Monday - Tuesday Highlights

Hello family and friends,

Monday was our safari day! We drove through Etosha, which is a self-guided safari half the size of Pennsylvania. The day was off to a slow start because the early rains which kick off the rainy season came early this year. During the dry season, the animals are easy to spot because they all gather at the waterholes, but when it rains, there isn't as much incentive to draw them out into the open. We still saw zebras, ostriches, giraffes, all sorts of birds, wildebeest, kudu, oryx, eland, impala, red hartebeest, jackals, and more. We were a bit disappointed when we only saw one elephant way off in the distance. You can imagine how ecstatic we were when we saw 2 elephants right along the road when we were only a few minutes from the park exit! It really made our day!

In the evening we had a delicious dinner at the home of our missionary hosts, Mark and Victoria Turney, where we were also joined by some of the national pastors who have become like friends to us. Such a good day!

Today we had a very full day of ministry filled with twists and turns. We started off the day with a school assembly program for 8th graders in a brand new school. Kayleigh and Nick spoke, and both did an awesome job. We then met with home-based care-givers for AIDS patients, where Cindy brought a word of encouragement before we went out in groups to visit the AIDS patients in their homes and pray with them. Each group had an awesome experience and some led their patients to the LORD! Of course, spiritual attack is always on the heals of spiritual victory. When we returned to the van, we found that it had been broken into. One of the windows was shattered, and Cindy and Kayleigh both had their bags stolen. Although it was a nuisance and a disappointment, we realized we had a lot to be thankful for. None of the missionary's sound equipment or our video equipment was taken (which would have been a big loss and hindrance to ministry), and no one was hurt. The ladies had such a good attitude about it!

We went to the police station to file a case (always interesting in a foreign country). Although that took the entire hour that we were supposed to be doing hospital visitation, we were determined not to let that distract us or pull us away from ministry. As soon as the report was filed, we went to visit the children's ward and the intensive care to minister to people there. The team was amazing as they poured out their prayers and compassion!

In the afternoon, we made a brief visit to Muriel's. She was still in the capital city picking up the plaque she got for us, so we are planning to visit her tomorrow. We then went to the Ombili location to canvas and invite people to the evening service where we ministered tonight. Brenda and Chris Knarr shared really great testimonies again!

After the service, we said our goodbyes and then had our team farewell dinner at one of our favorite restaurants. It was such an encouraging time! We leave tomorrow at 7:30AM to say goodbye to Muriel and the Joy Centre, and from there we'll head to the airport with a stop at the craft market on the way. After that, we'll have a 3 hour flight to South Africa, followed by an 18 hour flight to JFK, followed by a 3 hour drive home, where we can't wait to see your lovely faces :)

Love and gratitude,

Pastor Courtney and the team