Sept 2022 - STM

The past few months have been a whirlwind of activity with an American veterinary student coming for 3 weeks, end of term exams, a 10-day holiday in the Eastern Cape province, and a short-term mission team.  Sheesh, I feel exhausted just writing about it!

The holiday (vacation) with my friend was wonderful, but we kept quite busy, driving over 1500 miles.  We spent several days in the central desert area of South Africa called the Karoo, and I had a chance to try astrophotography (star photography) since there is no light pollution.  The night sky there is amazing and the Milky Way is stunning in its brightness and detail.  

An old abandoned shop in Putfontein

A working windmill (windpump) near Hanover

The main reason for the trip came at the end, when I spent 4 days horseback riding along the eastern coast.  It is a stunning, almost tropical, area with white sand beaches, dense forests, and quaint towns.  Viewing it from horseback has to be the perfect option.  My horse, Tenna-sea, was very reliable and quiet, but loved to gallop on the beaches. I also brought home way too many giant seashells.

Just a week after I returned to Mafikeng, my short-term team from Christian Veterinary Mission arrived.  The trip had been postponed since 2021 due to covid restrictions, so everyone was excited to finally touch down in South Africa.  Unfortunately, two of the four team members had last minute family emergencies and were unable to come.  The two who did come were both veterinary technicians and spent most days in the clinic with me and the students. 

Thomas, Makayla, and me - Short-Term Mission Team 2022

In addition to spending time building relationships with the students, the team held an evening review session for the final-year students, helped with a rabies vaccine clinic (100 dogs and 2 cats vaccinated) in the local village of Lokaleng, and participated in an Acts 29 movie outreach.  They were both able to share their testimony during the movie outreach and the students were quite moved.  It really meant so much to the students (both in the clinic an in Acts 29) that people would come all the way from America just to spend time with them.

The Acts 29 team and STM team

The second rotation group and STM team

On a sad note, shortly after dropping the team off at the airport, I received word that one of our past Acts 29 members, Thato, had died.  He and his wife, Thandeka, had both been involved in our ministry on campus while they were students.  They were married a year ago, shortly after graduating from North-West University.  Thato’s death was sudden and unexpected and Thandeka has been left bewildered and grieving.  Please keep her and both families in your prayers.  Please pray especially that God will be glorified in this tragedy. 

My ministry partners, the Gestrings, with Thato and Thandeka at their wedding