Onward to Namibia

Tomorrow we travel to Ongwediva, Namibia, to speak in a pastors and leaders conference. To learn more about the booklets I will use in teaching the women there, click here.

What is a "maschal"?

Namibian churches will gather in convention the last week of August, and we will drive there to join them. John is the guest speaker, along with Pastor Xavier, who will travel with us. I will be teaching the women.

Here you see me compiling booklets showing mothers how to teach their children to be wise. Common items mentioned in the Bible are the focus of each maschal (this is a Hebrew word meaning “object lesson”). I hope to persuade mothers that they can influence their children in the tiny moments when their children accompany them in cooking dinner, walking to the market, working in the garden, or hanging out the wash. Did you ever notice how the Scriptures abound in homely parables and stories centering on everyday items and tasks?

From one indigenous world to another

Jan, who ministers with her husband to native Americans, wished to make a connection with a native African woman. She did this by sending her sunflower turquoise ring with me to give away. At the regional pastors conference I developed a friendship with Laina, a pastor’s wife in the country of Namibia. Let me tell you a little of Laina’s story, for she was the one to whom I gave this beautiful ring.

Laina met the Lord as a young woman, after having lived for herself for several years. Invited to a conference in Zimbabwe, she was attracted to the believers there who lived out their faith in the business world. She promised the Lord that if she could find such a church in her home country of Namibia she would serve Him. Shortly after this, Laina was invited to attend services at a church-plant begun by missionaries Gabriel and Gloria Francis from Nigeria. Laina became their first convert and the first person to be baptized in the Foursquare Church of Namibia. Later she married Festus, who in time became pastor of the church.