Graduation

About four years ago (while still in Zimbabwe), I enrolled for a bible study course through Victory Fellowship (Bulawayo). The course was through CLST (USA).. On coming to Namibia I could no longer continue with the course but was absolutely amazed to find that I was elgible for an Advanced Diploma in Church Ministry.. Not only was I eligible, but Faye was also eligible for a certificate in Church Ministry.. While in Zimbabwe on our recent visit we were able to attend the graduation and receive our certificates/diploma etc .. It was such a pleasure to see some of the students that I had studied with and of course to be awarded the advanced diploma brought such a sense of satisfaction and achievement.. It was great..

Home is Home

Following the busy time after the International Board Meeting at the end of July and the comencement of our internship training, Faye and I were sensing a real desire to travel home (Bulawayo, Zimbabwe) to visit family and friends, to get a sense of the situation prevailing in the nation as well as to simply have a break and get some much needed rest.

A few key things needed to fall into place for this to happen..

1. Work permit renewals finalised and re-entry visas granted as part of the process.
2. Travel documents for Joshua.
3. A vehicle for the journey- including a police clearance for the vehicle.
4. Finances to cover the costs.

We can truly declare that God worked on our behalf to make all of the above come to pass.. Om Tuesday 2nd September we received our pasports indicating that a 3 month work visa had been granted to both Faye and I, and this included re-entry visas. The high point in my opinion was however on the Wednesday.. We needed to have a temporary residence permit endorsed in Sydney and Joshua's travel documents( this involved having to gain access into Home Affairs in Windhoek), but we also needed to get a travel document for Joshua from the Zimbabwe Embassy ! In Addition to this we needed to get a police clearance for the vehicle processed and available to us on the day we wanted to travel- FRIDAY !!

On the Wednesday in question I not only was granted an appointment at Home Affairs, but we managed to get Joshua's travel document sorted and both Sydney and Joshua's travel documents endorsed with the necessay stamps. By the time Faye and I left Windhoek to return to Okahandja we had all the paper work sorted out and were able to tell the children we would be travelling on Friday, provided the police clearance was provided.. When applying for the police clearance on the Wednesday I was told it would only be ready on MONDAY ! We praise God it was ready on Friday at 2:30pm and after stocking up on some groceries for home and food for the journey we set off from Windhoek at about 6:00pm

We stopped over in Ghanzi (Botswana) at 11:45pm. We slept in the combi and got going again at about 3:30am. We crossed the border into Zimbabwe at about 2:30pm (No long delays or problems) and were home in Bulawayo at about 4:00pm Crossing the Border Between Namibia and Botswana....
Sunrise in Botswana.. Driving into Maun..

It was great to be home and to see family and friends.. we were particularly thankful to have arrived on the Saturday as it enabled us to see Faye's dad who was leaving early Sunday morning for South Africa..

Yes we experienced the power cuts and even a water cut BUT we also saw the amazing depth and vibrancy of Christian Faith in so many of our friends and members of our Home Church (Revival Centre Ministries).. We saw in many of the believers an authenticity in their faith which I believe has stemmed out of the realisation that only God can be truly relied on and that they were living in a 'wilderness' and needed to depend on the 'manna' God provides daily..

Whilst being saddened at the situation and deeply concerned at how the situation would play out, I was very definitely inspired and encouraged by the faith I saw displayed...

To Be continued in subsequent posts...........

A Variety of Family Events...

The past few weeks have been quite challenging for the Garnie Family.. Sydney got the ball rolling with a tooth ache. I took her to the dentist and our little girl had her first extraction.. Sydney had a great time talking with the dentist BUT after her tooth was removed she told me very clearly that we must NEVER come back to this dentist because she made her mouth sore..
Sydney in the Dentist's Chair..

Next in line was the whole family. There was a bug in the air and all of us were down with colds and coughs.. I (Eric) was down for about a week, Joshua and Sydney for 10 days and Faye still has a nasty sounding cough.. It does seem though that we are over the worst.. Joshua's cold was compounded by the fact he was cutting some really large back teeth on his lower jaw..

The other evening we went to the senior citizens home, along with the children from Sydney's Kindergarten.. With lanterns they made at Kindergarten during the week we listened with joy as the children walked among the housing units singing a variety of songs in both English and German..

Larnelle has once again impressed us with her performance at school. She obtained all A's and one C. Her average mark aside from the C was in the mid 90's.. She continues to excel as a prefect and on meeting the school principal in Spar he made a point of telling me how wonderful Larnelle is and that we can be proud of her..

We are still awaiting news on the status of our work permit renewals.. It appears that whilst the permits are being finalised, we will be granted work visas (valid for 3 months) until such time as our work permit renewals have been finalised. Once we have the work visas, we plan to make definite plans to travel home to Bulawayo for a visit.. We have not been home in more than a year and would really like to visit our family and friends and introduce them to Joshua..
Faye and Joshua sharing a fun moment together..

Eric holding on to Joshua while watching Sydney and her school friends sing to the senior citizens.
Brother and sister eating Doritos outside the kitchen window while sitting at the front door..

Eric and the guys from Manna Church music team..
OFC Okahandja's response to KFC.. I think Larnelle's Face says it all - Not about the chicken BUT about her dad taking pictures of her.. Oh by the way Larnelle had an unpleasant experience a few days ago.. She was using my Brand New Nokia 2630 Cell phone and had it snatched out of her hand. The thief ran away and I guess we can kiss the phone goodbye. We have blocked the phone and the SIM card was a pay as you go line.. My dear daughter has learned a valuable lesson and will definitely take more care with her cell phone in the future.. We are simply glad that she was not in any way harmed and that aside from the sheer frightening nature of being robbed she seems to be just fine..

Faye and I look forward to hearing from friends and family and we do thank you for praying for us and also for those who partner with us as missionaries in a financial and material way. We are very thankful to you...

THANK YOU and GOD BLESS YOU ALL !!

Oshikuku

Just before the Board meeting got underway I travelled about 700kms to the north with the seven STLD students who were due to particpate in the prgramme for the official opening of the Ministry Centre that Christ's Hope has established in Oshikuku..

This was my first visit to the north. There is a difference between the north of Namibia and where we live in the central areas..

This is us stopping for breakfast at a service station in Otavi.. Yes it was rather cold..

On arrival at the ARK in Oshikuku we were called in to help with the cleaning and preparation of the ark for the official opening that would take place the following day..
The Ark (Oshikuku).. Greeted by many children who come to the centre and who were there for a club meeting with a team of Dutch young people who were in Namibia on a missions visit.. It was great that they would also be in Namibia for the opening of this facility, especially since Christ's Hope Netherlands have been instrumental in the construction, funding and establishment of this particular ministry Centre..


STLD students singing at the opening ceremony.. Guests under the tent of meeting!

It was a joyful day and of tremendous encouragement was the presence of government and community leaders who all attended as an indication of their support for this ministry centre which we are fully convinced will make a significant positive impact in this community.

Please pray for our people in Oshikuku as they reach out to the community and offer care and love to the children...

Family time

While talking to my sister Arlene (London) she mentioned her desire for their son Michael to visit Namibia and see the kind of missionary work that is taking place in Christ's Hope here in Okahandja.. As we spoke it seemed as though we were talking about a time in the future, perhaps in 2009.. I mentioned to Arlene that we had a team from Northern Ireland who flew from Gatwick (London) to Hosea Kutako (Windhoek) for less than six hundred pounds.. On hearing this Arlene began to speak of Michael coming within about two weeks of our conversation.. Well you can imagine our absolute joy when it was confirmed that Michael and his friend Joey would be in fact coming to visit us..

We were doubly thrilled when Faye's dad called to let us know that he was coming for a visit as well and that he would be staying for about three weeks..

Well we had so much fun with our family- One of the highlights was taking them all to Walvis Bay and Swakopmund for a day trip. Michael and Joey considered their quad bike riding on the dunes to be the highlight of the day..

Michael and Joey helped Faye with Kids club and also went on a Care and Compassion morning of ministry as well as spending som time at the children's home here in Okahandja.

We were so impressed with Michael and Joey who were very flexible and easy going, not demanding and very easy to please when it came to meals. They both carried their weight in terms of house cleaning etc and we see them as a tremendous asset to their families. Michael, Sydney and Joshua having lunch at KFC in Windhoek..

Having Dad (Bent) visit us was so enjoyable.. During his visit in 2007, Joshua was born, and now he was here and seeing Joshua almost a year later.. During that Visit dad also helped with the construction of the flat that we now live in.. so it was actually good to have him back and see the place completed and us living in it.. Larnelle gave up her room for papa and Sydney gave up her room for Michael and Joey.. So we re-located Larnelle to the Spare room and Sydney set up her bed in mum and dad's room..

Having family visit us came at the right moment, as Faye and I were both feeling rather homesick and with no word on our work permit renewals the prospect of going to Zimbabwe for a visit was rather remote and added to our feelings of homesickness.. BUT God is so good he blessed us with a visit from two of our family.
Having a snack at the Maerua Mall in Windoek..

We are looking forward to a return visit next year.. I am so proud of the way in which Errol and Arlene have raised Michael.. I only hope I can do the sam kind of parenting with our three children..

June 2008

With the Short Term Leadership Training nearing it's conclusion, the seven students were looking forward to returning to their homes. It was great seeing them involved with ministry opportunities here in Okahandja.. One of the most encouraging aspects of training is seeing students begin to take the initiative as a result of their lessons..

Philip was so impacted by the teaching he received, that he requested permission to visit the Okahandja hospital to visit the patients to share the Word of God with them and pray for them. He was given permission by the hospital auhorities, which then afforded him the opportunity to visit the hospital at least three/four times a week. I was simply overjoyed to see this young man act and not simply have his head filled with knowledge and information..

Much of my time was devoted to the preparations for the International Board Meeting to take place at the end of July.. I was therefore glad that the International Director and his wife were able to take on most of the teaching responsibilities and thus release me to attend to all the preparations for the Board Meeting... More about the board meeting in another post..

Update

My schedule for the past two months has been very hectic, and I just could not get to updating this space.. I plan to set aside time in the next few days to post new information.. Please visit this page in about 10 days time and you will find some new and up to date news and pictures..

Luv to all.. Please continue to pray for Zimbabwe..