My Trip to Namibia: Namibia Day 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34

27^th, 28^th , 29^th and 30^th of September, 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd of October

I know I have been awful with updating my blog recently and I am so sorry about that. Things have been hectic here and internet is expensive making my blog posts not so colorful with pictures. As a visual learner I love looking at pictures so I have a harder time writing my posts considering I know you will not have an image of what I am describing.

With that said the images I have posted below sum up my last week here in Windhoek. Last Tuesday the Foreign Volunteers had a meeting with the FHS Supervisor, Abigail, about things that were going well at FHS and things to improve on. The meeting was at Vintage, my new favorite place to go! Of course the meeting was estimated to last about 15 minutes, but with so many ideas brewing it last about 2 hours, and an hour after the restaurant closed at 5:30. It is interesting I have noticed here that the wait staff will not wait for you to leave and clean up, they will just leave and since the restaurant was gated in, we just let ourselves out with glasses still on the table and all.

Wednesday last week it was my turn to share during Bible Time. I got to share the story of Jonah and the Big Fish. It is amazing remembering that story growing up, but looking at it now with mature eyes and seeing how I can relate exactly to Jonah. I often do the exact opposite of what the Lord asks of me, but I could not imagine being eaten by a large Fish because of it. Its amazing, because there are parts of the story I did not understand when I was younger and its been extremely informative to go back to these stories and really see the outcome and how the heroine of the story got there. I also was in charge of teaching “Culture” on Wednesday. I decided to teach the kids some of the “customary” dances in America. So naturally I taught them “The Hokey Pokey” “The Chicken Dance” and the “Macarena”. It was a lot of fun and my favorite part is when I asked the kids, “Where do you think we do these dances at?” and their response was “In Church?” haha it was lots of fun!

Thursday was a particularly fun day. Minnie and I were talking a couple weeks ago about starting up a bible study with the AIM Volunteers and a couple other fellow believers. We decided to go through the book of Philippians and started on Thursday night at Minnie’s house. I came home and made lasagna for the group, which was very fun. I love cooking when I have time! Its unfortunate though because cooking here is a little more difficult considering they will not have main ingredients (such as ricotta cheese for lasagna) that you need to make your entrée. The lasagna turned out though I looked up a recipe that did not call for ricotta. Little things like this have been a challenge for me getting used to the culture and not having a lot of small things that I am used to having easy access to in the States.

Friday was a very dramatic day for me. Without saying too much, there was a planning meeting that came as a bit of a shock and I was very confused by the outcome. I am asking for prayer in this area right now that I can trust the Lord’s plan even though I am confused about what happened at the meeting. Later in the day I had the opportunity to go to the Greidanus’ and have pizza to celebrate Sarah’s birthday. Sarah and Hannah came from Rehobeth and Minnie and N’dahafa, Robert and David, the Browns, Zeka and Anita and all 9 of the Greidanus’ were there. It was also a small farewell party for the Greidanus’ because they will be travelling to Capetown, S.Africa this week during their kid’s school vacation.

It was a lot of fun and I am happy we got to celebrate Sarah’s birthday all together. I also received a package from my mom on Friday, which was very sweet and made me chuckle a little as well… It seems that the peanut butter brownies my mom made for me and put in zip lock bags were enjoyed by a little critter before they got to me! At least it decided to save one bag for me!

Saturday was also a ball seeing that Hannah and Sarah were staying for the whole weekend at the Greidanus’ for Sarah’s birthday celebration. Robert and I took the girls to Vintage where we had a small breakfast and coffee. Afterwards we walked a little around town and then of course into the mall! We also walked around Independence where tribes from all over the country come down on the weekends to sell their crafts. Anyone looking for anything particular with souvenirs? We spent sometime just relaxing in the park before going to the Greidanus’ to meet up with Heidi (the woman who Hannah and Sarah are living with) and to watch up and then head out to Cattle Baron, a restaurant in Merua Mall. After wards we went to the Greidanus’ and played Dutch Blitz. Yes you heard me correctly… Sarah, Robert and Heidi had all heard of it before. We even played with Heidi’s deck of cards (and she is from Canada!). It was lots of fun just enjoying each others company over coffee and games.

Sunday went by quickly. I went to the Greidanus’ church, New Song Family Church and got to see a baptism take place. I was really convicted during the sermon about remembering my “first love”, Christ. I find often I fill the voids in my life with other things besides him and he is just longing for time with me. An interesting statistic Pastor Brian said was that 97% of people who attend church weekly have lost vision of their first love, are you one of them? This really hit me making me desire to make sure my walk is growing stronger everyday. After church Heidi, Sarah, Hannah and I went to the mall and enjoyed Pizza at a local restaurant before saying our goodbyes. The rest of the day was relaxing, just preparing for the week to come.

Today was a good day, especially for a Monday. I felt very refreshed from the weekend and ready to work. I have to say something I still feel I need to work on at FHS is having patience with the kids. I find that often all of the kids at once want my attention for their math homework. “Teacher, Teacher! ” is what they say after every single part of the long division problem. When I am not concentrating on one, they start tugging on my clothes and I end up snapping. If you could just pray that I learn to teach these kids to the best of my ability as well as love them in the midst of their frustrating demands. I also want to ask for prayer that I continue to show Christ to them in the best way possible. I am trying to pray with my morning group everyday before we start our time together, and one girl, Retta, even reminds me to pray if I forget, which I am thankful for. I just pray Christ give me new ideas to show him to his children. Thanks so much for reading and I will try to make sure I am writing more frequently! Have a terrific beginning of the week. God Bless!