A little over 1 year ago, we arrived in Namibia
with the clear direction from God for Scott to teach and train pastors &
those who want to study the Word of God.
1 year later, I’m so thankful to say that God has
been more than faithful in confirming His direction, as Scott now has 6
different groups of ‘students of the Word’ to teach.
A little over 1 year ago, God made our path so
wonderfully straight as He made a way for us to rent a furnished home from an
American couple here.
1 year later, I’m also thankful to say that God
continued with His very clear direction for us to move from that home. He has shown us His faithfulness through
friends here asking us to stay in their home for 2 weeks when we returned,
instead of staying in a guesthouse while we looked for a different place to
live.
Let’s camp here for a moment: Let me be sure you read this
correctly..yes..Namibian friends, who we’ve only known for 10 months or so,
were so completely gracious—they were in the process of purchasing a guesthouse
here in Tsumeb (they are now the proud owners) and we asked the cost of staying
there for a few weeks while we looked for a house to rent..they would hear
nothing of the thought of us staying at the guesthouse…but opened their home to
us for 2 weeks! Y’all…2 weeks..you know
the saying about, “fish and houseguests”?
We experienced such grace, love, mercy, hospitality, God-honoring/Christ
exalting conversations—it was such a time of refreshment, humble receiving of
their gracious gift of hospitality, and experiencing their servant hearts in
very real ways. We are humbled and
thankful to have this brother and sister in our lives.
After that 2 weeks…God brought us to the home we
are happily in right now! We’ve been
here now for 4 months and look forward to spending the next 5 1/2 months
here serving the Lord! We have met the
neighbors on both sides of us and look so forward to seeing God grow those
relationships for His glory. We have a
great yard with a climbing tree that the children can’t get enough of! There are 2 pomegranate trees, 1 mango and 1
fig tree in the yard..blessings! We hope
to plant banana trees this week! We are
also growing spinach, which should be available for harvesting any time now! All these things are sweet little gifts from
the Lord and they bring many smiles to the faces and hearts of our family!
The last gracious gift I want to share with you is
the gift of community & just
plain ‘ole goodness of God stuff!
As I mentioned earlier, the first home we rented,
upon arriving in Namibia, was furnished…which allowed us to come here in 2
suitcases per person. Moving to another
home, an unfurnished home presented some challenges in my mind…
ummm..no
furniture..then the wheels spun crazy—no
plates, no cups, no silverware, no chairs, no BEDS…just a wooden couch and
chair and desk that we purchased in Rundu from a traditional furniture maker
last year!
Is this catching God by
surprise?
Is He thinking…What was I
doing…moved them to a new house and no furniture/house wares…I forgot they only
had 2 suitcases per person…
NO….NO…Absolutely NOT!
Our great God had big plans to use His body
and others to provide for our needs while we are here in this house..Humbled
doesn’t even begin to say how we feel.
In Namibia there is a term used, “Pitched up”. In a sentence you might say, “we were awed
and amazed at God’s work as different people “pitched up” with items to meet
our needs.” Everything from a kitchen
clock, water kettle (absolute necessity here), wall art, spoons, forks, plates,
coffee spoons (another necessity), laundry basket, Tupperware bowl, even a
little pink razor scooter….Oh…bathmats…y’all this list could go on for days…
the
gist is..
God provided through our local friends and acquaintances and we could
not be more honored, thankful and humbled.
A few huge additional blessings to also mention
were a fridge/freezer, microwave, washing machine and even drapes/curtains for
every single room that were shared with us!
Again, from the largest to the smallest detail..our God provides!
Please rejoice with us and praise the Lord for His
plans, purposes, and provision through His means alone! We praise His name!
