Bringing you up to speed

Greetings all!

Once again, we find ourselves having to change course.  Let me bring you up to speed. 

A few months ago we learned from our pediatrician in Botswana that Tristan was somewhere on the Autism spectrum.  We originally thought it would be alright to stay until October before leaving back for the States.  However, it became evident a few weeks later that Tristan was going to need to get help much sooner than October.  This combined with Sarah’s worsening health condition made us realize that we needed to leave ASAP.  Sarah departed Botswana with the kids on June 9^th and is already at home with her family in Florida.  She is seeing a specialist for her medical issues and Tristan is already in speech therapy!  Both are doing very well.  I stayed in Botswana for another month, to make sure things were in order with the hand-over of my job.  But I have given my notice and will be leaving Botswana on the 3^rd of August, to join my family!  I have three interviews lined up.  Please be in prayer for God to open the door to the right job for our family. 

Just so you know what is happening with Sarah and Tristan, here is a quick update from her end:

“Being back in the USA is bittersweet.  I am missing all of my Botswana family and sad that our Africa adventure is over but at the same time relieved to be here getting Tristan help.  I have spent the last three weeks doing lots of paperwork, making tons of phone calls and feeling like I am going in circles trying to line up an evaluation and therapy.  I am staying encouraged knowing that every phone call gets me closer to our goal!  His pediatrician said he is definitely somewhere on the autism spectrum and referred us to a behavioral specialist who will do an evaluation to help us figure out what occupational therapy he needs.  He started speech therapy last week and we already are so encouraged to have a plan of attack to help him keep learning!  Apparently he learns in sentences rather than word by word like most kids.  Even in the last week he has made improvement in speech now that we know what to work on :)!  He is a quick learner and is just as excited to learn to communicate as we are to help him!  Also the bigger Vanessa gets the more we are seeing how much she is helping him learn things he missed as a baby.  She is such a sweet blessing and has brought so much joy to our family!”

We have appreciated your support over the past few years!  Flying Mission will keep our account active through the end of October.  We thank those of you who have been so faithful to us over the years!  Your prayer and financial help have made it possible for us to serve in Botswana!

This has been an incredible adventure and we will take these experiences with us wherever we go for the rest of our lives.  God has, and is, going to do some amazing things with FMS and we were blessed to be a part of it for the past 3 years. 

We can’t wait for the next adventure God has planned for us!

Blessings,

Jeff, Sarah, Tristan & Vanessa

New Direction

Hello Once Again!

I know we just sent out an update, but the past few days have brought forth some critical developments and we felt like we needed to send another.

This letter is written with mixed emotions.  We have been considering this for the past month, and yesterday made a solid decision.  Our resignation from FMS has been tendered, and our departure date is set for October 31st of this year.

This may come as a surprise to many of you, and we wanted to explain why we chose this course.  The answer is three-fold, the third reason having been just discovered a few weeks ago.
  
Firstly, while we were home in the States it became evident that we should move back to KS and be near Jeff’s mom.  There is so much going on in her life right now, and we want to be there for her.
  
Second, Sarah’s thyroid is giving her some serious problems and her doctor in Botswana is not helping her condition at all.  Since this is the only Endocrinologist in Botswana, our options are few.  She constantly feels sick, tired, and overwhelmed due to the unbalanced hormones in her body.  This combined with the stress of living in a 3rd world country, makes even day to day operations very difficult for her.  It is important that we get her the medical care she needs.
  
Third (the one that came to our attention a few weeks ago), is Tristan’s wellbeing.  We had a visit with his Pediatrician in mid March, and were told that he definitely has Autism.  We have been wondering about this for a long time, and more recently have become aware that something wasn’t right.  After consulting with the Pediatrician, we were counseled to get him some professional help as soon as possible.  We were also told by this doctor, that there is no one in Botswana who is capable of giving Tristan the attention he needs.  For us, this was the final decision maker.
  
Like we said, this decision brings mixed emotions.  We love Botswana and consider this to be home.  When we returned from the States this last time, it really was like coming back home.  However, we need to look out for our family and do what’s best for them.

When we look at it, however, we believe God’s hand to be on this decision.  The reason we were not considering a move back to the States, was that there was no one to take Jeff’s place as the Chief of Flight Training.  However, just last month, God brought a man to FMS who had just retired from the Air Force.  Charles has extensive experience in flight training and will be a perfect fit for Jeff’s position!  This helped us make our decision, as it was almost as if God was paving the way for us to move back to the States.  For the next 7 months, Jeff will help with the busy flying season and will also get everything in the Training Department ready for a hand-over.  He will also be sending in Resume’s and Applications to various companies for employment upon our return.  Prayers are appreciated!

We love FMS and will continue supporting their work long after we leave.  They are doing great things in Botswana and we are excited to see what God does with their future!

We want to thank all of you who have supported us during our 3 years here.  We literally could not have done what we did without your support.  Thank you all so much!  As stated before, we will continue to serve until October 31st, 2013.

Because of Christ,
Jeff, Sarah, Tristan, and Vanessa

March Newsletter

We wanted to update everyone now that we are settled back in Botswana. Please let me know if you want us to email you our latest update.

Because of Christ,

Jeff & Sarah Burnham
Tristan & Vanessa

November Update

We made it safe and sound to the states almost 3 weeks ago already! When I last updated Tristan and I(Sarah) were sick and it was a few days before we had our long flight home. Praise the Lord we were recovered enough to fly even though we weren't feeling 100 percent. The kids were wonderful on the long flight which was a huge answer to prayer! The descent when we landed for fuel in Dakar, Senegal and when we landed in Washington DC was painful for our ears including little Vanessa but we made it! 

Our 6 days in VA were a whirlwind of recruiting for FMS, special time with friends and Jeff successfully completing his training for his ATP. We made some promising connections for FMS and Jeff now is officially an ATP pilot!!  It was a wonderful visit and we loved every minute with our friends! By the end of the week we realized we had pushed the kids a bit to much when Tristan got really sick followed closely by Vanessa. They are both feeling so much better now and their coughs are almost gone. From lack of sleep I also got very sick but am also feeling lots better now. 

We arrived in FL late on Tuesday, November 13th. Then Thursday, November 15th Jeff left very early in the morning for more recruiting in Texas at Letourneau College. He also made some very promising connections during his time there and made it back late on Saturday, the night before my sisters wedding. While he was gone I helped with last minute details and threw a bachelorette party for my sister. It was all so much fun and the wedding was beautiful but we are so happy to finally be relaxing! 

Tristan is making huge progress in his talking and communication skills by being here surrounded by so much English. Vanessa of course keeps growing like crazy and melting every ones hearts with her smiles. She has become the most laid back, content baby. We are so spoiled with good babies it seems! 

We celebrated Thanksgiving with my parents and grandparents and it was very relaxing! It is so special to have this time with family! We will be here in FL until December 15th when we start our road trip up to KS to be with Jeff's family. We can't wait to see everyone up there!

Grumbling

Well our journey home for 2 1/2 months began yesterday! We safely made it to Lanseria, SA where Jeff is doing some last minute training on the Simulator. Our good friend is being upgraded to captain this weekend YAY! 

Sadly the night before we left Botswana Tristan started coughing...again and I started with a sore throat so we are resting and hoping to be recovered before our flight home out of Johanesburg on Sunday evening. 

Today I was able to get both kids to nap at the same time and was thrilled at the idea of a nap! Well 10 min after Vanessa was asleep and just as I was dozing off someone knocked on our door. I ignored it figuring they would go away...next thing I know that person is unlocking my door and loudly coming in our room!! Nap time was over before it really started and as I grumpily bounced my crabby baby around the room all I could think about was "who does that?" and "this would never happen in the states because they are smart enough to have do not disturb signs!" and then "I am leaving a suggestion that they get do not disturb signs." of course these thoughts just made me more grumpy... 

That's when the thought hit me! I have dreamed about being a mommy since I was 3 years old...here I am complaining about an adorable, albeit fussy, baby in my arms! I'm missing out on precious moments with my little blessing by being crabby. So I JOYfully walked around our room, bouncing MY baby and blowing my nose thanking the Lord for giving me the greatest desires of my heart in these two precious kids! They grow up to fast and I don't want to waste my time grumbling. 

Thank you Lord for my sweet blessings!

October Newsletter

Hi Everyone!

We just finished our October Newsletter. If any of you want to receive it by email please let me know!

Sincerely,

Jeff & Sarah Burnham
Tristan & Vanessa

Newsletter January 2012

We hope you all had a Happy New Years!!

We just sent out our newsletter for January by email. If any of you did not receive it and would like to please let me know!

Blessings,

Sarah

Burnham Update

Greetings,

I'm sorry it's been so long since we last sent out an update. Life has been very busy for us over the last few months and we've been hanging on trying to keep up. It's hard to believe, but we've been in Botswana just over a year now! Sarah and I want to thank everyone who has kept us in their prayers over the past year, as we know a lot of you did.

Our 1st year in Botswana has been one of the most challenging of our lives, and definitely the most challenging of our 5 years of marriage. But after sitting down together and an honest assessment of the time past, we can see how much we've grown and how much God has taught us. In our case, the culture shock of coming here didn't hit us all of a sudden. It was a slow gradual onset that manifested itself in ways I would never have anticipated. The stress and frustration that can come living in a foreign country and culture added to the stress of my schedule was a lot to handle. Sarah and I really had to work at uplifting each other instead of taking our stress out on each other. God is good and saw us through a difficult year and we know that our relationship is stronger for having endured it! We praise God for that and we want to thank each one of you who specifically prayed for our relationship while we were over here! We know the struggle isn't over but we are excited to tackle this next year as a team with a united mindset of what we are trying to accomplish and the goal of uplifting each other through it.

In the time we've been here, we have seen some huge developments with Flying Mission Services. As you know, one of FMS's primary goals is to generate revenue that can be used to fund the Flying Mission Care ministries. So along with the medical flying and various charter flights that we do, FMS has begun to undertake some scheduled flight operations as well. It is a huge undertaking but it should open up some huge doors for us all over southern Africa, not to mention increase the amount of money we are able to give back to the ministry. As I'm trying to keep this update concise, I won't go into all the details. However if anyone is interested to hear more about the new things that FMS is undertaking, let me know and I'll send a more detailed picture of the new developments. We are very excited to see what God has in store for FMS in the future!

As for me, I am still flying the medical "mercy" flights in the King Air. Last year alone we flew 365 patients over 250,000 miles. That’s an average of 1 person every day that was able to receive healthcare from a place where there is none! We also saw 1 baby born on board our aircraft last year as well, which is always an excitement for the flight crew! As you can see, we stay busy and the schedule can be very hectic (as we make ourselves available to fly 24/7). Botswana requires that we use 2 pilots in the King Air 200s, so we always have a crew "on call" for any mercy flights that come up. For the past year I've been sitting in the right seat, gaining time and experience from the guys who have been here much longer than I have. Recently, however, I was upgraded to Captain and now I'll be flying left seat and acting as Pilot in Command! I'm very excited about this new responsibility! With the responsibility comes a higher workload and with a few of the pilots leaving for the states during the next few months we are going to be very busy.

Tristan will be 18 months old on October 6th. He keeps Sarah very busy at home. He babbles away all day and has started saying Mama, Dadoo (for daddy), and Cat. Sarah taught him to say “All done” and “Please” in sign language so he is always using those signs to communicate as well. He is very active and prefers to spend his entire day outside digging in the dirt, pulling Sarah’s flowers, and covering himself in mud. He has a plastic motorcycle he loves to ride around the yard and a yellow dump truck he pushes around while making car noises. He loves dogs and will sometimes say “doggie”. He has no fear of them no matter how big they are! He giggles and screams whenever he gets the chance to play with our friend’s dogs. Just the other day, he was running around a friend’s yard with their many dogs and managed to run into his first thorn tree. He cried for a few seconds but seemed more upset that the doggies were gone than the fact that he had thorns in his forehead and ear. On the rare occasion that he is inside you will normally find him sitting with all of his books around him reading them over and over. Tristan fills our lives with so much joy and we love watching him learn and grow! Sarah is also still working on “Project Nappies” and if any of you are interested in more information regarding that project please let us know. She spends a few hours a week helping with office projects at Flying Mission Care. As of right now they have her typing up a manual. She has been offered the opportunity to help out a few days a week at Flying Mission Services as a secretary for Mark Spicer. She is very excited about this new venture but would really appreciate your prayers as she figures out the details and steps into this new role.

We want to thank all of you who have faithfully supported us financially throughout the past year! We could not have done it without you! Currently, the monthly support we receive is meeting our basic needs. However, we only have 1 car, and it has had some major mechanical issues over the past year. Firstly, we are praying for a 2nd vehicle. With the 24/7 "on call" schedule I fly, it has been very very difficult only having 1 car. Secondly, we would like to replace the car we have now, as it has been a money pit for us over the past year. We want to sell it, but we won't get as much for it as we would need to buy another vehicle. There is an FMS family leaving Botswana soon who will be selling both of their cars, and we would like to buy both of them (because we know both have been maintained very well). Their little car would be for me to drive back and forth to work and it will cost about 2000 dollars. Their family car is a 4 wheel drive and if we sell our current car, we would need an additional 1500 to 2000 dollars to buy that one. We are praying that the Lord will provide the money for these vehicles, as good reliable cars are hard to come by in Botswana.

Thank you for being involved with our ministry in Botswana! We couldn’t do this without you!

Blessings,
Jeff, Sarah & Tristan

Prayer Requests:
That we would continue to serve with good attitudes when the days are hard
That we would continue to grow in the Lord and closer as a family
That we would all stay healthy during these hectic months ahead

Lost baby chick

Well I had an interesting experience today. A baby chick wandered into our yard this afternoon. I walked outside to take the laundry off the line and there was Tristan sitting in the dirt trying to "pet" a frightened baby chick. And by "pet" I mean hit. I quickly grabbed the little frightened chick and took it inside and left it in the bathtub. That chick is a very lucky thing because our cat was sleeping in the shade on the other side of the house and never saw it wander into our yard. Otherwise the cat would have gotten it for sure. I had no idea what to do with the chick and had no intention of having a pet chicken...but I also didn't want to kill it. So Tristan and I went to our neighbors houses to ask if they had any idea whose chick it could be. One neighbor thought it might be the neighbors across the street so off we went to their house. I called "Coco" at the gate a number of times. "Coco" is the equivalent of us saying "Knock Knock" =). Anyway no one came to the gate so we walked around their yard and found abunch of chickens and it looked like two of the chickens had a number of chicks. I had no idea what would happen if I put the chick in there and it didn't belong so I was nervous but did not want to keep it in my bathtub all day. So Tristan and I went back to the house to get the chick and went back across the street again. I put the chick up beside the gate and it ran inside right up to one of the mommy chickens and cuddled up underneath! It was the cutest thing ever! I am so glad the cat didn't kill the little chick today and that I was able to get it home! It definitely made for an interesting afternoon =).

Family Time

We had the pleasure of having my Uncle (Brett Nordick) visit us for 2 days last week! It was so refreshing to be around family and such a treat to see him! He was on his way to some meetings in Zambia and was able to spend a few days with us before the meetings started. Tristan enjoyed having another person to read him books over and over plus was spoiled with his first ever animal cracker. We are enjoying all of the American goodies he brought!!

We were able to take him to a local game reserve called Mokolodi. Jeff joined him for a 2 hour game drive where they got to see lots of african animals. One of the coolest was of a mommy rhino with her baby who was about 5 weeks old. They took a great video of the baby nursing from his mom. I decided to stay at the little playground and restaurant while they did the game drive since Tristan does not enjoy sitting for 2 hours =). We actually got to see a few animals come up to the restaurant while we were waiting. Then to top it all off while we were eating dinner at the restaurant a rhino came right up close to the wall surrounding the restaurant. It was very cool! We had been told the rhinos that normally came up to the restaurant had all died so it was a surprise to see one! It all made for a very special evening with Uncle Brett! So many special memories!

I never do like the goodbye part but am so thankful he was able to spend some time with us here in Africa!

Here are a few photos of the visit and animals they got to see!

Project Nappies!

Here is the story behind the idea of "Project Nappies". The story and pictures are from my friend Laurel.

'M's Story

Triplets aren't very common in Botswana. So a woman in a village carrying triplets is quite an event.

I, Laurel, met 'M' when she was about half way along in her pregnancy. She lives with her mother, her eight year old daughter, sisters and other family. She was receiving good prenatal care at the local hospital but was struggling as no one in the family was earning money.

During the next few months I visited regularly and made sure that 'M' was getting good nutrition and getting to her prenatal check ups.

At the end of October I received a phone call from 'M's neighbour to say that she had given birth to her triplets and had been transferred

to the main hospital in Gaborone. The birth was two months premature,and shortly after birth one little girl passed away.

'M' and the other two babies were being cared for at Princess Marina Hospital in Gaborone and I started visiting regularly.

There were many challenges for both mum and babies. The babes spent a total of 9 weeks in the special care nursery, 'M' stayed in a room at the back of the postnatal ward, sharing with a number of other women who also had babes in t

he nursery. They had a 2 hourly routine of going to the nursery for feeding and changing 24 hours per day. Each woman carried a small bag with her containing all the babies needs, including disposable nappies which they had to provide – quite difficult for someone with no income. The friendships that they formed were a great support for one another......their needs,practical, emotional and spiritual are great.

After 9 weeks, I took 'M' and her babes home to their village. Two days later baby B, the other little girl passed away – she had been born with

severe hydrocephalus and her brain had not developed properly. B was buried next to her sister at the family home, as is the practise in the

culture here – babies who die at less than one year of age are kept close.

Mogomotsi, the brother of the girls is growing well and is nearly six months old. His family tells me that he must miss his sisters and that they will tell him about them one day.

This is a picture of 'M' with her daughter who passed away two days after being discharged.

Below is 'M' with her son, Mogomotsi.

During the time Laurel spent at Princess Marina with 'M' she realized there were huge needs among the women there. Among the many practical needs are nappies, hence the name "project nappies". Most of the women have no income and really struggle to provide the disposable nappies they are required to buy for their babies. These women provide around the clock care for their babies so would not be able to have a job while their baby is in the special care nursery. Many of the women do not even own a pair of underwear. So their basic needs are great! Besides their practical needs these women need the Lord most of all! Our goal is to start a program to minister to these women. We are in the process of making the right contacts at Princess Marina Hospital and hope to very soon be able to start ministering to the women there. Please be praying for us as we start this new venture!

Prayer Requests:

• Please pray that Laurel and I and whomever joins us in our venture will have wisdom in knowing how best to minister. That we will be a light and encouragement to these women.
• Please pray for the women that their hearts will be open.

Thank you so much for praying for us! We are very excited to see what the Lord does in all of this!!

If any of you would like to be involved in helping with the practical needs here are some ideas...

For 100 pula about the equivalent of $15 US we could provide the women with one of the following:

• 60 disposable nappies
• 2 dozen cloth nappies
• Combination pack of onesies, socks, hats and a blanket
• Toiletries and underwear for the mother

If anyone wants to get a group together to send a Care package here are ideas of what the women could use:

• Toothbrushes
• Hand sanitizer
• Baby clothes, any sizes
• Wash cloths
• Underwear, any sizes
• Sanitary Pads
• Blankets (they especially love receiving blankets)
• Crocheted baby hats, mittens, socks, blankets and outfits (they love crocheted items!)
• Home-made cloth bags for use as a diaper bag

I look forward to keeping you all updated on our ministry at Princess Marina Hospital. As soon as we have more stories to share I will post them for you all! Thank you for your patience with "Project Nappies"!! I am so glad I was finally able to share with you this exciting ministry opportunity!

Answered Prayers...

The Lord has answered a big prayer of ours. He definitely answered in a way that I never could have possibly imagined…but “we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to his purpose." - Rom_8:28

I wish it could be a fun and exciting story but sadly it isn’t. The evening of January 20^th we were sitting with some new friends in our living room drinking coffee and enjoying some wonderful fellowship when we heard a strange noise almost like car horns blaring. I still have no idea what that noise was but soon after that weird noise started our doorbell rang and the woman at the gate yelled the house was on fire. Immediately I panicked thinking she meant our house but soon realized it was our neighbor’s house that was on fire. We quickly grabbed Tristan out of bed and loaded our most important things into the car and got out of our house in case the fire spread. Praise the Lord our roof did not catch on fire even with the wind blowing in our direction! Sadly our neighbor’s house completely burnt down and she has lost most everything. The people in the neighborhood ran inside to try to save as much stuff as they could before the ceiling collapsed but still most everything is gone. The Fire department did eventually arrive but the fire had almost died out by the time they got there. Probably around 11pm we felt safe enough to go back into our house. About that same time some women in the neighborhood organized to have the things salvaged taken to a number of the neighbors houses to keep it safe and out of the rain. We offered to let them store some of her stuff in our guest bedroom. We then learned she didn’t have any friends or family nearby to stay with so she actually stayed in our guest bedroom for about a week with her youngest son who is 11 years old. She is Batswana but does speak English very well. Her son does not speak much English but enough that we can understand each other. It is a learning experience culturally and has had its awkward moments for sure! Each day they were here got easier and more exciting as we started to build a friendship with them. Friday evening (Jan 21^st) the community had a meeting to decide how to help Mma Thabo. Many people donated things such as a school uniform for her son Phenyo or small gifts of money. It was so neat to see the community come together to help her! We had been praying for a while that the Lord would give us an opportunity to reach out to our neighbors. With big cement walls (or “stopnonsense” as they call them) all around our house as well as most of our neighbors houses, it is very hard to get to know any of them. You don’t really see many people unless you happen to be going in or out at the same time. So we kept praying God would open doors and help us to somehow get involved with the community and our neighbors. Well this has thrown that door wide open! I wish it could have happened because of a happy incident but again we know that God has a plan and a purpose for everything! Through it all we have gotten to know many of our neighbors and they welcomed us into their community. It has been so exciting to have this breakthrough! Please be praying for us that we can be a light in our neighborhood as well as an encouragement to our neighbors who have just lost everything they own.

Encouragement

I am the type of person who has to write things down the moment I think of them or else I forget them altogether. So rather than making dinner I am sitting at my computer writing you guys an update =).

I have wanted to share how the Lord has been encouraging my heart over the past few weeks but finally my cultural experience today gave me the inspiration to put it into words. When we first arrived here the pula/dollar difference was quite the shocker. You would go buy a box of cereal that would normally be a few dollars and you see 35 pula! Which truly is expensive but the first thing that pops in your head is WHAT 35 dollars?? Then you remember “Oh ya, I have to divide that by 6 and a half”. The other shocker was how expensive everything was. I had in my mind that things would be really cheap over here. In a country where most everything is imported, cheap just isn’t possible. The combination of those two things could be very discouraging at times.

Recently the Lord has been really encouraging me with both of those areas! After 5 months of dealing with pula it isn’t quite so shocking anymore (except for when it really is shocking…seriously 30 US dollars for 1 pack of diapers??). Also I am starting to find what and where the cheaper things are. In the States I bought a lot frozen vegetables since you could typically get it cheaper than the fresh. Here it is the opposite. We have been having so much fun going weekly to pick out all of the fresh fruits and vegetables we want that week. Also the nice bakery bread you pay big bucks for in the States is what is cheap here. If you want the long lasting loaf you get from Wal-Mart for a dollar you pay a lot of money =). We were so encouraged to learn that and enjoy freshly home-made bread from the bakery each week! Yes, we do pay a lot for most things but we are getting spoiled in many areas as well!! One other thing I should mention is about our meat. Beef is the cheapest meat here and what we call Filet Mignon in the United States is one of the cheapest cuts here. You can get Filet for 3 US dollars per pound…needless to say we are getting very spoiled and I don’t know what we are going to do if we ever leave!

My cultural experience today came through a good friend who took me to her favorite little shop that she calls “The Spice Shop”. As we got out of the car I could smell all of the spices before even walking in. Then when I walked into this little store that is just a small room with concrete floors, I saw large bins in rows all across the room. Each bin was filled with a different spice, some with rice, and others with things that I have absolutely no idea what they are. I found the normal garlic pwd, oregano, basil, parsley, rosemary and so on. My favorite find was poppy seeds!! For less than 1 US dollar I got about the equivalent of 2 of your large jars of poppy seeds. All of the other spices as well as the rice were amazingly cheap! I picked out a number of things and after I left with my little bag of treasures I felt so encouraged and am still thanking the Lord for that awesome store that will be seeing a lot more of me! So there are cheap things here. You just have to patiently learn where they are. =)

So again today the Lord has really encouraged me in the grocery expense department! Next time I grumble over the price of diapers I will just remember I get to go home and eat a big Filet Steak for dinner and can buy a couple years worth of oregano for less than a dollar =). When you put it like that I don’t know why I ever grumble!! =)

Distributing Bibles in the Children's Ward. Singing our way down to different wards with the Bibles on a stretcher.

Here goes “Project Bible Distribution”!

As I shared in my previous blog post and email, every year Flying Mission distributes Bibles at Princess Marina hospital on the day after Christmas. They raise money for the Bibles throughout the year. This year the Setswana Bibles were in high demand here in Botswana and stocks were low. The demand increased the cost making them 80 pula each which is about $13 US dollars. They may be cheaper this time next year but for now they cost that much. I wanted to share this opportunity with all of you! If God has given you a desire to share His Word with the people of Botswana consider supporting this annual Bible distribution event. Also we need prayer warriors to be praying for the patients and nurses receiving Bibles! Please pray the Lord gets a hold of their hearts!

Please email me if you want information on how to help us purchase Bibles!

My email address is jeffnsarah527@gmail.com .

I am still putting together information for “Project Nappies”. There is a very touching story behind it all and I can’t wait to share it with you. I am awaiting the story and pictures from my friend, Laurel King.

On a lighter note...Tristan is walking!!! He took his first steps a few days ago. It is so much fun watching him learn! He is looking so grown up now that he is walking...can't believe how fast it goes! I will upload pictures soon.

Bible Distribution at Princess Marina Hospital

Well today was Bible distribution day at Princess Marina Hospital. Every year Flying Mission staff and some volunteers meet at Princess Marina Hospital the day after Christmas to give Bibles to all of the patients. This year we had over 650 Bibles to give away! We feel honored to have had the opportunity to be a part of sharing the Word of God with so many people!

I probably spent the most of my time in the maternity wards since there were over a hundred women in there with their brand new babies! One of the women even asked me to hold her precious little girl who was just days old! She was the tiniest baby I have ever held…way tinier than Tristan was! What an honor it was to hold that new little girl and give her mommy a bible in her own language! It was definitely a bit of a shocker walking into the maternity ward…it is nothing like the maternity wards in the United States. Each room had about 14 or 15 beds squished together with barely any room to walk in between and then every spot on the floor that was big enough was another mattress. Every room looked full to the max! There wasn’t such a thing as private rooms…I have never seen anything like it. How spoiled I was to have had my own room for delivery and then my own room for recovery as well. I was pampered by the nurses and had constant help from them! Those women were pretty much on their own…plus had absolutely no privacy. It was a very humbling experience to say the least.

Jeff had the privilege of praying with one of the patients we gave a bible too. He was unable to use his legs but we were not told why. It was very sad. When he leaves the hospital how will he support himself? Does he have family to take care of him? Those questions have been weighing on my heart and mind but ultimately does he know our Savior? We can’t know these things but we can pray that the Lord will bless him and take care of him and bring him to an understanding of his Word! Please be praying with us that all of these patients we briefly met and gave Bibles to would come to know Christ as their personal Savior! So they can stop living in fear and live eternally with their loving God and Creator! Thank you so much! Your prayers are greatly appreciated!

Today while at the Bible distribution I became aware of a few projects that you guys could be a part of. As soon as I get a little more information I look forward to sharing these opportunities with all of you! I will be sharing about these projects in my next note =). Be looking for “Project Nappies”(their word for diapers here) and “Project Bible Distribution”.

Also a friend took a bunch of pictures today and as soon as possible I will post some for you all to see!

A note from Jeff

One of my on call days last week.

The day began nice and slow. It was about 10:30 AM on what was shaping up to be a very hot day in Botswana. I had been home for about 14 hours since my last flight had landed at around 8:30 the night before. Sarah and I had been able to enjoy a nice breakfast together and Tristan was playing with his new kitten friend. The call came in around 11:00 and within 10 minutes I was airport-bound. I arrived at our hangar about 10 minutes later and began the preflight. Jon, the Captain for this flight, arrived shortly after and began filing the flight plan and checking the weather for the flight. Once our medics, Patrick and Collin, arrived we closed the cabin door and started up for Maun. We were airborne from Sir Siretse Khama International Airport just over 50 minutes from the time of the call, our goal for every Mercy flight.

Jon took the 1st leg to Maun and within an hour and half, we were on the ground. Go figure, the ambulance was not there. African time is very different from US time and when they hear an hour and half, they expect it to take at least 2-3 hours. Oh, by the way, when I say ambulance don’t have in mind a nice United States ambulance with all the fancy life saving equipment inside. Think instead of a pickup truck with a covered back and AMBULANCE written across the side. Inside this ambulance was a lady and the tiniest baby I have ever seen in my life. Evidently she had needed an emergency c-section before the baby was ready to be born and only had the local clinic to do it. In the process she had lost lots of blood which can be very hard to come by in an AIDs stricken country, not to mention she was out in the middle of nowhere. Our medics started doing what they do best and got the patient stabilized and loaded into the airplane. We had brought a baby incubator as part of our equipment for this flight because we didn’t know the status of the baby, but it wasn’t needed. Despite being only 2.5 lbs, the baby was doing just fine and was sleeping soundly. But the mother needed a hospital so we fired up the King Air and departed for the closest hospital located in Francistown at about 290 miles per hour. It was my leg now and 55 minutes later I landed in Francistown where the ambulance was waiting to take mother and baby to get the help they need. I got to carry that precious 2.5 lb baby off the plane, hands down the best part of the flight!!! Thank the Lord for a safe flight!

After fueling we headed back to Gaborone and landed at around 7:00 PM. We fueled in Gabs just in case there was another flight that night. I walked in the door to our house at around 8:00 to the sight of a smiling baby boy! I’ll be honest, I don’t think that could ever get old. I kissed Sarah and was getting ready to give Tristan a bath when my phone rang. It was our Chief Pilot with another emergency flight to Maun. I laughed and said “Good one Tim”. “Sorry Jeff, no joke this time”. So 20 minutes after I had walked in the door, I was walking back out again for the exact same place we had been just 6 hours earlier! Sarah is an amazing girl and keeps a good attitude even though late night flights aren’t the most fun for her either.

It was my leg going to Maun this time, at least we got to change that part up a little bit. We were cruising at 26,000 feet that night and although it was clear, there were no lights below us as far as the eye could see. It’s an eerie blackness flying over the Kalahari at night and it still gives me an odd feeling when I experience it. But when I look up on those nights, the stars are brighter than any night sky I’ve ever seen. We dim the cockpit lights way down and experience God’s magnificence and glory in a way that few get to experience. I was filled with awe and a verse in Hebrews 11 was brought to mind, “By faith we understand that the universe was formed by God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible”. What an awesome God we serve who could create such beauty out of nothing! We arrived in Maun to a little boy not much older than Tristan. He had swallowed sulferic acid, commonly used in lead-acid car batteries. He had acid burns all over the outside and inside of his mouth and who knew what else internally. When I looked at him, I could see Tristan and my heart hurt for him. Again, we flew to Francistown and delivered the patient safely with his mom to the hospital there. By the time we got the airplane put to bed and got ourselves something to eat (as it had been since breakfast when we had all last eaten), it was around 2 AM. There was no way we were going to try and fly back to Gabs. We wandered into the FMS guest house in Francistown and passed out on the nice comfortable beds that were waiting for us. If only we would have known that at 10:30 the next morning we would be going BACK to Maun again for a lady who was in sepsis from blood poisoning.

We flew back to Gaborone after our final Maun-Francistown run late in the afternoon. After dodging some of the hugest thunderstorms I’ve ever seen, we made it back to Gaborone. I walked in the door around 7:45 PM after having been gone for the better part of 2 days, with people and experiences in my mind that I will never forget.

Thank you all for your support of Sarah and I! We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you!

Love,

Jeff

This is my co-worker, Jon, holding the 2.5 lb baby. I managed to snap the picture right before we headed off to Francistown.
This is the mother receiving a blood transfusion in the airplane.
This wasn't from that particular flight but it gives you the idea.

My new word for the day...."Nnana"

Well Tristan is sitting nicely eating some banana puffs we brought from the States so here goes another note!

Yesterday Jeff had the day off work so we decided to do some fun shopping...or as we call it "Chinese shopping it". Chinese shops are little stores that sell a variety of things for very very cheap. They always have different things and we always enjoy finding awesome deals on things we need. So we spent the afternoon driving around to as many of these different shops as we could find. We found some great deals on a few things we needed as well as some fun little Christmas presents for Tristan. While we were in one of the shops a cute little girl walked in with her mom and as soon as she saw Tristan started pointing and yelling "Nnana! Nnana!". It was so cute and I figured she was about the age where little kids point and yell baby baby when they see a baby. So as we walked past I asked the Mother if that meant baby. Yes it did!! So my new word for the day was Nnana meaning baby! How fun to keep learning new words here and there!

We are really looking forward to officially starting our language study here! We just received an email saying the next beginners setswana class will be starting sometime in January. So starting January we will be going to a setswana class once a week. We are excited to get to learn more than just the greetings and few words that you pick up here and there. Please pray that we will be dedicated in our study of setswana!

Tristan's New Best Friend!

Well I can't believe how long it has been since I have sent an update...I wish I could blame it all on the internet but even though the internet was down for over a month we have had working internet now for a few weeks. I am not a writer =) but hope to get better at keeping you all updated!

I wanted to introduce you to the new addition to our little family! A few weeks ago some good friends here found an abandoned kitten in their yard. It was stuck in their tree meowing one morning and they rescued it. He was very very tiny and probably to little to be away from his Mom yet. He was also starving which made him look even smaller. They called and asked if we would like him and we almost immediately said yes! I was a little nervous about doing the whole cat thing again...many of you know that we have had lots of not so good cat experiences. The idea of having a pigeon killer won out though! Plus kittens are just so cute... =)

He has proven to be a very helpful little guy! True he has had his fair share of issues....like the 3 accidents on our bed when we weren't paying attention and the constant meowing when we first left him outside all day. Oh and we can't forget the time he sprayed Jeff and the chair he was sitting in....still can't figure out why that happened...I didn't know such little kittens could do that. Thankfully the good definitely out weighs the bad! He has become an expert bug killer/eater! I dislike bugs very much so just that in itself is wonderful =). He has also started chasing and attacking pigeons but he is still much smaller than they are so has not become an accomplished pigeon killer yet. I hope he eventually scares them off! Best of all he has become Tristan's best friend! The first time Tristan saw the kitten he started giggling and quickly they became best friends. Wherever one is....so is the other! I have been amazed at how gentle they both are with eachother. Of course Tristan is not super coordinated at 8 months so when he pets his friend it is more like hitting....but the kitten nibbles at his toes and play attacks Tristan like he is one of his sibling kittens....so they stay about equal with any roughness. The kitten has never scratched Tristan even with all of the playing they do....we really feel lucky to have gotten such a sweet kitten!

We have not picked out a name for Tristan's little friend. Instead we plan on waiting to see if Tristan starts calling him something cute when he starts talking. We just call him kitty or kitten for now =). It will be fun to see what his name becomes =).

Here are a few pictures and there are lots more of Tristan and the kitten on my facebook if you want to see more pictures!

I plan to post/email more of our first experiences soon! Thanks for being patient with me =)!

First Experiences in Botswana

We finally have Internet in our house!! Hoooray! There was no way for us to get internet in our house until we received our residents permit. Just a few weeks ago we received our temporary waiver...still no residents permit =). The Lord has definitely been teaching us patience our first few months here! Praise the Lord one of the internet companies was willing to accept our temporary waiver since we still have no permit number. It has been such a blessing to be able to get online at home rather than pack up the baby and go to a friends house to use their internet! I didn't get to keep you all updated on our arrival adventures so here is one of my very first experiences during my first week here in Botswana...

"We've been invited to a Bush Braii", Jeff said. Great! What is a Bush Braii?? "You go out in the bush and have a cook-out. Its great fun." All of a sudden a bush braii didn't sound fun to me. I have a 4 month old baby. Do we sit on the ground out in the bush? Will I have to hold Tristan the whole time we are gone? Are their bathrooms out there? Can I stay home and YOU go? Turns out I ended up going by myself (with Tristan) because Jeff was on an emergency flight. And it was out in the middle of nowhere. And there were no bathrooms. And there was no place to put the baby so he had to be held the whole time BUT it was great fun. Jeff even found us out in the bush when he got finished with his flying. I definitely look forward to more Bush Braiis next year when it cools down again =).

We are having lots of new experiences here...some great others not so great haha. I still have not been brave enough to go in a public restroom =). I hear they are one of the not so great experiences. Anyway I look forward to keeping you all updated on our adventures here. Keep us updated on how you are all doing as well we love hearing news from home! Thanks for all your prayers as we adjust to a new home and a new country!

Love, Sarah (from all of us)

Hello from Africa

Greetings from Botswana!

Yes, the greeting sentence above is correct, I am already here. It may come as a surprise to many of you as my original planned departure date was July 15th. However about 3 weeks ago, I received a call from Flying Mission and they told me that I would be needed earlier if I could make it. To make a long story short, we rebooked my plane tickets and I arrived in the country on June 30th! Needless to say, the last few days have been really interesting and exciting.

The traveling started early (I left Sarah’s parent’s house in Florida around 3:15 AM on June 29th). I flew from Orlando International to New York’s John F Kennedy International Airport. From there I flew to Johannesburg, South Africa and finally to Gabarone, Botswana. I arrived safely in Gabarone at 10:30 AM on June 30th.

Flying Mission Services rolled out the red carpet for me and had between 10-15 guys waiting for me at the airport. They had a company cell phone for me and took me to get my airport ID pass within minutes of my arrival. It was such an encouragement to have that incredible welcome into the country! After my pick up, they took me to see FMS hangar and facilities out at the airport. Since it was around noon on a Monday, I got to sit in on my first FMS Pilot Meeting. They really went out of their way to make me feel like part of the team even on my first day!

During the past few days, I’ve been getting accustomed to Gabarone. Probably the biggest thing I’ve had to get used to is the driving. A US driver’s license is good here for up to 90 days and FMS gave me a car to use during these first few weeks. So I’ve been able to explore the city and look around a bit. The only catch is; people here drive on the left side of the road. So everything is “backwards” to what I’m used to. I’m driving on the left side of the road, shifting gears with my left hand, all while trying to find my way around this new city. Not to mention every time I want to use my turn signal, I end up turning on my windshield wiper blades instead (because the turn signal is on the right side of the steering column here). There is a lot to get used to.


Prayer Update:
• I would certainly appreciate all your prayers as adapting to a new culture is very difficult, stressful, and can at many times be very overwhelming. Homesickness definitely has started creeping in even though I've only been here a few days. I had forgotten how easy we have it in the States.

• I’ve been looking for a house and car the past few days. Right now I’m living with some of the single FMS guys but it is only a temporary setup. Housing here in Gabarone can be hard to find so please pray that God would lead me to exactly what Sarah and I will need.

• It’s very hard to be away from Sarah and Tristan right now. She is still arriving as planned on August 11th. It is going to be a long 6 weeks apart so please keep us in your prayers.


Financial Update:
• Our travel expenses and my King Air training were all covered by gifts and we thank all of you who sacrificed for that. It was a huge blessing!

• As many of you know, we were able to raise about 50% of what we needed for setup costs ($4,500 total from our February newsletter). That money, combined with what we got from selling our car in the States, is covering a number of things (Immigration costs, utility hook up costs, appliances for our house, some furniture, etc). Because of the urgent need for us to join the Flying Mission team, we left without having the full amount needed trusting that God would provide the rest. He always has before.

• All cars in Botswana are imported so they are consistently about $1000.00 more than we had budgeted for.

The TOTAL additional funds still needed are about $3000.00.

Flying Mission pays us a salary of about $1800 dollars a month. It covers our essentials for living (housing, medical/health insurance, food, utilities, etc). In addition to a monthly salary, FMS accepts contributions that they will give to us above the monthly salary. If any of you are interested in sending us monthly support, it will help us save for unexpected things as well as saving for plane tickets back to the US when the time comes.

If you want to give to our ministry please email us at jeffnsarah527@gmail.com and I will send you the form. All gifts ARE tax deductable.


Thank you all for your prayers and support! It means so much to have you all behind us during this time!

Love,

Jeff (for all of us)