Dec 2018 - Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

“It's the most wonderful time of the year

There'll be much mistltoeing

And hearts will be glowing

When loved ones are near

It's the most wonderful time of the year”

Snow, hot cocoa, the holidays, friends and family…what could be better?  It is a wonderful blessing to be back in the USA for the holidays.  Despite fitting in CE, speaking at events, and traveling to visit friends and supporters during my furlough, I’ve managed to plan Thanksgiving and Christmas at home this year.  I want to get as much Christmas cheer as possible while I’m here since it isn’t a big holiday in South Africa.  At least, not like it is in America. 

Most of the grocery stores in South Africa put up Christmas garlands around the tills and play awful Christmas music and a few stores have Christmas decorations and such, but there aren’t any craft fairs, Black Friday or Christmas sales, Starbucks’ Christmas drinks, Pier 1 Christmas decorations, gingerbread house building parties, or Christmas concerts. 

It is also too hot there for Christmas!  I just can’t get in the Christmas mood when it is 95 degrees.  And Christmas baking is not nearly as much fun when it is that hot and I have no air conditioning.  To me, Christmas in SA always feels like some weird Christmas in July holiday knock off.  So, needless to say, I’m very excited to be back in Washington for Christmas.  Maybe we will even get some snow while I’m back!

While I’m in on furlough, I’ll be in the San Francisco area Nov 11-14, Los Angeles Dec 11-12, and San Diego Dec 13-16 (Fetch 360 continuing education conference).  If you will be in those areas while I’m around, it would be wonderful to meet up with you. I’m also happy to speak to churches, Bible studies, home groups, etc. about the work God is doing here at NWU. 

I’m also planning a trip east (TX, GA, NC, DC, MI, WI) in January and will put updates on Facebook with my itinerary once I’ve got it nailed down.

Have a very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

 “It's the hap-happiest season of all

With those holiday greetings and gay happy meetings

When friends come to call

It's the hap-happiest season of all”

It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year - Eddie Pola / George Wyle                

Oct 2018 - STM

Four Americans from different states, different backgrounds, different positions in the veterinary field, and of different ages all came together in Mmabatho, South Africa for a two-week short-term mission (STM) trip.  Only with God’s grace and blessing can such trips succeed in both ministry and team relationships.

It was such a pleasure hosting this year’s STM group made up of a retired veterinarian, two emergency technicians, and a pre-vet student.  Every year, I wonder if I should offer a STM trip again because it is a lot of planning and work to prepare for, but every time I do, I’m blown away with how the students here are encouraged.

After picking up the team in Johannesburg, we headed up to a game reserve called Madikwe for a two night safari.  In addition to seeing the big five (lion, leopard, elephant, rhino, and buffalo), we were also blessed with cheetah, giraffe, zebra, and many antelope species.  Our trip was not without stress however.  My car decided to start acting up again with a loss of power. It wouldn’t go over 55mph at the best of times and there were a few hills on the way that I was sure we were not going to summit. It had done a bit of this while my parents were here in April, but two Honda dealerships had told me there was nothing wrong with the car and it had been behaving itself in the intervening months.

We discussed getting a rental car to finish the drive to the game reserve, but by now we were out in the middle of nowhere and would have had to retrace our steps significantly to get a rental.  After much prayer we continued on our slow way and thankfully made it to the reserve and back to Mafikeng without the car giving up.  My local mechanic thought it might be the catalytic converter and, sure enough, getting rid of the converter fixed the problem (thankfully it isn’t illegal to remove it here).  It was such a relief for the rest of the team’s visit to have a fully functional car!  The Deceiver does his best to sow chaos and doubt, but God’s faithfulness shines through.

While in Mmabatho, the team spent time with the students on rotation in our clinic, helped with a rabies vaccination outreach in a local village, taught several review sessions for all the final year students, went out witnessing with our Acts 1:8 students, shared their testimonies on multiple occasions, helped with an overnight AWANA camp at church, and generally poured into the lives of the students at NWU.  The two technicians were especially well placed for connecting with the students and giving great practical advice.

One of the technicians on the STM team is a new believer so we were also blessed to baptize her on the last night of the trip!  Wonderful memories formed for everyone.

On another note, shortly after you receive this letter I’ll be flying back to the US for my furlough.  It would be wonderful to meet up with you while I’m home. I’m also happy to speak to churches, Bible studies, etc about the work God is doing here at NWU.  Please get in touch if you would like to connect while I’m home (Nov-Jan).  I will also be attending the Fetch veterinary continuing education conference in San Diego so if you will be there, please let me know!  My contact details follow:

Postnet Suite 030, Private Bag X2230, Mahikeng South 2791, South Africa

Cell +27 82 052 3837 (WhatsApp and SMS/text)

                                                    

hislightrq@hotmail.com  |    www.cvmusa.org/quam   |    www.facebook.com/GoSpeakLiveBoldly 

August 2018 - Generics

Generics...Do they work as well as brand name products?  Even if they contain the same ingredients chemically, are they as effective?  Those are questions we often ask in veterinary medicine.  Some generics we know and trust, while others have been proven to be significantly less effective.

In a non-medical sense, I’ve experienced this recently when my ancient Samsung phone battery died.  Going without a phone wasn’t really an option, so I went down to the local shop and bought a replacement battery.   After getting home, I replaced the old battery with the new one and powered on my phone.  Voila!  Works just the same as it did before and only cost $10!  However…a few hours later…I realized the battery would only power my phone for a couple of hours.  Less if I was actively using it.  Now, I have to leave it plugged in to a charger most of the time or it just shuts down.

This generic battery looked the same as the Samsung; same size, same type of battery, supposedly the same strength, but a fifth of the cost of the real thing.  On my next trip to Jo’burg I visited a Samsung store and ordered an authentic replacement battery to get me though till my trip home this winter, when I hope to upgrade my phone.  I just can’t deal with the frustration and reduced effectiveness of the generic till then.  Now, I’m waiting anxiously till my next trip to Jo’burg to pick up the replacement.

Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.”’ Matthew 7:21-23

Unfortunately, many of us also chose to replace God with generics.  On the surface these generic gods may look the same, but I guarantee they won’t work when it comes to our eternal salvation.  What are some of these generic gods?  When we believe Jesus is only one of many ways to get to God, we believe in a generic god (John 14:6).  When we believe that following Jesus means life will be easy and he will bring us material wealth, we believe in a generic Jesus (Acts 14:22). When we believe that going to church and doing our best to do good will get us to heaven, we are following a generic god (Eph 2:8-9).

Why do we choose these generics?  Just as in material cases, they seem cheaper or easier than the real thing and look just as good.  Choosing the real God means we must take up our cross and follow Him.  It requires sacrifices on our part. It is often painful and seems too difficult.  But I will tell you straight, as I tell many of my clients, getting the real thing will be worth it (and often cheaper) in the long run.  Don’t settle for a generic god when the real One is knocking on the door of your heart.

June 2018 - Baptisms and Travels

Only two months have passed since I wrote my last prayer letter, but I’ve received my visa renewal for another three years, baptized four students, traveled through four countries, visited seven of nine provinces in SA, driven 5,700 miles, and packed/repacked my luggage countless time. Life has been a bit busy!

Connie, Boitumelo, Pumla, Tafadzwa, and Thato after their baptisms

My parents and a family friend visited during the month of April and we traveled around South Africa and several surrounding countries. It was such a blessing to show them around Mafikeng, introduce them to some of the students I disciple, and wow them with the beauty of this incredible country. My parents also learned the reality of the phrase TIA (This is Africa…) – things just aren’t the way they are back home. Plans must be flexible and we must be as well.

My parents experienced water outages at my house, requests for bribes, tourist destinations that open whenever they want regardless of posted open hours, flat tires, and roads that have more potholes than they do asphalt. But they also met wonderful people, a business willing to change our tire even though they were closed, and caring staff at the hospital where my Mom had two surgeries after falling and breaking her arm.

My parents on the right and out family friend, Lois, on the left

 One of the highlights of our travels was visiting Victoria Fall in Zimbabwe. We were there during the high water season so the spray from the falls rises up to 2,000 feet into the air. As you walk along the ridge opposite the falls the mist is so thick you can’t see the falls themselves and the spray falls back down as a deluge. Despite having waterproof ponchos we were soaked!

Now that my parents have flown back home, I’m settling into the routines of life here once again. The last group of students for the term is on rotation in the clinic and in a few weeks they will be starting exams. In early June I’ll be organizing their practical exams in the clinic where they demonstrate the skills and practical knowledge they have gained. I will have 10-15 minutes with each of 70+ students over 2 days to assess their competence in animal handling, vaccine choice and administration, fecal parasite exams, dispensing of medications, etc. It is always grueling, but fulfilling as well when I see students flourishing.

Our Acts 1:8 witnessing group is finished for the term, but the Monday night student Bible studies and Sunday night church at my house will continue through exams.

I’m also planning and preparing for a small, short-term veterinary mission group that will be arriving in July. Please be praying for that team, that they will be able to get to know the students and encourage them as well as grow spiritually themselves during their time here in Mafikeng.

Please also pray for me as I begin planning my furlough back to the US this winter. I’ll be back for three months and will hopefully do quite a bit of traveling to meet with my supporters, speak at CVM events and conferences, get some continuing education taken care of, visit churches, etc. The organizing and the busy schedule will be a challenge.

Till next time….

April 2018 - Shaun's Story

After Koketso’s story in my last prayer letter was so well received, I’d like to share Oageng’s testimony. Oageng, or Shaun for his English name, has been part of our Acts 1:8 witnessing program and Bible studies from his first term in 2015. He was introduced to the project by a friend from his home church outside Rustenburg, about 2 hours from Mahikeng, who was also attending NWU. Oageng is now in his final year of Animal Health and I’m looking forward to having him on rotation in the small animal clinic.

Oageng has an infectious smile and a gentle humility that belies his rough years in Rustenburg (which he seriously downplays in this testimony). Here is his story.

“My name is Oageng Shaun Mosito from Rustenburg South Africa. In 2005, I lost both my parents, I was 10 years old still naive and not fully aware of many things. Little did I know that this had an impact in my life.

“I started to live two lives being a good child at home and a naughty child at school. Due to the bitterness that was in my life I started to bullying other kids at school and started to smoke glue privately. When I was at home I would be a good boy, however at school I'll be a monster. I was in a verge of being involved in real gangsterism.

“But midyear 2009, my Aunt invited me to her church. After hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ I started to change. I started not to enjoy the things I used to do and gradually my life started to change and is still changing.

My life since took a 180 degrees turn. I no longer smoke glue and I no longer live two lives of hypocrisy. I am a new creation; the old has passed away. I'm currently in the university of North-West South Africa, doing my final year in Bsc Animal health.”

Oageng is now a great witness for Christ, passionate about sharing his faith, and involved in training younger students. Please pray that he will be able to balance the demands of his final year with those of church, Bible study, Acts 1:8, and personal time with the Lord. Please also pray that he will be well prepared over the next few months to leave university and embark on the next stages of his life. We will miss him next year!

Feb 2018 - Koketso

For the New Year, I want to share with you the stories of some of the students I work with and mentor on campus.  Koketso is starting her second year at university this month and is in the animal health course.  She was very active in our witnessing training group, Acts 1:8, last year and jointed us on our outreach to Lesotho.  She also regularly attends our Bible study and home church. During one of our movie showings last year she was also brave enough to share her testimony with all the students that attended.  I’ll let her tell her story…

“I am Koketso Mogashoa from South Africa (Pretoria), currently studying Animal Health in the North-West University Mafikeng campus. I am blessed with a family of 7, my grandparents, uncle and his wife, mom and step-father and lastly my younger sister. My grandfather is a pastor at a Baptist church which makes both him and my grandmother to be servants.

“I am raised by my mother’s aunt (grandmother’s sister). On a regular bases, we would have visitors at my grandparent’s home, visiting for counseling or just for a normal catch up and wherever they were it was almost impossible to have their attention. At that particular time my mom worked at a house selling agent so she often travelled and left me behind as work got hectic and neither did I have enough time to spend with her. My dad on the other hand is a man of his own kind he doesn’t care about me or anyone this is pretty obvious that we don’t have a good relationship.

“I felt lonely, miserable, hurting, fearful, unwanted and I would often spend time alone .Time went by feeling the very same pain, it was made worse when my mother’s aunt was laid to rest hence I had to move with my mother, younger sister and my step-father .I moved with them in a state of hate and disbelieve that I lost someone who was like a mother. My step-father started abusing me emotionally, but I woke up every morning with hope that my mother will one day stand firm and be on my side but she didn’t and she ended up chasing me out of their house leaving me homeless and to cut the long story short I now live with my grandparents .

“On one Sunday the preacher was preaching about peace, friendship, love and freedom God offers in his relationship and I felt the urgency of grabbing the opportunity and ever since my life has never been the same again. This means I agreed to the fact that Jesus Christ is the only mediator between I and God, that I fully depend on him for eternity and that there is no church or rules that can make me have eternal life. God really intervened in my life I have peace, freedom, love, I am no longer feeling lonely, I know I am his priority and I have a friend in him. Isn’t that great!”

Koketso has been a wonderful sister-in-Christ to mentor and I look forward to working with her over the next few years.  Please keep her in your prayers that she would flourish spiritually and academically this year.

Dec 2017 - Peace

Peace!  It is one of the iconic words of the Christmas season and one that represents 2017 here on the Mahikeng campus. What a blessing it is to have a full year of peace on the campus and in my life (assuming we make it through the last two weeks of exams :)  Several other universities here in South Africa have been experiencing #FeesMustFall protests again recently, but so far our campus has not been involved.  Please continue to keep this campus in your prayers, praying both for political peace and for God’s unshakable peace to grow in the hearts of His people here.

Peace also describes my spirit as I have decided to apply for a renewal visa to extend my time here for another three years.  This is where I feel I am supposed to be!  The process has already been started as I work to get official approval from the University and then I hope to apply for the renewal visa in January so that it can be processed before my current visa expires mid-April.  Please pray that the appointment letter from the University arrives quickly and without any complications and that my police clearance is likewise processed without delay.  Although I have peace about the decision, the process is definitely still stressful!

Your prayers for peace and protection would also be appreciated on behalf of the students we work with on campus.  Three of the ladies have had scares recently.  None of the students have cars so they have to walk about a mile to the grocery store on a regular basis. One was followed by a car for some distance until she ran up to a house for help and another was mugged by several men wanting her cell phone.  The third, who lives off campus, had someone try to break into her window late at night. Thankfully he was scared off.  All this coming on top of the kidnapping, rape, and murder of a woman from my church when she went to the bank, is causing fear and anxiety to grow in the hearts of the students.  Only the inexplicable peace of God can touch their hearts in the midst of these situations.

Thank you for your prayers throughout this year!  They are invaluable to me! 

I pray that you will have a blessed Christmas season celebrating with friends and family and that “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” 

P.S. My postal address has changed.   

Postnet Suite 030, Private Bag X2230, Mahikeng South 2791, South Africa

Nov 2017 - Lesotho Outreach

The Kingdom of Lesotho.  Have you heard of this small country? Do you know where it is? Lesotho (pronounced lesutu) is located as an island inside of South Africa, in the eastern half of the country.  It is a very mountainous and water rich country and sells its water to supply two of the largest cities in South Africa.  Over 40% of the people in Lesotho live below the international poverty line of $1.24/day.

It was a thirteen hour drive from Mafikeng to our lodging in Lesotho and we crossed the last two mountain passes in the dark.  The first pass was over 10,000ft in elevation and my poor little car struggled along in 1^st and 2^nd gear moaning “I think I can, I think I can.” Although the second two passes weren’t as tall (about 8,000ft) it was very nerve racking driving those winding roads in the dark while dodging fallen rocks, pedestrians, sheep, and donkeys in the road.

We brought nine students from the Acts 1:8 student evangelism training group on this outreach. The goal: conduct Tae Kwon Do sports clinics with village children, organize two youth nights at a local church to encourage them in sharing the gospel, and go door–to-door witnessing in several villages.

Despite a few mishaps and misadventures, it was a wonderful week and we all enjoyed getting to know this beautiful country and its lovely people.  Thankfully, several of our students spoke Sesotho so we went witnessing in groups of three with one translator, one facilitator, and one other student. 

One woman we visited lived in a traditional round stone hut with a thatch roof and sat outside with us to listen to the gospel story we came to share.  She asked several questions and then expressed a desire to follow Christ, but after we talked with her about the importance of first getting rid of the charms she wore from the witch doctor, she wasn’t able to do so. She needed to get permission from her husband to cut off the charms.  Please pray with her that God will soften her husband’s heart to give her permission to remove the charms.   

Both Tae Kwon Do clinics were very successful with over 100 children hearing the gospel.  Each time we arrived there was no one around, but within minutes children would start to appear.  They came running down the steep hillsides from every direction.  Older girls carrying babies, young children only three or four years old following older siblings, all covering the steep ground like mountain goats to come join the fun.

We also rode horses into a remote village that was not accessible by vehicle.  The chief of the village brought everyone down to hear from us and we lead a couple of Bible studies with them, primarily focusing on forsaking all to follow Christ.  Ancestor worship is the cultural/religious norm in Lesotho and although many people are willing to add Jesus to the ancestors in their worship, few are willing to give up the ancestors and worship Christ alone.

It was a 90 minute ride to and from the village and I was a bit worried about the quality of horses we would get, but mine was an absolute dream to ride.  His name, translated, was New Creation and his owner loved him dearly.  Some of the trail was over sloping solid rock and I have no idea how the horses kept their feet.  Most of the students had never ridden before, but we managed well with only one brief run away horse incident.

Creation and his owner

Please pray that the missionaries who live there will be able to follow up further with those we met going door-to-door and that lives will be transformed in unmistakable ways.  Please also pray that the power of darkness in Lesotho would be broken and that God’s light will shine brightly from the mountain tops.  Finally, please pray that the spiritual growth seen in the students during the outreach will continue and be solidified.

New Creation and his proud owPlease pray that the missionaries who live there will be able to follow up further with those we met going door-to-door and that lives will be transformed in unmistakable ways.  Please also pray that the power of darkness in Lesotho would be broken and that God’s light will shine brightly from the mountain tops.  Finally, please pray that the spiritual growth seen in the students during the outreach will continue and be solidified.

Sept 2017 - Cape Town

Green! This was my first thought as we came through the tunnel connecting the interior of South Africa (Karoo desert) with the cape region.  There is a small mountain range dividing the two regions and just like in Washington State, the seaward side is more temperate and verdant and the interior side is dry, with more extremes through the seasons. We (the CVM apprentice and I) had driven 15 hours from Mafikeng south through the Karoo to spend 10 days in the Western Cape Province.  It was a wonderful break from Mafikeng and the green landscape was soothing for my soul.

We spent several days exploring Cape Town and Cape Winelands and then traveled along the coast in an easterly direction.  Seeing southern right whales was a definite highlight as was galloping along the white sand beaches on horseback.  We saw penguin colonies, shivered in the ice on top of Table Mountain, had a baboon steal biscuits from our car while we were still in it, and ziplined through the Tsitsikamma National Park forest.

It is such a beautiful region, and so different from Mafikeng! Coming back to the dry and seemingly barren area where I live, I was struck by the hidden beauty of the aloes and many other plants blooming in winter.  What a gift God gives to the desert in the winter flowering species.

For the next few months, our student ministries continue and we have started a weekly vaccination outreach for the clinic students.  Partnering with the SPCA and using the department’s new mobile clinic, we are visiting outlying villages each week to give free government supplied rabies vaccines.  We also offer other vaccines, dipping for ticks, deworming, etc at reduced rates.  This is a good opportunity for the students to get experience talking to owners and practice restraint techniques and injection skills.

 Currently, the majority of animals in these rural areas are not vaccinated.  With several people having been infected with rabies in other towns in our province, we are considered a high risk area.  Although rabies vaccines help save pet lives, they, more importantly, save human lives.  Please pray that these outreaches would have a significant impact in the local communities.

July 2017 - Apprentice

Winter has arrived in Mafikeng again.  Temperatures are down in the 30’s some nights, but still over 70 during the day.  I’ve gotten out the extra blankets, heavy vests, and scarves and plan to enjoy the cool weather as much as possible.

This morning I’m making the 4.5 hour drive to Johannesburg today to pick up a vet student who is flying in early tomorrow.  She will be staying with me as a Christian Veterinary Mission apprentice.  Apprenticeships are for vet students wanting to get a better feel for long term missions. This apprentice is interested in long term missions, student ministry in particular, so she has come to spend some time here in Mafikeng and get a glimpse of life on the field.  Life is not just all work, however. 

We are both looking forward to a week-long visit to the Cape Town region this month, although I think I’ll leave her to some of the more adventurous activities. She may still be able to talk me into cage diving with the great white sharks, but the bungee jumping is definitely off the table.

The day after the apprentice leaves in Aug, I pick up another CVM visitor for a two weeks stay.  We had hoped to put together another short-term mission team, but it didn’t work out this year so one vet is coming on her own. It will be a very busy winter, but it is always a pleasure to show visitors around this beautiful county.

The students are now on winter recess and will start their second term later this month.  I have to admit, it is nice to have a break from all the activities.

Well, I’d best head off down the road so I miss the traffic in the big city.

May 2017 - Baptism!

“Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection”  Romans 6:3-4

Just a few weeks ago, as the sun set and the sky turned brilliant orange, we baptized twelve students in the university pool.  Most of these students had participated in our Bible studies or witnessing training and had been believers for some time, but had never sealed their faith with Baptism. It was such a great joy to see them walking in obedience through this outward expression of their faith. 

A few days before, I had led the women’s Bible study, on campus, covering the topic of baptism. We examined what the Bible has to say about why, how, when, by whom, etc.  Because Christianity has been in South Africa for over 250 years, most people are familiar with many aspects of the faith, but the truth has also been twisted into numerous distorted forms. Relating to baptism, some of the false beliefs we encountered in that study include:

•         Baptism is what saves you – to combat this we looked at Romans 10:9-10 showing that salvation comes though confessing Christ as Lord and believing in His death and resurrection. 
•         Baptism is commitment to a church – Romans 6:3-4 shows baptism in the Biblical sense is identification with Christ and His death and resurrection, not a particular church.
•         Once you are baptized you have to be a “better” Christian – there seems to be an idea that until you are baptized you can be a “Christian” and yet still worship the ancestors a little, or not have to give up certain behaviors.  Once you are baptized, then you really have to obey Him.  In contrast, John 15 says that if we love Christ, we need to obey Him (regardless of our baptism status).  It is not baptism that demands obedience, but rather our faith in Christ.
•         You have to be a “good” Christian before you can be baptized – just as we can never be good enough to earn our salvation, we don’t earn the right to baptism though our actions.  Here we looked at I John 1:6-10 to see that all Christians will still sin and need to confess those sins and that Biblically, baptism followed immediately after belief (Acts 8:25-39; 16:31-33; 22:12-16), not after a person was found to be worthy.

It is such a blessing to study the scriptures with these students and see God reveal Himself to them in new ways each week.  Please pray that false doctrines and false teachers in their lives will be exposed and the Spirit will give them discernment to see the truth that God reveals in His word.  That they will be like the Bereans and receive the word with great eagerness, examining the scriptures daily to see whether the things they have been taught are true. Please also pray that those who heard the truth, but were not yet willing to make the commitment of baptism, will soon be convicted to follow Christ in this way.

Please also pray as we develop and refine a series of initial discipleship lessons, for new believers. We will be teaching these to the witnessing students to use as follow-up to sharing the gospel.