November 2012: "Dawbies in Africa"

Hard to believe our time in Namibia draws to a close tomorrow. The past week has been exceptionally busy as we attempt to “finish well”.  By God’s grace our leaving has coincided with the closing of most of the ministries we have been involved in as school holidays begin and the majority of people “go back to the farm” for the month of December. Most of our ‘farewells’ have taken place in the context of end-of-year Christmas parties.

As our time in Namibia is drawing to a close, so too is most church & school activities for the year. Like Australia, Namibia has a long six week school holiday break at Christmas time, except the holiday goes from early December until mid January.

The Evangelical Bible Church we attend has an outstanding HIV & AIDS ministry, which focuses on two core aspects of addressing the issue: prevention & support.

The After School Program (which we have highlighted in previous blogs) is the “prevention” ministry, where we share significant time with the children & young adults in our community.

Last Sunday we had the privilege of having lunch with an African missionary couple who wanted us to join with them in eating a ‘traditional meal’. When we asked, in our typical Western thinking, “What would you like us to bring?” at first the answer was “We need nothing, but you can bring what you like” but then changed to “I know you white people like something specific, so could you bring nappies. Size 2 – 5 kgs.”

An earlier blog made reference to the work we are undertaking with Family of Hope Services (FHS). We continue to spend one morning a week working with FHS who serve the communities of Hakahana & Havana (otherwise known as the “Informal Settlements”).

During our time in Namibia we have been well looked after & blessed by other Christian Missionaries we have met. It’s been amazing & humbling to meet them, hear their stories & see how the Gospel has shaped their lives & destiny.

Sometimes in Australia we become impatient if we have to wait too long for a service or for something to arrive. We are an instant society; time is precious, time is money. We have discovered, since arriving in Namibia, that waiting is an art form, a way of life, possibly even character building.

Last weekend the water was cut off at our flat without notice. The reasons why are lengthy & aren’t important. What was important was that we had no opportunity to “fill up” whatever we could in anticipation of the water being cut-off (& then not being re-connected for four days!)

The first day was manageable, the second day a little more trying, the third day was wearing us down & by the fourth day we were well & truly over it.

Without water:

#  You can’t fill up water bottles

We have made a few interesting discoveries about hair since arriving in Namibia:

1)   Fine European hair does not cope well in the climate here

2)   Africans have naturally short, thick hair which copes very well indeed

And now for something completely different!

Long walks along a sandy beach with a cool breeze rustling the palm trees, sipping cappuccinos in quaint European-style cafes, wide streets with virtually no traffic, German being spoken almost everywhere: were we dreaming or were we really in Namibia?