Christmas Blessings

Sally and I are truly blessed in so many ways. We have a wonderful family, three great kids of whom we are missing something fierce this week. They are all together in the midWest for the next couple of weeks. Megan finished her second semester abroad in Dakar Senegal and then flew back to the states right into the huge snowstorm on the East Coast. She spent two nights in NYC until she finally got a flight to Detroit on Monday. She and Adam and Kelly will spend time between the Pepper family and the Jessups traveling between Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee.

Sally and I will be celebrating Christmas with our mission family friends. The Flora family who have been living in the mountains will come down on the 24th (you can see their blog at http://jflora.wordpress.com/). The Dials will come over on the 25th along with Justin and Amanda and Bryan. It will be a feast of food for the 14 of us. It is hot here (in the high 80s this week) so we will be trying to find some cool shade to eat under. Varieties of food are good here so we will be having ham and a turduken along with other amazing foods.

What we are excited about is spending time with friends in remembering and celebrating the incarnation of the Son of God - Emmanual - God with us! There is no other religion in the world where by God intervenes in human history to actually enter into the human race to provide a way of forgiveness, an example of the way he intends us to live, and the means to empower us to live changed lives. If there is anything that the Basotho people need today it is a restored relationship with God and empowerment to live changed lives. Jesus Christ offers that, the real gift.

We pray that each of you will experience the love and joy of Christmas this week. I would encourage you each day to remember - Emmanual - God with us! It is so amazing!

We are so grateful for the thousands of members of Southern Baptist Churches that sacrificially give this time of year through the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. 100% of that offering goes to the field to support us and others. Please give generously as your gifts are what enables us and 5,600 other missionaries to continue sharing the good news of Jesus. We are also grateful for all our other friends and supporters who have been encouraging us, providing for us, praying for us, as we have gone through this year of transition from Uganda to USA to Lesotho.

Daily by His Grace...

Qabane Valley

Tuesday and Wednesday this week I went with a team to the Qabane Valley to do an assessment for a new airfield and health post. Qabane Valley is located in the Southern part of Lesotho up in the mountains. We went there as the District Health Management Team had identified this area as a priority #1 area as they have VERY difficult access to health care services. As you can see, this time we didn't ride horses but used one of the military helicopters. Although I am learning to really enjoy riding horses, I was told that even the experienced horse riders were having difficulty with the eroded terrain of this area. So, the five of us packed our gear and went via military chopper. For this trip it was myself, MAF Pilot Justin Honaker and his wife Amanda, and two from Mohale's Hoek District. We left Tuesday morning amidst dark clouds and wind, but the LDF pilot got us there safely. We actually landed right in the middle of the fields that Justin and Amanda would assess for the airstrip.

We carried our gear (backpacks, tent, medical supplies, etc)

around a donga (eroded valley that usually contains a stream) to the nearby village - 30 minutes away. We were met there by the

chief who naturally wondered who we were and why we were there. We talked for a while and he was quite pleased to allow us to pitch our tent there, to use his house for the mobile medical

clinic, and to have the pitso (gathering of villagers) at his village.

Within a couple of hours people had gathered and were ready to hear what we had to say. We were

joined by a member of the Qabane Community Council who has been lobbying for better health care in the valley. We held the pitso at an area of the village that was like a peninsula that overlooked the Qabane River. As our team was walking toward that area, Ntate

Mojakhomo told Amanda and Me' Tumeliso that they had to walk down on a lower path, not the one we were on. He then proceeded to explain to me that as we were walking next to the cattle kraal, the women could not walk next to it as there is the belief that they might somehow badly influence the fertility of the cattle. Once we got to the pitso area, we followed the usual customs of beginning with an introduction by the chief of the village, then introductions by each group, then a prayer, and then we began the discussions.

People were very interested in the fact that we wanted to help them with better health care. They had the usual questions about compensation of their land that would be used by the airstrip and health post. It was interesting to hear the chief that was in charge of that land tell the people that they shouldn't allow this land to stop them from getting important services like health care. Then people began to share stories of how difficult it is to get health care. They basically have two choices - go down the valley to Ha Sekake (gov't clinic) or across a big mountain to Tebellong Hospital (mission hospital). They shared how when they go to the gov't one, that they often find it out of drugs and there is no doctor there. Then they told us horrific stories of going the other way where they have had several women raped, others beaten and robbed, and others having their medications stolen. They pointed to one side of the mountain

that was 'the way of the rapers' and the other way as the 'way of the thieves.' They practically begged us to hurry up and get the airstrip and health post built. They were heart wrenching stories. On a really good point, the people were very interested and willing to do their part as far as the land and construction, but still had concerns about government compensation. The pitso ended with a verbal 'vote' that was an overwhelming "Eh, Ntate" (yes sir!).

So, now it was time to begin the mobile clinic and for Justin and Amanda to begin their work of airstrip eval.

They walked across/through the donga and began the tedious work of measuring

distances, slopes, angles, etc. Several guys

accompanied them and helped to put rock

'markers' at various places to denote possible boundaries of the airstrip.

Nurse Tumeliso and I began seeing the people that had gathered for the medical services. As I've shared before, we are still learning Sesotho, so Idid my best at offering a prayer before we began medical care. While we saw patients

(83 that afternoon), Ntate Mojokhomo was doing some health education and gathering information on the number of villages in the valley that would benefit (52).

We ended the clinic around 6PM and then set up our tent. Part of us stayed in the tent and others in the house. While cooking supper we

took time to 'debrief' the day and plan for the next. We had opportunity to

enjoy a beautiful sunset and give thanks to the Lord for the things of the day.

It's gets light around 4:30AM here so I was up and working on getting some coffee. We had our breakfast and then began a second day of mobile clinic by 6:00AM. We had seen about 80 patients that morning when a husband brought in his wife. She was crying and short of breath. She was saying that she was so sick and was going to die. Turned out she was so severely

anemic that she was in pending heart failure. She needed urgently to get to Maseru to the hospital for blood transfusion. We were very fortunate that the helicopter arrived about and hour later and we packed up our gear and took the lady with us back to Maseru. Unfortunately we had to leave behind about 60 people who had not been seen for medical care. We were back in Maseru in 35 minutes and the lady was transported via ambulance to the hospital. (The lady is doing better now having had blood.)

Now we have the task of getting reports written and finding funding to do the work. Pray with us that the government will be able to find the funding. I will be meeting the high level Ministry of Health officials early next year to present this area and about 4 others like it.

Thanks for praying! All for His glory...

Return to Ha Thaba Bosiu

Monday we set off from Maseru towards the mountains.After climbing through two passes we reached the Mohale Dam and Reservoir area. We picked up the public health nurse (Ntate Khachane) from the Mohale Clinic and drove for an hour along the Mohale reservoir and up the Senquenyane River valley. The last 10 minutes was all up hill in 4WD as we reached the end of the road at Sekolopata. We were met there by our ‘transportation’ team of donkeys and horses. People from Ha Thaba Bosiu and surrounding villages had agreed that their part of our coming would be transportation, and they had kept their part of the deal. Supplies for the mobile medical clinic as well as our bags and food were expertly placed in gunny sacks and tied on the backs of the donkeys. Then it was our turn to get on horses and head out. Sally has decided that the old Steven Curtis Chapman song “Saddle up your horses…” should be our theme song. We were the ‘veterans’ of horse riding now as the nurse that came with us had only ridden once before. Hit the trail…This time we had gotten word that there was a way to get there without having to cross the Senquenyane three times, but only once. We were all for that as the last time we had near disasters with horses slipping on slimy rocks and Sally’s horse just not wanting to cross at all.

The path was good most of the way with one major river crossing and three smaller streams. Just about a mile from the village we encountered a rock slide that had reduced the comfortably wide path to a narrow 12 inches with about a 100 foot drop off. We chose to get off the horses at that point and walk/crawl across. Although we rode horses, Melvin (MAF pilot) rode his dirt bike. It was quite a challenge as the trail is not the best and crossing a river became quite the challenge. But by God’s grace we made it.

After 2.5 hours of riding we reached Ha Thaba Bosiu. They had expected us to be there in the morning in order to hold a ‘pitso’, a meeting of the villagers and chiefs to discuss the airstrip and health post concept. As we got there around 3PM (later than they expected), many had left and agreed to come back the next morning. After a brief meeting with the chief we were taken to the primary school where we set up shop. The headmaster of the school had graciously agreed to allow us to use two of the classrooms – one for the medical clinic, and one for sleeping in. We unpacked medicines and began seeing patients. As some had traveled by foot for several hours to get there, we saw them first so they could be on their way back. We worked up till dusk seeing 67 patients.

Then it was time to unpack our personal things before it got too dark. We had foam mats and sleeping bags for on the floor. Melvin (MAF Pilot) had brought two single burner cookers so we proceeded to make up some supper and coffee (I usually travel with my home roasted coffee and coffee press).Good food and good conversation. Good night of sleep (well as you can on a cement floor at age 50).

It was light by 4:30AM and we had patients lined up by 5:00AM. We got our breakfast andbegan clinic by 6:00AM. Around 9:00 AM people had gathered for the pitso near the chief’s house. We were a bit disappointed that only 8 of the 50+ villages has

sent representatives but it was still very informative. Lots of questions about who would pay for it, who will build it, how often will the ‘doctor team’ come, and what their responsibilities would be. We (the district representatives, the local council rep, MAF and LFDS as well as the chief) explained the idea of community participation being essential for success. We need them to ‘buy into’ the idea and provide voluntary labor and some supplies for it to work. Several of the ladies said they were ready to start building the next day if necessary. I really believe that they know the benefit that the health services will provide and want that for their families. In the discussions I shared that I was both a doctor and a teacher of God’s Word and one of them suggested that Sally and should just move there and stay with them as they needed a ‘priest and doctor.’ The more we asked we were able to find out that there was one Catholic group up the valley and one Protestant group in Ha Thaba Bosiu but no churches. It is truly a needy place both medically and spiritually.Before concluding the pitso, the chief insisted that all go up to the area where the proposed airstrip would be built. About 60 of us walked theone kilometer to the area and Melvin helped to show where the boundaries would be, and who’s field’s might be affected. Several questions ensued including concerns about whether or not the ‘wind’ from the airplane might damage their crops. They have experience with helicopters coming to deliver the money for old age pension payments in the village. Again the issue of who would compensate for the fields came up and we deferred that to the chief and local council to work out.After the airstrip pitso we were back to the school for the medical clinic work. Melvin headed out on his motorcycle as he needed to get back for flying.

Sally did the dispensing of medications along with occasional language assistance from the public health nurse from Mohale. She did a great job getting the right drugs with instructions to each and every patient. Ntate Khachane was also busy doing HIV testing and counseling. Ntate Mike was working with me (he was a nurse before becoming an information specialist) seeing patients. That day we saw 149 patients. While we were seeing patients, we also gave out gospel materials in Sesotho. In addition, I had gotten some Basotho Christian music and some shepherd stories that I put on our Saber MP3 player. People enjoyed listening to the music and the stories that shared the gospel. We ended the clinic that day just before dark at 7PM. Needless to say we were all exhausted, but happy to have served a lot of people. We had arranged to head back onWednesday morning but there was still the demand to see more patients. We began again at 6AM and worked up till 11AM. All in all we took care of 265 patients including one who was home bound and we ended up doing and IV and injections of antibiotics as he was so sick (TB/AIDS/Diarrhea). Just as we were about to prepare to pack the medications and supplies on thedonkeys, a lady came riding up on an horse with her 7 month old baby boy. He was sick with pneumonia and she had heard there was clinic. He was really sick and so

I gave antibiotic injection, liquid Tylenol, oral rehydration mix, and oral antibiotics to continue. I prayed for him and his mother, entreating God to show his mercy and his power by healing this baby boy. He really needed to be in a hospital on oxygen and IV fluids but with no airstrip there, it would be a 3-4 hour horse ride just to get to a clinic, not even a hospital. He was in no condition to endure such a ride. (I don’t know if he survived or not but will enquire the next time we are in Ha Thaba Bosiu).

We headed out on our horse and donkey caravan at noon. Three Basotho men accompanied us on foot to drive the donkeys along. We survived the land slide area and the river crossing and made it back to Sekolopata where the truck was parked. As we were about to leave we were met by the local chief who proceeded to tell me how she had not slept for two nights as she was concerned about the safety of our truck. I expected her to ask for some form of payment for this ‘trouble’ and she did indeed ask. She very politely asked if I had a couple of candies I could give her, which I gladly shared with her. She is a sweet old lady. From there it was back to Mohale and then to Maseru.

It was a successful journey as far as the pitsos we held, the clinics, and sharing the hope of Christ. We had several ask when we would be back and we are not sure. We may be back in January with a volunteer couple from the USA. Sally and I would really like to take the Jesus film there and do another clinic and health training. We are waiting to hear if the Lesotho government will fund the airstrip and health post so that we can begin that process.

Thanksgiving

We had a great afternoon of fellowship and food with friends on Friday as we celebrated Thanksgiving. We had around 40 missionary friends and family over. We put up a tent for shade as we don't have any big trees and it gave us a place to all sit together.

Everyone brought their favorite dish, something that makes Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving for them. It was a quite a feast as you can see the table(s) were full. We had turkeys, yes turkeys. We could only get ones around 6-7 lbs (from Brazil) so we had 5 of them, along with all the other Thanksgiving trappings.

After a wonderful meal, we took time to share

as a group what we were thankful for. Sally had taken time to print 'thanks' verses as part of the table decorations. Reading God's word and sharing personal thanks was a great way to recognize a small part of what God has so greatly blessed us with.

The kids had a great time of hanging out together, talking, playing games, just being kids. A bit of sidewalk chalk added some fun and opportunity for artistic expression.

I enjoyed sharing some of my home roasted coffee as I prepared some lattes, cuppacinos, and espressos to go with the variety of amazing desserts.

Well, we didn't have a football game to watch after eating, but we did have some great time talking, laughing, and just relaxing and enjoying friendships. We did miss being with the Pepper and Jessup families, but we are thankful for our missionary family that God has provided.

As a prayer request, this Mon-Wed Sally and I are heading back to the mountain village of Ha Thaba Bosiu along with MAF pilot Melvin to meet with villages affected to hold a 'pitso' to discuss the impact of the proposed airstrip and health post. Once again we will be traveling via 4WD then horses to get there. Monday will be a 'pitso', with Tue/Wed a mobile medical clinic. Pray that the people will see and hear the love of Christ in all that we do. I'll post after we get back.

Cherry Festival MTB Race and Christmas Carols

Saturday we got up at 5AM to head over to Ficksburg, South Africa (about an hour from Maseru) for the annual Cherry Festival Mountain Bike Race. We went with friends and colleagues Justin and Amanda Honaker and Bryan Eygabroad (MAF Missionaries).

I've been biking back and forth to work and doing some weekend rides for fitness and in an attempt to train. Justin and Bryan convinced me it was time to join them in the race.

We'd had three straight days of rains which made the race one of mud, mud, and more slippery mud mixed with an assortment of things from the fields and farms. I was hoping I didn't slip, slide, and fall off as one part of the race trail but us through the middle of a farm complete with various cow related obstacles.

I did the 20km race (my first MTB race) and the other two guys did the 40km. All in all there were close to 200 racers. Sally and Amanda saw us off on the race and then went into town to enjoy some cherry related delights and some coffee to warm up. The three of us completed our races. I think I actually gained weight on it from the rain and the amount of mud caked on my bike.

It was a great group of people to ride with and the scenery was beautiful. After the race and some photos, we ended up taking our bikes and our selves right into the lake (dam reservoir) to attempt to get the majority of the mud and other debris off ourselves and bikes. We followed that with hot off the grill boerwors and cokes and then headed back towards Lesotho. We stopped at Constatias to get some fresh cherries, some cherry jam, and a sheet of home made peach fruit roll up. It was just plain fun.

After cleaning up and a short rest, Sally and I went back across the border with Mike and Sharol Shutts (MAF Missionaries) to the Ladybrand Dutch Reformed Church for the annual Christmas Festival of Carols program.

It may seem a bit early for this, but we've been told that in Southern Africa the whole area shuts down for about a month surrounding Christmas/New Years holidays.

The program was a combination of Christmas music performed by the Free State Symphony along with three choirs. The music was great, with the audience joining in for

three of the songs. We especially enjoyed the last two songs - Silent Night and Oh Come All Ye Faithful - as we sang parts of the songs in English, Afrikaans, and Sesotho. It was a fine way to end the day.

Audio Bible and Fresh Graves

I returned to Matsaile Village Health Post on Thursday after almost two months. Had a couple of things I wanted to check on since our last visit. One was our patients, and the other was the state of the audio Bible player I had left behind with a young man.

A few minutes after arriving in the village we were greeted by the area chief, Morena Tsepo

(Morena = Chief). He was quite concerned that we had not been coming, but was very happy to see us. We talked a bit about the concept of expanding the runway to make it possible to land both directions as well as the idea of building a health post structure at the runway in order to better serve the 7 villages. He pledged his support which is crucial as he is the chief-of-chiefs in this area of the mountains.

I was quite concerned about our patients as there are a number of people there with hypertension, diabetes, and mental health issues that need their meds on a daily basis.

Basically there are two options when we can't get there; go with out, the other is to walk about 4 hours crossing a river to get to a health clinic (Matebeng Village). It is quite interesting as this health post probably has the most elderly people that come to the clinic (an old man is called 'Ntate Moholo' and an old woman 'Nkono') and almost all have osteoarthritis (old age arthritis). They love to get what is the equivalent to BenGay cream along with their ibuprofen or panadol. I knew with our not visiting that many would be suffering.

As it turned out, some had left early that morning to walk to Matebeng as they had lost hope in our coming as we had failed to come three times before. But others were there and more came once they heard and saw the plane. As always, the people were very grateful for o

ur coming and providing this service. Our team that day was myself, a nurse, and a pharmacy tech (the one pictured). The nurse and I saw 53 patients that day, and Mabakoena

('ma-ba-kwey-na') dispensed meds to each of the 53. We enquired about those with chronic illness and were told that some went without, and others had made that long journey - basic

ally an all day walk to and fro. We are really thankful to be back flying again. After seeing the patients I had a good talk with the area chief - Morena Tsepo. We talked again about the concept of lengthening the gravel runway and building a clinic structure at the runway to serve the 7 villages.

But hey, what about that audio Bible thing? It is called the Proclaimer.

It's a battery powered MP3 player that can be charged by its solar panel, hand crank, or electricity. I had been bringing it and playing it for those waiting to be seen in the clinic. I had decided the last time to leave it in the hands of Ntate Tsupane,the young man that looks after the empty shell building that we use in Matsaile village. He shared with me that he loved it, was listening twice a day, and others were also listening to it. By the way, it contains the New Testament in Sesotho. Unfortunately, the OT is n

ot available in audio form in Sesotho. His friend (Shadrach) decided he should crank it as I took the picture. As many Basotho in the mountains can't read (or find it difficult to read the rather old Sesotho of the Bible), this tool is really valuable. In case you're wondering where it came from, there is a cool organization called "Faith Comes by Hearing" that gave us 6 of the units. I have shared them with our other colleagues in the mountains and they are now getting them as well. If you'd be interested to learn more or perhaps help them, please visit the web site (www.faithcomesbyhearing.com).

Well, the one thing I was not expecting to see when I got back to Matsaile were the 6 fresh graves, one being a child's. I found out that day that there was another one to be filled on Saturday as a village member had been emergency evacuated from Matsaile the

week before but had died at Queen II hospital in Maseru. His body was to be flown back there on Friday (MAF flies caskets as they can remove seats from the plane to fit it in). The six fresh graves were a stark reminder of the fact that

40-50 Basotho are dying every day just from HIV/TB. I don't have the details on what these six died of but you can be sure that HIV/TB had a part in some of them. The more sobering fact was that some of them may have died with out hearing the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was a push for me to work harder on language learning so I can clearly share the hope of Christ in their heart language.

As I was finishing with the last patient I heard the plane pass over the village. Melvin was able to land safely and so we began the 20 minute walk to the airstrip. Ntate Tsupane, Ntate Shadrach and 4 village health workers accompanied us as they always do, helping to carry the medical supplies, and as a gesture of kindness. The last photo I took reminded me that there are still 'dark clouds' on the horizon in Lesotho, as the King of Light is not yet shining in all areas of the mountains. That's part of the task that God has given Sally and I, to be light in Lesotho in such a way that people will see the good works and glorify God (Matthew 5:13-16).

Oh yeah, Sally is now out of her half-cast and now is doing exercises to get mobility back in her elbow. We go back to the orthopedic surgeon on the 25th. We continue to thank God that her arm is getting better each day.

Thanks for praying for the Kingdom work in Lesotho. We are so thankful for the support we have to be able to be here, to the thousands of faithful members of SBC churches that give each week to the Cooperative Program and to the annual Lottie Moon offering; and to those of you from other churches that help support us.

Daily by His grace...

Inside Out Safety

Sally and I just finished two days of training with the MAF Lesotho team. The seminar taught by Mr. Kent from MAF-USA was entitled "Inside Out Safety" and had the purpose of helping us as a team to identify factors that affect safety in our individual lives and in our aviation operations. The title was catchy as it reflected the content of the materials that were focusing on internal issues as well as external factors that affect safety.

We did some fun exercises in small groups to teach us better ways to listen as well as communicate. You know how you can have someone talking to you and before they even finish you have ten questions or 2 solutions to what they are talking about going through your mind, and you miss the point of what they were really saying. Easy to do, but a hard habit to break...

I especially enjoyed the seminar as it took a completely reverse way of looking at safety as compared to the usual aviation safety seminars that begin with rules and regulations and standard operating procedures. This seminar started by looking at our inner self, how even our spiritual life has a definite affect on safety. How the ways that we treat (or mistreat) others affect safety. He then built from the inner self to the team dynamics, to the aircraft and its systems, to procedures and operations manuals to the overall system. I found it refreshing and challenging as I could see how important little things like really listening is. In aviation we all listen and repeat back critical information (like when the tower gives clearance for take off), but we need to use those same skills in how we interact with others outside of the airplane.

It was so cool to see the value that MAF places on family units in overall team and operational safety as all the spouses were required to participate in this seminar. It is a first to see that at aviation safety training, but so right. I think we all benefited from the training and we certainly enjoyed the fellowship time together.

The apostle James was right when he penned the words

"Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God." James 1:19-20 ESV

Be safe!

Back Flying Again!

We got word today that the government has finally paid the funds to MAF! Now we begin working out the schedule of getting patients and staff back to the mountains, and staff that are long over due for leave out of the mountains.

We have 7 nurses that are due back to 4 different health centers, as well as 21 patients that have been at the National Referral Hospital (Queen II) that are discharged and very ready to go home.

I can only say that the staff is so excited to know that they can now get back to doing what they are supposed to do. I am particularly excited about the second week of November when we head back to the two Health Posts (Matekane and Matsaile). The only health care available to those areas is when we come for the day, so I know we will be very busy. Thanks for praying for us.

Healing Arm, Hail Storms, and Heavenly Work

Got back from the ortho yesterday and he said Sally is healing well. She has two more weeks of the half cast and then can begin exercising it. I think she has completely given up on my skills in using a curling iron or a straightener on her hair. The other day as I started to curl part of it she placed one of those silicon hot pads next to her cheek and ear - not engendering much confidence on my part. Hey, I have never burnt anyone with a heated hair device, but I do think that those straighteners could cook a small toasted cheese sandwich...Meanwhile, she is getting better, less pain, and her hair looked really good yesterday (with no help on my part).

I don't know if there is an international hail database but Maseru must be high on the list of places with hail. We have had 5 hail storms since March of this year. Last night's was quite the storm. I saw that it was getting dark and went outside to look to the West. I heard what I would have called the sound of a tornado had we been in the midwest. In about 3 minutes we had incredible winds and hail that ranged from pea size to marble with a few shooter marbles thrown in there. Couple of the MAF houses had windows broken out. Our friends about an hour from here had golf ball size hail last week. (I kid you not. They had some in their freezer they showed us). Although it is interesting, it is not good for the

crops as you can imagine. It is mid Spring here so many young plants are damaged including the young fruits (peaches and apricots). Unlike other areas of Africa, we have had good rains and we hope that there will be a good harvest this year. Remember, most Basotho are subsistence farmers and depend on each and every harvest to survive.

OK, so what's the "Heavenly Work" part of today's title? As you know, I am still not flying as the government has yet to pay the flying bill. So as I sit in my office at the hanger, I do still do medical work. In addition to the administrative aspects of LFDS I also see patients. Many are family members of staff or those that have come down from the mountains for other things.

Today I saw an older lady (65) for her hypertension and arthritis. She had not been taught about the need for daily medicine and so had been off her hypertension meds for 5 months! Needless to say her pressure was a bit high. Fortunately she had not had a heart attack or a stroke (secondary complications from uncontrolled hypertension is the second leading cause of death in women here). I treated her two problems, did some health education and then as always, asked about her spiritual life.

She lives in the mountains at a village called Lebekeng. There is a health center that our LFDS and PIH staff run. She shared with me that 'a long time ago in 1974 I asked Jesus to be my Lord and Savior.' As we talked about that and what she is doing now she shared that she is the pastor of her church called Rhema Living Church and that she has a project where she teaches and feeds orphans (and other vulnerable children). She was so passionate about her relationship with Jesus Christ and the work she is doing for the Kingdom. She shared with me about how there is no work for the people in that part of the mountains (except to farm) and that many kids go hungry as the families have no money for food. Then there are the kids that are orphaned. There is a good HIV/AIDS program at the Lebekeng government clinic in that village so once someone gets tested, they can be evaluated for the need for ARVs. After we talked some more, we prayed together, asking God to give her strength, healing, perseverance in her work.

I found it interesting that she named the church Rhema Living Church. I know there is some controversy between Evangelicals and Pentacostals over what the Greek word 'rhema' means, but in this case, I think she is getting it. The Word of God is clear on what we ought to do for orphans. How God conveyed that to her doesn't matter to me. What does is that she has a passion for orphans. God does call us to care for orphans and widows, as well as those that are weak, poor, and suffering injustice. I thank God for Me' Masemphe and her love for kids. It is just so interesting to me that for the past two weeks Sally and I are involved in a Bible study on 'Loving Justice.' It is so good to see what God sees as priority being done as ministry by Me' Masemphe.

I look forward to getting back to Lebekeng Village next month (provided we get flying again) to go and see the Rhema Living Church Centre for Orphans. May God bless His children...

Dislocation Fracture of Sally's left arm

Sally and I were in Bloemfontein today (about 2 hours from Maseru) to do some shopping and Sally slipped and fell and ended up getting a dislocation fracture of her Left elbow. We went to the ER and were attended to. The good thing was that in the process of doing the X-ray the dislocation went back in place and so no need for surgery. SHe was evaluated by an orthopedic surgeon. She has to have her arm immobilized for the next 4 weeks with a half cast and sling. Pain is not bad when she is not moving around but more when she moves around. There'll be no driving for the next 4 weeks as we have a standard transmission truck.

Appreciate your prayers for Sally, for quick healing, and for patience while she is in the cast/sling during the next 4 weeks. We go back to the orthopedic surgeon OCtober 28th.

Certainly not what we planned for the day. We are so thankful that we were able to get good treatment in a timely manner. It was kind of ironic that we went through several hours riding horses through the mountains last month with no problems and then had this happen. Well, our Lord says to give thanks in all things, so we are doing that.

LFDS still grounded...

Well, it's now two weeks without flying. The government hasn't paid the LFDS flying bill to MAF so we continue to sit. It's getting bad as the patients that need to come to the referral hospital here in Maseru can't come and the places where we would be going to provide care and treatment are being left out. I continue to remind the appropriate authorities that this is serious.

I'm getting a lot of language learning done and office work. Making plans for the next 6 weeks to get back to Ha Thaba Bosiu for follow up airstrip evaluation. We have two other areas in the SouthEastern part of Lesotho where we are doing a similar thing of looking to build an airstrip and health post. We will go with a MAF pilot to those two places the end of October and mid November.

Really wish I had more exciting things to report, but this is the reality. Pray that the bill will be paid so we can get back to the mountains with medical care and treatment and the hope of the Gospel.

Praise God We're Back Flying Again (at least some are)

Monday was a full day of flights for the MAF team. Praise God! Although the accident investigation by MAF-USA is not completed, it was determined that it was safe to resume flight operations.

Unfortunately as LFDS, we are not flying. Why, you ask? This came about as there is a 3 month back log of flight bill payments that are overdue to MAF. MAF provides the flight operations to the Lesotho Government for LFDS and other agencies. We are hoping that the payments will be processed this week so we can resume our flights to and from the mountain clinics. As a note, MAF is still providing the emergency Code-1 flights for those life threatening emergencies.

Meanwhile I am catching up on administrative duties and working on plans for exploring two other areas where we might be placing an airstrip and health post. It is exciting to work on these plans as I know it is going to give us opportunity to provide better health care and share the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

In the afternoons, Sally and I are continuing our language studies. We have a great language teacher that makes the process fun (even though it is mentally painful). We are making progress, but like a lot of things, the more you learn, the more you realize you don't know that much. But we are thankful that Basotho are gracious towards us as we use our language skills and they are very happy that we are trying.

Hey, thanks for praying for the MAF team and for Sally and I.

Pray for our LFDS/MAF Team

On Wednesday afternoon there was a MAF airplane accident at one of the mountain airstrips called Methalaneng. We praise God that no one was injured (Pilot and 4 passengers). I was not on the airplane. It was NOT pilot error and is was NOT an airplane malfunction. It was a sudden burst of air from the side just at the point of landing. The MAF pilot did an outstanding job of preventing a potentially disastrous outcome.

An official MAF USA accident investigation team will be arriving on Monday morning. They will go to the airstrip via helicopter on Tuesday. We will not be flying until the investigation team gives the go-ahead to resume flights. For life threatening emergencies (what we call 'Code-1') the Lesotho military will use their helicopters to cover for us.

Please pray for the team as we all deal with this accident, with people's fears, with trusting God every moment. We are so grateful that He is in control of all things. We know that God is in control of all things and we are trusting that His name will be glorified in all of this.

As I sat with our LFDS staff today and talked through this, I shared with them Psalm 23. I asked them to listen to it anew as they reflected on what had happened. What was so cool was that their primary concern was how was the pilot and the passengers, and what were we going to do about the emergencies. They were not thinking of themselves but of others, just as the Lord instructs us to do. We closed our meeting with a prayer by one of the staff. Although I could not understand all that she prayed (remember we are still learning Sesotho) I did pick up enough of it to hear her passion regarding how good God is, how much we need His help, and how thankful she was.

Thanks for joining us in prayer...

31 Villages Desperately in Need of Health Care

On Sunday we (Sally, Danny Hulls - MAF Chief Pilot, and myself) drove about an hour from home to the mountain area of Mohale Dam. We

met up with the three men from Berea District who were instrumental

in identifying the area we were planning to visit. We mapped out our plan and set off on Monday morning further into the mountains.

It was paved road for about 20 minutes then gravel that deteriorated to 4WD only. After one hour we reached the village of Sekolopata where we left our trucks and hired Basotho Mountain Ponies.

We headed off up the Senqunyane River Valley towards the village of Ha Thaba Bosiu. It was up and down, four times having to cross small streams and the larger river. We passed by several villages and met a few people along the way. As it is Spring here, we passed by fields that were being plowed by oxen teams (4 oxen, one man guiding the plough, and one man driving the oxen).

At one point we had to dismount our ponies and lead them across a rocky stream as they refused to cross with us on them. Turns out they are pretty smart as we found it very slippery. I also found out that getting back on a horse while wearing a back pack was not easy. The horse decided it was time to take off and I found myself looking up at the sky, flat on my back (actually, flat on my back

pack) with the horse happily walking away. I'm sure it had a smirk on its face... A second attempt found me on the horse, trying to get my foot in the stirrup while I held on tight to his neck. Sally found it quite amusing, and I guess I'm learning about riding. (We really should have taken riding lessons while we were in the US last year.)

After nearly two and a half hours of riding we reached the area we had identified as a potential spot for an airstrip and the village of Ha Thaba Bosiu. As you can see it looks pretty flat, but remember we would like about 2,000 feet of runway.

We were about an hour behind schedule and so we decided to split up our team. MAF Pilot Danny and Sally stayed at the airstrip area and the four of us headed on to the village (it was down a rather steep path towards where two rivers meet). Danny began to assess the area for the airstrip. It involved walking up and down the area to find the optimal angles for approach and takeoff, most favorable winds, and the most level area. He took a bunch of GPS locations and used an inclinometer to measure the rise of the terrain. Meanwhile, Sally was spending time walking and praying for this area while watching over their two ponies. She met a young woman with

a child on her back and talked a bit. The lady told Sally that she was on her way walking to the closest clinic which was where we had come from that morning. Recall we had driven 1 hour by truck and 2.5 hours on pony and she was walking! Come to find out, people would even walk the whole day to reach the closest health center. Sally spent more time praying for the people of this area and praying that God would give us wisdom on how to minister to their physical and spiritual needs.

The three men from Berea and I got to the village and were fortunate to find Chief Majara there. As there really is no easy way to get a message there (no cell phone coverage), the chief and those in the village were surprised by our visit. We sat at his homestead with two other men as well as the chief's wife and friend and explained who we were and why we were there. We enquired as to how many villages were in the area and if he

thought they would benefit from a health post and airstrip. After some discussion, they came up with a list of 31 villages that would directly benefit. They agreed to get us the names of all the villages and a census of those living there.

I also shared with them that I was both a doctor and a preacher of the gospel. They were curious as to what church I belonged to and if I planned on making them change their religion. I explained that I was not interested in that but in teaching them about Jesus Christ and following His ways. They were interested and like the idea that we could provide both medical care and Biblical teaching.

After an hour we headed back up the hill to find Sally and Danny to find out if the area looked promising for building an airstrip. We were happy to hear that the preliminary assessment looked good, although it would involve leveling one area and moving dirt to another part to make the airstrip. There's much more to building an airstrip (MAF has clear guidelines on it) but at least it looks like a favorable area that would give us access to the villages. We all got back on our ponies and began the long trek back to Sekolopata. I don't know horses well but I sure sensed that they were glad to be heading to their home and we were ready to go back. It was a beautiful ride back. We reached Sekolopata where we had left the trucks and then drove back to Mohale. It was just getting dark as we arrived there. We had supper together and talked about the survey trip. We were all pretty excited about the possibility of opening the area not only to health care but to the gospel as well. It was back to Maseru the next morning for Danny, Sally and I, and on to Teyateyaneng (Berea District) for the other three.

We are so thankful for what God allowed us to do and to see. We continue to pray for wisdom on how to proceed. I want to start building next week but I know that we have to go through the proper government channels for approval and for funds. It may be possible to ride into the area once a month to do a mobile medical clinic and evangelism while we work on building up the airstrip. I know we need patience, but I also know the desperate needs (both physical and spiritual) of the Basotho living in the 31 villages in the Ha Thaba Bosiu area. Please join us in praying for the people of that area, and for what we will do next.

All for His glory...