So we went to Namibia

One of the places we were scheduled to go to teach and preach was Keetmanshoop, Namibia.  Namibia is a relatively new country having become independent in 1990 after over 100 years of being a pawn in the politics of Europe and South Africa.

In the 1880s, Germany under Otto von Bismarck, was trying to staunch the continued rise of the British Empire.  (Germany itself was a relatively new unified nation in Europe, having been formed by the official unification of a number of confederated independent states in 1871 following France's defeat in the Franco-Prussian war.)  Germany took control of the land north and west of the Union of South Africa (which was part of the British Empire since the early 1800s.  This area became known as "German South West Africa" (Deutch Südwes Afrika).

Following Germany's defeat at the end of World War I, South West Africa was made a protectorate of the Union of South Africa by the League of Nations.  When the Union of South Africa became the Republic of South Africa in 1961, it continued to control South West Africa in defiance of the United Nations.

Pressure continued to mount as it became an official ruling in 1966 of the International Court of Justice (the Hague) that South West Africa was now independent "Namibia" and its official government was "in absentia" and NOT South Africa.  With this ruling SWAPO (South West Africa People's Organization) received the right to carry out a civil war to wrest control of Namibia from South Africa.  Finally, in 1988 South Africa agreed to a United Nations brokered peace accord for the whole of Southern Africa including Angola which gave Namibia its independence in 1990.

So, why all the fighting, fussing and fuming over what is the world oldest desert (Namib) and 2nd most sparsely populated country in the world (behind Mongolia).  What's the answer to virtually ANY question in geo-politics -- FOLLOW THE MONEY!!

You see despite being barren beyond comprehension - Namibia's natural resources include:  Diamonds, copper, gold, uranium, lead, tin, zinc, salt, vanadium, fisheries, and wildlife; suspected deposits of oil, coal, and iron ore.

Today Namibia is a very stable parliamentary democracy.   To read more about Namibia, see this wikipedia article: Namibia

Our next posting will be about our trip to Keetmanshoop, Namibia. Below are some pictures we took on our way and a couple of postcard pictures:

The picture above is NOT a superimposed shot.  Those ARE full-grown oryx in the foreground and that IS an actual Sand Dune dwarfing them in the background.  To read about the Sossusvlei click here

The animals above are Oryx.  It is in the antelope family.  It is a desert animal and capable of living for extended periods of time without water. 

The picture above was taken at the border between South Africa and Namibia.  The rock formations remind me of the Grand Canyon a little bit.  The "Orange River" is the border between the 2 countries in the area we went through.

Most of the Mountains of Namibia in the south are igneous rock (as in "ignite" as in "fire" as in "volcanic").  You see huge outcroppings of granite as you drive along and look at the faces of the mountains.  See the pictures below also

In the picture above an igneous rock outcropping forms a "tablecloth" on the mountain

The whole face of this mountain is a granite outcrop.  A "Megolith" (Huge Stone)

Unlike the Grand Canyon which is yellows, reds, oranges and purples, the Sedimentary Rock in Namibia's south is a panoply of browns: shades of brown

This area reminds me so much of the grasslands of west Texas.  For Namibia, this is a veritable oasis!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Irene

Today is Irene's 71st virthday.  I love you dear.  34 years hasn't been enough. 

Irene was taken for lunch today by Sandra.  They met Selma Walters and Eunice at Kirstenbosch Gardens a beautiful National Botanical Garden on the side of Table Mountain.  Samantha Kriger, Selma's oldest daughter dropped by to give Irene a present from her sister Cyrill and her also.  They were gone for 4+ hours.  I think they enjoyed themselves from all the smiles on faces that I saw.

Here is a picture of Irene's "Birthday Booty."  Thanks to all those that made this such a special day for her.

I spent about 1 1/2 hours getting my lesson on "Lessons from the life of David" together that I taught tonight at Athlone church of Christ.

Much of my afternoon was spent trying to get the Know The Truth Radio Computer and Software set up.  It's almost ready to "Go Live."

Tomorrow is "Get Ready to Leave for Namibia" day.  Irene will teach at the Bonteheuwel church of Christ Ladies Bible study.  Her lesson is once again a PowerPoint and is made into a movie below:

My Outline of "Lessons from the Life of David" is below.  I had 5 points but only got through the first one of them on them on God's Ruling the Nations of the World and Setting up Kings and Bringing Down Kings, BUT especially Christians obligation to obey Civil Authority and Submit to it (except when they are requiring us to do something forbidden by God or NOT do something God requires - Acts 5:29 But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men")

Submit to those whom God has Ordained to be Rulers

1 Sam. 16:13 - David is anointed by Samuel to be the next king of Israel

1 Sam. 26:6-12 – David refuses to kill Saul

2 Sam. 1:1-17 – David has the man who killed Saul killed.

New Testament – Romans 13:1-7; 1 Pet 2:13,14; 1 Tim 2:1,2; Titus 3:1

Idleness is a gateway to temptation

2 Sam 11:1,2 – David tarried in Jerusalem; Went to Rooftop; Looked upon Bathsheba and lusted for her

Prov. 15:19 The way of the lazy is as a hedge of thorns

New Testament – 2 Thess 3:11; 1 Tim. 5:13; 2 Pet. 1:8; 1 Peter 5:8; James 1:

Sin is Deceitful and Consuming

2 Samuel 11:12-27 – The Bathsheba Adultery; The Uriah Deception; The Uriah Conspiracy

Psalm 32:3,4 – Sin consumes

New Testament – Heb 3:13; 2 Tim 2:26

The Dangers of Pride

2 Sam 12:1-10

Prov. 16:18   Pride goeth before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.

New Testament – Rom 11:20; 12:16; 1 Cor. 10:12

Hypocrisy Caused by Self-Justification

2 Sam 12:5,6 – “This man is worthy of death” …. YOU are the man

New Testament – Matt 15:1-9; Matt 23 – The woes upon the Pharisees

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GUGULETHU SOUP KITCHEN AND HOT BIRTHDAY DATE WITH MY LOVER

One of the works that the Joneses have started is a weekly Soup Kitchen on Tuesday in Gugulethu which is a black residential area dating back to the 1960s.  It is Xhosa for "Our Pride."  You can read the Wikipedia article on it here.

There have been church of Christ congregations in Gugulethu dating back to the 1970s.  However, they tend to die off when the native evangelist leaves or passes away.  The Joneses are trying to re-establish the church there with the help of some of the members that still live in the area.  It is at the house of William and Margaret that they have the weekly soup kitchen.

Sandra spends about 8 hours Monday night making 390 sandwiches of ground up bologna, tomato and onions with butter.  Then she also makes about 75 liters (20 gallons) of a VERY hearty soup.  Today's was potatoes, butternut squash, beans, some noodles and peas.  They start serving about 11:45 AM and within 1 hour it is all GONE.  Last week, Irene helped while I got some lessons prepared.  Today it was "turn-about is fair play" day.  I got some pictures and videos below:

This is sister Margaret the sister at whos house is the soup kitchen

The crowd is beginning to show up.  The man with the red hat at the door is brother William - the other half of the owners of the house where the soup kitchen is done.

Here's another picture of the collecting crowd.

Every week the soup kitchen begins with a prayer and a short devotional.  I was honored to be able to give that today.  As people are given their first sandwich and cup of soup they are also given a tract about how to be saved and invited to the weekly Gugulethu bible study on Wednesday night.  They can come back one more time for a second cup of soup and a sandwich.  THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO CHARGE FOR ANY OF THIS AND ANYONE IS PERMITTED TO EAT.  Here are some videos I took today:

I know Sandra's Lord is proud of all the hard work that she puts into making this Soup Kitchen a reality as well as for all the other brothers and sisters in Christ that help her.

Tomorrow is Irene's birthday (KIDS!!!)  So, since we have bible study on Wednesday evening, Irene and I borrowed Sandra's car and went to Century City for Shopping, Movie, Dinner and Dessert.  We got Irene a silver Lion's Head Troll-bead Charm for her bracelet, then also got her a silver Elephant Pandora charm and  Three Spacer beads.  About 5 days ago, I had gotten her a silver Hippo Pandora Charm.

We also went to the Swarovski crystal store and bought a crystal Leopard for the Africa themed area of our port home being built for us at Retama Village in Mission, TX.  Here's a picture of the leopard:

We went to see "Non-Stop."  It was a pretty good thriller (though like many movies you have to park your "sense of credulity" to believe it).  Afterwards we went to Cape Town Fish Market to try their Sushi.  On Tuesdays its all at 1/2 off.  All I can say is on most nights you are paying TWICE as much for some pretty bad sushi!  Neither of us was impressed.

After dinner we headed to Mugg and Bean for a dessert.  Irene got the Lemon Meringue (or as my grandfather used to call it "Horse Slobber Pie").  I opted for the Cheesecake.  They were both good.

To close this post we'd like to say "KUDOS" to Lynnsay who had her FINAL final of her law school this afternoon and feels confident she did well.  AMEN!  Just what the world needs - another Barrister/Attorney.  

Why don't sharks eat lawyers that fall in the ocean?  

PROFESSIONAL COURTESY.

Speaking of our port home being built for us in Retama Village.  We got a picture today from Carol Kerr, the sales person for the Village.  Here's where they are on it now.  Almost all done the framing of it:

Please notice that the house is COMPLETELY SHEETED with OSB board on the outside walls.  This is the ONLY way to build a home, even if you have to use 2x6 studs in order to meet insulation code requirements.  This means MUCH stronger walls that are much less likely to be racked by high winds.  BRAVO to Esperanza Homes for building them right.

Irene's Powerpoint Lessons

Titus 2:3   Older women likewise are to be ...

reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good,  4 so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children,  5 to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored. 

Irene does a wonderful job every place we go - be it South Africa, Namibia or one of our Sojourns back in America of fulfilling these verses.  She has been the speaker at "Ladies Days;" Taught in VBS; Sunday School but especially when we come to South Africa and Namibia.  Here are two of the PowerPoint lessons she has taught here so far.

These are "movies," so, to read the individual slides you will have to press the "PAUSE" buttons every time a new "slide" appears:

God's Anger Management Course:

Love and Strength:

Condolences to Irene and her family; Then To George and Back

I want to begin by asking you all to have Irene's family in your prayers and thoughts.  This past week on Tuesday, May 13th, Irene's niece Barbara Hollon passed away after succumbing to advanced lung cancer metastatic to both her brain and adrenal glands.  She is survived by 2 children - Amy and Brian and a sister, Dona and brother, Steve

Then Saturday, May 17th the husband of Irene's sister Carolyn, Nat Marion, passed away from an extensive cerebral hemorrhagic stroke.  He is survived by his wife Carolyn, sons Mike and Doug, their wives, Becky and Rebecca and their 4 grandchildren (2 per couple).

When we last posted we were leaving for George the next morning (Saturday, May 17th) from Robertson.  While at Robertson we had stayed at the Ballinderry Guest House (Gast Huis in Afrikaans).  It is owned by Luc and Hilde Uyttenhove.  They are originally from Belgium.  They retired to this area specifically to own and run their own Guest House.  They have done a wonderful job with their establishment and we highly recommend it..   Here is a picture of the front of it.

We left about 10 AM on Saturday to be in George by 3 PM.  It takes about 3 1/2 hours to get there.    The scenery along the way is so amazing that I decided to put numerous pictures and short videos in this posting to TRY to give you some idea.  I'm sure they will fall woefully short of reality.

We arrived about 1 hour early and went to check into the Far Hills Country Hotel in Wilderness, about 4 miles from George.  I will graciously say that Luc and Hilda at Bellinderry with the excellent facilities and service had set the bar of expectation so high that the Far Hills couldn't measure up.  We originally intended to stay there Saturday and Sunday night but the rooms were in such poor condition we decided to return to the excellencies of Bellinderry  for Sunday night.

Of course we had gone there to teach.  Saturday, Irene taught the ladies  "God's Anger Management,"  and I taught the men "Forgetting Things That Are Behind."


Here is a video of everyone on Saturday:

On Sunday I preached on "Trusting in God to Accomplish His Will."  Here's a short video of the church on Sunday.  They meet in the city council Chamber Room:

 

"Shotgun!!" or "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride!"

Hello All,

It's nice to be sharing this post with you all once again.  Irene and I pray that your lives are going well.  Today was a "Travel Day."  This morning we packed for our trip to George and then Rohan and I went over to Kenilworth Centre to return the Sound Blaster Board that they told us would work, but alas it was the wrong type.  We needed a PCIe board and they had sold us a PCI board.  After taking that back to Computer Mania in KC, we went over to Cavendish Square where they had set one aside for me.  When I got back to the Jones', I installed it and then got everything upgraded so now we are ready to hook all the stuff together and start testing the Know The Truth Radio Computer and Software out.  If it doesn't work then Rohan will have to contact Luis Camacho for technical support.

I continued to rain today.  We set out on the road to Robertson and I got some pictures for this post.  Here you go.  I hope you enjoy the beauty of God's creation as you look at them:

As you travel from Cape Town to Robertson, you pass through the "Huguenot Pass" on N1 (National Road 1).  Part of this trip through the mountain pass is through du Toit's Kloof (du Toit's cliff).  I took a video of the ride through the 5 km (3 mile) tunnel.  The video kind of reminds me of Luke Skywalker's ride through the "streets" on the Death Star as he is flying to deposit his bomb into that little window.  I thought about rotating it so it was in the correct orientation but decided the "ride" would be more fun left the way my iPhone recorded it.

OFF DAY???

Today was a day when neither Irene nor I had to teach.  But that doesn't mean we had nothing to do.  You see, we leave tomorrow afternoon to drive to George which is about 265 miles away from here (for our international readers that's about 425 kilometers).  The roads outside the big cities in South Africa - even the national highways - are about the equivalent of a 2 lane highway in America.  So, we will start out on a 6 lane divided highway (like a freeway) and in about an hour we will be down to 1 lane in each direction.  It would take about 5-6 hours to get there if we took the most direct road - the "Garden Route."  Tomorrow though we are headed a little different way - through Robertson.  We are going to overnight there and get to George about noon on Friday.  Irene will teach the ladies on Saturday.  Her lessons are "God's Anger Management" and the other is "Strength and Love."  I'll have 2 sessions with the men on:

Topic: Let go of the past 
Phil 3: 10-15 
(2 x 45 minutes – men only)

Past mistakes;
Past pain;
Past failures &
Past disappointments.  While we are focusing on moving beyond the past, it is important to evaluate our past mistakes so that we don’t repeat them again.

Then, on Sunday I've been assigned to preach a lesson on David and Goliath.  I'm not a real fan of "assigned topics" to be honest with you.  But I acquiesce in these type of circumstances because I figure that Rohan Jones is at the congregation monthly and knows what they need better than I.  My struggle is, I don't like allegorizing scripture or drawing parallels which the scriptures don't draw.  I know the Old Testament is written for our learning but I always try to show the NEW Testament verses that teach the principle that I think is being illustrated by the OLD Testament example, not the other way around.

Well, our 3 day streak ended today.  It has rained (often times hard) virtually continually since about noon today.  You see, this is the southern hemisphere so they are going into winter now.  Their May is the equivalent of our November in America.  Of course being right on the coast and at the latitude that Cape Town is at it never "snows" in Cape Town, but it does SLEET from time to time - every decade or so.  People here don't have insulated houses for the most part so the cold and humidity come right into the house.   Here's how Irene and I stay warm in the 1 bedroom "mother-in-law" or "maids" quarters at the Jones' house:

The temperature right now is 59º F (15º C) and it's going down to 54º F (12.2º C) tonight.  So, without this heater that would be the temperature in our room and bungalow.  And the humidity would make it bone-chilling.  BTW - HOW can it be pouring outside and the Relative Humidity only be 82%?  Does that mean there is 18% air between all the rain drops?  Just Wondering!

Irene spent about 7 hours getting one of her lessons ready today.  Since they mainly speak Afrikaans (a variant of Dutch) in George she got her lesson together in English and then went through the lesson and made another one with the verses in Afrikaans - from an online version of the 1983 Afrikaans Bybel.  Rohan is translating her English text that ISN'T scriptures into Afrikaans tonight.

Rohan and I spent about 3 hours today waiting for a computer to come in that I had ordered for the "Know the Truth Radio" program that Rohan is going to begin recording soon in Afrikaans.  For more information on Know the Truth Radio click here.  I had to install Microsoft Office and Kaspersky Internet Security on the system.  Now we have to get a PCIe board for sound.  The board I brought with me is a PCI board, but is not compatible with the PCIe ("e" is for "express) that the mother board has installed on it.  I got done what I could.  Now we have to get the sound board and then get a couple other technical programs installed to interface with the Know the Truth Radio web site to be able to upload in the proper format.  At that point I hand Rohan the keys and it's his and Luis Camacho's problem.