Dear Faithful friends and family.  Hard to believe another month has passed and we are already to March.  Just a few updates to share with you:

This past Tuesday I spent most of the day at the LBT office in Aurora, Illinois.  The main accomplishment was to turn in paperwork for immigration to Botswana.  So, what's the big deal about that?  Well, it is a significant step toward our departure and it begins to narrow the window for when we are departing.  Some of that, of course, depends on how efficiently the government processes our paperwork and it assumes they will welcome us to come.  But, when we apply, we also give a ball park date for our arrival, which is anticipated to be in July or August.  In other words, it is a bit of a leap of faith that we believe our prayer and financial support will continue to be at the needed level to enable us to depart as planned. 

So, what is involved in applying for immigration to Botswana?  The most unusual part was Botswana Immigration Form 3 where a doctor certified for each one of us that we were not 1) idiots, 2) imbeciles (and I cannot exactly tell you what the difference between those two) or 3) feeble minded.  We also could not have certain diseases, addictions, or psychological problems.  There were also other forms filled in duplicate regarding our intentions and organizational affiliations to do mission work there.  We also got to each have four more passport photos made, and submitted certified copies of stuff I have never shown anyone before:  high school diplomas, college degrees, seminary masters' degree, ordination certificate, marriage license.  It was quite an adventure assembling all that stuff and gave us pause to reflect on all of the various experiences and privileges the Lord has blessed us with.  It is our hope, prayer, and privilege to use those gifts from Him to serve the Bakgalagari. 

In terms of updates, Chris, Katherine, and I continue to travel  to visit partners churches - we are in Michigan until March 22.  Maya, Matt, Josh, and Becca continue to hold down the fort in Saint Louis.  Maya is anxiously awaiting spring's arrival there so she can get in a more regular routine of running again like she was doing last fall.  The exercise helped her to keep her energy up and mental faculties in good shape for dealing with the challenges of temporarily being a 'single parent'.  I continue to teach Chris and Katherine - we are making great strides in reading, writing, and spelling, and are wrapping up a unit of study on World War I in our two year U.S. history studies.

Praise & Prayer Requests:

Praise - for new partnerships with folks from Immanuel Lutheran Broken Arrow OK, Grace Lutheran Tulsa OK, and King of Kings Glenpool OK.  For Rich's installation as missionary with LCMS World Mission Board on Feb 22 (LMCS assigns Rich to LBT), Praise that our paperwork for immigration will be on its way to Botswana soon, Praise for the Lord's provision for our family in all our needs.

Prayer requests:  For our family as we are apart these next months, for many to share the vision of this ministry to help make the word of God available to speakers of Shekgalagari, for an increase in prayer and financial partnership, that we will be effective mission partners to our partner churches, for our vehicles in the USA to hold together for our remaining time here, for wisdom in all matters.

Thank you for your partnership in the gospel,

Rich for Maya & The Crew