending this weekend with you. It will be a great time of fun and relaxation for all of us and great energy and time saver for Lon and Val since we can report to all of you at one time and still spend personal time with you without constantly driving around town. Please consider joining us for this weekend retreat. Our god-daughter, Khandi Bethea, from New Jersey will be joining us for that weekend and I will be performing a wedding ceremony on the beach for her and her fiancé Dexter.

slice of african life

Here is something you probably won’t find in an American newspaper, but recently appeared in The Namibian. “The King of Uukwaluudhi, Josia Shikongo Taapopi, has announced that mopane-worm collectors in the Uukwaluudhi district of the Omusati Region must register with his Traditional Authority office at Tsandi, and pay for the privilege.” It’s the Namibian equivalent to a hunting license I guess. Mopane worms are a food delicacy among some of the people of the north. “He said people should not start harvesting the worms until he announced the start of the mopane-collecting season, only after the worms mature sufficiently. In other districts, sellers do not have to pay for collection privileges since their king considers the mopane worm a “gift from God.”

The record amount of rainfall we’ve received this year is another prominent story in the Namibian news. The nation has a series of 13 dams spread throughout the country and they are mostly at or over 100% of their capacity. The only exception is the Hardap Dam near Mariental, which is at 71% of capacity. NamWater opened the sluices and flooded the town when the dam was in danger of collapsing under the weight of the water. We are blessed to have such rain in this normally parched, desert climate. The rains have fattened the cows and bring the promise of bumper grain harvests. We are very grateful to God.

Another story of note is the coming energy crisis in the country. Namibia now purchases most of its electricity from South Africa because it is cheaper to buy electricity than generate it. This is primarily due to the high cost of transporting South African coal to the generating plants in Namibia. In 2007, a nuclear power plant in near Capetown will close for routine maintenance and it will drastically reduce the supply of electricity available to several countries in Southern Africa. NamPower is scrambling for energy generation alternatives, asking consumers to cut back on electric usage and threatening rolling blackouts if necessary. This reminder leaves us grateful that Namibians do not normally experience power outages that are routine in many other parts of Africa. In Monrovia, the capital city of Liberia, they have not had power in over a decade.

There is an East African fable that attempts to explain why the warthog is so ugly. God created the warthog to be a fine-looking pig. He was so good-looking that he became vain and rude to all the other animals. He loved to insult others and then run to his den, often an abandoned aardvark hole, which he had enlarged and renovated. One day while warthog was out grazing, porcupine decided to borrow his hole for a brisk nap. At the same time, warthog could not resist insulting a nearby lion who chased him back to his snug little home. Warthog was so focused on escaping the lion’s massive teeth that he ran headlong into the awakened, defensive porcupine. With a face-full of quills, warthog desperately tried to find someone to help him extract the barbs. But those who hurl insults all day long, don’t find help when they need it. He had to scrape the quills off by himself using a nearby acacia tree. This left his face disfigured with scars and warts. It has been that way ever since. And now warthog backs gently into his hole to protect his face from unwelcome guests who may be squatting within. This story is summarized and adapted 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:

$  7,407    2006 YTD Giving (through February)
    7,312    2006 YTD Budgeted Need
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$      95    2006 Ministry Account Balance

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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.