This is not charity. These are God's great kids!

“God is good, All the time!” That is sort of the motto of Logos Church where we attended services today. Andy met Pastor Zizito 9 years ago as have each of our sons. This active and well-known man is from Angola. He was forced into war at 9 years old … gun and all. God saved him from that life and now he is dedicated to the Lord. What a deep down, authentic joy this man has. My favorite things about this morning were that we celebrated communion (in remembrance of Christ Jesus) with the Body of Christ (all believers around the world) and the fact that we knelt … right there on the cement floor. I love it when we kneel in submission to Christ. It is so different for me than just standing or sitting.

So, we made it through the weekend. Andy and I, Kim (20) from Belgium, and Heidi (21) from the Ark. We went to a lodge not far from here. The kids weren’t all that excited to get away until they saw the place. The rooms were very nice … at least the beds were! Bright white, fluffy, crisp comforters. The bathrooms were very nicely tiled … Caution, Slippery When Wet! I have the bruises to prove it. There were some traditional thatched roofs around and bungalows spread thoughout a large, clean, property.

                                             Aunt Caffie's Spunky Girls

The pool was large and FREEZING. We all got in at one point or another but I just couldn’t get in the 2^nd day. All the kids can swim so Andy broke out the change and had a diving contest. The food, well… The place had a firm rule of no outside food. We asked it we could bring peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the evening meal because they are used to one hot meal in the middle of the day and toast in the evening. I got an emphatic no. We wish we had broken that rule.

                                                         Lunch time.

The first day they served us ‘hot dogs’ for lunch. It was a very dark, thin sausage in a Dodger Dog sized bun, some fries and a juice box. Not our favorite. I asked for lunch about 1, it came about 11:30 so they were starved by 5. We took them to Wimpys for a hamburger, fries, and a Fanta. Fortunately we had a whole section of the restaurant to ourselves. We would have bought chicken but they didn’t have enough.

                                            Uncle Andy's best buddies!

We made such a mess, I tipped the girl $50. That is about $4.50 US. Her face lit up with a sincere “Donkie” which means Thank you. We tried to go on a game drive but lightening and rain brought us back. We went the next day and saw a family of 6 giraffe just eating and watching us back and a herd of Kudu. What a thrill and a huge reminder that this wasn’t Disneyland. We overloaded a jeep and went off roading with kids hanging over the sides, standing up, and being free. I wish our culture weren’t so safety crazy (sue crazy).

                                                 Video on game drive

We gave the kids some money to buy something at the am/pm type gas station store. It took forever for them to decide. We all had snacks for back in the rooms.

The 2^nd day, we were pleasantly surprised by breakfast. Scrambled eggs, a piece of toast, a slice of tomato on some of the plates, and ham and another dark, thin sausage. It was as if they wanted to discourage us from drinking coffee, juice, or eating corn flakes or bran flakes (which my body needed). They would only put out 1 or 2 bowls, a little milk, 1 or 2 cups at a time. It became funny and Andy and I just kept asking. We cleaned them out.

Lunch was Wimpy’s hamburgers, fries, and a coke. Not the best but it filled the tummies. Swimming, The RAIN!!!

The afternoon was spent watching 1) a small TV with cartoons in the small boys’ and Uncle Andy’s room 2) Mission Impossible and that movie about Somalia and the helicopter crash in the big boys’ room (on the oldest TV in the world with actually push buttons for channels) 3) or Gifted Hands (great movie) and some of Sea Biscuit on Andy’s computer in my room with the 6 younger girls.

The troops were getting restless by about 5 so we piled them into the van – yes, all 17 of us in a van they call a comvee. It technically seats 15, so 17 isn’t too bad, right!?

                                   Sunsets are spectacular - EVERY night!

We took them in the mud to a place called Ox Pass. It is the highest point overlooking the area of Keetmanshoop. There are rocks piled up like could be volcanic because they are black. It is where they took me for the hike but this time it was in the 70s and rainy instead of 102. The Namibian’s act like this is snow weather. We are in tee shirts, they are shivering constantly and believe they will get sick from the cold. Oh….I hope not!

We didn’t hike down into the canyon. The big boys treated us to a dance on the rocks; Andy got some footage. A few of the little ones found a rock to relieve themselves and then off we went with the threat that they couldn’t get too muddy or we wouldn’t take them to dinner.

So, remember that we couldn’t bring food to the place where we stayed? We stopped there to see if we could order dinner for when we got back. They have a full menu restaurant. They didn’t have enough food and suggested Wimpy’s hamburgers … that would have made the 3^rd Wimpy’s meal in 24 hours. No thanks!

So we took the kids to 1 of the 2 nice restaurants in the area…The Bird Mansion. What a nice place. We ordered 6 pizzas and milkshakes for everyone. It was really fun. I used the captive audience to talk to the kids about planning for the big party in 2 weeks. We talked about how much we love being able to do this little trip. And I told the kids that, when they graduate with bachelor’s degrees, that we would guarantee a trip to the US for them.

I can just hear the people, “College isn’t for everyone.” No, but, just like it was for me…college is the only viable pathway to choices in life for most of us. And…I know how to help people LEARN to be successful at it. So, I actually do believe a bachelor’s degree is for most people…as a basis.

There were two couples that came in to eat. They were visibly curious about these 2 white people, 1 white girl, and 14 black and colored kids (that is what they call the mixed white and black people here).  I made comments as I walked by about  “so much for your quiet evening,” although the kids were so well behaved! One man asked if it was a charity or something. I hated that word. These kids are not a charity. They are people/individuals we have quickly come to cherish. I should have just told him that. Instead, I discretely told him there is a children’s home in Keetmans and we are helping out for a couple months.

There are orphans in every country. There are people who could take in a couple kids in every country. I feel a bit ashamed that we have done some, but we could have done much more for orphans. I don’t think we will be able to live our lives without a commitment to orphaned children from here on out.

We went back to the lodge and I played LRC with the young girls and let them keep their winnings. Now these girls are a powder keg with each other. They range from 14 – 9 and they can go off at any time with each other. I used the game to talk about how badly it can feel when we lose and how jealous we can feel toward others. Then, the game can turn and we are happy as we start to win. We talked about Paul and how he came to be happy in all circumstances, with much and with little. We talked about the Commandment not to covet and how God gives us that so we can be happy with stability, not comparing our blessings to others. Little seeds I hope.

This morning, the lodge had gotten the message about breakfast and it was all there…glasses, juice, cups, we still had to ask for milk a few times but much better. We tipped the girl as we left. They usually don’t tip here so the next Americans should get pretty good service. As we checked out, I said we were on our way to church. One of the ladies asked us to pray for her since she couldn’t go today.

Off to Logos Church and then home. I will be happy to see the Ark and Rita and Christian!