Julianna Darlene, SMILE!

No water in the house, running late getting ready for church, a cobra loose in my backyard. Certainly not one of my best days and it was showing on my face (sad to say). Then I opened my nightstand drawer and there, staring me in the face was, no, not the elusive snake, but a note card from a best friend that simply stated, "Julianna Darlene SMILE". As if that couldn't be any clearer. Time for an attitude check. So instead, I'm counting my blessings. #1: This was the LORD's day. Not mine! #2: At least this didn't happen last weekend when we had over 40 guests in our house. #3: We have amazing neighbors who shared their water source with us. #4: The snake is outside, and NOT staring me in the face (like it was the day before). #5: I been blessed with some pretty amazing friends :) #6: I have a wonderful heavenly Father who knows just what I need, when I need it. 

Here are a few pictures from our recent ministry fellowship. Our pastor & family from the States came for a visit (which was a major highlight for our family!) and we wanted them to meet those whom the Lord has allowed us to work with. Great day filled with preaching, games, fellowship, and, of course, food!

Brianna with Margaret 

My little man, Sechaba!

Dad & Timothy

Young people from a Bible study in a nearby village

S.M.I.L.E!

Across Borders

Projects galore down here. I'm sitting in the midst of organized chaos (and maybe a bit of disorganized, too). All prep for upcoming events, but more on that later. Not too long ago, we had the pleasure of a visit from friends from the good ole USA. They restocked our non-existent chocolate chip supply, helped me with a new printing of our songbook, listened to our constant chatter and such like. Their stay ended rather abruptly with a trip to the Botswana border.



Border crossings in Africa are nothing like crossing a State line in the States. There are queues to stand in (and that could take hours, literally!), paperwork to fill out, questions, inspections and when you cross in/out of Zimbabwe, you have to step in some disinfectant (cut down on Hand/Foot/Mouth Disease). At one point, we had to pull all our shoes out of our luggage and dip those too. But, anywho. The Botswana border isn't too bad. If you can handle 98*F plus at 11 am. Nasty.

The Limpopo River divides South Africa from Botswana and Zimbabwe. As Dad & I trekked back over the bridge, after seeing our company safely across, he asked, "How many crocodiles do you think are in the river?" Creaky, metal slatted bridge where you can see the water below through the holes...not something I wanna think about.

 

Once back in South Africa, we headed south-east toward home. The land is speckled with villages. We made a stop-over in Ga Phago (Ha-Pa-ho). No sooner had I stepped out of the kombi, then my shoe snapped. Great. I'm so glad that African culture doesn't frown upon going shoeless. One bloke remarked, "Hey, it's heritage month, so I thought you were just going all African." Not likely. 

Mr. & Mrs Sako

 

After visiting with several believers & passing out Gospel tracts in a new village, we viewed a spectacular sunset. Chintzy phone cameras can't begin to capture the hues painted by our great Designer.