Sept 2021 - New Vehicle!

Spring is rapidly passing through Mahikeng and summer is soon to arrive.  Temperatures have been in the upper 70’s and low 80’s although still falling to the 40’s at night.  In Seattle we had a saying, “Enjoy the Washington summer; all 10 minutes of it.”  I feel like the same can be said for spring and fall here in Mahikeng.  I’ve already put away my extra blanket, warm bathrobe, hot water bottle, and long sleeve shirts. 

In the clinic, we have finished the first term and have started the second term.  Hopefully we will finish by the end of the year so it doesn’t drag on into next year.  Since we were unable to do traditional written and practical exams, I assigned 9 short assignments for the final-year student’s end of term evaluations in the small animal rotation.  It all sounded good until I realized that meant grading 500 essays and 1000 calculations in two weeks!

Thankfully, there is usually a bit of comic relief in reading the student’s answers.  One of my favorites was a radiographic (x-ray) description of a fracture (broken bone).  The image showed a comminuted fracture with lots of small pieces.  The student said it was “a y-shaped break causing the bones to look like corn flacks [sic]”.  Oh grief, I was wiping tears from my eyes after reading that one.

One exciting change since my last prayer letter is a new vehicle.  My little Honda Fit (Jazz) was reaching the end of its reliability and, after talking with CVM and my missions co-workers here, I decided to upgrade to a 7-seater vehicle.  This means when we take students on trips (both mission trips and vet related outreaches) I can bring more students along.  It also gives more options for taking students home after Bible studies (it isn’t safe for them to walk home after dark).  Although finding a 7-seater was a big challenge during COVID since I couldn’t travel to the big city, the Lord brought the perfect one just 45 minutes away.  It is a 2018 Mitsubishi Pajero Sport and it is huge! 

Having driven very small cars for the past 15 years, driving a big SUV will take some getting used to.  I’m still very nervous driving it in parking lots and I don’t look forward to driving in cities.  However, it is a much safer vehicle both due to its size and its safety features.  Since road accident fatalities are a big problem in South Africa, safety is important.  I was just looking at statistics as I write this and there were 38,000 car accident deaths in the US last year and 14,000 here in South Africa.  Since our population is only 1/5^th  of the US we have double the amount of fatalities.  But add in the fact that only 5% of the people in my province even have a driver’s license (versus 2/3 in the US) and the numbers are even worse.  Probability of being in a fatal vehicle accident here is about 1 in 1,500 vehicles by my rough calculations. Yikes!

On the COVID front, South Africa has passed 10,000 deaths and, if the tests are accurate, we are 5^th in the world for the number of cases (>500,000).  There have been a few cases confirmed in students and staff here on campus, but not many at this point. Local leisure travel is now allowed so I got away for a week while marking all those end of year assignments.

What a blessing it is to be able to rest peacefully in the Lord during these difficult and uncertain times.  Thank you for your prayers over the last few months. 

July 2021 - Lockdown Continues

 Lockdown continues here in South Africa, but it is being slowly being reduced despite exponential growth in the cases of COVID 19.  At the time I write this email, the number of cases has surpassed 50,000 (up 2,500 since yesterday) and we have not started to see a flattening of the curve yet.

During the current lockdown stage 3 (of five stages) all stores are now open for business and alcohol can be purchased for a few hours each day.  Cigarette sales are still banned. Travel between provinces is not allowed other than in a few cases where a permit is required.  Churches have been allowed to reopen as long as there are no more than 50 people, temperatures are checked, masks are worn, and a register is kept.

Here on campus, a percentage of students have been allowed to return (max 33% according to government regulations) and this includes our final year students in Animal Health because they need to finish their practical rotations.  Students in other years will not be returning until January at the earliest and teaching is to continue online next term.

Due to the interruption of the term during lockdown, the university is extending this term by a month and starting term 2 five weeks late.  At this point there is no news as to when term 2 will end (Dec? or carried over into next year?).  At least we have hard plans now and can start moving forward with students in the clinic.

Ministry activity will unfortunately be very limited for the rest of the year.  I’m hoping that when the lockdown moves down to stage 2 I will be able to gather with a few students here on campus for Bible studies in an outdoor setting.  There are a few of our Acts 29 and Bible study students who are still living on campus as their homes are in other countries and they were not able to get out of South Africa before lockdown started.  It would also be wonderful to pull in some of the final-year Animal Health students into the Bible study or have one separately for any who are interested.

In the meantime, I’m keeping busy with guitar practice, learning French with Rosetta Stone, baking (trying lots of sourdough recipes with the starter I’ve recently started), gardening, reading, crocheting, walking around campus, bird watching, and loving on my cats.

Please continue to pray for the students:

• ·       That those who are returning to campus will be safe while traveling back to campus
• ·       That those who are not returning will be able to access the internet adequately for online learning
• ·       That our witnessing students will have the courage to share with their friends and families at home and as lockdown eases further, perhaps start local Bible studies.
• ·       For God’s peace and comfort for those who have lost loved ones to COVID 19

May 2020 - Lockdown!

Hello from lockdown!  Although we may be out of lockdown by the time you receive this letter, while I write this we have just finished the second of three weeks of national lockdown.  Unfortunately, from what I hear, a large percentage of the population isn’t really staying at home so I suspect things will go on for quite a while. 

Although South Africa is nowhere near being a third world country, there are still around 15 million people here without running water in their homes to wash hands.  Many villages only have a few water taps that everyone uses.  How do you effectively lockdown in those situations?  And huge numbers of households share outhouses.  You cannot stay isolated in your house if there is no toilet in it!   

The lockdown started about mid-term here at the university.  Starting next week, they are hoping to resume classes online, but at this point there is still doubt about all students having reasonable internet access.  Most homes in the villages and townships don’t have wired or wireless internet access. The university has been attempting to work out a deal with cell phone services to allow access to the university’s websites for free so that students can use their phones without needing to buy data. Hopefully that can be finalized before we start again. 

The first rotation group of the year back in February

I’ve converted the last missed test into multiple choice and short answer questions that can be randomly chosen for each student through an online platform.  The final lectures in my module still need to be recorded and uploaded for students to listen to and watch.  We can handle the lecture side of things online, but the practical, hands-on rotations for the final-year students may be a complete loss. 

The clinic has been slow, with limited hours and limited staff.  Yesterday though, I assisted one of our new grads with a double enterotomy and gastrotomy (took stuff out that was blocking the intestines and the stomach).  We removed a bunch of bones and this very strange grey putty like material that had packed up to block the intestines.  I have no idea what that dog ate!  Next week is my rotation in the clinic so we will see what comes in.

Please keep the students in your prayers.  Both those in the animal health program that I teach and those who participate in our Bible studies and witnessing training.  Pray that the Lord would be their foundation and strength so that they do not live with a spirit of fear during these difficult times, but with His love and power and a sound mind. Pray that they will be lights shining in the darkness offering peace and hope to those around them.

For myself, I am safe and healthy with plenty of food, a lovely garden, and two feline companions.  Thank you for all for your prayers and emails.

Lockdown Update Week 2

Week two complete!  Well, it will be complete tonight at midnight.  The time is flying by!  Thankfully I’m one of the people perfectly happy to stay home with my cats.  I have two boys; a 2-year-old ginger named Laddie and a 6-year-old tabby named Leo.  Laddie was a campus kitten who was brought into the clinic by security because he had a severe upper respiratory tract infection and ringworm.  We treated him and then I couldn’t help but adopt him.  Thankfully, he and Leo bonded quickly and they play together all the time.  Laddie is an endless source of amusement.  He is very playful and always looking for trouble!  They are both very large cats, weighing in at 12 and 14 pounds (although Leo could stand to lose a pound or two :). 

Last week we had several days of rain and cool weather, which I absolutely loved!  I’ve been baking and taking goodies into the clinic several days a week (I live just across the parking area from the clinic).  It has even been cool enough for tea in the mornings and evenings.  The rain also meant I didn’t need to do much to water my garden.   Usually my automatic system does the heavy work, but for the last few weeks my water pressure has been very low and the automatic system isn’t working.  If it doesn’t rain, I have bring the watering can into the kitchen and it takes over a minute to fill each time due to the low pressure.

Thankfully there has always been just enough pressure for a shower if I turn the shower head to the pulse setting.  I’ve also been able to continue with laundry although it takes ages for the washing machine to fill with water.  Every once and a while the pressure comes back for an hour or two and I quickly do the dishes, turn on the automatic watering system, etc.

Last night I was helping with an emergency surgery in the clinic and we had no water in the surgery suite!  I was able to wash my hands by going into another room and draining the last dregs from the pipes, but it was very frustrating.  Despite the challenges, the dog is doing well this morning.

Please continue to pray for South Africa; her leaders, people, and the university.

Week three, here we come!

God bless,

Rebecca

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.
Joshua 1:9

March 2020 - Protests again!

One again, the new year started with student protests!  During registration, a nationwide 7-day shutdown was called for by national student organizations and Mahikeng’s students were fully on board.    Thankfully, there was very little violence and destruction of property this time around and all was resolved peacefully by the end of the week.  I opted to stay in my home on campus rather than evacuate, but with the gates blocked by students it was a bit like house arrest. 

To watch a local news broadcast about the protests visit: https://www.facebook.com/GoSpeakLiveBoldly/videos/186187259408285/ 

In addition to shutting down registration for a week, the protests also meant we were unable to continue with our planned student outreach activities.  We had Bible studies organized for several evenings during the week and a movie outreach on Saturday that all had to be cancelled.  Once everything calmed down and the term got underway, we held the first-year movie outreach a week later with good attendance.

Movie outreach for 1st year students

Our regular Monday night Bible studies are now well underway, and we are focusing on Jesus’ “I am” statements such as “I am the bread of life” and “I am the light of the world.”  In Acts 29, our discipleship/witnessing training group, the new students are learning to share the gospel using the bridge method (also called once verse witnessing) and the returning students (we call them trainers) are doing a study with me on Discipleship, 10 Qualities That Move You From A Believer To A Disciple, by Denis Rouse to help them disciple new believers.

My group of trainers studying "10"

We also held a special training day for our 15 trainers one Saturday covering servant leadership and how to develop personal mission/vision statements to keep our focus where it should be and not get distracted by all that life throws our way.   One of our goals for this year is to work harder on developing leaders among the Acts 29 students and allowing them to take on more responsibilities in the groups and outreaches.

Our group of trainers for 2020!

On the veterinary side, our final-year group has jumped from 80 to 100 students.  A new rotation needed to be developed to accommodate the higher numbers and it will include several days of equine work.  This is a new avenue of experience for our students (and for me!) and I’m excited to see how it develops.  A local horse rescue and welfare organization, Highveld Horse Care Unit, is partnering with us by organizing health clinics in surrounding villages for horses and donkeys.  I’ve also been working for the past 6 months to improve our facilities to allow two horses to be kept at the university and used in student practicals. Practicals, in basic handling, grooming, restraint, and physical exam, etc., for equines are planned and should provide a nice addition to their education.  

Thank you all for your prayers and support.  I am blessed to say that once final year donations were tallied, my support for last year actually surpassed my expenses slightly!  Thank you so much to all who contributed and helped me to be financially stable!

God bless,

Rebecca Quam

January 2020 - A New Year!

Summer is here and it is hot, hot, hot.  Although we have had a few days of good rain (2.75 inches over 5 days in mid Dec) it is generally blue skies with temps in the upper 80-90’s.  For some of you, that is probably ideal, but for this Seattle girl, those few days rainy day in Dec were a true blessing.  I’m already looking forward to winter!

The new university year starts the first week of February so there are a few more weeks of calm and quite before activities begin again.  We hope to have several students come back early for a freshman outreach the last week of January.  This will likely include nightly Bible studies, a movie showing, and going door to door meeting the incoming students.  Please pray that God will lead and direct us in the organization and details of this event. 

Please also pray that the students God would have join us for the coming year will be drawn to our Bible study and witnessing training group and that the student church in my home would continue to provide rich fellowship.

Pray for the new students arriving on campus who may be experiencing their first time away from home and, for those who are Christians, the first tests of their faith.  Is it their faith or their parent’s faith?  Will they put God first or be distracted by university life? For those who are not Christians will they see His truth when they hear the gospel?  For those who’s faith is more cultural than personal will they come to seek a relationship with Him? 

So many challenges and opportunities will be presented to each student over the coming year.  Please pray they God will lead and guide each one to find or be strengthened in their relationship with Christ.

Finally, please remember me and the Gestrings in your prayers as we decide on the curriculum/topics for Bible study and church this coming term. Let the Lord lead us to share His truth clearly and openly.

So many prayer requests fill my heart at the start of each year.  Thank you for coming alongside me in these prayers.  May the Lord be with you in this New Year!

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!