Is My Heart Burning?

This morning I began re-reading a book Kelly gave me for Christmas a couple of years ago. The book is entitled "Great Days with the Great Lives" and provides daily readings along with Scriptures that chronicles 10 great lives found in the Bible. In the introduction, the Russian Poet Boris Pasternak is quoted

"It is not revolutions and upheavals that clear the road

to new and better days, but someone's soul inspired and ablaze."

That caught my attention immediately. I'm ready for a clear road to new and better days. The past months have been frustrating as the ministry plans Sally and I had seem to have all fallen apart. We've been praying for direction, for inspiration, for 'revolutions' of ideas if I may use that term. So I could relate to the poets quote. But then I read it again and realized that what was lacking was the latter part.

To be very honest, I have been spending too much time contemplating the unaccomplished things, and the challenges at LFDS, and the difficulties with the government, etc. Considering the poets thesis, I would classify myself as having a soul that is uninspired and certainly not ablaze. That may sound harsh, but it is true. The past 12 days of not flying again has afforded me the time to do some self evaluation and soul searching. It has been a process of asking hard questions, talking to God, and waiting for answers. Which is the really hard part because I am of the personality type that likes to make things happen. But not this time, I've purposed to go slow and learn.

So what am I doing? I've realized that this is time to immerse myself in the Scriptures. In addition to reading the gospels, I enjoy listening to podcasts of great preachers. I was doing just that last evening as I was on the eliptical. The sermon was based on Jesus' words in John 15 "if my words abide in you..." As I came to the end I was evaluating the message and was about to say 'this wasn't that great' when the preacher said something that hit hard. He shared how he and his wife have a weekly lunch 'date' and that for the past 6 months that date took the form of the first 20 minutes lamenting all the challenges and problems they were facing in the church family. He shared that in the midst of that date he suddenly realized that they had not once shared scripture, but only complaints. They purposed at that moment to change. He shared a verse that really hit me. The psalmist David is in the midst of trouble but is writing about the past mercies of God. He says,

I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart;

I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation;

I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness

from the great congregation.

As for you, O LORD, you will not restrain your mercy from me;

your steadfast love and your faithfulness will ever preserve me! (Psalm 40:10-11 ESV)

What struck me was that I had been focusing on all the 'troubles' Sally and I are having and haven't recalled the great mercies and the faithfulness and the salvation God has shown toward us. Not only that, but I haven't been speaking of that faithfulness and salvation, instead just complaining. No wonder I don't have a inspired and burning soul. I know I'm not the only one that is struggling with this. I do recall those in the Scriptures who call out to God to give them a heart that burns for him, that longs for God and his word, that is ablaze with the joy that comes from being totally satisfied with and in Jesus Christ. What I've realized is that I need what only God can do through the power of the Holy Spirit through Scriptures - to transform me more towards the image of Christ. Jesus said, "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life." (John 6:63 ESV)

So, as we wait to hear the news of when we can get back to flying to serve the Basotho in the mountains, I'll be trying to do better at recalling the great mercies of God and saturating my mind with the life changing, soul igniting words of Jesus Christ.

Daily by His Grace,

Larry

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Grounded once again!

Well, it's a repeat of last year! The Lesotho gov't is 3 months behind on their flight bill payment to Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) and so we're grounded once again. The explanation given this time is that the Finance Ministry (like the Dept of the Treasury) has failed to process things to get the money transfered. This same thing happened last October and we were grounded for a month. So, no Doctor Team flights, no patient flights except for life threatening emergencies.

Incarnational Ministry in Matsaile

Justin and Korby are there! That's right, as of Monday they are now living in Matsaile village. last week was a flurry of activities as we flew three flights to get all the supplies there and things readied. Wed/Thur Mike Shutts (MAF Pilot/Mechanic) and I were flown there to install the solar and radio system. As usual, we had to haul the supplies from the airstrip to the village, a 30 minute walk. Once there, we began the work of re-assembling the antenna pole. A big thanks to Roger Clark (MAF Mechanic) who helped to build the antenna in pieces so it would fit in the airplane and then be easy to assemble at the village. With the four pieces put together, Mike and I and one of the men in the village got the pole up next to the house. Then we ran some metal straps above the block wall and under the thatch to fix it in place (the pole had a spike welded to the bottom to drive into the ground). Then it was time to hoist up the folded dipole antenna and secure the ends.

Next it was time to put up the 80 watt solar panel and do the electrical wiring. We had brought Mike's folding aluminum ladder so it made for easy access to the thatch roof. The stuff is really thick so Mike pushed through guide wires so I could then send back through the wire to secure the panel to the rafters. Then back inside again to set up the lights. Justin and Korby now have two 12 volt lights that give some great lighting.

Well, once we had the solar installed it was time to test out the HF Radio. Mike gave a call to "49" (that's the MAF base in Maseru at Mejametelana Airport) and they answered back. The radio works, but this is the time of year in the solar sun spot cycle where communication via HF radio is not ideal. We will use it during daytime hours as a means

to communicate with the guys. There is one area in the village where there is cell phone coverage. Already we have had to use that backup plan as that day the radio signals were not good.

We praise God for all the help from our support team in Johannesburg as well as the great MAF team here in Maseru. It took a lot of team work to get all the supplies to Matsaile airstrip and then to the village. Praise God for the faithful support of Southern Baptists in giving to missions to make this possible. We now have two young guys being "Jesus" to the people of Matsaile village and the 6 surrounding villages. There is no question now that the good news of the gospel will reach the Basotho there.

The guys are outfitted pretty good now. They have their solar lights as primary with headlamps, candles and kerosene lantern for backup. The rondoval has a kerosene heater that also doubles as a one burner cooker. They have as their main cooking source lpg gas to run their two burner stove and the camp fridge. It's a pretty good set up and will work well for them to have as their home and base of operations. I will be traveling there twice a month as part of our normal Lesotho Flying Doctor Services mobile health post so I will use that opportunity to meet with the guys as part of my part in mentoring them. LFDS also has the

public health team that travels there once a month to do pre-natal care and under-5s immunizations. This will give the guys some 'outside' contact apart from the radio calls. The plan right now is for daily radio/phone checks. We have had one 'hiccup' as the promised completion of their pit latrine did not come through. We will fly two more bags of cement there on

Friday (weather permitting) so it can be completed. Meanwhile, they have another pit latrine they can use.

So, please pray for Justin and Korby as they adjust to life in Matsaile village.

Pray for opportunities to share the love of Jesus with the Basotho there.

Pray for endurance as they learn to live in the village.

Pray for wisdom in the work they do there.

Will send more pics next week after I make a visit there on Tuesday. Meanwhile, I'm back to our LFDS clinic and health post doctor team visits.

Hurray for Megan!

We are so proud of our daughter Megan! This Sunday we celebrated her graduation from Hope College with many of our extended family.

We want to thank God for all that He has done in her life over the years, and especially the past 4 at Hope
College.

We also want to thank so many of you that have contributed to her success - by your encouragement, by your loving care, by your 'taking care' of her while we have been in Uganda and Lesotho. It is not easy being away from our kids, but we have seen them taken care of and loved on by so many of you when we have not been able to be physically there. Thanks too to our Uganda and Kenyan friends that helped to 'shape' Megan while she was in school there.

It was great to get back in the USA a week ahead of time to 'reset' our clocks and be 'awake' for her graduation. Graduation at Hope always falls at the same time as

the Holland Tulip Festival so we got the added fun

of seeing over a million tulips in blossom around Holland.

Graduation day was sunny and we enjoyed having family there with us. Adam flew in from DC and Kelly drove

up from Taylor University in Indiana. Sally's mom and sister and kids came as well as some of our family. It was great to see not only Megan graduate but also some of her Rift Valley Academy classmates.

After grad we went over to Aaron and Jenn's (thank you again!) and had a party to celebrate Megan's birthday, her graduation and Mother's day.

Lots of food and conversation, getting caught up with family, seeing the newest addition to the Pepper family - Dan and McKenzie's daughter - welcome to this crazy family Alexis Pepper.

So what's next for Megan?

For the next two months she's coming back to Lesotho with her sister to spend their summer (our winter) together. She interviewed with CityYear and is waiting to hear about a job in Boston that would start late August. Meanwhile we will spend till May 21st here in the MidWest enjoying time with family and friends.

Outfitting the Rondoval for the Journeyguys

Just got back from the mountains - Matsaile Village. We did a MAF cargo flight to carry up the new door and other furnishings for the Justin and Korby's rondoval (round house). This is phase one of outfitting the place. Everything has to be weighed and then secured in the Cessna 206T. Oliphant and Maila did a great job getting all the stuff loaded in and tied down. The flight is about 40 minutes - roughly 70 miles. There are no roads to the village. The airstrip is 0.4 miles from the village so we carried things by hand and wheel barrows. Took 4 of us two trips but we got the door/frame, futon, mattress, table/chairs, bedding, some kitchen items, and the portable generator and tools I needed to put in the new door. By the time we got everything to the village it was close to getting dark so the work had to wait till morning.

We are so grateful for the way several people in the village have embraced the idea of having the guys living there to share the gospel and teach the bible. This week I had three guys that were so helpful in getting the door put in - Ntate Tsupane, Ntate Thabang, and Ntate Moloi.

Woke up the next morning to a cloudy, drizzle and cold day. Started by tooking out the old door that didn't fit and

couldn't latch shut. (Note the traditional Basotho blankets. They are really warm - part wool/acrylic). Next was the task of fitting the new door frame into the opening. Fortunately I was able to drill and anchor the frame to the stone blocks. Then it was the task of fitting, and adjusting and re-adjusting till it was in. I am so grateful to my dad for his patience over the years of teaching me a lot of different things like basic carpentry and electrical and plumbing. Some may argue that a little knowledge is dangerous, but hey, with the combined skill of the four of us we got the door in. (Ntate Tsupane knows stone work and some carpentry). After that, it was time to

use mud/manure mixture to seal around the door frame to fill in any gaps. Sounds weird but really works good. Through out the day we talked about a variety of things including the word of God and what place it has in their lives.

We finished the work by around noon but the weather was too bad between Matsaile and Maseru for the pickup flight. It worked out well as it gave me time to reassemble the futon, the table and chair, to put down 2/3 of the floor covering, and clean up. I was blessed that evening by one of the widows who had cooked something like an egg omelet and cornmeal for me for my supper. It was pretty exciting to be able to sleep in this rondoval that will be the home of Justin and Korby. I enjoyed the extra time to read my bible and pray for the people of Matsaile, for Justin and Korby, and for the expansion of God's kingdom there.

I woke up the next morning to look out the window to see 10 feet of visibility as the entire village was blanketed in a fog. Turns out Maseru was totally enveloped in a fog as well so all aviation activities were on stand by. By mid morning the fog lifted and the flights could begin. Ntate Tsupane, Ntate Thabang and I headed to the airstrip carrying the generator and tools. I got back to a sunny Maseru by mid afternoon, thanking God for a successful journey.

We have more trips to go as we still have the solar panel, batteries, radio antenna, radio and other supplies to install. That will happen the end of May after we get back from the USA.

Oh yeah, we are so excited to be heading to Michigan next week. We are so proud of our daughter Megan as she will be graduating from Hope College on May 9th (her birthday too).

More about that later...

Mountain Men for Matsaile

We are so excited to finally have Korby (on right) and Justin here in Maseru. These two young guys are recent college grads that are doing the IMBs Journeyman program. They will be working with our team over the next two years - but living in the remote mountain village of Matsaile. This past week Sally and I have been getting them oriented to some things in Lesotho like driving a stick shift on the other side of the road, beginnings of language lessons, lots of Q/A about the things we've learned over the past year, meeting Tom, Cindi and Eli (our team mates), meeting some of the MAF team, etc. We've been working with our mission to get things ready for their living in the mountains in a rondoval (round house). We've got their HF radio/antennae and this week picked up the solar system that will provide the basic power needs for the radio and two lights. And we got them a new door - which the guys and I spent almost two days putting on the hinges (it's a split stable door), lock set, frame, and varnishing it so it will be ready to install in the rondoval as the current door doesn't lock and doesn't close right. It would be pretty cold with the old door. Their rondoval is the one on the left with the lighter cut stone. It is 18 feet in diameter which is pretty big. We also hauled over to the MAF hanger two truck loads of their supplies for their place. It will be transported up along with the door early next week.

We also took the guys over to Ladybrand, RSA for a horse riding lesson. Even though we have all rode before, Sally and I knew that we'd benefit and they also

agreed that we could all learn something new. We

over some basics of riding and horse behavior. Boy I wish I had done that when we first got here...

Well, I took the guys to the airport this morning as they head off to Zambia for 30 days of training with our mission. It will be all about living in remote situations, learning language, and living in community.

Pray with us as we continue to prepare things for Justin and Korby in Matsaile. I had planned on taking a plane load of things today to Matsaile but the weather was not cooperative. We will have about three to four plane loads of things - especially the door. I have to get that installed so the place can lock. Hoping to do that next Tue/Wed. We are so excited to have these two guys on our team. They love the Lord, they are committed to investing two years of their lives in the lives of the people of Matsaile and the surrounding 6 other villages. Their task will be to live among the people as an incarnational witness of Jesus, to share the good news, to teach the bible, and to start new churches. A big task...

Flying Again with reduced budget

I am so happy to say that starting Monday we will be back to flying an almost normal schedule! I had an intense meeting with the Ministry of Health yesterday and a follow up this morning and it was determined that they would find money to allow us to resume much of the schedule we had last year.

We will make some cuts this first quarter as well as do some analysis of the numbers and types of patients referred from the mountains to the national referral hospital (It is one of our biggest cost items).

Our LFDS team is so happy today, and I can now sleep better knowing that we are going to provide through MAF the kind of service that the people in the mountains so desperately need. I give glory to God for he is the one who knows all, who moves the hearts of kings, and is sovereign over all.