Dumelang!  O Tsogile?!

Greetings to you from Botswana, where on Wednesday it was 40 degrees (104 fahrenheit) and today it is only 10 degrees (50 fahrenheit).  My prayers are with all of you who are in the path of or dealing with Hurricane Ike - I am thankful that it has not done the worst possible damage that it could have done.  The weather here has been a bit strange the last couple of days with very high above normal temperatures and then an incredible amount of wind the last couple of days.   Folks from around here say they haven't experienced anything like this before.

My trip here has been good.  I spent the first week in Shakawe (shuh-kah-way) in the northwestern part of Botswana very near the Namibian border.  All of the LBT missionary families from Botswana and Namibia were there for a retreat and it was a good time getting to meet and know all of them.  There was an airborne flu up in that area however, and everyone at the retreat (save yours truly) got sick at one point or another during the week.

Following the retreat I went with a small group over to Rundu in the northern part of Namibia right on the border with Angola to meet with community and church leaders regarding a New Testament project in the Rumanyo language.  Those meetings went well and we had a good opportunity to scope out what the area looked like.

I have been in Francistown resting and catching up on some 'office work' while Jim (my boss) meets with my colleagues for their annual reviews etc.  Tomorrow a group of us is heading to Gaborone, the capital city, for three days of meetings with other church, community, university, and government leaders with some discussion about where in Botswana our family might engage a Bible translation project.  It is actually my hope that we will get to work somewhere here in Botswana and that those meetings will help illuminate the path to make that happen.

On Wednesday afternoon Jim and I fly to Johannesburg South Africa and then Thursday evening at 6PM, I fly back to the United States, arriving in Saint Louis at about 10AM local time on Friday morning.  So lots to do between now and then, but I am definitely in the home stretch with this trip.

Please continue to pray for Maya and the kids back home.  God has blessed them and they have all done quite well in my absence.  Pray for the meetings that happen the next few days to be productive and illuminating so that we can clarify what happens next for our family.

Grace & Peace to you.