David and I had the opportunity and privilege of traveling to Outapi, Namibia with 7 others to help in the efforts to establish an evangelical church there. These are some of the first pictures we loaded while there and some of the stories to explain. It was an amazing adventure!!
Most of these pictures are not in order - sorry. There are just so many, if I can later, I'll reorganize!
Here we are on the airplane, leaving the US. 16 hour flights are really long!
There are 2 pastors at the church in Outapi, Erastus and Noah. This is Noah's wife, Penyembeko. We are standing inside the church, which was about 20 feet by 15 feet, tin, and no electricity. They used a generator while we were there at night to run the two lightbulbs.
The food choices in Outapi are less than plentiful. There was really only one clean place, so we ate there every day. The only thing on the menu was chicken and chips, so that's what we had every day. We're not sure if the food got better daily or our expectations changed over the week, but by the end of the week, it was really good chicken. I won't mind if we don't eat any fried chicken again for a while though! Also, the Stoney ginger beer is fantastic!
Ms. Jo trying on her dress in the marketplace.
In the marketplace, there were all kinds of delicacies including caterpillars and something similar to sardines...I did not partake. There was also meat and fish hanging everywhere.
The babies are everywhere, and SO beautiful! I tried to think of ways to bring them home, if it just weren't illegal! Twice on the trip there were ladies who asked, in all seriousness, if someone in our group would like to take their babies to America. They were willing to give us their babies right there on the street, just to know they would be in America. It wasn't because they didn't love them, but because they did, and they knew there was a better chance of their survival here than in Africa. SO very sad.
BK was ready for a day in the sun! We thought the weather was great - lower 70s for most days. It is the beginning of their winter there, and they all thought it was cold. You may notice in several of the pictures, the babies are bundled in blankets, and the kids are wearing toboggans and coats and gloves. We would sweat just looking at them!
David preached the Gospel on Sunday morning, and Erastus interpreted - it was a great thing to witness. The singing was also amazing - it's beautiful to hear God praised in another language!
Richard (our guide) and Sid and several kids from the Vision School
Back at the Vision School - these are some precious kids in the Grade 1 there.
Ms. Laurie and some cuties
David and I and a few excited kids
This darling one was very sweet
Ms. Sherry held this little guy through most of Sunday's service
Aren't they beautiful?! You can see some of the school in the background. Laurie brought glue sticks and had to explain to the teachers how they are used, as they had never seen them before. The man who is paid the tuition drives a very nice truck and lives very well. The teachers asked us for help in getting pencils because the kids had run out. So much seems unfair for these kids. We left lots of school supplies for them, spent time with the kids in the classrooms, and gave the kids stickers and sweets. It was a good time.
The ladies had a Bible study each night, and I taught on Saturday. The lady with the baby on her back is Erastus' wife, and she interpreted for me. I taught about why it is important for each of them to study the Bible and how to start doing it.
Ms. Laurie and the Pre-K kids. They sang "Father Abraham" for us and it was more precious than words! Such a sweet group of kids!
So that's an overview of the first part of the trip - as I get pics loaded I'll post again, but I wanted to go ahead and share some of what we did over the last two weeks! Thanks so much for the encouraging words and prayers for us while we were there!!
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