Christmas Letter 2016

“Christmas time is here

Happiness and cheer

Fun for all that children call

Their favorite time of year”

                    - Lee Mendelson

What a blessing it is to be home for Christmas this year!  For some reason, it didn’t really feel like Christmas last December in South Africa. Maybe the 100 degree weather and blazing sunshine had something to do with that.  It just isn’t right, for me, to spend Christmas in a tank top and shorts!  And how can you have Christmas without baking?  But who wants to heat up their oven when it is crazy hot and there is no air conditioning?

Thankfully, Christmas isn’t about baking, wearing hats and scarves, drinking hot chocolate, or even being with family.  It is about celebrating the birth of Christ; come to redeem the world. He brought freedom, love, redemption, and hope to ALL people.  That fact holds true no matter what the weather is like!

It took 24 hours, airport to airport, to get home from South Africa, with a 2 hour layover in Amsterdam.  Thankfully, the flights went smoothly and my baggage arrived, with me, in Vancouver, BC safe and sound.  I must say, however, I’m not looking forward to the flight back on the 27th.  I don’t think I’ll ever get used to these long-haul flights. 

While home, I’ve enjoyed spending several days with my Aunt over this holiday season. She is fighting a losing battle with cancer and so I cherish every minute we spend together. This is the kind of thing that makes living overseas difficult. 

On a happier note, I had a bit of reverse culture shock in the produce department of Fred Meyer recently.  Such an amazing abundance and variety!  Not that South Africa is really lacking in their produce departments, especially compared to other Africa countries.  But still, I looked around, sighed, and enjoyed the display.

Some of the foods I’ve been enjoying while home include: eggnog, bagels, clam chowder, tortilla chips, and coffee shop drinks.  I may have to attempt making bagels back in South Africa when the weather cools down again.

As much as I enjoy being back in the US, I look forward to getting back to South Africa and starting the new year with a new group of students. My garden there likely needs a lot of love after being neglected for a month and I’m sure my foster cat, Leo, will be very happy to have company again.

I’ll skip all the details about the past year in South Africa since you have probably been keeping up with me via my prayer letters and Facebook. If for some reason you don’t receive my regular prayer letters from South Africa, please let me know or sign up at www.cvmusa.org/quam.

I wish you a stress free Christmas season and a heart filled with the peace of Christ.

Dec Prayer Letter - Project in Sixhundred

Can you believe it is December already?  By the time you read this letter I’ll be home in WA for a few weeks enjoying the holidays with my family.  I not only look forward to seeing my family, but also to experiencing a WA winter.  Hopefully we will get lots of rain while I’m home!  After the last year and a half living in near desert conditions, my soul is parched for rain.  The smell of rain, the sound of rain, and the feel of rain will all be a blessing.

Since my last letter in October, we (the Gestring’s and I) took five of our witnessing training students on an outreach in the nearby village of Sixhundred. Although the university had been shut down for two weeks previously due to student protests, we were still able to continue with the outreach.
We worked with a small church in the village to host a children’s program in the morning and a youth outreach in the afternoons/evenings.  Each morning, children came from all over the village to have a lesson in Tae Kwan Do and then to hear Bible stories and discuss them in small groups.  As always, the Tae Kwan Do was a big hit and many of the kids worked extremely hard on their own time to get the pattern down for the contest on the final day.  Thankfully, because this village is near Mafikeng, Dr Gestring will take some of his university Tae Kwan Do students out there regularly to continue working with the village kids.

This year, however, our primary goal was working with the youth of that church to train them in evangelism and outreach for their community.  After several training sessions, our university students took the church youth out into the village door to door each afternoon.  It was so exciting to see the youth of the church gradually taking on the responsibilities of witnessing and, as a result, growing in their own faith. It was also wonderful to see our university students taking on the leadership and training roles so that the Gestrings and I were simply there for support. Our university students hope to continue working with the youth of the church at Sixhundred over the next year.

After the outreach, when the university reopened, violent protests continued for several days and I spent 2 weeks living with friends off campus.  This time, the university decided to actively crack down on the protesters rather than closing the university down.  However, over the first few days, things were quite rough and one of the Animal Health lecturers was hosed down with a fire extinguisher and another was assaulted with rocks. By the second week, campus was calm enough that classes and tests could continue.

During the second week, the Gestrings started a daily prayer walk around campus at 6am and we continued these prayer walks for several weeks, joined frequently by various staff and students.  The first few days we found numerous rubber bullets in our path that had been fired by the security and police to disperse rioting students.  I picked up several for souvenirs

In early November, I spoke at the regional women’s conference in which my church participates.  I was asked to share about living for God as a single woman and enjoyed the opportunity. Quite a few women from my church were also in attendance and we relished the fellowship despite the rather rustic accommodation.

Continued Riots on Campus

Today is day three of living with friends off campus while students run amok on campus. Although the university insists each morning that all is under control and that staff should continue with normal activities, we have not opened the clinic due to fears for client and staff safety. Over the past two days many lecturers have been chased out of the lecture halls with fire extinguishers, professors have been assaulted, and one Dr who works at the clinic was attacked by students throwing rocks. How can the university continue to ask staff to come to work when they have clearly been unable to control the situation adequately? We will see what today brings.

Thankfully, our campus is not the one making headlines this time around. There has been no major damage here recently. On many other universities however, students continue to burn buses, buildings, residences, etc. In Johannesburg, one protest spilled out into the city and several shops were looted and destroyed. There is even talk of the government calling for a state of emergency.

Why are the students protesting? They have decided that it is time for the government to make university free for all students. Now, just like a toddler who isn't getting what he wants, they are throwing a temper tantrum, using violence to attempt to force their own way no matter the consequences to the rest of the country.

Oct Prayer Letter - Short Term Team

Time is flying on and winter has turned to summer without the benefit of spring.  Just a week after the short-term mission (STM) team left, the temperatures entered the 80 during the day.  I’ve put away all my winter clothes and taken the duvet off the bed.  Thankfully, here have still been a few cool nights, so I’ve been enjoying the last few cups of tea for the year.

All in all the STM team went well and we accomplished quite a lot during their stay.  The team was made up of two veterinarians, Cathy and Bonnie, and a vet student, Jen.  Mon-Wed they came to the clinic with me and enjoyed getting to know the students.  One of those clinic days, we took the students to lunch at the cafeteria on campus and were able to experience the chaos of ordering a meal when everyone just clusters around the window and tries to get their order heard next.  The options included stew with pap (kind of like stiff grits or polenta), chicken with pap, fries, and premade sandwiches.

Two evenings during the STM we put on supplementary trainings for the final year students.  It was a lot of fun getting them up and moving pretending to be hearts pumping! Topics included cardiology, fecal analysis, one-health, and cancer.  The cancer talk also gave Bonnie a great opportunity to share her testimony through her own cancer story.

We also participated in a spay/neuter day here in Mafikeng along with the government veterinary services.  I had decided to organize one during the STM trip and got in touch with the government vets to see if we could use one of their mobile animal clinics.  They loved the idea and took over organizing it and we ended up having 6 vets perform over 75 sterilizations in one day.  Although the American vets couldn’t do the surgeries (not licensed here), they helped tremendously in monitoring the animals during and after surgery, keeping instruments clean and organized, running errands, etc.

It was a new experience for most of us Americans as the surgeries were performed under injectable anesthesia only.  The animals were induced with ketamine and Domitor and topped up with thiopental if needed.  We had brought Propofol along so our team from NWU used it instead of thiopental.  Most of the animals had no anesthesia monitoring, but our team had enough people to do some monitoring during surgery. I’m so glad that we don’t have to do surgery this way at the clinic.  The experience made me incredible grateful for our anesthesia machine and monitoring equipment.

On another morning, we joined the Mafikeng SPCA for a rabies vaccine outreach in a local village and vaccinated 90 dogs in 3 hours!  The dogs were also dipped for ticks before they went home.  It still amazes me how the majority of people don’t leash their dogs.  Dogs of every description were just running around us loose, while owners tried to catch them so we could vaccinate.  Thankfully, only a few fights occurred.

The STM team also participated in our weekly student Bible studies and witnessing training on campus and the AWANA program run at my church.

Finally, they had two days on safari and managed to see all the big five (lion, leopard, cape buffalo, elephant, and rhino) plus wild dogs, hyena, zebra, giraffe, and lots of antelope species.  We enjoyed fabulous sunset stops during the afternoon game drives with snacks and drinks, hot chocolate stops during the morning game drives, and amazing meals at the lodge.

On a completely different note, now that I have been on the field for almost a year and a half, my prayer letters will start coming every other month rather than monthly.  The newness is wearing off and life here has settled into routine.  My next prayer letter will come to you in December.  To keep up with events this side as they happen, be sure to “like” my Facebook page.  The page also includes quite a few more photos from the STM team’s visit.

I will be flying back to the US for most of December and would love to get together with as many of my supporters as possible.   Please let me know if you would like to meet for coffee or a meal in Western WA.

Sept Prayer Letter - Stuck in a Restroom

We were stuck; locked in the women’s restroom at a petrol (gas) station on the road back to Mafikeng.   The trip had been going relatively smoothly for an entire 24 hours, but that came to screeching halt in this dark, unpleasant restroom. The last member of the short-term mission team entering the restroom had shut the outside door and didn’t realize that the latch was broken and wouldn’t work from the inside.

After everyone had tried turning the latch and shaking the door repeatedly with no change in the doors locked status, one of the ladies climbed up on a toilet in one of the stalls, opened the window, and leaned out to summon help.  The door opened easily from the outside and our relieved group filed out into the sunshine. 

How often do we get locked into problems and situations with no way to get out on our own?  We keep trying the same things over and over to get out, but with no success.  Unless we recognize our need for God’s help, we stay locked in the dark restroom of our problem.  But, once we ask Him for help and are willing to accept it, he will bring someone or something to open the locked door from the other side.

Hopefully the remainder of the team’s time here in South Africa can only improve!  Please pray that the seeds planted during this short-term trip will grow and flourish over the next few years.  

Aug Prayer Letter - A Time for Every Season

There is a time for everything,

and a season for every activity under the heavens:

a time to be born and a time to die,

a time to plant and a time to uproot,

a time to kill and a time to heal,

a time to tear down and a time to build,

a time to weep and a time to laugh,

a time to mourn and a time to dance

Ecclesiastes 3:1-4

“A time to mourn and a time to dance…”  This quote from Ecclesiastes sums up the past month perfectly although it was reversed for me.  First, I was blessed to be invited to join in a traditional wedding celebration for Florance, one of my most faithful Bible study and evangelism training students. 

Florance finished her studies in Animal Health last year and I cheered as she walked across the graduation stage this spring.  Now she was moving on to the next state in life’s journey.  Earlier in the day, the two families held the lobola ceremony, a very traditional marriage ceremony where the bride’s family is presented with a wedding trousseau for the bride and a prearranged bride price paid in cows (or their equivalent in cash).  It was now time for guests to celebrate along with the bride and groom with traditional dancing and meal.  A full meal was served with fried chicken, stewed beef, sorghum mash, pap (corn meal mash), rice, beetroot salad, cabbage, and several other salads.  It was wonderful to see her one more time and wish all the Lord’s blessings on her marriage.

Then, later in July, we lost an elder of our church, Calvary Baptist.  He was a professor at North-West University in the English department and a wonderful man of God.  After not returning home one night after marking student papers, he was found by our pastor in his university office in the early hours of the morning having suffering a stroke.  He was collapsed and unable to talk and the EMTs rushed him to a local hospital.  Several weeks later, having improved only slightly, he fell into a coma and became late (died) the next day. 

Although I was not able to attend his funeral I was privileged to attend one of the nightly prayer services traditionally held every night the week prior to a funeral and attended the memorial held on campus. His smile, his prayers, and his encouragement will be greatly missed in our church family and at the university.

We dance, we mourn, we marry, and we die, but God never leaves us.  He is with us through the joy and through the pain.

Last month I was also blessed to take a holiday between terms at the university.  I traveled 8 hours south east, near Durban, for a few days at Zimanga, a photography game reserve.  They specialize in first class photography hides with one way glass, rolling office chairs, air conditioning, etc.  There newest hide is an overnight hide where you enter at 4pm and leave the next day at 10am.  It is at a water hole with motion detectors to alert you if any animal come to drink.  We saw rhino and buffalo twice, but no elephants or leopard. 

After leaving Zimanga, I spent two days in the Drakensburg Mountains on my way back to Johannesburg.  It is a beautiful area and although the hiking was rough on my body, it was restful for my spirit to be among mountains and natural beauty again.

Finally, please pray this month for the short-term mission team from Christian Veterinary Mission that will be spending 2 weeks here in Mafikeng. Next month I’ll let you know how things went!

July Prayer Letter - New Growth

Today it is cold (67°F) and very windy with dust clouding the air.  Everyone is wearing hats (even the kind with the ear flaps that fold down) and scarves and heavy coats.  We are bundling up tight to keep out the wind, starting fire in fireplaces, or cranking up the portable electric heaters.  Yet even in the cold, seeds are being sown and new life can flourish!

How can that be?  I’ve been planting lettuce seeds every few weeks to keep a steady supply and can now harvest my own whenever I’m in the mood for a salad.  Even better, spiritual seeds are always in season and can produce fruit in even the coldest weather.

Last month, before the students started their exams, I had a wonderful conversation with several of them.  They asked me one afternoon why Adam and Eve got in trouble for eating an apple?  What was so bad about eating an Apple?  It was a wonderful opening to discuss the true story of the Garden of Eden and man’s disobedience towards and lack of trust in God.  We also talked about God’s redemptive plan to restore the relationship that Adam and Eve’s actions destroyed.

Then, this week, I was blessed to see fruit developing in my church’s ladies meeting.  We have been studying evangelism and discipleship using T4T methods.  One of the ladies related how she used the gospel story we had practiced to share the gospel with a girl in her AWANA group.  Another of the other ladies has been taking the lessons we cover and translating them into Afrikaans for a daily study with her employees, one of whom is in a South African cult called Zion Christian Church.

Please pray that the Lord will continue to grow up new life and bring forth a great harvest here in Mafikeng.  Even when it seems like winter and new growth appears impossible, He can do all things.

June Prayer Letter - Winter

“What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness.”

― John Steinbeck

Ah, the mugs of hot chai tea latte, warm sweaters, cozy blankets, and nights spent cuddled next to an electric heater.  Winter is gradually finding its way down from the north and the nights are definitely getting colder here in Mafikeng.  Thankfully, fall stayed quite warm during the days so my garden is still growing and I’ve only now started to need my comforter to stay warm at night.

Even with the cooler weather, all is still peaceful on campus and the students are beginning their exam this month. They finish the term on the 22^nd and will then have 3 weeks holiday.  Because they started exams on the 31^st, there are no students at the clinic on rotation until mid-July and it feels very empty.  We still consult and see patients as usual, but there are no students to teach.   I also have a break from leading the student Bible study and witnessing group as they are too busy studying for exams to attend.

As much as I enjoy working with the students, I relish the breaks as a time to catch my breath and refocus my own spiritual walk.  It is easy to focus so much on training and working with others that I forget to rest in God.  Please pray that during the month of June my relationship with the Lord will be refreshed and renewed. 

On the veterinary side of things, I had some visitors from the US last month and organized a rabies vaccine outreach in a village south of Mafikeng. We vaccinated 23 dogs in the village and one cat!  The outreach was organized in conjunction with the local SPCA and they provided dipping for the dogs to kill ticks and reduce the risk of tick borne diseases. It always amazes me how well the village dogs tend to behave.  The owners generally bring them without leashes or collars, but there is little fighting or running off.

Next month I have an American veterinary student visiting for 2 weeks and then in August there will be a small CVM short-term mission team visiting for 2 weeks.  During those times I hope to do several more rabies vaccine outreaches and possibly a spay/neuter day.

Please be praying for these visits, that the Lord will provide opportunities to develop and deepen relationships and to share the gospel here on campus.  Pray that hearts would be prepared to hear and accept the good news of Christ’s free gift of salvation.

Please also be praying over the next month that the return of students for the 2^nd term will be peaceful with no renewal of protests or violence.

May Prayer Letter - Peace

Thank you so much for your prayers!  I am very pleased to report that there has been no further violence or student action on campus.  We have had three weeks of peace, so far, and there is no indication that we should expect any differently for the future. 

It has been wonderful having the students back in the clinic again.  I truly enjoy teaching them the practical aspects of small animal medicine, even if the students occasionally push me to pulling my hair out.  The last group of eight was the most frustrating so far, but they finished up well on their rotation quiz. 

At the end of each two week rotation I write a one page quiz based on what we covered and what I taught.  For example, they are expected to recognize two tick borne diseases on blood smears (Ehrlichia and Babesia), be able to focus a microscope (a difficult tasks for them to master), understand vaccine protocols for cats and dogs, be able to do a brief physical exam on a pet, and understand some common medications. They also get points for punctuality, involvement, and professionalism during the rotation.

Although few of the students will go on to work in small animal medicine, many of the skills they learn from in the clinic are universal.  Drawing up vaccines, syringe handling skills, giving injections, dispensing medications, taking a history from owners; these are all skills they will use in any veterinary field.

As we enter the last 6 weeks of the semester, please continue to pray for peace on campus.  The vast majority of students really do want to study, learn, and graduate.  They have worked hard for the opportunity to attend university and deserve to do so without protests and riots.

On a personal note, the family leasing my horse has canceled the lease, leaving me with no one to care for him the next two years.  Please pray for peace for my heart as I struggle to find someone to keep him, while living half way across the world.   Please also pray that the Lord would provide the perfect home for him.  If you or anyone you know might be interested in leasing him, please let me know.  

April Prayer Letter - Riots

“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”

- Unknown Author

Can you believe it has happened again?  I guess it isn’t too difficult to believe after all the trouble the past few months.  At the end of February, students started protesting again and this time things got really violent.  Somehow, one of the security companies or the police ended up shooting live ammunition rather than rubber bullets and two students were injured.  That night, the students set fire to two buildings.  The Science Center was completely destroyed and one wing of the administration building was severely damaged.  The fire department actually refused to come on campus to fight the fires due to the student riots and potential risk to the firefighters. (for news coverage of the event visit https://youtu.be/HTST2tcmS44)

The next day, the university shut down the campus once again, but this time the students were sent home for a month.  Thankfully, I only had to move out for a couple of days and have been able to return to my home on campus.

The semester is scheduled to start again March 29^th.  To make up the missed days, the Easter break has been shortened by one week, a testing week as been eliminated, and classes will be held on Saturdays.

However, as none of the issues instigating the riots have yet been resolved, I can only foresee further problems once the semester is restarted.  The university has noted, “Any further disruptions to this already tight schedule will compromise our quality and leave us with no option but to lose the first semester and subsequently the whole year.”

In light of these events and difficulties, prayer is critical and your support is invaluable.  Please pray for:

I assume the clinic will still be open if the university shuts down long term (it has been open this last month), but without the students, my ministry opportunities fell drastically reduced.

In light of these events and difficulties, prayer is critical and your support is invaluable.  Please pray for: 

• Peace and safety on campus for staff and students. 
• Wisdom for administrative and student leadership as they work through the student body complaints/demands. 
• Direction in ministry should the worst happen and the university close for a prolonged period.
• The women’s group I am currently leading at Calvary Baptist Church. For the next few months, we are studying how to share the gospel and disciple new believers.  This can be a difficult and spiritually challenging topic.  Please pray that they actively put into practice the techniques and skills they are learning.
• The 120 kids in AWANA at Calvary Baptist as they start up again after Easter break.  Pray that they will clearly hear and understand the gospel and hide God’s word deep in their hearts.

March Prayer Letter - Starting First Term

Registration is finally complete!  If you recall, in my last prayer letter, I asked for your prayers regarding registration at the University for the new academic year.  Thank you so much for your prayers!  Although there was some disruption the first day and the university shut down for a week, things got back to normal the second week of registration and there has been no further strike/protest activity.  Praise the Lord!

Over the two week registration period, ten students from the witnessing training group, as well as Wes Gestring from the US, came back to campus early to participate in an outreach.  The plan was to have a table in front of the Great Hall, where registration takes place, to strike up conversations with students using an interesting set of photos called Soularium, get contact info, and have a sign up for Bible studies. Everything was set up to go the first Monday of Registration when the returning students disrupted the registration process and even had a sit-in at our table!  Campus closed that day and didn’t reopen for seven days.

During that week, even those of us who live on campus were not allowed to enter campus after 6pm on weekdays or at any time on weekends.  Frustrating, but not unbearable except they forgot to tell anyone the first day and just locked down at 6pm.  I was off campus that evening meeting with the students and, after standing around in the rain for an hour at the university gates, finally had to go stay with friends that night.  The university absolutely refused to allow entry even for resident staff.  That weekend, I convinced the department to reserve a room for me at a guest house so I wasn’t trapped on campus for 60 hours.

During that week campus was closed, we all met at Dr. Gestring’s house for Bible studies, prayer, and witnessing training.  Although it wasn’t what we had anticipated, it was a great chance for the students to grow spiritually and to instill some new concepts regarding reproducing discipleship.

The second week, campus opened for registration and we were able to set up the table and proceed as planned.  Many wonderful conversations were had with new and returning students and 60 students signed up as interested in Bible studies. 

. Since five of the witnessing training students are willing to host Bible studies this year we will have plenty of room for all who are interested.  In the past, the Gestrings and I have led the Bible studies, but this year we have encouraged the students to lead.  We have a leaders Bible study on Monday so the students will be familiar with and confident in the passage and then they get to lead the same study during the week. 

Over the next month, please pray for the students leading Bible studies.  This is a big step of faith for most of them and they are very nervous.  Please pray for confidence, peace, and grace from the Lord, for deep relationships to form within their groups, and for the Word of God to shine brightly on this campus.

Please also pray for continued peace on campus throughout the semester.

Finally, please pray for strength and energy for me as I transition out of the holidays and back into the somewhat organized chaos of the new term.

Again, thank you so much for your prayers!  It was a blessing to know you were praying and to see the results!