As I was doing my daily quite time and reading I could not help but think that this scripture was very fitting for a Black Friday. The scripture is 1 John 2:15-17 and the version I chose is from the Message translation as the verbiage is a little more informal, but drives the point.
1 John 2:15-17
"Don’t love the world’s ways. Don’t love the world’s goods. Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father. Practically everything that goes on in the world—wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important—has nothing to do with the Father. It just isolates you from him. The world and all its wanting, wanting, wanting is on the way out—but whoever does what God wants is set for eternity."
Friday, November 26, 2010
Monday, November 22, 2010
Hannah's Birthday
Last week we celebrated Hannah's 5th birthday, and it was a special day in that her PopPop Fred's (Brian's Dad) birthday is the same day. So we were able to celebrate both of their birthday's together. We went to dinner at a farm close by that has the lion and cheetahs and got to see them, and enjoyed a nice German cooked meal together.
The next day was Saturday and we had a birthday party for Hannah to celebrate with some of her friends here. It was very neat as Hannah had Happy Birthday sung to her in English, Afrikaans and German. Hard to believe our little princess is 5 years old now!
Here are a few pictures. If you would like to see more, you can see them on Brian's facebook account.
The next day was Saturday and we had a birthday party for Hannah to celebrate with some of her friends here. It was very neat as Hannah had Happy Birthday sung to her in English, Afrikaans and German. Hard to believe our little princess is 5 years old now!
Here are a few pictures. If you would like to see more, you can see them on Brian's facebook account.
Thanksgiving in Namibia
Well we are about to celebrate our second major holiday this week since arriving in Namibia. Thanksgiving will be quite different here.
Kristen and my mom are working on their shopping list as we are making a big Thanksgiving dinner for many of the people around us here. We will be the only family in our town celebrating Thanksgiving. We are blessed to have my parents here to celebrate with. Needless to say Kristen and mom have quite a challenge on their hands today. No turkey this year, or ham as you can not find either one within 5 hours drive of our town. No pumpkin pie, as they do not have pumpkins this time of year, and no canned pumpkin like back home. No sweet potato casserole as we have white sweet potatoes and not the orange ones like home, and they are nothing the same. And it is hot outside, not cold!
The substitute for the turkey are chickens, but our whole chickens are a little larger that the size of Cornish hens back home. Namibia is very strict on animal raising for human consumption, no antibiotics or growth hormones are allowed in animals. This is actually a good thing, so we got four chickens to cook. We did see some turkey's at a farm recently, but he would not let us purchase one for the big day! :)
Black Friday will be a day of rest, since there is no such thing here, and well there are no Wal-Marts, Target's, Mall's, or Best Buy's to stay up all night in the cold for the reduced price on computers, camera's, play stations and mp3 players.
No big NFL football game to fall asleep to on the couch after eating way too much food, well I guess that only applies to most of us guys.
But this is what we do have for Thanksgiving, we have Jesus. This year we are not going to have our minds cluttered by all the stuff above. We will have nothing to distract us from just being thankful for God's gift of salvation through the death of His Son on the cross. This year we are thankful for our precious salvation, we are thankful for the calling God has laid on our hearts and for sending us here to Namibia, as we have learned quite a lot in this past year of service. We are thankful that God has given our family the chance to experience living in a world that is not nearly as blessed as back home, so that we can focus more on God and not ourselves and our worldly desires. We are thankful for the blessing of our supporters back home that God has used to help send us to this mission field as we share together in presenting the Gospel to a lost world. And we are thankful that we have my parents here to share this day with.
We pray for all of you that you will have a wonderful Thanksgiving this year as well. We are thankful for all of you, for your thoughts and prayers and financial support that makes this ministry all the more worth it as we work together to share Christ to the ends of the earth.
God bless!
Kristen and my mom are working on their shopping list as we are making a big Thanksgiving dinner for many of the people around us here. We will be the only family in our town celebrating Thanksgiving. We are blessed to have my parents here to celebrate with. Needless to say Kristen and mom have quite a challenge on their hands today. No turkey this year, or ham as you can not find either one within 5 hours drive of our town. No pumpkin pie, as they do not have pumpkins this time of year, and no canned pumpkin like back home. No sweet potato casserole as we have white sweet potatoes and not the orange ones like home, and they are nothing the same. And it is hot outside, not cold!
The substitute for the turkey are chickens, but our whole chickens are a little larger that the size of Cornish hens back home. Namibia is very strict on animal raising for human consumption, no antibiotics or growth hormones are allowed in animals. This is actually a good thing, so we got four chickens to cook. We did see some turkey's at a farm recently, but he would not let us purchase one for the big day! :)
Black Friday will be a day of rest, since there is no such thing here, and well there are no Wal-Marts, Target's, Mall's, or Best Buy's to stay up all night in the cold for the reduced price on computers, camera's, play stations and mp3 players.
No big NFL football game to fall asleep to on the couch after eating way too much food, well I guess that only applies to most of us guys.
But this is what we do have for Thanksgiving, we have Jesus. This year we are not going to have our minds cluttered by all the stuff above. We will have nothing to distract us from just being thankful for God's gift of salvation through the death of His Son on the cross. This year we are thankful for our precious salvation, we are thankful for the calling God has laid on our hearts and for sending us here to Namibia, as we have learned quite a lot in this past year of service. We are thankful that God has given our family the chance to experience living in a world that is not nearly as blessed as back home, so that we can focus more on God and not ourselves and our worldly desires. We are thankful for the blessing of our supporters back home that God has used to help send us to this mission field as we share together in presenting the Gospel to a lost world. And we are thankful that we have my parents here to share this day with.
We pray for all of you that you will have a wonderful Thanksgiving this year as well. We are thankful for all of you, for your thoughts and prayers and financial support that makes this ministry all the more worth it as we work together to share Christ to the ends of the earth.
God bless!
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Costs of Living in Namibia
Many people think that living in a third world country means the cost of living is a lot cheaper. Well, that is not the case, at least in Namibia and this I know first hand. I thought I would share a few things with you to give you an idea of how expensive it is to live here.
Take Gas for instance, or Petrol as they call it here:
Cost: $1.15/ liter or $4.60/ gallon.
Electricity: For our house the cost is $204/ month and we have no central air condition, no heat, and a refrigerator that is about half the size of an average one in the US.
Water: For our house the water bill is $220/ month and we conserve water tightly because we are in a desert community and we save every bit of rain water we can if and when it does rain.
Monthly Internet Cost (Slow Internet, Not High Speed): $51/month
Our 2000 model van with 125K miles cost $13000, and yes VERY USED!
Here are some items that we will never purchase here!
Average Lap-Top Computer: $1500
Average Cell Phone with Camera & Internet: $439
Touch Phone by Apple: $1172
Apple Touch Pad: $1756
Wii Game System: $585
MP3 Player: $365
Six Foot Artificial Christmas Tree comparible to one we had in US: $200
Wireless Router Box: $235
Here are a few pictures of food in the store and the costs in USD. Think they compare to Wal-Mart prices?
Half Gallon of Ice Cream: $6.60
1 Liter Box of Juice: $2.35
2 Liter Bottle of Coke: $2.80
Box of Cake Mix: $5.25
Bottle of Heinz BBQ Sauce: $3.15
Small Box of Cookies: $2.40
4oz bottle of spray suntan lotion: $17.00 YES $17!!
Box of Oatmeal w/12 Packs: $4.89
Nesquick Chocolate Mix: $4.60
Bottle of Olive Oil: $12.00
Bag of Apples: $3.10
Small Jar of Olives: $4.90
Small Bag of Banana's: $2.79
Box of Special K Cereal: $6.30
1 Liter of Milk: $2.35 making a gallon $9.40
Box of Honey Nut Cheerios: $6.58
Tub of Butter: $5.71
Jar of Peanut Butter: $4.83
Small Jar of Ketchup or as they call it Tomato Sauce: $2.79
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