Immanuel: God with us!

I am so glad that Christmas is about Immanuel, and that God is still with us. Here's a few pictures from our time at my parents in Divide, CO.

We celebrated Christmas with the Gaults on Monday the 27th.

Deer wander all around my parents house. We enjoy watching them. We've also seen foxes.

For Colorado natives, there's nothing more beautiful than aspen trees against a blue sky!

Merry Christmas

I used the switch for kindling and now we're burning the coal.
Thanx, Santa!
Merry Christmas from Divide, CO.

The Curly Slide

Kristell really enjoyed this slide while we were in Kansas.

I enjoyed working on my old truck. My brother-in-law owns in now, but he's selling it. :-( You can see it needs a bit of TLC, but it still runs nice after we rebuilt the carb and put a new fuel pump on.

Our Deputation Schedule

You can see our deputation schedule at this link.

Will Walk for Goldfish

Kristell is starting to take a few steps. Goldfish crackers are a big incentive!

London

Here's a few pictures from our visit to London on the way home from Lesotho:

West Minster Abbey

Big Ben and the House of Parliament

London Bridge

One of the Queen's guards

Some stranger took this picture for us. We were standing on a bridge across the Thames river beside Big Ben

Prayer and Praise Updates

Dear Praying Friends,

Here's a quick prayer and praise update:

Praise:

• 'Me Mapheko's health is gradually improving. She is not yet able to return to her job, but she is able to do light house work, go to church, etc. Praise the Lord for this! Please continue praying for her complete healing.
• Praise the Lord for a good one-day ladies' conference this past Saturday.
• Shelby Tollett was a tremendous blessing during the two months he was here. Thank the Lord for all the things that he got done in a short time!
• Volunteers from the church have almost finished building the last two walls around the conference center. Praise God!

Prayer:

• I just received a text message from Pieter and Hester Marais. They have been in Zambia and Botswana on the Bible distribution trip since the beginning of June. For several weeks they have been struggling to transfer money between banks in Zambia and Namibia. Please pray for them and this situation! Thank you!
• Mr. Howard, HIM's Africa Regional Director, is planning to visit the field the third week of August. Please pray for safety as he travels and wisdom from God as we hold meetings and discuss the work here.
• We will be traveling home to America for furlough and deputation on the 22nd of August. We have a very long list of things to do before we leave. Please help us pray for strength and wisdom to get everything done.
• Pray that God would revive us missionaries and the national leaders. We need a fresh touch!

We depend on your prayer support. Thanks for being so faithful!



Glenn, Stephanie, Kaitlyn, & Kristell Gault
Hope International Missions

Zambia 2010

Here's a few pictures and highlights from the annual Bible distribution trip to Zambia. We sold Tonga, Lozi, Bemba, Nyanga, and English Bibles in Choma and Monzi, Zambia. These are a couple of the more major towns on the road between Livingstone and Lusaka. Altogether 10,000 Bibles sold this year.

Here's S.W. van der Merwe (son of HIM missonaries Johan and Hessie van der Merwe) walking through an open-air market in Choma selling Bibles.

This year there was a total of six teams who went to assist Uncle Piet and Aunt Hester with the Bibles. From left to right in this picture is Christelle Coleman, Gert Louw, and Brian Coleman. They are friends of the mission from Ladybrand, South Africa.

Here's another market picture. Usually when we arrive in a new area, we set up a little shop at the tailgate of the truck like in the last picture. A few people stay at this "shop" and the rest of us go out with backpacks of Bibles through the markets and the towns selling Bibles.

One day S.W. and Shelby sold a Bible to some street vendor who paid all in hundred Kwacha bills. You can see the handful of money--280 very dirty, worn out bills! The money takes a little getting used to! We sold the Bibles for 28,000 Kwacha or about $5.75. If we meet a person who genuinely wants and Bible but doesn't have that much money, we sell to them for what they can afford. We try to never turn away anyone who really wants a Bible.

One Sunday we were invited to a little church in a village about 20 miles away from where we were staying. Here's the pastor, an interpreter, and S.W. testifying. I was asked to preach. The people listened carefully and seemed to understand the message about the importance of having a pure heart.

Overall, the people of Zambia seem very industrious and innovative. Imagine making a living welding window frames with this homemade arc welder!

On the way home, we spent a day in the Chobe Game Preserve in northern Botswana. I'm going to try to post some animal pictures later this week. As the full moon was setting in the west, the sun was rising in the east. It was spectacular!

Animals, both domestic and wild, are a constant threat on the roads in Africa. Most people in America have seen deer crossing signs, but what about warthog crossings????

Crawling

The Kids

A couple weeks ago Kristell started wrinkling up her nose and sniffing to get attention. We encouraged her, and now it's pretty dramatic:




While we were on vacation in Kimberley, South Africa, we made s'mores one night. Kaitlyn really enjoyed it!

































Yesterday we went to a train museum. They had the cab of an old steam locomotive in the museum with all the controls still work able. It was very interesting.

Ladies' Retreat

Oops! I wanted to post these pictures last week (thanks Amrie for some of the pics), but couldn't get some of them to post. Sorry. (I'm still learning how to put things on the blog. Glenn has been the one doing most of the blogging.)

Here's our group from the retreat, left to right--
Amrie Geise, Gwen Geise, Stephanie and Kristell Gault,
Hessie van der Merwe, Michelle Waterson.
Notice the scarlet leaves which covered one whole wall of the mill building we stayed in.




We went to a place called Don-Don, an old mill.
We stayed in a part called the Old Shop




which had been renovated into this lovely guest house.



Aunt Hessie grilled for all of us one night--
the mutton chops and sausage were delicious!




We all had a very nice time talking, laughing,
praying, walking, and relaxing together.





Kristell really enjoyed the walk!


Thank you to each one who gave so we could have this
special weekend!

Where did fall go? I took this picture of the girls just last Sunday. It was a beautiful day. But our nice, warm fall weather turned cold the last few days! The temperature was in the 30's first thing some of the mornings. If the sun shines the world warms up, but when it's overcast it feels like winter weather. :( Yesterday we all wore jackets to church. I know it's inevitable, but I do not like cold and winter!

I have wanted to organize a retreat for our team ladies for several months now. It's finally working out, and this weekend 5 of us will be going on a little retreat. Please pray that it will be a relaxing time for us. Some money has already been promised to cover the expenses, and we trust that more will come in. If you feel that God wants you to give towards this retreat, you can send the donation to HIM, marked "South African Ladies Retreat". I'll be posting some pictures of the retreat next week.

Thank you to each one of you out there that prays for us here in Lesotho. We appreciate you so much!
Stephanie

Fall Fotos

At the end of March there was another church wedding, this time up in the mountains. The day started out so rainy we weren't even sure we'd be able to ford the river to get to the village, but in the end the day turned out beautiful. You couldn't ask for a more beautiful setting for a wedding (below)!

We've been enjoying fall weather. The days are still warm, but the nights are sometimes chilly. Kaitlyn enjoyed raking leaves a few days ago. Kristell didn't like sitting in the pile of prickly leaves, but she LOVES being outside. Kaitlyn had a lot of fun jumping in the pile before we hauled them away in the wheelbarrow.

This is Kristell on Easter Sunday after the conference. You can see that she's pretty good at sitting up now. She still falls over once in awhile, but it's rare now. She hasn't even tried to learn to crawl yet, but she likes standing up. Maybe she'll be one of those that cruises before she crawls?

Hi everyone,

Some of you knew that I (Glenn) had an ear infection that messed up my balance. I'm just writing this little note to let you know that the round of antibiotic seems to have done the trick and I'm fine now. Still keeping really busy between mission work, mechanical work, and a systematic theology class.
Glenn

PS. I attended the wedding of these friends last weekend. Bro. Chele attended the Bible School for four years, and I've worked with Sis. Ntsitiseng on the finance committee of the church for several years. They seemed really happy!

Out of the mouth of babes...

One night at supper last week I asked Kaitlyn what she had done that day.
Kaitlyn: Me and Thabiso played van!
Daddy: Oh. Did you drive somewhere?
Kaitlyn: Yes. On the way the van got an oil leak.
Daddy: Oh no. What did you do?
Kaitlyn: Thabiso got out and opened up the "oil leaker" and threw some more oil in!

I wish all mechanical problems were so easily solved!

It was another busy week for us. We held a tent meeting at Ha Setho on the other side of the mountain from where we live. Because of the Systematic Theology class I'm taking, I only went two nights, but God really helped in the services. It was clear that the Holy Spirit was talking to people and convicting them of their sins. I think several got saved, but we'll see for sure how serious they are after the excitement of the tent is over. One young man from there came to church here at Matukeng this morning. I think Nt. Liau (who lives close to Ha Setho) will probably begin holding services in this village when he's not at work in Thaba Tseka. (He works two weeks on, two weeks off.)

Philip and Amrie Geise just got back from deputation in America Friday night. There was a little welcome home get-together for them Friday night and Saturday at Uncle Johan and Aunt Hessie's farm. Steph spent Friday night there, but I had to go to the Bible School, so I went Saturday morning. It's really nice to have them back!Kristell really enjoys eating solids. Sweet potatoes, carrots, rice cereal and pears are great, but butternut squash didn't go down so well!

The Bad and the Good

Hi everyone,

It's been a busy, interesting couple weeks since we last wrote. Dentist, pediatrician, Valentine's day, a trip to Pretoria, homemade peach jam, Kristell with a fever, a broken timing belt, and hours of studying for a systematic theology class. In spite of a few bad things, God has been so good to us!

Two weeks ago Kristell saw the pediatrician. He is very happy with her progress. She's right on target with the development for her corrected age. (She was born two months early, so the doctor subtracts those two months from her actual age.) We thank the Lord for the miracles that He worked to spare us tragedy and many problems. The same day, the dentist looked at a lump on Steph's cheek just in front of her ear that he said needs checked out. We've seen our doctor about it since, and he referred us to yet another doctor in Bloem. We have to go there tomorrow (Monday). It is most likely nothing serious, but we'd appreciate your prayers as we walk through the unknown. The lump has shrunk considerably this week, so we are trusting that God is healing whatever it is.

Last week on Monday Ntate Kali and I made a long trip to Pretoria, South Africa (about 700 miles round trip) to exchange a tent there, get tracts, and look for parts for a motorcycle that someone gave him. We left at 3 in the morning and didn't get back until nearly 10 at night. It was a tiring day. Fortunately Ntate Kali is a good, safe driver, so I didn't have to do all the driving.

The following night as we came back from Ladybrand, our little Volkswagen Golf broke a timing belt. We saw God's hand of providence in that it happened when we were almost home. It could have happened the day before in the dangerous inner city of Johannesburg. God is so merciful! I took the head off and found that the damage is much less than it could have been. Two valves are bent, and there may be one rod that's bent. I'll have a machine shop check it for sure. Please help us pray for wisdom to fix it and that God will provide the right parts! This car is a "gray market" import, so sometimes parts are hard to find. Fortunately "gray market" used engines are also available fairly reasonable, so that is another option that I'm considering.

Steph canned 15 bottles of peach jam Wednesday last week. That was a long day's work between taking care of the children and canning. It's been a good year for peaches here. Our neighbor, who has been very strongly against us and the church here in the past, just invited us to come pick peaches from his tree. Some of the reason is the bumper crop, but God is also at work in his heart. Pray for his salvation! He has really changed a lot over the last six months.

Kristell is starting to sit without being propped up. She still is really wobbly, but you can tell she's pleased with herself.

Kristell is 6 months old!

Kristell turned six months on the 27th of January. Just yesterday I looked at how big she was and couldn't believe that when she was born I could comfortably hold her in one arm. God has been so good to us!

She likes to swing outside especially if the other children are playing where she can see them.

By comparison, Kaitlyn (above) was sitting up shakily by the time she was six months and was quite a bit bigger. But their faces do look similar.

Last week while I was studying in my study, Kaitlyn came with her tea set and tea tray to ask if I would care for a cup of tea. She's definitely picked up on that part of the South African culture.

Today Kristell fell asleep on my lap. She really likes her dummy/pacifier, but if it's not available, then a thumb will do.

From the ministry angle of our lives, we've been keeping busy. I taught the last lecture of the hermeneutics class that I've been teaching at the Bible School on Friday and next week they will take the final exam. I always feel like there is so much I didn't cover in a class like this and wish there were a few more weeks for more lectures. That's not an option, though. Time marches on!

Today there was a new lady in church who got saved a couple weeks ago. Her younger sister got saved through Stephanie's children's services several years ago. I didn't get to talk to them much, but I think the older sister came to the Lord as a result of the witness of her younger sister. It's encouraging to see how God is working in the lives of people here.

Tomorrow I'm going to a workshop in Maseru on helping people to start income-generating projects. One of the biggest challenges with helping orphans is how to help them become independent, help themselves, and not always be looking for handouts from others. I am hoping that I can find some answers and ideas through this workshop which is sponsored by African Inland Mission.

Tuesday we have dentist appointments in Bloemfontein and Kristell has her 6-month check-up with her pediatrician. I'm sure it will be a super busy day.

Thanks so much for your love, prayers, and e-mails!