On January 13th, we said goodbye to Keifer and Lisa Honey as they boarded Air Botswana for their journey back home to the US. As we stood at the fence waving our final goodbyes, I was struck by how bitter-sweet this moment was. Lord willing, we will be in the US for Christmas 2012 and yet it seems a long time away!

Keifer and Lisa arrived on Tuesday, December 27th! We had a huge Christmas dinner at the house that evening and enjoyed exchanging Christmas gifts. However, their bags got lost in the US and only arrived the next day on the 28th, so that evening we had Christmas again! Thank you to all who sent gifts our way!

While Keifer and Lisa were here, we traveled far and wide. On Friday the 30th, we set out on our first journey. We visited Shakawe where our old house is still standing and being used as a private residence, as well as Ngarange where our old house is being used as a church building. In Xaxao, we attended Sunday morning service and were happy to see some familiar faces. The churches across the river have struggled because of death due mainly to AIDS and people, especially the young, moving away to find jobs.

Traveling to Shakawe took us through Namibia, where we were able to see and spend a night with old friends, Johnny and Elizabeth Miranda. In the old days, we would travel from Shakawe to Divundu and buy fuel and food from their garage and shop there. They were so surprised to see us and kindly invited us to stay the night in their guest room. As it was threatening rain, and we did not want to camp in the rain, we welcomed the invitation gladly!

Another favorite site we visited was Tsodilo Hills, the sacred hills of the Bushmen filled with ancient rock paintings. We spent a wonderful day there climbing, exploring, and reliving past visits to this enchanting place.
Once back in Kazungula, we took two days to wash clothes, rest and recover from our long
journey and begin preparations for a shorter one to Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. There the fearless three Keith, Keifer, and Elise rafted the mighty Zambezi River and jumped off a 77 story high cliff on the gorge swing, the highest of its kind in the world! Lisa and I choose more sedate activities such as an elephant ride into the wild and shopping till we dropped!

We ended their trip with getting some important tasks done around the house that Keith needed Keifer to help with. They installed metal blinds above my stove to block out the harsh sunlight and put in a ceiling fan in our living room. There were several more projects but we decided to just rest and enjoy Keifer and Lisa’s visit which included a day in the Chobe National Park where we saw numerous animals and birds. Our day ended with an unusual sighting of three lionesses on the hunt and the big male lying in full view of our cameras watching! WOW!

Keifer brought a video camera with him and filmed their trip! Anyone who is interested in the video of their trip can contact him for a viewing.

On Friday night, December 16th, the fellowship that we are helping with participated in an outreach to the community. “Carols by Candlelight” has been held for 17 years here in Kasane, and Keith, Elise, Carrie and I were privileged to be asked to take part in this activity. There were 13 of us that sang carols as a choir in the parking lot of a local business complex. Included in the service were readings of scripture, after which Keith presented a short gospel message.

Our hearts were encouraged to see about 150 men, women, and children of various cultures meet to sing praise to God. This was the largest attendance of “Carols by Candlelight” ever! Praise God that His Word does not return void! Many who attended are not believers and we pray that the seed planted will take root and grow.

After the carols, cake, drink and candy were handed out to about 80 children who very patiently stood in line to receive these goodies.

Since this is the rainy season and we have rain almost every day, we had all been in prayer that the Lord would allow us to have this service in dry weather. He was gracious and held off the rain until the end of “Carols by Candlelight”!

The rains have begun and we are so excited about the cooler weather and much needed moisture. The land is dry and brown and the elephants, impala, warthog and other creatures are skin and bones as they wait for the rains to bring new vegetation to life.

After days of triple digit heat, the cooler weather of 66 to 70 degrees finds me wearing a sweater. Yes, my blood is beginning to thin and I find it chilly to sit on the verandah while it is raining and the wind is blowing.

The local farmers are also rejoicing as the rain has softened the ground and added moisture for
their plowing and planting season. We pray it will be a good rainy season and that the crops will be plentiful this year.

Our yard is looking so refreshed after the heat. It is wonderful to wake to the sound of falling rain and see the grass and plants drinking in the water. In Botswana, a desert country, rain is highly prized. The currency is called “Pula” the word for rain. When one wants to call out a blessing, one shouts “Pula”! Yes, it truly is the life of this country and we thank God that we are having “pula” fall on our dry, dusty village.

Our daily prayers are that God’s mercy may be seen in His rain falling on the just and the unjust. We pray that we can be His people of blessing here in our village and bring the much needed love and mercy of God to these people whose spirits are dry and dusty from the lack of “living water”.

Well, it is hot here. We are in the midst of what they call "the suicide month." At 105-6 degrees as an average temperature, we are thankful the humidity is fairly low. With no air conditioning, we really feel the heat.

Thankfully, the rains should be starting next month and they will bring blessed relief. As a friend remarked recently if we remembered how hot October is each year we would all have left by now. So we are thankful for short memories!

The heat is compounded by a lack of water. Our village has been without water for a week. Thankfully, we have a water tank to help us through these difficult times. Supposedly, there is a plan in action to remedy our water problems. We will see.

One of the teachers at Noka ya Botshilo, the school where Elise teaches, said she is so tired of looking out at the river just a half a mile away and then down at her empty water tap. How, she asked, do we live on one of the greatest rivers and yet are constantly without water!

Pray for our neighbors who have no tanks and must walk a long way to get water. Pray also that this situation can be remedied in a proper way so that water shortages are a thing of the past.

Ben, the son of our friends Rick and Julie, has been visiting us for about 2 weeks. We have enjoyed his youthful enthusiasm for Africa and its people. When he arrived from Kenya, he had just gotten over a bout of typhoid. We took it easy on him those first few days but have now got him out at the small farm resource center clearing brush in 102 degree heat! Needless to say, he and Keith really worked up a sweat! Thankfully, today is in the 70s since it rained all night and cooled down.

Also, Ben has been working on a tower garden experiment with old auto tires. That did not turn out so well, as it is difficult to cut through the steel belt that runs through the rubber. So next he experimented with the softer sides of the tires, but that ended up looking like some strange alien object. Back to square one on that idea.
It has not been all work no play. Ben has had some fun as well. One evening, we took him out to the river so that he could see the amazing sunset over the Chobe River and then an hour and a half later, the almost full moon rise. It was a lovely evening sitting by the Chobe listening to the hippos laugh as the sun set and the silvery moon rose.

This past weekend, he, Elise, and some friends went to Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, to see the falls, raft the Zambezi, and swing over the gorge. They came home Sunday evening exhausted but happy about a great time in the falls.

We will miss Ben but he has promised to bring his parents on his next trip. So we will be planning some exciting activities for Rick, Julie, and Ben on their next visit.