Dear Friends and Family,
Here's a quick update on our lives.
We were able to stay at the farm Thursday night last week. It had been quite a while since we had been there. All of us had been longing to see each other. We had a very nice visit that night and Friday morning before going back to Lesotho.
Glenn had a very lengthy meeting on Saturday morning. The financial committee explained the church's budget to all of the congregation delegates. They were wondering why each congregation had to come up with so much money for the Easter conference. Looking to the government and leaders for help is a definite African mindset. I feel that Glenn and the committee are doing a wonderful job of slowly leading the national church towards more independence, but here and there, there are a few growing pains. Glenn said the meeting went well.
He has been working on a carport/storeroom last week. He hopes to get it finished (or at least close) so the things in the back storeroom of our house can go in the new storeroom. That will help the Missions Help team get more done when they arrive.
Glenn left early Monday morning for the ministers' conference at KwaSiZaBantu (near Durban) and traveled with the Geises and several South African pastors. Uncle Piet and Aunt Hester also went taking a load of Lesotho pastors and maybe some more South Africans. Glenn has sent me quite a few text messages and calls me once a day. The weather has been nice, and the services have been good. I think maybe there are 4 services a day, for sure 3. I think there are at least 1000 people there. Bro. John Parker, the Bible Methodist Missions leader (I'm not sure what his title is), is there. Also Dr. Allan Brown (I think, maybe it's his son). I believe they are in charge of the first IHC in South Africa. That should be interesting.
Steve and Gwen and their two children, Philip, Glenn, and at least two other men are crowded into a trailer house. Glenn said things are "cramped". I am glad I chose not to go! Glenn will not come back till late Saturday night. The conference ends Wednesday night or Thursday morning. I think the IHC starts Friday and ends Saturday night.
Kaitlyn and I have had a quiet time here. She and Thabiso enjoy playing together--not much interaction--but they do communicate some. Thabiso is walking now, although he still prefers to crawl every now and then. He is three months younger than Kaitlyn. It is interesting to compare them. I do think that often Basotho babies develop slower physically and mentally probably because of poor nutrition. Thabiso is so cute. He has the most adorable smile! Kaitlyn started calling him "Papis" but now it's "Hobby". 'Me Manthabi is "Me Mahobby". She talks all the time about them, also Micah (Geise) even though she hasn't seen him for a couple weeks.
Sunday afternoon we went to a "missionary fellowship" in Maseru. Every couple months they do this, usually to have a farewell time for leaving missionaries and welcoming new missionaries. Kaitlyn enjoyed all the toys that the hostess has at her place. (It's the same place where my Bible study is.) The whole weekend the weather was acting like rain was coming. We did get 1 ml and then 5 ml one day. Sunday I thought for sure the fellowship would be rained out, but the clouds kept moving on. The cool weather was refreshing. Monday was windy and cool, and that night it was quite cool. I forgot to check how low it got, but it was a foretaste of fall weather. Today (Wed) was warmer, but things have not climbed back up into the 90's and I'm not sure that they will.
I'm hoping to go to town tomorrow (Thur), but I'm not sure if I will. Kaitlyn's running a fever again. I think it's her teeth, but I'm not sure. I guess you'll get this when you get it! I'd better wrap this up so it gets sent this week.
Oh, I forgot to share my early morning scare. After our family devotions this morning, Kaitlyn and I went to make the bed. Often she "helps" me, but today she was sick and grumpy so I set her on top of two pillows on my side of the bed while I made the bed. Then I put her on the bed and picked up the pillows to put them on the bed. I noticed a "bug". After a closer look, I realized it was a scorpion. I grabbed Kaitlyn and put her in her chair in the kitchen then got the bug spray. But the scorpion was gone. I gingerly shook out my penguin, my sandals and my rug which had all been on my side of the bed, but no scorpion. I really didn't think I could sleep in my room tonight if it was still there. I sent a text message to Glenn, kept on praying, and started spraying the room after moving my nightstand and the bed some. I give the bed another shove, it was there. It put up a fight with its tail against the spray, but it just wasn't big enough. I felt very shivery afterward. When Glenn is here, I get up on my side of the bed, but I've been getting up on his side while he's gone. Usually I get up barefoot although I suppose the scorpion could be in the sandals too. Then Kaitlyn was sitting basically on top of it. Just yesterday morning she got in bed with me then after a while she got down on the floor on my side. I'm so thankful for God's protection in our lives!
Thursday morning:
Kaitlyn is still running a fever so we're waiting to go to town till Friday. It's cloudy and cool here today. Glenn said it's cloudy and rainy there and not much is going on. He is hoping to go on a tour of the mission if it does not rain too much. Trust you will all have a wonderful weekend. Thank you for all your prayers, emails, and love!
Love and Blessings,
Stephanie
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