December 2019 - Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!  It was wonderful seeing so many of you last year while I was home, but this year I am looking forward to a quiet Christmas here in Mahikeng. I have an artificial tree to put up, a few decorations for the house and Christmas movies to watch on Netflix to get me into the Christmas spirit.

The term finished in late Nov, but the final-year animal health students took their last practical exam for Companion Animal Care in late October.  I have to admit I was discouraged by the results.  We allowed those who wished to try to improve their score to have another chance at some of the questions (calculations) which did improve the marks somewhat.  A 40% is the minimum and several students did not even reach that level.  On the other hand, quite a few students did remarkably well, hitting 80%.

A few weeks earlier, we took a team of 10 students from Acts 29 to the Kingdom of Lesotho over spring break.  This time we stayed in the capital of Maseru rather than traveling up into the rural mountains. We assisted at an Anglican ministry, Durham Link, as well as working with Scripture Union in many schools and one college.  Each morning the students broke into teams of 3-5 to visit local primary and high schools and speak during assembly, where they shared their testimonies and short gospel presentations.  These were well received by the kids and the Acts 29 students found they truly enjoyed the experience.

Over the weekend and once during the week we went out to more rural locations to host Tae Kwon Do events for the children.  We use the colored martial arts belts to tell the story of Jesus.

Afternoons in Lesotho were spent working with troubled or special needs children and youth coming to Durham Link for outdoor education.  Our team worked alongside the Durham Link instructors to teach abseiling, rock climbing, canoeing, and paddle boarding and provide lots of loud encouragement.

Three evenings during the week we were also able to join the Scripture Union at the Lesotho College of Education hosting discussion nights for the students on the topic of temptation and giving a lecture on having a Biblical attitude about success.

After 7 days, we drove the 7 hours back to Mahikeng exhausted, but encouraged by God’s activity and presence in Lesotho.

Please pray for the student over the summer holidays as they are back with their families and enjoying a much-deserved break. 

Also, we hope to again run an outreach for Freshmen in late January as they come to register for classes so please keep that outreach in your prayers. Pray that the Acts 29 students will be able to return early to help with the outreach and that many Freshman will be reached with the good news of God’s love for them.

Finally, as you plan your end of year giving, I am still in need of additional yearly and/or monthly financial supporters to remain sustainable here long term.  If God is leading you to give, your assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Once again, wishing you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

October 2019 - Pizza makes great bait!

Pizza is wonderful bait for catching university students!  Never fails!  We went through 50 pizzas over two nights to feed almost 80 final-year animal health students.  As part of the CVM short-term mission trip I host each year, we offered two Tuesday evening review sessions last month with pizza working like a charm.  It is always fun to bless the students not only with academic help, but also with good food and lots of laughter.  This year, the students requested topics including hematology (evaluating blood cells) and round cell tumors.

On the Saturday in between, we offered extra-curricular suturing practicals for a portion of the class.  This is a skill that isn’t included in their course, but it is always a big hit.  They really enjoy getting the chance to learn how to handle the instruments and perform a few simple suture patterns.  I usually pick up trotters (pig’s feet) at the local butchery as the skin isn’t too thick or difficult to use and utilize donated expired suture so there is no cost for the students.  One year several of the students took the trotter home afterwards for a stew!

Having the team visit was also a good excuse to organize another rabies vaccine outreach with the students and the local SPCA.  We visited a village about 10 minutes south of Mahikeng and had our busiest clinic yet!  Nearly 100 dogs vaccinated in just 4 hours.  We even had to send the van driver to bring more vaccines!

All-in-all, the two weeks of the short-term team flew by.  This month, our Acts 29 witnessing team students are preparing for our spring break outreach, which will once again be in the country of Lesotho.  We will be joining with a local ministry for the week in serving children head-of-households and encouraging Christian college students toward campus evangelism in the capital city of Maseru.  What is my most important responsibility for the outreach?  Keeping the team supplied with cookies of course!  At least, that is what the students tell me :)  Good thing I’ve got 10 pounds of Costco chocolate chips in my fridge!  After all, chocolate chip cookies work almost as well as pizza!

Aug 2019 - Change!

Change! Sometime good, sometimes not so good, it just keeps coming.  Thankfully, for the last few months the changes have been good.  One of my goals for the year was to change up the way we run our practical exams at the end of the term. Previously, each student had four 10-minute stations to complete, which also meant each examiner had 10 minutes with each student.  It worked OK when we had 50 or so students (8+ hours), but this year we are at 81!  My hope was to change to a practical with 20 stations and 3 minutes per station.  We ran 4 groups of students though and were finished by lunch!

Most of the stations allowed the student to work on their own doing drug calculations, identifying parasites, writing prescription labels, etc.  The others had staff members to evaluate the students making blood smears, preparing fecal exams, taking owner histories, and restraining stuffed animals.  Although it took more time to set up, all the work was worth it.  All the staff and the external examiner seemed to think it went  really well and allowed for a fair and accurate evaluation of the students skills.  Even the students seemed happy :)

Secondly, after several years of figuring out logistics, we are getting a few horses and a donkey for our program.  I’m very excited to be around horses again and hope they are ridable!  Initially it was organized to get horses from a research facility associated with the vet school, but I was getting sketchy answers to my questions about these horses, so I decided to go see them.  So glad I did!  They were completely wild!  There only human contact was being run through a shoot and groomed a few times a year.  They were also only 2-3 years old.  What a disaster that would have been for teaching horses!  Thankfully we are now working with a large horse rescue who has several mild mannered and well-trained horses available.

Quite a bit of work was needed on the stable block at the university farm, but we are nearing completion and hope to have the horses arrive by the time you get my next letter.

We are also changing the name of our witnessing group to better represent the goal of the program.  We were Acts 1:8, but are now Acts 29. Focused on making disciples who make disciples rather than on just sharing the gospel.  We even have the T-shirts to prove it!

A final fun change has been the addition of 4 chickens to my family here in Mafikeng.  A friend at church built me a small coop and, just as it was delivered, other friends were moving and getting rid of their chickens, so the timing was perfect.  Interestingly, due to the difference in light here during the winter, the chickens keep laying even without a light in the coop so I’m getting 3 eggs a day. I foresee lots of omelets and quiches in my future.

Signing off here in chilly Mafikeng!  Enjoy your warm summer weather!

April 2019 - Greatly Blessed

God has blessed us greatly this year!  We have a wonderful group of new students who have joined our Acts 1:8 witnessing training program and many are also attending the home church at my house on campus.  My living room has been full each week with 10-12 students. Somehow, all the muffins I make vanish within minutes!

Acts 1:8 students during Wed night training.

To start off the year in our home church, we watched the new movie of Richard Wurmbrand’s life in Romania under communist rule, Tortured for Christ.  His organization, Voice of the Martyrs, have also produced a six weeks study based on his life and wisdom and using scripture to examine our relationship with Christ and others.  Each study focuses on a different aspect, and the students have found it challenging and encouraging. Seeing how God uses the suffering of His martyrs to grow His Church helps us to see a different side of suffering and how we can pray for those experiencing persecution.

Studying God's Word during our home church

This evening we looked at the underground church and read about the early church in Acts.  We discussed the importance of meeting together frequently and our responsibilities in the church; both our local church and the universal church.  Should we choose a church based on a worship style we like or a good preacher or should we rather choose a church where we can serve and bless others?

In between Bible studies, witnessing training, home church, and the clinic, I decided to try camping at a local, national park.  After borrowing a tent and sleeping bag, I loaded up the car and headed out to Pilanesberg National Park.  It was wonderful being out in nature for a few days and there were plenty of opportunities to practice my photography skills.  The tent even survived a crazy wind, lightning, and rain storm, although it did end up a bit wet inside.  I was worried the tent pegs would pull out and I’d go rolling across the campground!  Hopefully, I’ll be able to do more camping over the next few years as it is an inexpensive way to get away.

Feb 2019 - Furlough Finished

My first furlough/home assignment is complete and I’ve returned to South Africa for my second three-year term with CVM!  Seems like I should feel like a real missionary now :) But I must admit, I don’t feel different.  I still feel like a regular person doing a fairly normal job to the best of my abilities and seeking to share God with those I meet.  And that is just the way it should be!  Those of us living overseas in full time ministry are just regular people, working hard, facing difficulties and frustrations, and taking pleasure in the small joys of life.

Spending three months in the USA has been a blessing in many ways.  Seeing my family and even much of my extended family, visiting with old friends and catching up on their lives, speaking to groups of vet students, and meeting many of my supporters that I’ve never had the pleasure to meet previously has been refreshing and encouraging.  The continuing education conferences that I attended have also given me food for thought and I’m looking forward to introducing new ideas and techniques in the clinic here as well as working out new client communication training for the students in the Animal Health program.

This year we will have the largest final-year class since I arrived with over 70 students (last year we had 55).  Fitting those students into 6 rotation groups will mean large group sizes and reduced contact with individual students.  Please pray that the Lord will provide opportunities during each rotation to get to know the students and move beyond the large group sizes to individual relationships.  Please also pray that I don’t go crazy trying to corral and organize that many students!  The clinic is going to be bursting from the seams!

Aside from the clinic, I am also continuing with the weekly student Bible studies and would appreciate your prayers for the fresh new first-years; that they will find joy in spending time with God and in His word.  The Gestring’s and I are also praying for the Lord to direct committed students to our Acts 1:8 witnessing training program.  Several of our long-term students graduated last year so we are eagerly looking to who the Lord will bring along new this year.

A few other prayer points for the year:

·       Continued peace on campus!  We have been blessed with two peaceful years and pray for a third year free of protests and riots

·       The new Compulsory Community Service veterinarians (new grads) have arrived and started working in the clinic.  Please pray for them to grow in skill and knowledge as I mentor them throughout 2019.

·       Safety of students – a large percentage of our Bible study students have been mugged or assaulted when walking to the grocery store.  Please pray for their physical safety, especially when off campus.

·       New financial supporters are needed for my next three years.  In order to meet my budget and continue serving at North-West University, I’m praying for an additional $800/month.  Several of my past supporters have been unable to continue for this second term so there is a current monthly deficit to fill.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support over the past three years!  I look forward to sharing with you, over the next three years, what else God is going to do here in Mafikeng, South Africa.  The adventures await!

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)

                                                    

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