A Namibian Thanksgiving

We spent the month of November doing all the sweet crafts and studies of Thanksgiving…Pilgrims…Indians….scripture verses of Thanksgiving to our great God…you name it..we tried to do it!  Keeping in mind that Fall begins our favorite time of decorating and celebrating! The house filled with bright Fall colors, wreaths, yummy Fall scented candles, cornucopias, our chubby little Publix pilgrims on the table & our “Tom Clark” pilgrims as well..passed down from my parents to us…The house all covered in FALL!

….Cue record scratch…….

Let’s take note of a few differences this year:

“American Thanksgiving” is not a Namibian National holiday.

There was no talk of Black Friday here in Namibia.

The date of our Thanksgiving did not signify the “start” of the Christmas shopping season.

No turkey to be found.

Lastly, IT IS NOT FALL HERE!!!!!!

Our Thanksgiving looked so different this year and we loved every minute of it.  We moved here in two suitcases per person and that did not leave room for all of our wonderful “symbols” of Thanksgiving to place around our house.  So, aside from 2 sweet little scarecrow riding goards that our Nana sent…we made it all!  Anything associated with our celebration:  turkey placemats, napkin rings, thankful garland, Indian feather headbands, a paper basket with sheets of paper inside to write our words of Thanksgiving to God on, and the list goes on…….

Making those things, enjoying that time with our kiddos while reading “The First Thanksgiving” and “Pilgrim Stories” on the Baldwin Project website (such a gift to us on the mission field), praising our great God—who is the reason for and receiver of our giving of thanks—It was WONDERFUL! 

Now, there are many “traditional” ingredients for our holidays that are not available here…pecans, canned pumpkin, cranberry sauce..to name a few.  Our sweet friends, The Stringfellows, sent a package that included all of the above and we squealed with excitement..if only a dried turkey could fit in that box..hmmm..we could reconstitute it with water & VOILA!  Or better yet…a dried Carlye & family that we could reconstitute when they get here…now were talkin’!!!! 

OK...back to the matter at hand…Thanksgiving food…as the day was fast approaching..Scott proposed an idea...what if we save those ingredients for our Christmas dinner & we eat at a restaurant for Thanksgiving.  What???  There are only a few and we eat at home--pretty much exclusively…so that would be a super treat! 

And, that’s just what it was…a super treat with a Thanksgiving twist…we took ALL of our decorations & homemade “symbols” of our Thanksgiving with us and included our sweet server in on our giving of Thanks to God!  It was a truly wonderful time!

That was followed by a trek around town to see some of our “friends” whom we pray for.  The children had also made scripture cards to give to those friends..and we were truly blessed to see God break down a “wall” in a lady we’ve been faithfully praying for when the children gave their card to her!  Now that is reason for Thanksgiving!

Scott had to teach that night in Grootfontein, so we came home for a rest time & while he was away teaching—we went to a friend’s house for a swim & some sweet fellowship! 

The day was all it was designed to be..a day filled with praise & thanksgiving..to the Great God who deserves all of our worship. For He alone can ignite such a desire in ‘pilgrims’ who want to worship Him freely that they would risk so much to have such freedom.  We offer hearts filled with thanksgiving to Him for those pioneering pilgrims, for OUR nation & for the nation He has sent us too…He is Sovereign God over all…The King of All Nations..

can I get an AMEN???

the link to the pictures: https://picasaweb.google.com/118039148947647302826/ThanksgivingInNamibia2011?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCP6k97_MjcjOYQ&feat=directlink  
(Also check out our picture tab we have added some other photos from our life here)

"RSJ" as an MK...his thoughts (prompted by questions)

A few months ago a missionary friend in Kenya had her precious children answer questions about their missionary life in Kenya and my children were so blessed by reading their responses!  As they (The Hansens) approach their one year mark on the field...my children asked if we could do a similar blog post!

In the 8 years prior to leaving for the foreign mission field, we watched the Lord use our oldest child as a "missionary" in so many ways.  When he surrendered his life to Christ and trusted HIM as Lord and Savior of his life in November 2009 at 7 years of age, he told his Daddy of his trust in the Lord for salvation & Lordship, then said, "Daddy, I also want you to know that I am on board with wherever God is leading you to lead our family."  At this point in our journey of faith, God had only been sending Scott for short term trips (2 weeks, 3 weeks, etc...) to Northeast India and Namibia. 

So, in December 2010, when we shared with this precious child of God, that He was indeed leading us,  as a family, to Namibia & we would move in the upcoming Summer, we had much to pray over with him when the reality of leaving all that was familiar, loved, and cherished hit him hard. 

God has been so gracious, merciful and faithful to draw him into even deeper trust & dependence on HIM alone.  He provided comfort & joy & excitement in the days leading up to the move.
 In the past 6 months there have been a few, very rare, but a few extremely hard days...days of missing home.  missing family. missing the familiar.  missing the "normal" friendships. missing our church.  missing fellowship.....God has been so faithful to his promise to "be with us" and has continued to be that sustaining "all in all" and to draw him closer and closer.  "Oh how HE loves us"!

And now.....Q & A with our oldest MK:

1.  Tell me some things you love about living in Namibia:

we have a dog, they have Djembe drums (a sort of bongo type drum)

2.  What are your favorite things to eat here?

kudu, draawors (dried boerewors--sort of a dried sausage/slim jim), biltong (another type of beef jerky), all the meats here (I'm a carnivore), fat cakes (almost like a funnel cake in taste)

3.  What do you miss most about home, living in the U.S.?

friends and family

4.  Name something you've learned since living in Namibia?

They have a meteorite here.  Oh, and Shoprite (grocery store) is the only 2 story building here.

5.  What is your town like?

very busy--it's a small town, but people are everywhere. 

6.  Do all those people live in the town?

some, but at the end of the month you shouldn't go to town because EVERY place from the "bush" and "villages"...come in to town to shop because that's when they get their money.  And it's packed in town.

7.  Tell us about people from the villages.

Those friends cook in "poike pots" (cast iron deep pots)--imagine a campfire where you are cooking around a pot with the fire under it, inside the pot could be meat, soup, stew, or Pop. 

8.  What is "Pop"? 

it's made with maize...they call it mealie meal.  They make tons of it & then use it like rice or pasta and put something else on it..like a curry, or sauce with some meat in it...it's really like a porridge. 

9.  Ok, back to the village friends...?

you might be thinking they live in brick houses. not really.  many live in "mud made hut houses", the roofs have thatch on them...I call it a "lapa roof".  Some live in houses made with homemade bricks and some live in houses made of tin...like a tin shack.

there are usually several hut houses in a "village" and they put a fence around their grouping of houses..the fences are made of sticks & wires, sometimes just straight-up wire, and some might have barbed wire. 

my dad teaches lots of pastors who live in village huts & probably have a poike pot.  He drank "kavango cool drink" in the village of one of his pastors, Pastor Kaurembi.  It is a drink that taste like mixed fruit, but it's mahangu (like maize) that is pounded out and grinded...and then they mix it with water and let it sit for a long time..sometimes they make 5 liters at a time.  Different tribes make this type drink and call it different things.  Like Ovambos call it Oshikundu. 

10.  Have you been to worship in a village?

yes.  I even got to play the "kavango drum" during worship one time.  Oh, they love to dance & sing during their worship time.  It's all in Luchazi, but they translate to english...or back to Luchazi if Daddy is preaching.  These worship times go on and on for hours...one time I thought...they told the choirs two songs a piece and they've sung waaay more than that...maybe this will be the last one so Daddy can get on with preaching the Word. (LOL from Mama)

11.  What do you like most about worship with our friends there?

it is a very very good and cool experience.  and it's very fun to listen to them singing in Luchazi...sometimes it feels like a lullaby since I don't know what they are saying...but then I think, they are singing to our God!  It's not the same as my language...but sometimes our pastor friends will translate it to Mama and she will tell us what they are singing.  They sang a really fun song about Zaccheus two weeks ago with hand motions and everything...and another time they sang about how heavy the weight of our sin is if we are carrying it...so one friend came in carrying a homemade weight (made with a bar & concrete on each end)...like he was "bearing" the weight of sin and was thankful he could give it to Jesus/Yesu!

Some of the words I've learned during them singing is "Jambe" is God.  "Tuna San Sala" is thank you.  "Yesu" is Jesus.  "Machieri" (pronounced Machedi) is fine/great/good! 

12.  What do you love about homeschooling?

we don't have any homework AT ALL!

13.  What is the weather like here?

hot during the day and sometimes in the morning, coolish cold (this time of year)

14.  What is the biggest difference in Namibia & the U.S.?

less white people

15.  What is one thing you'd like our friends and family reading this to know?

that I love them and this is what our African life is.