June Prayer Letter

Dumelang! O tsogile jang? (The literal translation is – Hello!  How did you wake up?)  You have probably never heard of Setswana, but it is the language spoken by over 60% of the people in the North West Province of South Africa where I will be living.  About 6 million people in Southern Africa speak Setswana and most are in northern areas of South Africa or in Botswana (where it is the lingua franca).  Although I can get by quite easily with English, I hope to learn a fair amount of Setswana while I’m in Mafikeng. By the time you read these ramblings I’ll just have returned from two weeks in South Africa with four vet students from Purdue University.  As I write this letter, I’m somewhat frantically trying to make sure I have everything I’ll need and that it will all fit in my suitcases.  You should see the pile of bubble wrap I’ve accumulated from work to be able to bring gifts and goodies home to share. A craft stall along the Panorama Route in South Africa There is quite a cottage industry in Southern Africa making and selling traditional crafts and carvings.  Almost every view point or waterfall you visit will have several stalls and the tourist areas all have little shops and venders.  The selection includes many soapstone items painted in lovely colors, wooden carvings of all types and sizes, stone carvings, painted wooden platters, and much more. I can’t wait to tell you more about all the Lord does during our trip so look out for my July prayer letter for all the details! In the meantime, please pray that the Lord would use this short trip to encourage those we will be serving and allow us to be conduits for His love. Learning about aquaculture and hydroponics at ECHO On a different note, in late April I flew down to Florida for a conference on Health, Agriculture, Culture, and Community held at ECHO, an organization that works to find and develop sustainable agriculture options for 3rd world countries.  My favorite sessions were those pertaining to ECHO’s work.  We learned about how to improve soil conditions and crop yields, improve nutrition for subsistence farmers, purify water with easily obtainable objects, build water pumps, and harvest methane from manure to fuel a cook stove. One plant that ECHO works with extensively is Moringa, a shrub/tree from Asia and Africa with amazing nutritional qualities.  The leaves contain almost 10% protein along with very high levels of vitamin C, B vitamins, vitamin A, iron, potassium, and calcium. This plant is easy to grow and a few teaspoons of dried leaf powder can prevent malnutrition in babies and children.  I’m not sure how much I’ll be able to use all this new knowledge in South Africa, but I can’t wait to find out.  Thanks to all of you who are supporting me, I’ve now reached the 50% mark! To give you a better idea of what more is needed, just 27 more supporters giving $50 a month would meet the rest of my budget and send me on my way. Till next month….