More of Africa

Without really being intentional, we've more or less put Africa aside since we got home.  There has been a lot to organize, and digestion is best one bite at a time.  Since the new year, we have started to examine it again, to mull over what God taught us, how He might use us, and where we should go from here. 

While going through pictures for the blog makeover (thank you Tara!), I came across tons more that I haven't shared with you.  In fact, I realized I haven't had pictures on here in a long time.  I guess that comes with the territory of having a photography blog.  However, I know that God didn't give me the privilege of capturing these images just so I can keep them to myself.  Although there are too many for me to narrate every one, I am hoping He might use the images themselves to speak to someone or many someones...maybe even you.

For today, I'll start with those from the header, plus a few extra:

Some of the kids I taught at Kwakwas:

Rundu, Namibia:

Me holding one of our little ones at the preschool, Josh with one of our youngest from the youth program:

Malawi:

Dune 7, Walvis Bay, Namibia

Kids from Hope's Promise and the Youth Program:

Aren't they precious?

Some of our preschool girls.  This picture always reminds me of little old ladies at a salon : )

Kwakwas

Dune 7

At the beginning of January, we took a little trip to Swakopmund for a few days R & R. For some reason, we thought it would be fun to climb Dune 7, often said to be the second-highest sand dune in the world. If you've ever run on the beach, you know that travelling in sand is nothing like walking on normal ground. You know, the kind that stays put. For every step we took, we slid halfway back to where we started.

Here is a shot from the bottom of the dune. Not so bad, right?

However, here is a shot of Josh that I took from about 1/4 of the way up, if that. Needless to say, this was an adventure. An adventure that my calves reminded me about for the next three days. Oh, and FYI, the landscape that you see in the background is what you see for miles and miles.

The sand is so beautiful out there. The wind blows it around and creates these patterns that look like waves in an ocean.

We made it to the top in about 15 minutes, which stunned me. I was feeling pretty good about all those workouts- of course, that died the next morning with the muscle aches of out-of-shape-ness. Sometimes God just humbles us in really practical ways.

I have to end with this one, because it seriously resembles my one-time desktop wallpaper. The view was TOTALLY worth the trek.

Just Breathe

Lately, our life seems to be on some sort of speed-up mode. We have more places to be, more things to accomplish, more to pray about, more decisions to make. I guess that's what happens when you are straddling 2 "different" lives on 2 very different continents. Sometimes I am so overwhelmed, and just feel certain that I will never accomplish all that needs to be done. I get so wrapped up in the cares of this world that I forget what really matters.

If you've read this blog, you know my love for sunsets, not just for their beauty but for their symbolism as well. At the end of the day, they are my breath of fresh air. They are my reminder to slow down and not waste this moment worrying about things outside my control. If He makes a fiery ball of elements look like this, how much more can He do with those made in His image?

Africa's Crowning Glory

What I Did on My Thanksgiving Vacation, Part 5

When the place that you live in is so hot it melts candle wax (yes, our taper candle is now laying perpendicular to its holder (formerly a tuna can), beaches become…beautiful havens of God’s grace. Swakopmund is about the only place to escape the heat here, and even just looking at these pictures brings relief.

Swakop is the only place that I have seen overcast or cloudy in Namibia. I love the sunshine, but even I enjoy a break every once in a while.

On Friday night, Josh and I did some exploring at the beach. I have discovered a new love for tide pools- they are so cool! I love finding the little surprises in each one.

This sunset was particularly stunning, and I felt privileged just to witness it. This is all God, completely unedited.

I love how He sends us reminders of how amazing and powerful He is. I am so quick to forget.

What I Did on My Thanksgiving Vacation, Part 4

Did you know that Namibia has flamingoes? I really had no idea, but after we were done on the sand dunes, we were half way to Walvis Bay, where they congregate, so we took a little drive and a few photos.

What I Did on My Thanksgiving Vacation, Part 3

While we were getting ready to come to Africa, we spent a lot of time in prayer- A LOT. We thought and prayed about our service, the meaning of sacrifice, our team, our families and friends we were temporarily leaving behind, our marriage…it would impact every facet of our lives. It was very intense, and very serious, and very necessary, as it prepared us for what we would need to do here. In addition, we took a bit of time to think of some fun goals we had for our time here, things we wanted to learn or experience in another culture. My three were to see a giraffe, try African drumming, and go sand surfing (called sand boarding here). Check, check, check. Sort of.

On Friday of our Swakop adventure, we went sand boarding on one of the dunes found outside town. It’s so amazing- you are standing on a mountain of tiny grains, and yet you don’t sink in (I just can’t comprehend that!) You can see the Atlantic ocean literally across the road from the dune.

As we got there, we saw some parachutes landing (look closely)

Although Josh, Kitty, and I knew we wanted to sandboard, we thought we would need to go with a tour company (which is a bit expensive). While in a store on Thursday, we saw they were selling kits for sand boarding for really cheap, which meant we could avoid tour fees. We bought one kit, and split it three ways, so that was perfect. The only problem is that you have to use these sitting down, because you have to lift the front of the board up as you go. That’s probably okay though, as sand boarding while standing up is a lot more dangerous than snowboarding (have you ever heard of snow burn?  I didn't think so).

Here is a picture of Josh’s first attempt…



…and the resulting battle wound:

In spite of the hazards, there was a line of people ready to give it a try. What can I say? We live in Africa; we have adventurous spirits : ) Love these people!

Since the hardest part of the whole undertaking was walking back up the dunes, Jessa and I decided to take rides together, 2 for the effort of 1. Oh yeah, and it was REALLY windy.


Making memories with my best friend.

Love this

What I Did on My Thanksgiving Vacation, Part 2

Africa is just…so different. I am pretty sure I can’t even describe it to someone who has never been here. Everything is bigger, and with less pretense. It is very raw; it can be beautiful, painful, challenging, and incredible all at once.
But without a doubt, Africa’s visual crowning glory is her sunsets. They are so…without description. Film doesn’t even do them justice. At the end of the day, they are the reward for withstanding another arid, brutally hot day.

Love Like Crazy

We were asked to do a video for one of our supporting churches, and in order to get the most mileage out of the effort, we thought we could share it right here.

Week 7: Swakopmund

Okay, this is actually week 9, but May has been REALLY busy, so I'm playing catch-up.

Week 7 started out quietly; we were occupied with planning our mini-camp for week 8. We were blessed by an encouraging, humbling blog post by our dear friend Mrs. Lovewell (click here to see it). I spent part of Wednesday trying to upload upload photos and videos to the blog, but the internet was obstinate. I got kicked off repeatedly. T.I.A. (This is Africa).

On Thursday (5/1/09), we made an early morning departure for Swakopmund, a tourist town on the coast (not tourist like London, more like Duluth). We went with Steve, Britt, and Heidi, which was a big blessing because Heidi had been there before.

Although Swakop (don’t I sound like a local?) is maybe only 100 km away from Rehoboth as the crow flies, it took us 5 hours to get there. Two of us traveled in the back of the Bakkie (pronounced like “bucky“); let’s just say it wasn’t made with a smooth ride in mind. Nonetheless, it sure beat walking. They say that Namibia has some of the best roads in Africa, but it’s important to remember that many things in life are relative. Our guidebook states, “The number of road graders per capita must be the highest in the world…” However, Namibia’s population density is one of the lowest in the world, around 2 people/ km. You do the math.

Although we are approaching “winter” (don’t cry for us, Minnesota), weather in Rehoboth is still hot, dry, and sunny. Swakop, in contrast, was cool, wet, and overcast. A nice change for the first day, but we were grateful when the sun came out on Saturday.

We stayed in a delightful place called the Finnish Schoolhouse, which was actually a school. They offer special rates for missionaries (YAY!), and are located just one block from the beach, so it was pretty much amazing. They even had hot showers!


On Friday we wandered downtown, and there happened to be some sort of national youth festival down by the market, which meant it was swarming with people. We saw Himba people in traditional dress, which was an interesting contrast to the Germanic tourist town around them.

On Saturday we went quad-biking, which is 4-wheeling on giant sand dunes. It was quite possibly the most fun I’ve had since coming to Africa, and I’m pretty sure Josh didn’t hate it, either. Quad-biking is really more akin to snowmobiling, because you are completely unencumbered by bumps, ditches, and the like.




I always wondered why people would visit places like Egypt to see giant piles of sand. Now I know.

Sunday was a day filled with baking, pancakes, and quiet time on the beach. Josh and I were blessed to spend some quality time one the beach watching an amazing sunset.





Tender-heart in Swakopmund.

Sunday night we watched one of our favorite movies, Fireproof, which was exciting because we don’t have DVDs here. If you haven’t seen it yet, run to your favorite video store NOW!

Monday consisted mainly of packing up and traveling home, but we witnessed another gorgeous sunset during our journey.




We are blessed.