Newsletter December 2018

The clouds are dark on the horizon as I sit down to write. Will it rain, or not? I think of all the places in the world where it always seems to rain. Not here, unfortunately. We always seem to be waiting for rain. And I just realize that even though we see rain as a blessing, we can not think we are only blessed when it rains. Our faith can not be focused on God’s hand, and just feel His love when we feel like we have received something. That would imply that women who are not able to have children are not blessed, the desert is an unblessed place, and in sickness we are somehow in a desert place. No, our eyes need to be focused on God’s face- who He is. Is He faithful? Yes, every time. Is He Good? Yes, every time. Does His Hand always do what we expect, no. His Hands show Him to be Faithful and Good, sometimes in the most unexpected ways.

As we look upon 2018, it has not been an easy year. But looking back, it has been a productive year. Lots of growth has come out of the desert times.

The farm activities on the project have grown:

The first turkeys made some Americans very happy

Tractor time has started with the rain (we are blessed with a volunteer that is helping out Carl, I will ask him to contribute next month).

These are our own little chicks- up to now we have bought chicks, now we breed our own.

Piri-piri, chilli’s

We have started covering parts of the gardens with shade netting.

These are our chicken tractors- they are moved with the chickens

The children have grown in size, ability and character:

Rashelle in the beginning of the year

Rashelle now

Children graduating

We ourselves have grown in ministry and backbone:

Carl came back after three weeks in South Africa, with some life changing insights. Now, it is all about actually implementing them. Some basic life skills like time management, we have actually had to go back to. Also, we need to work on our boundaries. It is something we have ignored for many years, and it is coming back to bite us now. So, while there is also plans to move one of the pastors from Livingstone to train here, we thought it might be the ideal time to step back, and have the project stand more on it’s own legs. So, we are looking for a place to live close by, but until now, we have not been successful, we keep looking.

Though this is hard, it is also good for us. We have been forced to face difficult questions, and we believe we are going to come out of this much stronger.  

So, on this thankful note, we would love to wish you lovely celebration of Christ’s birth, and a beautiful 2019.