2023 Was Just Dandy!

Such precious memories looking back to a year ago.  Ryan and Evangel with their 3 loveable kids Clarity, Cyrus, and Cadie, were with us for weeks in December, and little into January, leaving the night of the 3rd, into the wee hours of the morning of the 4th, with 3 very tired little people.  We did not envy them their long flights.  

Joe and Blessing Malete left two days later, on the 5th, while Berdine, Michelle, and Melissa had left a few days earlier.  10 people for overnight guests!  It was a good holiday season.

Michelle went home to Limpopo, and almost immediately got engaged!  And the wedding date was February 18th!  Michelle and Berdine are some of Evangel's dearest friends, so she came back to South Africa in February, bringing 17 month old Cadie with her!  Such a treasure to get some real time with them.  Evangel came a few days before the wedding, to get over jetlag, and then we flew to Johannesburg and rented a car to drive the 5 hrs to Shayandema in the Limpopo province for the wedding.  Evangel was a bridesmaid, so I was chief assistant with my granddaughter!  What a treat.  

School meetings were steady in February and March, until school holidays hit.  Tim, James and Paul were busy with those, and I went with Tim when two meetings happened at the same time and we needed two teams.  

April was yet another month at home!  Four months at home is practically a record.  When I look at Paul's calendar for April, it was full!  Tim came back from a visa trip to the States and there were schools every school day, and "tract meets" on non school days as well as some school days.  It stayed that way...busy!... until the 23rd of May when we three, Paul, Tim and I, left for the Jo'burg, Pretoria area.  It's been several years since we were there, so it was almost like starting from new.  As often is the case, we battled exams schedules, particularly on the east side of town, but we did much better on the west side.  

Some highlights of that trip were the earthquake we felt at 2:37 one morning, the Winnie Mandela Primary School being the first place Paul preached, seeing our friends Joe and Blessing, and Ben and Marietjie, and Isabella and Joshua Stubbs.  

We went back home to Muizenberg after that to get busy again there, but when the winter holidays came, we went to Botswana because they are on a different schedule and their schools were wide open at the time.  

Botswana was so peaceful.  We were sleeping in Gabarone, but did the bulk of our scheduling in Mchudi which is like an hour north.  I came to feel like we had seen every child in Mchudi, and it was great when so many of them were waving and greeting on the street.  

We had about a week at home, and then we were off to the USA to meet baby Harper Julianna Young, Josh and Holly's first baby!  She was born on the 19th of July, just one night before she was scheduled for a C-section.  We're so grateful she came naturally.  

We had some time in Maine delighting in family time, walking around the block with Wendy, swimming in the lake, and chilling, but the departure date loomed fast and we were off for meetings in Pennsylvania, Delaware, South Carolina {staying with Paul's sisters!}, Georgia, and Florida.  When schools opened, we were there for them.  

Finally we flew back to South Africa on the 22nd of September.  They gave us 3 months on landing, with the 21st being our final day in South Africa, but we obtained a paper saying we were OK until the 30th.  The Department of Home Affairs is keeping us on pins and needles.  

In October, Paul's sisters came to visit for a short visit.  After them Tim came home, the same day that they flew out.  He stayed until the Siberts came, and then he flew out the morning after they arrived.  Gary and Joshua Sibert were fun visitors.  

After the visitors, I went to the doctor to see why I was dragging, and found I had an infection of some kind.  I'm thankful that cleared up well.  

We had schools and afternoon "tract meets" most days, though Saturdays were days of rest.

On the 29th, we left home to head for Zambia as our visas were expiring and we have had good success with schools in Zambia.  The new year found us in Livingstone, Zambia, at Gloria's B n B.  

We lost Paul's Uncle Jim in 2023.  

Zambian/Botswana Trip 2025

Look at these beauties!  Baby didn't even cry at my shocking white face, but she was rather amazed. 

May 5th we left Cape Town, driving, for Zambia. The trailer had books and tracts as well as chalk equipment.   It took us 4 days of driving to get there.  We left ourselves one day to get organized and one day of rest before Paul started in preaching the first Sunday.   

Joseph Phiri, our pastor friend, scheduler, translator and all-around helpful guy had us at three churches that first Sunday.

Things went well, though I nearly crashed myself sliding on the polished cement floor in this church.  

Then, that night, our trip took a turn for the worse. Paul fell in the bathroom in the night.  He reached for a door frame, missed, and fell on the hard cold tiles.  I found the light and ran to find him with a puddle of blood under his head.  He said, "Forget the head.  It's my back."  

I cleaned and patched his head, and we went back to bed, but the agony had begun.  He was so sore!  And we had a school in just 7 hrs.  

He was able to speak and draw.  Pastor Joseph and I did all the lifting of chalk equipment and he made it through the two services, but the driving was torture.  Between potholes and speedbumps, his poor back was jostled a lot.  

Tuesday was a little better, but not much.  He was able to do everything scheduled but he was so uncomfortable.  He would wince at every bump, and I would wince at his wincing.  Driving was no fun, never mind the fact that it could take a whole hour to go 8 kilometers/about 5 miles.  Lusaka traffic is wild.

 On Wednesday our son Timothy flew in from America and I was so glad.  Thursday Paul stayed home to rest, and Timothy and I did the schools.  Friday and Sunday Timothy came, and they split the preaching.  Monday Timothy paired up with Pastor Joseph and his friend Mr. Meeti who would drive to their schools, and Paul and I were on our own.  He was improving each day, sleeping a little better each night.  

I have very few pictures of Timothy though Pastor Joseph might send us some.  

This school had an unusual assembly place, all marked out with bricks.  Each class could file into their row to stand.

This is the assembly, at dawn, with temperatures of 3 degrees Celsius, or 35 degrees Fahrenheit.  Brrr!!!! 

 

 

In Nata, Botswana, we had a huge school!  Most of the schools were having a holiday, I think, but this is a boarding school so we had 960 students in spite of the holiday. 

They sang a song so beautifully that I got all teary eyed.  I wish I had a good video.  

This school is something of a shock.  It is a drive through sandy roads and bush to find a huge, elegant facility, built to accommodate not just the students of Nata, but surrounding areas.  

At this school, a funny thing happened.  A little boy, I'd guess about 7 yrs. old, came to me and said, "Do you know what they're saying about you?  They're saying you're a grandmother."

"I am a grandmother!"  I told him, and he went back to his seat.  

Noth only did it make me laugh, it left me with questions.  

We raced down the highway in northern Botswana to try to get to Nata before dark, but we did see elephants and try to snatch their picture in the setting sun.  Or a little after?  

Interesting statues in front of a school.  

A challenging school because the kids were facing into this walkway.  So Paul would draw one of his quick silhouettes, then walk a little holding up the picture.  He also couldn't hold it too high or he'd crash into the ceiling, and he had to duck under beams.  And it was CHILLY!!!!  Somehow enthusiastic kids make up for a lot of the hardships, and these kids were friendly, eager and enthusiastic!  

 

Paul called this the leafy school as the trees were thick over the meeting place.  He had to do a lot of swiveling with the pictures, but not walk so far.  

The picture angle can give you an idea of one of my jobs.  I am the paper holder if it's windy so I snatch pictures from my place behind the board.  

I'll call this the hungry school.  I don't know how many were hungry, but I was!  We went without breakfast because it was so early, but intstead of being just two times speaking, they split the school by classes and we had five.  Notice Paul is the only one with his jacket off.  It was a little warmer because we were indoors.  They told us "the weather is unfriendly" so we had to be indoors which was better for the paper, and my stomach did survive.  

Also at this school, with one of the grades, the teacher was lecturing them about being good listeners and a boy very deliberately rolled up his stocking cap to uncover his ears.  It was so cute.  

The kids were memorably friendly at this one.  We love what we do!  So many agree with us to make decisions to follow Jesus!  

I got my jollies out of listening to the GPS read off some of these Setswana names like this one that is 13 letters long.  Mog O Rog O Wane, she said.  I don't think I could have done much better.  

We saw 3 giraffes!  With the fading light, this is the best picture I could get.  

A typical travel breakfast:  soft-boiled eggs made in the tea kettle along with tea made in the tea kettle too.  

Canned chicken sandwiches is another good traveling lunch.  

About once a day we buy something for a good, hot meal.  

Timothy was such a great help!  He was all grubby with chalk and the labors of the day, but happy in his successes.  He had some unusual trials on this trip with visa problems, but we prayed and the Lord intervened and it looks like those problems have cleared up.  Phew!  They }or their website?} were trying to charge him 22,000 kwachas with is nearly $1000.00.  

Suspense:  We ran out of tracts before our time in Lusaka ended so Paul called James in Cape Town and asked him to ship more to both Lusaka, Zambia, and Francistown, Botswana.  We expected them a whole week sooner than they arrived, and the suspense was terrible.  In each school, Paul would talk to the kids about leading others to the Lord and he would say, "I have something that can help you.  I have a paper that tells how people can ask the Lord to save them, and, if it comes, I'm going to leave enough for all of you."  

They came!  On our LAST school DAY in Francistown, they were delivered!  We loaded them straight into the car and set off for the nearest school.  It took close to 3 hours to retrace our steps through the nine schools we had been to that week, but we got to them all.  We'd have to track down the right person, often the guidance counselor, and find out how many students there were, and then we'd leave our precious cargo with them.  We had one more school that afternoon, and we were able to give those tracts straight to the students.  

After many of the schools and churches, we had to have a group picture so I'll end with one of the dozens of these I have in my phone.  

Botswana and Patricia's story

 

You can tell you're in Botswana when the elephants come out to the road to meet you.  

We saw this in a school office.   It's a picture of a rotten watermelon {I saw a parrot head first.}

                                                           Some cute little neighbors.  

Paul having a Pilgrim's Progress moment, crossing a stile in fine style.  He did not meet Giant Despair on the other side.  

Rush hour traffic near Nata.  We were kind of rushing, but this cow did not deign to even stand up for us, she and her friend just stayed resting right in the road as we buzzed along to a school.  

In Francistown, Botswana, we needed to find a place to stay so we prayed/sang our prayer for guidance, "Guide Me Oh, Thou Great Jehovah" and checked the GPS and Google for possibilities.  We picked The New Earth first, to try, and this is where we're staying for the whole time, and we can see the Lord's hand in it.  Patricia, our hostess and owner of The New Earth Guest House has been sharing her story with me, bit by bit as we snatch moments to visit.

She told me she was an alcoholic, divorced, and with many people after her to quit drinking.  She tried and failed.  Then one of her drinking buddies began to follow Jesus.  This friend invited Patricia to church, but she declined since she had already tried religion.  She felt she had tried everything.  

This friend persisted, but Patricia continued to say no.  Finally the friend sent in the big guns:  her pastor and his wife. Patricia said that pastor carried his guitar with him, was pretty casual and invited her to a braai, a barbecue.  She went and enjoyed the visit, the music, and the pastor.  He asked her to receive Jesus, but she said she couldn't quit drinking.  He told her not to worry, but to receive the Lord.  She finally agreed and prayed with him.  He then said something along the lines of the Ethiopian Eunuch, except the other way, What hinders you from getting baptized?  Or something to that effect.  So Patricia was baptized that same day, in his swimming pool.   

She continued to drink and smoke for more than a month, but suddenly she realized the smoking wasn't giving her any joy.  She felt like someone had rinsed the cigarettes with water.  They had no flavor and no "high".  So she quit.  And then the wine, she said before that, she could drink three bottles a day when she could afford it, but now, the wine tasted bad and she couldn't even finish a glass, it just tasted bitter.    

The house she was living in was run down, but once she received the Lord, she began to work on it.  She's been blessed with good business sense and a real go-getter attitude.  She gleaned some rocks from a roadbuilding project near her, and had a wall built by Zimbabweans.  More rocks came and she added on three wings to the home.  She has a nice patio area in the back with the same rocks and a picturesque thatch roof.  She registered her house with the town to be a guesthouse and it is flourishing!  She has 10 rooms to rent out, and very good rapport with a lot of regular customers. It was our first time here, but we will stay here again if we're in Francistown.  

Patricia also shared her witnessing strategy with me!  This conversation came about because she went to a RocoMamas restaurant to eat, and then she shared Jesus with the server.  The girl bubbled, "I'm so lucky!  You are the second person who has spoken to me [about Jesus] today."  And then showed one of our tracts which we had left when we ate there just a few minutes before them.  Patricia recognized Paul from the tract, or the name Small Paul, and she was delighted!  {Paul's photo is on the back, and our email address, and his chalk drawings are throughout the pages of the tract.}  We all agreed the Lord must really want that girl to get saved as there were so many of us reaching out to her on the same day.  

Patricia said at the guesthouse she is not allowed to preach to the customers so she gives them a slip of paper with three passages hand written on it:

                                                        Romans 10:9,10

                                                        Matthew 3:11

                                                        Luke 4:17-21

She tells them to Google those verses.  She is trying to be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.  She is seeing fruit from her sharing.  She speaks to people on the street too, and gives them slips of paper and then later checks in to see if they have read the verses.  She tells how the Lord has led, changed, blessed...all glory to God.    

Patricia's former husband obviously knew her as an alcoholic.  He was sure she was going to lose this house, this house that has so prospered, because of her alcoholism.  When he saw the change in her after she came to the Lord, after a year or two, he wanted what she has, and he confessed faith in Christ and  she baptized him in her pool!  He wasn't the only one.  Many others, including her Mom, and others from her family, have been baptized in that same pool!    

Patricia has been like a breath of fresh air into our lives, mine especially.  Traveling as we do can get pretty lonely, though we have each other and can talk to family, but this new friend is here in the flesh and a joy to be around.  We're grateful.  

Patricia has led many to the Lord.  Her husband's brother, who does not speak English or Patricia's language, prayed with her, with her husband translating.  Even more amazing, she has led three of her husband's girlfriends to the Lord.  We are praying the Lord will restore her marriage, and the marriage of her friend Esther.  Esther is the friend who led her to the Lord.  She is also regretting her pre-salvation divorce.  

Another story she shared, she was leaving the prison after ministering to some refugees there and saw a young lady walking.  She felt that God wanted her to offer the girl a ride.  They began to talk with Patricia asking if she was born again.  The girl prayed with her.  Then Patricia asked what she was doing at the prison.  She was visiting her brother who had killed two people, both women I think.  One was his girlfriend, and the other was a woman who was setting the girlfriend up with other men.  He killed them both in his anger and jealousy and now was awaiting the death penalty.

Patricia went to see him and bring him toilet paper as the girl said he needed that.  He was trembling so much that he had to sit on his hands to still them.  She was rather nervous too.  When the guards called him to visit with her, the other prisoners told him he was going to be executed, hence his shaking.  She talked to him about the Lord and he too asked the Lord to save him!  

Patricia is across from Paul and Esther is in pink.  I believe Esther is the one who got saved first and invited Patricia to church.  

Patricia's homemade tract
Not only does she give it and suggest they look it up on Google, she asks people later, "Did you read it?" 

A very large school on a very hot day with a VERY enthusiastic group of kids.  

                                               A glimpse of smaller private school.  

This low roof was challenging!  The board needed to be high to be seen, plus it needed to be swiveled around to show kids on the sides, plus Paul had to not knock his head.  He was tired after this one.  

                  Grateful for a cooling breeze and trees for shade at this school that met outdoors.  

We've never seen anything like the way Botswana schools celebrate Valentine's Day.  

Another Zambian Chapter

New Year's Eve, 2023, what did you do for fun?  We spent three hours that afternoon crossing the border from Botswana into Zambia.  

We still haven't gotten over this amazing bridge across the Zambezi.  We used to enjoy the ferry, the actual crossing, but the confusion and the wait and the pesky "agents" we don't miss.  

The pastor who brought us here called this an African church.  It's made of clay and sticks, and I love it.  

A glimpse into Paul with his translator at a Lusaka church...

and another church outside of town.  Notice the trash baskets for taking the offering.   

The church loves to gather after the service for pictures.  That is the church building in the background.  Dirt floor, stick covered with tarp or sacks.  I'm grateful it didn't rain while we were there, but there was still water on the ground inside from the last hard shower.  

Looks like I'm getting into the photo thing, selfies and all.  

Paul posing with pastors on a different Sunday after church.  I thought it was hot that Sunday, not knowing about the 105 degree temps that were coming.

  

3

Outside the pastors conference, things are not so serious.  

                                                                                            4

                                                                                   5

These girls Stephanie and Blessing are just the ages of our granddaughters.  Their Mom Faith and her husband Peter brought us to many places to preach.  

      Back to that church again.  

Paul and his translator named Mission.  

On this hot afternoon, Paul taught the pastors for about an hour, and then sat down to take questions.  His translator thought it was a good idea too.  

This is inside the church made of mud/clay.  Paul bonked his head on a rafter and got mud in his hair.  I like the "stars" that are the sun shining though holes in the pre-owned tin.  

We posed for a LOT of pictures.  This is at Kapila Primary School, at the church that meets in the school.  

I taught one ladies group, and Paul showed up in time for the pictures afterward.    

 Paul preached to these kids.  The schools were closed because there was a cholera epidemic so we went for orphanages and pastors conferences.  There was also some street evangelism.    

We loved staying at BMOZ, the Baptist Mission of Zambia, but apparently I didn't take any pictures there.  We stayed at the Brethren Guesthouse first, for a week.  We read some good books there, and got birthday ideas from that reading.