October, 2005

LON’S MINISTRY NEWS

This month I had the privilege of teaching for the first time at Gospel Outreach’s Christian Leadership School at Imkerhof. The students are at the end of an 18-month course in Biblical Studies, Systematic Theology, Ecclesiology, Church Ministries, Christian Lifestyle and Leadership. There are 27 students in this class from all over Namibia and the DRC (Congo). Udo Wahl, the director, asked me to give a short (2-day) teaching about some of the realities of ministry they will face after they graduate (end of next month). I had a wonderful time teaching and learning with them and hope to make it a regular part of my ministry here in Namibia. Imkerhof is located in the bush 150 km (90 miles) northeast of Okahandja via mostly dirt roads. As my assistant Alex and I traveled to the school early Tuesday morning, we passed a kudu, 2 oryx, several steenbokand many ever-present warthogs along the way. 

We have mailed the first correspondence lesson to 55 students. And we have received the first completed lesson this week from Edward Chitima, our Luchazi translator. Please pray that we can continue to expand this ministry.

VAL’S MINISTRY NEWS
Val senses that it is now time to incorporate her ladies into local marketing efforts. Until now, the ladies have mastered the crafts and Val has taken the responsibility for marketing their production. With the goal of making them financially independent entrepreneurs, it is necessary to take the next step of opening a local retail outlet as a means of teaching the ladies about marketing and retail displays.

This is a big step and it will be quite a challenge for most of the ladies who are just now beginning to speak a little English and up to this time have been dependent upon Val to do their marketing for them. Val would really appreciate your prayers for wisdom as she plans this next major step in the growth of her craft projects. This may turn into a bit of a challenge since to many Namibians, handmade does not mean fine craftsmanship, it means cheap merchandise and so people want to pay less and not more for handmade goods.

PERSONAL NOTES
We are busy settling into our new home. We do not own it yet because it seems the current owner never properly transferred the deed into his own name when he bought it from his brother. And now the brothers aren’t speaking to each other. As we wait for them to sort it out with the help of their mother, we are enjoying the house rent-free. We don’t feel too bad about our deed transfer challenges because it seems that President Pohamba is in the same situation. When Namibia won its independence, it failed to officially transfer the deeds of many government buildings, including State House, the presidential residence. Officially the Namibian State House (the Namibian version of The White House), is still owned by the Republic of South Africa. Oops, that paperwork will get you every time.

We are not the only residents of the property. There is a family of mice who reside (or maybe I should say “resided”) in the acacia tree in our front yard. So Panda, our cat, now spends a lot of time sitting in the tree. He loves the idea that the mice have greatly diminished their opportunities for escape. So the family has so far been reduced from 6 to 2. But does Panda eat them in the tree? No way! His preferred dining environment is our bedroom. Since Val loves to read in bed in the evening, she has an unwelcome ringside seat to the “crunch, crunch, crunch” of mouse skull when Panda decides to feast in the corner. Then, it’s “slurp, slurp, slurp” as the tail disappears. Needless to say, Val is not amused. The first time it happened, she screamed and I came running and evicted both cat and mouse carcass. Two minutes later, they both returned through the window. [EDITOR’S NOTE: Sorry ladies for the graphic portrayal. This is why men shouldn’t be allowed to write newsletters.]

But mice are not the only reason Panda likes our new home. When we awoke a few days ago, there were bird feathers all over the bedroom floor. It looked like someone had a pillow fight in the night. Sitting in the middle of it all, Panda was grinning from ear to ear, picking his teeth with the quill of a feather. In true African tradition, no one likes to dine alone.

Val and I attended a dance this evening at the town hall. It was an interesting cultural experience. We were the only white faces there. I guess we must dance “a little differently” because we were immediately asked where we were from. J We may have also been the only one’s drinking Coke. We just wish Bobby and Judi Chapman could have been with us. On our way home, we had to wait for a few cows to vacate the street just a block from our house. They must have been country cows who came to paint the town on a Saturday night.

CHURCH DISTRIBUTED UPDATE
Last weekend, we traveled home from Swakopmund on the InterCape Mainliner (that’s a bus, not a heroin addict). The bus was nearly full and there were only single seats still available. It did not take long to discover that both of our seatmates were American educators on a one-year assignment to help the Namibian educational system. Sharon Finley works at NIED (Namibian Institute for Educational Development) here in Okahandja and Muffin Kent is assigned to the Ongwediva Teacher’s College. It is always interesting to meet other Americans in Namibia, but especially so this time. Sharon lives close by (we have been invited to share Thanksgiving dinner) and Muffin is now trying to help Isabella, who wants to attend the teacher’s college next year. Muffin is from Mariner’s Church in California and took an instant liking to Isabella when we introduced them to each other. God is always connecting His People, even in the middle of the desert (which is where we got to know Sharon and Muffin. Please pray for Isabella as she seeks to further her teaching preparation. She has applied to three schools and we are trusting God to lead her to the right one.

ON THE HOMEFRONT
Later today, we pick up our close friend, Dana Mitchell, at Hosea Kutako Airport. He will be spending a few weeks with us. He will be the first visitor to enjoy the guest flat in our new home. We hope many of you will follow him. It is decorated in an African motif … imagine that. I’m sure you’ll like it. We’ll even supply hot water for your bath and we have kept the light on for you. Bo is really excited because Dana is bringing a replacement “Kong,” the doggy wonder toy. Bo’s first Kong has “gone missing” as we are fond of saying over here. Bo must have buried it for a rainy day, not realizing that we were going to move. Bo loves his Kong and is happy to be receiving a second chance to care for his toys. In the meantime, he has grown rather fond of a doggy-mouth sized football which wheezes when he chews on it.

Larry Sherman will also visit in another week on his 7th trip to his beloved Namibia. While he is here, we hope to visit Rundu together and speak at several churches in the area. Larry has a powerful testimony to share with the people of Namibia and we look forward to ministering with him.

Also in November, Alan and Janet Hoffberg, more friends and supporter of ours from Orlando, will be coming to Namibia to participate in a cheetah research project. Janet works with the Central Florida Zoo. Their project is being conducted near Okahandja and while they are here, we will take them to Etosha National Park to explore Namibia’s other wildlife.

Slice of african life
As in America, shops in Namibia pipe in background music to subtly enhance your shopping experience. What is very different is the choice of music. The other day I was sitting in Nando’s (a chicken restaurant) enjoying lunch listening to a song by the Backstreet Boys. Immediately following it was a stylized version of the old hymn “Nothing But the Blood of Jesus.” That certainly would never happen in America.

Here’s something else I doubt you’ll see in America. The Donkey Welfare of Namibia organization is handing out reflective ear tags to farmers for the same reason we put reflectors on bicycles. Recently someone hit a donkey in downtown Rehoboth. The mayor noted that donkey collisions are common in the area since many people travel to town in donkey carts. Animals in the road at night are a major concern here. For that reason, we try not to drive after dark. Now if someone will figure out how to tag the kudu and elephants.

FINANCIAL SUMMARY
Here is our financial summary through end of September:

$37,934 YTD Giving
36,563 YTD Budgeted Need
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$ 1,371 Balance in Ministry Account

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. Thanks so much.

ANOTHER IMPORTANT NOTE: The home we are buying is from the proceeds from the sale of our home in America. We are not using any ministry money for this purchase. We just wanted to make sure you knew that your financial support is being used to advance the ministry we are doing for God’s kingdom.