Moving house

Moving house anywhere in the world is not the most pleasant of experiences, and here on the edge of the Kalahari is no different.  Although there are maybe some factors that are unique.

To clarify, I am talking about moving house in the context of renting as opposed to a house we would own.

The first issue is actually looking for a house, and that is a 'procedure' in itself!  Unlike Australia, where a real estate agent takes you in his/her car to various properties, here you either pick up the agent at their office and take them with you in your car or else you meet them at some landmark place and then follow them in their car to get to the house to view it.  This process is complicated by the fact that you can no longer buy a Street directory for Gaborone so the agent doesn't have one and most times the prospective tennant doesn't have one either (thankfully we have been here many years and still have the one that we bought many years back).  And in the process of looking at many, many houses at all corners of the city our fuel bill this past month has been quite a bit more than average!

The next issue is viewing the house - well not the viewing as such, but what is viewed!  The housing market here is a bit different because a large proportion of renters are foreigners who's employer is actually footing the bill in British Pounds or US Dollars, so the prices over the years have been a bit inflated and many landlords have expectations of what they want to charge based on that kind of history.  

But the rental landscape is changing as more locals move to the city and gain higher paying jobs, and rentals are starting to get a little bit more realistic.   However, we are still not in the bracket of being able to afford the kind of house that the average foreign executive would rent.  The consequence of this is that we have looked at many houses where the landlord wants a high rent price but the condition of the house is way below par.  So we began to realise we were caught in a kind of dilemma that what we could afford gave us an older house in run-down condition but probably with a couple of big trees and large dirt yard that with a lot of work could be made into some kind of garden OR a newer house in excellent condition but on a small block with no trees, grass or garden and instead entirely paved with a 6ft wall around that was only about a meter or two from the house wall!   With me mostly confined to our plot, the thought of never seeing anything green day in and day out was depressing!  Mind you, some of the insides of the old houses were quite depressing as well.  We looked at one house that had a patchy form of five different types of tiles on the bathroom wall and another that been freshly painted inside by the landlord in a kind of horrible military green colour ready for the new tennant!

This time as well, we have had to consider the fact that I need reasonable wheelchair accessibility and somewhere to have my 'day bed'.

So....we really praise the Lord that we have found a house that is neat, clean, painted a neutral white inside, tasteful tiles on the floors and walls, nice garden with trees and some grass, quite practical for the wheelchair etc, compact enough but still space for guests to stay, a helpful landlord and for a price that just fits within our budget at the moment.  (It is also standard practice that rent has an automatic increase of 10% per year here, but we'll just have to trust the Lord for funds on that one!)

Of course the issue after that is the moving part!

We will have to downsize a bit to make the move so we have had a bit of a garage sale and also issued an 'expat moving' list of items we are selling to all our friends.  

One of the first things we have to consider is the issue of curtains because houses don't come with any window coverings here, whether one is renting or buying.  So measuring windows and working out what curtains we already have that will work in the new house and what new ones we will have to get, is on the 'to do' list.

Of course there is the packing!  Boxes, boxes and more boxes!  - packing boxes, stacking boxes, moving boxes! A fellow missionary used to describe this by saying my husband was playing with his blocks again! (note that's not my husband in the photo - its just a stock photo! - those boxes are obviously empty or full of popcorn - our boxes are actually heavy when we pack them! ) We praise the Lord that some folk have come to help with this, including assistance to 'be my hands' since there is almost nothing I can do re packing from a horizontal position!  It's way too much for my hubby (who is struggling with a sprained knee also at present) to do on his own.  We praise the Lord for some of our 'sons' having some time off work or study, to be able to help.

The next thing that is quite different here is that any plant that a tenant plants in the garden or other garden improvements, they are allowed to dig up and take with them.  Since almost every piece of garden we have in this house, we have planted over the past 5 years, we can take as much of it with us as we want.  And we can take all the garden edging, paving, gravel we have put down on pathways etc etc.  And since this house will be demolished and won't even have a tenant coming after us, and we paid for the gravel and pavers and we can use it all at the next place, we are going to take it with us!  

This is also a crazy time of year to move - right on the lead up to Christmas, as it is normal here to move month-end.  But because most companies are closed for the Christmas and New Year period and many of our friends will not be around for that time, we have to be fully moved before that. It also doesn't help that this time of year has the weather swinging mostly between the two extremes of excessive heat and thunderstoms/rain!  So either the extra work can dehydrate you very quickly if you aren't careful, or else your furniture can get drenched!

There is then the process of sorting out transfer of our utilities accounts to the new place.  This is one of the most tedious parts of the process and requires physically going into each utility office for power, water and phone and then having one of their staff physically coming to do a final reading on the meters and ensuring the process is also done properly to have first readings at the new house.

Once all that is done,  and we have moved in, we hope to be able to finish unpacking at our leisure, and be able to put up a Christmas tree before Christmas Day!

Traffic Jams!

Yes, believe it or not, here on the edge of the Kalahari Desert we have a huge problem of traffic jams.

My husband has been commenting quite often of recent years that driving around in Gaborone is getting more and more stressful as the roads are increasingly busy.

Well, today I just read an article in the local Mmegi newspaper that gives some facts to back up these experiences!

- Botswana has the highest number of vehicles per capita of all the developing world countries and even higher than some European countries.

- Vehicle population has doubled in the last five years

- in a population of only about 2 million people, in the last 10 months, 28,000 additional vehicles have been registered.

- Government is considering staggering public service work hours and changing school hours (both of which all start at 7.30am) to help reduce congestion on the roads

Not only are numbers of cars making driving on the roads stressful, safety on the roads is also a concern as well.  Road fatality rates as of 2011 in Botswana were 33.8 per 100,000 population compared to Australia's rate of 7.8 per 100,000.  But according to some calculations from other various bits of data I've collected over recent years I have worked out that in 2011 there was 1 road death for every 580 cars on the road in Botswana.  I used Queensland's stats since that's our home state, to compare with, and found that Queensland in contrast has 1 road death for every 9900 cars approximately!  Which basically means its about 17 times more dangerous to be driving around in Botswana than in Queensland, Australia.  But we are thankful that Botswana is making effort to try to curb these figures and it is not unusual to see educational advertising in the papers alerting people to the dangers of speeding, fatigue and drink-driving.

So when you pray for your missionaries including us, pray for God's protection on the roads.  We are in more danger from cars than from lions or elephants!.....and with the number of cars here increasing in great numbers and most drivers being first generation drivers, the risks are getting higher rather than lower, and the stress of driving is only increasing.  Driving on the roads is usually the most stressful part of doing the shopping!

B.R.E.W. Time!

Our ministry has taken on quite a different outward appearance over the past few years since I was 'put on my back'.

While Shame/Honour research continues in various ways, Counselling, Mentoring, and Christian literature and media distribution have taken on a more 'informal' approach often just as (but not limited to) folk 'drop in' for a visit.

Recently on a blogpost I wrote about 'Facebook vs Face to Face' time, and the importance of personal interaction with people that is not via electronic media.  Despite being on my back, God has graciously provided many opportunities for folk to come for a face-to-face visit, which often becomes an opportunity for them to share the burdens of their heart at the time, as they pause for a bit and enjoy fellowship.

As I got thinking about these special times with friends and the opportunities God has given me to bless others and be blessed by others, I came up with an acronym to describe and give a name to these times.

Its B.R.E.W. Time!

- that's 

B - 'bearing one another's burdens'

R - 'rejoice with those who rejoice' 

E - 'encourage and pray for each other' 

W - 'weep with those who weep'  

I kind of like it 'cos a friend of mine back in OZ has what she calls a 'tea and talks' or 'coffee and chats' ministry of just spending time with folk, sharing fellowship and 'being there' sharing Christ's love.  And I like BREW also because it has the concept of letting the coffee 'brew' (as opposed to letting anger brew!), and the 'pause' and 'quiet' and 'rest' while it brews and gets stronger. This has a parallel for me of pausing with a friend as we take some 'time out' to 'pause' in the busyness to share together and be God's instruments to encourage/strengthen each other so that we might better be the aroma of Christ in the world we are in!  How's that for an explanation?

So....are you in need of some BREW Time or a 'BREW' Break!?

Is there someone you could encourage with a BREW break?

For the sake of honour....

The main emphasis of our current ministry has become a focus on the issue and impact of 'Honour' and its partner of 'Shame', in the dynamics of the culture we live in, and how that affects effective evangelism and discipleship.

I've just been looking at quite a good website by another guy also interested in more effectively reaching those folk in cultures which heavily emphasise honour and shame (particularly the Middle East) ... I can concur with a great deal of the content of the website and I'd recommend you take a look. But, I found that he does not place Sub-Saharan Africa into the category of Honour/Shame, which is a similar view to so much Missiology and Anthropology literature.  None the less,  the reading of the content of his website actually confirms yet again how much honour/shame is a part of life in this area of Africa.  (To be fair: my guess is that the site is not rejecting the view that sub-Saharan Africa may have a shame focus, but is simply adopting a premise set down in the past by others.)

One day maybe, I'll do a blog with a bit more info on how we got ourselves into this vein of ministry, but for now I just want to raise a few points of interest in regard to how much this issue of Shame is not just an African or Asian or Middle East issue anymore.  Its also a Western issue....in a couple of ways -  

because....

1. Western society is slowly losing its Judeo-Christian ethic. Therefore it is also slowly losing its conscious individual accountability to the absolute authority of Almighty God. That means that a guilt conscience that convicts, knowing that God sees whether other people are watching or not, is slowly being lost. 

Why?

...because if people don't believe God sees everything they do, or actually don't believe God exists at all, then they are not going to be interested in whether God approves, or is pleased.  So God's definition of right and wrong will disappear, and people will only be interested in doing what other people around them see and approve of, or not doing what other people might disapprove of and/or publicly expose.  

So then doing wrong will be defined by what is unacceptable to those around 'me' and I will desire to live according to what is acceptable to those around 'me'.  An absolute authority that is in place wherever I am, irrespective of whether I am alone or with others, will be irrelevant to my thinking.  So as a result, my sinful heart of pride will only lead me to want to avoid shame and seek honour from those around me.

I am seeing this already in the Australian media.  Just think about what happens when people get 'caught' for doing something that actually violates the absolute authority of God's standard of right and wrong, and even the authority of the nation's law (which stands and you are guilty of, whether you are caught yet or not). So often those who were 'caught' did not admit to doing 'wrong' or violating a law, but to 'disappointing' those who expected more of them, and doing something 'shameful'.    (As in the cases recently of the Aussie Olympian who smashed up some shopfronts in the UK in a drunken rage and was forced to issue an apology before being sent home, and the case of Andy Muirhead - the TV personality who was in court for multiple child pornography charges and issued a statement in relation to it.)

Note: Being ashamed for doing wrong is not necessarily a wrong attitude to have, (shame for doing what is shameful before God is a right attitude)  but if it is the only attitude that is exhibited, and if the shame is more about what others think than defying God's law,  then we have great reason for concern.

and, 

2.  As the West becomes more and more multicultural, Asia (also a strongly shame emphasis culture), the Middle East and Africa are no longer far away places. People from these places now live in the West in ever growing numbers.  Just because a person is living on 'Western' soil unfortunately doesn't instantly change their religious view or how they think (their worldview) or their life's dynamics, priorities and heart motives.  These dynamics also don't only function when a person is in their own home and with their own families, they direct every life decision, action and attitude.  We are more and more convinced that the West has failed to realise that these dynamics will influence and direct the workplace relations, social interaction, the definition of right and wrong behaviour, and life priorities of people from such cultures.  And they will affect it in such a way as to lead to behaviour that the average 'Westerner' will mis-understand, mis-judge, and mis-apply solutions to. 

Most recently we have seen this in relation to the Muslim riots in protest of the YouTube video "Innocence of Muslims" which Muslims said dishonoured their prophet.  A most excellent biblical response - to this incident and the West's response, has been published on the "Briefing" website.  click here for part one (be sure to read the follow-on parts too)

I would highly recommend every Christian read these Briefing articles....carefully and thoroughly.

This issue is not just an issue for missionaries like us, to study and address.....although we need to, and have not done a good job at it in the past decades....this is an issue for all Christians to understand and address...and urgently!

Even a bit more about POTS

MORE ON THOSE POTS LIFESTYLE ADJUSTMENTS

With such a condition as POTS, ones lifestyle is radically changed as I cope with symptoms, but also as I try to reduce any unecessary strain on my body so as to maximise the body's resources for healing, and so we have made many adjustments as to how we 'do' life:

- I now sit down to have a shower

- long hot showers are things of the past - the shorter the better and the colder the better.....otherwise by the time its time to get out my heart rate will be high, the blood pressure low and I am pretty unsteady on my feet which is not so good!

- I don't wash my hair anymore.......my husband either does it for me in the shower or else our maid or a carer does it while I lie down in my recliner wheelchair which is backed into the shower and we use a hand-held shower rose.

- Getting ready for the day takes hours - since I can't do everything in a continuous run (as that would mean my heart rate gets too high for too long), instead I get up and visit the loo and then lie down again for a while to let my heart rate settle again.  Then I sit up to have breakfast and lie down again for a while.  Then I get up to have a shower and dress and then lie down again for a while.  Then I get up again and sit down while I clean my teeth and put on my shoes. And then I lie down again on my day bed.

- On my day bed I have a special angled bed-table with my laptop computer on it.  (yes even on the edge of the Kalahari there is internet access - at least in the capital city it is generally available)  and beside me I have a few baskets with books, stationery supplies, and other odds and ends.  I also have a small cabinet with other items I need regularly, a box of snacks and my medications/supplements and the phone, and a 4 litre water flask/pump.

- Nearby is also a wrist Blood Pressure monitor (the above reading was taken on an average Spring day (not too hot), a few minutes after going from a supine to sitting position on my day bed) - the reading below was taken also on an average Spring day (not too hot) but while standing still (upright position) after getting dressed for the day.

 and some days ....

- I also wear a heart rate monitor.  Its what the athletes wear at the gym to make sure they get up to their desired heart rate and it gives a beep when they get over it.  So i wear it to make sure I don't go over a certain heart rate and it beeps at me if I do.  For me the 'beep beep' is a danger sound rather than a celebration sound - but none-the-less it is a wonderful blessing as without it, I really have no idea that my heart rate is going so high.  It was because of this little gadget that I learnt that I needed to sit down in the shower and needed someone else to wash my hair for me, because doing it all myself while standing up, my heart rate was almost 160bpm!  (No wonder my cardiologist compared my situation to like being at the gym 24/7 and that my heart couldn't keep that up forever!)

- I also have a special car seat-belt now - like the racing car drivers wear - so I can ride in the front passenger seat with the seat fully reclined and still be belted in.

- I am now thankfully mostly having the strength to not need the wheelchair around the house.  I can walk to where I need to be and try to not stay standing up when I get there, and instead sit down.  If the weather is not hot and I don't talk too energetically, I can now stay sitting for about an hour without my heart rate going over my limit - as long as I don't do it too often. (In the summer time when my legs can be seen, if I stand up for too long, my lower legs start to go red from the blood pooling and I know I need to get horizontal fairly quickly!)

- in hot weather (of which there is lots here on the edge of the Kalahari Desert - summer days can get up to well over 40), I am much more limited. I found out that for every 10 degrees over 20 the ambient temperature rises, our heart rate rises 10bpm.  With my base heart rate already being high (around 80-85), if the temp is around the 40 mark then my heart rate is 100-105 before I even move.....and the limit I am not supposed to go over is 108!  All I have to do is move my arm while lying down and doing nothing else (not even speaking) and its over!!!!!...............so as you can imagine I am much happier in cooler weather!

- if I want to have a good conversation or do anything that takes concentration I have to be lying down otherwise the heart rate goes too high.

- I have learnt that I can't watch tense drama movies.  I didn't know until recently that the body doesn't differentiate between what it sees on TV and what it sees in real life and although part of you knows this isn't real, the body still responds with 'flight or fight' reaction response like it is real.  Your heart rate increases as the body gets ready for your need to have to make some quick decisions and take quick action like you were actually part of the drama itself!

- I have also learnt that because of the effects on the eyes ability to respond properly (resulting in blurring etc), my eyes also don't cope too well with quick image changes on the TV - fast moving image changes give me a headache real fast - so some movies I have to watch only part and just listen to the rest!  ......that puts a different take on 'watching a movie'!

- I also have to try not to talk while I am sitting up eating - sitting up + eating + talking is like a triple dose of increased heart rate so two at once is the limit.  Talking has to wait till I am lying down again, after the meal!

- And of course some of the biggest adjustments are that I can't 'run' my own house like I once did. I thank the Lord for a hubby who not only can cook but likes to cook and treats shopping as a 'hunting expedition'!  He actually gets great satisfaction from finally finding and capturing and bringing home his 'catch'!

In a future blog maybe I'll share some of what God has done with a person who He 'put on her back'!

A bit more about POTS....

DIET and EXERCISE CONSIDERATIONS with POTS

Having a good doctor to work with, makes all the difference in any
medical situation especially for chronic conditions such as POTS. I
couldn't really wish for a better Doctor who is highly professional,
intelligent and has great 'bedside manner' and humble enough to listen
to and learn from his patients.

Of course when a person is first ill there is always the thought of
what pill can I take that might help. And I didn't lack for people's
suggestions coming from all over. I was very thankful for the
internet to be able to check them out and for a doctor who is cautious
and careful when it comes to jumping on medications. However, there
are several 'potions' that are now part of my regular daily regimen as
well as various changes I have made to my diet....and so far these
seem to be having a positive effect.

I am now on various vitamin/mineral supplements - some that I have
found beneficial and some that my doctor has prescribed which include,
Magnesium, Vit D, Vit C, Omega 3.

and.....SALT - lots of it!

......did you know that we don't all need to reduce our salt!....some
people like me actually have to work hard to increase my salt intake!
(and yes its with my Cardiologist's blessing!)

We all actually need salt in our diet. The problem is that many
people eat too much processed food that has added salt, and end up
with too much salt. But if you don't eat too much processed food then
it is highly possible you need more salt in your diet. I discovered
that a person should have 2300mg sodium (6000mg salt) per day
according to the American Heart Association.

When I actually added up how much salt I was having each day I was
struggling to reach 500mg sodium each day! We ate a diet of mostly
fruit and vegetables, a little bit of meat, very little bread and I
couldn't have much dairy due to an issue with Chronic Bronchitis and
needing to reduce the mucous production in my lungs and so wasn't
eating much cheese either. We rarely had any processed meats or take
aways and we had been told it was good to reduce salt and so we didn't
cook pasta or rice or vegetables with salt either. So I have actually
had to work hard to get my salt intake up and now I use the salt-
shaker at almost every meal! It's actually not easy to keep up enough
salt when you don't want to eat "junk food" or too much oil or
processed food. V8 or Tomato Juice is good and its easy to add even
more salt to it without it tasting too bad. If a person's salt levels
are too low then it can mean their Blood Pressure would be too
low....and mine was certainly low and my husband was diagnosed with
Low Blood Pressure issues two years before as well.

and WATER -

The other issue I have to work at is keeping up my fluid intake as
getting dehydrated is a big problem that contributes to low blood
pressure and in turn can raise my heart rate. And we live in one of
the driest places on the earth....we are in a desert and our daytime
humidity has got as low as 3%!!!! This past year most of our daytime
humidity was below 20%. That's almost like living constantly with the
humidity as low as it is on an Airplane. So I have to make sure I am
constantly drinking enough water - a minimum of 2 litres per day and
some days in summer quite a bit more than this. I have learnt that a
certain type of headache probably means I am starting to get
dehydrated and with some extra water the headache vanishes.

EXERCISE

Exercise is a difficult one as most exercise requires a person to be
sitting or standing and moving energetically - which would all send my
heart rate too high for too long, and give me a lot of muscle pain for
days or weeks afterwards. This would end up being severely
detrimental to my recovery and general health, rather then helpful.
So, apart from doing as much physically as I can without nasty after-
effects, and especially limiting what I do to mostly in a sitting or
recumbent position, I have found other ways to help my body in this
area:

I was able to get a second hand APT trainer machine which enables me
to 'ride a bike' while lying down and not necessarily exerting effort
to do it, to help with maintaining muscle tone.

God has also blessed us with a wonderful and helpful maid/house help
who we sent on a massage course and is now a qualified massage
therapist and gives me a massage every week. I have learnt that like
the APt trainer, massage is a form of 'passive exercise' and a full
body massage is equivalent to a five mile walk in its effects on
circulation and body health. I have also learnt that it is a very
effective means of lowering heart rate and improving muscle tone!

A bit about POTS...

POTS - I have referred to it in previous posts, as it is the medical condition I was diagnosed with a couple of years back and has significantly altered my lifestyle, our ministry focus, been a huge challenge to our marriage, and 'trial' in which I have learnt and continue to learn a lot of new perspectives on what it means to grow in my trust in God alone.

So I thought it might be helpful to explain a little more about this condition...

P Postural

O Orthostatic

T Tachycardia

S Syndrome

What is it?

The short simplified answer is that it is a Syndrome (means something with many symptoms) that is characterised mainly by the fact that my heart rate is too fast (Tachycardia) when I am in a posture (Postural) of being upright (Orthostatic).

It is a form of Dysautonomia - which means that the Autonomic Nervous System has malfunctioned.  The Autonomic Nervous System is that part of our bodies that controls everything we don't have to think about such as - 

- heart rate

- blood pressure

- body temperature

- digestion

- pupil dilation

- perspiring

etc etc

Symptoms of POTS are many and some people have more than others or have some worse than others:

• Excessive Fatigue
• Exercise Intolerance
• Recurrent Syncope or Near Syncope
• Dizziness
• Nausea
• Tachycardia
• Palpitations
• Visual Disturbances

  • Blurred Vision
  • Tunnel Vision
  • Graying Out

• Tremulusness
• Weakness - most noticeable in the legs
• Chest Discomfort
• Shortness of Breath
• Mood Swings
• Migraines and Other Headaches
• Gastrointestinal Problems

Here are some good links for more information on POTS

WorldLingo

NDRF

So I spend the most part of my life now, in a horizontal position on a day bed with my computer propped up on a special stand over the top of my legs.  And I have a recliner-wheelchair that I can use for outings or spending some time in the garden (our animals enjoy me in 'their world' and often come to be near me when I'm outdoors), so I can 'go horizontal' any time I need to.  I also wear a heart rate monitor so I can tell if my heart rate is getting too high by sitting up or standing up for too long.  Always sitting to have a shower and always having someone else wash my hair are part of daily life now.  Avoiding hot showers and hot weather are priorities. 

It is unknown just how long I will have this condition although it is thought that it is mostly not permanent.  My POTS was probably caused by the 'after effects' of a virus and my body will take a while to 'heal'.

I was amazingly diagnosed fairly soon after the onset of my POTS as within a few months of becoming very debilitated with no energy, shortness of breath, horrible headaches and some other weird symptoms, my local doctor realised my pulse was racing and all I was doing was sitting up in bed talking to him!  He immediately sent me off to see a Cardiologist.  On my second visit with the Cardiologist, he began talking about Dysautonomia.  And that set the wheels in motion for me to do some further research.  He was also in communication with other doctors internationally who advised him that due to my test results and the fact that I had had ME/CFS in the past, the normal medications a doctor would try, weren't worth trying as they don't work on patients like me and cause more trouble with side effects than what they would aim to achieve (and not achieve).

I thank the Lord for His amazing blessing of a wonderful and helpful Cardiologist here on the edge of the Kalahari Desert.  Dr Bhagat is one of the best doctors my husband or I have ever encountered (and between us we have encountered quite a few over the years!) And he is just a 10 minute drive down the road and doesn't charge 'an arm and a leg'...and his clinic is actually wheelchair accessible!

He has worked with us and us with him in all kinds of things to do to give my body the best chance of recovery. 

Happy Anniversary

Sunday was our 17th Wedding Anniversary  and I decided to write a poem for my hubby as a bit of a surprise!

It's not anything profound and I wouldn't call myself an expert poet, but none-the-less I thought I'd share some of our Anniversary joy......

Happy 17th Wedding Anniversary Hubby xxxxxxx

Seventeen years, my dear hubby, you've been married to me

We've done much together, from OZ to across the sea!

High times and low times have both come our way,

But the Lord has been faithful, He's been our stay.

In months, those years number Two hundred and four,

Little did we know back then all that would be in store!

We have cried, we have laughed, together we've grown,

As we looked to the Lord, on eagles wings we have flown.

Eight hundred and eighty four weeks, we've been one.

Not just in body, giv'n each other, have we come,

But in heart, as we seek more and more through God's Son,

To bring glory to the Creator, in submission, and love.

In days, its six thousand, two hundred and five

Each one titled: "I am yours and You are mine".

We belong to each other, and both to the Lord,

Relying on Him, bound in a three strand cord.

Almost five hundred thousand, if its hours we count

As each passes, comes a further increase in amount,

In which, two sinners, joined together, trusting the King,

Pray He will grow us and use us, for blessing to bring.

Minutes and seconds while each important, are millions.

But from these tiny portions can come potent actions.

They must be guarded with caution, with care and with Christ,

His armour our protection, His Word our path's light.

Each moment together is a gift from the Lord

To be cherished with thanks and for the other outpoured.

May our life and our words bring grace that is sweet,

Till the day when in heaven we shall all bow at His feet. 

Broken Nights

This past month I have been 'amazed' at how many different night time 'events' have occurred to give night after night of interrupted sleep!

It seems to us that tiredness through lack of sleep is one of the weapons Satan tries to use to keep God's 'harvesters' functioning on 'less capacity'.  We know in our own situation how much of a positive difference a good eight hours sleep can do, and how much night after night of irregular broken sleep can wear us down......

But this last month the 'variety' of sleep stealing events has been quite incredible - some of which are very unique to living where we live.  

Yes we are in Africa but these sleep breakers are not Lions roaring or drums beating, they are the 'edge of the city' urban African kind........

I thought you might be interested to read a little bit more about what makes up our daily lives....or our daily nights and their interruptions!

 - neighbourhood DOGS barking - at other stray dogs, maybe at possible intruders wandering the streets, or just talking to each other across the suburbs! (real life Lady and the Tramp!)

- but we have had a few nights where all the neighbourhood dogs were barking because of COWS wandering the streets with their bells going 'ding, ding' as they move along

- POWER SURGES  that turn on our touch lamps in the middle of the night - sometimes several times a night - so now we unplug the lamps!

- SECURITY ALARMS in neighbouring houses going off either for legitimate reasons of intruders or residents coming home late and triggering the alarm or leaving windows open on very windy evenings that trigger alarms

- while we live in a relatively quiet neighbourhood normally, periodically our neighbours have a party or guests over and decide to take their hi-fi systems out into their yard and put the MUSIC AT FULL VOLUME, or their friends will pull up in a car with a powerful stereo system, open all the doors and turn it up to full volume so that they can hear it inside the house!  Thankfully this has mostly stopped on the stroke of mid-night - as is the law here - but not always.

- although its not a late night thing, some nights we have had a small group of BRASS BAND players over the back of our yard decide that their jam session should start at 8pm and they always have it out in the open air of their backyard! We think they must mostly play at funerals because their repertoire is small and mostly hymns.  And after years of regular 'practice' they are still trying to get right the couple of tunes that they play over and over and over!

- POWER CUTS have been an ongoing issue, and normally they occur during the day, but this last month we had one night when the power came on and off maybe 6 times during the night.  That would be fine but our gate bell for some reason rings every time the power comes back on and the 'bell' part has one speaker in our dining room and one in our bedroom!....and its quite loud! and every time our dog Zac hears it, he runs to bark at someone who he thinks has come to the gate!

- in addition to this of course, we have had quite wide temperature fluctuations this winter and some nights we have actually woken up by feeling too hot under the blankets (in summer the heat is often a cause for poor sleep, and we have also managed to wake each other up on a few occasions by our SNORING.

- one night the company our CELL PHONE is with even decided to send an 'information message' at 3am that triggered a 'message' 'ding-dong' on the phone.

- this doesn't account for many times of pain from medical conditions when Andrew was having trouble with his knee and I have POTS pain episodes.

.....yes all these have happened in about the last month!  I know new mums know more about lack of sleep than probably I have even known, but if there is one thing I have learnt through this once again,  is how good a continuous 7-8 hours sleep can be.  Sleep really is a gift of refreshment from the Lord and not a gift to be taken lightly or abused by 'burning the candle at both ends'.  Our bodies need their sleep and our bodies benefit physically from sleep and we are much better prepared to deal with emotional strain and spiritual temptation when we have had good sleep.  

So here's an unusual prayer request......pray for good sleep for your missionaries!

Thank you Lord for sleep!

Facebook vs Face-to-face

As I write this blogpost and avail myself of the wonders of technology, I am becoming more and more aware of the not-so-good side of technology.  I'm not just talking about things like ease of access to pornography, or internet dating.  It seems to get much more subtle than that.  More and more is coming across my 'desk' in relation to the issue of technology and social networking.  Once upon a time this might have been something that a missionary in Africa wouldn't have to be worried about, but believe it or not, technology is permeating Africa at a phenomenal rate.

While cell phones and smart phones are popular in the West, they are also very very popular in Africa, not least in Botswana.  In fact statistics recently released reveal that Botswana has one of the highest cellphone usage rates around.  Smart phones and iPads have even brought the internet to those who skipped ever owning a computer.  I am continually amazed at the inroads of technology here, including social networking media.  Here are some examples:

uI went to a craft market fair at a local school a few months back and was talking to an artist who was displaying some of his paintings.  When I asked for his contact details, he couldn't give me a business card, but instead pulled out his iPad and sent me an email.  When I got home and checked my emails on my laptop at home, I learnt that if I wanted to view his artwork I had to do so on FaceBook.

uif I want to post a comment on the local Botswana newspaper website I must have a Facebook account to do so

uno longer is it just my friends in Australia who ask if we are on Facebook, but I am also getting asked it by local folk here

 u I have been sent more 'invitations to join' Facebook, Linkdin and the like, by Africans than by Australians

But I'm actually not jumping up and down with excitement that Botswana is 'up with the rest of the world' on this.  

You see also on the flip-side......

uthe whole Facebook and Twitter issue came up during the Olympics with the concern that athletes were so busy updating their status and 'twittering' that they weren't getting enough sleep and it was affecting performances.  One Australian coach even stated he would like to confiscate all the smart phones of his athletes!

uwhere once we had seen instances of relatives getting angry here with each other because certain ones had not come to visit as often as expected, now friends are getting angry with each other when their other friends don't update their Facebook page enough, or respond to their friends on Facebook enough.  Students are getting harassed by their friends for social networking 'tardiness' when they are trying to prepare for exams.  Yes even here in Africa!

ubecause the Western World introduced it, Africa thinks its a sign of showing they are 'up with the best' if they are using technology like the West

uthe West is starting to get concerned over the massive use of Facebook and I've read that even some celebrities are choosing to stay away from social media for a variety of reasons including the fact that saying too much, too quickly on Facebook and Twitter might come back to bite you.  Potential employers are now going to people's Facebook pages to get a picture of the character of a person over time. Psychologists are also getting concerned -  the likes of Facebook and Twitter are now falling into the category of activities that can become obsessive and addictive.  They are also revealing to us just how self-focused and self-obsessed we are.  In other words our sinful hearts are not immune from the 'traps' of social networking whether we realise it or not.  Maybe the quicker we realise it the better, and guard our hearts from yet another tactic of the Evil One who prowls around like a roaring lion seeing who he might devour.  click here to read more on this. 

uA Neuroscience Professor at Oxford University is very concerned about the effect of Social Networking on children's brains and the dangerous patterns it sets for their life - there are lots of reasons to be concerned.

Now, I'm not saying that computers, cell phones, smart phones, iPads, Facebook or Twitter, or webpages or blogposts for that matter are inherently evil - no way.  But I am getting more and more concerned that even we as Christians may be getting further into a 'sticky web' or the 'lure' of technology's offerings without thinking carefully about what we are doing and its effects.  We can be caught by the very trap that it isn't inherently evil, deceiving us into unconsciously equating that to it having no capacity to do anything evil (non-God-glorifying) in my life.

I found a comment on the link above (on what the Psychologists are now saying) also expressed an interesting insight :

it "appears" that a lot of people are lonely and they're searching for relationships that they have a hard time finding outside of the world of technology. The irony is that technologically enables us to reach people around the world – we're more connected than ever before, but in the end, face-to-face relationships decline and loneliness entails. 

Some years ago a friend of mine in Australia made a comment to me that she is having a ministry a 'tea and talks' or 'coffee and chats' - simply times of meeting with people and talking over a cup of tea or coffee for building face to face relationships.  She has been amazed at how many people have expressed how much they value those times.  She has found that many people are desperate to actually build a meaningful relationship with someone that is face to face, who will take the time to listen to the issues that weigh on their hearts and to do it in a confidential way with someone that cares and shows love and compassion.  In one way we are more 'connected' to people than ever before because of technology.  But I have to ask myself whether we are getting too comfortable with connecting and forgetting what it is to have rich deep relationships that build each other up, that give and receive love toward one another and that can reveal, comfort and heal matters deep in our hearts that really direct and affect our lives?  Are we becoming more connected socially at the expense of becoming disconnected relationally?

Much of our ministry is to young adults who in a culture that says it values relationships but these relationships are meant to function in a culturally approved way that requires honour given to the elder at all times and asking questions is mostly not allowed.  It is a culture where age-mates are the ones who share with each other the most because then the issue of 'eldership' isn't a problem.  This means that people don't learn from the elders as much as they could, but it does mean that Facebook is very attractive because it keeps age-mates in contact even when geographically far apart.  But it also often ends up a substitute for taking the time to actually meet up with people. And as Christians we need to be aware that while the world might think that its a good thing that Facebook is helping young people learn from their peers rather than adults, that is not what God desires for how His church is to function.  In a right and good (not just cultural) way, the older generation is supposed to be teaching and training up the younger, and kids are meant to be honouring the authority of the parents above their peers.  In fact the MacArthur Foundation in defence of Teens using social networking said: 

Young people are motivated to learn from their peers online.

• The Internet provides new kinds of public spaces for youth to interact and receive feedback from one another.
• Young people respect each other's authority online and are more motivated to learn from each other than from adults.

To me this is actually a support for the dangers of Social networking rather than support for its benefits, especially in the light of Scripture.

 It is also very popular in a culture that has an intensive like for gossip - "We Africans like to gossip" I was told.  Everyone likes to know about everyone else.  But underneath there is a desperate cry for meaningful relationships where each person can be honest with each other, be encouraged and challenged by each other, be built up by each other, be spurred on to Godliness by each other, be heard and understood by each other, learn from each other, rejoice together and cry together in such a way that we hear each other's laughter and feel the warm embrace of a hug when there are tears.

I ask myself if the increase in superficial social networking relationships will also only increase sexual relationships outside of marriage? More and more people are actually depriving themselves and others of meaningful relationships that involve a physical presence and so they then go looking for that physical presence relationship of 'belonging' and 'one-another' love in the wrong places.  Is Social Networking Media fuelling this problem?

So...

.... am I saying that Christians shouldn't be on Facebook or Twitter? - NO. There are great positives including keeping up to date with friends and family overseas.

Am I saying that as I read the research, observe Australia and also Botswana in relation to Social Media that I believe we need to be far more cautious than we are? - YES  

Am I saying that we need to examine the role that Social Media plays in our lives? - YES

Am I saying that we cannot underestimate the need to guard our hearts and examine the motives for why we use or access Social Media? - YES

Am I saying that we need to be very, very careful not to neglect, and in fact pro-actively cultivate personal, face-to-face, heart-to-heart meaningful relationships where we can fulfill our biblical mandate to bear one another's burdens, weep with those who weep, rejoice with those who rejoice and actually 'sit' physically with those we are called to love even if it means uttering no words (like Job's friends did at first - but cannot be done via FaceBook)? - YES......

.....and Am I saying that the church needs members willing to do this as we relate to each other? - YES....

.....and Am I saying that the older men and women in the church need to be doing more to develop meaningful relationships with younger men and women so as to teach by word and example what it means to be men and women who love and honour God?- YES

.....and Am I saying that as the church we need to be coming alongside our neighbours, whoever they may be and letting them see that 'relationship' as God desires it and gives it, is far more than the world can ever give? - YES  

Superficial FaceBook connections are not God's idea of what we were created to be to each other and ultimately to enjoy with our Creator.

As the body of Christ - His hands, feet, etc .... on this earth, we have been called to live each day we are given to His glory.....

We have a message to share and to live, 

love and care to demonstrate and give, 

to those around us.

Disabled in the Desert

Just a few days ago in the local paper I read that some new laws are to be passed in Botswana in regard to building regulations needing to accommodate the needs of the disabled.  That is sure welcome news indeed.

Getting around this Desert nation in a wheelchair is a journey full of the motto 'be prepared'.  You are never quite sure if you will be able to get where you intend to go or what adjustments you might have to make along the way.

Since receiving my special recliner wheelchair over a year ago now, my life has certainly happily included many 'outings' that I would otherwise have been unable to take.  You see I can't stand for long or sit up for too long without my heart rate going way too high, and if I don't want my heart to wear out completely in the near future, I have to make sure its doesn't get too high too often or for too long....and so therefore I spend most of my life now in a horizontal position on a day-bed with a special computer bed-table.  It's all a part of living life with POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome).

My wheelchair looks like a relatively 'normal' wheelchair except the back is a little higher with an extension piece, and it has elevating leg rests.  But then when I need to lie down, the back can be lowered and the leg rests elevated so essentially it looks like I have my own mobile 'bed'.  I can go to restaurants (and lie down between courses), to church (there I am at the front of the photo), to the doctor, into the garden, to visit friends, to meetings in Government and Corporate offices, to craft fairs etc etc and anytime i need to, I can just go 'horizontal'. It's great!  (I would do even more than I do, except it does take more effort than just my routine at home, so there is still some extra strain on my heart.....and on hot days when my heart rate is already higher than normal, I can't afford to send it even a little bit higher).  

But the process of getting packed into the car, and then the process of getting out of the car and not being sure what awaits me at the other end can be a bit tricky sometimes.  The chair is a heavy one and a bit bigger than a normal chair so I can't just have a friend pick me up in their car and take me somewhere.  I have to be taken in our car and lifting the chair up and down from the back of our CRV is heavy work for my husband.  But sometimes that is the easy bit!  We have had some interesting experiences along the way.....

u  I can turn up to a shopping centre or flash hotel only to discover that yes, for sure they have 'disabled parking' but there are ropes across the front of it or a cone hat in the middle of it......so we have to stop the car, my husband has to get out and move the hat or rope (or try to find an attendant to 'unlock' the rope chain') and then get back in and park the car!

u  Going to the public toilet is sometimes tricky too.  Many places just don't have a toilet for the disabled/wheelchair so you just have to hang on!  Other places have a ladies one in the ladies toilets and a men's one in the men's toilets - but what do we do when its just my husband and I?  (yes we have had situations where my husband has taken me into the ladies loo - what else are we supposed to do?!) Some places where this is the case have double automatic closing  doors (one that you push followed by one that you pull) that don't like to stay open - at least my arms still work and I can help hold doors open as we go through and once in a while someone will notice our plight and actually help us!.  Other places have an accessible disabled toilet but its kept locked.....and not used very often, so finding the key becomes a mission!

u  change rooms in a department or clothing store....Well that's almost out of the question completely because the chair just can't turn in the tiny passage way space to even get to the change rooms and no change room is big enough to get the chair into and still be able to close the door!.....and again which change room does my husband take me too....the men's or the ladies?

u  Thankfully many buildings here are one level although one level can often mean up one or two steps and then one level!  But there are still a lot of 2 or three level buildings that have been built with stairs and no lifts - even executive office buildings.  Most often this can be worked around and executives whose offices are upstairs will come down to see me.  But sometimes a 'stairs only' situation can be very disappointing.  Recently my husband and I were excited to be able to go to a local concert with the local Musical Society and a couple of local Tenors.  We were really looking forward to it and we knew the place had ramps so we thought we were set....until we got there and discovered that the concert was not on the lower level as we had anticipated but was on the upper floor in one of the function rooms  AND the only access was a very narrow and steep flight of stairs!  We hung around for the first half to see if maybe the sound might travel down to our level....but it didn't really.  Then a wonderful thing happened - the choir conductor was so apologetic about it that she brought the choir down to serenade me one item at the end of intermission!

u  Even just going along without any need for toilets, change rooms or parking spaces can have its own challenges, when one is in a wheelchair.  Uneven concrete, curbs that don't always have 'ramps' to get on and off, ramps that are not built to any specification and are way too steep for comfort!, and of course on the edge of a desert of course there is the fact that there is plenty of sand!  Sandy soil and even patches of rough rocky soil here has meant that we have had to change the wheels on my chair from the originals (that were designed for wheelchair friendly smooth hospital corridors and smooth even footpaths of the UK) to what we call the 4X4 version of wider tyres with deeper tread.  We have even had issues of the rubber seals that enable the seat to move when the chair is folded for transport, have dried out in our excessively dry weather and when my husband went to open the chair for me, the whole thing came apart and the seal went rolling away! (we are more careful now!)

So life in a wheelchair can be interesting and challenging, and just that bit more when its at the edge of the Kalahari Desert.

But wheelchairs are not a very common sight here and they were even less common when we first came over 10 years ago.  Traditionally, disability was something that was shameful and meant a person had no ability to get anywhere unless they were carried.  But things are changing bit by bit and we praise the Lord that disability is seen a little more positively now days and that there is recognition that even the disabled are equal in value as people and can still contribute to the community.  And I praise the Lord for the opportunity He has given me to be an example to those I meet when I am "out and about" that God has a plan and purpose for those the world would ignore or discard, because what might seem a 'limitation' in the eyes of man, can be a 'facilitation' in the hands of God to fulfil His purposes more fully and display His glory more clearly!

Under the Moreton Bay Fig Tree

Last blog I wrote a little about the unexpected. Not all of life's
unexpected situations are frustrating though, and here is one that was
a happy surprise when we first encountered it and continues to have a
quiet significance in our lives.....it is a Moreton Bay Fig
Tree.......well two of them actually.

"What is a huge Australian Moreton Bay Fig Tree doing at the edge of
the Kalahari Desert?" you ask. Well, we don't exactly know, except
that I guess at some time, someone planted two seeds and we now have
two trees. We were very surprised to find them here too! These two
trees are the main features of the carpark and alfresco restaurant at
a wonderful plant nursery (the only one of its kind) at the edge of
town. When we go there, we normally park our car under one of the
trees and then eat a meal under the other one.

In Australia:
For those of you who don't know, I grew up right beside "Moreton Bay"
in South East Queensland and I have particularly fond memories of
those wonderful trees at a little place called Wellington Point where
my Grandfather used to take my cousins and I swimming. They are huge
trees maybe 10 meters across and about the same in height and great
for climbing! We used to go and sit under them or climb them after we
finished swimming.

In Africa:
We have had many significant times eating a meal under that restaurant
fig tree as we have shared a meal with friends or with our 'kids'. We
learnt last year that one of our more recently 'adopted kids' had
never actually 'celebrated' a birthday so we took him out to lunch at
this spot for a memorable meal together. Another time we took a
little family to lunch to do something special they had never done
before (there is also a terrific kids play area there) On yet other
times meetings, mentoring and times of counselling and fellowship have
occurred under the fig tree. And it is also a place that we can go
and enjoy some 'time out' just my hubby and I amongst the beauty of so
many plants and trees and flowers. And we can even buy some fresh
herbs and vegies from their 'farm stall' before we leave......and
there's something strangely comforting and restful about those big
trees that remind me of home.

But we pray that as we have interaction with folk here, whether it be
under the huge Moreton Bay Fig Tree, or in a local yard under the
shade of a thorn tree, that God might use us to also plant some seeds
in needy hearts, that many years from now might grow and produce lives
that are 'big and strong' in Christ and bring the comfort and love of
Christ to others around them.