Sept 2024 - Final Final Prayer Letter

Mortals make elaborate plans,

but God has the last word.

Proverbs 16:1 (MSG)

Although I’m not usually a big fan of the Message translation of the Bible, their phrasing of this verse made me laugh.  Although my July prayer letter was supposed to be my final regularly scheduled prayer letter, God had other plans.

I waited quite a while to tell you about the residency in BC, Canada, because I wanted to be sure everything was finalized.  Apparently, I didn’t wait long enough.  Due to the slow processing times in Cananda, there was no way to get the work permit in time to start my residency (current waiting period was >17 weeks) so I’ve had to drop out of that program.  It was incredibly disappointing to be unable to start the residency after having been accepted.

I made my elaborate plans, but God’s plan was different.  Thankfully, after a few initial tears, the Lord has brought me peace.  Psalms 112:7, speaking about the righteous man, says “He will not fear bad news; His heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord.”

One good thing about not moving to Canada is that I can stay closer to my parents for the next year and be involved in some favorite local activities like the Skagit Highland Games (I volunteered there last month) and the Skagit County Fair (I entered some photographs and crochet). 

For now, I will continue on with veterinary relief work and I have already been able to fill my schedule though October.  The business is up and running as Quam Relief Service, PLLC and I’ve dropped off letters and business cards at many of the local vet clinics.  I would appreciate your prayers that the Lord would continue to bring enough local shifts for me to be able to support myself without having to travel down to Seattle. 

My new home for the year is a brand new 2-bedroom townhouse in Sedro-Woolley and the boys and I are getting settled in.  It is nice to have our own place again.  You can find my new address at the end of this letter.

Next year, I will go through the application process again for residencies in dermatology and I will only apply for those in the USA (no more Canada for me!).  I will be sure to let you know how things turn out!

July 2024 - Final Prayer Letter

Greetings friends and family!  This will be my final regular prayer letter as I have now transitioned from being a full-time staff member with CVM to being an associate.  As an associate, I hope to still be involved in various CVM events as my schedule permits, but I no longer have ongoing responsibilities. 

You will likely be excited to hear that I have accepted a dermatology residency in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada and that I have already put down a deposit on a cute little flat in Langley, BC.  Although there are still a few details that have to fall into place (mainly my work permit and BC vet license), I hope to move up in early July and start the residency on July 15^th.  I would really appreciate your prayers that the timing would work out and that the start date would not need to be delayed.

Thankfully, Langley is only 75 minutes or so away from my parent’s house so I will be able to visit frequently. Having a position so close to my parents is truly a blessing! Plus, it makes moving so much easier!  Most of my belonging from South Africa are still in a ship somewhere on the ocean and won’t be delivered until later this month or even as late as August. Being able to simply drive my belonging to my new home and not needing to fit everything into crates with a 50lbs weight limit sounds amazing!

Since my last letter, I have been working part-time as a relief veterinarian in several clinics around NW Washington.  Initially, I wasn’t sure how much I would enjoy changing locations all the time, but I have not found it overly stressful and I enjoy meeting new staff at each location and seeing the different ways that the clinics function.  It is also nice not having any long-term responsibilities at the clinics.  I can just come in, do my job, and leave at the end of the day.

It has also been a blessing to enjoy being home in the glorious Pacific Northwest for spring time!  The Skagit Valley, where I grew up and where my parents still live, grows huge numbers of tulips for both bloom and bulb production and has a lovely Tulip Festival in April.  It was a great opportunity to get out with my camera and capture spring in all of its glory.  The valley also grows large numbers of berries (strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries) and I have been indulging in them all fresh from the fields.  So much better than anything you get in the stores!

Thank you so much for standing alongside me on this incredible journey.  May the Lord bless you and your family with His grace and peace.

May - Home

 

“I like to be in America!
O.K. by me in America!
Ev'rything free in America
For a small fee in America!”

America (West Side Story) - Stephen Sondheim

We have arrived!  Both I and the boys (my two cats) arrived safely in Seattle on March 22nd and we have been settling in at my parents home. Most of my belongings, however, will only arrive in July since they have been shipped by boat.  It has been great to get together with extended family, take walks in the forest, and enjoy the Skagit Valley’s iconic Tulip Festival in April.

Laddie and Leo settling into their temporary new home

Unfortunately, I didn’t match with a dermatology residency position in March, but I am still in communication with two places about their open positions.  Both places have invited me to come visit/interview at their clinics for a week so hopefully there is still a good chance that I will be accepted to a residency this year.  In the meantime, I have started doing relief/locum shifts at various veterinary clinics in the area and that is providing a good income with a lot of flexibility.

Until I hear the final decisions on the residency positions, I will be staying with my parents in WA.  If I don’t pick up a residency, then I will find a local appartement for the year and continue in relief work.  Thank you all for your prayers for my residency search!  Please continue to pray that the Lord would open the doors he deems best and give me wisdom as I make decisions for the future.

Please also continue to pray for the Acts 29 student team in Mafikeng as they continue leading the student church on Sunday Mornings and hope to restart the Wednesday evening Bible studies. 

·       Pray for wisdom in their planning and organizing
·       Pray that they have time for prayer and preparation in their busy university schedules
·       Pray that they don’t neglect their own spiritual walk and growth
·       Pray that the Lord brings in students hungry for his Word and Truth

Saying goodbye to the Acts 29 team in March

My email address will remain the same (hislightrq@hotmail.com) so if you would like to get together for coffee or lunch over the next few months, please let me know!

March - Big Days Ahead

It’s time for the big residency reveal!  Notification will be sent on March 2, so by the time you read this letter I may have already heard.  Keep an eye on my Facebook page for the latest news – www.facebook.com/GoSpeakLiveBoldly.  I will be sure to post as soon as I find out the results of the Match and learn if I have been placed in a dermatology residency.  The locations I have applied for include PA, TX, CA, and WA. 

The other big day coming up is March 21 when my cats and I will depart South Africa and start the long trip back to the US.  After a few days to catch my breath and a week at the Christian Veterinary Mission headquarters for debrief, I will start doing relief veterinary work in my home area.  Thankfully, the Lord has already provided quite a few relief shifts so my schedule is filling up. I’m a bit nervous about practicing in the US again as there have been quite a few new medications and changes in the field while I’ve been away.  I would appreciate your prayers about fitting back into the role of general practice in the US.

In May, I will be speaking about university ministry at the CVM Short Course.  This conference is focused on “learning and fellowship for those exploring cross cultural veterinary missions.” So, if you have any interest in serving with CVM, either long-term or short-term, please come join us!  It would be great to see you!

Although the future is taking up a lot of my focus, let me take a minute to look to the past and say a HUGE thank you to everyone who has supported me financially over the past nine years!  Thank you so much!  I couldn’t have done it without you!  As my role with CVM transitions to that of an Associate and I start working again in the US, I will no longer need to receive the monthly support.  However, my account with CVM will remain active to help fund future involvement such as speaking at conferences and possible short-term mission trips. 

Thank you for walking with me down this long road in Mafikeng.  It has been a pleasure to share it with you.

Valentine's Day photo of the ladies from the Animal Health Department

Jan - Getting Ready to Leave

Happy New Year!  I hope you had a joyous Christmas season with family and friends.  As usual, I spent my Christmas with two friends who run a local animal rescue.  We enjoyed a Christmas lunch together along with too many cookies and mince pies.  Even after 8 years though, I’ve never really gotten used to having a hot, summer Christmas.

After the nice break of the holiday season, the next three months will likely be busy as I decide what I will ship back to the US and what I will sell or give away here.  Thankfully, finding good homes for my plants won’t be difficult.  I’ve already had several people asking about them. 

Arrangements are also set for my cats who will be flying back to the US with me in late March.  I’m a bit worried about them having two long-haul flights.  Especially for Laddie, my sensitive, nervous ginger tabby.  Please pray that their flights are smooth and they travel well.

My own long-term plans will remain unsettled until March 4th, which is when I find out if I have been accepted into a residency and if so, which one.  Please pray that the Lord will orchestrate everything according to His will and that I will be sensitive to His leading.  Either way, I will be returning to Washington for at least a few months.  Hopefully I will be able to see many of you then. 

As I prepare to leave Mafikeng, there are many things lying heavy on my heart and I ask you to join me in praying for:

• The new lecturer taking over the companion animal module that I have been teaching the past 4 years
• Someone to step up to continue providing mentorship to the new graduate veterinarians working in the clinic
• Someone to be called to come through CVM to replace me
• The student house church – it is still unclear if it will continue next year

December - Heading Home

Merry Christmas!  This year has gone by so quickly, I can hardly believe it is finished.  It brought many surprises and unexpected twists and turns, but the Lord has been faithful to keep me strong to finish well.  It was especially important to me to finish well this year since it is my final year in South Africa.  As many of you already know, I will be moving back to the United States in March at the end of my third term with CVM.

My time in South Africa has been an incredible adventure and I have loved almost every minute of it (not so much the student protests and snakes in my house!).  The students I have worked with and the friends I have made have helped me to grow and thrive and I will miss them greatly when I leave. 

My plans for after my return are still rather fluid, but I will keep you updated over the next few months.  I am applying for a veterinary dermatology residency and would appreciate your prayers through that process.  There are many decisions to make and interviews to sort out and I am praying that the Lord will lead in this since I must do it all from here in South Africa and cannot visit any of the locations.

On a different note, the Acts 29 outreach in Lesotho in October went very well.  We took 13 students from NWU to Lesotho to work at Beautiful Gate orphanage and to do some training with a local church.  It was new challenge for me as I had to plan and cook the meals for everyone, but a former Acts 29 member, NWU graduate, and good friend, Motlatsing, came along to help and was a great blessing. 

The students spent time helping with the children in the orphanage, giving them attention, and allowing the house mothers to get some much needed rest.  They were also put to work giving each of the houses a good spring cleaning and returned for dinner each evening thoroughly exhausted.

Acts 20 Lesotho Outreach Team dressed traditionally in Basotho blankets and hats

Let me leave you, as I did last year, with an amazing South African recipe that you might want to try on Christmas Eve.  This mouthwatering bredie (dry stew) is packed with flavor and comes from the cookbook “Cape, Curry, and Koesisters” by Faima Sydow and her sister Gadija Sydow Noordien.  I’ve made this recipe several times for guests and it is always a hit!

Tomato Bredie (serves 6)

¼ cup oil

2 onions, finely chopped

½ green pepper, finely chopped

3 cinnamon sticks

3 whole allspice (pimento)

2 chillies, finely chopped (I leave these out since I’m a wuss with chillies)

3 cloves garlic, finely grated

2.5 pounds of lamb, mutton or beef, cubed

2 tsp salt

1 ½ tsp ground pepper

6-8 oz tomato paste

2 Tbs sugar

7 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered

1 Tbs butter

• Heat the oil in a large pot on medium heat and then add the onions through garlic and fry until the onions are golden brown.  Add the meat and braise for 3 minutes.
• Add the salt and pepper and braise another 5 minutes. Add 1 cup water and cook on medium heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Repeat this process by adding 1 cup of water whenever it starts to dry out and continue to cook until the meat is tender (depending on the cut of meat you use, this could take 1-2 hours).
•  Add the tomato paste and sugar and cook for 2 minutes.
•  Add the potatoes and another 1 cup water and cook on medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Reduce to a simmer and cook until the potatoes are soft.  Add salt to taste and stir in the butter.
• Serve with rice or bread.

If you give this recipe a try, please let me know!  I’d love to hear how it turned out!

Wishing you all the best during this holiday season!  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

October - Visitors

Five trips to Johannesburg and back with three sets of visitors!  The last 2 months have been very busy, but it has been wonderful getting to meet so many lovely people and show them around Mafikeng and North-West University.

My first visitor was a veterinarian with Christian Veterinary Mission who came down to visit a ministry in Eswatini (previously Swaziland) where she is thinking about serving.  She flew in a few days early to visit me in Mafikeng and then I was able to travel to Eswatini with her for a couple of days before my yearly CVM short-term team arrived. Eswatini is a small circular country that is more rural and impoverished country than South Africa.  It sits on the east side of South Africa and also borders Mozambique.  It is quite mountainous and beautiful.

On my way back from Swaziland, I picked up the CVM short-term team at the airport and we all drove the 4.5 hours back to Mafikeng.  This year there were two vets and a vet tech on the team and they were a great blessing to the Acts 29 students and the students on rotation in the clinic.  We also enjoyed two days on safari seeing lions, elephants, cheetah, giraffe, zebra, and lots of antelope.

For the Animal Health students, we held a review night with pizza and also a suturing practical, but our second review night was sadly cancelled by student protests shutting down the campus. 

In addition to participating in the Bible studies, witnessing on campus, and the Acts 29 weekly training, they were able to bless the Acts 29 students with an American style BBQ. 

In early September I had another vet and her non-vet friend come to stay with me for 2 weeks to participate in the ministry and clinic teaching.  The first South African Springboks match in the Rugby World Cup occurred during their visit so we had a pizza night for the Acts 29 students and enjoyed the game together.  Go Springboks!

When you receive this letter, I will be in Lesotho on an outreach at the Beautiful Gate orphanage with 13 of the Acts 29 students.  Please pray for our time here as we interact with the children of all age groups.  Pray that the Acts 29 students will be filled with joy as they serve, that they will be stretched in their faith, and that they will bond even more deeply as friends and as a team.  Please also pray for safety as we travel the 8 hours to Lesotho and back and for smooth border crossings. 

Later this month, the 2^nd university term finishes and exam start.  Please pray for my Animal Health students as they take my written exam on the 30^th and the practical exam on the 31^st.  Thankfully, a lecturer has been hired to take over the theory and admin portions of the companion animal final-year modules so my load should start to lighten this month as she takes over lecturing and marking and doing all the admin work.   I’m looking forward to having a bit more time to catch up on my gardening!