Arandis (Weeks 18 & 19)

For the last two weeks, we relocated to Arandis, a town located around 30 miles from the coast of Namibia. We had no idea exactly what we would be doing, but we knew there was an opportunity to serve.

Arandis is a tiny town formerly owned by a mining company (it is located very near to Rossing Uranium Mines) that has since been turned over to the government. It is isolated and somewhat rundown, and is known for its crazy weather. It gets an East wind off of the Kalahari desert that brings tremendous heat and dust, and a West wind that brings cold from the Antarctic.

Although we knew that I would be doing something involving counseling for the Hope’s Promise branch there, we had absolutely no clue what Josh would be doing. As it turns out, a teacher left the school with no notice, so he had the opportunity to assist the first-grade teacher with her class, and he was put to work before I was! He has also had the chance to work a bit with an after-school program.

I went to give a fresh perspective on a few of the Hope’s Promise kids in Arandis. I very much enjoyed my time getting to know them, but I don’t have a lot I can share about my work.

We were blessed to have the chance to get to know the team there a little bit. Some have been in Namibia for as long as 10 years, and some only a few weeks. Most of them are teachers at the school, and all of them work with youth in some way. They have so graciously welcomed us into their world for the last 2 weeks, and we are grateful for their hospitality. An extra-special treat was to spend some time with an amazing married couple; since we are the only couple in Rehoboth, we cherished the opportunity!

In Arandis, there are a large number of stray dogs, and most people think they are racist. Yes, you read that correctly. Apparently they tend to bite only black people and no white people. Of course, the accusation of racism is not taking into account the fact that less than 1% of the small population is white. I just thought it was an interesting tidbit you might like to know about…

Another interesting fact: we have moved 8 times in the last 2 weeks, and while it has been very exciting, it has also been a bit tiring. I think we are ready to return to our “normal” life.

Last week, Josh’s sister got married. We would have loved to be able to be there, but it wasn’t an option. So instead, we made a little video for them. We later found out that, due to time constraints, they were only to show part of it (but it apparently made people cry anyway!) Since you are all extra-special people, here is the full, uncut, special-edition version:

Here is one take we did in which we just couldn’t seem to get it together…well, we tried. Tired, staring into the sun, impatient...it was a bad combination. We are missionaries, not media professionals:


Praise God for laughter!!!

While we have been away from our beloved Rehoboth, we found out the first case of Namibian swine flu was detected there. We are not sure of the current status of the situation, but we are going to keep an eye on it and try to avoid it. We are especially concerned for the many citizens infected with AIDS; to them, contracting swine flu would be extremely dangerous. Please be in prayer about this situation- it is very serious for some.

***Don’t forget to check out the new “Cute African Kids” album on the right sidebar!***