More lessons from the African bush....Beauty and the Beasts!

Living in the African bush is never boring that's for sure and I find it continues to be used by the Lord to teach me more of how He wants me to live.. although I am convinced that if the decision was left up to me, I'd usually choose a less eventful life!  However, I'm glad the decision is not left up to me, as I'd miss out on some of the beautiful perspectives of the world around me as well as some of the more 'beastly'!

By 'beastly' I am presently thinking of Scorpions.  Right now I feel like I've seen enough of these things to last a lifetime!  Since the beginning of October, I have dealt with 12 of these critters....11 of them in our house and one just outside the back door!  They have ranged is size from 6mm (probably a baby one) to about 9cm (that's from head to end of tail outstretched - not including the pincers)!

(you see this time of year is 'scorpion season' as they come out of winter hibernation and the males go a-wandering looking for a mate - thankfully the whole year is not like these past few weeks!)

Here is a photo of one about 7cm long in the bottom of our wet/dry vacuum cleaner after 'vacuuming' him up. (his stinger is that 'barb' on the end of his tail...)

Before moving here I had never seen a scorpion, but right now they are almost part of daily life!  At one stage I found 3 in the space of 4 days!  

(It doesn't help that the hill we live on is mostly rocks and rocks are scorpions favourite hideouts!)

Now these are not the harmless variety of the many types of scorpions on the planet - these are one of the most deadly! - the fat tailed black ones!

But I am far less 'panicked' when I find one now, than when my husband and I found the first one (which was about 15cm long) and I am very thankful that they are really very timid creatures who prefer to rather hide under something than attack you.  

This is one time when I wish the Baboons would come visiting more often....because they eat scorpions...but since the rains, there is more 'food' around for them all over the mountain, not just near human settlement.

THEN in contrast, 

The Beauty of this time of year includes one of my favourite Botswana flowers and also the flower that most reminds me of Australia - 

Here is my favourite flower - a very pretty and delicate little 'lantern' hanging no more than about 4 cm in length and which only seem to last a day or so...

And the flower that reminds me of the Australian wattle, on a thorn tree...

THEN FINALLY 

...just a couple of days ago I came across a creature that is both Beauty and Beast!

As my husband was wheeling me back up the path to the house in my wheelchair after a swim, we came across this little creature all dressed in colours ready for Christmas - or so it seemed!  As I exclaimed about his beauty, my more knowledgeable husband helped me to understand that what looked beautiful, if left to live would cause significant destruction to our garden.

He was just one of the most amazing looking creatures I had ever seen....but he was a locust!  A creature if left in our garden would have decimated the plants and prevented many other plants from bringing us beauty.  He was a 'wolf in sheep's clothing' having the appearance of good, while having a heart of 'destruction'!  What appeared beautiful if allowed to live would prove so harmful.

And here are the lessons I have learnt from these African experiences:

1. some 'evil' (ie harmful/destructive/deadly) is obvious - ie Mr Scorpion - he just looks plain bad (well I think so anyhow)!

2. but some 'evil' comes looking very, very attractive on the outside, but if not dealt with based on truth rather than appearances will only prove destructive

3. Evil is destructive whether it comes labelled as such or comes camouflaged, and we need knowledge greater than our own (ie God's wisdom) if we are going to discern below the surface of life.

4. Often beauty and true joy comes in the midst of the thorns of life (not unlike roses)....and just because an experience or section of the course of our lives is 'prickly', or 'thorny' or 'barren' (since till a few weeks back the both the trees that now have the beautiful flowers had no leaves on them either), doesn't mean God isn't planning on bringing beauty out of them that will bring glory to His name, joy to our souls and blessing to many.

In the midst of life, I pray that I might not forget these lessons from the African bush, and be encouraged to press on, resisting evil, seeking God's 'below the surface' perspective (heart rather than outward appearance), and not judging success by barrenness or thorns, because God will bring the beauty in His own good time as He works all things together for good to those called according to His purposes!  

(Ecclesiastes 3:11, Romans 8:28)

The Hair-wash Honour Lesson

One of the things I can't do for myself with my POTS medical condition is washing my hair, so I have to get someone else to do it for me.

My recliner wheelchair is 'reversed' over the edge of the shower and with a hand-held shower rose, while I am lying down, my hair is washed.

Yesterday's hairwash turned out to be an "Honour Lesson" as our maid who also serves as my Personal Carer/Assistant on the days she comes, was telling me about a very interesting situation as she lathered and rinsed my hair...... and I want to share it with you.

A lady did something 'not nice' to her brothers. We'll say, she sinned against her brothers.  

She would say she is a Christian.

She has recognised that what she did was wrong.  

She knows there is a problem in her relationship with her brothers because of it.

She knows that without forgiveness there will continue to be a problem between them.

However,

She is older than all her brothers.

Culturally, a person does not put themselves in a 'shamed' position in the eyes of others, and definitely an older person will never 'lower themselves' to look shameful in the eyes of those younger than them.

An older person culturally is in a position of honour simply because they are older and they are not about to voluntarily step down or 'let go' of any of that honour.

So she is saying that she cannot go to her brothers to ask for forgiveness for the wrong she has done.

But she has heard that her brothers are willing to forgive her.

So she is now saying that because she is the older sibling, it is not her 'place' culturally to go to her younger brothers and ask for forgiveness, they must come to her and just tell her that they have forgiven her without her having to say or do anything.  She is trying to exert her cultural 'elder' position to enable her to avoid the 'shame' she feels she will bring on herself by having to come to her brothers.  And she is telling them that culturally they should be doing what she tells them.

BUT

Her brothers have said that as much as they are willing to forgive her, they are not willing to give her that forgiveness until she comes and asks for it.

So there is a stalemate!

As my carer rinsed the shampoo from my hair she said "Its the Honour/Shame culture again".

Biblically the brothers are doing it right. We should have a heart of forgiveness ready and willing to give it.  In other words we should have already willingly 'granted' it in our hearts so that we can without hesitation 'give' it when it is asked for.  However, the person also needs to come prepared to admit their sin and ask for forgiveness - we see that pattern in 1 John 1:9 about us coming to God for forgiveness "if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive...." and in Luke 17: 4 in relation to forgiving other people "if he sins against you seven times in the day and turns to you seven times saying "I repent", you must forgive him". And then there is 2 Chronicles 7:14"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land". The pattern is that God is a forgiving God who is willing and ready to forgive IF with a repentant heart, we come to him for forgiveness. So we should have the same willingness whenever anyone comes to us for forgiveness. 

There has to be a humbling of oneself, an admittance of wrong doing and a sense of putting oneself at the mercy of another in the hope and trust that they will grant the forgiveness, if it to be received.  Conversely, if we are going to forgive as God forgives, we must not withhold forgiveness in attitude of heart, or in action toward other human beings if they in repentance ask for it.

But this lady, even as a 'Christian' is struggling to come to terms with the requirements that God asks for (humility), as those terms intersect and conflict with cultural ways.  

And as my Motswana carer said "It's all about pride".

We are learning that true biblical forgiveness is something that is not well understood here particularly because of the cultural honour/shame dynamics.  And even for Christians, there is much cultural thinking super-imposed onto biblical words and concepts. May God continue to grant us the wisdom and strength to research and write materials and opportunities to share, so that hearts may be set free from Satan's bondage which keeps them separated from a rich and loving relationship with God and with their fellowman.

Avocado Experiment

Here's a bit of a "part 2" to the "Dried Out" blog post....

One of the major issues visitors to Botswana face is the problem of
dehydration.

The air is so dry (today's humidity is only 6%!), so you don't notice
perspiration - it basically just instantly evaporates - so you don't
realise how much water your body is losing.

Once you have lived here for more than a year you begin to notice the
effect on your skin as well - dry skin, cracked feet, cracked lips,
and dry eyes are all a part of life here and extra care has to be taken.

About three weeks back we put an avocado on the counter. But
although ripe and ready to eat, since it had some 'patches' on it that
looked like it might not be the tastiest avocado, of the ones we had
at the time, it got left till last to be eaten. Meanwhile it had
already started to 'shrivel'. So I decided to continue to leave it
out on the counter and just watch it 'dry up'.

We don't really need fruit dehydrator machines here, we just leave it
on the counter top!

I thought you might like to see what happens to an avocado after
sitting on the counter for three weeks in Botswana!

So I placed them on the window sill so I had a nice white background
and recorded the result of my experiment and put it alongside another
fresh one of a similar size to the original size of my shrivelled one,
for you to compare!

(In Brisbane Australia, it would have just gone rotten and mouldy -
but here is just shrank and dried out to less than half its original
size!)

Only Dots on the Rocks!

As a follow up to Round Rainbow.....

Did we get rain?

No. Well yes if a few drops counts!

We will often 'smell' rain coming and then all that happens is a few
drops fall -

The drops were so few you could count the dots they made on the rocks
of our garden edging.....

That Sun Halo really made the internet busy - at least in the Southern
African area anyhow as people posted photos on Facebook and sent
photos all over the world.

Our maid was telling us that whole inner city buildings emptied as
people went outside to see it.

Apparently people were asking "Is Jesus Returning?" "Are we ready?"

Anything that gets people asking such questions is certainly a good
thing, whether the raindrops come or not.

But .....we keep praying for rain... more than just 'dots on the rocks'!

Round Rainbow!

I just had a phone call from a friend who teaches at one of the Private Schools here in Gaborone and a text message come in on my phone as well from another friend saying "Quick, go look at the sun!"  My teacher friend said everyone is outside at the school, taking a look.

Well without commenting on the danger of standing looking into the sun for too long, after putting on my sunglasses and taking a quick look up - what an amazing unexpected sight greeted me!

It was 11am, a low 10% humidity, already 33 degrees Celcius, and the sky was covered with a continuous layer of very very thin wispy clouds like a fine netting across what is normally blue, turning it a strange eerie whitish light grey.

And I look up and see an amazing sight!

This is no small ring around the sun - this is HUGE....so huge that I'm struggling to get the whole circle in with my camera on the widest angle lens setting I have.  As I hold up a ruler about 40 centimetres from my face, the ring measures approximately 30cm across!

It's like a type of round rainbow as the sunlight passes through the moisture (ice crystals apparently) of those thin wispy clouds.

In actual fact its called a  22^° Sun Halo

I took this second photo below a few minutes later of the full circle through the wire we have strung above our porch area in the hope our bougainvillea (which you can see just in the corner of the photograph), will grow across it.  The wires are about 2.5 metres above the ground and about 20cm apart

To give you another idea of how big this halo was - if I stretched out my arm and did a hand-span, from one horizon to the other is about 9 of my hand-spans and this halos was two hand-spans across (diameter) - right above my head.

....it felt like a giant 'flying saucer' hovering above, since the colour inside the halo was a great deal darker than the surrounding sky.

- about an hour later - the whole sky is now mostly blue with a few patchy wisps of clouds and the dark 'centre' of the halo ring is gone and the outside 'ring' itself is also almost faded completely.

Thank you Lord for the opportunity to experience such an awesome and not so usual sight!

Apart from the fun and interest of seeing such a thing, it is said because of the type of cloud (cirrus) it happens with, it often precedes some storms a few days later!  

Well we do need the rain that's for sure.

'Been thinking about.....ZZZZzzzzzz

Sleep!

It's a basic necessity of life, and more of a necessity than we often realise.

I've been learning some things about sleep recently that have been a challenge to me that I thought I might share more widely....

While Scripture tells us we shouldn't love sleep too much, it also tells us that God "gives His beloved sleep"

I used to wonder at this verse, and puzzle over why, if God says He gives us sleep, that on some occasions I found it hard to sleep?

I have come to realise that more than specific occasions to question God (maybe he wanted me awake to pray??), it is a verse that reminds me that the daily factor of 'sleep' in our lives is, in and of itself a 'gift'.  Our bodies can't function without it.

Then recently when our 'prodigal son' confessed faith in Christ, one of the things that he said had changed for him was that he said he was now sleeping, and sleeping peacefully and soundly, like he never had before.  I was reminded that 'in Christ', if we are willing, we have the opportunity to trust our Heavenly Father, rest in Him and know His peace in our sleep, at a level that many in this world cannot even begin to enjoy.

In addition to these facts, (as we often seemed to be a broken record to our student sons about the need to sleep and not just be up reading and studying at all hours of the night), I began to learn more about this amazing daily period of shut-eye that is part of every human being's life.

I'll call them my sleep 'half-dozen'!!

I learnt that:

1. God created sleep and created us to need sleep, and a certain amount of sleep - so to try to defy that, is actually defying and dishonouring God's design for us.

2. Essentially God gives a kind of sleep to His beloved children, that one who is unsaved and/or carrying all their burdens of sin on their own shoulders, cannot fully know.

3. God tells us not to love sleep too much - we need to work if we are going to eat (Proverbs 20:13)

4. God also tells us that we have to keep the truth of point '3' in balance, and not become workaholics and deprive ourselves of sleep because we have become obsessive about 'getting money' to 'get more stuff'! (Psalm 127:1,2)  It is in this context that God tells us that He gives His beloved sleep. We need to remember that God created sleep and has given it as a gift - a blessing - to our bodies.  We should neither abuse or refuse that gift.

5. Rather than be quick to 'blame' God for the times I didn't sleep well, I have discovered that often times, there were basic elements of my life that I needed to change, because they were affecting my ability to sleep.  Therefore like any health issue, I should seek out ways to better take care of this 'tent' (body) God has given me for the time He has put me on this earth.

6.  Our modern lifestyle has much in it that threatens (and often succeeds) in 'stealing' our sleep. From diet to computers, and stress. The articles (with links below) that I have been reading give examples such as the light of our computer screens will be detrimental to our sleep if we are exposed to it within an hour of bed.   I should be considering these factors if I want to honour God and the gift He has given of 'sleep', by taking care of my body as the dwelling place of His Holy Spirit and the vessel of His work/ministry, and making sure I let it get the sleep it needs.

To conclude, I have come to realise that if I am to have my mind fully available to God to use for His purposes, I have to be responsible to keep it in the best working order I am able to.  I also have come to realise the significant truth that if I do not give my body sufficient sleep, so that its more difficult for me to engage my mind and have it 'fully available' to the Lord, my lack of bodily discipline is actually quenching the ability of the Holy Spirit to produce His fruit in and through me - such as self-control and loving others.  If I am honest with myself...when I am tired its much harder to have self-control, to speak with grace, or to think of the needs of others, because all my 'brain energy' is taken with just keeping myself functioning!

Our modern world, from the electric light to the internet and smart phone, has made life so helpful in so many ways. But you know, I am also quite rebuked, corrected and instructed, as I study sleep in the light of God's word and my calling to walk worthy of the Lord - honouring and glorifying Him. It's hard to say 'no' to people's demands and technology's temptations!  Technological 'helps' can be a massive 'hindrance' as well, and if I don't keep them well in their place as 'servants' rather than their tendency to want to 'master' me and 'take over' my life (1 Corinthians 6:12), I will dishonour the Lord instead of bringing glory to Him. 

Oh Lord help me to honour You with my sleep!

In my 'research' about sleep I came across various bits of information that I found very helpful...so I thought I should share them with you....

Click here for a link with some interesting information on our need for sleep and what we should and should not do to maximise our sleep.

Click here for interesting results of a sleep study done a couple of years ago by the National Sleep Foundation in the USA and their tips for better sleep

Click here for some latest research about the importance of sleep for the health of our brains - and click here for a video clip about the same research 

Click here for some more fascinating information about what happens to your body as you sleep 

 (*although.... for an interesting aside on this last link - it says under the heading of 'blood' that our heart-rate drops 10-30 beats per minute when we are asleep - with my Dysautonomia/POTS my heart-rate was not going down at all while I was asleep, instead it was going quite high! No wonder, my body and brain were struggling! It was like I was at the gym all day and all night!....I praise the Lord that my 'sleep' heart-rate has been coming down and now after 3.5 years it is at least mostly about equal if not just a little lower than my day-time resting heart rate...and while some of that improvement has come through some medication/supplements, some of it has also come from learning how to better prepare myself for good sleep, rather than hinder good sleep by what I do in the evening hours - in consideration of some of the information in those articles above).

(sleep deprivation poster photo from Kids in Australia )

How Now Brown Cow!

I remember the little phrase "How now brown cow", from a little ditty I used to say as a kid....

....but it took on a new meaning just recently when I found 2 brown cows in our garden!

I heard the cow bells and they sounded very close...and they were!

How now brown cow?...what are you doing in my garden!

After I got over the surprise and called the management of the expansive property we rent a house on, I thought I should take a photo of the one that was standing right in the middle of one of our garden beds that has some low aloe type plants in it.

And no, they are not supposed to be wandering around the property - somehow they broke through a fence somewhere.

But life isn't boring here, and if there is one thing I learnt from watching those two cows, was to not get perturbed too much with what is going on around me and just take my time, do what I need to, and calmly then move on to the next thing!  They would not be hurried by my 'shooing' efforts and acted as if I almost didn't even figure in their field of vision!  In fact the one in the photograph stood still for ages, ignoring me, and just picked through the leaves finding little bits of something to eat and chew on!

On the main road not too far from our house is a 'cows crossing' road sign, and when those cows cross (which they often do), they take their time - 'hurry' is not a word in their vocabulary!  They just amble across the road at their own speed and all the traffic has to wait for them!

I think 'hurry' is often too much of our lives in this modern world, and we don't take much time to 'slow down' and just calmly go about our tasks.

And even as Christians we can wish 'this or that' would 'hurry up', and I wonder if we stop to think about it, whether we are too easily wanting life to be faster than it needs to be.  We want 'fast', 'instant', 'quick', 'immediate', 'without delay', etc etc. I know I can all too easily succumb to this attitude. Subtly we can think 'things' should happen faster and we want to know outcomes, and we can be dissatisfied with the speed God wants us to operate at.  We can get impatient with 'slow', 'wait', 'be still'. But if we believe God is ordering our steps, then we actually run a dangerous course when we want 'things' to hurry up, because if we believe God orders our steps, we are actually saying we want God to 'hurry up'....and Scripture has something to say about that in Isaiah 5:18,19 for our caution.

Maybe I need to learn something from the visit of those cows to my garden ..... to be more like that brown cow and be ok about 'going slower' and pause often just to be still and seek out the little morsels of truth God wants to feed my soul on and take time to 'chew' them over for full benefit! 

How now brown cow?...thank you for teaching me something by visiting my garden!

Dried out!

After the last blogpost talking about getting so much hail that it looked like it snowed....

Well less than a week later....along with a 32 degree day, today's Gaborone outside humidity is registering at 4% according to the Weather Station at the Airport that registers on 'Wunderground'

From my searching of the 'www' apparently the lowest recorded humidity on earth was 2% in the middle of the desert in the USA.

I've also learnt that humidity in aircraft cabins also runs low (about 5-20%) - but that is what our daytime humidity levels are like almost all year round!

Well, here we are on the edge of the Kalahari Desert and this is normally one of the hottest months before the rainy season sets in, so I shouldn't be surprised....the reality is that low humidity is 'normal' here.

Low humidity is a foreign concept in the area of Australia where I grew up, by the sea in I suppose what might be called the sub-tropics - the problem there was super high humidity - like up to 98% even when it wasn't raining!

In those days I never had to think about preventing dehydration headaches!

So....

When you read about 'health preservation tips for flying in low humidity aircraft', it seems I should be taking note of those tips for daily life here!

......things like:

-  up your vitamin intake because dry air contributes to compromised mucous membranes and increases likelihood of disease

-  be sure to drink extra water to stay hydrated - sip little bits of water all day

-  avoid alcohol and coffee (neither of which I drink normally) as they have a dehydrating effect

-  take a bath rather than a shower and even better if you add Epsom Salts (magnesium) - well I'm limited there as our house doesn't have a bath!...but I do take extra magnesium supplements

-  Use moisturisers

here are some links if you are interested in reading about the effects of aircraft cabin low humidity to help yourself next flight you take and to learn more about the environment we live our entire lives!

Here and here and here

But keeping fluids up is something that is constantly on our minds as it is just so easy to get dehydrated in our part of the world.  

We carry a water bottle everywhere we go and we make sure we remind visitors to keep their water up! Part of the problem is that the air is so dry and hot that any perspiration is evaporated almost instantly and you don't realise how much body water you are losing....or how much 'salt' (body minerals)....including magnesium salts.  We have to supplement with a lot of magnesium (especially my husband) or else we get muscle twitching, spasms, headaches and migraines.

(another interesting fact....did you know that annual evaporation here in Botswana is 2 metres!)

But our bodies aren't the only things that DRY OUT!

• - glued furniture joins dry out and furniture comes apart
• - wooden furniture dries out and joins pull apart
• - clothes 'dry out' too much and the fibres (especially natural cotton) just break down over time and get holes and rips more easily
• - fruit left on the counter dries out - we have watched passion-fruit, lemons and mandarins just shrivel up to half their normal size.
• - plastics dry out, and crack, and split and so household items can become useless very quickly when one small plastic part cracks or splits - even outdoor plastic chairs after a while become brittle and can 'snap'!
• - rubber seals dry out and shrink - and if they are seals of importance - like in a car engine!!!!.....all kinds of trouble can result!!! (in fact with dry air and dust - it is quite normal here for car repairs to have to happen far more frequently than what the manual says.
• - even plants dry out - it's quite something to watch a cactus aloe actually partially dry out!

But its not all bad.....we have a thatch roof and the biggest enemy of thatch is moisture!....so dry air is a good thing in that sphere....

and

I don't have to worry about cleaning of mould issues in the shower!

And I can be thankful that even though its only 4% humidity at the airport, here in my thatch-roofed house in the bush, its about 25% (that's still considered low but its better than 4%!)

And on this very, very dry Sunday, I'm reminded again to pray for rain for this land, where severe water rations are in place, and the dam that supplies our water supply is dangerously low. Please join with us in praying for rain.

Snow in Botswana?

No not really, but it sure looked like it!

We have just had what I would call the first 'proper' downpour of rain for this season.

And it was a really good storm - thunder, lightning, rain and hail!  (and then the normal subsequent power outage!)

One of our 'sons' wanted his photo taken with the 'snow'...

The hillside had a pretty thin covering of small hailstones and our deck was quite deep in hail stones and patches of the gardens still had some significantly thick patches of hailstones even an hour later!

And the coolness in the air is a welcome relief as is the sense of feeling the 'cleanness' of the air.

It has settled the dust at least for a few days, I think.

Thank you Lord for this rain!

Spring Snippets

I've named this post "Spring Snippets", but I'm actually not quite sure what season we are in here in Botswana!

In the past 3 weeks we have gone from 35 degree maximum 18 minimum days to suddenly 19 degree maximum 0 degree minimum and back to days in the high 30s and then last weekend we were back to a maximum of below 20 and minimum of 9 degrees, and now we have returned to daytime temps over the 30 degree mark again!!!

So one minute we think the force of summer has hit and the next it feels like the winter is returning, but before we can figure it out, summer is back!

I think the plants must be a bit confused....but none the less I am seeing a few tiny fresh green leaves coming on the thorn tree and even flowers on some of the tree around our deck area.  

Flowers on trees here are subtle, but have their own beauty against a backdrop of mostly leafless branches.

By the end of winter the bush looks so 'grey' and dry and you wonder if everything is dead....A great proportion of native trees here are deciduous, unlike my Aussie home setting of South East Queensland where the opposite is true.

But Spring here is certainly a reminder of the beauty that can come out of barrenness.

Here are some snaps I took yesterday afternoon of what I saw on the trees when I took time to look more closely.

High on the tips of a tree

Pretty little pompom like flowers starting to appear on otherwise barren branches.

No Leaks and maybe a Divine Link!

Leaks!

Life in Botswana seems to inevitably include dealing with leaks.

The problem with leaks seems to be a combination of less than ideal
quality workmanship, combined with a severely dry climate.

Plastic, rubber, glues and sealants shrink and disintegrate as any
moisture is 'sucked' out of them and the searingly hot Botswana sun is
more than such things were designed for. So we get used to roof leaks,
house plumbing leaks, and car engine leaks developing and having to be
fixed.

Our latest leak problem has been with our plunge pool pump and pipes.
Evaporation is high here (2m per year) but our pool water level was
going down way too fast for it to be just evaporation.

On closer investigation, we discovered that the piping from the pool
to the pump had been installed all wrongly and the two parts of the
pump/filter had not been installed level with each other and the pipes
were not sitting as they should to create a proper seal. Previously,
lots of silicon had been applied to fill gaps but over time the dry
heat had shrunk the silicon and the leaks were back.

Over many months, after various plumbers patching the problems rather
than fixing the problems, and many visits to the pool shop, eventually
all the many factors of the problem were identified and piping was re-
done, and other parts replaced. It has been an ongoing frustrating
saga, as each time we thought it was fixed, another leak would be
revealed. But to our great relief, it seems the problem is now
properly fixed at last. It's great to look down to the pool and see
that the water level has hardly changed!

But in the process of this leak, my hubby has made many visits to the
pool shop and has ended up having some fairly significant
conversations with the shop owner, after the he asked Andrew what we
are doing in Botswana.

Each conversation has been more in depth than the first and the last
visit Andrew was greeted with enthusiasm because the pool shop owner
is sharing with others what he is discovering about honour/shame and
how it plays out in business. Not only that, but he put in place some
ideas that Andrew suggested in relation to solving some HR issues, and
they worked! And now he is busy telling others....and wants Andrew to
make a plan on his return to maybe talk to a group .....we will see
where it will lead....

But it is all another reminder that what we think is just 'fixing a
leak' God might be busy 'creating a link'!

The Challenge of Life with the Internet

If you are looking to see what I have to say about whether the Internet is Godly or not or how a Christian should or shouldn't be using it, you might have to wait for another time....

What I thought I would pop into a blog post is simply some technological realities and challenges of Internet access and usage in the context of living in an urban setting in a developing African nation!

Today is Sunday and since I am rarely able to get to church, I often try to download a sermon to watch and listen to - sometimes on YouTube or other times from a particular website.  Today I was trying to download a message by Charles Price from The People's Church in Toronto, Canada.  I decided to turn on the computer before breakfast and start the download as the download speed is just soooooo slow.  I was hoping the Lord would make a way to at least have some kind of a sense of a 'sermon' today, as sometimes with the slow speed and internet drop-outs we can try all day and still have no success.

Today, it downloaded in just a couple of hours which was great....and then before we got to watch it, the power went off and so of course also did the computer!  

So, once the power came back on again, we started the whole process again.  By early afternoon, I thought I could have lunch and then watch it.  But, while I was still thinking that, the power went off again!

So, yet again, I restarted the downloading once the power came on again.

I was thrilled to actually be able to watch it!  The message was really good - on the sufficiency of Christ in all circumstances.

And then, about 40 minutes into the broadcast and still 20 minutes from the end, it suddenly stopped!

Guess what?  It seems we had an internet 'drop out' which ceased the download! 

Such is life here. Even though some children in Africa are now familiar with computers, and much of the continent has internet access either via landline ADSL or via smart-phones or dongles, it just doesn't function the way you might expect.  It immediately gave me a real-life situation to test what I had just been learning about being content in all circumstances!

The whole process was a reminder of a conversation I had with family in the USA just a few days before as we compared internet speed - their internet speed is around the 20Mbps in comparison to our 512kbps!  And when I actually checked our provider's details the 'Bronze level' we subscribe to (which is the lowest as it is all we can afford at about US$47 per month) is "up to" 512kbps.  (Mind you the maximum available at 'Gold' level is still only "up to" 2Mbps).

Sometimes, people often don't even stop to think that even though we have internet access that it might not be reliable (ie no drop-outs - sometimes it can be dropping out every few minutes or no power outages), or it might be very, very slow in comparison to what is available in the USA or UK or Australia.  It means when someone sends us a photo at full resolution as an email attachment of a few MegaBits, it can take a-g-e-s to download!

And just to illustrate just how important that little phrase "up to" is that our provider puts in front of the speed of 512kbps.....I did a speed test yesterday and discovered at a point when I thought the speed was 'reasonable' for what we normally experience, it only registered 83kbps!!!

So when we have someone suggest we make a little video and put it on YouTube....it is not even an option worth considering as even with no drop-outs or power outages it would probably take a week - just to upload it!

Monkey Business

Yesterday seemed to be the day in which the local monkeys and baboons
particularly selected the area around our house for their family fun
day and picnic!

Most days we will see some monkeys and some days we see the baboons as
well.

But yesterday they were persistently trying to raid our garbage bin,
scouring the plants around for any small shoot that had managed to
emerge since their last 'harvesting' visit, and making sure to get a
drink while they were about it.

The water crisis is worsening here - after a pretty dry 'wet season'
last summer and a very dry dusty winter, we are desperate for the
'early rains' but they don't normally come until September/October -
and the animals are really feeling it too.

But apart from trying to prevent our garbage from being strewn all
over, we do enjoy their visits as we watch their antics.....

It started early today, as my husband got out of bed, stood up and
looked out the window to see the term "head over heels in love" take
on a whole new meaning! He stood and watched two monkeys following the
Creator's directions to do what is needed to 'multiply according to
their kind' under the trees outside our bedroom window....but
then...they lost their balance! and while still very much 'together'
went tumbling down the hill!!!! Mrs Monkey wasn't so impressed and
gave her suitor an angry bite, so he ran off and left her to sit and
ponder her unexpected situation!

After the baboons made several attempts during the morning to get into
our garbage bin and would not be deterred, we moved it closer to the
back door so we could see it and if necessary make a big noise to
scare them off. But it also gave us extra opportunity to watch the
monkeys later on when they also tried to get into it - pulling,
tugging, stretching the luggage strap across the top trying to find a
way to gain entrance....but thankfully unsuccessful in their attempts.

The babies are starting to grow up now and are no longer constantly
close to mum. In fact the youngsters seem to often be together
playing. Today 4 youngsters were playing 'chase' up and down our back
driveway and round and round and round our car!

But sometimes a monkey needs a rest too! A couple of days back my
husband saw one sitting on one of our porch chairs like it was his own
personal seat to relax on!

Well of course all that exercise means that even if you are a monkey,
you get thirsty! Often the baboons and monkeys would come down to our
swimming pool to drink. But then we noticed that the babies couldn't
reach the water, so we put some water in a special 'tub' by one of the
outdoor taps in the open area beside the house. Yesterday, there was
a steady stream of them heading toward the tub to get their drink on
their way back up the hill, at the end of their 'family fun day'.

Related to the King!

Today has been an interesting day for me....in two ways

First of all....

I have just received confirmation that a piece of information I stumbled across a few weeks back is actually correct, and that Prince William (Duke of Cambridge) and I are 'distant' cousins due to both being able to call a man "William Caulfeild, 1st Viscount Charlemont" one of our great-great-great- great- (and a few more 'greats') grandfathers in the 17th Century.  As the world is all a-buzz about the birth of baby George, Prince of Cambridge, it feels a little 'strange' (in a good kind of way) to learn of this connection.

(Mind you, once you get into 'distant' cousins, I am realising just how many there are - I am probably only one of several thousand in the same category.  As one geneology person said, in reality everyone on earth is actually related, the issue is 'how closely' and if you can actually trace it.....and its been fun to trace it!)

As we study more about honour and shame and understand its role in all our lives, some of my own heritage has actually come to mean more to me than ever before.  And as I have looked a little more closely and gained a greater appreciation for what it meant in times past to have the honour of being part of the 'Peerage" of Britain, (and now have this new piece of information of how I am related to the future King of England) I have come to gain a new perspective on the honour God has bestowed on us 'in Christ'.

You see, it is very easy to feel just a hint of the sense of 'status' or 'privilege' or 'honour' that my forebears knew, that my great-grandfather felt in his title of "Lord Caulfeild", (although he died long before I was old enough to ask him about it. ....and that title was lost to our 'line' and went to another semi-distant cousin when there were no male heirs).  And it could be easy to let such news as I had today 'go to my head'.  But yet, I also don't want to dismiss or ignore such news completely, because as I consider being fairly closely related (in terms of the world's population!) to the future King of England,  I also sense that through it, in a most unexpected way, God has given me a new and richer understanding of what it means to be spiritually positioned as a co-heir with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords!  What an immense privilege, status and honour we have in Christ!....and I have come to understand that in a fresh and wonderful way today!

(And as I think about it - there are some major differences between discovering my 'link' to Prince William and the fact of being a child of The King of Kings that also remind me of the immense blessing of my 'spiritual position': - Prince William doesn't know who I am and has no reason to even want to know...and yet The King of Kings knows my name, how many hairs are on my head (grey, brown or whatever!) and even my thoughts before I think them!  I haven't got the slightest chance of calling up Prince William to have a chat about my day or ask for help in my troubles, yet the The King of Kings is vitally interested in my every moment and is ready to hear every word of any need any time of day or night!)

And Secondly....

...... God in His amazing way, didn't just choose any day to bring me this news and therefore remind me of these truths...... today is my spiritual birthday - a day to rejoice and give thanks for being a child of the King (not just a distant cousin!) these past 35years!

What could be a means of temptation to boast in my earthly 'connections', is something I rather want God to quietly use to re-direct, enlighten, and grow my appreciation for the greatness of the gift, that in Christ I have been lifted from the shame of my sin and granted honour that I never deserved....an honour I knew in theory, but now have a fresh perspective on.  By the new birth, I have been born into The King's family!  I can only stand in humble gratitude, and give all the honour back to the One who so sacrificially gave it with His own life!

My Heavenly Father, has given me a very special Birthday gift!

Are Illness/Disability and Christian Ministry Incompatible? - Part 3

Reason 5

I am challenged also that we are called to live by faith and not by sight.  What we see and do is not the whole story of ministry. Ministry has to be about what God is doing.  Even though He uses us as 'clay pots' for His purposes, His purposes are greater than the obvious activity of the pot.  Just because in my scope of vision I 'see less' happening according to my idea of 'ministry accomplishments', does not mean God has stopped working.  God is much bigger than that!  Just like I mentioned in a previous blog post about marriage being an unexpected ministry, so is my illness/disability.  

Comments and questions from those around us have shown us that God has been pleased to demonstrate various aspects of Christian living through this situation such as: 

• A husband caring for his wife 'in sickness and in health' instead of sending her back to her village to be cared for by her mother; 
• not being ashamed of getting around in a wheelchair including even fully reclined in the wheelchair (laying horizontal) in public such as in church, and at a restaurant; 
• trusting God with joy and contentment even when healing does not come;
• God can still use someone in productive ministry with a disability.  

These are all 'behind the scenes' aspects of God at work - ministering - through us, aspects that may not be what we consider our main 'ministry'.  But in God's eyes and purposes, they are just as significant as any 'obvious' ministry that we envisaged.  God wants to reach people's hearts, and this has all been part of reaching hearts with the reality of the gospel.

Reason 6

We know very well that we are in the front line of a Spiritual Battle and our struggle is not ultimately with the 'physical' issues.  We are totally convinced that Satan doesn't want us here and in addition to health issues has tried again and again and again to discourage us and make us want to quit and go home.  And he will certainly make every effort to hamper ministry and try to inhibit the truth reaching people's hearts....and so we value your partnership in prayer in this battle as 'with thanksgiving' we make our requests to a loving and almighty heavenly Father.

Reason 7

But we have learnt (and are very much still learning) that God is sovereign and more powerful than Satan. In addition, this world's momentary troubles, are all about working God's eternal purposes in His world and in the hearts of folks here in Botswana. We are limited by our own perspective on the circumstances around us, and so we instead trust in God's sovereign plans and purposes in and for those circumstances.  Even what Satan plans for evil, God is busy planning for good (as the story of Joseph and his brothers demonstrated) 

By His grace, God is working greater plans than we can see, and we can also rest in the knowledge that we are on the 'victory side' and His promise is true that 'as your days, so shall your strength be'..... with your prayers, we are compelled to press on.  

So do I think that illness/disability and ministry are ultimately incompatible?

 - By God's grace, absolutely not!

Are Illness/Disability and Christian Ministry Incompatible? - Part 2

Reason 2

I am reminded of many great Christians down through the ages who have had significant ministry and impact all the while with a constant battle with a physical limitation/health challenge.  

I think of:

• William Wilberforce who battled terrible times of pain and discomfort with Collitis alongside his years of work to end the slave trade
• Amy Charmichael - missionary to India - who spent many years before her death, bed-bound, but it was during that time that she wrote her many books
• Joni Eareckson Tada who has spent over 40 years as a quadriplegic in a wheelchair and has more recently additionally battled ongoing severe pain and cancer but has had immeasurable impact across the world in her work to help the disabled
• many of our favourite hymns were written by folks who experienced significant physical/mental suffering..... not to mention Fanny Crosby who was blind

And this is not to mention the Apostle Paul who had a 'thorn in the flesh' throughout his whole ministry.  Now there are some who will argue that we don't know what the 'thorn in the flesh' actually was.  I have had one Pastor give me his argument for why he believes it was just 'persecution' in general and not a physical health issue.  I beg to disagree since I think there is a great deal to indicate it was a problem that affected him in some physical way, not least because: he ended up taking a medical doctor along as his travel companion; the thorn is specifically said to be 'in the flesh'; and whatever it was, he says in his own words that it kept him 'weak' and God said to him "My grace is sufficient for you; for My strength is made perfect in weakness". (2 Cor 12:9) Thus Paul was able to go on to say that instead of wanting his 'thorn' to disappear, that he could 'glory' (boast, gain honour) in his infirmities. 

We can attest that God takes the 'weak' things of this world to shame the strong! (1 Cor 1:27)

Reason 3

I also believe that God not only can use us in spite of our physical weaknesses, pain and limitations, but because of them.  The Apostle Paul tells us in Galations 4:13-15 that it was because of a physical infirmity that Paul came to first preach to the Galations.  Somehow it seems that some of Paul's plans were 'changed' and worked around his time of 'sickness', so as to end up in a position that he had to be in Galatia and because of that had opportunity to preach the gospel, that he otherwise was not planning. These 'changed' plans were actually the plans God wanted to happen. I think too of the boy that Jesus healed and explained that the reason the boy was sick was so that God's glory could be revealed through the boy!  God let him be physically 'ill' so that Jesus could come along and heal him!  We might say, 'but Jesus healed him'.  But while that may be true, firstly God let him be 'sick' for many, many years before that because He had a plan!  While this might be hard for us to understand, we must also remember that God's ways are higher than our ways!  We are to trust in the Lord and not our own understanding (Prov 3:5,6)  It is a great encouragement to know that whatever our circumstances, (including illness) that God has a much bigger plan in mind to grow us and bless others as He works all things together for good!

In my own situation, it is because of being laid 'horizontal' and unable to read because of the worst early stages of my POTS, that I began listening to audio books and sermons which 'gave birth' to the idea of a audio solar player of bible teaching as a discipleship tool to use here.  Thus we were led to connect with MegaVoice and team with them to produce a collection of 'Storyteller' players with messages on various topics and the "Pocket Preacher" with 2 years of daily discipleship material. I would never have thought of the idea nor had time to listen to all the files we have put onto the player except for the 'limitations' I found myself with.  What seemed to be limitations, were actually God's facilitations! God is definitely not limited by what we might see as limitations - He's much, much bigger than that!

Reason 4

Having said all this, I also believe that times of difficulty and testing, are also times for us to be reminded that any ministry that is God's work needs to be done in His strength and power.  Our own effort in our own strength will be ultimately useless and ineffectual. When things 'go wrong',  we are prompted again to turn to the Lord in prayer, seeking Him to act and intervene, acknowledging it is "not by might nor by power but by My Spirit" says the Lord, "and that  the battle belongs to the Lord".

Read on in Part 3 for Reasons 5,6 & 7.....

Are Illness/Disability and Christian Ministry Incompatible?

We have recently received two emails which caused me to think again about this topic.

Both were from Christian friends (one here and one overseas) and in a context that desired to encourage us and assure us of prayer, but included an inference....that illness and effective ministry were incompatible.

They said "Without good health it is pretty much impossible to work effectively." 

and

"Maybe you need to think about staying in Australia for a while until you are both fully recovered. I find Botswana difficult enough when well and it would be impossible for me to work here if I was sick..."

Now without a doubt, let there be no confusion about our perspective on this, life is a lot more 'easy' when a person is well!!!  These last weeks with my POTS and Andrew developing Pericarditis, in our human-ness we sure wish we were both at full health and strength, and from our human perspective it is easy to feel that ministry is being hampered by our current limitations. ....and we certainly do pray that within God's will, that he would bring us healing and enabling to be giving our full energies to particular aspects of ministry once again.  We don't have to think twice on that!

However, as we discussed these comments, it only took a moment to realise that a great part of our ministry here, since the beginning, has been in the midst of illness and disability of various kinds.  Very, very little of our time here as been 'smooth' and many bumps in the road have often been health related.  I also began to be reminded that while these comments from dear friends were said in love for us, I believe there are several reasons why God would have me view my circumstances differently....

Reason 1

We had hardly first arrived in Botswana when Andrew broke and dislocated his elbow which resulted in many weeks of pain, limitations and physiotherapy which completely 'disrupted' and curtailed all the mission's plans for our first 6 months of orientation and language/culture learning. (but they were the same disruptions that made the way possible as it had not been before, for me to be able to attend my only sibling's wedding!)

In fact these emails prompted me to actually list down all the significant illnesses/disabilities/injuries we have had between us since arriving in Botswana and I was actually shocked.  (And it didn't take into account various 'runny tummy bugs', migraines, flu, and allergy problems and various other minor issues.)

Yes, life in Bots is tough enough without physical weakness/illness as well, but its kind of like God has 'trained' us from the beginning to cope with being 'less than fully fit' in Botswana.  

- Andrew's been hospitalised twice, 

- got facial, hand and inhalation gas burns while catering for an event at church, 

- spent several months mostly in a wheelchair when a tibia stress fracture refused to heal, 

- he's had pneumonia, 

- had months of complications from a nerve block in his arm (used instead of an anaesthetic in a surgical procedure) with his arm in a sling

- And then there was the severe Arrhythmia that has plagued him the last 6 months (with pain and exhaustion) - the Doc was amazed he hadn't had  a heart attack by the time he saw him. 

- Since we have been here, he's been diagnosed with NCS, seriously low BP, and Klinefelter Syndrome

- and now the many weeks of weakness/recovery from Pericarditis

then...

- I've had some serious flues/ lung infections on the brink of Pneumonia, and developed Chronic Bronchitis, 

- had Salmonella, 

- tore a shoulder ligament

- had a year of a frozen shoulder

- and now Dysautonomia/POTS for the past 3.5 years keeping me mostly horizontal and using a recliner wheelchair for out-and-about mobility

...we never thought we would both be regular patients of a Cardiologist before we were 50!  

(But even in that, God has been so gracious and faithful to provide us with such a great cardiologist, so close and much more cheaply than if we had been in OZ.)  

Now we are not saying that our ailments are any worse than anyone else's but, it is a very real reminder that the thought that we need to be healthy for God to use us and for ministry to happen successfully, may not align with God's idea of success.....and if we needed to go home to Australia to recover, every time we had a 'serious' health issue, we would virtually never be in the place of ministry God had placed us!

Read on in Part 2 and Part 3 of more reasons as I consider this issue......