Another Week in Africa

Hi! Thought I'd write a little group email quickly. This week has been busy, but today we're relaxing a bit.

Yesterday we went to Bloem and came back for supper at the van der Merwe's and then spent the night. It's always so nice to be with them, and now we're just relaxing and visiting.
Glenn has been working on our vehicles. Monday he was grinding something and got a piece of steel in his eye. It wouldn't come out, so we went to Ladybrand Tuesday, so he could see a doctor. Kaitlyn ended up seeing the doctor too. She had a bit of a cold and then a very tight cough. Monday night and Tuesday she was wheezing pretty badly so I was glad she could see the doctor. She has bronchitis and is on antibiotic now. The doctor gave her a breathing treatment. Even last night she was wheezing, but I think she's doing some better today.

We were able to visit with Tannie Anna on Tuesday. We also saw Miss Carol and Michelle for a bit. After shopping, we ended up going to KFC to visit Philip and Jeremy so that was nice too.

We got almost 50 mm of rain last Saturday and Sunday. It was nice to have the rain, but it's hard to get used to a cold house again. Yesterday and today have been very nice though so I can't complain.

keep me busy too! She likes telling Thabiso what to do and not to do so that's a challenge for me. One of her 2 year molars came through about 2 weeks ago. Another one is about to come through and the others are on their way.Kaitlyn is having fun playing with Thabiso almost every day. They keep very busy and We'll be glad when that's over since she gets sick and keeps us up at night!

I can't think of a lot of news today. I guess we're still in the unpack, get back-to-normal mode right now. Glenn will go to a 7am meeting tomorrow. There is a funeral in Matukeng this Sunday. The family have asked our church to hold the funeral. Ntate Pheko will come also to help preach.

I trust you will all have a nice weekend! Thank you for praying for us. We really appreciate the prayers.

Love,
Stephanie

Hello from Africa!

Dear Friends,

We made it back to South Africa and Lesotho safely. Thank you for all your prayers! All of our luggage arrived on time and undisturbed.
Jeremy Howard picked us up in Bloemfontein Wednesday night and took us to Uncle Johan and Aunt Hessie's home. We stayed with them until Monday morning. It was relaxing to be able to sleep in as late as we wanted and visit with our friends. Thursday night we went to Uncle Piet and Aunt Hester's to visit with them. It was great to see them!
Friday Glenn took our Toyota to Matukeng so Ntate Kali could use it. He was able to catch up with news in Lesotho. That afternoon we went to Ladybrand to do a bit of shopping and stopped by Miss Carol's place and Michelle's to say hi to them.
Sunday we went to Uncle Piet's place for their service. It turned out to just be a children's service. The rest of the people were going to Hobhouse for a special service (Uncle Johan and Aunt Hessie are helping the church there.) We thought we might need to help take people too but we weren't needed. To save fuel, we stayed for the children's service at Uncle Piet's.

Monday we went to Ladybrand again to get groceries to take back to Matukeng. It was good to be back in our house! Since then I've been getting our house back to normal (things on the walls, etc.) , unpacking our suitcases, figuring out where things will go, and trying to get back to normal.
Glenn has been working on our temporary residence permits, doing some odd jobs around our house, going to meetings and the Bible school, preaching, and butchering one of our pigs. The day we arrived, one pig tried to jump out of the pen, severing her tendon and breaking her foot. So the next day, Glenn, Ntate Kali, and some other men killed the pig. The next day, Glenn took it to a butcher who cut it all up for us. I think between us missionaries, we will buy almost all of it.
Today is Tuesday and we're in Ladybrand doing errands. Glenn has a meeting tomorrow. Thursday and Friday are holidays in South Africa (only Thursday in Lesotho) so we're doing our errands today.

Please continue to pray for us. We're still in a little reverse/reverse culture shock. Satan would love to discourage us.

1) Rats got into our new storeroom and chewed through boxes of juice which in turn ruined things in the cupboard, including child evangelism material. 2) Prices have gone up again while we've been in America--diesel is now $5+ a gallon, all food prices have gone way up, and we now pay R20 per time through the border (instead of R5).
3) Our Lesotho temporary residence permits and 6 month South African border passes expired while we were in America. Everything in Africa takes a long time, especially standing in long lines.
4) Kaitlyn was very sick this last week with a high fever. We think it was related to teething. She's doing better now but still fussy and teething. She's kept us up at night for most of a week.

But there have been encouraging news since we came back--another preaching point has been started, several good outreaches were held, and new people have been saved--all while we were gone. Praise God!

Thank you for your prayers and interest. We will try to send out a newsletter soon. Sorry no pictures this time. We'll try to get some ready for next week!

Bye for now!
Stephanie

From Ohio

Hi everyone,

Just a quick hello from Ohio. We're having services around New Philadelphia, OH and also enjoying visiting family in this area. Our next stop is in Indiana on Sunday. From there we go to Colorado spending a night with Steph's parents in Kansas on the way.

Bye.

Update to website

Hi! I've spent a couple afternoons this week working on our website. It used to just be an archive of our newsletters, but I added a little more content. It still needs work in the area of visual appeal, but we hope you have a look. Let us know what you think!

There's not a lot new going on in our lives besides deputation. This week we are in Alabama. Of course Stephanie is enjoying being with her friend Marrissa! I'm not enjoying a NASTY flu bug. (I almost canceled our Sunday morning service.) Yesterday I slept a lot and feel better today.

Bye for now.

Lesotho Update

Dear Faithful Praying Friends,

Thank you so much for your prayers as we travel on deputation. It has been a joy to see some of you, and we are looking forward to visiting others as we continue our travels.

Praise:

• Pastor Tsikane Pheko reports that the work in Lesotho is going on well in our absence. He has been visiting all of the congregations recently and was encouraged with the progress.
• God has been helping us on deputation.
  
• Praise God for sending the required number of students for Hope Christian Academy to continue. We are also praising God for Jeremy Howard who went almost at a moment's notice to help get this new school year started. He has been a GREAT blessing!
  

Prayer:

• Please pray for Hope Christian Academy, both the staff and the students.
  
• Pray for us as we continue representing God's work in Africa here. Later this week we will be at a missions convention in Thomasville, NC. Then we go on to Alabama, South Carolina, etc.
• Please pray for the Pheko's. They lost the roof off their house in a terrible wind storm. Many of his precious books were damaged by rain.

Kaitlyn says "Hello" to everyone! She is enjoying playing with new friends (and their toys!)

Thank you so much for your prayers!

Glenn, Stephanie, and Kaitlyn Gault