$2 Christmas

This year we had just decided not to really do too much for Christmas as all of our Christmas stuff is in our crate which still has not arrived and most likely will not arrive for another 3-4 months. But to our surprise, one of the other missionaries here had an extra tree that they  brought over for us to borrow, so we have been having fun decorating. We bought some Christmas ball ornaments for $2 and we’ve made the rest of our decorations. Below is some pictures of our fun getting ready for Christmas. It’s a little hard to get into the season when it is 90 degrees outside, but we are trying.

We would like to start some of our own Christmas traditions, so if you know of some fun easy things to make or do then we would love to hear from you. (bltast@hotmail.com)

Taylor hanging the Christmas ball ornaments (the tree is just a little taller than she is)

Above and below: Taylor making some ornaments for our tree.

We also made some sugar cookies…I think Taylor ate more of the dough than we actually baked.

Rainbows

With it being so hot here recently, we have had several storms in the evenings. It has produced some pretty magnificent rainbows and colors in the sky. Below are two of our most recent rainbows. Little things remind us every day of God’s promises!

Mokolodi Nature Reserve

We have a game park right outside of Gaborone that you can do self-drives through. Recently we’ve enjoyed taking a drive through the reserve and packing a picnic to enjoy the scenery. Below are some pretty cool animals that we have seen recently.

 ELEPHANT

KUDU (these are about 750 pounds and as big as a vehicle)

DUNG BEETLE (I know this is gross, but it’s really cool how they roll poo)

GIRAFFE

Yep, Amanda risked her life to get a picture with the giraffe…ok they weren’t that close and she is pretty fast

ZEBRA

We got to a pretty high point and found this cool overlook. Taylor was laughing at her daddy who would set the timer on the camera and run as fast as he could to get in the picture. Fun times!

Heart of a Servant

Taylor has really been enjoying Africa and she is coming into her own. One of the greatest joys that we have been able to see is her servants heart. She loves serving others! Today we went to church and she had a small ziplock bag full of goldfish, her favorite, sent from the States. She however went to the chairs behind her and asked the 4 boys if they wanted any. When they said yes, she was so happy and gave them one each and then one for her self and she continued to do this, one for you, one for you, and one for me! Next she went and got paper and crayons and gave them to the boys, just loving every minute of serving them. She opens so many doors, we are so blessed!

Any time we have company to our house-our language helper, friends, or her nanny-the first thing that she does is ask if they want anything. She comes and says, "do you want..." and she tries to remember everything that we have to eat/drink like bananas, milk, kool-aid, yogurt, and so on and so on. She loves to serve and it's amazing when she discovers something that they want, she runs into the kitchen and tells mom and then she will serve them. She is such a blessing!

Hunting In Africa

A hunt story - I had the privilege of going hunting with a fellow missionary, Robert Fortenberry, the day before thanksgiving and had a blast. I am not a hunter, never had taken anything in the States, but here in Botswana we have been eating a ton of game meat and loving it. This was a chance to stock up my freezer and I took it.

Hunting in Africa is very different than hunting in the States. There are no tree stands and its a very proactive hunting style. We were in my truck and we spooked a group of male impalas. We waited about 20 minutes and then put on full camo and started to stalk. We walked up a very rocky hill and started to come down, Robert had a feeling that he knew where they might be and sure enough we saw a little movement in the bushes. It took about 1 hour and 15 minutes before we were in place and then set up our shooting sticks and tried to be as still as we could. There were 5 males total, the biggest was laying down and others feeding. The brush only gave an open shot of about 5 feet, we were up the hill about 130 yards away and we just had to wait for one to come into the clear. One by one they passed the open area on the wrong side and there was never a clear shot. We waited another 15 minutes until all were in thick bush except one so Robert made a sound and sure enough he stopped, but he stopped right behind a tree, no shot. The biggest male however woke up hearing the sound giving me about 1/2 his body. I was told to take him through the shoulder and with a Winchester 375, I hit the mark.

The Impala had horns about 22 inches and weighed about 135 to 145 pounds. We had our first meat from him today and wow, it was great! It did not taste like game meat at all but a wonderful steak. There was so much meat, we were able to load our freezer and pass along some meat to my pastor and 2 church members and they were so thankful. This impala will keep our family fed for quite a while. I’m hooked!

Pictures from Zambia

Here is a link to all of our pictures from Zambia. Hope you enjoy!
http://theturnerbabies.shutterfly.com/

Lusaka, Zambia (city living)

The past 30 days we have been part of an orientation program called 40/40 in Zambia (I’ll do a separate posting about each part). Our first 12 days were spent in the capital city of Zambia called Lusaka. We were able to go out every day with our helpers to different parts of the city and tell people about Jesus and to learn about the African culture.

On one of these days out in the community, we were able to meet with someone who was sick to learn about the healthcare available. The lady we met with was named Brenda. She had the end stages of AIDS and also had just had a surgery to remove a boil from her stomach…she was the skinniest person I have ever seen in real life and she barely had enough energy to talk. When I first saw her my stomach had a huge pit in it as I could see how sick and close to death she was. We sat and talked with her about an hour and she had never heard the name of God or Jesus before. I told her about a 15 minute story of Creation to Christ and I could not hold back the tears as we sat with her and I told her I didn’t want her to go to hell, and as tears streamed down her face, she asked Jesus to come into her heart. This is why I came to Africa and if no one else gets saved, it has been worth it. Please pray for Brenda as she is in so much pain and praise the Lord for her accepting Jesus into her life. ~Amanda

Taylor playing in a tree

Here are some of the helpers (Bridget was my helper-3rd from the right)

We ate out one day with our helpers. This day Brent was able to eat some interesting things like the caterpillars above. Amanda stuck with trustworthy/safe CHICKEN.

 

To get around town we had to take local transportation. We all rode these mini buses to our destinations. The most we ever fit on one mini bus was 21 people and it was very packed.

Homestay

For 3 days and nights we lived with an African family…Nelson and Ida Banda and their 9 children. Amanda was able to help Ida do the cooking and washing of the dishes, while Brent worked with Nelson and did a lot of sitting around as most African men do while the women are working. All cooking is done outside over a fire and washing the dishes is also done by drawing water and scrubbing/washing the dishes in a bucket outside. If a pot is really dirty you scrub it with dirt first to get the yuck off of it, so ladies if you don’t have a scouring pad around or Ajax then just go outside and get you some dirt.

Nelson and Ida Banda and most of their family

Brent coloring and using stickers with the kids

It’s planting season, so we walked to their “close” fields which was an hour walk each way. Taylor rode on Amanda’s back in a chitenge (wrap).

Taylor’s new friend Mariana. Her favorite part of our homestay was getting to run around without shoes.

Petauke, Zambia (rural living)

After leaving Lusaka, we rode 8 hours by bus to Petauke, Zambia. This was the village/rural living side of Zambia. We lived in a tent for 12 days and had to pump our water for showers. The showers were not  your typical shower as you filled up a bucket and with a pulley raised it up and the bottom of the bucket had a nozzle that you could turn on and off to take your shower. We also had to use squatty potties here-some had toilets seats over them but they were all outdoor. Let’s just say that I will never take a shower or toilet seat for granted again!
We also had some little critter friends out in our campsite with us. We saw several snakes, scorpions, and some of the biggest spiders I have ever seen in my life. Let’s just say when it got dark, I was ready to be back in the tent and had my bug killing spray very close.

Our tent home

Brent with the other men went to a village to meet with the chief.


We had to walk quite a ways to get back to some of the villages (sometimes an hour one way). We normally always had a crowd of children around us which was fun.

Taylor was in school back at the campsite while we were out in the villages. She had a great time playing with her other 2 year old friends-Madylanne, Levi, and Judah.

Ibis Gardens

To end our 30 days of training, we went to Ibis Gardens, a resort just outside of Lusaka, for 3 days. We enjoyed some relaxing time and getting those long needed showers.

The grounds at Ibis Gardens were beautiful, we enjoyed our time there

Taylor was enjoying running in the grass after the guinea fowl

Here’s a picture of most of the staff and participants who went through 40/40 with us

If you want to know how to pronounce some words in Chinanga (pronounced: Chin-yan-ja), one of the 72 languages in Zambia, here you go:

• Mulibwanji (Moo-lee-bwan-gee) = How are you?
• Ndilibwino (Ndee-lee-bween-oh) = I am fine
• Zikomokwambili (Zee-ko-mokam-bee-lee) = Thank you very much
• Mwauka Bwanji (Mwa-oo-ka-bwan-gee) = Good morning (you rose how?)
• Nauka Bwino (Na-oo-ka-bween-oh) = I rose well
• Mwachoma Bwanji (Mwa-ch-oh-ma-bwan-gee) = Good afternoon (You passed the day how?)
• Nachoma Bwino (Na-ch-oh-ma-bween-oh) = I have passed the day well