Spring doin's

My dog had puppies on Easter Sunday! Thank the Lord I was able to have them all sold by nine weeks old! The money I got will be a great help toward my college bill this next school year!

We got together with some friends one evening. The gals "jammed" on mandolin, violin, and cello substituting for bass!

One Saturday I took Danny and Hannah to walk in the Walk for life, organized by a local crisis pregnancy center. Unfortunately, I did not see the email telling me when to arrive to register, and we were too late by the time we got there! That was a disappointment, but we made the best of it and spent some time at one of our favorite parks. We call it "the duck pond" because--well, there is a pond with ducks (and geese) on it! We also saw turtles and a heron. In this picture you can see goslings in the water.

These baby ducklings stole the show!

Hannah and I got to help this year at the local fire department's pancake breakfast fundraiser. We were in charge of the kids' table, handing out fire hats and activity booklets.

I took Danny and Hannah birding one afternoon.

We found a tiny nest in a clump of grass after the mama flew off it. Three eggs nestled inside!

I babysat a couple of times for the lady whose restaurant I work at. Danny helped the older girl build a house for our kittens out of cardboard boxes.

The baby liked the kitties too! We just had to make sure she didn't accidentally strangle them!

I took them to the park. The baby liked the swing!

We saw a bluebird while we were at the park!

Of Campgrounds and Catastrophes

 We flew out of JFK the evening of June 1st. While waiting to board, we got some shots of the sunset.

 I think this picture was taken during our all-day layover in Switzerland. We saw this pilot washing his window.

 After arriving in Johannesburg, the boys helped load the trailer with the Bibles we were going to sell.

We stayed the first night at a church compound in South Africa, not far from the border of Botswana.

 The next morning we crossed into Botswana. While going through the border post, we saw a bunch of monkeys running everywhere. This monkey knocked the trash can over and was combing through the contents.

 Some birds we saw in Botswana, at the campground where we stayed the second night.

 Our trip was not without incident. We were driving through Botswana on the third day of our trip, when the vehicle I was in hit a pothole and got a flat tire! The others were ahead of us and didn't realize that we were stopped. Tanni Hester managed to flag down a taxi and asked the driver to try to catch up to Oom Piet and tell him what happened. Then we unloaded all our baggage from the back of the car, since the spare tire was in the back.

Nathaniel set about taking off the flat tire. He ran into a bit of a delay when he realized that one of the lug nuts required a special attachment that we weren't sure we had. After a bit of searching, Nathaniel found the attachment in the glove box, for which we were very thankful! Nathaniel put on the spare tire, only to discover that it needed air. An anti-poaching vehicle with several occupants stopped and offered to take the spare tire to a fuel station a few kilometers back to air it up. 

While we waited for them to come back, Candace and Nathaniel walked back to the pothole that did our tire in. There were a couple potholes that were rather large, as you can see.

Oom Piet finally arrived, just before the truck came back with the aired up spare tire. The men in the truck were even so kind as to put the tire back on! Because of the delay, we had to spend another night in Botswana rather than crossing the border into Namibia that day as planned. We found a place in a campground within walking distance of the Zambezi River. This picture is the next morning, when we were cleaning up after breakfast and making lunches for the day.

We had a little time to connect to the internet and make contact with family back home before we left to cross the border into Namibia. The next post tells about our stay in Namibia and our first adventure in Zambia.

"Hurry Up and Wait"

We had to wait several days in the border town of Katima Mulilo, Namibia, while paperwork was processed. We five cousins camped in Namwi Island Campground while Uncle Piet, Tanni Hester and Kone stayed with a friend just outside the campground. Here is a picture of the Zambezi River at dusk.

 Sunday morning we sat on the riverbank to read our Bibles...

 and to watch the wildlife!

 This picture is zoomed in on a couple of "fish eagles".

 A smaller species of African bird.

 This is the view we had for several days. The next couple pictures: relaxing after we set up camp, and breakfast Sunday morning.

 We all gathered by the river to worship on Sunday morning.

 We carried our chairs to our friend's place for meals, which Tanni Hester cooked. We all took turns  pitching in to help.

 Here's proof! The boys did their share too. :)

 We did laundry one day while we were camping.

 On Wednesday as we were finishing lunch, Uncle Piet received a text that the paperwork was ready and we needed to get to the border post as soon as possible. What a flurry of tearing down our campsite and packing everything up! We got to the border post about four, and we barely got through by six!

After clearing the border, one vehicle stopped to refill the drinking water tank. It was already getting dark, and we had a couple hours yet to go.

 We drove back a dirt (or rather, sand) road to deliver some Bibles to a mission station, only to discover that there was still water across a low place from the flooding of the river. Samuel hopped in one of the canoes sitting there and paddled out to see how deep the water was. It was not very deep, and there was gravel on the bottom, so the men unhitched the trailer and took the truck through. They discovered that the missionaries were not at home, so they had to bring the Bibles back. Uncle Piet had to back through the water in order to hitch up the trailer. But in trying to turn around, he got stuck. The boys had to unhitch the trailer and push the truck out of the mud, then pull the trailer out.

 The next morning, we commissioned Kone to take a picture of us. This is the first picture he took.

 This is what we wanted him to get: the five of us in front of the Zambezi River. I may try to update some of these posts if I get time!

Senanga and Mongu

Bible distribution began in earnest in the town of Senanga. This is a three-wheeled taxi.

Prospective customers

My cousin Candace made a sign to put on the front of our table by writing on a piece of cardboard with a marker.

A familiar ox cart.

I worked with Candace, Nathaniel, Samuel and Kone the first morning. Kone is advertising in this picture!

Some folks carrying reed mats on their heads. These ladies had long pieces of fabric wrapped around them like a skirt, which is common.

While in Senanga, we stayed in this little house, made available from Pastor Enoch, whose church we ministered in the Sunday we were there. This is the only picture I have of inside the house, while we were packing to move to our next location.

When we arrived in Mongu, the boys set up tents. The accommodations proved to be less than desirable, forcing Oom Piet to find other quarters. Fortunately, he found rooms at a Catholic Youth Centre, which were actually pretty nice considering how low of a price we paid to stay there. At least we had running water!

Some shops along the main road in Mongu.

Getting ready to leave for the market one morning.

A marimba made with gourds.

In Mongu, we were only allowed one table. Here is our table and all of my cousins that came on the trip. It was lunchtime, and Samuel (on the far left) was trying some cassava root. I never tried any, but the cousins who did try it said it tasted like something between a raw potato and a coconut!

A mother with her baby on her back.

This is the only top hat we have ever seen in Africa!

The scene down from our table.

Sometimes we would go around to the shops and markets and try to sell Bibles.

Sometimes people would stop us and ask about Bibles.

Rice spread on a tarp.

Some interested folks in the market.

This market was very squalid and dirty. 

There was quite a bit of interest, but no customers.

These ladies had rice for sale.

Women gathered around a three-wheeled taxi.

Many ladies had umbrellas up to help shade them from the hot sun. They sold anything from papayas to bananas to tomatoes.

Vendors with their wares.

This is the perfect shopping center! At least whoever named it seems to think so.

Kone jokingly called this the "Zambezi River".

As we left Mongu, we passed these ladies carrying loads on their heads, a common mode of carrying things in Africa.

At this spot, a bunch of children were hanging out.

A grass hut.