Namibia Day 3

April 18 Thursday
Today we drove from Windhoek to Kalkveld and then on to Otjiwarango.  Here is "Auntie" Syliva and Jimmy in front of her house before we left.

 

 The road to Kalkveld.

The roads are good- two lane well maintained roads with turning lanes where there are crossroads so the traffic does not have to slow down.

 

The first "residents" of Kalkveld were crossing the road accompanied by a farmer.

Heading in to Kalkveld.

An inside view of the Kalkveld Congregational Church building.  The altar cloths in the UCCSA blue with the UCCSA symbol say "God is Love."

A view of the church building from the outside.

A view from the front of the house they have offered for me to live in toward the church building.

Looking toward the foundation of the Outdoor Ministry building from the front of the house.

Jimmy and Gerhardt are talking at the house gate.  "Auntie" Sarah and "Auntie" Lokie are walking into the front yard.  All three are members of the church and live in houses nearby- Lokie down the road "next door" toward the right, Sarah behind the church, and Gerhardt about 15 minute walk away.  I will stay with his family when I return in a few days.  The trees are quite lovely!

This is the house.  Through the front door is a small living room that leads into the large kitchen/wash area to the right and there is a door to the outside. To the left are the bathroom and two bedrooms.

Another view of the neighborhood near the church building and the house,

"Auntie" Sarah in front of the foundation for the Synod Outdoor Ministry.  The church donated the land.  The building house a meeting room, bathrooms and kitchen.  The intent is to provide a place for meetings and support for camping for the Synod, especially the youth.  Lokie, Jimmy and Gerhardt are behind Sarah and the house is behind them,

Walking back to the house.

Driving back from the church to the highway.  The municipality has cleared the growth under the phone/electrical wires.

Jimmy and I then drove on to Otjiwarango and after dark we met with the Deacons of the Otjiwarango Congregational Church.  This unfortunately meant I could not get a picture of the outside of the church building. But I did see a beautiful wide sky full of stars (which the camera won't capture).  Then the battery on my camera ran out (I forgot to recharge it), and so I got only one picture inside the church building with no people in it.  Oops!

Namibia Day 2

April 17 Wednesday
Today I went with Jimmy the Secretary of the Synod to the Synod office.  Here he is opening the gate.

A fuzzy picture of the front of the building- haven't quite figured out why the camera doesn't automatically focus at times.

Inside the front entrance is a little garden window.

The front hallway.

The large meeting space/conference room is presently also being used by a church from another denomination.

Jimmy at work at his desk.

Later we met and had dinner with the Synod leadership- Secretary, Treasurer, President and they told me about Synod operations, the churches in the Synod and the Synod Outdoor Ministry they are planning to be located in Kalkveld.  The building is under construction using volunteers and the foundation has been laid.  I will see it tomorrow when we visit Kalkveld.

Jimmy took me to see the city of Windhoek and I saw the US Embassy (no pictures please!) and then we drove to see the equivalent of the Namibia "White House"- the formal meeting place for government is on the left and the President's house is on the right.

A closer look at the seat of government.

Then back to "Auntie" Sylvia's house where I met her husband Allen and daughter Debbie with her two children and enjoyed being with the family as they interacted together.

Snacks with Oupa (grandpa).

In the middle of the day, before the family gathered, there was a loud bang and I ran downstairs hoping that Sylvia had not fallen down the stairs or a bolt of lightning hadn't hit the house.  It turned out that a young man had been driving down the street and hit the brick wall for the gate in the driveway of the house across the street.  Luckily no one was hurt but our hearts were thumping!!

Namibia Finally!!

Tuesday April 16
I am off on an adventure to visit in Namibia for twelve days!  I must be back in South Africa before April 30 when my visitor visa time ends, so I can check on the status of my application for a volunteer visa for South Africa.  Here are some views of the airport in Johannesburg, South Africa. I got there early to go through passport control. Sometimes being an "international traveler" is a little nerve-wracking and is not as impressive as it might seem.  But I am on my way!

 Some views of the Kalahari from the plane.  Salt pans left from water evaporation are the white spots.

 My first view of Namibia as we are landing!

Here is the airport east of Windhoek, Namibia.  Many planes, one terminal, four gates, no jetways.  Very nice, modern, and clean with very helpful people.

I met the Deacons of the Windhoek Congregational church at their meeting.  They have divided the congregation into thirteen geographic areas and the Deacons are each responsible for staying in contact, visiting and praying with the people in their area.  A great pastoral support team idea and I think matches a model for Diaconate work from Acts.  

I stayed in a very lovely home with "Auntie" Sylvia.  She loves welcoming church visitors and it really shows. She is a gourmet cook, gardens and grows her own herbs, and it was like staying in a 5 star resort with her!